250 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. recommended and an appropriation of part of the proceeds of the lands donated by Congress for the canals was urged. In pursuance of this movement the Columbus, Marion & Sandusky Railroad Company was incorporated February 8, 1832, with a capital of $1,000,000, and authority to build a railway from Columbus to intersect the Mad River and Lake Erie line via Delaware, Marion and Upper Sandusky. Accordingly, the Columbus & Lake Erie Company was incorporated March 12, 1845, by W. A. Platt, Robert Neil, Samuel Medary, L. Goodale, J. W. Andrews, William Dennison, Joseph Ridgway, Orange Johnson and John G. Miller of Columbus, and associates, kith authority to build a railway from Columbus via Mansfield to some point on the Mansfield & New Haven or the Mansfield & Sandusky City line. A meeting of the commissioners was held at the Neil House in Columbus April 7, 1845, and a general meeting of all the commissioners named in the several acts of incorporation of railways between Columbus & Lake Erie was called to assemble at Mansfield May 1,1845. The commissioners from Franklin County who signed the call for this meeting were Joseph Ridgway, William Neil, J. N. Champion, Lyne Starling, Junior, Wray Thomas and Moses H. Kirby. At the appointed time the meeting was held and organized by choosing John W. Allen of Cleveland as chairman, and D. F. Fuller of Delaware as secretary. A committee of two commissioners from each charter represented was appointed to examine all the charters and report as to which one it would be most expedient to organize under. The members of that committee were Sanford S. Bennett, George H. Busby, Irad Kelley, James Purdy, Sherman Finch and Hiram Randolph. The committee reported in favor of the formation of a company under the charter of the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Company, as revived and amended, and that the commissioners of that company cause subscriptions books to be opened. This report was agreed to and Monday, June 3, was the date appointed for opening the books as recommended. The Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad Company was incorporated March 14, 1836, with a capital stock of $3,000,000, by Lyne Starling, William Neil and John A. Bryan of Franklin County, and others of the counties of Hamilton, Clinton, Greene, Clark, Madison, Delaware, Knox, Richland, Wayne, Holmes, Medina, Lorain and Cuyahoga The charter fixed the freight charge at one and onehalf cents per ton per mile for tolls, and five cents per ton per mile for transportation. The passenger rate was fixed at not over three cents per mile for each passenger. It was further provided that "any other company, person or persons" might, with " suitable and proper cars, take, transport and carry persons and property on said road " subject to the rules of the company, and that after thirty-five years the State might purchase the property at cost and an advance of fifteen per cent. The work of construction not having been begun within the prescribed time, the charter was revived March 12, 1845, with Lyne Starling, Junior, Joseph Ridgway, Robert Neil, L. Goodale, Demas Adams, John W. Andrews, William Dennison and Orange Johnson as corporators. An act of February 24, 1846, authorized the City of Cleveland, to subscribe $200,000 to the stock of the company. Further legislative provision was made as follows : " Any time after ten years from the completion of said road to the city of Columbus," or to a point within ten miles thereof; RAILWAYS - 251 the company " shall be liable to pay to the State," on its freight transported during the season of canal navigation, such tolls as in the opinion of the Board of Public Works would be equal to one half the rates charged by the State on property transported during the same time on the Ohio Canal; and that all property carried from any point within ten miles of either end of the road to the other end should be deemed to have been carried the whole distance. The State was authorized to reduce the rate at the end of every period of ten years, but not to less than twelve per cent. profit on the capital actually paid in. Authority was given to the Governor to fix the price for the transportation of mails, troops and munitions of war. To the General Assembly was given discretion to so amend the charter as to permit unrestricted taxation of the stock and dividends of the company at any time after the road should have been in operation ten years. By an act of February 8, 1847, the company was authorized to construct branches and auxiliary roads, but not to any place or point in the counties of Tuscarawas or Muskingum, these exceptions being made, presumably, to prevent the road from competing with the Ohio Canal. After a second failure to construct the road within the required time, its charter was again revived March 12, 1845, and on March 10, 1851, it was so amended as to permit extension of the road from Columbus, or from any point on the Columbus & Xenia line within fifteen miles west of that city, by way of Washington Court House and Hillsborough, to or near Aberdeen on the Ohio River, and authority to increase the stock sufficiently for the construction of this extension was granted. On the third Monday in June, 1845, subscription books were opened at the following places : Cleveland, Columbus, Strongsville, Medina, Elyria, Ashland, Mansfield, Lexington, Shelby, Marion, Mount Gilead, Delaware, Eden, Bucyrus and Huron. The proceedings of the meeting which made these appointments were signed by John W. Allen, Orange Johnson, Charles T. Sherman, A. E. Miller, James Purdy, H. G. Anderson, Hosea Williams, B. Powers, S. Finch, Irad Kelley, C. Howard, Demas Adams, Robert Neil, Samuel Medary, William Dennison and Joseph Ridgway. A committee of correspondents, the members of which were Sherman Finch, Hosea Williams and B. Powers, was appointed with authority to call a meeting of the commissioners whenever $50,000 of the stock should be subscribed, and accordingly, on September 6, the committee gave notice that a meeting of subscribers would be held at the Neil House, in Columbus, on Saturday, Octobfor11, 1845, fbr the election of directors. In pursuance of that notice the subscribers met at the time and place appointed and chose directors as follows : William Neil, Samuel Medary, W. S. Sullivant, Robert E. Neil, of Columbus ; Peter M. Waddell, John M. Woolsey, Richard Hilliard, H. B. Payne and John W. Allen, oMr. Allennd. Mr.,Allen was chosen president, William Neil treasurer and Albert G. Lawrence secretary. It was stated at the time that a majority of the directors was taken from Cleveland on the presumption that the construction of the road would begin at that end, and that the remainder were taken from Columbus in the hope of avoiding any conflicting local interest or prejudice in the location of the line. 252 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. At a meeting held at Mount Vernon, in June, 1845, resolutions were adopted expressing great dissatisfaction because the line had not been so located as to pass through that town. Accordingly, a committee was appointed to ascertain how much stock could be secured in Knox County should Mount Vernon be made a point on the road. On condition that the road should pass through the town of Delaware, subscriptions to the amount of about $24,000 were obtained in Delaware County. In March, 1846, chief engineer C. Williams reported the preliminary surveys of the line. His report, covering seventytwo pages, included a map showing the routes and profiles of seven different lines, with statistics of the wealth and resources of the districts through which they passed. He reported routes via Delaware, Marion, Oberlin, Elyria and Berea ; via Delaware and Mansfield and via Mount Vernon, Wooster and Berea. His estimate of the cost of what was termed the Ashland lino via Berea, Columbia, Harrisville, Ashland and Franklin, 140 miles, with the Trail and including superstructure and equipment, was $2,132,288; with plate rail, $1,541,544. The maximum grade was forty feet per mile. In commenting on the report the Ohio State Journal said : Our opinion is firm that instead of fifty passengers each way there would be twice that. It was a thing of no rare occurrence last summer, and the previous one, for fifty passengers to be sent off from here in a day by the Columbus stages, and for weeks together there were half that number." On March 3, 1847, a meeting was held in the United States Courthouse in Columbus to consider the expediency of a subscription by the city and county of $100,000 to the capital stock of the Columbus & Xenia, and one of the same amount to the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati company. R. W. McCoy presided at this meeting and Timothy Griffith was its secretary. Addresses were made by Joseph Ridgway, Junior, W. B. Hubbard and William Dennison. On motion of M. J. Gilbert, a committee was appointed to draft an address to the citizens in favor of speedy construction of a railway from Columbus towards Cincinnati and also towards Cleveland. The members of that committee were Joseph Ridgway, Junior, W. B. Hubbard, William Dennison, Alexander Haddock, Orange Johnson, A. F. Perry, David Taylor, John Winterstein, L. Goodale, John Clark, Alexander Mooberry and William Miller. An address to the stockholders issued by the directors April 14, 1847, stated that in the preceding December they had received offers for construction of forty miles of the proposed road but had failed to convert into cash $200,000 of Cleveland City bonds which were part of their resources, the failure being due to the fact that the Government was then a large borrower on securities which could be converted at any time. Work had therefore been suspended, but the organiza- ' tion of the company was preserved. On September 30, 1847, the work of construction was resumed near Cleveland in the presence of Alfred Kelley, who had been elected president of the company. A large number of citizens attended this ceremony. On April 22, 1848, six miles of the line were under contract and a considerable portion was graded. Two corps of engineers were engaged in a resurvey of two routes, in order that the cheapest line and the one which would RAILWAYS - 253 attract the greatest amount of subscriptions might be found. An address issued by President Kelley August 15, 1848, urged the citizens of Columbus to subscribe $50,000 to the stock of the company. He said Columbus had " long been reproached for its lack of enterprise and public spirit." On November 1, 1848, proposals were invited for grading, bridging, masonry, timber and superstructure of one hundred and thirty miles of the road between Cleveland and Columbus. The estimates to be covered by the proposals included 3,500,000 cubic yards of excavation, 30,000 perches of masonry and 300,000 ties. The Cleveland Herald of March 15, 1849, reported, that Mr. Kelley had contracted for 3,000 tons of rails for the first twenty-five miles of the road, and the same paper of April 28 announced that Witt & Harbeck had taken a contract for the whole road, that they had about one thousand men at work and wore increasing the number daily ; and that they hoped to have the road ready for its superstructure by June, 1849. It was further stated that about forty miles of the line would be ready for the iron in October and for the cars by January 1. In May, 1850, President Kelley had purchased in England 5,000 tons of rails which were deemed sufficient to complete the road, and had paid for them in the bonds of the company. On February 18, 1851, the last rail was laid and the last spike driven in the presence of four or five hundred people of both sexes, who; we are told, met in the woods to witness this important ceremony, concerning which the following details are narrated : Alfred Kelley, the energetic and able president of the company, assisted by Mr. Case, Mayor of Cleveland, Senator Payne, and others, proceeded to the task and when finished, three hearty cheers, the firing of cannon and the whistling of two locomotives made the woods ring as they never rang before. The Cleveland cars then passed over the last laid rail and returning started for the Forest City. . . where they arrived last evening, accomplishing the distance from Columbus to Cleveland in less time than it was ever done before. The Columbus cars passed to the north of the gap some two miles and returned to the Delaware station, whence, in due time they arrived in this city. 5 The Ohio State Journal of February 21, 1851, contained the following : This morning about eight o'clock the General Assembly, the state officers and the editors of Columbus started on the cars for Cleveland. Although the rain was coming down in torrents a large crowd of the citizens flocked to the depot to witness their departure on the first visit of ceremony between the two new neighbors—the state Capital and the Forest City. As the cars moved off a round was fired from two large brass pieces, filling the country and city with their loud echoes. . . . At ten o'clock another train left with a large number of the citizens who were not included in the invitation for the first train. This day fixes an epoch in the affairs of our city. The Ohio Statesman had a more precise account of the celebration. It said the train consisted of seven passenger cars and that lunch was served at Shelby where the party was joined by a numerous delegation from Tiffin and various points on the Mad River & Lake Erie and the Sandusky & Mansfield railroads. About sunset, continued the Statesman's account, " the boom of cannon told us we were nearing the Forest City, and soon a. living, moving mass of human beings welcomed us to our journey's end. Flags were floating from different points, and although it still rained, it seemed as if the whole male population of Cleveland 254 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. had turned out to bid us welcome." The celebration of the opening of the road at Cleveland on the twenty-second is thus described in the Ohio Statesman : The day was cold but all hearts were warm. The roar of artillery ushered in the day. During the forenoon the different processions began to form and at eleven o'clock were marched to the courthouse yard. There the speaking took place. The military made an imposing appearance. . . . Good addresses were made by Mayor Case, of Cleveland, Charles C. Conyers, Speaker of the Senate, Mr. Starkweather, George E. Pugh and Governor Wood. The Columbus party, while at Cleveland, was taken to Hudson on the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad. During the return trip crowds assembled at every station to see the train pass and " at every station a small cannon on board added its deep voice to the cheers of the multitude." At Shelby, State Librarian John Greiner was hoisted on a table and " the uninitiated found to their surprise that a song was ready for the occasion," Mr. Greiner was assisted in his singing by Mr. Baker of the Senate. His song which elicited great applause, began : We hail from the city, the Capital City, We left in the storm and the rain ; The cannon did thunder, the people did wonder To see pious folks "on a train." The ironhorse snorted, he puffed and he started, And such a long tail as he bore! And put for the city that grows in the woods, The city upon the Lake Shore. The Springfield & Mansfield company was incorporated March 21, 1850, with a capital of $2,000,000, and authority to build a railway from Springfield via Marysville to Mansfield or to the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati line. The charter was amended February 20, 1851, so as to allow the road to terminate at Loudonville or any point on the Pennsylvania & Ohio railway instead of at Mansfield, and on August 9,1852, its name was changed to the Springfield, Mount Vernon & Pittsburgh Railway Company. The company having become involved, its property was sold by order of court January 1, 1861, and the part between Springfield and Delaware was purchased by Peter Odlin, J. R. Hilliard and T. A. Lane, who, on January 1, 1862, sold it to the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati company, by which it was named the Springfield Branch. By an act of March 24, the purchasing company was given authority to aid at its discretion in the construction of this line. On March 25, 1851, a railway, stage and omnibus office was opened a few doors north of the American House on High Street by B. O. Ream, agent. About this time business began to be very active at the station grounds located at what was then the north end of High Street. Of the improvements which had been made or were in progress in that vicinity we have this account : The depot for locomotives, cars, &c., is finished and is an admirable structure for the purpose. The freight depot of the Cleveland road is nearly finished and is a large and convenient building. The freight depot of the Xenia road is just commenced. The foundation walls are about finished. The passenger depot over the road is fast assuming shape and will RAILWAYS - 255 be an extensive concern. There are three tracks running through it lengthwise. It will be a very convenient and imposing structure. Preparations for the extensive hotel of Mr. Hay- den are making ; the lot is being graded to the proper level, and it will be put up forthwith.' In May, 1851, a repairshop, 120x62 feet, was begun just west of and adjoining the locomotive house. To persons whose memory enables them to compare the buildings then erected with recent structures of the same kind, the foregoing descriptions of the original buildings seem decidedly extravagant. As the Cleveland and Columbus line was finally- located and constructed it left the town of Delaware about two miles to the west. On April 30, 1851, Mr. Kelley asked for bids for construction of the "Delaware Side Line or curve," which was accordingly built and is now a part of the main track, the original one superseded by the curve having been taken up. The work of ballasting the entire road began in June, 1851. Suitable material for the purpose being obtainable only at wide intervals, Mr. Kelley, the president, endeavored to reduce the necessity for it by the use of plank ties three inches thick and fifteen inches wide, but a short experience sufficed to show that this was a poor expedient. The writer, in making his first trip over the road a short time alter its completion, found that part of it on which the plank ties had been laid the roughest riding he ever did on a railroad. The directors of the road elected January 14, 1852, were Alfred Kelley, H. B. Payne, A masa Stone, Junior, J. M. Woolsey, W. A. Otis, J. Gillett, Richard Hilliard, L. Case and Hosea Williams. On July 31, 1852, the company declared a dividend of seven per cent. on its earnings during the preceding eight months. The company's stock advanced in value to such a price that the Commissioners of Franklin County on December 18, 1852, offered to sell the amount of $50,000 which the County had subscribed and for which it realized by the sale a profit of $15,000. Halffare tickets instead of free passes were at that time issued to members of the General Assembly by the two railways touching Columbus. The writer has carried in his pocket from that time to this the following statement from the Cincinnati Gazette referring to a meeting of railway managers in Cincinnati : The subject of free passes was introduced and discussed warmly and fully. Everybody disapproved of the system, but how to uproot it was not so clear. A resolution was offered to confine free passes within certain prescribed limits, cutting off officers and directors of other roads, legislators, editors, &c., but the'whole subject was finally laid upon the table. Reference having been made to the custom of giving passes to the members of the legislature, Mr. L'Hommedieu, then president of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton road, remarked that railroad men found that the cheapest way to secure proper legislation. He also stated that the pass system was not so burdensome as many supposed. His company kept an accurate account of every passenger that travels free over the road, and this account shows that at one period the proportion was one and a half per cent. of the entire travel, and at another two per cent. On February 14, 1853, notice was given that on and after the first day of the ensuing April a "lightning train " would be run between Cincinnati and Cleveland. President Alfred Kelley, having completed the construction of the road, tendered his resignation, and H. B. Payne was elected in his place. 256 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. The company had made a contract with the owners of a deposit of gravel on the west bank of the Scioto River, and thereby became involved in a controversy which is thus explained under date of June 10, 1854: It appears that a misunderstanding has for some time existed between the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad Company and certain citizens of Franklinton (familiarly known as Sodom), involving the company's right of way to a gravel bed owned by them near the Scioto, one of the finest gravel beds, by the way, in the whole state. The lateral track leading thereto is about one-fourth of a mile in length and branches off from the main track of the Columbus & Xenia road just beyond the river bridge. About eighty rods from the bed the gravel track diverges and three nominal streets are crossed by both tracks which are not much used, and over which the railroad company had constructed crossings. This track the Sodomites have torn up some dozens of times, always at night. Yesterday the company relaid the track with three parallel sets of rails and a double proportion of spikes. The Sodomites assembled, thirty or forty strong, and tore up the track by the aid of a jackscrew and two yoke of oxen, gunpowder having been tried ineffectually. They then carried the bent rails and threw them into the river. The railroad employes attached to the gravel train drew the rails out of the river as fast as thrown in and laid them on the neutral ground. 7 The warfare against the company was kept up until July 7, when Judge Bates granted an injunction in favor of the company on the ground that its charter empowered it to obtain materials for the construction and repair of its road in the manner adopted; that the company had a legal right to the use of the streets in Franklinton, and that arrangements made with the supervisors of the road district wherein the company's premises lay were binding in law. The next day there was great excitement in Franklinton about the Judge's decision and threats of burning him in effigy were made, but the tracks were quietly relaid and the excitement subsided. In October, 1854, a double track was laid from Cleveland to the junction of the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling road at Grafton. On December 22, in the same year, the statement was published that on the preceding Tuesday, engineer Westfall, with the locomotive Cleveland, ran his train from Cleveland to Columbus, 138 miles, in four hours, including the time lost in nineteen stoppages, and taking wood and water four times. This was believed then to be the best time on record for any western road. The appearance of a train of new cars on this road in May, 1866, suggested to a newspaper reporter the following: The arrival of the train of new cars on the C., C. & C. Railroad yesterday suggests a comparison of this train with the first one on the road in 1849. Many of our citizens will recollect the features of that notable excursion and perhaps many of them smiled as the low, dingy cars of the old train steamed up, in imagination, by the side of the beautiful double deckers of the new. A splendid new car then cost $2,200, it now costs $6,000. One of the worst accidents which ever occurred on a railway near this city took place on this road September 18, 1864, when between three and four o'clock A. M., a train of twenty-nine cars loaded with lumber bound for Cincinnati arrived from Cleveland. According to custom the engineer attempted to cut the engine loose from the train and run ahead into the roundhouse, expecting the switchman to replace the switch and run the train into the yard, but it happened that RAILWAYS - 257 nine cars of the train had become detached four miles from the city on a down grade of forty feet to the mile. In the darkness of the night this was not discovered, and when the engine was detached it left twenty cars with only two brakemen who were not able to control them. These cars came upon the switchman before he could change the switch and the train followed and pushed the engine into and through the roundhouse and into the Little Miami shop. Benjamin Blaisdell, the engineer, stood to his post in his cab while he was hurled through two brick walls and escaped unhurt, while William Ryan, his fireman, jumped from the engine into a pile of wood from which he fell backward and was killed. One employe who was at work at an engine in the roundhouse was also killed. On March 14, 1856, the. Indianapolis, Pittsburgh & Cleveland and the Bellefontaine & Indiana companies made a running agreement for five years from April 1, 1856, which term was extended May 16, 1860, and the arragement continued in force until December 6, 1864, when the two companies were consolidated as the Bellefontaine Railway Company, forming a line from Galion, Ohio, to Indianapolis, with a capital stock of $5,000,000. On May 16, 1868, the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati and the Bellefontaine companies were consolidated as the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway Company, with a capital stock of $15,000,000, the stockholders of the C , C. & C. to have one hundred and twenty dollars of the new stock for one hundred of the old, and the stock in the Bellefontaine Company to be exchanged at par for stock in the new company. The aggregate length of track embraced in this consolidation was 1,828.41 miles. The agreement included twentytwo different lines. The Three C's, or Bee Line Company, as the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati company is usually called, is one of the very few in this country the original stockholders of which have not lost their investment. It paid two dividends at the rate of four per cent. in 1852, and from two to three dividends every year thereafter, and never a less rate than eight per cent. per annum, until 1868. In 1863 it paid sixteen per cent. and in 1864 thirtytwo per cent. Its total dividends paid amount to 214 per cent., equal to $9,990,758 in the aggregate. In November, 1875, the company completed a large and commodious freight depot at Columbus, which is still in use. On September 7, 1881, the Ohio Railway Company was incorporated. The incorporators were the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis, and the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railway companies. The purpose of this corporation was the consolidation of the two companies named. The joint capital was $20,000,000. On October 19 Hugh J. Jewett as trustee and R. S. Grant brought suit in the Franklin Common Pleas to prohibit the proposed consolidation on the ground that it was a combination of competing lines prohibited by statute. The competition lay between the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton and the Dayton & Michigan from Toledo to Cincinnati ; and the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati, the Columbus & Xenia and the Little Miami from Cleveland to Cincinnati. The action was brought against the C. C. C. & I. Railway Company, J. H. Devereux, G. H. Russell, F. H. Short and Stevenson Burke. In addition to these names 17* 258 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. those of W. H. Vanderbuilt, Augustus Schell, Cornelius Vanderbilt, M. E. Ingalls and E. B. Thomas appeared in the case, of which the following is an abbreviated history: On October 19 the court in Franklin County granted a temporary injunction restraining the election of directors for the Ohio Railway Company. On October 21 William H. Clement was .appointed receiver of the C. C. C. & L Railway. On October 24 an injunction was allowed by Judge Caldwell at Cleveland prohibiting Mr. Clement from taking possession of the company's offices. On October 25 a rule was issued by the Franklin County Common Pleas against the Cleveland parties, alleged to be in contempt. On the same date quo warranto proceedings against the directors of the Ohio Railroad Company were filed in the Supreme Court. October 28, a motion was made by Devereux et al. for leave to file in the Supreme Court a petition in error to the Franklin Common Pleas. October 27, orders for writs of attachment were issued against J. H. Devereux and Stevenson Burke. November 1, leave was granted by the Supreme Court to file a petition in error " so far as relates to the order appointing a receiver in said case, and all orders founded or dependent upon, or in execution of said appointment are concerned ;" and it was further ordered "that the execution of the order of said court of Common Pleas appointing a receiver, and all orders founded or dependent upon, or in execution of said order of appointment, be and the same are hereby stayed until the final determination of the proceedings in error." The consolidation was not effected. Central Ohio.— This company was incorporated February 8, 1817, by William Neil, Samuel Medary, Joel Buttles, Joseph Ridgway and Bela Latham, of Franklin County, with others of Licking and Muskingum counties. Its original capital stock was $1,500,000, which was increased July 19, 1854, to $3,000,000. The company was authorized to build a railway from Columbus via Newark and Zanesville to such point on the Ohio River as the directors might select, and from Columbus westward to the Indiana boundary. Its route as reported by its engineer, J. Knight, began at Bridgeport, Belmont County, passed down the Ohio to the mouth of McMahon's Creek, followed thence the ravine of that creek to the summit of the divide 'separating it from Captina Creek, near the village of Belmont, and thence took its course via Barnesville, Cambridge, Zanesville and Newark to Columbus, making a total length of 150 miles to Wheeling. This route was amended by making the Ohio River crossing at Bellair and extending the track from thence up the left bank 'of the river to Wheeling, as required by the charter granted by the State of Virginia. The Baltimore & Ohio company preferred to cross the Ohio at Parkersburgh, and its engineer after surveying the route from thence to Columbus recommended it in his report, but the president of the company was induced while visiting Columbus, to recommend the Central Ohio route. Subsequent developments have justified the engineer's preference. Had it been adopted the road would have been located on a much cheaper and better route, would have secured the coal trade of the Hocking Valley, and would have supplied the city of Columbus with coal nearly twenty years earlier than such supply was finally obtained. The directors were authorized to adopt such rates of toll as they might deem reasonable, a schedule of their rates to be publicly posted at every station on the RAILWAYS - 259 road. The General Assembly might prescribe rates once in ten years, but not so as to reduce the profits below eight per cent. On March 8, 1849, this reserved right of the legislature was repealed. At a public meeting held at Zanesville June 6 and 7, 1847, attended by R. W. McCoy and Robert Neil, of Columbus, James Taylor of Licking and John Hamm of Muskingum, a resolution was adopted in favor of Wheeling as the terminus of the Baltimore & Ohio road, and it was agreed that stock subscription books for the Central Ohio should be opened June 20 and 23 at the office of Alexander Patton, in Columbus, at the office of J. G. Smith in Newark, and at the County Auditor's office in Zanesville, the amounts of subscription obtained to be reported to Solomon Sturges, John. Hamm, Daniel Conyers and Joseph Baguet, of Zanesville, who were constituted a committee with power to call a meeting to organize the company as soon as stock to the amount of ten thousand dollars should be subscribed. Accordingly, on August 26, 1847, Solomon Sturges, John Hamm, George James, Charles B. Goddard, S. R. Hosmer, Daniel Brush and Levi Claypool, of Muskingum County; Albert Sherwood, I). Marble and Daniel Duncan, of Licking ; and R. W. McCoy, Robert Neil and William Dennison, of Franklin County, were chosen directors. In October, 1847, an engineer was engaged to investigate as to the practicability of a route from Wheeling to Zanesville. Prior to that time a route through the hilly regions of eastern Ohio had been carefully surveyed and the cost of construction on that survey had been estimated. The information thus obtained demonstrated that this route would be practicable and satisfactory without the intervention of stationary engines. By vote on May 9, 1848, the people of Zanesville endorsed a proposition to subscribe $30,000 to the stock of the company, and in April, 1850, Muskingum County and the town of Zanesville issued bonds for $200,000 in aid of the work. Bids were at the same time asked by Robert McLeod, engineer, for building the road from Zanesville to Newark. A proposition to subscribe for the company's stock was submitted May 14, 1850, to the people of Columbus and resulted 449 votes thrfor and 2,006 against it. The proposition thus rejected authorized a county subscription of fifty thousand dollars to the Central Ohio, and one of $25,000 to each of two other roads leading to Pickaway, Ross and Fairfield counties ; also a city subscription of $25,000 to the Central Ohio and one of $15,000 to each of the other roads just mentioned. The influences which induced the people to reject these proposals were : 1. Three roads were to be assisted and all to be aided or none. 2. Jealousy between the northern and southern portions of the city. 3. Many reflecting persons had concluded that the plan of county and city subscriptions to railways was inexpedient and likely to produce mischief. It was stated that subscriptions to the amount of $75,000 had been obtained in the city during the same week. The directors of the Central Ohio held a meeting in Columbus on the same day on which the vote just mentioned was taken. Bids for the grading and masonry of thirtysix miles of the line from a point three miles east of Newark to Columbus were invited at Zanesville September 24, 1850. By April 13, 1852, the road was all under contract ; and on May 22, same year three hundred men were at work on the line five miles east of Columbus; on 260 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. November 20 the tracklayers were putting down rails just east of the Columbus station ; and on January 20, 1853, the road was complete to Zanesville and the following newspaper statement was made: We are happy to announce that the Central Ohio Railroad, from Columbus to Zanesville is now open, and the cars make regular trips between the two places. Yesterday the first train came through and landed its passengers at the depot of the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati roads. At a quarter past two o'clock P. M. the train started for Zanesville with a goodly number of passengers. The time is now three hours. The road is just finished and the speed will be moderate and safe till it is properly settled when it will be run as rapidly as any road in the State.8 The same paper of January 31, 1853, made the following statement in relation to " the great work at Big Walnut:" For at least a mile east of the stream the work is the heaviest that we have ever seen in the West. . . . Last summer, when a full force was at work, the cholera broke out and between fifty and sixty hands died in a short time. This created a perfect panic and the whole force scattered to the four winds. It took weeks to restore them and the best part of the season was lost. It became evident that the embankment could not be finished this winter and the only remedy was to erect a large trestle of over one thousand feet in length and varying from twentyfive to forty feet in height. This . . . was finished about the first of January. . . . The track is now laid on string pieces on the top of these trestles and the work of embanking goes on by using cars and dropping the load from them to the bank below. The trestle work will thus, in time, be entirely covered up and the track will be laid on the top of one of the heaviest fillings we have seen. When the road passes the valley and strikes the high ground east of it the cutting commences and is not only very heavy but is through material that has made it extremely laborious and difficult. A portion of the hill was composed of a blue slate stone. Another portion was formed of blue clay in which were small bowlders, gravel, &c., packed so solid that the picks produced but little impression on it. It was one of the most difficult jobs that has been found in the West. On February 4, 1853, the members of the General Assembly and the officers of state journeyed over the road to Zanesville, whither they were invited by the authorities of that city. The officers of the company in September, 1853, were : President, John H. Sullivan ; vice president, George James; treasurer, S. R. Hosmer ; auditor and secretary, William Wing; executive committee, John H. Sullivan, S. R. Hosmer, George B. Wright, George James, James L. Cox and Samuel Brush. In 1851 the company erected a roundhouse, a " locomotive depot," a repair shop and an " extensive blacksmith shop " adjoining the station grounds in Columbus. On August 30, 1854, the board of directors was so reorganized as to distribute its membership along the whole line, the officers remaining unchanged. The members of the board were, N. Wright and Jonathan Davenport, of Belmont County ; Isaac W. Hill and Moses Sarchett, of Guernesy County ; J. H. Sullivan, S. R. Hosmer, N. S. Whittemore, William Gallagher and Samuel Clark of Muskingum County ; George B. Wright of Licking ; D. W. Deshler and Samuel Brush of Franklin ; and Chauncy Brooks of Baltimore. The road was open to Cambridge, eighty-five miles from Columbus, June 7, 1854, and in October following, D. S. Gray was appointed its agent at Columbus. On Monday, October 6, 1854, regular through passenger trains began running in connection with the through trains on the Baltimore & Ohio. RAIL WAYS - 261 On the morning of November 15, 1854, an excursion train left Wheeling for Columbus. It had on board several hundred Baltimoreans, including Thomas Swann, President of the Baltimore & Ohio, Z. Collins Lee, a prominent Baltimore lawyer, and others. Of the visit of these excursionists at Columbus we have the following account : Under the auspices of the City Council a magnificent feast was prepared at the Neil House for the guests. W. B. Hubbard was president and Theodore Comstock, of the City Council, vice president. John H. Sullivan, president of the Central Ohio Railroad Company, spoke briefly ; Mr. Hubbard responded and introduced Thomas Swan, during several years president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, who expressed thanks to Colonel Sullivan, and sketched the history of the Baltimore & Ohio road. lie referred to the financial difficulties the company had met with. The first loan was made in New York, but when the money market became tight, that market could no longer be relied on. They then turned to Baltimore and there found sympathy and aid to the amount of $1,500,000. He spoke specially of the great services of the house of Garrett & Sons. Other addresses were made by Colonel Kinnie, of Frederick, Maryland, and Samuel Brush, of Columbus. While Mr. Kinnie was speaking about a yard square of the plastering over time centre of the centre table let go and fell with a tremendous crash upon the dishes. No one was hurt," but several were frightened. On January 3, 1855, the Ohio State Journal significant remarked : " Wo have heard of no accident on the Central Ohio for thirty-six hours." In 1855 D. W. Deshler was elected to but declined the presidency of the road, whereupon Elias Fassett, of New York, was chosen president and J. W. Baldwin, of Columbus, director, the latter to succeed Samuel Brush, resigned. In December, 1855, the financial embarrassment of the road became generally known. The following statement was published : Cost of the road, $6,200,000; paid up stock, $1,600,000; first mortgage bonds, $1,000,000; second ditto, $1,000,000; third ditto, $1,000,000; floating debt, $1,600,000. "The most serious difficulty under which the road now labors is," it was said, "that for two or three months past the great tunnel [at Cambridge] has been gradually caving in. . . . Passengers and freight are transported in stages and wagons around the tunnel." This further statement was made: " The Wheeling injunction [to prohibit the crossing at Bellair] having been dissolved and connection made at Benwood, traffic will be greatly facilitated." At a meeting of the company's creditors held at Zanesville, January 23, 1856, W. B. Hubbard suggested, from a committee, as a means of relief to creditors, the issue of a fourth mortgage for twenty years at seven per cent. On August 26, 1856, H. J. Jewett was elected president and Daniel Applegate, treasurer. Mr. Jewett served as president and receiver until the lease of the road. The officers chosen January 6, 1859, were : President, H. J. Jewett ; vice president, E. Fassett ; treasurer, D. Applegate; secretary, William Wing; general freight agent, D. S. Gray ; general ticket agent, J. W. Brown; directors, D. W. Deshler, J. W. Baldwin and W. B. Brooks, of Columbus. On February 19, 1859, the company was subjected to great annoyance and expense by a landslide near Cambridge. A hillside on which the track was laid slid downwards, carrying the track with it. 262 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. On April 21, 1859, suit was brought for foreclosure by George S. Coe, trustee, and H. J. Jewett was appointed receiver; but without sale, a plan of reorganization was agreed upon, whereby the first and second mortgage bonds, with the accrued and past due interest on the first mortgage, were to be exchanged for new bonds to the amount of $2,500,000, at six per cent., due September 1, 1890, secured by a mortgage on the road and its equipments, with a sinking fund of $16,000 per year; the second mortgage bondholders to concede onehalf of the accrued interest and take coupons for the other half, payable in ten annual installments; the third mortgage bonds to be paid by the proceeds of the sale of the undivided half of the road between Columbus & Newark to the Steubenville & Indiana Railroad Company ; the fourth mortgage bonds to be paid at par in common stock at par, or preferred stock at eighty cents on the dollar ; income bonds to be exchanged for preferred stock at sixty cents on the dollar, or common stock at eighty cents; the floating debt to be paid in common stock at sixty cents. Judgments taken prior to May, 1859, including interest, were to be received at the original amount. The original stock was to be redeemed with common stock at forty cents on the dollar. This arrangement imposed a loss on the holders of the original stock and indebtedness of nearly $4,000,000. Some of the first and second mortgage bondholders refused to agree to the arrangement, and proceedings were commenced to force a sale of the property, but the agreement was finally assented to by all, and on March 28, 1865, the trustees made sale of the property to George B. Wright, vice president and agent. This sale was followed by reconstruction of the company November 1, 1865, as "The Central Ohio Railroad Company as Reorganized," and on November 8, the original company conveyed the property to the new one. On December 1, 1866, the Baltimore & Ohio and the reorganized Central Ohio companies entered into an agreement for the operation of the Central Ohio for five years, subject to discontinuance on twelvemonths notice, the Baltimore & Ohio to operate and maintain the road, pay all expenses and taxes, and prorate sixtyfive per cent. of the gross earnings for the first five years and sixty per cent. thereafter ; that is, to pay the Central Ohio thirtyfive per cent. of the gross earnings for the first five years and forty per cent. thereafter, provided that the payments to the Central Ohio should not exceed $166,000 per year. This agreement was amended February 13, 1869, so that the amount paid on account of the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark Railroad should be thirtyfive per cent. on the gross earnings during twenty years instead of forty per cent., the contract, after the first five years, to extend in periods of twenty years indefinitely, except on twelvemonths notice of discontinuance. On the same date the Central Ohio made a contract with the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark, by which the former leased the road to the latter company for seventeen years and three months with power of continuance in twentyyear terms by the Central Ohio. This gave the Central Ohio Company its own line from Newark to Bellair, 104 miles; the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark,116 miles; and onehalf of the road from Columbus to Newark, 33 miles; total, 253 miles. The rental was $174,350 yearly, and all taxes, damages and operating expenses. The Central Ohio during the first eleven years after its opening for business in 1854 paid no dividends, and only a RAILWAYS - 263 part of its interest. In 1868 a dividend of $22,845 was paid on its preferred stock ; a three per cent. dividend was paid in 1867, and again in 1868. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company was incorporated by the legislature of Maryland in March, 1827, with a capital of $3,000,000, which might be increased to $5,000,000. The act of incorporation was indorsed by the legislature of Virginia on condition that Wheeling should be made the Ohio River terminus. The Company preferred to make its terminal connections at Parkersburg, but accepted the conditions imposed by Virginia, and finally built a line to both Parkersburg and Wheeling. The road was completed to Cumberland, 178 miles, in March, 1842; to Piedmont July 21, 1851; and to Wheeling January 11, 1853. Incidentally it may be observed that New York had completed the Erie canal in 1825, and that Philadelphia was reaching out by canals for the trade of what was then called the West, but Baltimore seemed to be cut off from that trade by impassable mountains. Just at this time railway transportation began to be developed, and Baltimore undertook to construct the Baltimore & Ohio line. This brought hope to her citizens and its inspiration reached an enterprising citizen of New York, Mr. Peter Cooper, who, with two others, bought three thousand acres of land within the city limits of Baltimore. Mr. Cooper was finally obliged to pay fir this land himself. In an address delivered on the anniversary of his birth the following additional facts were stated by Hon. Seth Low : The Baltimore & Ohio had laid a track for thirteen miles to Ellicott's Mills, which was operated by horses, and this track ran through or near Peter Cooper's land. The horsecar line did not pay and the land speculation was threatened with disaster. Peter Cooper therefore turned his attention to steam as the proper motive power for the road. At one point there was a sharp turn of 150 feet radius. Stephenson, the great English inventor, was reported to have said that steam could not be used as a motor on any curve with less than 900 feet radius. Peter Cooper believed he could demonstrate that it could be. With incredible perseverance he built the Tom Thumb, the first locomotive built in this country for experimental use upon a regular railroad, in which he successfully overcame the mechanical difficulties involved. The Tom Thumb made the sharp curve and covered the distance, thirteen miles, in one hour and twelve minutes. The return trip, on a down grade, was made in fiftyseven minutes This was in August, 1830. On April 13, 1882, the Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad Company was incorporated with a capital of $2,000,000 to build a railway from Columbus to the Marietta & Cincinnati line, between New Lexington and Clinton Valley Station. This company, on September 19, 1882, acquired the rights of the Miami Valley & Columbus Railway Company, previously incorporated. A contract was made with Frost, Stearns & Hoover for the construction, and on June 20, 1883, the work was begun. On June 27, same year, the route was so changed as to place the southern terminus at Wilmington. The Midland Construction Company was organized with a capital of $50,000, its members being Colonel Orland Smith, Stearns, Hoover & Co., and others. It contracted to build and equip the road, the railway company agreeing to furnish the right of way, and pay the contractors partly in bonds and stock. The road was completed and put into operation November 13, 1884, on which date an excursion train bore the Columbus Board of Trade, city officials and invited guests to Cincinnati. On January 3, 1890, the road was 264 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. leased to the Central Ohio Railroad Company for 999 years, the lease to be assigned to the Baltimore & Ohio Company, together with $1,000,000 preferred stock, the Baltimore & Ohio company to secure four and a half per cent. on the $2,000,000 of bonds of the Columbus & Cincinnati Midland, as the new property had been named. In October, 1866, the Baltimore & Ohio company established what was known as a " lightning express," the first car of which reached Columbus October 23. The company had fifty of these cars built to run on " passenger trucks" in passenger trains, especially to accommodate the oyster trade, and as many as ten cars of oysters have been delivered at this city in one train, the average carload consisting of eighty-two cases each containing about fifty quartcans of oysters. The first Pullman palace drawing room and sleepingcar to arrive at Columbus came in a Baltimore & Ohio train August 26, 1871. On December 14, 1873, while a train belonging to this road was pulling out of the Columbus station, the boiler of its engine exploded, instantly killing Daniel Cooper, the engineer. The fireman, David Laugherty, escaped with slight injury. The engine and several cars near it were completely wrecked. On December 26, 1873, the employes of railways centering at Columbus inaugurated a strike, an account of which will be found in its appropriate place. On the twenty-second of the same month the Baltimore & Ohio Company reduced its fare from Columbus to Washington to ten dollars, and before order was restored, further reduced the rate to seven dollars The regular rates as restored April 20, 1874, were : Columbus to Baltimore or Washington, $13.50; to Philadelphia, $15.50; to New York, $17.50. The company now owns or controls fifty-two different trunk or branch lines of railway having an aggregate length of 1,922.48 miles. Columbus, Piqua and Indiana.—This company was incorporated February 23, 1849, by Joseph Ridgway, Junior, William S. Sullivant and William Dennison of Franklin County, and others of Madison, Champaign, Miami and Darke counties, with a capital of $2,000,000 and authority to construct a railway from Columbus or some point on the Columbus & Xenia line via Urbana and Piqua to Greenville, Darke County, and thence by such route as the directors might choose to the western boundary of Ohio. J. P. Williamson, secretary, on October 30, 1850, invited bids for grading, masonry, etc., on twentytwo miles between Covington in Miami County and St. Paris in Champaign, and on May 20, 1851, A. G. Conover, engineer, invited bids for the grading and masonry from St. Paris to Columbus. On March 12, 1851, the company was authorized to change its route at discretion west of Covington and also to change its eastern terminus. Tracklaying began at High Street, Columbus, November 20, 1852, and on June 6, 1853, it was stated that on the preceding Saturday a party numbering forty or fifty persons had traveled over the road from Columbus to Pleasant Valley, about eighteen miles. The first locomotive for the road was received from Boston, August 14, 1852, and it was then announced that seven hundred tons of iron for the track had reached Quebec. The first passenger train passed between Columbus & Piqua October 16, 1854, on which date three such trains were put upon the line. A passenger train first ran over the entire line on April 19, 1859. The officers on February 17, RAILWAYS - 265 1853, were : President, M. G. Mitchell; vice president, William Dennison ; secretary, Joseph M. Ewing ; treasurer, William Scott ; chief engineer, A. G. Conover; superintendent, J. R. Hilliard. In February, 1856, the following directors were elected : William Neil, president; John L. Gill, B. E. Smith, T. L. Jewett, M. G. Mitchell, Joseph Ridgway, Robert E. Neil, A. Stone, Junior, J. W. Yandes, J. R. Hilliard, H. Kitchen and H. Cable. The company having become embarrassed, foreclosure proceedings were begun June 17, 1856, by George S. Coe, and a receiver was appointed, but before the property could be sold a reorganization was effected and approved by the court. The road and its franchises were finally sold August 6,1863, for $500,000, and were transferred to the trustees of the reorganization. By this arrangement $1,158,108 of the original stock of the Columbus, Piqua & Indiana Railroad Company was sunk. On January 6, 1859, M. G. Mitchell was president, J. W. Bradley general agent, A. G. Conover chief engineer, John Ferson secretary and R. Walkup superintendent. At a meeting held at Columbus, October 2, 1863, for the purpose of reorganization, the name Columbus & Indianapolis Railroad Company was adopted, and B. E. Smith, John Gardiner, G. V. Dorsey, John L. Gill, John R. Hilliard, John H. Bradley, S. M. Waln, John F. Seeley and Joseph T. Thomas were chosen directors. B. E. Smith was elected president, John H. Bradley vice president, James Alexander treasurer, and H. P. Bigelow secretary. The sale of the road and the proceedings for its reorganization were judicially approved November 20. On September 5, 1864, the company purchased the Richmond & Covington railway "from a stake in the track of the Columbus, Piqua & Indiana Railroad, on land of John Somers, in Newberry Township, Miami County, to and through the counties of Miami, Darke and Preble, to the State line of the State of Indiana," thirty-two and a half miles, for $644,000, of which amount $356,000 was paid for bonds and stock of the Richmond & Covington, which bonds and stock the Columbus & Indianapolis company redeemed with corresponding pledges of its own. A certificate was filed with the Secretary of State October 17, 1864, consolidating the Columbus & Indianapolis and the Indiana Central companies as the Columbus & Indianapolis Central, the Indiana Central being then in operation between Indianapolis and Richmond. The stock of the new company was $3,000,000. The stockholders of the Columbus & Indianapolis were to exchange their stock at par; the stockholders of the Indiana Central were to receive $160.31 consolidated stock for $100 of the old stock, all of which was to be surrendered, the holders of convertible bonds to receive consolidated bonds to a like amount. B. E. Smith was president of the new company, James Alexander treasurer, and Gordon Moodie secretary. On September 10, 1867, a certificate was filed for another organization consolidating the Columbus & Indianapolis Central, the Logansport & Burlington (from Logansport to the western boundary of Indiana), and the Union & Logansport (from Union City to Logansport), as the Columbus & Indiana Central Railway Company. The Cincinnati & Chicago Airline was incorporated July 10, 1860, by purchasers of the Logansport & Chicago Railway from Richmond to Logansport, and on January 25, 1865, the Chicago & Great Eastern and the Cincinnati & Chicago Airline were consolidated as the Chicago 266 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. & Great Eastern, this being the fourth company of that name, and including the Galena & Illinois River, Chicago & Great Eastern and Chicago & Cincinnati companies of Indiana. On February 12, 1868, a consolidation took place, pursuant to an agreement of December 4, 1867, of the Columbus & Indiana Central, and the fourth company named Chicago & Great Eastern, as the Columbus & Indiana Central, embracing the following lines: Chicago to Columbus, Bradford Junction to the western boundary of Ohio, from that boundary to Indianapolis, from Richmond to Logansport, and from Logansport to the western boundary of Indiana, making an aggregate of 587.8 miles. The stock of the new company was fixed at $15,000,000, of which the stockholders of the Chicago & Great Eastern (number one) were to exchange their holdings at par, and the stockholders of the Columbus & Indiana' Central were to have share for share, $2,000,000 of the new stock to be distributed to them pro rata if presented within ninety days after ratification of the agreement. Bonds to the amount of $15,000,000 were to be issued, of which $11,000,000 were to be applied to the redemption of a like amount issued at par by the consolidated companies. At a meeting of the stockholders held in Columbus in February, 1868, at which over eight and a half million dollars of stock was represented, the following directors were elected : W. D. Thompson, Frederick R.. Fowler, W. D. Judson, Amos Tenney, Henry Morgan, James W. Elwell and Lawrence Wells, of New York ; Joseph T. Thomas, of Pennsylvania; Joseph E. Young, of Illinois; John S. Newman and J. N. Converse, of Indiana; and B. E. Smith, William Dennison, John Gardiner and John R. Hilliard of Ohio. B. E. Smith was chosen president, Gordon Moodie secretary, and James Alexander treasurer. On February 1, 1869, the Columbus, Chicago & Indiana Central leased its entire system to the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis, and the Pennsylvania companies. The lines embraced in this lease are described as follows: From its terminus in Chicago, through Cook County in said state southward to the State of Indiana, and through the counties of Lake, Porter, La Porte, Starke, Pulaski, Cass, Howard, Tipton, Madison, Henry and Wayne in Indiana, to Richmond, and thence eastward to the State of Ohio and through the counties of Preble, Darke, Miami, Champaign, Union, Madison and Franklin in said state to Columbus; and also extending from Richmond, Indiana, aforesaid, westward through the counties of Wayne, Henry, Hancock and Marion to Indianapolis, Indiana ; and also extending from the main line aforesaid at a point in Miami County, Ohio, westward through Darke County, Ohio, to the Indiana State line at Union ; and thence westward through the counties of Randolph, Jay, Blackford, Grant, Miami, Cass, White, Jasper and Newton, in Indiana, to the line of the State of Illinois, in the direction of Peoria. The lease, running for a term of ninetynine years, provided that the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis company should maintain the roads leased " in good working condition and repair as first class roads, together with all sidetracks, stationhouses, rollingstock, equipments and other property, and should reserve seventy per cent. of the gross earnings, thirty per cent. thereof to be applied to payment of the interest on $20,000,000 of the bonds of the C. C. & I. C. company and interest on income bonds that might be issued, the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis to pay the interest in any event, the surplus, remaining, if any, to be RAILWAYS - 267 paid to the C. C. & I. C. company. The P. C. & St. L. company was prohibited from making any consolidation of earnings or running arrangements with any other company for competing business or traffic without the consent of the Columbus; Chicago & Indiana Central. It was further provided that the lines thus consolidated should at all times be placed upon a perfect quality with any others that might " connect at Pittsburgh, as to the rate and facilities for joint transportation for all classes of traffic to and from all points east or west," any differences arising as to the relations of the contracting parties to be submitted to arbitration. The last two clauses of the agreement may have been dictated by the experience of one of the parties thereto, for when the Panhandle organization first leased the Columbus, Piqua & Indiana road, and a foreclosure began to be talked about, some of the friends of the latter claimed that the former had discriminated against it in favor of the Pittsburgh, Bellefontaine & Indiana line which it already controlled, in relation to traffic between Pittsburgh and Chicago. On February 1, 1870, an amended lease was executed by which the mortgage indebtedness of the Columbus, Chicago & Indiana Central was reduced to $15,821000, and the amount to be paid by the lessee as rental should in no case be less than seven per cent. of that amount per annum. The New York & Erie Railway Company had offered to lease the property of the Columbus, Chicago & Indiana Central, pay the interest on the debt of that company and guarantee an average annual dividend of seven per cent. on its stock, but the proposition was unanimously rejected. The wisdom of this action may be doubted. The offer rejected would have furnished a certain income, whereas the one accepted was, in its terms, uncertain as the sequel proved. Differences having arisen as to the meaning of certain portions of the lease, the lessee (the P. C. & St. L.) refused to pay the rental from which the interest on the bonds could be met, and on application of the C. C. &. I. C. to the United States Court, W. R. Fosdick, of New York, was appointed receiver, and to him the lessees paid the net receipts of the road. The first and second mortgage bondholders of the C. C. & I. C. company appointed committees to protect their interests. Several years of litigation followed, during which the Pennsylvania Company, through W. L. Scott, of Erie, obtained a controlling amount of the bonds and stock. Scott brought suit for payment of the unpaid interest on the first mortgage bonds; foreclosure under this suit was ordered in February, 1883; the road and franchises were sold at Indianapolis ; and the company was reorganized as the Chicago, St. Louis & Pittsburgh, thus becoming a part of the system of railways west of Pittsburgh controlled by the Pennsylvania company. Steubenville & Indiana. —This company was incorporated February 24, 1848, with a capital of $3,500,000,_ and authority to construct a railway from Steubenville along the Connotton or Stillwater Creek to Mt. Vernon, and "thence to the Indiana state line at any point between Willshire and Fort Recovery; but the company was forbidden to locate its road west of Mount Vernon parallel to that of any other company previously incorporated which had in good faith begun the construction of its line. This restriction appears in many of the charters granted about that time and seems to have been intended to prevent the construction of com- 268 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. peting and parallel lines. On March 12, 1849, the act was so amended as to authorize the company to construct a branch from Coshocton via Newark to Columbus; also from Steubenville via Mount Vernon to the Indiana boundary at any point between Wiltshire and Fort Recovery, inclusive. Another charter granted March 12, 1849, authorized the construction of a railway from the west end of the Steubenville bridge to the junction with the Central Ohio Railway at Newark, 117+ miles. The Columbus & Pittsburgh Railway Company was granted a charter March 2, 1846, but no action in pursuance thereof was taken. In May, 1848, a railway convention for Central Ohio, held at Coshocton with W. B. Hubbard as chairman, recommended a survey of different routes, the reports of such surveys to be referred to a committee of which Robert Neil and Joseph Ridgway, Junior, were the Franklin County members. This committee subsequently reported in favor of a line from Columbus to the western terminus of the Philadelphia & Pittsburgh roads, and also one to the western terminus of the Baltimore & Ohio Railway at Wheeling. On May 3, 1849, a convention in the interest of a railway from Pittsburgh via Steubenville to Columbus and St. Louis was held at Steubenville, at which Joseph Ridgway, of Columbus, was chairman, and committees were appointed to secure the location of the line and obtain subscriptions in the counties through which it would pass. The committeemen for Franklin County were Joseph Ridgway, Junior, W. B. Hubbard and William Dennison. The members of the first board of directors of this road, elected March 6, 1850, were Daniel Kilgore, John Andrews, James Means, William McDonald, Thompson Hanna, William K. Johnson and James Parks. Daniel Kilgore was chosen president, R. S. Moody secretary, Daniel L. Collier treasurer, Jacob Blickensderfer chief engineer, and T. L. Jewett and Thomas Means solicitors. J. G. Morris was subsequently elected secretary and treasurer in place of Moody and Collier, resigned, and James Means president vice Kilgore deceased. On April 19, 1855, Mr. Means resigned the presidency and W. B. Hubbard was chosen in his place, but he too soon resigned and was succeeded by Thomas L. Jewett, who was elected June 7, 1855, and served as president and receiver until the consolidation of the company with the Pittsburgh and Steubenville company. In December, 1851, contracts were made for the construction of the road between Steubenville and Coshocton, but owing to the depressed condition of the money market, little was done until May or June, 1852, when work was begun along the entire line. On December 22, 1853, regular trains were run from Steubenville to Unionport, and on April 11, 1855, the president reported the road complete from Steubenville to Newark. To procure iron and machinery, bonds to the amount of $1,500,000 were issued October 1, 1852. On November 1, 1853, a second mortgage of $900,000 was executed, followed on February 15, 1856, by a third issue-of $600,000, and afterward by income bonds amounting to $431,150. On April 17, 1857, an arrangement was made between the Central Ohio and the Steubenville & Indiana companies by which the former agreed to haul the traffic of the latter between Newark and Columbus. Preliminary surveys had been made, in 1853, by the Steubenville and Indiana Company preparatory to the construction of a line from Newark to Columbus, and on March 14, 1864, a contract RAILWAYS. 269 was made for the sale of an undivided half of the road between Columbus and Newark, by the Central Ohio to the Steubenville & Indiana Company, for $775,000. On August 31, 1864, this sale was judicially confirmed and a mortgage for the amount of the purchase money was put upon the property. The road becoming embarrassed and being unable to pay its interest, suit was brought at the September term, 1859, of the Harrison County Common Pleas by Robert Garrett & Sons and the Pennsylvania Railroad Company on $838,000 of the bonds and interest, and on September 2, T. L. Jewett was appointed receiver, with power to operate the road under order of the court. In 1863 Robert Garrett & Sons and the Pennsylvania Railroad Company began suit for foreclosure on the first and second mortgages, and in November a decree was entered for $3,692,766 and a sale was ordered. Accordingly, on February 27, 1864, the road and its franchises were sold at public auction to J. Edgar Thompson, Henry M. Alexander and George W. McCook, for $1,908,889. Before confirmation of this sale a plan of adjustment without a sale was submitted to the creditors and accepted by them. In accordance with this agreement the first and second mortgages were reduced to $3,000,000 (a shrinkage of $692,766), payment was extended to January 1, 1884, and a new six per cent. twenty-year mortgage, dated April 19,1864, was executed, followed by another for $1,500,000 payable April 1, 1894, to secure the old third mortgage and income bonds. On March 24, 1849, the legislature of Pennsylvania incorporated the Pittsburgh & Steubenville road from Pittsburgh to the State line towards Steubenville, thirtysix miles, and on March 30, 1860, the Virginia legislature incorporated the Holliday's Cove Railway across the Panhandle " of Virginia, connecting the Pittsburgh & Steubenville at the State line with the Steubenville & Indiana at the Steubenville bridge. On October 1, 1865, the receiver made arrangements with the Pittsburgh & Steubenville Company to operate the whole line as the Pittsburgh, Columbus & Cincinnati Railway and it was so operated until consolidated with the Pittsburgh & Steubenville and the Holliday's Cove lines and became known as the Panhandle Company, the capital of which was $4,400,000. On December 26, 1867, this company agreed to issue $2,500,000 preferred stock. On March 17, 1868, the Panhandle, the Holliday's Cove and the Steubenville & Indiana companies were consolidated as the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis, which company, on January 22, 1869, leased the Columbus, Chicago & Indiana Central Railway on a perpetual lease for thirty per cent. of the gross earnings, the P. C. & St. L. Company agreeing to pay the interest on $20,000,000 of bonds of the C., C. & I. C. Company. The lines owned or controlled by the P. C. & St. L. Company at this time comprised the following: Main line between Columbus and Pittsburgh ; branch. from Cadiz Junction to Cadiz ; branch from New Cumberland June.. tion to New Cumberland ; branch from Bridgeville to Rend's Mines; Pittsburgh to Birmingham ; yard tracks at Union Station, Columbus; Columbus & Indiana Central, leased ; and Little Miami and Columbus & Xenia ; total length of track 998.76 miles. The consolidated line thus formed was known as the Panhandle route. The stock of the new company was $10,000,000 — $3,000,000 preferred and $7,000,000 common. The stock of the Panhandle Company was to be converted 270 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. into the stock of the new company as follows : Not over 20,000 shares of seven per cent. preferred stock of the P. C. & St. L. Company to be exchanged for a similar amount of stock in the new company ; not more than 20,000 shares of the common stock to be exchanged for 10,000 shares of the new stock, the residue of the common to be merged into the stock of the new company, but nothing to be given in exchange; the stock of the Steubenville & Indiana Company, not exceeding 40,000 shares, to be exchanged for a like amount of new stock, share for share. The Holliday's Cove stock was sunk. On April 5, 1872, a certificate was filed with the Ohio Auditor of State that the assent of twothirds of the stockholders had been given to the issue of $3,500,000 of preferred stock. On May 5, 1868, a first mortgage was executed for $10,000,000 at seven per cent., due in 1900, the bonds to be issued and disposed of as follows : The first preferred seven per cent. stock of the Panhandle Railway Company, not exceeding 20,000 shares, to be exchanged for a like amount of the new stock, share for share ; the common stock not exceeding 20,000 shares, to be exchanged for 10,000 shares of the new—two for one; and the residue of the Panhandle stock to be merged into that of the P. C. & St. L. company without any equivalent. Of the Steubenville & Indiana stock not more than forty thousand shares of the first preferred were to be exchanged share for share for a like amount of the new, and not more than 40,000 shares of the common were to be converted into a like amount of the common stock of the new company. In October, 1870, the order of sale of the Steubenville & Indiana line by the Harrison County court was set aside, by consent of the parties, and the receiver was discharged. The original incorporators of the P. C. & St. L. Company were James Wilson, James Means, Nathaniel Dike, William McDonald, Daniel L. Collier, John Orr, John Andrews, David W. McGowan, James Gallagher, James McKinney, Roswell Marsh, James Turnbull, and Alexander Doyle. On April 1, 1873, a second forty year seven per cent. mortgage for $5,000,000 to pay unadjusted floating debt outstanding, and to furnish "additional facilities needed from time to time for increasing the business of the road" was executed. On September 1, 1869, a contract was made with the Western Union Telegraph Company by which the railway obtained the " sole and exclusive use and enjoyment of the first wire upon its poles" along its line from Pittsburgh to Columbus, from Chicago to Logansport, and from Columbus to Indianapolis, for railway business for twenty years. A fifteen year contract was made January 27, 1870, with the Pullman Palace Car Company by which the latter agreed to provide its cars and keep their furnishings in good condition, the railway company thus stipulating: " In consideration of the use of the aforesaid cars [the railway company] agrees to haul the same in the passenger trains on their own line of road, and on all roads which they now control or may hereafter control," and to " furnish fuel for the cars and material for the light," and to wash and cleanse the cars and to keep them in repair." By contract of January 10, 1871, the Westinghouse Air Brake Company agreed to deliver to the railway as many sets of its apparatus as might be ordered at $425 for each locomotive, car and tender. By another contract of June 25, 1873, running ten years, the Pennsylvania and the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati RAILWAYS - 271 & St. Louis companies agreed with the Pittsburgh & Western company to run its cars " constructed upon the most approved plan " and " with the best appliances for preserving fresh meat and other perishable freight from spoiling in the summer and freezing in the winter." On May 25, 1874, the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis and the Baltimore & Ohio companies were authorized by city ordinance to construct and equip a railway track on Reed or Mulberry Street from their existing track to Broad Street with the consent of the owners of more than half of the abutting property. During the year 1884 the company built a large roundhouse of thirty-eight stalls on Summit Street, to accommodate all of its lines touching Columbus. The first "fast mail " train over the Panhandle route arrived at Columbus September 13, 1875, in nineteen hours and twentyfive minutes from New York, bringing eastern newspapers twelve hours in advance of the usual time. While a westward bound passenger train, containing two sleeping and two passenger coaches, was passing between Black Lick and Taylor's Station on September 21, 1876, a broken journal caused the cars to leave the track and roll down an embankment of twenty-five or thirty feet. Four persons were killed and many were wounded. The general passenger and ticket department of the Panhandle organization remained at Columbus until March, 1881, when it was removed to Pittsburgh. On November 1, 1890, the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago &St. Louis Railway Company was formed by consolidation of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis, the Chicago, St. Louis & Pittsburgh, the Cincinnati & Richmond and the Jefferson, Madison & Indianapolis companies on terms which were then made known to the public. Cleveland, Akron & Columbus. —This was part of a line which formerly belonged to the Cleveland, Zanesville & Cincinnati company, which had its origin under an amendment to the charter of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh road authorizing that corporation to construct a railway from Hudson, in Portage County, through Cuyahoga Falls and Akron to Wooster or some other point on the Ohio & Pennsylvania line, between Wooster & Massillon and to connect with any other road running in the direction of Columbus. Its name at that time was the Akron Branch of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railway, but in 1853 it was changed by judicial order to that of Cleveland, Zanesville & Cincinnati. Subsequently operated by a receiver, the road was sold in 1846 to George W. Cass and John J. Marvin, and at a later date it was leased and operated by the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago ; and still later by the Pennsylvania Railway Company. The Pittsburgh, Mount Vernon, Columbus & London Railway Company, organized in May, 1869, purchased the unfinished road and right of way of the Springfield, Mount Vernon & Pittsburgh Company from Delaware through Mount Vernon to Millersburgh, forty-three miles. The same company purchased the property of the Cleveland, Zanesville & Cincinnati company extending from Hudson to the coal mines southwest of Millersburgh, sixty-five miles, and at the same time got a lease of the Massillon and Cleveland company's line from Massillon to Clinton, thirteen miles. In December, 1869, the name was changed to that of Cleveland, Mount Vernon & Delaware Railroad Company, and the capital stock was increased from $1,000,000 to $1,500,000. These purchases and assignments of lease gave the com- 272 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. pany seventy-eight miles of equipped road besides the line between Millersburgh and Mount Vernon, on which the work of construction was then being prosecuted. The town of Delaware guaranteed the sum of $165,000 required to complete the road to that place, and the statement was made that the company expected soon to have a direct line from Delaware to Hudson on the Cleveland & Pittsburgh. The road as proposed would pass through Mount Vernon, Gambier, Millersburgh, Orrville, Clinton, Akron and Cuyahoga Falls. A proposition to change the location of the road to Columbus caused the appointment of a committee of citizens to obtain the subscription of $125,000, which was required as a condition to that result. The road was finally built from Mount Vernon to Columbus and its first train arrived at this city from Mount Vernon at 9:10 o'clock A. M., September 1, 1873. The title of the road was changed to that of Cleveland, Akron & Columbus. Columbus, Springfield & Cincinnati. —The Springfield & Columbus railroad company's charter was granted March 2, 1846 ; was amended February 24, 1848 ; and was repealed February 16, 1849, when the Columbus, Springfield & Cincinnati company was incorporated with authority to construct a railway from Springfield to Columbus, or to some point on the Columbus & Xenia line. On May 14, 1849, Springfield voted a subscription of $10,000 to the company's capital stock. In November, 1835, a movement was made in Columbus looking to the construction of a branch of the Mad River & Lake Erie Railway from Springfield to this place, " or to connect at some convenient point with the contemplated railroad from Cincinnati by the way of the Little Miami Valley to Springfield." On December 20, 1837, the following statements were published : The citizens of Sandusky were gratified by an experiment of the speed of a locomotive on the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad. . . . It drew four passenger cars containing about one hundred and fifty gentlemen, at the rate of twenty, thirty and even fifty miles an hour. All were astonished at the command which the engineer possessed over the movements of the engine. .. . It is anticipated that at least fifty miles of this road will be completed during the year 1838, and probably the whole line be in successful operation before the expiration of the year 1840." On September 26, 1843, Joseph Vance, president of the company, received proposals for clearing, grubbing, grading, bridging and getting out timber for the superstructure of the road between Tiffin and Carey, and gave notice that the company would offer at public sale some lots in the town of Carey, " which it is believed," he said, "is destined at no distant day to become one of the most important business points in Northern Ohio." The road was completed from Sandusky to Springfield, 134 miles, in August, 1848, thus making a continuous line from Cincinnati to Sandusky ; and, on April 13, 1849, it was announced that two trains of cars would thenceforth leave Cincinnati daily for Sandusky City. This road, like all the earlier ones, was laid with flat rails. The Columbus, Springfield & Cincinnati company had constructed a road from Springfield to London, and on June 1, 1854, it was leased to the Mad River & Lake Erie company for fifteen years, the lessee to pay the interest on $150,000 of the lessor's bonds, but this condition not being complied with, on January 2, RAILWAYS - 273 1865, J. W. Pierce began proceedings for foreclosure, under which a decree was issued on February 5, 1868, and on May 8, the road and appurtenances were sold to Mr. Pierce for $100,000. On May 7, 1869, a new company was incorporated as the Columbus, Springfield & Cincinnati, capital, $1,500,000, with authority to construct a railway through the counties of Franklin, Madison and Clark. To this company J. W. Pierce and wife transferred by deed on September 4, 1869, the Columbus & Springfield property for $250,000 paid up stock in the new company, to which, on May 9, 1870, the Columbus City Council by ordinance granted the privilege of locating, maintaining and using its tracks across High Street at a point opposite the south line of the North Graveyard and also across Park Street and Dennison Avenue. In case the tracks so permitted to be laid should be above or below the grade of these streets so as to obstruct the travel thereof, the company was obliged to "put and maintain such street or alley in condition for the safe and easy passage of animals or vehicles." By contract of June 25, 1870, the Columbus, Springfield & Cincinnati company leased its property to the Cincinnati, Sandusky & Cleveland for ninetynine years, commencing July 1, 1870, the lessor agreeing to construct its road from London to Columbus by September 1, 1871, and put its line between Columbus and Springfield in complete repair, and the lessee to have the right to issue $1,100,000 of bonds, the Columbus, Springfield & Cincinnati company to operate the road from Springfield to London and pay the other party $20,000 per year for its use until the road from London to Columbus should be completed; but after completion of the road the lessee was to pay forty per cent. of the gross earnings on the whole line between Columbus and Springfield, unless such gross earnings should exceed $120,000, in which case fifty per cent. was to be paid, the annual payment in no case to be less than $80,000. The original Springfield & Columbus line never paid the interest on its cost and the stock and a considerable amount of its debts were sunk. In January, 1871, a strip of ground from the south side of what was known as the Old Graveyard was appropriated by legal process for the benefit of this road. Columbus & Hocking Valley.-- On September 25, 1852, a public meeting was held at Nelsonville to consider a proposition to build a railway from that place to Columbus via Lancaster. This meeting was addressed by Thomas Ewing, William Neil and others, and was followed by another held at the same place October 28, with L. D. Poston, of Nelsonville, as chairman and E. H. Moore, of Athens, as secretary. This second meeting adjourned to reassemble at Athens on November 18, but seems to have been superseded by another held at Nelsonville November 11, at which Joseph Sullivant delivered an address illustrated with minerals from the Hocking Valley. Newspaper comments of contemporary dates indicated a lively popular interest in this movement, and the statement was made that on April 20, 1853, a meeting was held at Nelsonville at which steps were taken to organize the Columbus & Athens Railway Company. Finally, on July 11, 1853, a meeting was held at Lancaster to organize the Hocking Valley Railroad Company, the stock of which was fixed at two million dollars. William Dennison, J. 18* 274 - HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS. W. Fritter, Charles Borland, J. Borland and E. H. Moore were named as corpora-tors, and it was agreed that books for stock subscription should be opened August 15, at the Exchange Bank in Columbus, and at Lancaster, Logan, Nelsonville, Athens, Lithopolis and Winchester. A disagreement arose between the Lancaster friends of the road and those of Columbus, the former seeming to be unwilling to allow the latter a majority of the directors lest their interests might be sacrificed. Nothing more was done under this charter. On April 10, 1856, the General Assembly of Ohio enacted a very singular statute. It was entitled " an act to protect the investments of municipal corporations in the stock of railroad companies," and applied only to the counties of Athens and Washington ; but when its repeal was asked ter at the session of 1857-8, Cincinnati and other portions of Southern Ohio loudly remonstrated against compliance with this request. The law contained the singular provision that no railway should thereafter be built in Washington or Athens County without the consent of the legal voters of the county to be given in the manner prescribed in the act. The proposed Hocking Valley Railway could not reach the Ohio River or form a connection with the Baltimore & Ohio Railway without passing through a portion of Athens County. The key to this legislation is found in the announcement made July 18, 1856, that the Marietta & Cincinnati Railway was approaching completion. The citizens of Athens had subscribed for stock in that enterprise and feared that the proposed Hocking Valley road would be its competitor. Nevertheless the act was repealed. Popular interest in the construction of the Hocking Valley line subsided until the year 1863, when the project was again discussed in the newspapers, one of the principal impelling considerations being the exorbitant price paid for coal and the difficulty of obtaining that mineral by canal. On April 14, 1864, the following certificate signed by William P. Cutler, John Mills, Douglas Putnam, Eliakim H. Moore and Milbury M. Greene, was filed with the Secretary of State: We the undersigned do hereby certify that we have associated ourselves into a company under the name of the Mineral Railroad Company for the purpose of constructing a railroad from Athens, in Athens County, thence running through the counties of Athens, flocking, Fairfield & Franklin to the city of Columbus, in said Franklin County, all in the State of Ohio, with a capital stock of one million five hundred thousand dollars. On January 10, 1866, it was publicly stated that a survey had just been completed from Athens to a point on Big Belly's Creek, from whence diverging routes were surveyed, one to the southern part of Columbus and the other up Alum Creek to the Central Ohio Railway, the track of which continued the line to the Columbus station. It was stated that the location of the road from the Big Belly's Creek to Columbus would depend on the vote of the stockholders, the largest subscription controlling, " other things being equal." " Other things " were not " equal," for while the subscription on the southern route was far less than that on the northern, the 'advantages of the southern route for entering the city on an independent line, and for securing terminal grounds, determined the location. The engineers reported a remarkably favorable line with no grade over fifteen feet to the mile and a shorter route from Columbus to Baltimore than that of any