Ship building has always been one of Toledo's important industries. In 1866 John Craig came
from New York and established a shipyard at Gibralter, Michigan, building wooden vessels. In
1882, in connection with his son, George L. Craig, a second yard was started at. Trenton,
Michigan, under the firm name of John Craig & Son. Six years later the two yards were
consolidated and the business was incorporated under the name of the Craig Ship Building
Company. The Village of Trenton was too small to offer facilities for ship building on a large
scale and soon after the incorporation the plant was removed to Toledo. Yards were established
at Front and Craig streets, East Toledo. The first vessel built by this company in Toledo was the
schooner "Churchill," 202 feet in length, with a beam of 38 feet. It was launched in April, 1890,
and went into commission the following August. A dry dock was built in 1894, with a capacity
sufficient to handle the largest boats on the lakes. The huge steel transports, each capable of
carrying a large number of railroad freight cars, used by the Pere Marquette Railroad Company in
its line across Lake Michigan, were built by the Craig Company. Captain Craig, from his large
experience in ship building of various kinds, contributed a great deal to the engineering
construction which made such type of vessel feasible: This company also, under the Craig
management, constructed similar transports to carry loaded freight cars from Conneaut, Ohio, to
Canadian ports: The Craig Company was also early in the business of building
530 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY
steel freighters of the modern type of eight to ten thousand tons capacity. It constructed also a
number of lake passenger boats, a typical one being the City of Toledo of the White Star Line.
Before the Craig Company located in Toledo, the Bailey shipyards, at Ash and Summit streets,
were doing a large and profitable business in building sailing vessels. In 1881 these yards turned
out the "David Dows," the largest sailing vessel ever seen upon the waters of the Great Lakes. It
had five masts and with a fair wind was capable of making as good time as the average
steamboat. On November 28, 1889 (Thanksgiving Day), this magnificent vessel encountered a
severe gale near the head of Lake Michigan and was lost off Whiting, Indiana.
The Craig plant was taken over by the Toledo Ship Building Company, which was incorporated
on December 1, 1905, with a capital stock of $2,000,000, most of which was taken by capitalists
of Detroit, Michigan, and Syracuse, New York. Alexander McVittie, of Detroit, was president of
the company until his death in 1909, when L. C. Smith, of Syracuse, was elected. The officers at
the beginning of 1922 were as follows : H. S. Wilkinson (Syracuse), president and treasurer ; W.
G. Henderson and Edward Hopkins, .vice presidents ; A. S. Black, secretary and assistant
treasurer. Several of the largest steamers on the Great Lakes were built by the Toledo Ship
Building Company.
In addition to the above corporation, Gilmore Brothers conduct a dry dock and shipyard at the
foot of McKinney (or Granada) Street, East Toledo, and the shipyard of James Scanes is located
at the foot of Columbus Street, just below Riverside Park. All the Toledo ship building concerns
do a good business in building and repairing vessels, especially during the navigation season,
when from twenty-five to fifty great lake freighters enter the port of Toledo, bringing ore from
the Lake Superior iron mines for the Toledo factories and loading coal for the upper lake cities.
Three passenger steamship lines also touch at Toledo—the Detroit & Cleveland Navigation
Company, the Pittsburg Steamship Company, and the White Star Line.
THE CANAL PERIOD
In the early years of the Nineteenth Century, before the possibilities of the railroad had been
demonstrated, canals were advocated as the most feasible, if not the cheapest, arteries of interior
transportation. A volume might be written on the various canal projects proposed in the Middle
West while the internal improvement craze was at its height, from 1824 to 1836. Not the least
important of these projects were those to connect Toledo with the Ohio River, by means of
canals, following the Maumee River to the sources of streams flowing into the Ohio.
Just when and by whom this scheme was first suggested is not certain. It is said that President
Washington advocated the construction of canals, soon after the Northwest Territory was
established. Generals Wayne and Harrison, in the reports of their campaigns, noted the
practicability of such canals. A book entitled "A History of the Late War in the Western
Country," published in 1816, in a chapter on Fort Wayne, says :
"The Miami (Maumee) is navigable for boats from this place to the Lake. The portage to the
nearest navigable branch of the Wabash is but seven or eight
TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 531
miles, through a low, marshy prairie, from which the water runs both to the Wabash and St.
Mary's. A canal, at some future day, will unite these rivers and thus render a town at Fort Wayne,
as formerly, the most considerable place in that country."
About two years after this book was published, the "Western Spy," of Cincinnati, contained a
letter from Maj. Benjamin F. Stickney, then Indian agent at Fort Wayne, in which the writer said
:
"The Miami River of the Lake (Maumee) is formed by the junction of the St. Mary's and St.
Joseph's rivers at Fort Wayne ; pursues a general course northeast, with its meanderings about
170 miles, discharging into the Maumee Bay. This river is navigable for vessels drawing five to
six feet of water to Fort Meigs, sixteen miles from its mouth, and for smaller craft to its head.
Although it is not large, yet, in connection with the Wabash, the importance of its navigation will
not be exceeded by any discharging into the northern lakes or the Ohio River. The Wabash
pursues a diametrically opposite course to its junction with the Ohio. At the highest waters of
these rivers, their waters are united at the dividing ridge, and you may pass with craft from one
river to the other. There is a wet prairie or swamp, covered with grass, that extends from the
headwaters of the Wabash to the St. Mary's, and discharges its water into both rivers, about seven
miles from one to the other. At low water this swamp is six to ten feet above the water in the
rivers. It is composed of soft mud that can be penetrated twenty feet with a pole. Of course it
would be a small expense of labor to connect the waters of these two rivers by a canal that would
be passable at the lowest water. Those rivers will be the great thoroughfare between the lakes and
the Mississippi ; and, of course, will constitute an uninterrupted navigation from the Bay of St.
Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, except for the short portage at the Falls of Niagara."
Major Stickney communicated his views to Governor Clinton, of New York, who replied : "I
have found a way to get into Lake Erie and you have shown me how to get out of it. You have
extended my project 600 miles."
FIRST SURVEYS
In 1824 a survey was made for a canal from the Ohio River at Cincinnati up the Miami Valley to
the Maumee River at Defiance, thence along the northern bank of the Maumee to its mouth. This
survey was made under the direction of M. T. Williams. While the surveying party was
encamped in the forest south of the Auglaize River, Mr. Williams procured guides well
acquainted with the country and explored in advance the probable route of the canal. Upon
arriving at the foot of the Rapids he obtained a small boat and took soundings of the depth of the
Maumee River from that point to Turtle Island, off the north cape of the Maumee Bay. His report
of these soundings, made to the engineer on his return to the camp, and later in his official
communication to the Ohio Legislature, indicated that the mouth of Swan Creek was the most
suitable point for the transfer of cargoes from canal boats to lake vessels. Over this route the
Miami & Erie Canal was afterward built.
Through the influence of members of Congress from Indiana,. the Government ordered a survey
of a route for a canal from Fort Wayne to the Ohio River down
532 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY
the Wabash Valley. Col. James Shriver, of the United States topographical engineers, was
assigned to the work and the survey was commenced at Fort Wayne in the spring of 1826.
Colonel Shriver died soon afterward and was succeeded by Col. Asa Moore, who continued the
survey down the Wabash to the mouth of the Tippecanoe River, which was considered the head
of navigation on the Wabash. Colonel Moore also fell a victim to the fever so prevalent in the
Wabash and Maumee valleys in the early days and died, at the head of the Maumee Rapids on
October 4, 1828. The survey was soon afterward finished by Col. Howard Stansbury.
THE LAND GRANT
By an act of March 2, 1827, the State of Indiana received a grant of alternate sections of land for
a distance of five miles on each side of the Wabash & Erie Canal, "connecting the waters of Lake
Erie with the Ohio River." On May 24, 1828, President John Quincy Adams approved a
supplementary act, Section 4 of which provided that "The State of Indiana be, and hereby is,
authorized to convey and relinquish to the State of Ohio, upon such terms as may be agreed upon
by said states, all the rights and interest granted to the State of Indiana to any lands within the
limits of the State of Ohio, by an act entitled, 'An act to grant a certain quantity of land to the
State of Indiana, for the purpose of aiding said state in opening a canal, to connect the waters of
the Wabash River with those of Lake Erie,' approved on the 2nd of March, A. D. 1V7, the State
of Ohio to hold said lands on the same conditions upon which they were granted to the State of
Indiana by the act aforesaid."
To carry into effect the provisions of this section, Ohio appointed William Tillman, of
Zanesville, and Indiana appointed Jeremiah Sullivan, of Madison, commissioners with
plenipotentiary powers to agree upon a division of the lands. These commissioners, in October,
1829, agreed upon a plan by which Indiana was to surrender to Ohio all the. canal lands in the
latter state, Ohio to construct the canal and guarantee its use to the citizens of the two states on
equal terms. After some delay on the part of Ohio, this compact was ratified and from this time
the canal, though one project as a commercial proposition, became separated as regards its
construction and management.
Shortly after the surveys were completed and the land grants were satisfactorily adjusted, the
dispute over the Ohio-Michigan boundary caused a delay. Ohio owned the lands which were to
furnish a large part of the revenue for the construction of the canal, and it could hardly be
expected that the authorities of that state would be willing to aid in building a canal if the
terminus was to be outside the state. While the boundary question was under discussion, different
plans were proposed, one of which was to employ slack-water for navigation by so improving the
Maumee River with locks and dams as to make it navigable for steamboats to Fort Wayne.
Another cause of delay was the rivalry between Toledo and the towns of Perrysburg and Maumee
for the terminus of the canal. Manhattan, at the mouth of the river, also set up a claim that the
proper .place to end the canal was at the Maumee Bay. The boundary dispute was finally settled
by Congress on April 30, 1836, and on the 22nd of the following August the canal
commissioners
met at
TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 533
Perrysburg to decide the question of where the canal should connect with the Maumee.
Delegations from the rival towns were present to press their claims and it was finally resolved by
the commissioners to grant each place canal connection with the river. This decision was
approved by Governor Lucas after his visit to the several towns.
BUILDING THE CANALS
In May, 1837, contracts were awarded at Maumee City for the construction of the canal between
the mouth of the Maumee River and the head of the Rapids. The several contractors gathered
about two thousand laborers along the line of the canal and the first wages were paid in Michigan
"wild-cat" bank bills borrowed for the purpose. From the very beginning of the work the
contractors labored under difficulties "to an extent that no other work in the state has been
subjected," says the Board of Public Works in its report for the year ending on December 31,
1839. First, the financial panic of 1837 made it impossible for the contractors to obtain funds for
the prosecution of the work, and in May, 1838, the laborers had received no wages for about five
months. Many of them threatened to quit, but the matter was finally adjusted by the contractors
giving due bills, orders on stores, etc., all of which were fully paid in good money in June.
Second, the high price o provisions, which had to be brought from long distances, the consequent
high wages, and the sickness which drove many of the laborers out of the valley, all combined to
cause vexatious delays.
Toward the close of 1839 the contractors were advised that the prospect of obtaining money to
continue the work was doubtful and they were recommended to use their discretion about_
prosecution of the work. Consequently, not much was done during the first three months of 1840.
By the 1st of April, however, financial conditions were better and during the remainder of the
year better progress was made. In June, 1842, the canal was opened for traffic between Toledo
and the Rapids. In its annual report of January 2, 1843, the Board of Public Works said :
"The whole of this work is now so far completed as to admit the water when the proper season
for using the same shall arrive, and nothing but unforeseen accidents will from this time prevent,
at all proper seasons of the year, an uninterrupted navigation. For the last fifteen months there has
not been paid one dollar in money to the contractors on this canal, and the amount due is equal to
$500,000. Almost the whole resources and credit of that portion of the state in the vicinity of this
work have been used up and invested in the construction of the canal."
Contracts for that portion of the canal between the Rapids and the Indiana state line were let in
October, 1837. The following summer the Wabash & Erie Canal was opened for traffic between
Fort Wayne and Logansport, Indiana. The Ohio portion of this canal was only eighteen miles in-
length—from the Indiana state line to the junction with the Miami & Erie Canal in Paulding
County. On May 8, 1843, the canal was opened between Toledo and Lafayette, Indiana. The first
boat to make the through trip was the "Albert S. White," Capt. Cyrus Belden, of Toledo. The first
packet, fitted for passengers, followed soon afterward under Capt. William Dale. Fort Wayne
advertised a grand celebration on July 4, 1843, when representatives from Toledo, Detroit,
Lafayette and other cities were present. Gen. Lewis Cass delivered the principal address.
534 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY
Owing to the heavy forest growth south of the junction of the two canals in Paulding County,
there was considerable delay in the construction of that portion of the Miami & Erie Canal. The
result was that the first boat from Cincinnati did not arrive at Toledo until June 27, 1845. The
following year the United States Government made its first use of the canal in transporting troops
from points in the Northwest to Cincinnati on their way to Mexico, the commissioned officers
being carried upon the packets and the noncommissioned officers and privates upon freight
boats. Until 1856 these canals were regarded as part of the great military thoroughfare between
New York City and the South. Besides the use of the canals for military purposes, they proved to
be the safest, easiest and cheapest modes of transportation devised up to this date. During the
year 1846 the value of the produce brought to Toledo by the canal was $3,000,000 and the
cargoes sent out from Toledo were valued at $5,000,000.
CANAL TRAFFIC
Slocum, in his "History of the Maumee Valley," gives the following description of the canal
packet, or passenger boat : "The sleeping berths for the first class passengers were ranged on each
side of the upper cabin, generally in two rows one above the other, but occasionally in three
rows,. and some were made to shut up or swing out of the way by day. Hammocks and cots were
provided for the overplus passengers and many would sleep on the deck. The diningroom was
below, generally midboat, but sometimes forward, and the food was generally good. These boats
carried express freight and some of them carried the United States mail. They were drawn by two
to six horses, according to the size of the boat and the load, and the horses were generally kept on
a trot by the driver, who rode the saddle (left rear) horse, attaining a pace of' from six to eight
miles an hour. Relays of horses were sometimes carried in a narrow stable in the center part of
the boat, especially the freight boats, but. usually the packet relays were stationed at convenient
ports."
The canal packets were considered both rapid and comfortable and were liberally patronized. The
journey from Toledo to Lafayette, a distance of 242 miles, was advertised to be made in fifty-six
hours, or a little less than five miles an hour. The rate of fare was usually three cents a mile on
the packets and two and a half cents on the freight boats. For long distances berth and meals were
included in the regular rates. From thirty-five to forty persons were considered a good passenger
list, but if more sought passage they were rarely turned away: The average canal boat captain was
a resourceful individual. He knew how to "handle a crowd" and would manage to take care of all
that came, even if the boat's capacity was overtaxed. Competition was keen among the boats and
only as an absolute necessity was business, either passenger or freight, refused. This competition
extended to the operation of the boats. In meeting and passing, the rules for the position of
horses, tow lines, etc., must be strictly observed, as well as those providing for the precedence of
packets over freight carriers. Failure to observe 'the regulations was certain to start an argument,
which sometimes resulted in an exchange of blows. At wharves, and particularly at the locks, the
slightest unnecessary delay was sure to be resented with an outburst of profanity, if nothing more.
However, one good thing resulted from the competition. The time between Toledo and
Cincinnati
TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 535
was reduced to four days and five nights, which was looked upon as "rapid transit" in those days.
And it was good time when one stops to consider the numerous stops to receive and discharge
passengers and freight. Often an hour would be required to load and unload freight and delays
also occurred on almost every trip on account of the precedence of other boats.
For a long, time the largest boat on the canals was the "Harry of the West," which was brought
through Lake Erie from the New York & Erie Canal in 1844, by Capt. Edwin Avery. The
following year the first steam canal boat, the "Niagara," was built for Samuel Doyle at a cost of
$10,000, but it could not successfully compete with the horse-power boats. During the next ten
years several steam canal boats were tried, but objections were raised to their use because the
commotion caused by the propellers had a tendency to injure the banks of the canal and interfere
with other boats. In November, 1859, the steam propeller "Scarecrow" made her first run from
Toledo with a load of lumber for Franklin. On May 25, 1862, the propeller "Union" arrived at
Toledo from Lafayette, with a cargo of 1,750 bushels of wheat and having in tow a boat carrying
2,050 bushels more ; besides twenty barrels of pork and two casks of hams, 115 tons in all. Capt.
William Sabin reported that he had madethe trip in five days, three and one-half hours.
While the canals were in operation, it was no unusual matter for three thousand to four thousand
boats to clear from Toledo annually. Frequently fifty or sixty boats would be at the Toledo docks
at one time, loading and unloading or waiting their turn. Many of the laborers on the canals while
they were under construction, entered or purchased land and brought their families to the
Maumee Valley. In this way the canals proved a powerful stimulus to the development of the
country. Slocum gives the course of the canal through Toledo as follows : "The course of the
abandoned canal is now occupied in its northern part by the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway to
Cherry Street, thence the course turns nearly South, crossing Oak Street at Allen, crossing Adams
between Ontario and Michigan, Madison at Ontario, Jefferson a little nearer Ontario than Erie,
Monroe nearer Erie, Washington at Erie, thence turning westward to cross Lafayette at Ontario,
thence southward crossing Nebraska Avenue just west of Thirteenth Street and Swan Creek just
east of Wyandotte Street."
After the advent of the railroad the canal traffic began to decline. Wherever the two came into
competition. rates were reduced to such an extent that profits disappeared. The railroads then
raised rates at point's away from the canal to make up the loss. An instance is recited where the
railroad rate on wheat from Tontogany, Wood County, to Toledo, a distance of twenty-three
miles, was seven cents per bushel. The same road (the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton) carried
wheat from Troy to Toledo, 120 miles, for six cents per bushel. The reason was that Troy was on
the line of the canal while Tontogany was not. In like manner the Wabash Railroad charged
fourteen cents per bushel to transport wheat from points only sixty miles from Toledo, but not on
the canal, and carried s wheat all the way from Indiana for ten and twelve cents.
END OF THE CANAL DAYS
As the canals were the property of the state, the Legislature in March, 1852, while railroad
building in Ohio was still in its infancy, requested the Board of
536 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY
Public Works "to report by what authority railroad companies have been permitted to erect
bridges over the canals of the state for the passage of cars ; the means adopted by such companies
to obtain the transportation of freight, which, at proper rates for transportation, would pass upon
the canals ; what effect the removal of such bridges would have upon said roads ; and whether
any legislation be necessary for the removal of said bridges."
The board at that time was composed of George W. Manypenny, A. P. Miller and James B.
Steedman. In replying to the demands of the General Assembly; the board made a long report, in
which it was declared that the bridges had been erected without the permission of the board or
authority of law. Then, after explaining how the board had undertaken to maintain canal traffic
by reducing the rates, the report said : "We have ordered our engineers and superintendents to
prevent the erection of any more bridges across the canals by railroad companies. We would also
suggest the propriety of passing a law prohibiting railroad companies from shipping produce,
merchandise or other articles from within twenty miles of the canals, at less freight per mile than
the highest rate charged for transportation on any other part of the road. . . . If these railroads
would be content with doing their legitimate business, both they and the canals might prosper ;
but unfortunately they are owned and controlled mostly by foreign capitalists, who feel no
sympathy with the people of the state or its prosperity, and are guided only by the hope of large
dividends. Against the efforts of these capitalists, the state should early erect barricades and
carefully guard them, or it will soon find, when too late, the public works are entirely at their
mercy.".
Not long after this the Central Ohio Railroad began building a bridge over one of the state canals
near Zanesville. The pit for one of the abutments was filled up by order of Commissioner
Manypenny, when the railroad company applied to the court for an injunction. Judge R. C. Hurd,
of the Licking Common Pleas Court, granted the injunction, holding that the right granted by the
Legislature to the railroad company to construct a road on a certain line included the right to
build bridges where necessary and that the canal was no exception. This opinion was sustained
by the higher courts.
Meantime other opposition to the canals developed. The people of Paulding County, living near
the large reservoir upon which the canal depended for water, set up the claim that the reservoir
was detrimental to the health of the community. They appealed to the state authorities to abate
the same as a nuisance, but the request was not granted and some "unknown parties" destroyed
the banks of the reservoir, rendering it useless, though that part of the Wabash & Erie Canal
through Indiana had been abandoned some years before.
Another source of opposition was certain private corporations which desired the canals for their
own use, Emissaries of these companies went among the people and explained that better service
could be given if the canals were leased to such companies. In this way public opinion was
molded and in 1861 the Legislature passed an act authorizing the leasing of the canals for a
period of seventeen years. Soon after this the lessees discontinued the use of the two locks
connecting the canal with the river at Manhattan and they were abandoned by an act of the
Legislature, approved on March 26, 1864. It was about this time that the Wabash & Erie Canal
between Fort Wayne and Lafayette was abandoned, though that section between Fort Wayne and
the Miami and Erie Canal continued in use until about 1886.
TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 537
With the abandonment of the Manhattan locks, connection with the lower Maumee was made
through the Toledo side-cut, which dropped fifteen feet into Swan Creek by two locks. By the act
of January 31, 1871, the Legislature abandoned that portion of the canal between the Manhattan
locks and the Toledo side-cut (3.75 miles), together with the aqueduct over Swan Creek.
During the life of the lease, the business of the canals continued to decline, while that of the
railroads increased. When the canals were returned to the State in 1878 "their condition was
deplorable." The lessees had failed to keep them in repair and for several years the state
expended annually from $15,000 to $40,000 in excess of the receipts to maintain and operate
them. A few sections, where there was no railroad competition, were operated for a longer
period, but as canals, once such a potent factor in transportation and the development of the
Maumee Valley, they are now nothing but a memory. In December, 1922, the city of Toledo, for
$300,000, acquired that part of the canal extending from its intersection with Swan Creek in the
city to the village of Maumee. It is the purpose of the city to make of the canal property a
boulevard entrance into the city's business center.
THE RAILROAD ERA
The first railroad in the United States was built in 1825. It was about three miles in length,
running from the granite quarries at Quincy, Massachusetts, to tide water and was built for the
purpose of transporting the stone for the Bunker Hill monument from the quarries to the barges
that were to carry it to Boston. According to a description given in the "Boston Advertiser," soon
after the road was placed in operation, "The rails are made of pine timber, on the top of which is
placed a bar of iron. The carriages run upon the iron bars and are kept in place by a projection on
the inner edge of the tire of the wheels, which are considerably larger than a common cart
wheel."
As it was slightly down grade from the quarries to the landing, one horse could pull the three
cars, carrying from ten to sixteen tons of granite, though it required some effort to start the cars.
In the spring of 1827 the second railroad was placed in operation between Mauch Chunk and
some coal mines nine miles from the city. This road was also equipped with wooden rails, with
the iron strap on the top. Horses were used to draw the cars to the mines, which were some five
hundred feet higher than Mauch Chunk, and the loaded cars were sent down to the coal chutes by
gravity. Steam was used as a motive power later.
On July 4, 1828, ground was broken for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and by the close of the
following year about twenty miles of tracks was completed and in use, the cars at that time being
drawn by horses. The Mohawk & Hudson Railroad Company was incorporated on March 26,
1829, by an act of the New York Legislature, to build and operate a railroad between Albany and
Schenectady. This was the first road in the United States to carry passengers in coaches drawn by
a locomotive. It was completed in September, 1831, and a few years later was extended from
Albany to New York City.
In 1829 DeWitt Clinton, a civil engineer of New York, prepared an estimate for the construction
of a railroad to start at New York City, pass through that state and Northern Ohio, and terminate
at the mouth of the Rock River on the Mississippi.
538 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY
The distance was a little over one thousand miles and Mr. Clinton's estimate or the cost was
$15,000,000. But the practical value of the railroad had not yet been established and capital for
such a gigantic undertaking could not be secured.
The next movement for a railroad in Northwestern Ohio came in 1830 or 1831, when it was
proposed to build a road between Cleveland and Detroit, the rails (of wood) to be laid. on piles
driven into the ground and cut off at a uniform height. The estimated cost of the road was
$374;150, but the road never got beyond the "paper stage." This project was revived in 1836,
when the Ohio Railroad Company was organized at Painesville "to build a line of railway from
the Pennsylvania state line to the mouth of the Maumee River." Cleveland, Sandusky, Fremont
and Toledo all subscribed to the capital stock and work was commenced. The first pile was
driven at Fremont, from which point the work proceeded westward. A little later work began at
Manhattan, but the company became financially embarrassed and in June, 1843, the whole
scheme collapsed. Some of the rotting piles could be seen along the right-of-way nearly forty
years later.
ERIE & KALAMAZOO
In the winter of 1832-33 some of the progressive citizens of Port Lawrence (now Toledo) set in
motion a preposition to build a railroad between that place and some point in Michigan. Among
those interested in the project were : A. J. Darius, Stephen B: and James M. Comstock, William
P. Daniels, Edward Bissell, Andrew Palmer, George Crane, Benjamin F. Stickney, E. C. Winter,
C. C. Robinson, Caleb S. Ormsby, Joseph Chittenden and David White.
Daniel O. Comstock was a member of the Michigan Territorial Legislature and introduced the
bill to incorporate the company. It is said that a number of the members of the Legislature looked
upon the proposition as a fanciful scheme and voted for the measure because "it could do no
harm and would please the Comstocks of Toledo." The bill passed on April 22, 1833, which date
marks the incorporation of the first railroad company west of the Alleghany Mountains. It,
granted perpetual succession to the incorporators and their assigns "to build a railroad from Port
Lawrence through Adrian to some point on the Kalamazoo River ; to transport, take and carry
property and persons upon the same, by the power and force of steam, animals, or of any
mechanical or other power, or any combination of the same."
Darius Comstock, E. C. Winters, C. C. Robinson, Asahel Finch, Jr., David White and Stephen B.
Comstock were appointed commissioners to solicit and receive subscriptions to the capital stock.
On March 7, 1834, they gave notice to the subscribers that more than one thousand shares of the
stock had been subscribed and that the stockholders would meet at the house of Isaac Deans, in
the Village of Adrian on the 20th of the following May to perfect the organization of the
company. Accordingly, at the meeting thus announced, Darius Comstock, C. C. Robinson,
George Crane, Almon Harrison, E. C. Winter, David White, Caleb S. Ormsby, A. J. Comstock
and Stephen B. Comstock were elected the first board of directors. Immediately after the
adjournment of the stockholders' meeting, the board organized by electing Darius Comstock
president ; Joseph Chittenden, secretary ; A. J. Comstock, treasurer.
By 1835, when the indications were that by the settlement of the boundary question the eastern
terminus of the road would be in Ohio, the Michigan Legisla-
TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 541
ture passed a supplementary act, approved on March 26, 1835, which had for its object the
transfer of the ownership of the road to Michigan. This act provided that "When the road shall
have paid the cost of building the same, and expenses of keeping the same in repair, and 7 per
cent on all moneys expended as aforesaid, the said railroad shall become the property of the
Territory or State of Michigan and shall become a free road, except sufficient toll to keep the
same in repair." Another act, passed a little later, terminated the road at Adrian. The original act
of incorporation and the supplementary acts all conferred upon the company the power to
conduct a banking business in connection with the railroad. The Erie' & Kalamazoo Railroad
Banking Company was organized on May 25, 1836, with Darius Comstock- as president ; Philo
C. Fuller, cashier ; Edward Bissell, Darius Comstock and William P. Daniels, directors.
In he fall of 1834 a survey of the road between Toledo and Adrian was completed and in January,
1835, the first contracts for construction were let. Edward Bissell and William P. Daniels were
appointed to superintend the construction of the eastern section—from Toledo to the Ottawa
Lake—and George Crane and C. M. Ormsby for the western section—from the Ottawa Lake to
Adrain. At first it was intended to use wooden rails, four inches square, but the construction had
not proceeded far until the directors decided to use the iron strap rail and employ steam power.
Considerable difficulty was experienced in raising the necessary funds, but the iron was finally
secured and the first train ran from Toledo to Adrian on October 3, 1836. It was drawn by horses,
as the locomotive had not yet arrived. Among the passengers on this trip was Mrs. Clarissa
Harroun, mother of Dr. C. H. Harroun, who went as far as Sylvania and had the honor of being
the first woman to ride on this "Pioneer railway of the West."
THE PLEASURE CAR
Contemporary with the purchase of the strap iron for the rails, arrangements were made with the
Baldwin Locomotive Works, of Philadelphia, for two small locomotives—the Adrian No. 1" and
the "Toledo No.. 2." Until these arrived horses were used. For the care of the horses Edward
Bissell built a barn near the terminus of the road at Monroe and Water streets. A small building,
14 by 20 feet, was erected for an office. When the locomotives superseded the horses in 1837, the
barn was removed to Walnut Street and used for a livery stable. The locomotives were placed on
the road in July, 1837, and astonished the people by attaining a speed of twenty miles an hour.
About the same time the company announced the arrival of a new type of passenger coach,
which was called a "Pleasure Car." It cost a little more to ride in this coach than in the ordinary
"lumber cars." Richard Mott, who was president of the company in 1838, writing about 1880,
thus describes this coach:
"The Gothic Car (the board of directors called it the 'Pleasure Car' in their official proceedings)
was placed upon the road in 1837 and was the second passenger car of the Erie & Kalamazoo
Railroad. It was rather shorter than the three compartment vehicles used by the Schenectady road
and afterward by the Utica Railroad. The car when full held twenty-four, eight in each
compartment. The lower middle door (see illustration) opened from a place for stowing baggage.
The middle section projected a few inches wider than the end sections.
542 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY
The car was about the size of a street railway car of the present day. It passed out of existence
nearly forty years ago."
TRAVELING UNDER DIFFICULTIES
Some idea of the accommodations and service rendered by the Erie & Kalamazoo, may be gained
from the following account of a trip over the road, as told by Mayor Brigham several years
afterward. Mr. Brigham was at the time the repair agent of the road—a sort. of "engineer of
maintenance of way." Railway officials did not ride in their private cars then and he thus
describes his experiences :
"In December, 1841, one Saturday, the train left Toledo on time for Adrian. I was then at
Palmyra, intending to take the train for Adrian and return to Toledo that evening. Owing to a
severe storm of rain, freezing as it' fell, the track became covered with ice. The train reached
Palmyra about 4 P. M. I entered the middle compartment of the car, and met in the car J. Baron
Davis and wife, of Toledo, sitting in the forward seat. Being acquainted with them 1 thought I
would take a seat with them, but seeing the cushion on the seat out of place, I took the rear seat,
facing the one I had rejected.
"We had not gone more than half a mile from Palmyra when a 'snake-head,' as they were
called—that is, the end of an iron bar that had worked loose from the wooden rail—came
crashing through the floor of the car, passing diagonally through the seat I had left vacant, the
end 'of the bar striking me in my neck under the chin and pushing me backward with such force
as to break the panel work partition which divides the compartments of the car. Just at this
moment the other end of the bar was torn loose from the track and carried along with the car.
Recovering my consciousness a little, I found myself with head and shoulders protruding through
the broken partition, while I held the assaulting 'snake-head' firmly grasped in both my hands.
Being a stormy day I had an extra amount of clothing about my neck which the bar did not
penetrate, so that my injuries were not serious. The train was, stopped and Frederick Bissell, the
conductor, was much frightened. Before leaving the spot the guilty 'snake-head' was once more
spiked down and we moved on, reaching Adrian at 6 P. M., having made the run of thirty-three
miles in ten hours.
"The train left Adrian for Toledo at 7 P. M. and worked its way along over the ice-covered track
until we got out of wood and water, when we picked up sticks in the woods and replenished the
fire, and with pails dipped up water from the ditches and fed the boiler, and made another run
towards Toledo. Passing Sylvania, we got the train to a point about four miles from Toledo, when
being again out of steam, wood and water, we came to the conclusion that it would be easier to
foot it the rest of the way, than to try to get the train along any farther. So we left the locomotive
and cars standing upon the track. and walked into the city, reaching there about 2 :30 A. M. I was
rather lame and sore from contact with the 'snake-head,' but gratified that we were enjoying the
'modern improvement.'
Although the first report of the Erie & Kalamazoo, made in December, 1837, showed net
earnings of $41,610, or about 16 per cent on the cost of construction, five years later the road was
in financial straits. In June, 1842, the rolling
TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 545
stock was sold to satisfy judgments of $15,000. Troubles continued and in May, 1849, the road
was leased in perpetuity to the Michigan Southern Railroad Company.
NORTHERN INDIANA
In 1835 a railroad known as the Buffalo & Mississippi was projected, to run between Buffalo,
New York and some point on the Mississippi River. It was another instance of planning a
railroad without knowing where the capital was to come from to build it. However, the company
was kept alive until 1849, when the control passed into the hands of the Michigan Southern
Company. A road was then built from the Michigan state line to Chicago and on May 22, 1852,
the first train ran from Toledo to Chicago over the "Northern Indiana Railroad," as the new
enterprise was called. The Michigan Southern had also acquired possession of the Erie &
Kalamazoo in 1849. This was the beginning of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern system. In
1869 this system absorbed the Cleveland & Toledo, which was incorporated in 1850 and
completed in 1852 ; the Cleveland, Painesville & Ashtabula, and the Buffalo & Erie railroads.
The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern lines are now operated by the New York Central.
THE WABASH
On July 11, 1847, the Toledo, Wabash & Western Railroad Company was organized, but nearly
five years passed before any active steps were taken for the construction of the road. A meeting
was held at Logansport, Indiana, on June 22, 1852, to consider ways and means for building the
road. Toledo was represented in that meeting by James M. Ashley, Sanford L. Collins, Charles
M. Dorr, Simeon Fitch, H. L. Homer, Matthew Johnson, C. G. Keeler, J. W. Kelsey, V. H.
Ketcham, Frank J. King, L. B. Lathrop, George W. Scott, Jessup W. Scott, Samuel B. Scott,
Lyman T. Thayer and Morrison R. Waite. It was decided to build two roads east from Fort
Wayne, one to Sandusky and the other to Toledo. The Sandusky division was never built, but the
first train ran from Toledo to Fort Wayne in July, 1855.
Prior to this time two companies had been formed—the Toledo & Wabash, to build from Toledo
to the Indiana state line, and the Wabash & Western, to build the road across the State of Indiana.
Financial difficulties arose and the property was sold by order of the court. It was purchased by
Azariah Boody (for whom the Boody House in Toledo was named) and the two companies were
consolidated as the Toledo, Wabash & Western. From the western boundary of Indiana a
company known as the Great Western Railroad Company completed the line to St. Louis.
The work of building the Ohio section was greatly facilitated by shipping a locomotive and rails
from Toledo to Defiance by the Miami & Erie Canal. When the road was completed it became a
strong factor in causing the decline of the canal. For many years it has been operated under the
simple name of the Wabash Railway and it has been one of the largest contributing agencies to
Toledo's growth and prosperity. In 1901 a branch was built between Toledo and Montpelier,
where it connects with the Detroit and Chicago divisions.
546 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY
CLEVELAND & TOLEDO
Two railroad companies were organized in 1850 to build lines westward from Cleveland. What
was known as the Junction Railroad was projected to run via Elyria, Sandusky, Port Clinton,
Perrysburg and Maumee City and connect with the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana road
in Swanton Township, Lucas County. In September the Toledo, Norwalk & Cleveland Railroad
Company was formed and immediately began work on a road connecting Toledo and Cleveland
via Fremont, Norwalk and Oberlin. The first train over this road arrived at Toledo on December
20, 1852. The Junction Railroad was constructed as rapidly as means could be obtained until
1853, when it was consolidated with its rival—the Toledo, Norwalk & Cleveland—under the
name of the Cleveland & Toledo Railway. As already stated, this road passed into the hands of
the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern in 1869.
CINCINNATI, HAMILTON & DAYTON
On March 5, 1851, the Ohio Legislature granted a charter to a company to build a line of railroad
starting at Dayton and running northward via Sidney, Lima and Toledo to the Michigan state line,
in the general direction of Detroit. In Toledo a proposition authorizing the municipality to
subscribe for a certain amount of the stock was submitted to the voters and was carried by a
substantial majority Other cities along the line of the road voted aid and the work was pushed
forward with alacrity: Some of the cities were slow in paying for the stock subscribed, which
caused delays from time to time, and the first passenger train over the road did not arrive at
Toledo until August 18, 1859. A freight train had come in on the 28th of July, bringing, with
other freight, ten carloads of staves consigned to the firm of P. H. Birckhead & Company. The
first passenger train was in the nature of an excursion. Among those who came to Toledo on that
occasion were the officials of the -road, Stanley Mathews, afterward an associate justice of the
United States Supreme Court, Clement L. Vallandigham, who became a prominent figure in
politics at the time of the Civil war, and the president and superintendent of the Cincinnati,
Hamilton & Dayton Railroad Company. A dinner was given to the excursionists at the Oliver
House and other attentions were shown the distinguished visitors by the people of Toledo.
This road, known as the Dayton & Michigan, was 141 miles in length. At Dayton it connected
with the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton, which had been completed only a short time before.
The presence of the president and superintendent of the latter road on that first passenger train
was largely for the purpose of establishing friendly relations between the two companies and
perfecting some sort of a traffic arrangement. These two roads worked in harmony until May 1,
1863, when the Dayton & Michigan, through a perpetual lease, became a part of the Cincinnati,
Hamilton & Dayton system. In June, 1917, the entire C. H. & D. holdings passed into the hands
of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company.
TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 549
THE PERE MARQUETTE
In 1857 the Michigan Legislature granted a charter to a railroad company to build a line of road
from Flint to Ludington, on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, 'a distance of 170 miles.
Numerous delays occurred and the road was not completed until 1873. As the western terminus
was near the mouth of the Marquette River, the road took the name of the "Pere Marquette."
Meantime the Flint & Holly Railroad (about thirty miles long) had been built and a short time
before the completion of the Pere Marquette it had been extended southward to Monroe. These
two roads were consolidated under the name of the Flint & Pere Marquette, though it was not
long until the word "Flint" was dropped. From Monroe to Toledo the Pere Marquette used the
tracks of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern for about twenty years. Then a difference of
opinion arose and the Lake Shore Company canceled the arrangement. The Pere Marquette did
not want to give up its Toledo connections and at once opened negotiations for the purchase of
the Toledo & South Haven Railroad, which had been incorporated on September 11, 1886. The
deal was consummated on May 23, 1894, and the road thus became a part of the Pere Marquette
system. An arrangement was then made with the Ann Arbor Railroad Company, by Which the
Pere Marquette regained its valuable Toledo terminal privileges.
THE HOCKING VALLEY
The first movement for direct railway connection between Toledo and the state capital was made
in June, 1867, when a meeting was held at Columbus to discuss the subject. Preliminary steps
were taken and a second meeting was held at Toledo on July 18, 1867, Charles A. King acting as
chairman and David R. Locke, secretary. As the principal object of the meeting was to select a,
committee to prepare articles of incorporation, the following were chosen : Perry Crabbs, j. C.
Hall, Charles Kent, Charles A. King, E. V. McMaken, J. R. Osborn, A. D. Pelton, M. A. Scott
and H. S. Walbridge, of Toledo ; W. B. Brooks, Theo. Comstock, W. H. Day, William Dennison,
Samuel Galloway, W. E. Ide and William A. Platt, of Columbus.
C. C. Waite, afterward vice president and general manager of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton
and a son of the late Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite, made the first survey. That survey was not
accepted and some time was spent in the selection of a route. Finally it was decided to build the
road via Fostoria, Carey, Upper Sandusky, Marion and Delaware. The selection of this route was
left to the City of Toledo, in consideration of its citizens having voted $200,000 to aid in the
construction of the road. The first train passed over the road on December 5, 1876, and regular
traffic commenced on January 10, 1877.
TOLEDO & OHIO CENTRAL
In June, 1869, a railroad company called the Atlantic & Lake Erie was incorporated, with power
to construct and operate a line of railroad between Pomeroy, Ohio, and Toledo, a distance of 235
miles, via Athens, New Lexington, Central City, Mount Gilead, Bucyrus and Fostoria. During the
next ten years
