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100 - TRUMBULL AND MAHONING COUNTIES, OHIO CHAPTER XIV. TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES. Turnpikes—Stage Lines—Railroads and Canals. We have already seen that Youngstown was the objective point of immigrants to the Reserve, It was accessible both by river and winding wilderness roads from Pittsburg and the Pennsylvania settlements, from which roads had been cut to the East. Many of the first. settlers came in flat-boats and batteau from the falls, being able to cover the distance quicker in that way than by wagon road. From Youngstown the first settler in any direction was under the necessity of cutting his own way, the second followed the track to the nearest point to his own destination, then branching off made his way by cutting, as the first had done, and so tracks were cut out like veins through the forest. As terminal points became closer, connecting paths were opened. All were in time, as the land was cleared, straightened and removed to property lines, which follow, as a rule, lot and township limits. One road from Youngstown followed the old Indian and salt-makers' trail to the salt spring in Weathers- field, and was extended from there on to Grand river. This road was the second laid out and legally established on the Reserve. Judge Turhand Kirtland was the surveyor of this road. We learn from his diary that he arrived at Youngstown from Grand river, August 3, 1798, and then engaged to help John Young lay out Youngstown. He also surveyed Poland township during the same summer. This road was probably not cut out further than Warren for some years. Between Youngstown and Sall spring it was much traveled, being the outlet to several branches which bore the suggestive names, "salt-roads." Besides the main thoroughfare leading to Warren, branches led northeast to Kinsman, east to Hubbard, and n0rth to the "girdled road," in Ashtabula county. This "girdled road" was the first surveyed in the Re• serve, and was constructed according to specifications contained in the following rep0rt: To the Gentlemen, Proprietors of the Connecticut Company, in meeting at Hartford Connecticut : Your Committee appointed to inquire into the expediency f laying and cutting out roads on the Reserve, REPORT That in their opinion it will be expedient to lay out and cut out a road from Pennsylvania to the City of Cleaveland, the small stuff to be cut out : 25 feet wide, and the timber to be girdled 33 feet wide, and sufficient bridges thrown over the streams as are not fordable, the said 1oad to begin in township No. 13 in the first range f the Pennsylvania line, and to run westerly through township No. in in the second range, N0. 12 in the third range, No. or in the fourth range, to the Indian ford at the bend f Grand river; thence through township No. no in the fifth, and also No. no in the fifth range, No. no in the sixth range, No. no in the seventh range, No. no in the eighth range, and the northwest part of No. 9 in the ninth range, to the Chagrin river, where a large creek enters it from the east; and from the crossing of the • Chagrin the most direct way to the middle highway leading from the city f Cleaveland to the hundred-acre lots. Submitted with respect by SETH PEASE, MOSES WARREN, WILLIAM SHEPARD, JR. JOSEPH PERKINS, SAMUEL HINCKLEY, DAVID WATERMAN, Committee. HARTFORD, January 30, 1798. ESTABLISHMENT OF A MAIL ROUTE. Until 1801, Pittsburg was the nearest post. office to the settlers of Trumbull c0unty. In that year General Wadsworth succeeded in getting a mail route established from Pittsburg to Warren via Canfield and Youngstown, and was himself appointed postmaster at Canfield, Simon Perkins at Warren, and Calvin Pease at Youngs. town. The correspondence between General Wadsworth and the Post-office department conclusively evinces that the Washington officials had bul little geographical knowledge of the Northwest Territory at that time. April 30, 1801, General Wadsworth addressed a letter to the Postmaster-general, asking for the establishment of TRUMBULL AND MAHONING COUNTIES, OHIO - 101 a mail r0ute from Pittsburg to Warren. The 1eply is appended : GENERAL POST-OFFICE, May 16, 1801. DEAR SIR: Your favor of the 30th ult. is received. Inclosed you have an advertisement inviting ,proposals for carrying the mail from Pittsburg to Warren. We have no correct information of the distance on that route, and perhaps proper time for the performance of the route is not allowed; if any alteration in that respect is desired it should be stated in the proposals. The price for carrying a mail once in two weeks, varies from $2 to $3.50 a mile, by the year, counting the distance one way. I 1eceived your favor with a map f the Reserve, for which be pleased to accept my thanks. Mr. Canfield recommended your appointment to the office of postmaster at Warren, which the Postmaster-general has concluded upon, unless you should Wish to avoid the trouble. Will you be so good as to furnish me with a list f stages or places of 1efreshments, and the distances from Pittsburg to Warren, and also to mention whether there is any place between Pittsburg and Georgetown where it would seem useful to establish a post-office. I presume you travel from Pittsburg to Georgetown on the south side f the Ohio, but if there are better settlements on the north &de. and any villages where it would be proper to establish post-offices, it would be advisable to send the mail on that side although it may be further. I will thank you for advice on the subject. It is probable that the route will produce but little towards the expenses of carrying the mail, and any means to increase its productiveness ought to be considered to insure a continuance of the establishment. It would doubtless have been pleasing to you if the mail could have been in operation before the first of October, but this could not be done consistently with the practice of the office and the time required by law for the advertisements to appear before a contract is entered into. I am, sir, your obedient servant, ABRAHAM BRADLEY, JR. Captain Elijah Wadsworth. The address upon this letter was as follows : Free ABRAHAM BRADLEY JNR Assist'g Postm Genl CAPTAIN ELIJAH WADSWORTH Warren in the Connecticut Reserve near Pittsburg, Pa If Captain Wadsworth should not be at Pittsburg Doct. Scott is requested to forward this by some private hand. June 6, 1801, Captain Wadsworth transmitted the proposal of Eleazer Gilson, who had just arrived in Canfield, to carry the mail for two years from the following Gctober, once in two weeks, for $3.50 a mile by the year, counting the distance one way, In his letter of that date Captain Wadsworth also took occasion to recommend the establishment of post-offices at Beaver and Youngstown. He declined the office of the postmaster-ship at Warren, but urged the establishment of an office in Canfield, and agreed to accept the office of postmaster if the office should be established. October 14th Captain Wadsworth resceived notification of his appointment as postmaster at Canfield. Gilson* entered upon the duties of mail-carrier and on the 3oth day of the month the first mail arrived upon the Reserve. The mail-route was eighty-six miles, and the offices upon it were Beaver (Fort McIntosh), Georgetown, Canfield, Youngstown, and Warren. Samuel Gilson, son of Eleazer, carried the mail the principal part of the time, very often traversing the entire route on foot. The mailbag, doubtless a light one, he carried upon his hack. The mail route until 1815 was through Warren to all parts of the Reserve. At that date a route was established from Erie to Cleveland through Ashtabula, and three years later the first stagecoach made its appearance over this route. In 1819 the Ashtabula and Trumbull turnpike was constructed. This was esteemed an important public improvement, for it connected the lake at Ashtabula with the Ohio at Wellsville by a substantial wagon road. Coaches were run as far as Poland in 1824. Aaron Whitney, of Conneaut, was probably the first projector of a stage-coach line on the Reserve. He conceived the idea of starting a passenger line from Erie, Pennsylvania, to Cleveland, in opposition to the mail line owned by the Harmons, who used exclusively covered wagons. Whitney was a wagon-maker,. and consequently had the facilities for building his own coaches. He secured the services of Charles Barr, afterwards a citizen of Youngstown, to make the bodies. When the first coach was completed, Whitney, Barr, and several others made a triumphal excursion to Ashtabula, where they were received with great eclat. .A company was soon afterwards organized to run a coach line from Conneaut to Poland, composed of Aaron Whitney, Caleb Blodget, Samuel Helve', ing, John Kinsman, General Martin Smith, Seth Hayes, and Philip Kimmel. This line was put * The statement that Gilson was the contractor is perhaps incorrect, for a part f a published letter from General Perkins, Warren's first postmaster, to Hon. Elisha Whittlesey, says: "A Mr. Frithy, of Jefferson, Ashtabula county, was. contractor on the route which came and terminated at Warren, the terminus for two or four years before it went on to Cleveland. Eleazer Gilson, of Canfield, was mail carrier, and made a trip once in two weeks. 102 - TRUMBULL AND MAHONING COUNTIES, OHIO. in operation in 1824. Poland was the southern terminus, Wrren and Youngstown being the chief objective points on the route, The following appeared in the Western Reserve Chronicle in 1828: Best route for Western travelers.—We presume that many travelers arriving in Buffalo and bound for the West are unacquainted with the fact that the shortest, cheapest and most expeditious route between the lake and Ohio river is to land at Ashtabula, where excellent coaches start every day for Wellsville on the river, a distance f less than one hundred miles, and traveled in about twenty hours at an expense of $4. The traveling public have an interest in a knowledge f these facts. Nothing can be required to insure to the enterprismg stage proprietors extensive patronage. As early as 1827 a project began to be agitated for uniting the Ohio river with the lake by a railroad, The enterprise looked visionary at that time, and when a pike road was completed many wise heads predicted that no better facilities for transportation would be provided, unless it might be a canal. The railroad scheme was pushed however, so far as obtaining a charter, which fixed the capital at $1,000,000, and designated that the road should run from a point on Lake Erie between Lake and Ashtabula counties, and terminate at some point on the Ohio river in Columbiana county. The leaders in this inceptive enterprise found less difficulty in locating the road than in raising the required capital. Their project failed. The second railroad enterprise affecting Trumbull county was instituted in 1836, under the name of Ashtabula, Warren & East Liverpool company, with a capital of $1,500,000. This was substantially an Ashtabula county enterprise, the Mahoning valley towns being engrossed in another enterprise, regarded as of paramount importance. Work was already commenced on this road, but was brought to a stop by the panic of 1836-37, and never revived. Business depression had an adverse effect upon Warren's nursed enterprise—the Ohio and Pennsylvania canal, which was talked of as early as 1825, No sooner had the Ohio canal and Erie canal been projected than the construction of a connecting link was looked upon as a promising scheme. Philadelphia merchants were especially interested, for it would open up to them northern Ohio, and place them on a fair competing basis with New York, which had the advantage of lake commerce. The following appeared in the Western Reserve Chronicle, August 9,1832 : Mahoning Canal.—Merchants and capitalists during the last winter gave strong assurances that the stock in this important work of internal improvement should be taken whenever the books were opened for subscriptions. Knowing, as we did, the arrangements they had made, and the deep interest they felt in the subject, we flattered ourselves that it would be engaged in as early as the ensuing autumn, or at least the following spring. We now, however, have the regret to learn that President Jackson's veto is producing so much depression and derangement in the moneyed concerns 0f the country, that all hopes of obtaining subscriptions are abandoned. The pressure upon the business men in that city is represented as extreme. It is stated in the same paper a few weeks later that stock subscription books were soon to be opened, and the work was to be pushed rapidly to completion, Nothing was actually done, however, till business began to revive, in 1838; then, with that surprising aclivity which generally follows repressed energy, the old project was carried forward. Surveys were made and the bed located from Beaver run to Akron, Ohio, its terminal points being the main north and south highways of Ohio and Pennsylvania, Work was at once commenced and completed as far as Warren in May, 1839. A public reception was tendered the first packet. That the local importance of a public work of this character was appreciated, is shown by the following newspaper correspondence : WARREN, OHIO, May 28, 1839. Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal Celebration—On 7nursday last, May 23d, our citizens were greeted with the arrival of a be at from Beaver. The packet Ontario, Captain Bronson in charge, came into town in gallant style, amid the roar of cannon and the shouts and hearty cheersfu1 citizens. The boat was crowded by gentlemen from Pennsylvania and along the line, and accompanied by four excellent bands f music. On arriving at the foot of Main street they were greeted by the. Warren band, and a procession formed which marched through the square to the front of Townes' hotel, where a neat and appropriate address was made to the passengers by John Crowell, Esq., mayor of the town, giving them a hearty welcome in the name of the town authorities and citizens, which was responded to by B. B. Chamberlain, of Brighton. The rest of the day was past in hilarity, and on Friday the boat left for Beaver, carrying about lolly citizens of Youngstown, who were highly delighted with the excursion. The boat is 0wned by Clark & Co., of Beaver, who are entitled to all commendation for their exertions in pushing their boat through to the head of navigation, notwithstanding unlooked for and unavoidable obstructions, These obstructions will all be removed in a few days, leaving the canal in good navigable order. Arrangements have been made by Messrs, Clark & Co. for running a daily line of packets from this place Beaver. Three boats, the Ontario, Huron, and Hudson, are fitted up in superior style to carry fifteen tons of freight and sixty' passengers, and will leave Warren daily at noon, arrive at Beaver next morning, and proceed by steamer Fallston to Pittsburg. Returning will leave Pittsburg at 4 P. M., Beaver at 7 P, M., and arrive at TRUMBULL AND MAHONING COUNTIES, OHIO - 103 Warren about noon the next day. We trust and believe that the enterprising proprietors f this line will reap a 1ich reward for their labor. The Western Reserve Chronicle contains a two column report of the " opening celebration," which was participated in by about forty people from Pennsylvania, a large number of citizens of Youngstown, and all the leading men in Warren. A. M. Lloyd, Lieutenant J. Ingersoll, C. C. Seely, James Hoyt, and J. D. Taylor acted as committee of arrangements, having been appointed by the town. council. They had raised sufficient money to entertain the guests royally, Major John Crowell, in his address of welcome; said touching the hist0ry of the enterprise : The charter of the company passed the Legislature of Ohio in January, 1827, and was approved and concurred in by the Legislature f Pennsylvania in April of the same year, but it remained for several years afterward a dead letter on the statute book. The convention of November, 1843, first breathed into it the breath of life, This convention assembled in this place and was composed of distinguished citizens f both States interested in the work, and after several days spent in deliberation and examination of the route described by the charter, it was resolved to commence the undertaking. Books for the subscription of stock were subsequently opened, the requisite amount subscribed and the company was organized in May, 1835. Since that time the work has progressed as rapidly as the embarrassed state f the funds f the company would permit, under the superintendence of able and skillful engineers whose whole energies have been devoted to the work with the most untiring industry; and now we have the pleasure of beholding as the result of their labors, the completion of this great work to this place and the arrival of the first boat that has floated on the bosom of its waters. The response ot Mr. Chamberlain on part of the visitors is not reported. At four o'clock a banquet was served, General J, W. Seely presided, being assisted by General Crowell, A few of the toasts responded to may be of interest. Wine flowed freely and spirited music was rendered by the bands in attendance. "Pennsylvania & Ohio — Pennsylvania, the keyslone of the arch, and Ohio the stone which supports the arch."—Hail Columbia. "The Pennsylvania & Ohio canala new link in the chain of sisterhood between two States whose interests can never be severed."—Twin Sisters, "The Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal company— May the prosperity of the company equal the zeal and energy with which the objects of its creation have . been pursued."—Grand Canal March. "The officers of the canal company—Patriotic in their designs, efficient in their execution, and faithful to their trust."—Washington's March. "The engineer corps of the Pennsylvania & Ohio canal, faithful and competent in the discharge of the duties devolving upon them."—Lafayette's March. "The packet Ontario—the first boat that ever floated the waters of the Pennsylvania & Ohio canal."—The Bonny Boat. "The owners and captain of the packet—May they reap a rich return for their toil."—Yankee Doodle. F. J. Clark, of Beaver, after expressing the thanks of the visitors for their splendid reception, offered, "The Village of Warren—We admire it not more fo1 its own beauty than for the liberality and enterprise of its citizens."—In the Green Village (by Youngstown band). General Crowell remarked that while celebrating on this festive occasion the distinguished and meritorious services of the living, we ought not to be unmindful of departed worth. He therefore offered "The Memory of General Abner Lacock, the first president of the Pennsylvania & Ohio canal. His memory will long be cherished by the friends of the enterprise." Drank standing, Colonel David Tod, after remarking on the services of a distinguished citizen of Warren, in procuring the charter, and who now sleeps with the dead, offered "The Memory of General Roswell Stowe. Peace be to his ashes." Mr. Gould, of Beaver county, Pennsylvania, after a brief preliminary speech in behalf of Beaver and Mercer counties as represented by himself and associates on this occasion, tendered the citizens of Ohio the congratulations of Pennsylvania upon the opening of navigation from the Big Beaver to Warren. He then proposed " The Triple Union—The rivers of the South with the lakes of the North; the Cuyahoga with the Big Beaver; western Pennsylvania with eastern Ohio; by thel cross-cut canal, through Warren, the center of the Union," This rather spread eagle toast was followed by a lively flourish of all the bands, to the tune, Come Haste to the Wedding. The canal was completed to Akron by the fall of that year, and another excursion and jollification took place at that terminus. Among those 104 - TRUMBULL AND MA HONING COUNTIES, OHIO. especially interested in the enterprise who accompanied the party was Dr. Seely of Warren, who died at Akron through over jubilance. The Ohio and Pennsylvania canal was a work of inestimable importance to Warren, Youngs-. town and Cleveland, by creating a market for coal, iron and produce. Inadequate and unsatisfactory as it was, it demonstrated the possibilities of the region, and its few boats were the inception of an immense carrying trade. In a sense the canal may be considered the foundation of a railroad system which penetrates every valley and reaches to every coal, iron, and limestone bed, but it is a foundation which the superstructure has pressed out of existence, leaving only a dry bed and an occasional wrecked hull as souvenirs of its existence. Even the bed in many places has become the track of locomotives. RAILROADS, The Cleveland & Mahoning railroad was the product of a long-felt need, and became an accomplished fact in spite of a series of obstacles and embarrassments almost equally long. The project was a revival of the old Ohio & Erie road, its route being changed to accommodate the coal and iron trade developed by the canal. But this trade was the inspiration of the enterprise. While the canal afforded cheap transportation, it was too slow for a heavy iron and coal trade. This first successful railroad enterprise was born in Warren, and was mainly nurtured at the same place. A charter was granted February 22, 1848, and books at once opened for stock subscriptions. The directors were Jacob Perkins, Frederick Kinsman, and Charles Smith, of Warren; Reuben Hitchcock, of Painesville; Dudley Baldwin, of Cleveland, and David Tod, of Youngstown. A proportion of the stock was subscribed by Eastern capitalists through the influence of the Ohio directors, and when it was supposed sufficient amounts had been pledged to guarantee success, work was commenced in 1853. The work of construction was not half completed when the treasurer reported the stock subscription exhausted, and a depressed money market dispelled hope of enlisting Eastern capital in the enterprise. The alternative presented itself to the directors of abandoning work and bankrupting the company, or staking their own private fortunes on ultimate success. Mr. Perkins, the president, took the lead, and all the other directors followed him in offering thei1 own estates as security for mortgage loans, So confident of success was President Perkins that he guaranteed to pay the first $100,000 loss. A financial panic made the situation extremely embarrassing. English capital was solicited in vain, but the directors, relying upon their own resources, pushed the enterprise as expeditiously as their straitened circumstances would permit. The company was fortunate in having a superintendent who carried on its operati0ns at once efficiently and economically. We refer to Charles Rhodes, now of Cleveland. The road bed was finally completed as far as Youngstown, but the debt-ridden company's embarrassment was not yet over. Locomotives and cars had to be purchased before it could be made to earn anything. Two of the directors spent two weeks in Philadelphia trying to borrow $20,000, with which to purchase two locomotives, at last succeeding only through personal friendship, and on personal credit. Cars were run between Cleveland and Youngstown in 1856, when there began to be a small but steady income. Railroad stock was traded for canal stock until the company had control of both lines of transportation. The directors experimented with a policy of high freights, but were compelled to abandon it, or drive the coal and iron which were chiefly depended upon for business, out of the market. Two dollars per ton was at one time charged for carrying coal fr0m Youngstown to Cleveland. Stock began to rise in value as soon as the first train had passed over the rails. The frightful debt which threatened even private houses was year by yea1 scaled down, and, contrary to the usual rule of railroading, was eventually discharged without loss to creditors or stockholders. President Perkins, whose labor had been so efficient from the beginning, did not live to see this splendid consummation. However, even at the time of his death in January 1859, enough had been accomplished to insure success. It would be useless to enter into an estimate of the benefits derived from this road by Youngstown, Warren, and Cleveland, nor does the public spirit, energy, and sagacity of the directors who carried it to a successful comple- TRUMBULL AND MAHONING COUNTIES, OHIO - 105 tion need our ,poor words of praise. At the beginning the enterprise was looked upon as an experiment. The success of that experiment, under the circumstance, is sufficient comment upon those interested in its execution. Eighty miles of track from Cleveland to Youngstown, and from Youngstown to the State line, called the Hubbard branch, was constructed by the Cleveland & Mahoning company, Two tracks were laid from Cleveland to Leavittsburg, and the road was paying a satisfactory dividend, when, in 1863, it was leased to the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad company for the term of ninety-nine years. At the same time was transferred to the lessee all the company's machinery, rolling stock, tools, etc., for the sum of $405,802.45. The annual rental of the road proper was fixed at $273,072. All liens and mortgage bonds at the date of this lease amounted to $2,200,000, In 1853, with a capital of $1,000,000, the Ashtabula & New Lisbon Railroad company was chartered. By surveying two lines between Ashtabula and Warren, one along the third range, the other 0n the fourth, a competitive feeling was created, which had its effect upon stock subscriptions but did not secure the required amount. The road was divided into two divisions, one from Ashtabula to Niles, the other from Niles to New Lisbon. Subscriptions on the forme1 amounted to $274,600, on the latter, $126,175, Robert W, Griswold was chosen president in 1854. He was succeeded in t856 by Eben Newton, of Canfield, who served three years, Henry Hubbard was chosen to that position in 1859. Like nearly all enterprises of this kind success was secured by a series of failures. The projected road was only partially constructed. In 1864 the uncompleted roadbed south of Niles was leased by a new organization, known as the New Lisbon Railroad company, This company's charter gave it authority to complete the road from New Lisbon to Niles, or some other point on the Cleveland & Mahoning railroad ; ten miles to be completed within two and the balance within five years. Under this charter and lease from the Ashtabula & New Lisbon company, the New Lisbon Railroad company proceeded mortgaging the road for its completion; but failing to carry out the terms of the lease, and becoming financially embarrassed, the mortgage was foreclosed, and the road, thirty-five miles in length, was sold in 1869 to private parties, who organized the Niles & New Lisbon Railroad company, and operated the road until 1872 under that title. A road was built under charter granted the Liberty & Vienna Railroad company in 1868 from the Church Hill Coal company's road in Liberty township to Vienna. In 1870 this company increased its capital $300,000, and extended its line. through Girard to Youngstown. The line from Girard to Youngstown was sold in 1871 to the Ashtabula, Youngstown & Pittsburg company, the remainder being retained by the Liberty & Vienna company. August 14, 1872, by previous articles of agreement, the Cleveland & Mahoning, the Niles & New Lisbon, and the Liberty & Vienna consolidated and became the Cleveland & Mahon- honing Valley Railroad company, its capital stock being the aggregated stock of the several companies, amounting to $2,759,200. The branches continued to be known as the Niles & New Lisbon and the Liberty & Vienna railroads until 1880, when they were leased to the lessee of the Cleveland & Mahoning for the unexpired term of the lease of 1863. The stipulated annual rental for the branches is $72,980. Under the lease of 1880 all the lines of the Cleveland & Mahoning Valley Railroad company, Reuben Hitchcock, president, are operated by the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad company, It remains in this connection to trace briefly the subsequent history of the Ashtabula & New Lisbon company. A company .known as the Ashtabula, Youngstown & Pittsburg Railroad company was chartered in 1870 and entered into a contract with the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago company to construct a line from the terminus of the Lawrence branch of the Pennsylvania road at Youngstown to Ashtabula Harbor. The partially constructed line of the Ashtabula & New Lisbon company was adopted from Niles to Ashtabula. Five and a half miles of the track of the Liberty & Vienna company, from Youngstown to Niles, was purchased for $200,000, and the missing link from Niles to Girard was constructed. A contract was made with the Pennsylvania company by which it was to operate the road in harmony with its other lines, and divide the net earnings pro rata. The road was sold in 1878 to a company known as 106 - TRUMBULL AND MAHONING COUNTIES, OHIO. the Ashtabula & Pittsburg Railroad company, and is now operated by the Pennsylvania company under a ninety-nine year lease. The Lawrence Railroad and Transportation company was chartered in Pennsylvania and Ohio in 1864, and lines constructed from Lawrence, Pennsylvania, to Youngstown, Ohio. The line, in 1869, was leased to the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago company for the term of ninety-nine years. The Lawrence branch from the Newcastle & Beaver Valley railroad to Youngstown is eighteen miles, In addition to this there is a branch four and oneshalf miles long, from Canfield Junction to the coal fields, all how controlled by the Pennsylvania company, which, by the Newcastle & Beaver Valley, the Lawrence, and the Ashtabula, Youngstown & Pittsburg, has a continuous line from Ashtabula Harbor to Pittsburg, giving both Youngstown and Warren competing lines from Lake Erie to the Ohio river. Thus the visionary project of 1826 is doubly accomplished. The New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio company, which now has precedence in the trade of the Mahoning valley, is the product of gradual growth and consolidation. We have already traced the history of the Cleveland & Mahoning valley consolidation, whose lines are now operated under a lease dated in 1880, for the term of eighty-two years. It remains to speak of the main line reaching from Salamanca, New York, to Dayton, Ohio, In 1851 a charte1 was granted to the Franklin & Warren railroad company to construct a railroad from Franklin, Portage county, via Warren to the State line, with power to continue the same from its place of beginning in a westerly or southwesterly direction to connect with any other railroads within this State, which the directors may deem advisable. Under this authority a line was .constructed from Dayton to the State line, crossing the Cleveland & Mahoning at Leavittsburg. The length of this line is two hundred and forty-six miles. The name in the meantime had been changed (in 1855) to the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad company. In 1857 the Meadville Railroad company was chartered in Pennsylvania, and purchased of the Pittsburg & Erie company, chartered in 1846, its property, rights, and franchises in Mercer and Crawford counties, embracing the proposed line of the Meadville company therein. The name of the Meadville Railroad company was changed in 1858 to the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad company of Pennsylvania. The Erie & New York City Railroad company, chartered in 1852, failing to complete its proposed line, in 1860 sold thirty-eight miles of its road from Salamanca, to the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad company in New York, chartered in 1859. The Buffalo extension of the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad company was chartered in 1864, and in 1865 the four companies consolidated under the name of Atlantic & Great Western Railway company, and in that name operated the through line from Dayton to Sal. amanca and the branch from Jamestown to Buffalo. In consequence of suits brought for foreclosure the property of the consolidated company was turned over to a receiver April 1, 1867, General R. B. Potter receiving the appointment. After passing through several receiverships and being leased as often, it was finally sold at foreclosure sale in January, 1860, an association of mortgage bondholders being the purchasers. In March of the same year it was conveyed to five corporations, in considerati0n of $45,000,000 capital stock and $87,500,000 mortgage bonds. They organized the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railway company, taking out charters in Ohio and Pennsylvania, The road was originally constructed with a wide or six-feet gauge, but a few months after it passed under its present management it was reduced to what is known as the standard guage. Its business has since rapidly increased, and the road is now supposed to he operated on- a solid basis. The Painesville & Youngstown railroad was the first narrow gauge line in the State attempted for general transportation business. The company was organized in 1870. The partially constructed Painesville & Hudson road was purchased for $60,000, and by January, 1873, cars were running over a three-feet gauge road from Painesville to Chardon. The company, after expending $65,000 received from stock subscriptions in grading, etc., entered into a contract for the construction of the entire line and full equipment, the contractors to receive the bonds of the company and its capital stock. The road was completed to Niles by January, 1874, and is. now extended to Youngstown, being 61.8 miles in length. In 1877, in consequence of fore- TRUMBULL AND MAHONING COUNTIES, OHIO - 107 closure proceedings, the road was placed in the hands of M. 'R, Martin, receiver, and was sold at master commissioner's sale in 1879 to H. B. Payne, W, J. Hitchcock, and M, R. Martin, who transferred it to the corporators of a new company, styling itself the Painesville & Youngstown Railway company, in consideration of $1,249,775 in stock and mortgage bonds. It is an interesting fact that this first narrow gauge experiment is soon to be abandoned for the standard guage. The dependence of one road upon another makes uniformity of track necessary, and it is probable that the day of experimenting with either wide or narrow guages is past. Warren has seen the practical failure of both. The Mahoning Coal Railroad company filed ils certificate of incorporation in 1871 to build a road from Youngstown to a point in Brookfield township, the capital being $70,000, In 1871 a supplementary certificate was filed to construct a track from the main line in Liberty township to the Ashtabula branch of the Lake: Shore and Michigan Southern railroad, thirty-eight miles, and increasing the capital to $1,500,000. A branch was subsequently built from Youngstown to Struthers, in Mahoning̊ county, and another to the F0ster coal mines, making the company's lines 41.58 miles in length. The whole is leased to the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern company for ninety-nine years from May r, 1873, at an annual rental of forty per cent, of the gross earnings, The construction of the Alliance & Lake Erie railroad was commenced by the Lake Erie, Alliance & Wheeling Railroad company, in 1876, the prop0sed line running from Fairport to Wheeling. Trains were run from Alliance to Newton Falls by January, 1877, and to Brace- vine, on the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio, before the close of the summer of that year. Operati0ns were stopped in November under foreclosure proceedings, and in May, 1878, the line was sold to the Alliance & Lake Erie Railroad company, a new organization. Trains resumed running in August ot that year, The constructed line was lengthened to Phalanx, on the Cleveland & Marietta branch of the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohi0, in 1879. The principal freightage of the road is coal procured at Palmyra, where it is said the best coal in the State is mined. Two new roads are in process of construction. The Pittsburg, Youngstown & Chicago will connect at Pittsburg with the Baltimore & Ohio, run through Youngstown, Warren and Akron to Chicago Junction, where it connects with the Chicago division of the Baltimore & Ohio. Of this road C. H. Andrews, of Youngstown, is president. The Pittsburg & Western branches from present construction lines at Niles.