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122 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY CHAPTER VII WATERWAYS, ROADS AND RAILROADS THE OLD WOOSTER ROAD-CANAL GETS THE RIGHT-OF-WAY-THE LAKE ERIE & OHIO CANAL-CANAL CONTRACTORS 1N STARK COUNTY- ENTER, THE LIQUOR QUESTION-THE STIMULATION OF MASSILLON - CANTON ATTEMPTS TO GET INTO THE SWIM-FALL OF THE NIMISHILLEN & SANDY SLACKWATER PROJECT-RAILROAD IMPETUS FOR ALLIANCE-THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD SYSTEM-THE WHEELING & LAKE ERIE RAILROAD--A DEPOT OF WHICH TO BE PROUD-LAKE ERIE, ALLIANCE & WHEELING LINE-FORERUNNER OF THE BALTIMORE & OHIO-TROUBLES FOR THE OLD VALLEY ROAD-WORK RESUMED. SUSPENDED AND RESUMED-FIRST TRAIN FROM CLEVLAND TO CANTON -THE ELECTRIC LINES. A glimpse of some of the old Indian trails and the early roads which passed through Stark County, both before and after its organization, has been given in preceding pages. They ran both east and west between the Ohio River and such interior points as Wooster and Bucyrus, and northeast and southwest between the Tuscarawas River, Lexington and points in Portage County. THE OLD WOOSTER ROAD One of the first highways in the county was known as the Wooster Road, an eastern and western thoroughfare from Steubenville toward the county seat of Wayne County. The road passed through a large swamp near Canton, into which large quantities of buckwheat straw were thrown, and covered with sand and gravel to raise the road-bed. It was in that region that one of the first bridges in the county was built; it was long known as Buckwheat Bridge. Wooster Road was considered the forefather of improved land travel in Stark County. CANALS GET THE RIGHT-OF-WAY But before much progress had been made in the good road movement the canals got the right-of-way and kept it for a number of years, or HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 123 until displaced by the railroads, and at a still later period the necessity of substantial land-ways to the well-being of the rural communities, as well as to the comfort and pleasure of thousands of travelers, engaged the attention of those anxious to promote the county's best interests. The canals which engaged the attention of the leading men of Stark County were those forming more or less important links in the long projected system designed to connect the East with the West of those days, by way of Lake Erie and the valley of the Ohio, whose branches stretched nearly to the watershed of the Great Lakes. In January, 1817, almost a decade after Stark County was formed, the first resolution relating to such an artificial waterway was introduced (PICTURE) VETERAN OF THE STAGE LINE into the State Legislature ; in 1819 the subject was against agitated, and in 1820 an act was passed for the appointment of three canal commissioners, who were to employ a competent engineer and assistants to locate the route of the canal, provided Congress would endorse the proposition of the state to donate various public lands lying along the proposed route for the promotion of the enterprise. Another two years passed, and in 1822 a committee appointed by the House of Representatives submitted various estimates and arguments to illustrate the importance and feasibility of the proposed work. In line with its recommendations, James Geddes, a capable New York engineer, was employed to make the necessary examinations and surveys. Finally, after all the routes had been surveyed, and estimates of the expense laid before several sessions of the Legislature, in February, 1825, an act was 124 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY passed "to provide for the internal improvement of the state by navigable canals." The work of "internal improvements" was thereby inaugurated, and in many parts of the state the construction of the canals brought new life and many years of prosperity. While they were being constructed the settlers along the lines were supplied with work, and the farmers and merchants found a growing market for their produce and goods. The prospects of extended transportation and increased markets also raised the price of the neighboring lands, and in other ways, which will occur to the thoughtful and practical man, the building of such waterways as the Lake Erie and Ohio Canal was a blessing to hundreds of communities and thousands of struggling pioneers. Stark County was benefitted immensely for at least a quarter of a century. THE LAKE ERIE & OHIO CANAL The four routes of the Lake Erie & Ohio Canal which the Legislature of 1822 authorized to be surveyed were as follows : One was to run from (PICTURE) OLD OHIO CANAL LOCK AT NAVARRE Sandusky Bay to the Ohio River ; one from the Maumee to the Ohio; one from Cuyahoga, or Black River, by way of the Muskingum, to the Ohio, and one from the mouth of the Grand River, via the Mahoning, to the Ohio. The commissioners into whose hands this work was given, at the following session of the Legislature reported that any of these routes could be used, but asked for more time to consider which was HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 125 the most practicable. At the session of 1823-24 they chose the one for the Scioto Valley, the Licking and Upper Muskingum. In the summer of 1824 two routes were determined upon, one from the Maumee River to Cincinnati, and the other starting at the mouth of Scioto to Coshocton, and thence to the lake by three different routes. In 1825 the canal commissioners were ordered to proceed on these two routes. When completed, the western one was called the Miami Canal, and the eastern, the Ohio. From Coshocton the Ohio Canal followed the Tuscarawas, through Coshocton, Tuscarawas and Stark counties, cut the old portage and passed along through Summit and Cuyahoga counties, along the Cuyahoga River, to Cleveland. Great preparations were made for the opening of this canal. General Lafayette was in the country, and it was expected that the first shovel of earth would- be lifted by him at the portage summit. That was the very spot over which the men of 1799 had come and which the early settlers had attempted to make passable for the carrying of their canoes and baggage. Two counties received their names from this famous locality—Portage and Summit. Unfortunately, General Lafayette had promised to be in Boston on July 4, 1825, and the whole plan was changed. The first ground was broken July 4, 1825, at Licking Summit. Gov. DeWitt Clinton, of New York, who had been so interested in all canal projects, raised the first shovelful of earth, and ex-Governor Morrow, of Ohio, the second. Hon. Thomas Ewing, of Lancaster, Ohio, was the orator of the occasion. The canal was completed from Cleveland to Akron in 1827, and in 1830 boats were running from Cleveland to Portsmouth on the Ohio River. CANAL CONTRACTORS IN STARK COUNTY Immediately after the passage of the 1825 act, Capt. James Duncan, the New Hampshire shipmaster, who had become so much of a figure in Perry Township, commenced to purchase land in the Tuscarawas Valley north and south of the tracts already held by him and prepared to lay out a town, extending from North to South streets, west to the Tuscarawas River (beyond the land was owned by Judge William Henry), and east to High Street, which bordered on lands owned by the estate of Thomas Rotch, deceased. Excepting on the south, Mr. Duncan took in all the territory he owned. The fractional section on the east side of the river not owned by Mr. Duncan, lying between his land and the river, was held by P. A. Karthans of Baltimore, having been entered by him at an early day. The new town, which was laid out in the winfer of 1825-26, was called Massillon, upon the sug- 126 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY gestion of Mrs. Duncan, who was a lady of culture, an especially fine French scholar and a great admirer of Jean Baptiste Massillon, the celebrated Roman Catholic bishop in the days of Louis XIV. On the 18th day of January, 1826, forty-four sections of the canal were let at Mr. Duncan's residence in Kendal, which was the only brick house in the village. The work thus put under contract covered the route from the south side of Summit Lake, in the present Summit County, to the second lock south of Massillon, or twenty-seven miles south of the new City of Akron. The letting of these contracts and the laying out of the Town of Massillon were virtually contemporaneous. ENTER, THE LIQUOR QUESTION Work rapidly progressed on the canal, that portion through the village being done by Jesse Rhodes and Horace E. Spencer. They completed two or three sections of half a mile each. Mr. Duncan and George Wallace, of Brandywine, Portage (now Summit) County, constructed the canal through the stone quarry. Between that section and the village Aaron Chapman had half a mile to build, who stirred up considerable talk by his advertisement for laborers, in which appeared "Those who cannot work without whiskey need not apply." The result was that Mr. Chapman's section was promptly finished in 1828. He refreshed his men with hot coffee as a drink, and it is on record that his half mile of canal was noticeable for the excellence of its construction. Another temperance contractor was John Laughrey, who built the viaduct north of Bolivar, Tuscarawas County, and was engaged on the aqueduct across the Scioto River at Circleville, Pickaway County, and on the canal work near Massillon. THE STIMULATION OF MASSILLON As the work of building the canal south of the Portage summit progressed, business centered at Massillon, the only important point in the Tuscarawas Valley between New Philadelphia and Akron. Not only were the old stores stimulated and their stocks increased, but new establishments of all kinds sprung up, and those who located at the new canal town of Massillon were of a broader caliber than the old-time merchants of Kendal. When the canal was first built through Massillon there were but a few small houses in the place. Kendal, which is now one of the wards of the city, was, of course, the older, more populous and more "finished" place. But very soon the men of enterprise and business tact gravi- HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 127 tated to the town which was in direct touch with the canal, erected large warehouses and opened good general stores, announcing that they were ready to buy for cash all the wheat that was offered. Among these men were L. and S. Rawson, H. B. and M. D. Wellman, Jesse Rhodes and the Johnsons. Their confidence in the bright future of Massillon inspired others to locate. so that by the time the canal was completed to Portsmouth the place had become widely known as the Wheat City. The thrift and growth of Massillon from 1830 to 1850 were wonderful, (PICTURE) CANAL BOATS OF THE TUSCARAWAS VALLEY and, for the time, Canton was quite overshadowed, the position of the latter as the county seat being even threatened. CANTON ATTEMPTS TO GET INTO THE SWIM During the period of Massillon's supremacy, Canton had made several attempts to get into water communication with the Ohio system which had so neglected her. A few years after the opening of the Lake Erie & Ohio Canal the Sandy & Beaver Canal was constructed from Glasgow, on the Ohio River, westward to Bolivar in Tuscarawas County, on the Ohio Canal, cutting, on its route thither, through the southeast corner of Stark County, and including Waynesburg and Magnolia. FALL OF THE NIMISHILLEN & SANDY SLACKWATER PROJECT The citizens of Canton thought they saw their chance to get into the Ohio Canal system through the Sandy & Beaver enterprise, and there- 128 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY fore organized the Nimishillen & Sandy Slackwater Navigation Company. The design of that corporation was to build a canal by way of the Nimishillen and Sandy creeks to the Sandy & Beaver Canal some miles north of its junction with the Ohio Canal. It was to pass through Canton, thus giving the city water communication with the world. The business men at the county seat naturally took a deep interest in the combined enterprise, and ground was broken on Walnut Street with the most imposing ceremonies. A plow drawn by ten yoke of oxen and large enough almost to include a canal in one furrow, was used to inaugurate this new internal improvement. (PICTURE) ABANDONED CANAL BOAT John Danner, in one of his interesting pioneer papers, has this to say of the outcome of these twin enterprises, and the obliteration of the old-time rivalry between Massillon and Canton : "The contractor for building the canal in Canton was the late Rodman Lovett, father of Mesdames John H. Smith and John A. Hay, who still reside in Canton. Mr. Lovett performed his work well, so that the canal running from North street south on Walnut to the present Pennsylvania Railroad, and thence directly westward across the property occupied by the present works of the Aultman Company, crossing Market street at Navarre, and thence running south on the west side of Market street to the south creek, was all finished ready for the water. After all this work was done, it was found that the Sandy & Beaver Canal was not a success, and that for the want of funds the project was likely to HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 129 prove a failure. It was also discovered that Shriver's run, from which it was expected to supply the canal with water down as far as the south creek, was not sufficient, and this, with other difficulties and complications, caused the work to cease right there. Many thousands of dollars were lost in this operation and Walnut street stood for years as a witness of the folly of those early days. It was more frequently called Canal street than Walnut. Finally the old ditch was graded to the ground level, but not until much murmuring and complaint on the part of the citizens who lived on Walnut street. The canal was never filled with water, and much less was it ever used for floating wheat and other products to market. "For many years after the above failure to secure for Canton canal facilities, Massillon controlled the heavy produce not only of Stark county, but of quite a number of other counties, including Wayne and Holmes, and even Carroll, Columbiana and Jefferson counties sent much of their produce to the Massillon market. From 1840 to 1850 the great tide of trade that went through Canton to Massillon was such that three or four country taverns between these two places did quite a profitable business in entertaining the farmers and providing accommodations for their teams, when they were thus en route to and from the great wheat market which had been created at Massillon. The tide was so largely in favor of Massillon and against Canton during that decade that an effort was made to secure the removal of the county seat to Massillon, and at one time it seemed very probable that this further obscuring of Canton would be accomplished. The writer was at the time a resident of Massillon, and often heard it said 'Canton is about finished and ready to be fenced in, so that the grass may grow in its streets ; ' and so it almost appeared for awhile. But in 1851, when the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad became an assured fact, Canton was put on a level with other towns, and Ball, Aultman & Company located their manufacturing establishment here (Canton). Conditions began rapidly to change in our favor, and from that day to this Canton has had wonderful prosperity and growth, while Massillon also has grown to be a city of great wealth and influence." The disadvantages under which Canton labored, as long as it was denied either waterways or railways, may be realized when it is known that its merchants in getting their supplies, from the East had to transport them by way of the canal to Massillon, or have them hauled from Pittsburgh. The latter method involved heavy freight charges and a time expenditure of from six to seven days. vol. I - 5 130 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY RAILROAD IMPETUS FOR ALLIANCE The first railroad to be built through Stark County, however, did not touch Canton, and was of little benefit to the county at large, as it only penetrated its northeast corner and accommodated Alliance and Limaville. Its marked effect was to give Alliance a fair impetus, which has not been seriously retarded to this day. As early as March, 1836, the State Legislature chartered the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad. Work upon the line not having been commenced within three years from that time, as required by the charter, the project went into retirement until March, 1845, when an act of revival was passed. But times were hard and therefore slow, and it was not until February, 1851, that the road was opened from Cleveland to Hudson, Summit County. By the following month it had reached Ravenna ; in November of that year it had reached Columbiana County, through the northeast corner of Stark, and in March, 1852, was extended to Wellsville, its terminus on the Ohio River. The line was leased to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in December, 1871, and the lease assigned to the Pennsylvania Company in April, 1873. THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD SYSTEM The salient facts in connection with the formation of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, and its operations in Ohio and Stark County, commence with the incorporation of the Ohio & Pennsylvania Railroad Company by the Legislature of Ohio in February, 1848. On the 11th of February following the Legislature of Pennsylvania passed a similar act, making the company a corporation of that state. The act of incorporation of the Ohio Legislature gave the company power to construct a railroad from Mansfield, Richland County, eastward by way of Wooster, Massillon and Canton, to some point on the east line of the state, within the County of Columbiana, and thence to the City of Pittsburgh ; and from Mansfield westward to the west Ohio state line. The work of this road was commenced in July, 1849, and the entire track was laid and the road opened for travel from Pittsburgh to Crest- line, Crawford County, on the 11th of April, 1853. The board of directors had determined in 1850 to make Crestline the western terminus of the Ohio & Pennsylvania line. On the 20th of March, 1851, the Ohio Legislature granted a charter to the Ohio & Indiana Railroad Company to build a road from some point on the Cleveland & Columbus Railroad, through Bucyrus and Upper Sandusky, to the west line of the state, and thence to Fort Wayne, HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 131 Indiana. The organization of the company was completed at Bucyrus on the 4th of July, and officers elected. On the 10th of the same month J. R. Straughn was chosen chief engineer and work was at once begun on the surveys. In September following the directors fixed the eastern terminus of the road at Crestline, where it connected with the Ohio & Pennsylvania line. In January, 1852, the contract was let for the entire distance from Crestline to Fort Wayne, and pushed so rapidly that on the 1st of November, 1854, the road was ready for the passage of trains. The people in the counties between Fort Wayne and Chicago then determined to complete the western link in the system, and in September, 1852, a convention was called at Warsaw, Indiana, looking to that end. In 1856 the work was so nearly completed on this new line that by using a portion of the Cincinnati, Pennsylvania & Chicago Railroad, a continuous line was opened on the 10th of November, 1856, from Pittsburgh to Chicago. On the 1st of August, 1856, the Ohio & Pennsylvania, the Ohio & Indiana and the Fort Wayne & Chicago corporations were consolidated under the name of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad Company, the entire line of which was in complete operation January 1, 1859. The property was sold under foreclosure in October, 1861, and leased for 999 years from July 1, 1869, to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, the lease being subsequently assigned to the Pennsylvania Company, by which it is still held. The Massillon & Cleveland Railroad, from Massillon Junction to Clinton, Summit County, over twelve miles, was carried along in these general transfers, and leased finally by the Pennsylvania Company at a rental of 40 per cent of its gross earnings. THE WHEELING & LAKE ERIE RAILROAD The present Wheeling & Lake Erie line, which passes through the western part of the county and includes Massillon and Navarre, originated in the Cleveland, Medina & Tuscarawas Railroad, work on the northern end of which was begun as early as 1852 and a considerable amount of grading done between Grafton and Seville. The main interest in this early project centered in Medina County, which was then without railroad communication. Financial mismanagement in New York ruined the scheme, but did not kill the main idea, which revived, nearly twenty years later, in the Lake Shore & Tuscarawas Valley Railroad Company, which was organized in March, 1871. In response to the solicitations of its promoters, Massillon subscribed $25,000 and Navarre $17.000. Under the new organization work was begun at Grafton, Medina County, 132 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY on the 3d of November, 1873, much of the old road-bed of the former Cleveland, Medina & Tuscarawas Railroad being used. Subsequently the name of the road was changed to the Elyria & Black River, and under that title completed. The enterprise became involved before it was fairly launched, so that a receiver was appointed in 1874, the road sold in the following year and its name again changed to the Cleveland, Tuscarawas Valley & Wheeling Railway. In 1879 the line was extended from Urichsville, in southeastern Tuscarawas County, to Wheeling, West Virginia, by way of Flushing, Belmont County. The Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad Company, which now operates more than 500 miles of lines in the state, is a reorganization of an older corporation known as the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Company, effected in April, 1899. In the preceding February the Cleveland, Canton & Southern Railroad, which now constitutes the main line of the Wheeling & Lake Erie from Cleveland to Coshocton, was sold to the old company, which necessitated the reorganization. The Sherodsville and Carrollton branches were acquired at the same time. Other large sections of the Wheeling & Lake Erie system originated in the operations of the Connotton Valley Railway, its system embracing lines via Canton, from Fairport, two miles north of Painesville, on Lake Erie, to Bowerston, in the northeastern part of Harrison County, where a junction was effected with the Pennsylvania lines. The Connotton Valley Road, in turn, was a development from the old Ohio & Toledo, running from Carrollton, Carroll County, to Minerva. In 1879 that road was bought by N. A. Smith, C. G. Patterson and others, who extended it to DelRoy, in the same county. Not long afterward Mr. Patterson succeeded in interesting a number of capitalists at home and abroad in his project of running the road from Oneida, the original terminus of the Ohio & Toledo, to Canton, which resulted in the organization of the Connotton Valley Railway Company. In 1880 it was completed both to Osnaburg and Canton. Upon the completion of the road to Canton it was decided to extend it north to Fairport on Lake Erie, two miles north of Painesville, with a branch to Cleveland. An effort was made at that time to sell the Alliance & Lake Erie Road to the company, but the offer was then declined. Besides the main line of the Wheeling & Lake Erie, which, as stated, passes through the western part of Stark County, the branches in which its people are specially interested are four—the Massillon branch, from Run Junction, near Navarre, to Orrville Junction, Wayne County, twenty-two miles ; the Sherrodsville branch, from Canton to Sherrodsville, Carroll County ; the Waynesburgh branch, from Canton to Indian HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 133 Run mines, Athens County, and the Massillon Railroad, from Navarre to Warwick mines, Summit. County. A DEPOT OF WHICH TO BE PROUD The Connotton Valley Railway, which located its machine and repair shops at Canton, as well as its general offices, gave the place its first real start as a railroad town. At the time the depot was built, over thirty years ago, it made a deep impression, as witness the following description by a local publication : "The depot buildings are among the finest in the country and an ornament to the city. The main building is 230 feet long and extends from Tuscarawas street to Fifth, and is 40 feet wide, exclusive of porches which run along the entire building on each side. The structure is built of pressed brick, laid in black mortar and with white sandstone trimmings, giving it a very handsome appearance. It has a tower on Tuscarawas street, 96 feet high, containing an elegant clock which tells off the passing moments by Columbus time. The first floor is devoted to waiting rooms, toilet rooms, ticket and telegraph offices, baggage room, etc. Upon the second floor, which is reached by both a front and a back stairway, are eleven rooms (then follow specifications), all of which are finished in the best style, and are well, and even elegantly, furnished." LAKE ERIE, ALLIANCE & WHEELING LINE The Lake Erie, Alliance & Wheeling Railroad, which passes through the eastern part of Stark County, through Alliance and Minerva, now extends from Phalanx, Trumbull County, to Dillonvale, Jefferson County, and has been leased by the New York Central system since July, 1912. As Alliance is at the juncture of the Pennsylvania line and the Lake Erie, Alliance & Wheeling road in Stark County, it was early destined to be a good railroad center. Up to 1874, it had no road to compete with the lines now controlled by the Pennsylvania Company, but in that year the survey was made for the Cleveland, Youngstown & Pittsburgh route, and the competing line commenced to take shape which has been so long known as the Lake Erie, Alliance & Wheeling. Since then Alliance has become division headquarters for the Pennsylvania and the site of large shops, roundhouse and other industries which pertain to the transfer station of a great railroad, as well as an important point in the New York Central system in Ohio. Other details regarding the establishment of this line are given by a resident of Alliance. "In 1874, and previous to that date," he says, 134 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY "Alliance had no competing railroad lines. The three railroads entering the town belonged to one system, and the necessity for a competing railroad was very apparent. At that date, it is stated on good authority, freight could be shipped from New York, Baltimore, Boston and in fact all Atlantic sea coast cities to Mansfield and from there to Alliance for a less rate than such freight could be shipped to Alliance direct. This led some of the enterprising business men of the embryo city to agitate the necessity of a competing railroad to connect with the great railroad systems to the north, and open up the great coal fields to the south. By 1874 this agitation had brought about a survey for a railroad to connect the Ohio river with Lake Erie, and a charter was granted for the new road. It was first named the Cleveland, Youngstown & Pittsburg railroad. Hugh Bleakly, who was one of the chief promoters of the new road, was made the first president. The building of this road was begun with a. cash capital of only $12,000 and an unpaid list of stock subscriptions to the amount of $40,000. It was a desperate struggle, but in course of time the new narrow gauge railroad was a reality. In 1878 cars were run to Alliance from Newton Falls and Phalanx, connecting with the B. & O. and Erie railroads. In 1880 the road changed hands, and Hugh Bleakly, under the new ownership, was made general manager. Since that date the road has been extended south to Dillonvale, near the Ohio river. The narrow gauge was not found practical and it gave way to the standard gauge.. "Between the years 1878 and 1896 this line was known as the Cleveland, Youngstown & Pittsburgh, Lake Erie, Alliance & Southern, Ohio River & Lake Erie, and Alliance & Northern, and the Lake Erie, Alliance & Wheeling, by which latter name it is known at the present time. In 1903 this road was purchased by the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern .and the road bed and equipment greatly improved." As stated, in 1912 it was leased by the New York Central, since which it has been a part of its lines. FORERUNNER OF THE BALTIMORE & OHIO The old Valley Railway became an important section of the Baltimore & Ohio system, and materially benefited Stark County, especially Canton. As early as 1869 a charter was obtained for the Akron & Canton Railway, which was incorporated in August, 1871. The authorized capital stock of the company was $3,000,000, the road to run from Cleveland, via Akron, to Canton, and thence southeast to its junction with the Pan Handle line in Tuscarawas County. The first decisive movement toward the promotion of the enterprise was a meeting held at. Akron, HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 135 January 4, 1872, representatives from Cleveland, Canton, Wheeling and intermediate points on the contemplated route being aggressively present. The president of the convention was James A. Saxton, of Canton, and its secretary, H. Cochran, of Wheeling. David L. King, of Akron, briefly stated the objects of the meeting, saying that the project of a road down the Valley of the Cuyahoga, from Akron to Cleveland, and south from that city to Canton and Wheeling, was no new enterprise. Such a road, he said, would develop large quantities of coal and other minerals south of Akron. The importance and feasibility of the road was conceded by all, the discussion being mainly over the question of gauge, estimates being presented showing the comparative cost of both the standard, 4 feet 81/, inches, and the narrow, 3 feet. The sense of the meeting proved to be in favor of the standard gauge, and a resolution to that effect was adopted. Subscription books were opened at Cleveland, Akron, Canton and intermediate points for the raising of the necessary funds. Cleveland was pledged to raise $500,000 and Akron and Canton, $150,000 each. Canton was first to announce the fulfillment of its pledge, and Akron soon followed, but Cleveland was backward, as the larger city had virtually depended upon raising its quota by a municipal tax. The proposition, however, was voted down, though the amount pledged was subsequently raised by voluntary subscriptions to the capital stock of the company through the vigorous efforts of the soliciting committees. Other localities subscribed more or less liberally, so that the total amounts raised in the three counties most directly interested were as follows : Cuyahoga, $508,250; Summit, $191,700; Stark, $149,750. TROUBLES FOR THE OLD VALLEY ROAD Then commenced a long series of troubles, complications and delays covering a period of nearly eight years before the line was finally put in operation between Cleveland and Canton. The first stockholders' meeting was held April 24, 1872, at which James Farmer, Ambrose B. Stone and Nathan B. Payne, of Cleveland ; David L. King and John F. Sieberling, of Akron, and James A. Saxton and George Cook, of Canton, were elected directors. At a later meeting, held the same day, Mr. Farmer was elected president ; Mr. King. vice president, and Warwick Price, secretary and treasurer. The directors met May 10, 1872, and appointed Plymouth H. Dudley, of Akron, chief engineer. The route was finally selected and the contract for building the entire line from Cleveland to Bowerston awarded to Nicholas E. Vansickle and Arthur L. Conger, of Akron. Work was commenced in February, 1873, and by August 136 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY two-thirds of the distance from Cleveland to Canton was graded. Engineer Vansickle also stated that, with favorable weather, the remainder could be made ready for track-laying by the 1st of October. But railroad building often depends upon other considerations than the weather. On account of a disagreement between the directors and the contractors, work was suspended in May, 1874. There were also changes in the management, caused by the ill health of President Reuben Hitchcock and the election of David L. King to succeed him, and, to add to the other complications, all railroad enterprises were viewed with suspicion by capitalists who were still paralyzed under the blow of the Jay Cooke failures. At this crisis the directors individually assumed the liabilities of the company, incurred from inability to realize on the stock subscriptions and amounting to $150,000. Failing to secure relief from American capitalists, President King sailed for England in February, 1875, and after weeks of patient solicitation had reached that point in the negotiations when London capitalists were about to execute an advantageous contract, when a report of the House of Commons and cable dispatches from New York, all tending to becloud American railroad securities, blocked further progress of the relief measures for the Akron & Canton road. Mr. King returned home, perhaps a little depressed, but by no means discouraged, and as time passed and American capitalists renewed their confidence in the general stability of railroad securities, the directors succeeded in placing their bonds with Cleveland and New York investors, although the issue had been increased from $3,000,000 to $6,500,000. WORK RESUMED, SUSPENDED AND RESUMED On the 7th of August, 1878, the work on the line between Cleveland and Canton was resumed by the new contractors, Messrs. Walsh and Moynahan, the first spike being driven at Akron by President King, at noon on the 26th of October, 1878. Track-laying was immediately resumed from that point, near the Old Forge, and extended both north and south, the work at Cleveland being commenced a few days later. The operations of the new contractors not proving satisfactory to the company, the contract with them was annulled on the 25th of January, 1879, and work again temporarily suspended. It was resumed in June, 1879, with Strong & Cary as contractors, and the road was finished from Cleveland to Canton in the winter of 1879-80. HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 137 FIRST TRAIN FROM CLEVELAND TO CANTON The first continuous train from Cleveland to Canton, with the officers, directors, and other friends and promoters of the road, started from Cleveland at 9.30 A. M., January 28, 1880. Making short stops at the several stations on the route, the train arrived at Canton about 1 o'clock P. M. Starting from Canton on the return trip at 3 o 'clock P. M., the run to Akron, twenty-two miles, was made in thirty-eight minutes, and the entire trip from Canton to Cleveland, fifty-nine miles, in two hours- quite a remarkable record, considering the newness of the road. The first regular trains were placed in operation in February, 1880, and have continued since, of late years over the lines , of the Baltimore & Ohio system. One of its lines also passes through the western sections of the county, with Beach City, Navarre Station and Massillon as stations, and turns northwest toward Chicago, with branches stretching toward Cleveland and other points on Lake Erie. THE ELECTRIC LINES For a dozen or more years, the steam lines have met with strenuous competition from the electric railways which now net Northern Ohio and daily carry thousands of passengers and tons of baggage and freight. Numerous minor systems have been absorbed by the Northern Ohio Traction and Light Company, which includes in its operations Cleveland, Akron, and Canton, Massillon, Navarre, New Berlin, Beach City, East Greenville, Greentown, West Brookfield, Justus and other points in Stark County, as well as New Philadelphia, Canal Dover, Uhrichsville, Cuyahoga Falls, Kent, Ravenna, Barberton, Wadsworth and intermediate points in Northeastern Ohio, between Lake Erie and the Ohio River. Connections at Canton are also made with other interurban lines for Louisville, Alliance, and Salem, so that there is not a point of interest or business importance which may not be conveniently reached over some electric route. The Stark Electric runs northeast from Canton to Salem and Youngstown. The Northern Ohio Traction system, whose main line runs from Cleveland to Uhrichsville, passes through six counties— Cuyahoga, Summit, Portage, Medina, Stark and Tuscarawas. There is a half-hour or hourly service between all its stations in Stark County, and among other attractions and noteworthy institutions lying along its route are Meyer's Lake, Mount Marie College and the Massillon State Hospital. |