History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II, Part 56

Author: Owen, Thomas McAdory, 1866-1920; Owen, Marie (Bankhead) Mrs. 1869-
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 724

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After the charter had been obtained, and while efforts were being made to secure sub- scriptions to the capital stock, some mis- understanding arose about the rights of the corporation, so that in 1850 it became neces- sary for the legislature to pass an amendatory act, January 5, 1850. It confirmed the com- pany's right of eminent domain, and pre- scribed the limits within which it might be exercised; and authorized the city of Mobile to levy a tax not exceeding twenty-five cents per annum on each hundred dollars worth of property until the sum of $300,000 should have been levied and paid to the Mobile & Ohio Rail Road Co., but a favorable vote of three-fifths of the property owners was made prerequisite to the levy of the tax.

On December 1, 1851, an act was approved, "accepting of the donation of lands made by the United States to aid in the construction of a railroad from the city of Mobile to the mouth of the Ohio river," which provided that

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the lands so granted should vest in full and complete title in the "Mobile and Ohio Rail Road Company," for the purposes set forth in the act of Congress, as soon as the com- pany should have executed and delivered to the governor a sufficient bond faithfully to use the lands for the purposes of its donation.

An act of December 20, 1851, repealed that part of a previous act authorizing Mobile to raise $300,000 by taxation, for the benefit of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad Co., and granted in lieu thereof authority to levy a tax on all real estate within the city limits of 2 per cent per annum for 5 years, provided, "that those who have personally subscribed to the stock of the Mobile and Ohio railroad company shall, for all sums paid on said stock over and above 20 per cent, be allowed to deduct the same from the tax collectible under this act." Power was also given the corporate authorities to anticipate the last two years' taxes by issuing bonds at a rate of interest not to exceed 8 per cent per an- num, to be redeemed by the taxes collected for the two years in question; and provision was made for an expression from the voters of the city as to whether or not they pre- ferred that a portion of the subscription should go to some other railroad within the State, designating the portion of the tax and the name of the road to which it should be applied.

The State was authorized hy act of Feb- ruary 17, 1854, to lend the company $400,000 for two years, with the option of repay- ment before the expiration of that time, either on its first-mortgage bonds, secured by a deed of trust in favor of the State, or on satisfactory personal security, or both, at the discretion of the governor, with interest at 6 per cent per annum, payable quarterly. It was further stipulated that the loans should be repaid in funds of not less than par value.

Gainesville & Mississippi Railroad .- The Gainesville & Mississippi Road Co., whose line from Gainesville Junction, Miss., to Gaines- ville, Ala., was later acquired by the Mobile & Ohio, was organized by Messrs. William M. Lewis, Robert Craig, Jonathan Bliss, Greene B. Moody, William O. Winston, Daniel Rencher and Francis S. W. Nelson, under a charter granted by the legislature, February 10, 1852, for the purpose of, "constructing either a plankroad or a railroad, as the stock- holders may elect, or if they shall chose, first the one and afterwards the other, if found preferable, from the town of Gaines- ville, in the county of Sumter, to such point on or near the Mississippi state line as the stockholders or the officers or the agents of said company hereinafter named may decide upon or adopt"; capital stock, if a plankroad, $50,000, if a railroad, $200,000.

An amendment to this act, approved Jan- uary 14, 1854, increased the number of direc- tors from eight to nine, and defined their powers; prescribed the width of right-of-way; increased the capital stock to $400,000; and authorized an extension from Gainesville to some point on the Alabama and Noxubee Rail Road, or Northport, or Tuscaloosa. On Feb-

ruary 14, the charter was again amended to confer on the company the power to extend the road from Tuscaloosa in the direction of Montevallo, or to a junction with the Alabama & Tennessee Rivers Rail Road, or the "Ala- bama State Central Rail Road." This amend- ment also changed the name of the company to the Mississippi, Gainesville & Tuscaloosa Rail Road Co. The charter was again amended January 22, 1855, so as to prescribe the width of right-of-way the company was entitled to acquire and hold, which was fixed at 100 feet along the line, and 100 feet addi- tional where needed for construction mate- rials, turnouts, station grounds, &c. On February 2, an act was approved which authorized the company to sell $500,000 of 15-year, 8 per cent bonds, secured by mort- gage on its property.

The data to show the progress of the con- struction of this road are not available, but up to 1869 it had completed only 22 miles, between Gainesville Junction, Miss., where it connected with the Mobile & Ohio, and Gainesville, Ala. On February 15, 1867, the charter was amended to permit an extension from Gainesville to Eutaw, but the extension was not built. On October 20, 1870, the road was sold for its debts, and purchased by the Mobile & Ohio Railroad Co., which operated it as a branch of its line until April 14, 1879.

For a renewal of the loan of $400,000 to the Mobile & Ohio for two years, it was necessary to pass the act, January 12, 1856, over the veto of Gov. Winston (q. v.). On February 5, 1858, an act was approved which again extended the time for payment of the debt, and provided for its payment in four installments, one-sixth on January 1, 1860, one-sixth on January 1, 1861, one-third Jan- uary 1, 1862, and one-third December 1, 1862. On December 15, 1859, an act was passed, "Further to extend the times for payment of the balance of the debt due from the Mobile & Ohio Railroad Company to the State."

Pickensville Branch .- A company was in- corporated, February 9, 1860, to build the "Pickensville Branch of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad," between Pickensville, Ala., and a point on the Mobile & Ohio main line at or near Brooksville, Miss. Its charter was sub- stantially the same as that of the Mobile & Ohio. The branch was not built and the charter expired.

It was five years after the date of the sixth annual report of the board of directors, before the road between Mobile, Ala., and Columbus, Ky .- 472 miles, of which 61 miles were within the State of Alabama-was com- pleted. The line was opened for through traffic April 22, 1861, and was operated prac- tically without change or alteration for more than 20 years. Between Columbus and Cairo, Ill., and between Columbus and Belmont, Mo., the southeastern terminus of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway, the line was supplemented by steamers, which received and delivered cars without breaking bulk.

War Losses .- The Mobile & Ohio suffered from the ravages of war like other roads in the South-possibly more than most of them.

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On 37 miles of its road the rails were com- pletely worn out; on 21 miles the rails were heated in fires made of the crossties and twisted around trees and stumps so as to render them utterly useless; all the bridges, trestles, station buildings and crossties were destroyed on 184 miles; the shops near Mo- bile were razed and the machinery destroyed; only 18 out of 59 locomotives were left in working order, 11 of 26 passenger cars, 3 of 11 baggage cars, 231 of 721 freight cars. Its loss in Confederate currency amounted to $5,228,562.23.

in 1865 could not meet the interest on its was bankrupt at the close of the War, and bonds. A plan was adopted on February 4, 1867, under which the bondholders agreed to the funding of all arrears of interest to and including November 1, 1867, in interest bonds, and all coupons on interest and sterling bonds due in 1868 and 1869, in sterling bonds. The resumption of interest payment on all classes of bonds was fixed for May 1, 1870. In the meantime, net earnings were to be ap- plied to reconstruction of the road, the prose- cution of new work, and the purchase of new equipment to replace that destroyed during the War. The floating debt was to be funded by second-mortgage bonds, called "liquidation bonds." During the year 1869, the company paid its indebtedness to the State of Tennessee in State bonds and coupons, and in 1872 the floating debt was liquidated in second-mort- gage bonds, as provided by the agreement.

Financial Reorganization .- In 1874 the company found itself unable to pay the in- terest coupons due in the month of May. Consequently, the bondholders had the prop- erty placed in the hands of trustees for their interests. Mr. William Butler Duncan of New York, the president, and Mr. A. Foster Elliott, of New Orleans, one of the directors, were appointed trustees and receivers. On October 1, 1876, a plan of reorganization was adopted under which new securities were is- sued in lieu of outstanding obligations, includ- ing defaulted interest and the floating debt. The new securities consisted of first-mortgage bonds and first-preferred income and sinking- fund debentures, which were to be accepted by the creditors in stipulated proportions in settlement of their claims.

Upon the death of Mr. Elliott, early in 1879, the property was placed in charge of Pres. Duncan, who managed its affairs under the title, "President, Trustee and Receiver." The execution of an order of sale previously is- sued was indefinitely postponed, and the road and property were restored to the company on January 24, 1883, without a sale, the plan of refunding the indebtedness having been carried out.

The Gainesville branch ( formerly the Mis- sissippi, Gainesville & Tuscaloosa Rail Road Co.), March 13, 1879, was sold under fore- closure of the mortgage on that part of the road. In his report of August 15, 1880, Pres. Duncan said of this transaction: "The claim of Cresswell, trustee vs. the Mobile and Ohio Railroad Company upon $53,000 of the bonds of said Company, secured by a lien upon the

Gainesville Branch, together with interest thereon, amounting to exceeding $75,000, has been compromised and settled, and the agree- ment to operate has been annulled, the road itself having been dismantled and the rails removed. This was deemed especially desir- able, as the operation of the Branch had proved an annual loss to the Mobile and Ohio Railroad Company."

Extension to Cairo .- In the meantime, the necessity for a direct connection of the M. & O. with Cairo, Ill., and the railroad lines con- verging there, had become apparent. As early as 1870 the management of the Mobile & Ohio determined upon the construction of the extension, and in that year procured a charter in Kentucky for the Kentucky & Tennessee Railroad Co., to build the proposed line, from Columbus, Ky., to East Cairo, a distance of 19.12 miles. It was opened for traffic, Novem- ber 1, 1881.

The Columbus and the Starkville branches, December 1, 1885, were transferred to the Georgia Pacific Railway Co.

St. Louis and Cairo .- The company, Feb- ruary 1, 1886, took a 45-year lease of the St. Louis & Cairo Railroad, from Cairo to East St. Louis, Ill., 151.6 miles, agreeing to change the gauge to standard width and pay a minimum yearly rental of $165,000. This gave the Mobile & Ohio a through line to East St. Louis.

Pres. Duncan reported under date of Octo- ber 25, 1888, the adoption of a new plan for financial reorganization of the company, under which a general mortgage on the en- tire property of the company for the sum of $10,500,000, subject to prior incum- brances, bearing 4 per cent interest payable semiannually, and further secured by the de- posit of the debentures issued in 1874 as they were exchanged with the trustee of the new mortgage, the debentures to be kept alive until all were exchanged, thus securing for the new issue the lien possessed by the de- bentures. The proposed plan was adopted in February, 1888, and in accordance therewith. a portion of the stock, as well as the de- bentures, was deposited with the Farmers' Loan & Trust of New York as collateral se- curity for the new issue of bonds, and is known as "assented stock," its voting rights being vested in the trustee. The stock which was retained by its original holders and not so deposited, is known as "non-assented stock," and the voting rights are vested in the holder in the usual manner.

Montgomery Division .- The construction of a road from Columbus, Miss., to Montgomery, Ala., 168 miles, with branches to the Warrior and Cahawba coal fields, was begun in 1897. The portion of the road between Columbus and Tuscaloosa, 61 miles, was opened for traffic in April, 1898. The entire line to Montgomery was put in partial operation July 1, 1898, but was not fully completed until July 1, 1899. To provide means for this undertaking, $4,000,000 of 5 per cent 50-year gold bonds, constituting a first lien upon the new line, its branches, and its equipment, were issued, the entire proceeds being appro-

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priated to that special purpose. Of the pro- ceeds, $500,000 was specifically set aside for equipment of the new division. The cost of the new division exceeded the proceeds of the bonds issued for its construction by more than a hundred thousand dollars, but its aver- age cost per mile was not excessive, being less than $20,000.

The Mobile & Ohio Railroad Co. has ac- quired practically the entire capital stock of the St. Louis & Cairo Railroad, which it had leased for 45 years, by means of an issue of 4 per cent, collateral trust gold bonds dated May 1, 1900, which it exchanged for stock at the rate of $1,000 in bonds for $3,000 in stock. In 1901 the Southern Railway Co. ob- tained control of the Mobile & Ohio by pur- chasing more than 90 per cent of its capital stock and more than 70 per cent of its gen- eral-mortgage bonds.

Subsidiary Companies .- The Mobile & Ohio Railroad Co. owns the Mobile & Bay Shore Railway from Pritchards to Bayou LaBatre, 34.1 miles, and Delchamps to Alabama Port, 4.26 miles, which was chartered November 7, 1898, and opened September 1, 1899, holding its entire capital stock; and guarantees the bonds, both principal and interest. The capi- tal stock is $50,000 and the funded debt, $200,000. It was purchased by the Mobile & Ohio, April 1, 1903.

The Mobile & Ohio also owns 50 per cent of the stock of the Gulf Terminal Co. at Mobile, being joint owner with the Southern Railway Co .; 20 per cent of the stock of the Meridian Terminal Co .; the entire stock of the Mobile Docks Co., the Warrior Southern Railway Co., and the Alabama Land & Development Co.

On June 30, 1915, this company operated within the State, the following railroad; be- tween Mobile and Mississippi State line, 60.83 miles; Montgomery and Mississippi State line, 158.37; Mobile and Bay Shore Junction and Bayou LaBatre, 34.10; Delchamps and Ala- bama Port, 4.26; Mann and Dawes, 7.94; Tuscaloosa and Tidewater, 9.51; Eoline and Blocton. 12.90; Tidewater and Kellerman, 13.60; Illinois Central Railroad between Mis- sissippi State line and Haleyville, 37.85; Northern Alabama Railroad, Haleyville and Parish, 49.69; Southern Railway, Parish and Birmingham, 42; Atlantic Coast Line Rail- road, within terminals at Montgomery, 1.20; Louisville & Nashville Railroad, within termi- nals at Montgomery, 0.62; Woodstock and Blocton Railway, T. C. I. & R. R. Junction and Blocton, 0.92; total, 433.79 miles.

REFERENCES .- Railroad Commission of Ala., Annual reports, 1889 et seq .; M. & O. R. R. Co., Annual reports, 1849-1915; Poor's manual of railroads, 1869 et seq .; Clark, "Railroads and navigation," in Memorial record of Alabama (1893), vol. 1, p. 326; Fleming, Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama (1905), p. 260; Armes, Story of cool and iron in Alabama (1910); and Martin, "Internal improvements in Alabama" in Johns Hopkins University Studies in historical and. political science, (1902); M. & O. R. R. Co., 32d annual report, 1879-80; Acts, 1847-48, pp. 225-231; 1849-50, pp. 150-152; 1851-52, pp. 45, 207-209, 328; 1853-54, pp. 36,

267-269; 1855-56, pp. 10, 113, 305-308; 1857-58, p. 268; 1859-60, pp. 60, 199-205, 292; 1866-67, p. 482.

MOBILE AND SPRING HILL RAILROAD COMPANY. Chartered by L. M. Wilson, David Stodder, W. T. Anderson, John John- son, T. S. Blount, T. C. DuBose, James L. Irwin, T. Dumont, T. J. Fettyplace, L. C. Hubbell, C. A. Bradford, O. Mazenge, A. Knapp, Wm. D. Dunn, Thomas T. Butler, James Sanford, John S. Gliddon, Alex Camp- bell, M. R. Evans, Charles E. Vincent, Ed. George, John C. Dawson, and C. W. Dorrance, under an act of the legislature approved Feb- ruary 23, 1860, for the purpose of building a railroad from the city of Mobile to the Mis- sissippi state line, along a route designated in the act, with a branch road to Toulmin- ville; capital stock, $70,000 in $100 shares; authorized to make contracts and joint stock with other companies, and to borrow money and execute bonds and mortgages; three years allowed in which to begin work of construc- tion or forfeit charter.

On November 11, 1861, the charter was amended by the following act: "Whereas the power is given by said act chartering the company to the municipal authorities of the city of Mobile to impose an annual tax of one dollar on every one hundred dollars of the gross earnings of said company, and by the terms of said act, the said municipal authori- ties claim the right to impose the said tax upon the gross earnings of the said company, outside of the corporate limits of said city, and to collect the same by the said city's tax collectors, contrary to the spirit and intent of said act, and to the manifest justice of the case, since the company receive none of the franchises or privileges from said municipal authorities, outside of the city limits; now, therefore,

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Alabama in General Assembly convened, That the true intent and meaning of said act, is, that the said municipal authorities should only have the power to impose said tax on the gross earnings of said company, within the limits of the said city of Mobile."

The road was built through the streets of Mobile and to Spring Hill, a distance of 712 miles, and opened for traffic in 1862. It was constructed of very light rail, but with standard gauge, and was operated by steam, mainly for passenger business, for many years before the use of electricity was in- troduced, and before the road was converted into an electric suburban line. In 1893 the property was put in the hands of J. H. W. Wilson, of Mobile, as receiver, who operated it as a combination steam and electric road, using both kinds of motive power on the same track. It was sold under foreclosure in April, 1896, and purchased on behalf of the bondholders. On July 1, 1897, the en- tire property was sold to the Mobile Light & Railroad Co., which made it a part of its city electric street car system.

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REFERENCES .- Acts, 1859-60, pp. 263-271; 1861, p. 107; Poor's manual of railroads, 1879 et seq.

MOBILE AND WEST ALABAMA RAIL- ROAD COMPANY. See East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railway Company.

MOBILE AND WESTERN RAILROAD COMPANY. See East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railway Company.

MOBILE BASIN AND TENNESSEE RIVER ASSOCIATION. A voluntary body of busi- ness men, of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee, organized at Birmingham, Alabama, November 19, 1907, for the pur- pose of developing the trade interests of the Gulf region, through the improvement of the Tennessee River and the rivers draining into Mobile Bay. The first officers appear to have been: President, John Craft, Mobile, Ala .; 1st vice president, John W. Maddox, Rome, Ga .; 2nd vice president, W. F. Vandiver, Montgomery, Ala .; 3d vice president, J. A. van Hoose, Birmingham, Ala .; 4th vice pres- ident, E. R. Sherman, Columbus, Miss .; secre- tary, Robert K. Warren, Mobile, Ala .; assist- ant secretary, W. C. Rayburn, Guntersville, Ala .; and assistant secretary and treasurer, B. B. Cox, Mobile, Ala. The Association was active for a time, but apparently is now de- funct. If it issued any publications, copies have not been seen.

REFERENCE .- Manuscript data in the Depart- ment of Archives and History.

MOBILE BASIN, OR ALABAMA-TOMBIG- BEE RIVER SYSTEM. See River and Drain- age Systems.

MOBILE BAY, BATTLE OF. On August 5, 1864, Fort Morgan fell at the conclusion of one of the fiercest naval conflicts fought during the War of Secession. Mobile had been under blockade for three years. During the summer of 1864 reinforcements had come in, and Admiral David Farragut had been placed in command of the Gulf fleet. Fort Gaines was besieged on August 3 by a force of about 1,500 land troops. About daybreak on the morning of August 5, 4 iron-clad monitors and 14 steamers moved into the bay. The steamers were lashed two abreast. The Federal fleet consisted of the monitors, Tecumseh and Manhattan, each carrying two 15-inch guns, and the Winnebago and Chi- casa, each carrying four 11-inch guns; and the steamers Hartford of twenty-eight guns; the Brooklyn twenty-six; the Octorara ten; Metacomet ten; Richmond twenty-four; Port Royal eight; Lackawanna fourteen; Seminole nine; Monongahela twelve; Kennebec five; Osippee thirteen; Itaska four; Oneida ten; Galena thirteen; a total of one hundred and ninety-nine guns, and twenty-seven hundred men.

After sailing into the bay, they opened fire on both Forts Morgan and Gaines. The first monitor struck a torpedo, and almost imme- diately went down, only 10 of her crew of 130 being saved. The Confederate fleet im-

mediately gave battle. The larger number of the enemy vessels and their greater speed gave them superior advantage. The Confed- erate gun-boats Selma, Morgan and Gaines were soon put out of action. The Federal fleet, now well beyond the forts, were about to cast anchor four miles inside the bay. Then it was the Tennessee, under Admiral Buchanan, and Capt. J. D. Johnston, engaged the entire enemy fleet alone. After two hours the flag of the Tennessee came down, after what Admiral Farragut characterizes as "one of the fiercest naval campaigns on record." The Confederate losses were 10 killed and 16 wounded, on all the vessels. The Federal loss was 52 killed, 170 wounded, and the 120 that sank with the Tecumseh.

Fort Gaines could not withstand the land investment, and the attack of the fleet com- bined, and therefore on August 6, 1864, Col. Charles D. Anderson, of the 21st Alabama Infantry Regiment, asked for terms, but sur- rendered unconditionally two days afterward.

Fort Powell on Cedar Point, was abandoned by its garrison on August 5. Two companies of the 21st Infantry Regiment were stationed at this fort, and withstood a bombardment of two weeks from five gunboats and six mortar boats which undertook to force Grant's Pass, with a loss of only one killed. Of the remainder of the 21st Regiment, six compan- ies were captured at Fort Gaines, and two at Fort Morgan. It was not until April,

1865, that Mobile fell.

The small Confederate fleet in the bay con- sisted of the ram-monitor Tennessee, of six guns, and the wooden gunboats Morgan and Gaines, 6 guns each, and the Selma, of 4 guns, all with a grand total of 22 guns and 470 men. Of the Tennessee Brewer says:

"The Tennessee was a magnificent vessel of over two thousand tons burthen. She was built at Selma, one hundred feet above low water mark, and launched in March, 1864, during an opportune freshet in the Alabama. Her armament was four 64 10-inch, and two 72 10-inch rifled guns, each weighing nearly 25,000 pounds. She drew fourteen feet of water, and was passed over the Dog river bar-a distance of ten miles, on which only nine feet of water could be found-by a rare achievement in naval science. Three huge floats or 'camels' were sunk on each side of her, and huge chains passed under the Ten- nessee and the ends attached to them. The water was then pumped out of the floats, and they rose to the surface, elevating the Ten- nessee seven feet, when it became easy to tow her to an anchorage in deep water near Fort Morgan."

MOBILE BAY AND HARBOR. The har- bor formed by Mobile Bay and Mobile River (q. v.). The city of Mobile is situated on the river and is made accessible to shipping by means of a dredged channel between the deep water of the lower bay and a point in Mobile River some distance above the city, which permits vessels of 27 feet draft to load and unload at the city wharves. Mobile is the State's only seaport. Mobile Bay is

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practically landlocked. Its length, from its mouth to the city wharves, is about 30 miles; its width, at the entrance from the gulf, 3 14 miles, at the lower anchorage, about 22, and at its northern extremity, 812 miles. Its

area is approximately 375 square miles, and its average depth, 13 feet, except at its lower extremity, near the entrance from the gulf, where its depth is 32 feet. Mobile Bay re- ceives the discharge of the combined Alabama- Tombigbee drainage systems, through the five mouths of the Mobile River, the Blakeley, the Appalachee, the Tensas, the Spanish, and the Mobile, forming a delta containing about 250 square miles. The average aggregate dis- charge of water from these rivers into the bay is 100,000 cubic feet per second. After passing through the bay, this large volume of water reaches the open Gulf through three outlets, the main one between Sand Island and Dixie and Coffee Islands, another between Dixie and Coffee Islands and Mobile Point (Fort Morgan), and the third between Dau- phin Island and Sand Island. There is also a fourth outlet between Dauphin Island and Cedar Point, into Mississippi Sound. The quantity of tidal water which passes from the Gulf into the bay, and back into the Gulf, every 24 hours with the ebb and flow of the tide is more than twice as great as that dis- charged into the bay by the rivers, and it is this immense volume of water, passing through the contracted outlets to the Gulf, which has dug out the deep channel in the lower bay.

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History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II, Part 56

Author: Owen, Thomas McAdory, 1866-1920; Owen, Marie (Bankhead) Mrs. 1869- Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company Number of Pages: 724

Author: Owen, Thomas McAdory, 1866-1920; Owen, Marie (Bankhead) Mrs. 1869-
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 724