USA > California > Placer County > History of Placer county, California > Part 61
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Dutch Flat .
8
180
7
96
130
6.4
1
2
3
Emigrant Gap.
9
12
21
9
6.8
1
1
Talbot, H. K. Devely, J. H. Thomas were the
Excelsior.
20
12
32
11
8
1
1
Fair View
5
9
14
3
6
1
1
Forest Hill ..
59
60
119
75
8
1
1
1
1
Trustees. District was consolidated with Blue
Franklin
10
17
11
8
1
1
Gold Hill .
14
13
27
11
6.65
1
1
Cañon in August, 1879.
Gold Run.
32
26
58
43.17
6.5
1
1
lowa Hill ..
57
60
117
76.7
1
1
1
1
Washington District was formed May 7, 1864. J.
Lincoln
48
42
90
61
7.5
1
1
1
1
Lone Star.
10
27
17
1
1
Michigan Bluff. .
17
41
36
77
52.6
S
1
1
T. Darwin taught the first school. The district
Mount Pleasant. .
18
23
41
24.5
6.5
1
1
Mount Vernon.
New England Mills.
8
13
21
15.73
1
1
lapsed January, 1880.
21
46
6
25
34
7.45
1
1
Newcastle .
27
27
54
34
6.15
1
Ophir ..
50
52
102
65.8
7.5
1
1
1
1
1
SCHOOL STATISTICS FOR 1881.
Pleasant Grove.
3
7
10
4.6
3
1
1
Penryn
49
49
98
8.2
2
1
1
Rock Creek.
23
29
52
31
8
1
1
Rocklin .
58
132
76.2
7.5
1
1
2
Roseville
74
44
48
92
51
7.75
1
1
1
1
Total Cash Paid for Buildings,
Sites and School Furniture.
Valuation of
Sheridan .
33
30
63
32.2
6.35
1
1
Total Current Expenses.
Smithville.
29
14
36
27
20.15
7.5
1
1
:
Total Expenditures.
Spring Garden
18
9
13
8
1
1
Total Receipts.
Sunny South ..
12
23
21.65
T
1
School Apparatus.
Todd's Valley
11
Lota, School-houses,
13
29
1
School Property.
16
School Libraries.
and Furniture.
Union. .
11
6
17
21.6
6
1
7.39
6
1
1
Valley View.
13
14
27
DISTRICTS.
15
6.4
1
1
Washington
4
4
8
3.2
2.5
I
1
Tutal
Wisconsin Hill
2.7
15
37
27.7
6.7
1
1
:
Yankee Jim's.
14
19
33
20.13
7.4
1
1
:
1
mo's
ave
Total
1,226 1,192 2,40S 1,549.55
6. 87 21
39
139
21
Alta
8 8 0 8 100
30 $ 930 8 867
8 867
12
No. Children Bet. 5 and 17 Who Have Attended
Only Private Schools During the School Year.
Total Number of Census Children Between 5
Number nf White Children between
Number of Children Bet. 5 and 17 Who Have
and 17 years, including Negroes and Indians.
No. of Children Bet. 5 and 17 Who Have Not
Auhurn ...
5,000
296
75
7,371
2,612
2,612
2,654
Number of Children Under 5 years of Age.
Attended School During the School Year.
Attended School During the School Year.
Bath. . ..
300
125
25
450
590
540
654
Blue Cañun
700
175
25
900
524
90
614
620
Butcher Ranch
Grade of Schools
3"
40
496
496
522
Number of Schools in District.
Clipper Gap
1,000
100
50
1,150
346
546
656
õ and 17 years.
Central
700
100
75
875
444
444
635
Christian Valley
650
50
40
740
512
512
647
Colfax ..
2,500
300
75
2,875
1,818
595
2,713
2,712
Consolidated ..
800
200
50
1,050
572
579
553
Conn Creek
1 :0
125
50
575
563
56:
5 !!
Damascus.
400
25
425
371
371
567
Daneville.
900
50
10
960
554
554
5×4
DISTRICTS.
Dry Creek. .
500
102
10
912
440
512
548
Dutch Flat.
9,000
150
100
9,250
2.089
2,059
2,093
Emigrant Gap
500
80
10
590
394
114
508
785
Excelsior
600
130
65
795
628
628
646
Fair View
500
100
60
900
109
109
203
Second.
Forest Hill.
2,500
273
70
2,543
1,396
1,396
1,395
First.
Franklin
300
100
10
410
582
582
Total.
Boys.
Girls.
Gold Ilill. .
500
50
30
580
599
590
664
Gold Run.
850
320
50
1,270
666
666
-13
lowa Hill
4,000
350
100
4,450
1,187
537
1.724
1,727
Lincoln .
1,700
30
40
1,770
1,252
152
1,404
1,541
Lone Star
400
100
53
553
508
508
645
Michigan Bluff
1,000
300
100
1.400
939
939
939
Alta
30
28
58
43
15
1
1
Mount Pleasant
500
633
635
716
705
Auburn
58
21
257
209
14
4
1
3
Mount Vernon
120
75
1,220
440
61
501
509
Dath
123
134
257
4
18
21
39
39
16
3
1
1
New England Mills
40
75
30
555
475
475
Blue Cañon
13
25
22
22
15
16
6
I
Newcastle
1,350
170
50
1,570
673
734
Butcher Ranch.
11
20
20
6
8
12
1
1
Ophir .
2,500
200
50
2,750
1,202
1,292
1.30,
C'entra] ..
23
40
40
13
32
00
1
1
Penryn
2,100
175
90
2,365
1,341
1×0
1,521
1,56%
Christian Valley
27
25
53
55
28
35
20
1
. .
1
Pleasant Grove
300
50
350
?46
246
454
Clipper Gap
13
8
16
6
1
]
Rock Creek ...
950
275
62
1,287
8/5
875
930
Colfax
116
87
203
204
70
131
.3
3
1
2
Rocklin .
1,200
200
50
1,450
1,477
318
1,795
1,932
Consolidated
19
17
36
36
6
23
11
1
1
Roseville. .
2,000
110
40
2,150
1,200
1,200
1,290
L'oon Creek
9
12
21
21
11
16
3
1
1
Sheridan .. .
2.100
100
50
2.250
694
694
604
Damascus
15
16
31
31
14
27
1
1
1
Smithville. .
140
40
1.160
567
567
501
Daneville
19
17
36
36
31
1
4
1
1
Spring Garden
250
45
30)
325
411
411
1.59
Dry Creek
7
10
17
17
8
16
7
1
L
-
Sunny South
300
15
14
329
465
405
5-7
Dutch Flat.
111
94
89
33
3
1
2
Todd's Valley.
500
60
25
543
452
500
952
1,221
Imigrant Gap
9
205
205
160
12
12
21
21
23
21
1
1
Tinion. .
350
75
10
435
438
438
724
Excelsior
24
17
41
41
6
32
9
1
1
Valley View. .
400
80
46
526
449
449
:47
Fair View
9
14
14
4
14
1
I
Washington
30"
85
20
405
182
182
Forest Hill
71
151
15!
42
119
1
31
2
1
Wisconsin Hill
400
200
40
640
630
630
713
Franklin.
16
19
35
36
8
17
19
1
1
Yankee Jim's.
639
639
642
Gold Hill
25
42
42
17
27
2
13
1
1
Guld Run ..
37
39
76
54
58
18
1
1
Iowa Hill
67
5
125
125
42
117
4
4
2
1
L
Total
[57,197 | 5,976 | 1,935 |65,118 [34,976 | 3,009| 37,985| 42,045
Lincoln
55
50
105
105
33
90
15
2
1
1
Lone Star
20
12
32
12
27
5
1
1
ĮGrade of Teacher's | 2d.
Michigan Bluff ..
40
35
78
44
65
13
1
1
Total Number Enrolled.
School Was Maintained.
Sex of Teacher / Female.
-
Whole Number of Boys
Whole Number of Girls
Average Daily Attend-
Mount Pleasant ..
22
22
44
44
14
41
1
2
1
1
Enrolled on Register.
Enrolled on Register.
Number of Months
Mount Vernon ..
9
13
22
New Eng. Mills.
65
22
21
1
1
1
Certificate.
33
35
65
26
32
46
22
1
Newcastle .. ..
38
70
70
20
51
2
17
1
1
ance.
$1
DIATRICTS.
Ophir
69
68
13
135
71
93
I
14
1
1
Penryn ..
63
65
12
129
1
30
Rock Creek
34
1
43
77
27
62
25
1
1
Male.
Rocklin
105
92
197
197
49
132
2
63
2
1
1
Roseville
48
55
103
103
53
9
2
9
2
I
1
7 Ist
Sheridan
30
38
69
27
63
1
1
Smithville
19
1×
37
37
19
36
1
1
1
Spring Garden
16
5
21
21
4
5
1
1
Alta ..
25
23
51
34.1
7
1
1
Sunny South
10
13
23
16
23
23
1
1
2
Auburn
05
114
219
158
0.5
1
3
3
1
Todd's Valley
17
11
9
26
1
1
Batiı
13
15
29
20,05
8
3
1
l'ion
10
14
Valley View
24
28
20
17
1
6
1
1
Blue Cañon. .
g
13
11.6
6.4
1
I
22
18
40
40
9
27
13
1
1
Butcher Ranch
4
4
S
6.77
7.5
1
1
Wisconsin Hill ..
23
19
42
42
37
5
Central .
17
23
40
28.64
7.33
1
1
Yankee Jim's ...
16
20
36
36
15
1
1
33
1
1
Christian Valley
20
15
35
22.98
6
1
1
Pleasant Grove.
1
1
Clipper Gap
9
13
10.53
7.5
I
1
Washington
1
Colfax
82
66
96
6
2
Consolidated
148
1
1
T
9
14
23
14.37
7
1
1
Total 44 Districts 1,511 1,436 2,947 2,951 |1135| 2,282
41
62€
60
35 25
267
RAILROADS.
MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS.
Number Grammar schools ..
. Primary schools
School-houses built of wood School-houses built of brick
New school houses erected .
Male teachers
21
= Female teachers
39
Teachers graduate of California Normal School Teachers graduate of any other State Normal School.
holding State educational diplomas
44
life edu. ational diplomas. 5
county certificates-first grade
39
county certificates-second grade.
21
.. Schools maintained less than six months.
2
Teachers who attended County Institute. . 57
Average monthly wages paid male teachers 8 77 61
female teachers 67 99
Salary of County Superintendent per annum
1,200 00
Rate of county school tax levied October, 1880, 12 cents on the 100 00
Amount of taxable property in county ... 7,999,343 00
0. F. SEAVEY.
Oscar Fitzallan Seavey was born in Boston, Massa- chusetts, January 8, 1847. His parents were Eli Seavey and Lydia A. (Thorn) Seavey, natives of Maine, who had removed to Boston shortly after their marriage. The family can boast of their Puritan origin, as tradition has it that the first of the Pilgrim mothers to step foot upon Plymouth Rock, from the Mayflower, on the 22d day of December, 1620, was the maternal ancestor, on the father's side, of the present Superintendent of Public Schools of Placer County. Through both father's and mother's families, Mr. Seavey traces back the family line to the stalwart Puritans, who rebelled against the tyranny of Charles I. and supporters of Cromwell. Over Plymouth Rock came the liberty- loving element that refused to submit to oppression in the Old World, and, with determined courage and steadfast principles, established and maintained freedom in the New. Of this ancestry New Eng- landers are justly proud, and wherever the descend- ants of the Pilgrims may be found, most tenaciously do they hold to the ancient line.
The childhood and youth of Mr. Seavey was spent as many others not born to affluence but who had their own way to make in the world. When but five years of age he went to Maine, to live with his maternal grandmother, where he remained until his seventeenth year. During these years he at- tended the common and high schools; from the age of fifteen supporting himself by farm labor, and attending school in the spring and fall. In 1863, then in his seventeenth year, he obtained a situa- tion in a wholesale dry-goods jobbing house in Bos- ton, to which city he removed. Here he remained in business until the fall of 1864, when his ambition inspired him to seek a higher education, and he entered the Boston Latin School, from which he graduated in 1866. He then entered Harvard Col- lege, one of the highest educational institutions of America, and graduated, with the degree of B. A., in the elass of 1870.
Mr. Seavey entered College with the intention of adopting the profession of medicine, but, upon graduation, concluded to try his fortune in Cali- fornia; and, therefore, came to this State in Septem- ber, 1870. Here he has sought the fickle goddess
as miner, farmer, and teacher, struggling through several years of trial as a miner, but has been more successful as a teacher and farmer.
The happy event of his life was consummated September 3, 1874, in his marriage to Miss Annie E. Patterson, at Forest Hill, in Placer County. This lady is a native of Brooklyn, New York, where she was born February 3, 1857.
In 1877, Mr. Seavey was nominated on the Demo- cratic ticket for the position of County Superin- tendant of Public Schools, to which position he was elected, being one of the two Democrats elected on the county tieket that year. Serving his term with much satisfaction, in 1879 he was again nomi- nated by his party for the same position, and re-elected, having the distinctive honor of being the only Democrat elected, the Republicans carrying all the other offices. This position, more honorable than profitable, he still holds.
While performing the duties of his office, he attends to the cultivation and improvement of a farm, located near Auburn, there intending to establish his future home, " beneath his own vine and fig-tree," in the genial clime and amidst the pleasant surroundings of the famous fruit belt of Placer County.
Mr. Seavey is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of the Order of Good Tem- plars, and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, indicating a love of society, and attention to duties toward his fellow-men. While not a member of any church, he has been observant of his duties as a Christian, always connected with the Sabbath- school; and, for nearly five years, was Superin. tendent of the Sunday-school at Forest Hill. Hav- ing been born on the 8th of January, the day held sacred by the Democrats for the glorification of Andrew Jackson, the apostle of Democracy, he first breathed Democratic air, and has, through his life, been a consistent member of the party, and now sees no reason to change.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
RAILROADS.
Traveling in "Old Times "-New York to Boston in Four Days -Aneedote of Stephenson-Early Traveling in California- Strange Terminus to a Railroad-First Locomotive in America -A Historical Railroad Excursion-First California Rail- roads-Railroad Extension-California Central Railroad- Auburn Branch Railroad-Sacramento, Placer and Nevada Railroad-Transcontinental Railroad Projected-Efforts of Theodore D. Judah-Central Pacific Railroad Company-Rail- road Bill Passed Congress-The Work Commenced-Placer County a Stockholder-Address to the People-The Election Contest-Progress of the Road-The First Surprise-Great Energy in the Work-Triumph of Engineering and Finance- Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railway-John B. Whitcomb.
AT the date of the acquisition of California, rail- roads were comparatively rare in the United States, and many of the pioneers of 1849 saw one for the first time-the "Sacramento Valley "-in 1855. The
35 25 45 1 3
3 11
268
HISTORY OF PLACER COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
gold of California soon gave an impetus to business, and from that time their construction has gone on, accelerating continually, until we may expeet at no distant day, to see every country and farm-road laid with the parallel rails. This system of transporta- tion is one of the greatest of the many great triumphs of this century. For it the world is indebted to George Stephenson, an English collier, who first made the experiment in 1814, and in 1829 his son, Robert Stephenson, brought the invention to perfec- tion. The railroad in its effectiveness, far surpasses all means of transit by land ever put in practice or coneeived by ancient or modern people. Two simple bars of iron lying upon the ground, almost concealed amid the growing herbage or in the drifting sand. constitute the channel of a mighty commerce. Over mountain and plain, through watery marsh and sandy desert, the railroad bears its equal way, and upon it, as part of itself, the apparently vitalized machine rushes along with its laden train, with the speed of the wind and as tireless as the elements.
TRAVELING IN "OLD TIMES."
So simple and effective a system becomes indis- pensable to an enterprising people, and in this age so blessed by the inventor, we refer with wonder and curiosity to the methods of travel and commerce practiced anterior to the railroad. As a sample of traveling in "old times" is the following from an ancient publication.
NEW YORK TO BOSTON IN FOUR DAYS.
The first stage coach from New York to Boston started on the 24th of June, 1772. from the " Fresh Water." It was to leave each terminus onee a fortnight. The fare was four pence, New York currency, per mile. It reached Hartford, Connecti- cut in two days and Boston in two more. The proprietors promised a weekly stage, " if encouraged in their great enterprise."
ANECDOTE OF STEPHENSON.
To Mr. Stephenson is commonly awarded the honor of first constructing a railway for general transportation. Three years elapsed from the com- mencement of the work, and those interested began to be impatient. They wished-as was natural- for some returns from the vast amount of capital they had expended.
". Now, George" said Friend Crupper to bim one day, " thou must get on with the railway and have it finished without further delay. Thou must really have it ready for opening by the first day of January next."
" It is impossible," said Stephenson.
" Impossible! I wish I could get Napoleon at thee. He would tell thee that there is no such word." "Tush! don't speak to me about Napoleon. Give me men, money and materials, and I will do what Napoleon couldn't do-drive a railroad from Liver- pool to Manchester over Chat Moss."
EARLY TRAVELING IN CALIFORNIA.
It is not unlikely that the man who figures in the following whirligig of fun was a Yankee, having an eye to " sites," " water privileges," etc., and ready for an "operation" when the opportunity should present itself. Assuming this very reasonable proba- bility, we are only too happy to give it a place in these pages.
Across the Yuba River, some enterprising individ- ual built a dam as the head of a mining diteh, and on the banks somebody else built three or four houses. The inhabitants called the place Yuba Dam. Three bars were instantly erected and the "town" increased rapidly. About noon one cool day, a traveler and sojourner in the land passed this flourish- ing loeality, and seeing a long-legged specimen of humanity in a red shirt, smoking in one of the bars, thus addressed him, " Hello!" " Hello!" replied the shirt with vigor, removing his pipe from his mouth. " What place is this ?" demanded the traveler. The answer of the shirt was unexpected: " Yuba Dam." There was about fifty yards between them and the wind was blowing. The traveler thought he bad been mistaken. " What did you say ?" he asked. " Yuba Dam!" replied the stranger, cheerfully. " What place is this," roared the traveler. " Yu-ba Dam," said the shirt in a slightly elevated tone of voiec. "Lookee here!" yelled the irate Yankee, " I asked you politely what place this was; why in thunder don't you answer?" The stranger became excited; he rose and replied with the voice of an eighty pounder, "YUBA DAM." "You hear that ?" In a minute the traveler, burning with the wrath of the righteous, jumped off his horse and advanced toward the stranger with an expression not to be mistaken. The shirt arose and assumed a posture of offense and defense. Arrived within a yard of him the traveler said, " I ask you for the last time; what place is this ?" "YUBA DAM." The next minute they were at it. First the traveler was down; then the shirt, and then it was a dog-fall-that is, both were down. They rolled about kicking up a tremendous dust. They squirmed around so ener- getically, that it appeared they had a dozen legs instead of four. It looked like a prize fight between two pugilistie centipedes. Finally they both rolled off the bank and into the river. The water cooled their wrath. They went down together but eame up separate, and put out for the shore. Both reached it about the same time; the traveler scrambled up the bank, mounted his warlike steed and made tracks, leaving his foe gouging the mud out of one of his eyes. Having left the business portion of the town, that is to say the corner where the three bars were kept, he struck a house in the suburbs, before which a little four-year old girl was playing. " What place is this, sissy ?" he asked. The little girl, frightened at the drowned-rat figure which the stranger pre- sented, streaked it for the house. Having reached
269
RAILROADS.
the door she stopped, turned and said, " Oo-bee- Dam!" " Good Heavens!" said the traveler, digging his heels between his horse's ribs-" Good Heavens! let me get out of this horrid place, where not only the men, but the very babes and sucklings swear at inoffen- sive travelers."
STRANGE TERMINUS TO A RAILROAD.
There is a town on the Southern Pacific Railroad called Yuma; and Yuma is a hard place, a very hard place. In one of the cars on this road. on a certain occasion, sat, with his feet upon the cushions and his hat down over his eyes, a flashy but dirty-looking individual, evidently some "three sheets " gone. The conductor, in coming around, gave him a shove, and aroused him with a short, "Ticket, sir!" "Ain't got none," said loafer. "Pay your fare, then." " How much is it ?" demanded the fellow. " Where are you going to ?" inquired the conductor. "Guess I'm (hie) goin' (hic) to the devil!" with an air of truthfulness. "Then," said the conductor, " pay your fare to Yuma, $27.00."
FIRST LOCOMOTIVE IN AMERICA.
Every nation, every locality, every people are exceedingly tenacious of the honor of producing any man who has distinguished himselfas a benefactor to the world by deeds of skill, invention, arms, literature, oratory, or great enterprise. To Amer- ica, through the genius of Fulton and the enterprise of Livingston, is the honor due of making the first prac- ticable steamboat, the most important, as it was the first great step toward independence of the elements and of relief from vital power. Twenty years after the steamboat the locomotive appeared in England. Stephenson, Brunton, Trevithick and Blackett had made locomotives as early as 1822, which were used on colliery railroads, but in 1829, in competing for a prize of £500, the famous locomotive Rocket ear- ried off the palm, and since then has been regarded as the first of these animate machines in existence. The Rocket was to railroads what the Clermont, Ful- ton's first boat, was to steamboats, the successful application of a principal in practical use.
Imitations and improvements soon followed, and if America did not have the first railroad and the first locomotive, she now has the most extended lines, the best locomotives, coaches, palace cars and railway system in the world. There are many accounts and claims of constructing the first loco- motives in America, but this has been conclusively settled, as shown in the following article prepared by Mr. B. J. Burns for the Mining and Scientific Press of July 3, 1880 :-
The question of priority in the use of the locomo- tive on railroads in this country is one of perennial interest. The literature on the vexed subject com- prises volumes. For the seven cities of Greece, which claimed the honor of the birthplace of Homer, we have had almost as many States claiming the honorable distinction of first introducing the loco-
motive engine for service on the railroad. The idea of applying steam as the motive power on rail- roads had occurred to many of our engineers, stim- ulated as they were, doubtless, by the successful practice of England; and the introduction of the locomotive by Pennsylvania and South Carolina was almost synchronous; yet the former is fairly entitled to the distinction of priority.
Fortunately there is now living in San Francisco one of the veteran railroad men of the country, who is absolutely familiar with the interesting incidents of the early history of the railroad and the locomo- tive engine in this country, "all of which he saw and part of which he was." The name of this vet- eran is David Matthew, now nearly three-score-and- ten. He is a worthy representative of the Amer- jean mechanic, at once intelligent, alert and trust- worthy. In thecourse of an entertaining conversation with Mr. Matthew recently, we learned that he was born in Scotland and arrived in this country at the tender age of seven, and that a few years later he was sent to the West Point foundry shops in New York City to learn the trade of machinist. It was at these West Point machine shops that the very first American locomotives were built, and where the first English locomotive brought to the country was received and set up and exhibited. And it was also at those famous machine shops that Mr. Matthew met the distinguished engineer, John B. Jervis, whose name and fame are identified with some of the most remarkable engineering projects of the country, and who was the inventor of the plan of putting a truck under the forward part of the loco- motive to direct and control the machine in running upon curves-a practice that is now universal and indispensable in the United States where the rail- roads follow the face of the country.
Such engineers as Jervis, Allen, Latrobe and Mat- thew have furnished to the world the following facts :-
The first locomotive engine placed and tried on any railroad in America was called the " Stourbridge Lion," and was imported from England for the Dele- ware and Hudson Canal and Railroad Company. This engine arrived in New York May 17, 1829, and was set up in the yard of the West Point Foundry machine shops and publicly exhibited for days to thousands of the first citizens of the country. It was brought from England by Horatio Allen, who made the first experimental trial of it at Honesdale, on the banks of Lackawaxen Creek, Pennsylvania, August 8, 1829, when he " opened the throttle-valve of the locomotive engine that turned the first driv- ing-wheel on an American railroad." This highly interesting statement was made by Mr. Allen in a speech delivered at Dunkirk on the occasion of the celebration of the completion of New York and Erie Railroad. The "Stourbridge Lion," meeting with an accident shortly after its first trial, was never repaired.
2. The first locomotive built in America for a purely experimental purpose was the " Tom Thumb," which was constructed by the now venerable Peter Cooper. This little machine was built for the pur- pose of testing the feasibility of a locomotive sustain- ing itself while running over curves, which was a mooted point among the engineers and scientists of that day. The engine weighed less than a ton, the cylinder was only three and a half inches in diameter, the boiler was about as " large as an ordinary kitchen boiler," ard was vertical, with gun barrels for tubes.
270
HISTORY OF PLACER COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
The first trial was made on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, from the depot at Baltimore to Ellicott's Mills, August 28, 1830.
3. The first locomotive engine built in America for actual service on a railroad was called the " Best Friend," and was constructed for the Charleston and Augusta Railroad Company. This pioneer locomo- tive was built at the West Point Foundry machine shops in New York City, and the work of fitting it up fell to the lot of Mr. Matthew. Immediately after the engine was completed it was placed on the company's road, and the first experiment with a train was made November 2, 1830, N. W. Darrell acting as engineer.
Some few days previous to the above date, or about the 20th of October, in accordance with a notice given in the Charleston papers, a publie trial was made with this locomotive, without any cars attached, at which trial Mr. W. B. Ewer, one of the proprietors of this paper, was present. It was on this occasion that the first American-built locomo- tive turned its wheels for the first time on a railroad track. At the trial on November 2d the wooden wheels of the machine, which were constructed after the English practice, sprung and got off the track; but they were replaced by cast-iron wheels, and on December 14th and 15th the engine was again tried, and run at the rate of sixteen to twenty-one miles an hour with five cars carrying about fifty passen- gers, and without the cars it attained a speed of thirty to thirty-five miles an hour. In the Charles- ton Courier, March 12, 1831, there is an account of a later trial of the speed of the " Best Friend," on which occasion, the writer remarks, "safety was assured by the introduction of a barrier car, on which cotton was piled up as a rampart between the loco- motive and the passenger cars." The second loco- motive for service built in this country was called the "West Point," and was for the same road. It was also constructed at the West Point machine shops.
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