USA > Connecticut > Connecticut as a colony and as a state; or, One of the original thirteen, Volume III > Part 16
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To encourage internal commerce in the Connecticut River, the Legislature in 1824 incorporated the Connecticut River Company for the purpose of removing sand-bars, building canals, and making all improvements necessary for the bet-
282
From a Drawing by T. Cole
HARTFORD IN 1856
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CONNECTICUT AS A STATE
terment of river navigation, as far north as Barnet, Vermont, providing the company should receive the approval of the Legislatures of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Ver- mont. The latter was the only one that ratified the company's charter; they therefore confined their efforts exclusively to that section of the river lying in Connecticut. The company was composed mostly of Hartford citizens, who were desir- ous of establishing a through transportation line to the north- ern country, in advance of one contemplated by New Haven parties, who proposed building a canal from tidewater at that city to Northampton, Massachusetts, intersecting the Connecticut River at that point.
Hartford was at this time the head of sloop navigation on the Connecticut River, and held the key to the northern trade as far as the Canadian borders. The building of canals around the falls in Massachusetts and Vermont, the completion of the locks at Windsor Locks, and the canal at Enfield Falls, permitted sixty-ton flat-bottomed steam craft to navigate the river to its junction with the Wells River in Vermont. Pre- vious to this the freighting business was done entirely by sailing vessels, and boats of six or eight tons capacity. The northern territory thus reached sent lumber for domestic use and export, surplus agricultural products, pot and pearl ashes ; the boats returned loaded with rum, molasses, groceries, and other supplies. Though ferries were early established cross- ing the Connecticut, it was at Enfield in 1808 that the first bridge was built connecting the shores of that stream; in the next year one was constructed in Hartford.
The waters of Long Island Sound, forming the entire southern boundary of the State, encouraged maritime enter- prises of every description. The coasting sea-trips, as well as those to foreign lands, for the transportation of passengers
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CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE
and freight, were among the important industries of the early settlers; it was not until 1816 that steam as a motive power was introduced. In October of that year a regular line of steamboats was established between New London and New York. Two trips were made a week, the Connecticut plying between New London and New Haven, and the Fulton run- ning from New Haven to New York. The fare was five dol- lars between the two former places, and four dollars between the latter. On a trial trip made by the steamboat Connecti- cut, Sept. 28, 1816, the voyage to New York was accom- plished in twenty-one hours. The era of steam navigation was inaugurated on the Thames River Oct. 15, 1816, when the Connecticut ascended to Norwich.
The following year a regular line of steam communication was established between Norwich and New York. The trips were made weekly by the Connecticut and the Fulton; stops were made for passengers and freight at New London and New Haven. This was an improvement over uncertain packet- lines, as the voyages were made with comparative certainty. Captain Moses Rogers, a native of New London, com- manded the Savannah, which was the first steam vessel to cross the Atlantic Ocean; he thus gave to Connecticut a prom- inent position in the records of early steam navigation. An- other native of the State, but a resident of Detroit, Michigan -Oliver Newbury-was popularly known as "the steamboat king," on account of his splendid steamboats, and the large number of lines he established on the great lakes.
The introduction of steamship navigation between Hart- ford and New York did not take place until 1824. The first steamboat to make a regular trip was the Oliver Ellsworth; she was of two hundred and twenty-eight tons burden, and one hundred and twelve feet in length, having berths for six-
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CONNECTICUT AS A STATE
ty passengers. The following year the McDonough, a larger vessel, was added, and trips were made on alternate days. It was not until 1838, when the Charter Oak was placed on the route, that a boat was equipped with state-rooms. On the es- tablishment of a competing line in 1830, the fare was reduced to one dollar and found to New York. Three years later the original company added the steamboat Chief Justice Marshall to their number. A day line was also instituted by placing in commission the Water Witch, commanded by a brother of Cornelius Vanderbilt; she made three trips a week, leaving Hartford at six o'clock in the morning. In the fall the Van- derbilt line was changed to a night run, and the fare was ad- vanced to two dollars; but it was withdrawn after running four seasons.
Daily passenger steamboats plied on the Connecticut River from 1826 to 1842, between Hartford and Springfield; they were mostly stern-wheelers. At different intervals during this time competing lines were operated. Steamboats were used on the Connecticut above Hartford, to tow loaded barges, even as late as 1884; propellers were also run between that: city and New York, Philadelphia, Albany, Boston, Baltimore, Norfolk, Richmond, and various other points.
The development of the railroad system produced compe- tition ; steamboats and propellers were gradually disused, tugs being substituted for towing purposes. In 1824-25, regular day-lines of steamboats were established between New York and New Haven, Bridgeport, Norwalk, and Stamford, two days being consumed in the round trip. Competition was so brisk that the fare from Norwalk to New York was reduced as low as twelve and a half cents.
The building of the Erie Canal stimulated like projects in adjoining States. In 1822 charters were granted to the Farm-
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CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE
ington and Ousatonic canal companies. The Farmington Canal was to start from tidewater in the harbor of the city of New Haven, and to extend through the town of Southwick, Massachusetts located in close proximity to the northern boundary line of Connecticut; to the Connecticut River. The canal, passing through the town of Farmington, proceeded up the river of that name to the furthermost boundary line of the town of Colbrook; it was an attempt in a small way to bring the Connecticut back to its original path. The eleva- tion of one hundred and eighty-six feet between New Haven and what is now Plainville (formerly known as Bristol Basin) was overcome by the building of twenty locks. The opening of the canal in 1826 gave such an impetus to busi- ness at this point, that a dozen mercantile establishments located there, and prophecies were made that Hartford would have a rival as a business centre. The canal, however, suf- fered from the porous nature of the soil, wash-outs were fre- quent, and it was doomed even before the advent of rail- roads.
The proposed route of the Ousatonic Canal was along the valley of the Housatonic River, from tidewater at Long Island Sound to the State line in the town of Canaan, being an elevation of about 612 feet, with a proposed extension as far as Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The estimated cost, exclu- sive of locks, was $5,900 a mile, the contemplated length sixty-six miles. Passing as it did through a mountainous sec- tion of the country, sixty locks were required, at a cost of $3,500 each. The attempt to capitalize the company for $500,000 proved fruitless, and the project was abandoned.
The Quinebaug Canal Company, with a proposed route for a canal running parallel with the river of that name, and the Sharon Canal Company, with a proposed route beginning
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CONNECTICUT AS A STATE
in the town of Sharon, and proceeding from there west to the New York State boundary line, were incorporated by the Legislature. The companies, however, did not prosecute the work, and their charters expired by their own limitations. The General Assembly in May, 1829, incorporated a com- pany to build a canal from tidewater at the Saugatuck River to the village of New Milford. The New Haven and North- ampton Company was incorporated in 1836, for the purpose of consolidating the Hampshire and Hampden and the Farmington Canal companies into one company.
Through these channels of interstate intercourse, even before the coming of railroads, Connecticut made rapid progress towards the concentration of her commercial capi- tal. Her citizens were speedily informed of national events through the medium of the daily press; business and social relations were to add to the sagacity and enterprise which had ever been prominent characteristics of her people. Her manufactured wares, also her surplus agricultural products, were to find markets beyond her compass, even in the uncivi- lized portions of the globe. Thus with conservatism she waited for the evolutions of progress, ready at all times to take advantage of all improvements conducive to her advance- ment and prosperity.
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CHAPTER XIX EARLY RAILROADS
N the introduction of railroads, Connecticut was behind her neighboring sister States. In Massachusetts and Rhode Island, in the latter part of the second decade of the nineteenth century, railway legislation pre- dominated over all other matters.
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There was a decided opposition to this new method of locomotion and freight handling. The farmers thought it boded the disuse of horses, and saw a decreasing demand for hay and oats; the landlords of the taverns that dotted the stage routes justly feared bankruptcy; while men engaged in navigation and inland freighting saw a compe- tition that would cause a diminution of their profits. The revenue from travel, instead of being deposited at the toll- gates of the turnpikes, would fill the coffers of the railroad corporations.
The people of the eastern section of the State, being largely interested in manufacturing, and having the practica- bility of the use of railroads demonstrated in the adjoining States, petitioned the General Assembly for the incorporation of a company, to build a railroad from Norwich to New Lon- don; also one in a northerly direction from the first men- tioned city towards the city of Boston.
The Legislature, at its May session in 1832, granted a charter to the Boston, Norwich & New London Railroad Company, authorizing a capital stock of ten thousand shares, payable by assessments not to exceed one hundred dollars a share. This company effected a consolidation in 1836 with the Norwich & Worcester Railroad Company; traffic was opened on Dec. 14, 1839, between Norwich and New Lon- don, and with Worcester in the following March.
At the same session of the Legislature, articles of incorpo- ration were granted for a railroad to begin at the western
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CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE
border line of the town of Sharon, from thence to run north- erly through the town of Salisbury, to the northern boundary line of the State. Privilege was also granted to make an extension in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, to intersect other railroads. The capital stock of the company was to be $500,000, divided into shares of one hundred dollars each.
Several parties were given a franchise to build a railroad from Stonington to the eastern boundary of the State, under the corporation name of the New York & Stonington Rail- road Company; its capital stock consisted of one thousand shares to be raised by assessment, which was not to exceed one hundred dollars a share. In 1833 this road was consolidated with the New York, Providence & Boston Railroad Com- pany, a corporation chartered by Rhode Island. The road was completed and opened for passenger traffic to Providence, Nov. 10, 1837; connections were made with New York by steamers.
The Legislature in 1835 granted James Brewster, John Babcock, John S. Mitchell, Joel Root, Alexander Harrison, Obadiah Pease, Richard Hubbard, and Elisha A. Cowles, articles of incorporation to form a company, with an author- ized capital of $1,000,000, to build a railroad between the two capitals of the State, to be known as the Hartford and New Haven Railroad Company. The road was opened between New Haven and Meriden in 1838, and the following year to Hartford. Two trains of short coaches, similar to those used on English and Continental roads, were run daily between the two points. The schedule time was one hour and a half, and connection was made at New Haven with a steam- boat for New York. Through passengers were conveyed from Hartford to Springfield by stage-coaches, there to con-
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CONNECTICUT AS A STATE
nect with the Western Railroad (now the Boston & Albany) road for Boston.
The Legislature at the same session chartered the Hart- ford & Springfield Railway Company with a capital stock of $500,000, to construct a road between the two cities; but it was not opened for the conveyance of passengers until 1844, when the two roads were consolidated under the name of the New Haven, Hartford & Springfield Railroad.
A million-dollar corporation was incorporated by the Legislature of 1835, to construct a railroad from Hartford to the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, by the most feasible route; it was to be known as the Hartford & Worcester Rail- road Company. There was, however, a proviso in their char- ter, that a certain amount of money was to be expended inside of four years; this was never complied with, and all rights and privileges under the charter thereby became null and void.
At the same session the Fairfield County Railroad Com- pany, with a capital stock of $200,000, divided into shares of forty dollars, received a franchise to construct a railroad from a suitable point in the town of Danbury to a point at tide-water, either in the town of Fairfield or Norwalk. The charter of the company was renewed in 1846, and four years later the capital stock was increased to $400,000, and its name changed to the Danbury & Norwalk Railroad Com- pany.
The Saugatuck & New Milford Canal Company, which obtained incorporation papers in 1829, had the privilege in their charter, with the sanction of the Legislature, to use for the construction of a railroad the funds subscribed to their capital stock for the building of a canal. That body, at their May session in 1836, having given the required consent, a
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CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE
charter was obtained for the Ousatonic (Housatonic) Rail- road Company to build, in the valley of the river of that name, a railroad to start at tide-water in the city of Bridge- port, and extend northerly to the southern boundary of the town of Sheffield, in Massachusetts. The road was partially opened on Feb. 10, 1840, and from Bridgeport to the Mas- sachusetts line on Dec. 1, 1842.
At the beginning of the year 1840 there were 462 1-2 miles of completed railroads in New England, of which Connecti- cut had 117 miles, being exceeded only by Massachusetts with 236 miles.
In the decade 1840-50, known as the railroad era, a vast new impetus was given to that industry. In Connecticut alone, the mileage reached 55 1 miles, while in the New Eng- land States, 2,845 miles were in operation, besides several hundred miles under construction. The cost of building was from $35,000 to $40,000 a mile, and no pecuniary aid had been given towards their construction, except that in a few instances the companies had been relieved of taxation for a stated period.
One of the important projects of this epoch was the com- pletion of the New York & New Haven Railroad, which was opened to the public Dec. 19, 1848; thereby completing an all-rail connection between New York and Boston, the Western Railroad having been built from Worcester to Springfield. Three trains were run daily between New Haven and New York.
A railroad was opened on July 22, 1852, between New London and New Haven. It was not until 1858 that a road was completed from Stonington to New London; this made a second continuous rail route from New York to Boston, which had already been connected with Providence, and that
294
From a Drawing by B. F. Smith, Jr.
NEW HAVEN IN 1858
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CONNECTICUT AS A STATE
with Stonington. It ran along the shore of the Sound, whence it took its popular name the "Shore Line."
Charters were granted to several companies during the fever of speculation in railroad construction; prominent among these were the Naugatuck Railroad Company, organ- ized to build a railroad from the city of Bridgeport, running in a northerly direction to the town of Plymouth. It was opened for traffic in 1849, and has since been extended to Winsted.
The New Haven & Northampton Railroad Company received a charter in 1846. They followed the line of the Farmington Canal, and completed a road from New Haven to Plainville in 1848, which was later continued to North- ampton, Massachusetts, more recently to Williamsburg, and finally to Shelburne Falls.
The New London, Willimantic & Palmer Railroad Com- pany was chartered in 1847. It was afterwards extended north to Grout's Corner, Massachusetts, to connect with lines into Vermont and to Montreal, and its name changed to the New London Northern Railroad. For many years it has been operated by the Central Vermont Railroad Com- pany, forming its tide-water terminal at New London.
The Middletown Railroad Company was incorporated by the Legislature, at its session in May 1844; its charter was renewed some years later, and it was open for business in 1851. The road was ten miles in length, its terminals being Middletown and Berlin; soon after its completion it was operated by the Hartford and New Haven Railroad Com- pany.
The Middlesex & Hartford County Railroad Company was also incorporated in 1852; it was to construct a road from a suitable point in Saybrook to the city of Hartford.
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CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE
Its charter was extended in 1855; afterwards it was reorgan- ized under the name of the Hartford and Connecticut Val- ley Railroad Company; the road was not opened to Say- brook until 1871; the following year it was extended to Fen- wick.
The Boston & New York Air Line was projected to build a railroad between New Haven and Willimantic; thereby mak- ing a third all-rail connection between New York and Bos- ton. It was completed from New Haven to Middletown in 1870, and to Willimantic in 1873.
In the history of railroad construction in Connecticut, the franchise which had the most varied experience had for its foundation one of the earliest grants made by the Legisla- ture. The General Assembly in May 1833 incorporated the Manchester Railroad Company to build, a road from the city of Hartford to a notch in the mountains in the town of Bol- ton, or somewhere near the stone pits in Bolton and Vernon. The charter lay dormant until 1847, when it was revived by the Hartford & Providence Railroad Company, with all the privileges granted to the parent company, and the additional one of building roads to Rockville and Willimantic. Two years previous to this, a company was formed to construct a road from Hartford to Danbury, to be known as the New York & Hartford Railroad Company. In 1848 this corpora- tion was merged with the Hartford & Providence Railroad Company, and the latter name was changed to the Hartford, Providence & Fishkill Railroad Company. They received the further privilege of extending the road westerly towards the Hudson River. The road was opened for traffic between Hartford and Willimantic in 1849; the next year between Hartford and Bristol; in 1854 through trains were run from Providence to Hartford, and the following year to
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CONNECTICUT AS A STATE
Waterbury. In 1858 the road was surrendered to trustees, to be operated in the interest of the bondholders. These were in possession for several years; during this time sur- veys were made as far west as Fishkill, New York.
The Boston, Hartford & Erie Railroad Company was incorporated in 1863, for the purpose of building a through line from Boston to the Hudson River. This corporation in 1866 purchased the rights of the stockholders of the Hartford, Providence & Fishkill Railroad Company; they then issued the famous Berdell bonds named (from John H. Berdell, president of the Erie Railroad) ; but on failure to pay the interest, the property was foreclosed under the mort- gage, and the bondholders took possession; claiming the right to redeem the original indebtedness of the Hartford, Provi- dence & Fishkill Railroad Company. The road having been built a dozen miles southwest from Boston, had lain idle for many years, was then completed to Putnam, and in 1872 to Willimantic, thus completing the line from Waterbury to Boston. A reorganization was effected in 1873, when the New York & New England Railroad Company was incor- porated. They purchased all the rights of the bondholders of the Boston, Hartford & Erie Railroad Company, also those of the Hartford, Providence & Fishkill Railroad Com- pany, and completed the road from Waterbury to Brewster, New York, in July 1881. In December of the same year it was finished to Fishkill on the Hudson; but failing to pay running expenses, it was on Dec. 31, 1883, placed in the hands of a receiver.
The consolidation in 1872 of the New York & New Haven and the New Haven, Hartford & Springfield Rail- road Companies, under the name of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company, commonly known
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CONNECTICUT AS COLONY AND STATE
as the "Consolidated Road," created a railroad octopus that operates nearly the entire railroad mileage of the State. It has absorbed the Shore Line and the Providence & Stonington along the coast; the New York & New England, which itself had previously absorbed the Norwich & Worces- ter; the Air Line; and the old Connecticut Western with its new Springfield & Tariffville branch-thus controlling all the lines to Boston. It has also taken in every north-and- south line with the single exception of the New London Northern,-the Housatonic, Danbury & Norwalk, Nauga- tuck, New Haven & Northampton, and Connecticut Valley. All the small lines and branches also belong to it except the 2 1-2 miles of the South Manchester road: the Meriden, Waterbury & Connecticut River, the lines from East Hart- ford and Rockville to Springfield, the Shepaug Valley from Litchfield south, the Derby from New Haven to Ansonia, the Stamford & New Canaan, the branches from Berlin to Middletown and New Britain, from Rockville to Vernon, from Farmington to Collinsville and to New Hartford, from Windsor Locks to Suffield, from Turnerville to Colchester. In a word, all the business of Southern New England to New York passes through it as through the spout of a tunnel.
The Hartford & Connecticut Western Railroad Company was chartered in 1868, opened to the public in 1871, and reorganized ten years later as the Hartford & Connecticut Western. By the purchase of the Rhinebeck Railroad, it owned a continuous line from Hartford to the Hudson River. Passing first under the control of the Reading system as the Philadelphia, Reading & New England, it became the Cen- tral New England & Western, and has lately been bought by the "Consolidated," shortly after building a branch from.
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CONNECTICUT AS A STATE
Tariffville to Springfield which it was vainly hoped would enrich it with a great through business.
The General Assembly in 1850 created a board of three commissioners, to be known as Railroad Commissioners, whose duty it was to examine twice a year or oftener the railroad system of the State. They were authorized to require corporations to make all repairs necessary for the safety of the public. The act was further amended in 1853, and the duties of the commissioners more fully specified : they were empowered to oblige the companies to use all safeguards to prevent injuries and destruction of life. Blanks were to be furnished the railroad corporations, on which full returns and statistics were required, under the oath of the president. The officials of the corporations were required to notify the commissioners, within twenty-four hours, of all accidents attended with serious personal injuries.
The commissioners were to make an annual report to the General Assembly. In their report of 1855-56, not quite a quarter of a century from the time the first railroad charter was granted, they stated that the capital stock of the corpo- rations operating railroads in Connecticut was $23,675,838, of which amount $18,702,248 was paid in; there was, how- ever, an outstanding indebtedness of $12,165,356.68. The companies operated 772 miles of road, of which 590 were within the limits of the State. The cost of construction and equipment had been $29,505,662.75 ; this varied among the different railroads, from the New York & New Haven at $81,401.50 per mile, to the Danbury & Norwalk at $15,- 691.62. While the rolling stock of the New York & New Haven Railroad consisted of 26 locomotives, 73 passenger cars, and 329 freight cars, the Danbury & Norwalk Railroad had only 3 locomotives, 4 passenger cars, and 24 freight
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