USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > Centennial history of the city of Washington, D. C. With full outline of the natural advantages, accounts of the Indian tribes, selection of the site, founding of the city to the present time > Part 36
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line at Canal Street, which road was constructed in 1891, making the entire length of the line operated by this company thirteen and one-half miles. Should the bill now before Congress become a law, providing for the building of the road from Center Market by Ninth Street to G, then to Eleventh and E streets, and back by Ninth Street, the entire length of the line will be about sixteen miles.
All the old tracks of this road have been relaid with standard girder construction, with a view to the adoption of an improved electric or other motor power. The equipment of the road at the present time consists of one hundred and fifty horses, sixteen summer cars, and twenty-eight winter cars, all two-horse.
The officers of the company have been as follows: L. W. Gui- nand, president; HI. A. Griswold, secretary and superintendent, and Thomas A. Richards, treasurer; Mr. Guinand serving until his death in October, 1880; then H. A. Griswold, president and superintendent, until the present time; Thomas E. Smithson, secretary, until July, 1886, then J. Beacham Pitcher, until the present time. Mr. Pitcher subsequently succeeded Mr. Richards as treasurer, and is now serving in that capacity also.
The Capitol, North O Street, and South Washington Street Rail- road Company was incorporated by a special act of Congress, approved March 3, 1875, the following gentlemen being named as the incorpora- tors: Joseph Williams, William J. Murtagh, Hallet Kilbourn, Benjamin F. Fuller, William J. Cowing, Samuel R. Bond, William Saunders, George W. Goodall, George A. Mellhenny, L. A. Bartlett, and L. II. Chandler. The route along which this company was authorized to lay down their road, which might be either a single or double track, was as follows: Commencing on First Street West, in front of the Capitol grounds, and running thence due north along First Street to G Street North; thence west to Fourth Street; thence on Fourth Street to O Street; thence to Eleventh Street; thence to E Street; thence to Four- teenth Street; thence to Ohio Avenue; thence to the intersection with Twelfth Street; thence to Virginia Avenue; thence to Maryland Ave- nue; and thence to First Street, the place of beginning.
This act was amended, May 23, 1876, so as to authorize the exten- sion of the line on Fourth and Eleventh streets West, from O Street to P Street, and to lay a single track and run its cars one way upon P' Street, between Fourth and Eleventh streets. The charter was again amended, March 3, 1881, so as to authorize the company to remove its track from Ohio Avenue and Twelfth Street Southwest, and to lay a single or double track from the intersection of Ohio Avenue and
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Fourteenth Street to C Street Southwest, eastwardly along C Street to Virginia Avenue, to connect with its line at the junction of this avenue and street; and also to lay a single or double track from its line on P Street and Eleventh Street Northwest, north on Eleventh Street to Boundary Street; and to lay a single or double track from the intersection of C and Eleventh streets Southwest, along Eleventh Street to Water Street, and then to M Street Sonth, this to be the southern terminus of the road. The charter was again amended, March 1, 1883, authorizing the company to extend its line, by laying a single or double track, commencing at the intersection of Eleventh and E streets Northwest, along E to Ninth Street, along Ninth to Louisiana Ave- nue, then to Ohio Avenue, and then to the junction of Ohio Avenue and Twelfth Street Northwest. Then, in May, 1888, an amendment was made to the charter so as to authorize the construction of the road beginning at Fourteenth and B streets Southwest and extending along B Street to Twelfth Street Southwest, to connect with the com- pany's line on the latter street. The entire length of line of travel is now about eight and one-half miles; and its present equipment consists of two hundred and thirty horses and fifty-two cars. The rails are for the most part eighty-pound grooved rails, and the ties are of white oak, hewed, and placed three feet, six inches apart. The board of directors are very active in securing for the road the best equipment that is practical, and within the law of Congress on the subject of street railways in the District. They have purchased Square No. 330, at the head of Eleventh Street Northwest, where they intend to ereet a power house adapted to the necessities of that form of mechanical equipment which shall ultimately be adopted, and when this power house shall be erected they will abandon their present plants at Third and B streets Southwest, and at Twelfth and V streets Northwest. The capital of this company, at first $200,000, has been increased to $500,000.
The first meeting of the incorporators of this company was held December 30, 1874, and the company was organized March 8, 1875, by the election of Joseph Williams president, W. J. Cowing secretary, B. F. Fuller treasurer, and S. R. Bond attorney. The office of attorney was abolished February 23, 1875. May 3, George A. McIl- henny was elected president, and upon his resignation William Saun- ders was elected, October 14, 1875. S. R. Bond was elected December, 1875; Edward Temple served from 1876 to 1879; Charles White, May 12, 1879, to 1889; W. J. Cowing, November 29, 1889, to 1890; George White, May 12, 1890, to the present time. Vice-Presidents- A. M.
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Clapp, December 26, 1889; W. J. Cowing, May, 1890; Charles Flint, 1891 to the present time. Secretaries and Treasurers- W. J. Cowing, until May 8, 1876; R. S. Cowing, 1876 to 1878; R. S. Chew, November 23, 1878, to 1881; W. E. Boughton, May 23, 1882, to 1889; II. A. Haralson, December 30, 1889, to 1890; 1I. K. Gray, March 3, 1890, to the present time. Superintendents-John La Rue, until May, 1877; Mr. Armstrong, for a short time; John W. Belt, May 22, 1878, to September 1, 1878; S. S. Daish, September 1, 1878, to July 1, 1881; E. L. Barnes, July 1, 1881, to May 26, 1884; Andrew Glass, May 26, 1884, to the present time.
The Rock Creek Railroad Company was organized under a charter granted by Congress, June 22, 1888, the incorporators being Gardner G. Hubbard, George Truesdell, Samuel W. Woodward, Otis F. Presbrey, John F. Waggaman, B. K. Plain, John Ridout, A. F. Stevens, Leroy Tuttle, Lawrence Sands, Edward C. Dean, James B. Wimer, Samuel S. Shedd, Leroy Tuttle, Jr., Robert J. Fisher, Jr., and Pitman Mann. Active work did not commence, however, until the amended charter was secured, May 28, 1890, by which the route of the road was changed so as to extend to the line of the District of Columbia on the line of Connecticut Avenue extended. The road now begins at the junction of Connecticut and Florida avenues and runs on Florida Avenue to Eighteenth Street, on Eighteenth Street to the Columbia road, thence to Rock Creek, and then on the line of Connecticut Avenue extended to the District of Columbia line. From this point the road has been graded and built into Maryland. The company has done a great deal of grading on Connecticut Avenue extended, and has built two very expensive bridges on its line. The entire main line was completed and put in operation about May 15, 1892. It is a double-track road, equipped with the Thomson-Houston system of overhead electric wires. It began operation with eighteen cars. The length of the road, including its branch road from Eight- eenth Street and Florida Avenue along U Street and Florida Avenue to North Capitol Street, is about eight miles. The power house is located at the end of the line in Maryland, and is equipped with two engines, each of a nominal horse-power of two hundred and fifty, and four dynamos, of eighty kilowatts each. The officers of the company at the present time are Francis G. Newlands, president; Edward J. Stellwagen, vice-president; Thomas M. Gale, treasurer; Howard S. Nyman, secretary; and other directors, Henry E. Davis, John J. Malone, and Albert W. Sioussa. General A. J. Warner is superin- tendent of construction, and W. Kesley Schoepf, engineer.
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
The Eckington and Soldiers' Home Railway Company was char- tered June 19, 1888, the incorporators being Edward F. Beale, Edward C. Dean, A. L. Barber, George Truesdell, James L. Barbour, George E. Moore, C. C. Duncanson, Michael Connor, and Joseph Paul. The company was organized August 2, 1888, with the following officers: George Truesdell, president; C. C. Duncanson, vice-president; Joseph Paul, secretary, and E. Kurtz Johnson, treasurer. These officers still retain their respective positions. G. S. Patterson has been superin- tendent since 1890.
By its charter, this company was authorized to build a road from the intersection of Seventh Street and New York Avenue, along New York Avenue to Boundary, along the boundary to Eckington Place; then north along Eckington Place . to R Street, along R Street to Third, along Third to T Street, and along T Street to the car house. This road was built and the cars commenced running thereon October 17, 1888, the cars being propelled by means of the Thomson-Houston electrie system, and was thus one of the first electric street railroads in use in the United States. The company, by its charter, was also authorized to extend its line along New York Avenue to Ivy City. In the spring of 1889, it began operating cars on Fourth Street, and added four vestibule motor cars and seven double-decked tow cars. In the fall of the same year, it added three vestibule motor cars and three double-decked tow cars. In the summer of 1889, the road was extended along Lincoln Avenue and B Street nearly to Glenwood Cemetery. The charter was amended April 30, 1890, authorizing the extension of the track from New York Avenue to Fifth Street, then to G Street, and along G Street to Fifteenth; and also, beginning at the terminus of the cemetery branch, along Lincoln Avenue to a point opposite the entrance to Glenwood Cemetery; also, beginning at the intersection of New York Avenue and North Capitol Street, along the latter to the south boundary of the Soldiers' Ilome. The road was built along G and Fifth streets in the spring of 1891. Two storage-battery cars were run temporarily, as an experiment, from the spring of 1891 to August 16, 1891, on which day the insulation of six new cars was completed, and these commenced running November 1, 1891, and are still running.
In the early part of 1891, the company commenced constructing the North Capitol Street tracks, and completed the road as far as T Street. Cars are not yet running on this road. The cemetery exten- sion was completed May 29, 1891, and cars commenced running thereon May 30, Decoration Day.
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The power house is located on Fifth Street, above T Street, Northeast, at Eckington. The power house contains four Thomson- Houston eighty horse-power generators and four one hundred horse- power engines, three one hundred and ten horse-power boilers and two forty horse-power Electric-Dynamic Company's generators, and one one hundred horse-power engine, the latter being used in charging the batteries of the storage cars, the other engines being used in propell- ing the trolley cars. In 1889, the number of passengers carried was 538,870; in 1890, 750,833; and in 1891, 1,076,744.
At the last annual election, held on the second Wednesday in January, 1892, the following gentlemen were elected directors: C. C. Duncanson, E. Kurtz Johnson, Joseph Paul, M. M. Parker, J. H. Lane, L. M. Saunders, Thomas Somerville, George Truesdell, and B. H. Warner.
The Georgetown and Tennallytown Railroad was organized in 1888, and their railroad, which is an electric one, equipped with the Thomson-Houston system, extends from Water and Thirty-second streets, Georgetown, out on Thirty-second Street to the District line, a distance of four and a half miles. The power house of this line is situated about one mile from Water Street, and is equipped with one two hundred and fifty horse-power Corliss engine, and one one hundred and twenty-five horse-power Corliss engine, propelling four dynamos, each of eighty horse-power. The first officers of this company were General R. C. Drum, president; R. H. Goldsborough, vice-president; John E. Beall, secretary; and George H. B. White, treasurer. General Drum resigned the presidency in a few months, and was succeeded by Mr. Goldsborough, and W. A. Gordon was chosen vice-president. At the last annual election, held January 13, 1892, Spencer Watkins was elected president, R. D. Weaver vice - president, John E. Beall secretary, and George D. Ashton treasurer.
At the District line this road connects with two other electric roads, the one owned by the Glen Echo Railroad Company, and extending to Glen Echo, a distance of about three miles, the other owned by the Tennallytown and Rockville Railroad Company, and extending now to Bethesda Park, a distance of about three and a half miles. It is expected that this line will ultimately be extended to Rockville, Maryland.
The Norfolk and Washington, District of Columbia, Steamboat Company was chartered by the Legislature of Virginia in February, 1890, with a capital of $100,000, which was increased in 1891 to $300,000. The company was organized the following month with
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William E. Clark, president; Levi Woodbury, vice-president; C. C. Duncanson, treasurer: John Keyworth, secretary, and John Callahan, superintendent. Subsequently, Mr. Duncanson resigned and Mr. R. F. Baker was elected treasurer in his stead. Contracts were made in May, 1890, with the Harlan & Hollingsworth Company, of Wilming- ton, Delaware, for the construction of two steamers, the Washington and the Norfolk, which were completed and commenced running, the former on March 28, 1891, and the Norfolk on April 3, 1891. These two steamboats are each of iron, and two hundred and sixty feet in length, and each cost $235,000. Some time afterward, the company purchased of the Potomac Company their wharf and steamer, George Leary, which boat they have had entire'y repaired and refitted, at an expense of about $20,000. The two new steamers are first-class in every respect, and are capable of running from nineteen to twenty miles per hour. Their time between Washington and Norfolk is usually twelve and a half hours, a distance of two hundred miles.
The Mount Vernon and Marshall Hall Steamboat Company has been in existence for several years. Its boats, the principal ones of which are the Charles Macalester and the River Queen, the latter an elegant new steamer, ply between Washington and Alexandria, Mount Vernon, Marshall Hall, and other points on the Potomac River, run- ning to Mount Vernon in connection with the Ladies' Mount Vernon Association, and charging 81 for the round trip to the latter, which ineludes admission to the grounds. The officers of this company are Joseph C. MeKibben, president; L. L. Blake, vice-president; Thomas Adams, secretary and treasurer; Samuel C. Ramage, general manager.
The Washington Steamboat Company, Limited, is the successor to the Potomac Ferry Company, which originated in 1864; the Wash- ington Steamboat Company being organized in 1881. It has five steamboats plying on the Potomac between Washington and points below. These boats are named the Wakefield, T. V. Arrowsmith, Col- umbia, City of Alexandria, and City of Washington. The officers of this company are C. W. Ridley, general manager; J. B. Padgett, gen- eral agent, and Jonathan P. Crowley, treasurer.
Other steamboat lines are those of the People's Washington and Norfolk Steamboat Company, the successor to the Inland and Sea- board Coasting Company, which latter company was the successor of the Washington, Georgetown, Alexandria, and New York Steamship company, organized as early as 1867; the Independent Steamboat and Barge Company, organized in 1889; and of E. S. Randall, and George L. Sheriff.
CHAPTER X.
HISTORY OF BANKING.
The Bank of Columbia -The Bank of the United States - Office of Discount and De- posit in Washington - "The Produce Bank of the Potomac"-The Bank of the Metropolis -The National Metropolitan Bank -The Bank of Washington -The National Bank of Washington- The Union Bank of Georgetown - The Central Bank of Georgetown and Washington -The Farmers and Mechanics' Bank -The Patriotic Bank -Confusion of the Finances-The Second National Bank - John C. Calhoun on the National Bank - Directors of the Branch Bank in Washington - President Jackson's Animosity to the National Bank -Suspension of Specie Payments- Extension of Charters of the District Banks -Troubles with the Cur- rency - President Tyler's Vetoes-The Banks of the District Practically Extin- guished -The Freedman's Saving and Trust Company - Riggs & Company - First National Bank - Merchants' National Bank-National Bank of the Republic- National Savings Bank - National Safe Deposit Company - National Capital Bank of Washington -Second National Bank - Citizens' National Bank - Washington Safe Deposit Company - Columbia National Bank - Washington Loan and Trust Company - American Security and Trust Company - Lincoln National Bank -- West End National Bank - Traders' National Bank - Ohio National Bank - Private Banking Institutions.
T THE Bank of Columbia was established at Georgetown in 1793, and was the first institution within what afterward became the Dis- triet of Columbia. It was established by Samuel Blodgett, assisted by Mr. Stoddert and Governor Johnson, of Fredericktown. Samuel Hannon was cashier from its establishment up to 1801, when, not- withstanding his earnest protest, he was superseded by William Whann. When the Bank of Potomac was established in 1804, there were immediately made severe criticisms on banks as institutions, and Mr. Blodgett, in September of that year, made an elaborate defense of them, and of his own course in connection with them. "I trust it is now universally known that the invariable and only effects of the American banking system, as it has been hitherto practiced with astonishing success, have been almost immediately to extend the com- mercial and mechanical operations of every eligible place where these institutions have been formed, and finally, on account of the great profits attained to the stock and realized in semi-annual dividends, to draw foreign capital for the purposes thereof, and often at an advanced premium -a clear gain to the community." He also said:
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" An ignorance of the effects, at the time, occasioned the exclusive monopolizing clause in the constitution of the Bank of the United States. Congress seeing how that foreigners, by holding almost the whole of this bank, are benefited, against the principles of equality which we cherish in our commercial regulations for the general benefit of our fellow-citizens, they will therefore repeal the injurious clause in any application for a renewal of the charter now nearly expired. They will then grant the same privileges, not only to the Bank of Potomac, but to several others I hope to see instituted in the Terri- tory of Columbia in due time. We have now about $39,000,000 of banking capital in the United States. England alone has about $600,000,000 of banking capital, and to equal her beneficial experience we might, for six millions of people, if more compactly situated, carry our banking capital to at least seven times its present sum, and to the same advantages," etc.
On March 20, 1809, directors of this bank were elected, as follows: John Mason, C. Worthington, William Marbury, John Cox, John Threlkeld, Walter Smith, Henry Foxall, Marshall Waring, James Dunlop, Philip B. Key, Jeremiah Wins, and Thomas Peter. John Mason was elected president, and was continued in this office until 1816. N. Frye, Jr., succeeded General Mason, and was himself suc- ceeded, in 1828, by Richard T. Lowndes, who continued to serve until 1837. William Whann served as cashier up to within a few months of his death, on February 5, 1822, in Cecil County, Mary- land, whither he had gone in hope of recovering his health, but in vain. Mr. Whann was sneceeded as cashier by D. Kurtz, who served until 1828, when he was succeeded by Richard Smith.
1 A friend of Mr. Whann, immediately after his death, wrote of him as follows: " Perfection is not given to mortals, but if there ever was a truly good man the deceased was one. He was indeed the good citizen, the kind parent, the true friend, the sincere Christian. Hoping to find restoration of health in the quiet of a country life, and a calm for his wounded feelings, caused by a succession of afflictions and misfortunes which had recently come to him, he resigned a position which he had held for more than twenty years, and went to his immediate relatives; but it was all in vain, and he died on the day above given.
"Then, reader, forgive this friendly zeal to save Virtues like his from an oblivious grave. I seek not his pure monument to raise On the weak basis of a mortal's praise; Nor yet to give, with still a vainer aim, His modest merit to the voice of fame: No-let his virtues in our bosoms rest, To life's last hour indelibly impressed."
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Who was president after Mr. Lowndes, if anyone, or cashier after Richard Smith, could not be ascertained, nor the precise date of the failure of the bank, notwithstanding more time was spent in the attempt to ascertain these facts than was warranted by their intrinsic value. The last legislation by Congress relating to this bank was approved February 25, 1836, by which its charter was extended to March 4, 1839. It also provided that no discounts should be made except such as might be deemed proper to renew such notes as had already been discounted, and that no more promis- sory notes should be put in circulation. This legislation also provided that instead of a president and nine directors, as then required by law, a board should be elected on the first Thursday in March, 1836, and each year thereafter, so long as the law itself remained in force, who should elect one of themselves president; and the stockholders were authorized to choose trustees to wind up the affairs. It is therefore altogether probable that this bank ceased to exist about 1839.
On February 4, 1806, at a meeting of the president and directors of the Bank of the United States, the following gentlemen, from Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria, were elected directors of the office of discount and deposit for the District of Columbia for one year: Joseph Carleton, Thomas Tingey, William Brent, James D. Barry, John P. Van Ness, Caleb Swan, Thomas Munroe, Joseph Nourse, David Peter, William Stewart, Lewis Leblois, Benjamin Shreve, Jr., and Phineas Janney. On the 3d of March, John P. Van Ness was elected president of the board. February 3, 1807, the same gentlemen were again elected directors, and Mr. Van Ness president. February 2, 1808, the same board was again elected, with the exception that John Tayloe was chosen in the place of Joseph Carleton. February 7, 1809, the following gentlemen were elected members of this board: John P. Van Ness, William Stewart, Thomas Tingey, Caleb Swan, Joseph Nourse, James D. Barry, Thomas Munroe, Lewis Deblois, Elias B. Caldwell, Walter IIellen, William Brent, David Peter, and John Taylor. February 6, 1810, the same gentlemen were again elected, except that James Sanderson was chosen in place of Caleb Swan.
This appears to have been the last election of officers for the branch of the Bank of the United States in the District of Columbia: and the bank itself soon became extinct through the failure of Congress to renew its charter. The main reason for this refusal was the fact that the directors and a majority of the stockholders were Federalists, and hence the institution itself was looked upon as a Federal institu-
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tion. But notwithstanding this feeling of prejudice, which should not have actuated any member qualified to be a member of Congress, the bill providing for its recharter passed the House of Representatives, and in the Senate received seventeen votes to the same number against it, its fate being decided by the vote against it of Vice-Presi- dent Clinton, who had been opposed to the formation of the Federal Constitution, and to any institution more national than those author- ized by the old Confederation, and at the time of voting against the recharter of this bank still cherished the same tendencies, slightly modified. At the present day, this fact would seem to have been a sufficient reason for electing some other person, one in favor of the National Constitution and of national institutions, to the Vice-Presi- dency.
After the expiration of the charter of this bank, in 1811, the business of the office of discount and deposit in Washington was conducted for a time by a temporary board of agents, of which John P. Van Ness was chairman. Still later, a committee was appointed, consisting of Messrs. Tayloe, Munroe, Hellen, Peter, Sanderson, and Rowles, to manage the business, with a view of winding up its affairs. This having been accomplished, it was soon found necessary to make an attempt to establish another bank in Washington, there being then but one little bank, on Capitol Hill, which had not funds sufficient for the canal, road stock, and for the business houses in the vicinity of its own property. The extension of the Bank of Columbia in the Treasury Department had been felt only as a nuisance, stimulating hope with the certainty of ending in disappoint- ment, and even this feeling of hope had been felt only by a few, as no reasonable man could calculate upon an accommodation in George- town, except upon the usual principles of accommodating to secure greater wants. In short, the people were distressed for want of bank accommodations, the commerce of the Potomac being nearly at a standstill in consequence of limited bank facilities. The building of the then late office of discount and deposit was soon upon the market, and available for the use of any new institution of the kind that might be established, and the citizens of Washington were invited to attend a meeting at Davis's Hotel on Wednesday, March 25, 1812, to appoint commissioners to open subscriptions to the stock of a new bank. Among the principles to be determined at this meeting were these, according to the gentleman calling it: First, as to the exclusive accommodation of dealers in the produce of the Potomac-hence the suggestion that the bank should be named "The
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