USA > Iowa > Louisa County > History of Louisa County, Iowa, from its earliest settlement to 1912, Volume I > Part 25
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These articles provided that the main track of said road should commence on the Mississippi river at or near Toole's Landing and run through or by Wapello, thence westerly on or near an air line to the Missouri river, opposite the Platte river valley. The amount of the capital stock was fixed at $5,000,000 to be increased as emergency should demand. The shares were $100 each and it was provided that when one hundred shares should be taken, the subscribers should assemble at the courthouse in Wapello, at which time one per centum on each share should be paid to the presiding officer of the board, to be by him
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paid to the treasurer of the corporation. It will thus be seen that this corporation was expected to commence business on a paid up capital of $100. But one hundred dollars would not go very far toward building a railroad, and the fol- lowing petition will indicate the source whence it was expected to get some of the necessary aid :
"To the Hon. the County Court of Louisa Co .:
"The undersigned, your Petitioners, would respectfully ask that you submit to a vote of the people the question of Louisa Co. taking stock in the Phila- delphia, Fort Wayne & Platte River Air Line Railroad Company, to the am't. of : Hundred Thousand Dollars, believing such investment would be for the best interests of the Co., and we humbly ask your Honor to submit the question to vote as soon as may be practicable.
(Signed) "JOHN BELL, JR., JOHN BIRD, SAMUEL TOWNSEND, S. M. KIRKPATRICK, H. T. CLEAVER,
Board directors Philadelphia. Fort Wayne & Platte River Air Line Railroad Co.
"A. M. TAYLOR, DENNIS WILLIAMS, JOSEPH THOMAS."
The endorsement on the back of this petition is as follows:
The within submitted this 30th day of July, 1853,
W. WILLIAMS, County Judge."
After a spirited campaign an election was held on Saturday, September 3, 1853, to pass upon the proposed subscription of $100,000 in aid of this railroad. It seems that the sponsors of the project had been able to satisfy a majority of the people in all but two of the seven townships in the county. The proposition was carried by a vote of 619 for to 230 against. Wapello and Jefferson town- ships were unanimous for it. and there were fair majorities in Florence, Grand- view and Columbus City townships, while Concord and Oakland townships were practically unanimous against it.
So far as the records show, nothing seems to have been done in the "air line" business until August IF, 1855, at which time, as appears by a notice filed in the county judge's office, the directors of the company met at Wapello and formally located the Philadelphia, Fort Wayne & Platte River Air Line Railroad through Louisa county.
The next thing was to begin the construction of the road, and this was done with much ceremony and flourish of trumpets, on Saturday, September 29, 1855. History says that it was a cold, disagreeable morning, unfavorable for the be- ginning of any enterprise, but notwithstanding this, the people came flocking into
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town from almost every direction, and at one o'clock a large crowd assembled in front of the court house, formed in a procession, with the Virginia Grove brass band at their head, and marched out west of town to a point on the lands now owned by Dr. and Mrs. Woodruff. Sheriff A. M. Taylor was marshal of the day, and the following was the order of procession: First, Virginia Grove brass band; second, speakers of the day, being Dr. John Bell, L. P. Wells and E. Hurd, at that time chief engineer of the road; third, board of directors of the Iowa division; fourth, corps of engineers with their instruments; fifth, invited guests in carriages; sixth, citizens and strangers in carriages; seventh, horse- men. The procession moved down Main street to Clinton street, down Clinton to Second, up Second to Merchant, and out Merchant street to the point of breaking ground.
Arriving at the appointed place, the directors stepped forward, each taking his station opposite his respective wheelbarrow, and seizing his respective shovel; prepared to throw dirt. The first shovelful was raised by Dr. H. T. Cleaver, which exercise was of course preceded by music by the band. Next Dr. Bell mounted his wheelbarrow, or undertook to, but impartial history says that both the Doctor and the wheelbarrow were upset. Dr. Bell made a second attempt, however, and was more successful, and delivered his speech. Then the work was commenced in earnest and ground was broken upon the great Air Line railroad in Iowa. A box was deposited in the earth, containing a plate, upon which was inscribed : "Philadelphia, Fort Wayne & Platte River Air Line Railroad, Sep- tember 29, 1855, E. Hurd, Engineer," together with a glass jar containing a scroll on which was written the names of the directors of the road, with a brief statement of its history up to date.
This exercise was followed by another piece of music, and then L. P. Wells, editor of the Wapello Intelligencer delivered the oration of the day, which was received with great enthusiasm. Mr. Wells gave a short history of the road, spoke of the troubles through which it had passed, the neglect and contumely that had been shown it and the constant cry of humbug that had been raised against it, but he was proud that all difficulties had been overcome and that now the road was in as good condition as any in the country. Mr. Hurd, the chief engineer, then made a few remarks telling of the progress of the road through Illinois, promising its early completion to the Mississippi river and the speedy completion of the forty miles west of the Mississippi. The procession then marched back to the court house to partake of a dinner that had been prepared by the good ladies of Wapello. From an article in the Mount Pleasant Observer, whose editor was present, we quote the following extract to show how it was looked upon by out- siders: "We visited Wapello the latter part of last week in order to witness the breaking of ground on the Philadelphia, Fort Wayne & Platte Valley Rail- road, which came off at that place on last Saturday. It was evident during the forenoon that a large crowd would be in attendance, for from all quarters came wagons, buggies and horses carrying people into town. Delegations were present from Marshall, Brighton, Washington, Lancaster and Indianola."
Then after giving a brief account of the exercises, the Mount Pleasant paper proceeds as follows: "Mr. Chase, of St. Louis, has the contract for building forty miles of this road west of the Mississippi. He is to complete the road, put on ten first class engines and rolling stock in proportion, at $23,000 per mile.
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HISTORY OF LOUISA COUNTY
There has been two routes surveyed west-one running via Marshall. in this county, then to Brighton, and from thence westward to Council Bluffs. If the road should go to Marshall it will pass along the northern line of this county, thus adding increased facilities and wealth to Henry county. The citizens of Wapello are awake on railroad matters and express a willingness to vote stock to the Keokuk, Mount Pleasant and Muscatine Railroad, whenever called for. Wapello is finely situated on the west bank of the lowa river; considerable im- provement is going on. Hler railroad prospects are giving an impetus to trade and cansing an advance in real estate. The town contains about a thousand in- habitants, has a large and handsome court house and a number of churches. She lacks good hotels-the complaint was general in this respect. We would not, how- ever, complain, for we were kindly invited and enjoyed the hospitalities of Dr. Cleaver during our stay there. The celebration was a fine affair and will long be remembered by the people. It appears to be a fixed fact now that the Air Line railroad will be built."
This project was looked upon with favor by people outside the state and away from its proposed route. A correspondent in the Missouri Republican, over the signature of Uno, published an article about this time, from which we make a few extracts: "By articles of association filed with the secretary of state for the state of Iowa, in the month of February. 1853, this company (re- fering to the Air Line company ) is fully empowered to construct a railroad from the Mississippi river, opposite New Boston, through Wapello to Council Bluffs. This is the Iowa portion of that great road, which, on account of its air line pecu- liarities, turning neither to the right nor to the left for any consideration, is con- sidered the shortest road, even from Philadelphia to Sacramento City, the dis- tance from Philadelphia to Council Bluffs by this line surveyed and located all the way, being only 1,242 miles, while the distance from New York to Sacra- mento by this route is stated as 3,108 miles-the distance from Council Bluffs to Sacramento being estimated at 1,829 miles. This railroad from the Atlantic ocean to Nebraska territory,-an air line more than half the way- has been viewed by the people of St. Louis as a visionary scheme, but when they hear that one of the contractors of our Pacific railroad, L. Thompson, com- menced building one of the divisions from Lacon, in Illinois, carly last July, and that Mr. Levi Chase, another and heavy contractor, on our Pacific railroad, who completed our railroad to Herman last August,-eighty-one miles-and who is now finishing his contract so that the road will be pushed on to Jefferson city, one hundred and twenty-five miles, next month; when they hear that he has taken the contract to build the eastern division of this Iowa road, beginning on the Iowa river at Wapello, and working both ways, east and west, at once, they may be sure that solid men have taken hold of the Air Line route of Iowa."
At this time Francis Springer was county judge, having succeeded Wright Williams nearly a year before. It is a part of the unwritten history of the county that Judge Springer, although many of the promoters of this road were warin personal friends of his, did not have much faith in the project, and after he succeeded to the county judgeship he was approached as to his attitude in the matter of the issuance of the proposed bonds, which had been previously author- ized by a vote of the people, and he expressed the opinion that if the bonds were issued there should be a proviso in them making their payment conditioned upon
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HISTORY OF LOUISA COUNTY
the construction of the railroad, and he declared that he would not issue them without such a provision, unless clearly convinced that such was the desire of the people of the county.
We find on the county court records under date of December 10, 1855, a proclamation for a vote of the people of the county on the question of subscribing $50,000 to the capital stock of the Keokuk, Mount Pleasant & Muscatine Rail- road Company, the election to be held on January 12, 1856. Toward the close of this proclamation is the following clause : "The adoption of the above proposi- tion will be considered an expression of the opinion of the people of the county in favor of authorizing a subscription to the Philadelphia, Fort Wayne & Platte River Air Line Railroad Company, which was voted on the 3d of September, 1853.'
The insertion of this last clause gave great offense to all the friends of the Air Line project. Ilow it was looked upon by some may be gathered from the following communication, which was published in the Wapello Intelligencer of January 1. 1856: "It is a custom in all countries governed by constitutional au- thorities, for the rulers to give an account of their actions to the governed, when- ever called upon, and those rulers who do not explain to the satisfaction of the governed. any or all of their actions, are looked upon as acting despotically. In the columns of your paper is a proclamation, calling upon the citizens of this county to vote upon a question upon which they have already given a very de- cisive voice. A large and respectable portion of the voters of Louisa county would like to have Mr. Francis Springer's reasons for submitting the question anew, as to whether the county shall take stock in the Philadelphia. Fort Wayne & Platte River Railroad. You may rest assured, Mr. Editor, that a large portion of the voters of the county feel outraged by the latter clause in the proclamation. Perhaps Mr. Springer would favor us through your columns with the reasons for his actions in the premises. It is an old axiom that 'the salve must be as broad as the sore.'"
The attitude of Judge Springer on the subject of issuing Air Line railroad bonds was a matter of extended comment and rather exciting debate all over the county, and it is said that at one time while he was holding county court here, an immense throng of people attended the session of court and were very excited and demonstrative in urging the issuance of the bonds. The writer well remem- bers to have heard from the lips of the then county judge that he did not issue the bonds until he had been presented with petitions signed by a respectable majority of the legal voters of the county, including many of the largest prop- erty owners and most prominent citizens; but in subsequent years the fact that such petitions were ever presented. has been doubted by men who were supposed to be quite well informed about such things. It was with some satisfaction, therefore, that we found these petitions with the signatures attached (some nine hundred and seventy-one names), and we append herewith as a necessary part of the history of this transaction a copy of one of the petitions, with the names of some of the leading signers.
To the Hon. Francis Springer. County Judge of Louisa County, Iowa.
The Undersigned, voters of Louisa County, having understood that. from the recent vote upon the proposition to subscribe Stock, you did not feel authorized
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HISTORY OF LOUISA COUNTY
to take the stock in the Philadelphia. Fort Wayne and Platte River Air Line Railroad, we would respectfully request you to subscribe said Stock, authorized by the vote September 3rd 1853: Win. J. R. Flack. T. W. Bailey, Alanson F. Bemis, Edward B. Isett, John M. Brown, Jesse Vanhorn, James Davison. J. S. Marshall. John R. Sisson, James Cummings, Franklin Griswold, John N. Bald- rige, T. R. J. Ellis, Wm. Kemp, J. C. Stirlen, Jerry Browning, Forgay Owens, R. S. Strong, V. Willoughby, John Hurley, Henry Marsden, H. P. May. James F. Patton, Robert Coulter, Oliver Benton, Wm. T. Nichols, James H. Marshall, Joseph Higbee, J. B. Nichols, Joseph Bates, J. T. Cowles, John Keck. J. C. Tucker, J. L. Browning, William Shoop. James Keever, Jeremiah Smith, John Hays, Thomas G. Taylor, E. Keach, W. A. Knowlton. John L. Sweeney, Wiley Gregory, Samuel Jamison, Harvey Bell. Jolin Deihl, George Jamison, John R. Springsteen. Samuel Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton, Mark Davison. Henry Myerholz. James Brogan, William Clark, Wm. Shipman, Francis Wykert, Amzi Donaldson, Henry Thompson, Dennis Williams, C. W. Bras, George L. Coe, Wm. L. Toole. George H. Mosier, T. M. Parsons, G. W. Wesley. John Hale, George Grasham, Ephram Owens, S. K. Helmick. H. Hawkins. John Griffith, John Morgan, D. W. Herrick, Thomas Newell. A. D. Hurley, Peter Lambert, George Presbury, James R. McDaniel, J. M. Herrick, Francis Curran. William Brogan, John M. Wilson, George Vanhorn, Oliver Mickey, S. B. Cleaver, B. II. Druse, Samuel Barr, Fredrick Weber, John Allison, G. F. Thomas, Wil- liam Keach, George Nearhood, R. E. Archibald, J. R. Kinsey, John Jenkins, John Sprinkle, James A. Fleming, J. H. Trask, Nathaniel J. Ives, C. Morgan, M. Jamison, William Jamison, James Semple, John P. Walker, George Hutchison, Abram McCleary, Thomas Fleming, Samuel Duncan. George Key, S. G. Black- born, B. F. Wright. F. M. Ong, W. J. Hewitt. O. A. Taylor, J. B. Miller, Frank- lin Bras, D. N. Sprague, J. H. Graham, Ozias Smith, Aug. Wehmier, James Sterrett, Samuel Chaney, A. M. Taylor, H. Mcclurkin, R. Archibald, W. B. Robison, Dennis Gregory, Chas. Downs. Royal Prentiss, Lewis Kinsey, J. B. Latta, George Beck, Andrew Brockert. David Grimes. William H. Creighton, Richard Staige. Robert Gillis, John Huff, J. D. Barr, Samuel Bell, Levi Wood- ruff. L. P. Wells, A. Hodge, W. H. Milligan, Wm. Owens, Merit Jamison, Ernst Winter, J. B. Grubb, W. J. Ronalds, Il. T. Cleaver, H. C. Blake, James Drake, J. G. Umphreys, John A. Brown, A. P. Hensleigh, R. W. Gray, Hugh Paisley, John L. Foor. V. Massie, M. P. Vanhorn, Joshua Marshall. Joseph Mickey, Levi Bozman, Jesse Hamilton, John Stafford, H. H. Mickey, D. P. Curran, Jno. Bell. Oliver Ball, Parkis Woodruff. Gustavus Jones, Thomas Stoddard, Alfred Limbocker, Joseph Storey, John Bird. H. Christy, Joseph B. McDill, James Blanchard. T. A. Ball. Kennedy Storey. G. B. Williams, G. A. Hook, Harmon Mallory, Willard Mallory. Harvey Harris, Henry Jennings, Barton Jones, Joseph Paschal. Jos. L. Derbin, J. W. Isett, Wm. McClemm, John Reed, Elias Marshal, John Le Cornu, James Crawford, John Milligan, Abiathur Williams, Wilson R. Woodruff, P. C. Brown, David Woodruff, Zebina Williams. B. P. Weston, George England. Gideon Bayne, J. S. Hurley, Christian Heins, Joseph Schofield, Jacob Mintun. Jesse Graham. David McMichael, James D. Martin, Stephen Mckinley. Thomas Garvin, H. J. N. Parsons. Joseph P. Parsons, Jacob Syphrit, John Ken- nedy, G. H. Crow. B. F. Coe. H. J. McCormick, John Dill. David McKinley.
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HISTORY OF LOUISA COUNTY
The election on the question of subscribing $50,000 to the Keokuk &c. rail- road enterprise, was held on January 12th, 1856, and it was found that the re- turns from Wapello, Morning Sun, Oakland, and Union townships did not meet the legal requirements. By throwing out these four townships, the proposition would be carried by 27 votes ; by counting these townships, it would be defeated by 30. The county judge solved the difficulty by again submitting the question to the people, and it was carried.
From about 1850 to 1858 several counties in lowa issued their bonds in aid of railroad building, exchanging these bonds for a like amount of stock in the railway enterprise. The question of the validity of these bonds was not long finding its way into the courts. One of the early cases, perhaps the first one, was that of Dubuque County vs. The Dubuque & Pacific Railroad Com- pany, reported in 4 Greene, p. I. This decision held that the bonds were valid obligations against the county: it was followed by some six or seven more similar cases, decidedi the same way, the last one of these being a Johnson county case, decided in 1859, and reported in the 10th Iowa, p. 157. In the latter case, and in most of the others, there was a marked division of opinion among the Supreme Court judges, and some strong dissenting opinions were rendered. In 1862, in a case from Wapello County, the Iowa Supreme Court took a differ- ent view, and reversed its former line of cases, and held that the county bonds in aid of railroads were invalid, and they continued to hold to that view as to all bonds issued during the period we are considering. But, about 1863 a case reached the Supreme Court of the United States, involving these same questions, as to bonds of the city of Dubuque, which had been issued and sold under the sanction of the first decisions of our court, holding such bonds to be valid. The United States Supreme Court followed the earlier decisions of our Supreme Court, and held the bonds to be valid, and that court continued to hold the same day as to all such bonds which were issued and sold under the authority and sanction of the first decisions of our court.
Then came the question as to paying the bonds, and as to the power and authority of the State and Federal courts in the matter, as to how in case the Federal courts proved to be the more powerful, they would go about it to have the judgments paid.
On January 26. 1856, it is recorded that the board of directors of the Air Line company applied for the county subscription of $100,000, and desired to have their application considered in connection with sundry petitions, and we may presume that the sundry petitions were those to which we have already referred. At that time it was ordered that the further consideration of the appli- cation be continued until the next regular term of the court and that the con- tractors be requested to furnish the court with a certified copy of any contracts they had made for the construction of the road and an official statement of the actual available means of said company.
There seems to have been, about this time, a very good list of signers to a petition asking the county judge not to issue the Air Line bonds. There are two of these petitions among the old papers of this date. They are not in very good condition and some of the names can hardly be distinguished. The prime mover in getting them up seems to have been J. B. Latta, Sr., and these petitions con- tain one hundred and sixty-one names, chiefly from Grandview and Concord
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townships. We cannot tell from anything in the records of the county court nor in the files which are still preserved, just what showing the Air Line con- pany made to the county court in reference to its available assets and the contract it had made for the construction of the line in this county, but it is to be pre- sumed that they made some showings which satisfied the county judge of their good faith in the matter. We find that on February 25, 1856, Air Line bonds for $1,000 each, numbered from one to ten, inclusive, were issued, signed by Francis Springer, county judge, and by Lewis Kinsey, county clerk, and that thereafter, from time to time, during the year of 1857, the remainder of the $100,000 subscription was taken and bonds issued therefor. As these bonds figure extensively in subsequent AAir Line history, we give herewith a facsimile of bond No. 43, with two of the coupons still attached. We also give a fac- simile of the endorsement made upon the back of this bond, signed by Robert Schenck, president, and Lewis Kinsey, secretary.
About this time congress was making land grants in favor of various rail- way enterprises and had some few years before made a very valuable land grant in favor of the Mississippi & Missouri Railroad Company, which was built through this county and is now known as the Rock Island, and the friends of the Air Line project had presented a petition to congress in 1854 praying for a grant of land in aid of its construction. This matter was up in congress, and seems, according to the files of the Wapello Intelligencer, to have been opposed or at least sadly neglected by one of our Iowa senators, Ilon. George W. Jones, of Dubuque. An idea of the progress of the work may be gained from the fol- lowing article in the Wapello Intelligencer of July 29, 1856: "We understand Levi Chase, the contractor on the above named road, has gone east to purchase a locomotive, iron, and the various implements necessary for the completion of the same. The work is progressing as rapidly as the most sanguine could expect, although it is difficult to get hands to stand up to the work this hot weather. Today we walked down First street, to where they were digging away for the butment of the river bridge. Having removed several feet, per- haps fifteen. of soil and sand. they came to solid blue clay which goes down to the bed of the river and we do not know how much further. They had dug down about eight feet in the clay, where they were making a smooth surface. on which the immense piles of huge stones that covered the ground for acres around, were to be laid. The masons are to commence laying the stone this week who, by the way, will have a most interesting time handling those monster stones, some of which are nearly as large as an Irish shanty."
The interest in the Air Line project was by no means confined to Louisa county. It excited a great deal of interest in many of the counties west of here, especially in Washington, Mahaska and as far out as Warren county. Canvasses were made and meetings were held in its interest during the spring and summer of 1856. One held at Indianola about this time will serve as a sample of others. Resolutions were adopted expressing deep interest in the speedy construction of the Philadelphia. Fort Wayne & Platte Valley Air Line Railroad, and expressing the belief that it was the only road which proposed to pass through Warren county and favoring a proposition that the county judge should take $100.000 stock in the road and calling for a meeting to be held of
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