The History of Clinton County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its., Part 59

Author: Western Historical Co , Western Historical Company
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 807

USA > Iowa > Clinton County > The History of Clinton County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its. > Part 59

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The "Calico " line had left its trail in the shape of useless cuttings a crumbling embankments across the entire county. Those were palmy days railroads projected on the basis of Col. Sellers' famous enterprise immortaliz by Mark Twain in the " Gilded Age" and the inimitable Raymond on t stage as the "Columbus River Slack Water Navigation Company."

Indeed, the air was full of schemes for organizing companies and corpo tions and supplying the local and Eastern markets with ready-made cities paper, with the same facility with which dimension-timbers are now actua sawed out by the Clinton and Lyons lumber mills. Men of the stamp oft imaginary but typical Beriah Sellers and the real George Francis Train pinn their faith to supposed geographical locations and mythical "natural adva ages " with an easy confidence that would seem touching and sublime were not for the fresh memory and lesson of the years just preceding the panic of 187

As long as County and Township bonds could be obtained and negotiat at any discount, the L. & I. C. contractors, who were the company, "like wounded snake, dragged its slow length along " between Lyons and Iowa Ci Some of their plans might well have suggested to the satirical authors the w ideas so brilliantly travestied in the " Gilded Age." One was to build lofty bridge connecting the Cemetery Bluff at Fulton with the one opposi just north of Welles & Gardiner's saw-mill. It would have been a structu three-fourths of a mile long and 200 feet high, and it is doubtful whether could be, even now, practicably constructed with the aid of the enormous rece improvements in steel wire and bridge building. As was inevitable, labor became weary of being paid in promises and irredeemable scrip, especially rations were not forthcoming, and so the Company vanished.

From the debris was developed the Mississippi & Iowa Central, and Clint was made the base of operations in the hope of anticipated sustenance from t Land Company. As this project also lacked due financial solidity, it becar manifest that upon other shoulders would fall the responsibility of connecti by rail the Missouri with the Upper Mississippi. Accordingly, some Easte gentlemen of character, enterprise, experience and capital, were induced investigate the merits of a trans-Iowan railway. The result of their survey the situation and faith in the future, awaiting the vast agricultural area west the river, was that a railroad to and even beyond the Missouri would ultimate be profitable, and that Clinton was the proper eastern terminus of a line to co nect with, and virtually be an extension of the Dixon Air Line. A new rou was selected of remarkable directness, easy grade and cheapness of constructio and passing through a rich and growing portion of the State, already contai ing a numerous and enterprising population. These considerations led to t

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rejection of all previous schemes by those who had made, or were meditating, heavy investments at Clinton, and the formation on January 26, 1856, of a new railroad company, which, in view of its future field of operations, and the distant points its far-seeing projectors designed to connect by the comprehensive title of the

CHICAGO, IOWA & NEBRASKA RAILROAD.

The pledged faith of the Chicago, Iowa & Nebraska corporation that Clinton should be forever its eastern river terminus, was kept with a scrupulous fidelity that contrasts most vividly with the too frequent breaking of promises, both to the ear and to the hope, and the miserable evasions and subterfuges that have been all too common in the dealings of both Eastern and Western railways with counties, towns and municipalities. Indeed, the steadfast firmness and resolute integrity of the railroad company were for some years the sheet-anchor of Clinton's hopes and prospects. Especially was this the case during the months of uncertainty and suspense that followed the passage of the land grant act, and also during the stormy days succeeding the financial crash of 1857, that was ultimately so beneficial to the West in general in giving the coup de grace to "wild-cat" banking, and to land and railroad speculation on as unsubstan- tial and delusive bases as a century before had been the South Sea Bubble in England and John Law's Louisiana scheme in France.

Nevertheless, in Clinton "those were the times that tried men's souls." Every possible motive and inducement was brought to bear by parties interested in the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad to induce the C., I. & N. Directors to recede from their position sustaining Clinton's future interests. All efforts were equally unavailing. They could all truthfully say with the ancient hero, "None of these things move me." From that memorable winter day when the various fragmentary plans for railroads westward from this point on the river were consolidated and unified by the organization of the C., I. & N. corpora- tion, the history and business development of Clinton is so inextricably inter- woven with that of the railroad that, for some years, the record of the one sub- stantially coincides with that of the other.

More distinctively than any other place on the Upper Mississippi, Clinton is a railroad city rather than a river town from its birth. Originated as an integral and inevitable part of a great railway project, with the progress of years and the development of the railway system of Iowa, it has become even more individualized as such, though, of course, the growth of manufactures tends to relatively lessen preponderating railway influence. The rampant growth and solid prosperity of Clinton during its municipal youth afford a strong and flattering contrast with the early days of many young cities dependent upon water or wagon communication alone.

In June, 1856, the C., I. & N. was re-organized by the appearance in its management of the Boston interest, which soon became a controlling one. About the same time, Col. Milo Smith was appointed Chief Engineer. The road was projected as an extension into Iowa of the Dixon Air Line, which was extended to Fulton in 1855. At the outset, it received every effusive mani- festation of friendship from the Galena Company, of which the Air Line was a part. Indeed, the parties who originated and took upon themselves the vast responsi- bility and labor of building the Chicago, Iowa & Nebraska line would never have committed themselves to its fortunes but for the assurances of co-operation from those influential in the Galena Company. In the beginning, there was no reason to distrust the sincerity of these assurances. Until the Land Grant Act was passed, the Galena Company probably stood ready to lend moral and

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material influence in favor of the C., I. & N. The passage of the Land Gr Act for the four lines projected across the State, one of which, the Iowa O tral Air Line, was destined to become the formidable competitor of the C. & N., paralyzed all intended benefits and induced a politic course on the p of the Galena Company which tended to keep both rivals in the field, and r der it doubtful whether one or the other would receive its friendship support. A more frank and decided policy would have prevented many he burnings and much rankling ill-feeling, and would have doubtless been better the end for all concerned. Neutrality, whether of governments or corpo tions, is very likely to be somewhat partial, like that of England in the civil war. Relying, accordingly, on their unaided resources, the Direct pushed forward the grading, and, in May, 1857, opened the road to De W twenty miles distant. By December following, the locomotive reached Wapsipinicon. The work was pushed by Mr. Smith in the face of gr difficulties. In July, 1858, its whistle was heard in Clarence, forty-se miles from Clinton ; in December, 1858, the road was open to Lisbon, siz four miles ; and, in June, 1859, the long and eagerly anticipated completion Cedar Rapids, eighty-two miles distant, was accomplished. For that era railroad building, it will be observed that the work was performed with rema able expedition, as well as with, for that time, rare skill and thoroughness. will also be observed that the work steadily progressed during the worst tir following the financial explosion of 1857. Besides the difficulties naturs arising from this cause, the Directors had to encounter the fierce opposition the Iowa Central Air Line, rejoicing in its magnificent land grant, supposed to 1,250,000 acres, and really aggregating upward of 800,000, as well as the lu warmness of the Galena Company. But, though not a dollar of State or cou aid was received, the road was steadily built, principally by Boston capi supplemented by hard knocks, perseverance and thoroughly united and w directed individual effort. Few who appreciate the obstacles met and or come, the abysses of mud, the flooded country in fall and spring, the heat summer and the cold of winter to be endured with inadequate protecti and the constant financial stress of 1857-60, will grudge the men who b the " road to the Rapids" a proper recompense for their courage, capital labor.

On March 17, 1860, the Iowa General Assembly resumed the land on proposed route of the Iowa Central Air Line, that company having tots failed to comply with the land-grant requirements, that sixty miles of iron sho be laid within three years from the passage of the Act. However, the Assemb singularly enough, did not resume the land granted to other railroad corpo tions which had also defaulted in meeting the conditions of the Land Grant A On the 26th of the same month, the Assembly hastened to confer the same l subsidy on the Cedar Rapids & Missouri River Railroad, coupled with a c dition requiring the latter road to build a " plug," by January 1, 1861, fi a point of intersection with the C., I & N., within the corporate limits of C ton, to Pearl street in Lyons. This action poured oil on the flames in add to and aggravating the rivalry and jealousy already existing between the cities, and was beneficial to neither. The prospect of a plug connection not considered sufficient to add materially to the development of Lyons, wl Clinton citizens were positive that it would interfere with the growth of th city. The plug connection was for years vigorously opposed by the Clin City authorities, who refused to grant a right of way, and by Iowa & Nebra Directors, who refused it a connection with their line.

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Upon the Cedar Rapids & Missouri Company breaking ground within the city limits of Clinton, an injunction was served, restraining them from continu- ing the work. The injunction forbidding the plug, was, for some years, on the ground that the charter of the C. R. & M. Company did not permit them to build a road within the corporate limits of Clinton. The charter was amended, and at the June term of the Supreme Court, 1868, Judge Dillon dissolved the injunction. The iron was laid to the junction of the C., I. & N., whose fran- chise extended to Second avenue, but nothing was done with the plug until, in 1869, the Clinton Institute took charge of the line, and for some months administered the affairs of the "line" with great enterprise and punctuality, and electing a full board of officials and promulgating a burlesque time-table and map of the road, as elaborate as if issued by a trunk line, providing for sleepers, palace cars, through trains, emigrant trains, and giving a list of a dozen impor- tant " stations," including places for refreshments, between Clinton and Lyons.

The Institute Company, after administering the road with such eminent success, turned over to the Chicago & North-Western, whose engines and cars had been used for rolling-stock, a dividend of several hundred dollars. Sub- sequently the plug, of course, became an integral part of the Midland exten- sion of the Northwestern. It is safe to record that, in proportion to its mileage, no railroad, even the Erie, was productive of so much controversy, litigation and excitement.

On July 3, 1862, the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad effected a perpetual lease of the lines west of Clinton, contemplating an early extension to the Mis- souri, in which work those who were foremost in building the C., I. & N. took a principal part. Hon. J. A. Blair, "a host in himself" in railroad construc- tion, became interested with others after the C., I. & N. was completed, and the work of westward extension, though not as rapid as that of the Union Pacific over the level plains, was pushed with equal energy and celerity till, in February, 1867, the line reached Council Bluffs, connecting with the three hundred miles of the Pacific Railroad, then already in operation west of the Missouri. As the Pacific Railway was pushed farther and farther toward the summit of the continent, in the exploit of its construction, with a constantly accel- erating rapidity unprecedented in the annals of the railroad world, its master- spirit, the indefatigable Durant, was largely indebted to the Clinton lumbermen for the material for bridges, snow-sheds and other structures, while the advantage to the lumber interest of Clinton of the market offered by the lines across the State and continent was simply incalculable.

In August, 1862, the Galena Company took possession of the C., I. & N. road under the lease; and continued to operate it until June, 1864, when occurred the consolidation between the Galena and Chicago & North-Western Companies into the present mammoth corporation, radiating from Chicago throughout the Upper Mississippi and lake region. The Clinton Road, of course, passed under the management of the North-Western Company, subject to the terms of the original lease. Since the acquisition of the Midland and other branches within Iowa, all the lines within the State controlled by or belonging to the Company are collectively known as the Iowa Division of the Chicago and North- Western Railway.

RAILROAD PROPERTY AND OFFICIALS.

The railroad buildings were built upon land originally donated for that pur- pose by the Iowa Land Company, and occupying ample space between Eighth and Tenth avenues, the Mississippi River and Third street.

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The old machine-shop, which had become inadequate to the demands of company's increasing business, was destroyed by fire on the night of Apri 1864. A new shop was at once erected, of a much more substantial na than its ill-fated predecessor. It was built of cut stone laid in courses, the mate being the yellow limestone which so plentifully abounds along the bluffs, an of the massive early Norman style of architecture, at once presenting imposing and solid appearance. The building was completed in Decem 1864, and, exclusive of machinery, cost about $65,000. The front of building is carried up two stories and fitted for offices of the Division Supe tendent and assistants, train dispatchers and operators. The rear is also ried to a height of fifty two feet, and contains, in the upper portion, an e mous iron tank, with a capacity of 27,000 gallons, which, from its eleva above the roofs of the surrounding buildings, serves the double purpose storage reservoir for supplying the works with abundance of water, and a tection against fire that was indispensable before the construction of the water works, and has ever since then demonstrated its usefulness, notably the great fire of the present year (1879), when, had the conflagration passed barrier of the railway buildings, it would have probably involved the entire c Immediately beneath the tank is a boiler-room, thoroughly fire proof, walls floor being of solid stone. The machine-shop proper is large, well lighted f both sides and roof, warmed by steam, and thoroughly equipped with powe machinery of the latest and most approved patterns. Foreman, Harry Ha son.

The adjoining blacksmith-shop was constructed of brick, 120 feet long, feet wide, and provided with the most serviceable appliances, to enable swarthy Titans by whom it is manned to turn out an incredible amount of w in a given time. Foreman, R. H. Benson.

The roundhouse is a brick structure on solid masonry from rock foundat and is built in a circle 330 feet in diameter, iron trusses, walls 22 feet h and supported by solid masonry abutments on the outside; like the mach shop, it is heated by steam. The sixty locomotives of the Iowa Division quarters, from time to time, in this roundhouse. John Smith is foreman.

The car-shops for repairing and building cars and passenger-coaches, un the superintendence of H. L. Preston, are comprised in three buildings. amount of repairs, besides the numerous new cars turned out in the shop enormous and wholly incomprehensible to any one unacquainted with the ra deterioration of rolling-stock, subjected to the severe wear and tear of the he Northwestern traffic. The carpenter-shop, on. Eighth avenue, and paint-8 just south of the main track, which so narrowly escaped the fire of 18 together employ a number of men varying with the volume of traffic, and t out some very fine work.

The first depot was located at the foot of Fourth avenue, where a fr structure was used both for passengers and freight, until, after the completion the bridge, a structure, previously used as a coal-house on the island, was mo over to become the old depot on Second street that was for so many years crated alike by citizens and travelers.

In January, 1872, the despised, unsightly old frame passenger-depot had, nevertheless, for so many years sheltered the traveler from the how blizzard and dog-day sun, mysteriously vanished, leaving "not a wrack behin However, no one mourned over the loss of such a relic of the city's antiqu nor did the railroad company offer a reward for its return, as the present c modious brick depot, costing about $5,000, had been already erected

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occupied at the beginning of the year. There is a legend that there was an assemblage of the Clinton Institute that evening, and that the members took some practice as a hook and ladder company. At any rate, the old depot was pretty much resolved into its ultimate elements.

The first Superintendent of the C., I. & N. was Col. Milo Smith, who was difcceeded, upon his undertaking the construction department, by C. W. Bodfish, - 26 served but a short time before he (in 1861) was followed by I. B. Howe, Who, until his removal from Clinton, in 1879, was one of its most active and liberal citizens in the promotion of public improvements. Upon his resignation in 1868, on account of ill health, he was succeeded by the lamented John B. Watkins, who admirably administered the Iowa Divisions of the C. & N. W. till his tragic death in October, 1873, in a collision west of Cedar Rapids; a freight train, during a fog, unable to halt on a down grade, crashed into the Director's car, crushing Watkins between that and the next one, so that he died within a short time. He was succeeded by the present efficient Superin- tendent, J. S. Oliver ; J. S. Mills, is Assistant Superintendent ; G. J. Garvin and P. Helmer preside in the train dispatcher's office, assisted by J. D. Mills, Tracy Barnes and J. F. Watkins.

Additional heads of departments are E. A. Wadleigh, who has been freight and passenger agent almost since the building of the road, J. O. Chap- man, Master Mechanic, and W. C. Halsey, Road Master. The railroad gives employment at Clinton and vicinity, to from five,to six hundred men, disburses over $20,000 monthly to employes, and owns upward of $500,000 worth of property in the city limits. The character of the railroad men, and their high average intelligence, was sufficiently attested by their steadfastness in protect- ing all the rolling-stock that could be concentrated here during the communistic madness of 1877.

THE CLINTON BRIDGE.

The history of the bridge is naturally a corollary to that of the railway using it, as it was from the outset obvious that the business of the railroad com- pany would be measured by the capacity of the facilities for transferring freight across the river at this point. A bridge to connect the railway systems of Illinois and Iowa was therefore a part of the original plan of the Chicago, Iowa & Nebraska Railroad, and the advantages which Clinton presented for the site of the bridge was, as elsewhere remarked, one of the chief inducements which led to founding the town. But as the control of the crossing would confer great advantages on the road possessing it by the power which would thereby accrue to it, of encouraging rival routes on the one side of the river, and excluding them on the other, or vice versa-considerations of railroad policy were involved in the question of location, and became as influential in deter- mining the selection as natural advantages of site. The Galena Company owned one bridge charter, granted by Illinois, and parties in the interest of the proposed Albany & Mendota line, a rival corporation, yet another. The former Company, in 1857, put on a surveying corps, under the direction of accomplished engineers, and caused a very thorough survey to be made of the river between the Narrows, just above Lyons, and a point below Clinton. This resulted in a recommendation in favor of a middle site, terminating on the Iowa shore, about opposite Philip Deeds' present residence, above the paper-mill. A conditional contract for land at this point for railroad and bridge purposes was entered into and another plug surveyed to Clinton. Negotiations between the C., I. & N. and the Galena Companies were meanwhile carried on with more or less vigor, but for some time without much more result than when the Peace

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Commissioners of the French and Allies amused themselves counting each ot steps, so that neither would compromise his dignity by advancing toward other more rapidly than did his vis-a-vis toward him.

Finally, however, in the summer of 1859, the "pour-parlers " culmina in an agreement between their respective bridge committees to adopt the mi site recommended by the engineers. But by the terms of the agreement, fication by the respective corporations was requisite to its validity. Galena refused its assent, and thereby lost to it forever the golden opportun The whole subject being once more at loose ends, the other charter was spee secured by interests favorable to the C., I. & N., and the work of construc on the original Clinton site immediately began, to the delight of resident Clinton.

The first pile for the piers was driven January 15, 1859, and the last s was dropped upon its bearings December 14, of the same year. The gradin connect with the Galena Company's track at Fulton was completed Januar 1860, and at noon, January 19, 1860, the first train made its passage over bridge from the Illinois shore to Little Rock Island, where it was received salute of twelve guns and the acclamations of a host of citizens assembled the Island to greet its arrival. This portion of the bridge consisted of se spans, each 200 feet long, of the McCollum "patent inflexible arch tru supported by stone piers resting on piles. On the western end, it is reached a pile-way trestle 1,400 feet long. The total cost of the bridge and approach about $110,000, and though, possibly, it might be laughed at by the more tentious bridge engineers of to-day, it served its purpose well for many a y and for that period was a tolerably graceful and very scientific structure, the best in the West. Up to this time, freight and passengers had, when river was open, been transferred by the good steamer Commodore, comman by Capt. Conant, and plying between Fulton and Clinton. When it was fro heavily enough, loads were hauled across the ice by teams ; but the comple of the bridge from Illinois to Little Rock Island enabled the Company to tr fer by the steamer Union, through the agency of inclined planes, simila those used on similar boats made expressly for such transfers, as those betw Detroit and Canada. With the exception of a bridge over the main chan this was the best arrangement that could have been devised at that time, several loaded cars could be simultaneously transferred. The late Capt. E brook will always be remembered, by those who came in contact with him, the promptness and celerity with which the Union was handled. The cur was so swift between the Island and main land that the ice rarely froze he enough to impede the passage of the Union, driven by her powerful engi But sometimes, during an unusually cold snap, the ice formed so heavily the lane had to be chopped from shore to shore. Sometimes her wheels bec clogged, and with infinite labor, frequently involving many hours delay, the ponderous craft propelled across the channel. Quite a number of fatal a dents happened during the use of the Union, principally caused by men fall overboard and being drowned in the rapid current, or being swept under the

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The History of Clinton County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its., Part 59

Author: Western Historical Co , Western Historical Company Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co. Number of Pages: 807

Author: Western Historical Co , Western Historical Company
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 807