USA > Iowa > Dubuque County > The history of Dubuque County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc. > Part 76
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HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY.
beyond the jurisdiction of Dubuque County until the lapse of time bars prose- cution-an exile and a wanderer, who has, times without number, sighed for "a clasp of the vanished hand and the sound of a voice that is dead."
BOARD OF TRADE.
The organization of the Board of Trade was agreed upon at a meeting of Dubuque merchants, manufacturers and business men, held on January 8, 1876, at the office of the Dubuque Agricultural Society, for the purpose of adopting measures for the protection of existing interests and further fostering those cal- culated to benefit Dubuque.
A Board of Trade had prospered in the city at one time, but, owing to causes inaccessible to inquiry, succumbed to circumstances, and the meeting quoted was convened to provide a successor. The Hon. H. S. Hetherington presided, and J. S. Hancock officiated as Secretary. But little beyond form- ally organizing was accomplished at this meeting; one week later, the officers were elected, and, two weeks later, a constitution and by-laws were adopted, after which, the Board of Trade was again recognized as locally habited. The first officers were: H. S. Hetherington, President; W. C. Chamberlain, John Thompson, James Forrester, A. A. Cooper, W. Andrew and W. H. Pea- body, Vice Presidents ; H. M. Kingman, Treasurer, and J. S. Hancock, Sec-, retary. The initiation fee was placed at $10 for individuals, and $15 for firms. with a proviso that the latter should not be entitled to more than two votes. The membership the first year reached ninety-six, which has since been increased to 150.
The present officers are W. C. Chamberlain, President ; H. M. Kingman, Treasurer, and J. S. Hancock, Secretary. Meetings are held at the call of the latter.
RAILROADS.
Illinois Central .- The advantages to be derived from railroad connections were appreciated at an early day by the settlers of Dubuque, who experienced in their homes, distant from the centers of business and trade, the necessity for a means of transit from east to west across the space between Lake Mich- igan and the Mississippi River. In 1836 and 1837, meetings were held at Dubuque in relation to a proposed railroad from Dubuque to Belmont, Wiscon- sin, extending to Milwaukee or some other point on the lake.
About December, 1841, the citizens began to once more agitate this scheme of connection with the lakes by means of an air line. A public meeting was held, at which Timothy Davis, L. A. Thomas, Edward Langworthy and Gen. James Wilson were appointed delegates to secure the co-operation of the Legis- lature, and to memorialize Congress for aid in opening a cheap and easy medium of communication between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi. A charter was obtained for the incorporation of a company for this purpose, when active opera- tions on the work were temporarily suspended.
Another meeting convened at Dubuque on the 16th of March, 1847, for the same purpose, and during the session of Congress in 1850, as will be remembered, Mr. Douglas secured the passage of a law making a large grant of Government land to aid in the construction of the Illinois Central Railroad, the managers of which had become possessed of that part of the Galena & Chicago Union Road, between Galena and Freeport. During the same session, and on September 20, 1850, the bill quoted was adopted with an amendment introduced by Gen. George W. Jones, providing for the extension of the line
DUBUQUE.
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HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY.
to Dubuque. The Galenians endeavored to thwart this move, and fierce and bitter was the rivalry between the two cities. But the " world still moved " and the contestant was obliged to accept the logic of events.
Immediately upon the law being promulgated, Platt Smith, Edward Lang- worthy and James M. Marsh surveyed a route between Galena and Dubuque, occupying three days, and transmitted the results of their labors with drawings, profiles, etc., to "Col." (by grace of Long John Wentworth) R. B. Mason, Chief Engineer of the Illinois Central, at Chicago. A map of Jo Daviess County with the route incorporated therein, was prepared by H. C. Wilts ; action favorable to the enterprise was had at Springfield, and in the spring of 1851 the surveys were begun under B. B. Provoost, Division Engineer, now a resi- dent of Dubuque. These continued until the spring of 1852, when they were completed and the track-bed laid, to be followed in time by the spiking of the rails and conclusion of the undertaking. This latter event was not reached until late in the spring of 1855, a suspension of labor being necessary during the summer of 1854, owing to the ravages by cholera. On the 2d of June, 1855, the first train over the road reached Dubuque, after encountering some opposition in Galena from a pile driven into the center of the track by envious citizens of that municipality, and on July 18 thereafter, a public celebration of the formal opening of the road to Dubuque was had in this city, at which representatives from New York, Buffalo, Cleveland, Chicago and elsewhere, were present and listened to addresses from the Hon. Stephen A. Douglas and Gen. G. W. Jones, to whose individual efforts the success of the enterprise was in a large measure owing.
In December, 1867, the Dubuque & Sioux City came under the control of the Illinois Central, and in January, 1870, the latter corporation leased the perpetual right of way over the Dubuque & Dunleith bridge, giving the Com- pany exclusive control of a direct route from Chicago to Sioux City, and fur- nishing employment in Iowa alone to 800 hands, embracing Superintendents, clerks, conductors and laborers.
Dubuque and Sioux City Railroad .- Nearly thirty years ago, when Dubuque was comparatively a young city, but full of vigor and enterprise, a num- ber of her leading citizens conceived the project of constructing a railroad which should extend from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coast. Routes were carefully compared, and it was believed that the most feasible was that from Dubuque to Sioux City, thence westerly to the South Pass, and beyond the great mountain range to the Pacific. Principal among these citizens of Dubuque, were J. P. Farley and the Hon. Platt Smith, joined by F. S. Jesup, brother of M. K. Jesup, since well known in connection with the enterprise. On the 19th of May, 1853, articles incorporating the Dubuque and Pacific Railroad Company were filed for record in the office of the Recorder of Dubuque County, the Company to commence its corporate existence on the 28th of April, 1853, and to continue fifty years. The object of the incorporation was stated to be the "construction of a railroad from some point in the city of Dubuque, thence westerly on the best route toward the Pacific Ocean." The incorporators were L. H. Langworthy, H. W. Sanford, Platt Smith, John J. Dyer, J. P. Farlev, R. B. Mason, F. V. Goodrich, R. C. Waples, M. Mobley, G. R. West, Asa Horr, F. S Jesup, Edward Stimson, George W. Jones, Robert Waller, Robert Schuyler and their associates.
The Company organized at once by the election of the following officers : President, J. P. Farley ; Treasurer, F. S. Jesup; Chief Engineer, B. B. Pro- voost, and Solicitor, Platt Smith; Directors, Platt Smith, J. P. Farley, George
R
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HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY.
W. Jones, F. E. Bissell, F. S. Jesup, E. S. Norris, Otis Briggs, Charles Gre- goire and W. P. Burrill.
On the 1st day of September, 1855, the contract was let for the first thirty miles of the road, from Dubuque to Dyersville, to R. B. Mason & Co., at the rate of $36,666 per mile, including equipment. buildings, etc. Work thereon was commenced October 1 of the same year, and completed and the road opened for business May 11, 1857.
May 15, 1856, the act of Congress granting land to this State, aggregating 1,251,040 acres to aid the construction of this railroad, was approved, and. on June 15 thereafter, the legislative act giving the Congressional grant to this Company, also was approved.
The policy of land grants to Iowa roads followed the precedent of the Illi- nois Central Company grant. The success of that Company was complete, and it was natural that Iowa companies should seek success by the same path. A financial policy, almost identical with that which had achieved the success of the Central, was adopted by the Dubuque & Pacific Company. The main feature of this policy was to obtain loans in European markets, based largely upon the credit of the immense land grant. It was believed that $6,000,000 could be thus obtained without serious difficulty. But the financial panic of 1857, coupled with other unexpected contingencies, prevented a conclusion of the negotiations.
In pursuance of the policy referred to, the Company had executed a mort- gage bearing date March 14, 1857, supplemented by a trust deed dated June 9 of the same year, to A. S. Hewitt, Thomas E. Walker, Frederick Schuchardt and Curtis B. Raymond, to secure $12,000,000 of construction bonds.
The failure of the loan expected from Europe, therefore, was disastrous to the Company. There was a floating debt of $750,000 and contracts made for the construction of nearly one hundred and seventy miles of road against the Company, with no money in the treasury, and, apparently, no credit upon which to obtain money. But the people came to the relief of the road, with donations and other aid, which, with careful management, averted the threat- ened ruin of the enterprise. On December 22, 1857. the road was opened to Nottingham, eight miles west of Dyersville, and in 1860 was in operation to Jesup.
At the August term of the District Court for Dubuque County, the Trustees of the Company, under the mortgage and trust deed, commenced suit for foreclosure because of default in the payment of interest due on the con- struction bonds. This, however, was an amicable foreclosure, a new company having been agreed upon and a transfer to it of the properties of the Dubuque & Pacific. Decree was, accordingly, entered against the Pacific Company, and, under this decree, August 21, 1860, the transfer was made to the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad Company, possession being taken on the 1st of Septem- ber following, the Trustees becoming the Provisional Board of Directors. At that time, the Company owned eighty miles of road completed, four engines, four first-class and two second-class passenger coaches, thirty-five box and thirty- five flat cars, for equipment. On the 1st of April, 1861, the road was com- pleted to Cedar Falls, a distance of one hundred miles from Dubuque, where it rested from its construction labors until 1863, when a contract was let to Magill & Denton for the grading and bridging of the road from Cedar Falls to Iowa Falls, a distance of forty-four miles. Work was commenced on this division of the road, which was finally completed to New Hartford, June 1, 1865; Park- ersburg, June 26; Aplington, August 2; Ackley, October 19; and to Iowa
631
HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY.
Falls, a distance of one hundred and forty-four miles from Dubuque, April 15, 1866.
Considerable dissatisfaction was felt and expressed throughout the portions of the State interested in the road, because of the delay in its completion to Sioux City. It was said that the policy of the owners of the road was opposed to its further extension. The hard times were passed, and railroad enterprises were again finding favor with the people and capitalists. The land grant originally made to the Dubuque & Pacific Company remained unappropriated by the construction of the road, and offered a fair basis of credit for the new company in case it could be secured by a re-grant from the Legislature.
In 1867, the Iowa Falis & Sioux City Company was organized, for the purpose of extending the Dubuque & Sioux City road from Iowa Falls to the Missouri River, the principal promoters of which were Platt Smith, John I. Blair and John F. Duncombe. The Dubuque & Sioux City Company at once let contracts for grading the road from Iowa Falls to Fort Dodge, on which work was commenced in 1867. In September of that year, a lease was made of the road and all its appurtenances to the Illinois Central Railroad Company, for a period of twenty years. The lease was dated October 1, 1867, and pro- vided for the payment by lessees of 35 per cent of the gross receipts, free from taxes of all kinds, for the first ten years, and 36 per cent for the second ten years, the lessees reserving the right to close a perpetual lease with lessors, at the expiration of the twenty years' lease, for 36 per cent of the gross receipts free from taxes.
At the next session of the Legislature, the question of resumption came up, and was vigorously discussed, the friends of the Dubuque & Sioux City Company opposing resumption, while the friends of the Iowa Falls & Sioux City Com- pany were earnest in its behalf. The latter triumphed in so far as to compel the old company to a compromise, by the terms of which the Iowa Falls & Sioux City Company undertook to conduct the road from Iowa Falls to Sioux City, take the land grant belonging to this portion of the road, and lease the road, when completed, to the Illinois Central Company upon the terms of the lease of the Dubuque & Sioux City Company. In consideration of this, the Dubuque & Sioux City Company agreed to give the Iowa Falls & Sioux City Company a drawback of 10 per cent from the 35 and 36 per cent of the business of this extension paid by the Illinois Central. This contract was confirmed by the Legislature, and the land bestowed between the Iowa Falls and Sioux City Companies.
Early in 1869, the road having been completed to Fort Dodge, and accepted by the Illinois Central Company, work was pushed west from Fort Dodge and east from Sioux City. So earnestly was labor prosecuted that on Thursday, July 7, 1869, the last rail was laid at a point three miles west of Storm Lake, and about fifty miles west of Fort Dodge. It was subsequently accepted by the Illinois Central, by which it has since been operated in accordance with the provisions of the lease above cited.
The portion of Iowa through which this road passes is one of the richest and best in the Northwest. Its agricultural resources are immense, while, from the lead regions of Dubuque, as also regions abounding in quarries of stone and mines of coal, the mineral wealth is unequaled in any portion of the State. The road west of Fort Dodge to the Missouri River is said to be the best con- structed in the State. The rails are fifty-six pounds to the yard, and laid with fish-plate joint ; the road-bed, bridging and culverts are of the most substantial character, and its completion gave 326 miles of road from Dubuque westward.
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HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY.
Though under lease to and managed by the Illinois Central, the road is represented officially by M. K. Jesup, President ; J. A. Roosevelt, Vice Presi- dent ; J. B. Dumont, Treasurer, and Gen. C. H. Booth, Secretary.
Chicago, Clinton, Dubuque & Minnesota Railroad Company .- The project of connecting Dubuque with points in Minnesota was a subject of general and extended discussion in the former city for many years before any action in that behalf was taken. Its necessity was apparent to all, but it was not until the discriminations made by the Illinois Central against Dubuque were evident, that the people became united on the subject, which found expression finally in a petition to the Legislature for the adoption of a tariff law. This petition was rejected, and the delegation from Dubuque returned home, recommending that the people take the matter in hand and aid in opening up another route to Chicago. This was during the winter of 1869-70, and, as soon as the fate of the petition was promulgated, public meetings were held in Globe Hall, as also at points along the line of the proposed route, for the purpose of taking measures looking to this end. The result of these movements finally created a corporation organized for the purpose of building a road along the west bank of the Mississippi to Minnesota, with a branch extending south, and to be known as the Dubuque, Bellevue & Mississippi road, to Chicago.
On Tuesday, October 9, 1870, ground for the former route was broken at Eagle Point, the first shovelful of dirt being thrown to the grade by J. K. Graves, and, in the following spring, operations on the Dubuque & Mississippi route were inagurated. Following these conclusions, arrangements were com- pleted with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Company whereby that corpora- tion extended its line from Prophetstown, Ill., to a point on the east bank of the Mississippi opposite Clinton, thus forming a direct connection with Chicago and the east and south. Thereupon the corporate name of the Dubuque & Mississippi was changed to the "Chicago, Clinton & Dubuque," with a capital of $1,500,000, and the Dubuque & Minnesota to the "Clinton, Dubuque & Minnesota," with a nominal capital of $70,000,000, and the roads rapidly pushed to completion, under contracts with E. H. Williams & Co., Morgan & Heeb, William Robinson, L. A. Rhomberg, E. B. Bascomb, John Garber and O. H. Burlingame.
In the fall of 1871, the roads were consolidated, and J. K. Graves elected President ; J. A. Rhomberg, Vice President and Superintendent, and Peter Kiene, Jr., Secretary.
In 1873, the road was purchased under foreclosure proceedings by the bond- holders, re-organized as the Chicago, Clinton, Dubuque & Minnesota Rail- way Company, and completed the same year to Clinton, a distance of sixty miles, where it connects with the East via the Chicago and North-Western route, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy failing to conclude terms for crossing the bridge at that point, and the main line to La Crescent, Minn., a distance of 117 miles, with a branch up Turkey River to Elport, with an average grade of four feet to the mile, which has since continued in active operation to the advantage of the stockholders, as also the traveling public.
The present officers are James F. Joy, President ; F. O. Wyatt, Superin- tendent, and S. A. Wolcott, Assistant Superintendent.
The first president of the Dubuque & Minnesota road was Platt Smith ; of the Dubuque & Mississippi, William H. Vandever.
The repair-shops of the company are located in Dubuque, at the northern portion of the city, giving employment to an average of 100 men weekly, at a cost of $4,426, paid out for wages alone.
633
HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY.
The Dubuque and Dakota Railroad was incorporated in 1878, and chartered during the month of April of that year by H. L. Stout, R. E. Graves and C. H. Booth.
The road is designed to become the connecting link between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, though what points will be selected as termini have not yet been decided upon. The present line of the road includes the section of what was once known as the Iowa Pacific, extending from Junction to Belmont, a distance of ninety miles. This was purchased in the spring of 1878 by the Dakota corporation, through H. L. Stout, the consideration being the assumption by the purchasers, of the existing liens against that por- tion of the road owned by the Iowa Pacific Company.
The road is completed and in operation at present from Tripoli, in Bremer County, to Hampton, in Franklin County, a distance of fifty-eight miles, and having a direct connection with Dubuque via the Illinois Central from Waverly.
The present officers are : J. B. Dumont, President ;. R. E. Graves, Secre- tary, and C. H. Booth, Treasurer and Superintendent ; with J. B. Dumont, M. K. Jesup, James A. Roosevelt, M. Thompson, H. L. Stout, R. E. Graves and C. H. Booth, comprising the Board of Directors.
Dubuque, Cedar Falls and Minnesota Railroad .- This railroad is con- sidered a Dubuque enterprise, although it was organized at Cedar Falls, in the spring of 1858, the object being to reach the Minnesota line and attract to that city the trade of the intermediate country. Work was immediately commenced, and the road graded to Waverly. About this time an effort to render the Directors personally responsible for certain debts caused trouble, and the opera- tions were temporarily suspended. Nothing further was attempted in the building of the road until 1863, when Platt Smith, R. B. Mason and others purchased the stock, and in the following year adopted new articles of incor- poration, retaining the old name. The road was then put under contract to Waverly, to which point it was completed in 1864, when it was operated in conjunction with the Dubuque & Sioux City road, to which corporation the same was leased on the 1st of January, 1867, at $1,500 per mile, and passed into the hands of the Illinois Central, in October, 1867, when the Dubuque and Sioux City road was taken possession of by that corporation.
At present the road is completed to Lyle, where connection is made with trains for Minneapolis.
The capital stock is stated at $1,586,000, with an indebtedness of $1,478,000, and is largely owned by Eastern capitalists. Its receipts for the year 1879, from the rental of the sixty-eight miles in operation, are quoted at $113,256.60.
John S. Kennedy is President, and C. H. Booth, Secretary and Treasurer.
The Dubuque and Muscatine Railroad was incorporated on Tuesday, February 24, 1880, at a meeting held for that purpose in Clinton. The proposed route will probably be from Dubuque to Clinton, via Wilton Junction, and the undertaking, when completed, will afford Dubuque shippers two competing lines of railway to the south, which, with the steamboat lines, will render facilities in that direction convenient and cheap.
At this meeting a plan was adopted, and formal organization perfected, the organization to be known as the Dubuque & Muscatine Company, with a capital of $5,000,000, and the following officers : J. P. Farley, of Dubuque, Presi- dent ; D. S. Wilson, Dubuque, Vice President ; S. G. Stein, Muscatine, Treas- urer, and P. D. Swigart, Wyoming, Secretary ; S. G. Stein, J. A. Pickler,
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HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY.
and John Makin, of Muscatine; L. Phelps and W. P. Wolf, Cedar ; A. G. McGrew and P. D. Swigart, of Jones ; John Bohen, of Jackson, and J. P. Farley, D. S. Wilson, J. W. Dilrance and B. B. Richards, of Dubuque, Board of Directors.
The route will be surveyed and work thereon commenced at an early day.
The American Express Company .- In 1841, Henry Wells suggested to George Pomeroy, a Western freight and passenger forwarder, that an express from Albany to Buffalo " would pay." The hint was taken, and Pomeroy made three trips. His express was relinquished for some time, when Crawford Livingston proposed to Henry Wells that the enterprise be renewed. Wells consented, and Pomeroy & Co.'s Albany & Buffalo Express was established upon an enduring foundation.
In the course of a year or two, the style of "Pomeroy & Co." was altered to " Livingston, Wells & Co.," when Pomeroy retired from the business. On the 1st day of April, 1845, the Western Express, from Buffalo to Cincinnati, St. Louis, Chicago and intermediate points, was established by Henry Wells, William G. Fargo and another person, under the style of Wells & Co. In 1847, Crawford Livingston died, but the style of the firm remained unchanged -Wells & Co.
Early in 1850, negotiations were entered into by Wells & Co., Livingston & Fargo, and Butterfield, Wassin & Co., for the consolidation of the three into one grand line. Two firms were then made of the three, viz .: Wells, Butter- field & Co., and Livingston, Fargo & Co., but comprised in a joint-stock con- cern, under the style of "The American Express Company." Henry Wells was elected President; William G. Fargo, Secretary; John Butterfield, Line Superintendent, and Alexander Holland, Treasurer.
Such, in brief, is the history of this corporation, one of the largest, wealth- iest and most prominent in the world. It has a capital of $18,000,000, nearly four thousand offices, runs its own messengers on 30,000 miles of railway, and reaches, by connections with Wells, Fargo & Co. and other corporations, all parts of the globe.
The Company established an agency at Dubuque on the 8th of May, 1851, with Peter Waples, agent.
The first way-bill received at Dubuque was from Chicago, No. 281, May 8, 1851, and shows five entries : Hon. Lincoln Clark, T. Mason, Peter Waples, Charles Corkery and W. J. Barney, all of whom, except Mr. Barney, it is believed, are dead.
Way-bill No. 1, June 23, 1851, Dubuque to Chicago, one package, $4,000, from M. Mobley to American Exchange Bank, New York.
Way-bill No. 2 was not made until July 28, 1851, when Maj. Mobley for- warded a package, containing $1.000, to George Smith, Chicago.
August 4, 1851, Way-bill No. 3 was made,; when Maj. Mobley shipped $2,000 to George Smith, Chicago.
It was not until in October following that a shipment of freight was made, when H. Rouse forwarded a package to Doolittle & Cary, Racine, Wis., charge 50 cents, and Peter Waples one package to Mrs. John W. Taylor, Rockford, Ill., free.
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