USA > Indiana > Elkhart County > A twentieth century history and biographical record of Elkhart County, Indiana > Part 22
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The question which was of the most vital importance to the early settlers of Indiana was the question of transportation. The slow and expensive modes of travel made the development of the resources of the state almost impossible. How fully this was realized can be seen in reading the messages which from time to time the governors sub- mitted to the legislatures.
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From many special references to the subject I select only a few. In 1815 Governor Posey recommended their careful attention to the improvement of the state roads and highways. In 1818 Governor Jen- nings urged the adoption of measures for the construction of highways and canals and the improvement of the navigation of the rivers of the state. In 1826 Governor Ray declared the construction of roads and canals necessary to place the state of Indiana on an equal financial foot- ing with the older states. And again, in 1829, he said: " This subject can never grow irksome, since it must be the source of the blessings of civilized life. To secure its benefits is a duty enjoined upon the legis- lature by the obligations of the social compact.'
Up to this time no other means were considered than roads, canals and navigable rivers. But in 1834 railroads were being built and Gov- ernor Noble, in speaking of these public improvements undertaken by the state, said: "No work should be commenced but such as would be of acknowledged public utility, and when completed would form a branch of some general system." And he called favorable attention in the same message to the Lawrenceburg & Indianapolis Railroad, for which a char- ter had already been granted. Along the lines thus proposed the state steadily pushed, and the construction by it of state roads. river improve- ments, canals and railroads was undertaken on a vast scale. This was forced upon the state by the rivalry of the various parts of the state, each of which demanded its own recognition and none of which was willing to wait. The result was that very soon the state became so heavily involved in debt that its credit failed, and by the year 1839 all work was practically suspended.
But as early as 1836 the state was so heavily burdened with the work already begun that no new lines were projected by it. But the vasi system already laid out included all parts of the state and none was neglected. Elkhart county received its proper recognition in the construction of state roads, and a canal was promised it. The latter was to run through the county seat, and was located through Goshen where Rock Run now flows, and would have received its water supply from the reservoir at Rome City. But with the advent of railroads the canal projects were promptly abandoned. And when it became apparent that the state would not be able to construct them the people promptly turned to individual enterprise. At this day we are amazed at the ex- hibition of courage and confidence which this involved. In our own time even. with the vast accumulation of wealth in the hands of indi-
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viduals which is available for profitable investment, the construction of a railroad is an undertaking which no community or individual would seriously consider. What then must have been the faith and courage of our people of that early day of comparative poverty that they could undertake that which we would not? But our wonder is greater when we consider that the cost of such enterprises was then vastly greater than the same would cost now. The estimated cost of the Madison & Indianapolis Railroad was not less than twenty-five thousand dollars a mile. And the state actually expended $1,493,013 on that road with the result of only twenty-eight miles in operation and twenty-seven miles more nearly but not quite graded. \ very much larger sum than would be required now to produce the same result.
With infinite courage, charter after charter was sought from and granted by the legislature, for at that time there was no general law for the incorporation of such companies. One of the best conceived and most feasible of these projected roads was that which the Buffalo & Mississippi Railroad Company was organized to build. It was to extend from Toledo to Chicago, passing through Indiana so as to connect all of the county seats of the northern tier of counties. This much of its pur- pose was covered by its charter, and its possibilities were clearly indi- cated in its name. Its incorporators included William L. Latta, James R. McCord, James H. Barns, Joseph H. Defrees, Johnson Latta and E. W. H. Ellis of Goshen. On the 21st of February, 1837, the directors, William L. Latta and James R. McCord. of Goshen ; Robert Stewart, of Michigan City ; and John Brown, Aaron Staunton, of LaPorte, met at South Bend and began active work to secure the construction of the road. To obtain the necessary funds they ordered that stock subscrip- tion books be opened for popular subscriptions on the second Tuesday of March, following, at designated places in Michigan City, LaPorte, South Bend, Elkhart, Goshen, Lima and Steuben. It was evidently the hope of the patriotic projectors of this road that stock enough would be taken to provide the money for constructing the road, or at least for making a good beginning. But the result was disappointing, and noth- ing of importance came of this effort. Nevertheless the fact remained that without such a road the country it was intended to traverse would never be developed, and its future prosperity depended upon it. With so large an issue at stake ultimate success was certain. Impressed with this certainty a few of this little band determined to keep alive their organization, and as their ranks were depleted new men took their places,
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and year after year they met, elected officers and bided their time. .Among these men were Judge Osborne of LaPorte, Judge Stanfield and Schuyler Colfax of South Bend. John Davenport and Joseph H. Defrees of Elkhart, James H. Barns, E. W. H. Ellis, Milton Mercer and Dr. M. M. Latta of Goshen. The counties east of Elkhart do not seem to have shared in this hope and work.
If the record of that company could be found it would be a valuable record and a monument to the earnestness of these men. They spared no effort to secure the result they aimed at, but they abandoned all hope of succeeding by local contributions. When that which is now known as the Chicago, Pittsburg & Fort Wayne road was being extended from the east toward Fort Wayne, they endeavored to have it constructed from Fort Wayne to Chicago by way of Goshen. Failing in this they appealed to the legislature to urge their claims on the general govern- ment, and they secured from the legislature a joint resolution, approved January 19, 1846 ( Acts 1846, p. 123), as follows: " A joint resolution in relation to the Buffalo & Mississippi Railroad."
WHEREAS, The completion of said road would afford the general government many facilities in time of war with Great Britain ( which even now seems not improbable ) for the transportation of arms, ammuni- tions of war, troops and everything necessary for their comfort and con- venience, together with the speedy and expeditious dispatches so essen- tial to the safety and effective prosecution of the object of organized armies in a free and independent government like ours ; and
WHEREAS, The communication between the upper valley of the Mississippi and the commerce of Lake Michigan is entirely suspended during a considerable portion of the year in consequence of the Straits of Mackinaw being closed with ice : and
WHEREAS, The general government of the United States has on former occasions extended a liberal policy by aiding in the prosecution of internal improvements that are national in their character. by repeated donations of the public domain, contributing thereby the means when properly executed of advancing the interest of every individual in this vast, growing and happy republic : therefore be it
Resolved, By the General Assembly of the state of Indiana that Dur senators be instructed and our representatives requested to use all reasonable exertions to procure a donation of a variety of all the lands owned by the general government situated in the Fort Wayne and Win- amac land office districts, in the said state of Indiana. to aid in the con- struction of the said Buffalo & Mississippi Railroad.
Even this eloquent and patriotic appeal of the great state of Indiana
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in its behalf failed to procure public aid. But about this time a rival company with better financial backing appeared and began the construc- tion of a railroad from Toledo to Chicago through the southern tier of counties in Michigan. Here was a great danger impending, for if this company, the Southern Michigan Railroad Company, succeeded in the construction of its parallel line connecting its same terminals it would make it impossible for the projectors of the Buffalo & Mississippi Com- pany ever to secure, in the face of such competition, the money required for the construction of their road. Affairs having taken this critical turn, the gallant little band of patriots determined to compel their rival to build their road. This was to be brought about by preventing the granting to it of a charter for the construction of this part of its line which must come into the state at the southern bend of Lake Michigan except upon that condition. To secure this the county was induced to elect able men to the legislature pledged to labor for this result. In 1849 Joseph H. Defrees and Michael C. Daugherty were elected from Goshen for that special purpose, and in 1850 Joseph H. Defrees was elected senator and Milton Mercer a representative to continue the con- test. But the projectors of the rival company, by coming into this state at the northern part of this county and making Elkhart, South Bend and LaPorte points on their line, were able to secure strong local co- operation, and, in spite of the opposition of Goshen, secured, under the name of Northern Indiana Railroad Company, the needed charter. But the new company for some reason caused it to be given out that the charter secured by it was in some respects unsatisfactory, and negotia- tions were begun for the transfer to it of the charter and franchises of the Buffalo & Mississippi Company. The result was an agreement by which, in consideration of such transfer, the company agreed to extend a spur from Elkhart to Goshen and run at least one train a day between the towns.
Besides this it was also agreed that if the citizens of Goshen would purchase and donate to it the tract of land now owned by its successor. the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company, on the east side of Goshen, it would erect and maintain a round house there. The land was donated and the round house erected. In the fall of 1851 the railroad was built into Elkhart, and the year following saw it extended into Goshen as agreed. We, at this day, can scarcely realize the mag- nitude of this event and the wild enthusiasm of the people over it. The coming of the first train was celebrated by public meetings and bonfires,
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and the men to whose perseverance it was due were the heroes of the day. The Daily Truth thus describes the advent of the iron horse at Elkhart : " AAbout four o'clock on a Friday afternoon early in the month of October, 1851, a wood-burning engine, hauling a train of flat cars and caboose, rolled over the wooden bridge across the Elkhart river and puffed along to the foot of Main street, which was thien in the forest south of the village proper. For weeks this event had been the topic of conversation among the inhabitants of the little hamlet, and the night previous to the advent of the iron horse had been an anxious one. Many people waited all night long in order to be on hand to welcome the in- coming train. Captain Chamberlain says that he was one of a party of boys who, escaping from the confines of a schoolroom presided over by C. J. Com, had gone in swimming while awaiting the coming of the train. It had been heralded abroad that the road would run a free ex- cursion to White Pigeon on the following Sunday, and people came for miles around to participate in the wonderful event. With an old-time passenger coach, a box car, and a number of flat cars arranged with planks for seats and crowded with passengers, the train started."
The securing of the round house at Goshen was considered a very important thing, but when the company located its shops in Elkhart the round house was abandoned. This was in 1870. Because of the care- less phraseology of the deed to the company, which failed to make the maintenance of the round house a condition of the title, Goshen lost both the round house and the land. But these were mere incidents. The railroad was the great prize and secured for Goshen all that its projectors hoped for. In 1850 its population was but seven hundred and eighty, in 1860 it had increased to two thousand and fifty-three and its future was assured.
The compulsory construction of the road from Elkhart to Goshen led to its extension east to Toledo, and Goshen thus became a point on the main line, and Elkhart, favorably located at the junction of the two branches, became the natural location for the shops of the company, which have contributed more than anything else to the building up of that splendid and growing city.
Fortunately for Goshen the new company had no special use for the men who had so successfully struggled to secure its road. If it had honored them by making them directors in the new company they might have been satisfied to rest with the honor. But there is a pe- culiar fascination in railroad work, and the first success of these gen-
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tlemen only stimulated them to new efforts in the same line. Accord- ingly when Captain Wells, after having built a railroad from Kalama- zoo to White Pigeon and sold it to the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Company, came to Goshen to secure the co-operation of its citizens in the construction of a road from White Pigeon to Wabash, through Goshen, he at once availed himself of the assistance of Mr. J. H. Defrees, who became one of the directors and most active workers in the new company, first known as the Goshen, Warsaw, Wabash Rail- road Company. This road was speedily constructed from Goshen to Warsaw, and was put in operation in 1870. If completed as originally intended it would have passed through Middlebury and connected at White Pigeon with the road running thence to Kalamazoo. To secure this, Middlebury voted liberal aid, and it was paid into the county treasury for the company, but the road was not built and the money was returned. The failure to construct this line was a most serious detri- ment to Goshen, as it would have placed Goshen midway on an important line extending from Grand Rapids to Indianapolis. Its construction was prevented by the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Company, which refused to agree to buy it if constructed, as Mr. Wells had been led to believe it would do, and the result was that it broke Mr. Wells finan- cially, and for a time Goshen was its northern terminus. In 1872 the extension of the road to Niles was promised if cities. along the line would aid it, and this having been done the extension was quickly made.
Soon after this, in 1873-4, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Com- pany, having determined to extend its line into Chicago from the east, began to survey its line. The citizens of Goshen promptly endeavored to secure the location of the road through their city, and money was raised to pay the expenses of a preliminary survey of such a line. Mr. Stonex's first practical railroad work consisted in circulating a subscrip- tion paper for that purpose. While Goshen failed in this, the county secured the road and Nappanee has grown from nothing to be a thriving town as the result.
About the same time the Chicago & Canada Southern Railroad was projected. and its route was located through the county by way of Millersburg, Benton, New Paris and Wakarusa. Goshen again en- deavored to secure it, but the location of our city is too elevated to enable a line to be built at low cost on a low grade through it, and the Canadian Southern was projected as a freight line to be built with a
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grade so low that it would be possible to draw trains of one hundred loaded cars along it with a single locomotive.
This condition barred Goshen out and the line was located, the right of way bought, and a considerable part of the road bed graded when work was stopped. It was understood that this was done in the interest of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Company to prevent its formidable competition.
It now seemed certain that no more railroad building would be done through Goshen unless brought about by Goshen. The only feasi- ble project seemed to be for the construction of a line running through the county from the northeast to the southwest, and a company was promptly organized to construct such a line. The name of the company was Michigan. Indiana & Southwestern Railroad Company. Its pro- posed terminals were Jackson, Michigan, and Danville, Illinois. Milton Mercer was one of the most active of its promoters. After some changes this company became the Canada and St. Louis Railroad Company, of which the first directors included Milton Mercer. E. D. Chipman and W. L. Stonex, of Goshen, and Jonathan S. Mather, of Middlebury. In August, 1888. the control of this company passed into the hands of J. J. Burns and associates. Goshen and Middlebury voted aid, and the road was completed from Goshen to Battle Creek, Michigan, and put in oper- ation by January, 1889. The company about that time became finan- cially embarrassed and soon after failed. Only a few knew what efforts were made to complete this line or to keep it from falling into control of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Company. Only an un- avoidable accident prevented the extension to Goshen of the Indiana, Illinois & Iowa Railroad from Knox to connect with it by way of Ply- mouth and extend it as intended from Battle Creek to Bay City.
This having occurred, an attempt was made to sell the road, as built, to the C. W. & M. R. R. Company, and every detail of this had been agreed upon. If one day longer had been allowed to pass this would have occurred. but by an unexpected and unforeseen move the road went into other hands and at last became, as it now is, the Goshen & Michigan branch of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Company.
But Goshen had secured another road, and was connected with Middlebury by it.
After having seen the, last enterprise well under way the indefa- tigable Mercer proceeded to organize a company to construct a road
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between Toledo and Chicago. It was organized as the Toledo & Chi- cago Air Line Railway Company, and was a Goshen organization. Mr. Mercer was its first president and Mr. Stonex was its first secretary. This project was favorably considered by the public, and it soon re- ceived recognition, with the result that it was taken hold of by a party of eastern capitalists who secured control of it and undertook to con- struct the line. The Lake Shore Company at once antagonized it for the reason that, if constructed, the road would pass between the two branches of the company, and being considerably shorter between the same terminals would very materially injure its line. Their opposition prevented all chance of negotiating the bonds of the company in the east, and this seemed to be fatal. But a combination of four eastern railroad companies was formed to jointly build the road for their joint use between Toledo and Chicago. Each company was to provide one- fourth of the money for the construction, and by this means the neces- sity of negotiating bonds was to be avoided. The matter was being carried forward secretly under the management of Senator Brice when unfortunately an over-zealous newspaper reporter in Lima. Ohio, ob- tained some knowledge of the facts and published them. This disclosure of the plan gave the management of the Lake Shore Company the neces- sary information to enable them to crush the enterprise, which they did.
But before the end came Goshen had voted over sixty thousand dollars to aid toward the construction of the road on condition that its shops should be located here, and other towns and townships voted about the same amount.
Notwithstanding the defeat of this enterprise the exploiting of it gave publicity to the value of such a line and the willingness of the people to aid in constructing it. Very soon after this the Wabash Rail- way Company put engineers in the field and surveyed a line for its system which would give it a short line from Detroit to Chicago, and they followed substantially the line of survey of the Canada Southern Company. The Wabash Company selected this for the very reason which had induced the former company to adopt it. its remarkably low grade. When the line was being surveyed the citizens of Goshen had a public meeting and appointed a committee to try to induce the com- pany to abandon the proposed line and come nearer Goshen. This the company endeavored to do, but finally abandoned the attempt. But when the road was being constructed and the crossing of the road of the
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Lake Shore Company was being made at Millersburg, the latter com- pany forced the former to make an overhead crossing, and by this means destroyed the ideal grade of the new company. If this had been antici- pated Goshen could have secured the new road.
While this was interesting the citizens of Goshen, Mr. H. E. Buck- len was quietly engaged in the construction of a railroad from Elkhart toward South Bend. This was done in the name of the Elkhart & Western Railway Company. When completed it was bought by the Lake Shore Company. The Elkhart & Western road, while not of great length, became and continues to be a very important line for the city of Elkhart.
While the building of these railroads seemed to be the great enter- prises, in comparison with which all others were almost insignificant, there had been quietly undertaken and carried forward another work which in time developed into a very great and important one. In 1886 there was organized in Elkhart a company. under the name of the Citizens Street Railway Company, for the purpose of constructing a horse car line for the city. Its members were Elkhart citizens, and they hurried the work forward to a successful accomplishment. After five years, in 1891. the company decided to abandon horse power and substitute electricity. This was of doubtful wisdom, as the use of that power was so new that it required costly experimenting. When it was put in operation as an electric line, according to the information obtain- able, there was but one other such line in the United States. After a succession of heavy losses the operation of the road was suspended, and in the winter of 1892 a receiver was appointed for it. The road was sold to private parties at the receiver's sale in February, 1894.
In February, 1893. J. J. Burns and others organized a company known as the Indiana Electric Railway Company, by Goshen citizens. chiefly to build an electric railway in Goshen. . After building about a mile and a half of track this company also failed and went into the hands of a receiver, and in November. 1893, its assets passed into the hands of private parties.
In May, 1894, J. J. Burns and others organized a company known as the Indiana Electric Railway Company for the purpose of buying the roads above referred to and of completing and connecting them into a single system. The new company bought the lines and soon had the Elkhart line in operation, and not long after the Goshen line was also
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put in operation, the first car on the latter line being run on the Fourth of July. 1896, and from time to time during the next two years gradual extensions of these lines were made. In September, 1898, the owners of the South Bend & Mishawaka Street Railway lines, Arthur Kennedy and Frances J. Torrence, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, bought the stock of the Indiana Electric Railway Company and took possession of the property early in October. This long delayed construction of the line required to connect the two cities was pushed rapidly forward, and on the 21st of December. 1898, the first car was run from Elkhart to Goshen.
Much has been said of the prospective chain of electric railways from Cleveland to Chicago. The building that is being done by the Indiana Railway Company is gradually bringing this in sight. The construction on the South Bend-LaPorte line will make a connection be- tween Michigan City on Lake Michigan, to Goshen. two-thirds of the way across the state to the east. The St. Joseph Valley line under con- struction will carry. this chain farther to the east from Elkhart to La- Grange. This will leave only two gaps in the chain between Chicago and Cleveland, the one between Hammond and Michigan City and that from LaGrange to an electric line extending some distance west from Toledo.
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