USA > Indiana > Centennial history and handbook of Indiana : the story of the state from its beginning to the close of the civil war, and a general survey of progress to the present time > Part 20
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BEGINNING OF THE RAILROAD ERA
Strictly speaking the railroad era of Indiana began when the Madison & Indianapolis road went into operation in 1839, but the sudden de- velopment of first roads that grew into the sys- tem of later years is a distinguishing feature in the history of the early fifties. The Madison road was completed to Indianapolis in 1847, and its prosperity following that completion was a tremendous stimulus to railroad construction.t Capital, hitherto timid and distrustful of invest- ment in this direction, now flowed freely and by the latter part of 1850 six new roads were under way with a total of 142 miles built in addition to the eighty-six miles of the M. & I .¿
On the maps of 1852 and 1853 we find the State traversed in all directions by something like a score of roads, some of them then in opera- tion, and seven of these centered at Indianapolis, while an eighth, the Jeffersonville, was directly tributary to it.
Sketches of First Roads .- Brief sketches of these pioneer roads in the order of their begin- ning are here given :
The Indianapolis & Lawrenceburg .- This
road, afterward known as the "I., C. & L.," se- cured its first charter as early as 1832 and in its first steps toward actual construction antedated the M. & I. by four years. It encountered much opposition from the M. & I., and was not com- pleted until 1853. By connecting central Indi- ana with Cincinnati and the east this line became a formidable competitor of the M. & I. The first year after its completion the receipts were $299,- 433.66; the second year this was nearly doubled, and much of this, presumably, drew directly from the receipts of the M. & I. Afterward it took the name of the Indianapolis, Cincinnati & Lafayette, and is now one of the "Big Four" lines.
The Jeffersonville Road .- This line, under the original name of the Ohio & Indiana Railroad Company, was first chartered in 1832, then in 1837, and again in 1846. Finally, in 1848, its promoters secured still another charter more lib- eral than the preceding ones, and got to work. In 1849 the name was changed to the Jefferson- ville Railroad Company. In 1852 it was finished to Columbus, where it met the M. & I. Here trouble began. The monopolistic M. &. I., then under the control of John Brough, afterward governor of Ohio, was not disposed to brook any rival, and it refused to co-ordinate its running schedule with that of the new road. The latter, in retaliation, extended its scheme and started for Indianapolis, side by side with the M. & I.,, which then capitulated and the two formed a junction. Like the camel which, having got its nose into the tent. gradually wedged in its whole body, the Jeffersonville road soon dominated its rival, and in 1866 the two were consolidated as the Jeffersonville, Madison & Indianapolis, which name it retained for many years. It is now a branch of the Pennsylvania system. Like the Cincinnati road to the east, this one, by opening the way to Louisville and the south was a great contributory factor to the decadence of the State's first road, which, when it reached Madi- son, was effectually barred from getting farther.
The Bellefontaine & Indianapolis .- This road, afterward known as the C., C., C. & I., and now a part of the "Big Four" system, was the first line that opened up a way directly with the east and northeast. It was begun in 1848, being the second road running out of Indianapolis, and in 1852 reached Union City, at the State line, where
* It has been stated that there are now but two toll-gates in the State.
" As the Madison road was extended into the interior its re- ceipts increased from $22,110 in 1843 to $235,000 in 1849, and the daily travel from 25 to 200 passengers. Its stoek rose until. in 1852, it sold for $1.60. (Chamberlain's Gazetteer.)
* By 1860 this mileage had increased to 2,125.75 (census re- port).
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it connected with an Ohio line and with eastern points. Before making that connection its traf- fic, draining toward Indianapolis, contributed to the prosperity of the Madison road, but after- ward it was a formidable competitor, diverting, as it did, the commerce of the interior toward the east. Its chief promoter and first president was Oliver H. Smith, well known as lawyer, politi- cian and United States senator.
The Peru & Indianapolis .- The next road out of the capital was the Peru & Indianapolis. It was running to Noblesville by the spring of 1851 and reached Peru in 1854. It is said that "in its earlier days it brought into Indianapolis immense quantities of lumber, and, at a later day, much grain and produce." For a while the Peru and the Madison roads were consolidated, the aim being to establish a through route from the Ohio river to the Wabash & Erie canal and thence, by water, to the east. This, it was thought would put the M. & I. on a footing with its rivals that were affording outlets eastward, but for some reason the merger did not last long. The Peru & Indianapolis subsequently became the Indian- apolis, Peru & Chicago, and is now the Lake Erie & Western.
The Terre Haute & Indianapolis .- This road was to have bisected the State east and west, with Terre Haute and Richmond as its two termini. The idea originally agitated was that it should be one link in a larger railroad scheme that would extend without break from St. Louis to Cincin- nati. This plan, however, was evidently too am- bitious for that day and generation and it settled down to a line connecting Terre Haute with Indi- anapolis. It was finished in 1852, and, like the other roads centering at Indianapolis, was, in the beginning, a feeder for the M. & I. It is now called the "Vandalia."
The Indiana Central .- This road, for many years known as the "Panhandle," and now as a link in the Pennsylvania lines, connected Indian- apolis with Richmond, Ind., and was the fulfil- ment of the preceding plan for a Terre Haute and Richmond road. It was begun in 1851 and completed in 1853, being the first line to estab- fish (by way of Cincinnati) a connection with the east. It paralleled the National road and was a large factor in reducing the travel over that thoroughfare.
The Indianapolis & Lafayette .- As the Indi-
100
"Hoosier Limited." Train on the Monon Route operated between Indianapolis and Chicago.
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ana Central carried out the scheme of connecting Terre Haute with Richmond, so the Indianapolis & Lafayette road completed the original idea of a Madison, Indianapolis and Lafayette line, as contemplated in the internal improvement law of 1836. It was finished in 1852, and was especially important as forming a link in a connection be- tween the Ohio river and Chicago. In 1866 it was consolidated with the Cincinnati road and the two took the name of the Indianapolis, Cin- cinnati & Lafayette. The line, now known as the C., C., C. & St. L. (Big Four), connects Cin- cinnati with Chicago.
Ohio & Mississippi .- This road, crossing the southern part of the State, was the first to form a link in a continuous route that connected the Mississippi river with the seaboard. The com- bination consisted of the Ohio & Mississippi, the Marietta & Cincinnati, and the Baltimore & Ohio, which, together, reached from St. Louis to Bal- timore. When completed it was the longest con- tinuous route in the world, and the opening in 1857 was signalized by a great railroad celebra- tion. The first train over the road was a "Cele- bration Train," filled with railroad dignitaries and government officials, which was greeted with display and popular enthusiasm all along the way .*
Other Roads .- Other roads of this pioneer era, beside those centering at the capital, were the New Albany & Salem, traversing the length of the State from New Albany to Michigan City ; the Northern Indiana ( Michigan Southern) ; the Toledo, Wabash & Western, completed in 1857, which, traversing the Wabash valley, supplanted the Wabash and Erie canal, and the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago, finished in 1856, which became an important factor in the development of northern Indiana. The "Junction" (C., H. & D.) was built from the eastern State line to Rush- ville, but did not reach Indianapolis until the lat- ter sixties, and the Vincennes road was finished about the same time, though promoted much carlier. Besides these there were various short lines of the kind facetiously known as "jerk- water," though they have all long since been merged in the great system and taken other names.
Beginnings of a System .- Before the end of
the fifties the various Indiana roads with their interstate connections had begun to take the form of a system much more extensive than the one that had been contemplated by the internal im- provement law of 1836. Not only were the vari- ous sections and principal cities of the State put into communication with each other, but a num- ber of the lines reached much farther by the inter- state connections. The Terre Haute, Cincinnati, Indiana Central, Bellefontaine, the Ohio & Missis- sippi, the Toledo, Wabash & Western and the Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne & Chicago roads became links in roads leading to the east ; the New Al- bany & Salem connected the Ohio river and the great lakes, and this knitting and extending proc- ess carried on continuously from that time has created the vast and complex railroad system of the present day.
Influences of the Railroad .- Much interest- ing matter pertaining to the railroads belong to this period. Within the decade Indiana was fairly transformed, not only by the vast stimulus given to commerce and by the multiplication of industries, but by the sharp turn-the new trend given to the State's development. For example, the radical change in transportation methods de- termined a new arrangement of population cen- ters. Before that the streams were a great fac- tor in the locating of settlements but with the advent of the new order these were left to dwin- dle in isolation, and many a one that started out with glowing hopes and good reasons for them are now but a memory. On the other hand, the railroads straight across country supplied a new reason for the location of towns, and the local histories will show that a vast percentage of these date their origins from the coming of the railroads. Navigable streams and water power for mill seats no longer cut a figure. It is said that old James B. Ray, who is credited with be- ing our most erratic governor, as far back as the twenties had a vision, and preached it, to the effect that one day, along a system of railroads radiating from Indianapolis as from a hub, there would be villages or towns every five miles, while every twenty there would be a city. He was, of course, laughed to scorn, but that was exactly what came to pass. In a word, but for the introduction of railroads the distribution of population throughout the State would have been vastly different from what it is, not only as re-
* A good-sized illustrative book descriptive of this occasion may be found in the State Library.
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gards the location of centers, but also in the growth of centers as determined by industries ind commercial wealth.
The effect of the railroad upon manufactures s illustrated by the fact that from the output value of $19,199,681 as given by the Indiana Ga- etteer of 1850, there was a sudden increase that or the next ten years averaged $41,840,434 per ear, with 20,755 persons employed in manufac- uring industries and also heavy investments in he places with railroad facilities.
The "Erie War."-The important relation of he railroad to commercial prosperity is shown y what is known in history as the "Erie War," which occurred in 1853. At that time the rail- oads had not established a uniform gauge, or vidth between the rails, so that rolling stock ould not, as now, travel over any and every oad. At Erie, Pa., one gauge from the east net another gauge from the west, in consequence f which all through passengers and freight traf- ic had to be transferred from one road to the ther. This meant great inconvenience and ex- ense to travelers and shippers, and great profit o Erie. The latter came to regard her transfer- ing industry as a vested right-so much so, in- eed, that when an attempt was made to unify he gauges her citizens forcibly interfered with he laying of rails in the streets. The wrath in he west at Erie's hoggishness, and the execra- ions heaped upon the town by the press and in dignation meetings were loud and universal. The Indianapolis Journal for December 17, 24, 5 and 28, 1853, gives glimpses of the public eeling.
The Railroads and Madison .- The influence f the railroad as a factor in the making and un- making of localities is well illustrated by the rise nd decline of Madison. Throughout the forties, Then the one railroad in the State brought the usiness of the interior to the favored city on ne Ohio, she became, as one of her citizens ex- ressed it, "the first city of Indiana-first in com- merce, population, wealth, literature, law, reli- ion, politics and social enjoyment." The Ohio iver traffic here made connection with the rail- oad traffic, and we hear stories of the big river teamboats lying in lines beside the wharves, There the bags of wheat were piled high and the rarehouses were filled to their roofs with mis- ellaneous freight, while countless barrels of mess
pork packed for shipment to the south as far as the gulf, and to the east as far as Europe, occu- pied all the river front and reached up into the by-streets. As a pork market it was second only to Cincinnati, and there is record of 200,000 hogs being slaughtered and packed there in a sin- gle month. Because of its importance as an entrepot it became known as the "Gateway to the State." The wealth that accumulated there has left its traces in the quaint old mansions that stand to the present day, and the long list of able men who formed a galaxy there have left their impress on Indiana history-such men as Joseph G. Marshall, Jeremiah Sullivan, Jesse D. and Michael G. Bright, J. F. D. Lanier, and others.
This prosperity of Madison continued to in- crease so long as the M. & I. road had no com-
Old Union Depot at Indianapolis, built in 1853. (See next page.)
petitors. The first roads to reach out from Indian- apolis, into near territory, such as the Bellefon- taine, the Peru and the Terre Haute lines, were feeders rather than rivals to the M. & I., but when the Bellefontaine and the Indiana Central made connections with the east the tide began to turn, while the connections with Cincinnati and the falls cities by the Indianapolis & Lawrence- burg and the Jeffersonville roads was the begin- ning of a swift decline for the M. & I. It fought desperately against its fate, and one of the curi- osities of railroad literature is a report of 1854 in which it complained that the State was instru- mental in inflicting serious damage on it by pass- ing a law which "opened the door for the con- struction of other railroads." Its mnost damaging competitor was the Jeffersonville road, which finally swallowed it, and after the consolidation the part from Columbus southward was simply the Madison branch. The city of Madison suf- fered proportionately, and, from being the first city in the State it has long since taken rank far down the scale as an Indiana center-its chief
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fame now being that of a quaint and charming place, speaking of a picturesque past.
The Railroads and Indianapolis .- The capi- tal, from the beginning of the new era was re- garded as a logical railroad center and in the construction of the early fifties the city was made the focusing point of not less than eight lines, connecting it with other points in all directions. Prior to that it was but a small country town, with few industries. Of the change wrought in the place by the new order we have this account in "Holloway's Indianapolis :"
"Manufacturers appeared ; stores that had for- merly mixed up dry goods, groceries, grain, hard- ware, carthenware and even books on their stock, began to select and confine themselves to one or two classes of their former assortment.
Business showed its growth in its divisions; the prices of property advanced ; a city form of gov- ernment was adopted ; a school system was inau- gurated. Everybody felt the impulse of pros-
perity. . New hotels, manufactories and business houses also appeared. The Bates house and Sherman house were built; Osgood & Smith's peg and last factory; Geisendorff's woolen mill, Drew's carriage establishment, Shel- lenbarger's planing mill and Macy's pork house swelled our industries, and various blocks, school- houses, railroad shops and other buildings were added to our improvements." A glance at the local press of the fifties confirmns this description of prosperity and hustle. Three-fourths of the space, at a guess, are taken up by advertisements ; the columns are dotted with little cuts of engines and cars, with accompanying time-tables ; pictures of trains are incorporated in the newspaper heads, and a semi-literary weekly, the first of its kind in the city, saw fit to take the name of "The Lo- comotive."
The Union Depot.#-The carly creation of a railroad center at Indianapolis resulted in the first "Union Depot" in the country. The orig- inating of this structure, and the particulars of it by one who knew at first hand, is worth giving. It was written by Mr. William N. Jackson, of Indianapolis, and was first published in the "In- dianapolis Journal" for July 29, 1900. Mr. Jack- son says :+
" See preceding page.
: William N. Jackson, whose memory is revered in Indianap. olis, was identified with the railroad business from pioneer days. "Jackson Place," adjacent to the Union Station, is named for him.
"Chauncey Rose, of the Terre Haute & Rich- mond; John Brough, of the Madison & Indian- apolis, and Oliver H. Smith, of the Bellefontaine line, met in their office in the middle of the Cir- cle in 1850, and planned and carried into execu- tion soon after a union station at Indianapolis, and erected the first one that was ever built For this a union track was needed from the mid- dle of Tennessee street northeasterly to the mid- dle of Washington street at Noble street, and the right of way for which was taken by the Terre Haute & Richmond (now Vandalia) to Pennsyl- vania street, and from there onward and north- easterly to the center of Washington street by the Bellefontaine and Peru roads. A few miles of each road had been made previous to this. The right of way from the Madison & Indianapolis depot on South street to Meridian street was given by Austin W. Morris. The right of way from Pennsylvania to New Jersey streets was purchased from Mrs. McCarty. The Union Station was opened September 20, 1853, the building being finished at that period. Mr Chauncey Rose was president of the company and Mr. W. N. Jackson secretary, treasurer and ticket agent.
"The Lawrenceburgh & Upper Mississipp railroad entered this station in the spring of 185- as the Indianapolis & Cincinnati Railroad Com pany ; the Indiana Central at the same time, and the Lafayette a little later, followed by the Indian apolis & Vincennes : the Indiana, Bloomington & Western ; the Indianapolis, Decatur & Spring field; the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Indianapolis and the Monon branch of the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago road."
The Union Company owned all the tracks in the city and the Union Depot independently of the various roads. The building, which was planned by Gen. T. A. Morris, was 420 feet long by 120 wide, but in 1866 it was widened to 200 feet. It was replaced by the present building in 1888 (Dunn).
Equipment of the Pioneer Roads .- Wher the Madison & Indianapolis road was begun by the State in 1836 the T rail had been invented It then ran, we are told, about forty-five pounds to the yard, or less than half the weight of the best rails to-day. In a previous section mentior has been made of the extravagant construction plunged into by the State, one feature of which,
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Scenes in "Shades of Death," Parke County.
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY AND HANDBOOK OF INDIANA
was the importation from England at a high cost, of these improved rails. When the road went into the hands of a private company the cost of construction was reduced from $58,000 per mile to about $11,000, and the primitive style of it was the same as was adopted by the other roads of the fifties. This may be briefly described. The foundation of the road was long. heavy hewn timbers, known as "mudsills," laid end to end and bedded in the earth. On these were laid crossties three or four feet apart, and on the ties, in turn, were laid parallel lines of oak string- ers, about 6x6, which were secured in place by Stout wooden pins driven through auger-holes that ran through the ends of the stringers and into the ties. The inner edges of the stringers were chamfered off, or sloped so as to allow for the flanges of the wheels, and along the cham- fered edge were spiked the rails, which con- sisted simply of bars of iron about two and a half inches wide by five-eighths of an inch thick.
This crude equipment was anything but safe beneath the wear and tear even of engines and cars that now seem diminutive. The yielding flat bar would crush into the wooden stringer, the spikes would work loose, and the loosened rails curling up at the ends formed what the local humorists dubbed "snake-heads," doubtless from the appearance, which suggested a snake with its head raised. These up-raised ends, threatening the moving train with puncture and derailment, increased the dangers of traveling by rail.
The rolling stock was correspondingly primi- tive. The development of the locomotive was retarded, doubtless, by the frail character of the rail and roadbed. At first it weighed but ten to fifteen tons as against the hundred-ton engine of to-day, and had neither cow-catcher nor cab, the latter, indeed, being objected to by the engine- man as a dangerous trap in case of accident. It would haul twelve or fifteen freight cars capable of carrying about three tons each, and twenty miles an hour for passenger service was good speed. A not uncommon occurrence was the stopping of the train till a trainnan went ahead with a sledge-hammer to spike down "snake-
heads." The water supply was replenished by stopping at some wayside stream and dipping up with leathern buckets, a number of which were carried on hooks at the side of the tender. The term "jerkwater," as humorously applied to. cheap, out-of-date roads no doubt had its origin in this custom.
Statistical Survey .- An agricultural survey by the census of 1860 shows that at that period about one-half of the available land of the State was improved, its cash value being estimated at $344,902,776, as against $136,385,173 for 1850 .* That there had been a great advance in the methods of farming is indicated by the appraised value of farm machinery in use, which was given at $10,457,897. The value of live stock within the ten years had almost doubled, with a great many working oxen (117,687) still in use, but far outnumbered by horses and mules for draft purposes. Swine were still the leading animal product, as corn was still the principal crop prod- uct, amounting in 1860 to 71,588,919 bushels, which was far in advance of any previous yield. Crops generally showed a corresponding in- crease, and sorghum had been introduced as a new crop in this section of the country, the out- put of syrup in 1860 being 881,049 gallons.
Manufactories had greatly increased, there be- ing 5,110 establishments of various kinds with a total investment of $17,881,586 and an output valued at $41,840,434. The leading manufactur- ing counties were Wayne, Jefferson, Tippecanoe, Vigo, Marion, Vanderburg, Fayette, Montgom- ery, Floyd, Dearborn, Tipton and Putnam, all of which had railroads.
In the census of 1850 no satisfactory figures as to manufactures are given, but the invested capital in 1860 is about ten times more than the amount given for 1840.
The population of the State had grown to 1,350,428 as against 988,416 in 1850, and 685,866 in 1840, showing a tolerably uniform rate of in- crease over the twenty years.
* According to a statement in the census report, it was "not too much to say that one-half this increase has been caused by railroads."
CHAPTER XIV
THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD
Antecedent Conditions .- The overshadow- ing fact of the sixties was the great Civil War, which during its continuance, dominated public thought and action and put a corresponding check upon the State's development. Preceding the final outbreak, and part and parcel of our war history, was a period of turmoil and fierce conflict of opinion which, while it prevailed over the country, playing about the ever-agitated ques- tion of slavery, was particularly acrid here. Our mixed population with its large element from the south that was southern in its sympathies, im- periled our standing as a union and anti-slavery State. As an evidence of the anti-negro sen- timent that existed the constitution of 1850 had in it a clause prohibiting all negroes or mulattoes from coming into or settling in the State .* The democratic party of the State was for years in the ascendency, and its endorsement and support of federal legislation that made for the exten- sion of slave territory was so pronounced, and, from the northern viewpoint, so flagrant, that many, after fruitless protests seceded from its ranks. Conspicuous among these seceders was Oliver P. Morton, who, at a democratic State convention, held in Indianapolis in 1854, walked out amid taunts and hisses, after taking a stand against the Kansas-Nebraska bill, which gave those two great States over to the slave power.
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