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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02303 2433
THE COMMERCIAL HISTORY
OF
THE SOUTHERN STATES
COVERING THE POST-BELLUM PERIOD
KENTUCKY
EDITED BY A. B. LIPSCOMB
Under the direction of the Louisville Commercial Club
WITH
HISTORICAL RÉSUMÉ OF KENTUCKY
BY
COLONEL J. STODDARD JOHNSTON
PRESS OF JOHN P. MORTON AND COMPANY
1903
1686694
COPYRIGHTED, 1903, BY A. B. LIPSCOMB
DEDICATION
TO THE LOYAL CITIZENS OF KENTUCKY
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 1
https://archive.org/details/commercialhistor00lips_0
EDITOR'S PREFATORY REMARKS
T `HE chief end sought by the editor in the publication of a commercial history of the Southern States is to set forth in an unselfish and impartial way the story of what has been accomplished and the many advantages now existing in the South along all the lines of commercial industry.
Much has been written concerning Southern manners, Southern hospitality, Southern code of honor, and the indis- putable sovereignty of Southern society. The evolution of the New South from the ashes of the old without the shattering of old ideals has been well noted, and the value of the preservation of those ideals is now recognized even by our Northern friends.
But very little, comparatively, has been written about the commercial spirit which from the time of its incipiency has pervaded the atmosphere of the New South and led to its industrial development. This surely can not be accounted for by the fact that success in this respect has been meager. The statistics afforded by the recent United States census confirm the statement that not only in agriculture but in the output of Southern mills and factories that growth has not only been highly gratifying, but has in many instances been prodigious. To supply in some small measure this deficiency in our literature is the purpose of this and other volumes.
For the sake of accuracy in obtaining detailed information, and unlim- ited space in arranging the matter for publication, it has been decided to issue the history in fifteen volumes consecutively; that is, one State after another, and a volume for each. The work will be historical as well as commercial in its nature.
After giving an historical account of the origin of each State repre- sented, it will deal extensively with the commercial advantages offered by the different sections and counties of each State respectively.
The fact that Kentucky appears first is partly explained by the fact that the editor is a citizen of this State. To him it is no more than just and expedient that Louisville, the metropolis, the "Gateway to the South" - that vast expanse of territory rich in natural resources, fertile in every
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COMMERCIAL HISTORY
field and valley, prolific in her yield of grain and manufactures-should be the first and chief exponent in heralding those riches to the world.
When the publication of this work was first proposed, Hon. Henry Watterson, the famous editor and orator, readily consented to write an historical preface for the same, but since that time the press of his regular duties has demanded his entire attention, and he has therefore regretfully given up the task. However, in securing the services of Colonel J. Stod- dard Johnston, the editor feels that he could not have done better any- where. Colonel Johnston has all his life been identified with Kentucky and the South, and has for a long time been recognized as a writer of marked ability, especially on historical subjects. His contribution to this volume we believe will give to it a lasting value, and make it one of which every Kentuckian may feel justly proud.
In the descriptive articles dealing commercially with every section of the State, the editor acknowledges the valuable aid rendered by Mr. John J. Gardner, the well-known statistician and editor of the Courier-Journal Almanac. Frequent usage has been made of Colonel I. B. Nall's " Hand- book of Kentucky" and some of the current histories. Correspondence has been conducted with many prominent and representative citizens rela- tive to the advantages offered by their respective counties.
Mr. N. R. Harper has furnished information relative to the work being done by the colored people in Kentucky. Letters of endorsement and approval have been received from the governor and many others of more or less prominence throughout the State.
For all of these the editor expresses his grateful appreciation, and cherishes the hope that this volume shall fitly describe the glorious deeds of the past and prove an inspiration for the still greater commercial power of our Commonwealth.
FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY
If Henry Grady, brilliant apostle of the rehabilitated South, could come back, and were he permitted to address the New England Society along the same lines as those of his famous speech of December 21, 1886, he could choose no better text than that part of the late United States census report dealing primarily with the industrial development of the great and growing South.
While to some it would appear as dry reading because of its statistical bulk, he would find in that voluminous document the unmistakable signs of
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SOUTHERN STATES
the fulfillment of prophecy, and in its array of startling facts there would occur to him a foundation for a still more eloquent address than that deliv- vred sixteen years ago. And if the story of Southern progress as Grady narrated it then was enough to inspire his auditors, for the most part staid representatives of Eastern business circles, bankers, brokers, and merchants of New York City, to a high pitch of enthusiasm, what impression would the recital of the growth and prosperity of the last ten years make ?
At that time the orator devoted his remarks primarily to the splendid agricultural growth as manifested by his constituency. He pointed to the soldiers "who stepped from the trenches into the furrows " and descanted on the " fields that ran red with human blood in April and were green with the harvest in June." To-day there would be another story to tell. A few short years have wrought a revolution in our business. King Cotton has been in no sense dethroned; iniles of waving wheat and corn still proclaim our agricultural supremacy. But newer and not less important interests have arisen in our history to make void and meaningless that expression, "the prostrate South."
The Census Report tells a wonderful tale. It confirins the statement that the South is now a manufacturer on a billion-dollar scale. It shows that the value of the products of the South's factories in 1900 was $1,466,669,495, greater by nearly $450,000,000 than the value of the prod- ucts of manufacturers in the United States in 1850. The total for 1900 shows an increase of $549, 440,468 over the total of 1890 in the value of the products and of $494,874, 237 in the amount of capital invested, which, in 1900, amounted to $1, 153,670,097.
NEW INDUSTRIES
The orator of to-day would, of necessity, expatiate upon the great manufacturing enterprises represented by this immense outlay of capital. He would notice the great lumber interests in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and nearly all of the Southern States. Almost every State in the Union is now making use of Southern timber, and it is being exported in great quan- tities. He would not fail to observe the fact that our coal and iron are in great demand everywhere, and that our steel finds a ready market in foreign countries. He would not neglect to pay his respects to the various mills, working in wool, cotton, marble, and wood, and taking advantage of the wonderful opportunities that the South has to offer in the development of
viii
COMMERCIAL HISTORY
raw material. He would note the fact that our rice crop is constantly increasing. Add to this an account of the success of the extensive fertilizer plants, the utilization of the oil found in the remarkable cotton plant, the recent discovery of great phosphate fields in Tennessee, and the fact that the oil wells of Texas and Louisiana threaten to outrival in many respects those of Ohio and Pennsylvania, and we have a long story of uninterrupted success. Without going into any discussion about the fundamental causes that have brought about this splendid growth, or making any lengthy com- parison between the two census reports, that of 1890 and 1900, suffice it to say that the development of the South along almost every line of commer- cial industry has been well-nigh phenomenal.
BETTER LEGISLATION
With this great change in our pursuits there has been revealed a corre- sponding change in the customs and ideals of the Southern people. Espe- cially is this change in evidence in the making and the forms of our legisla- tion. Verily, the capitalists of both sections have struck hands together, and are a unit on the subject of the South as a profitable field of investment for capital and a Mecca for the workingman. Barriers in the way of trade relations no longer exist between the North and the South. Laws are being enacted with a common end in view since both have their manu- factures which must be protected.
The Baltimore Sun, whose editor has made a careful study of present conditions in the South, thus speaks of the wonderful change that has been recently effected :
"The South is evidently ceasing to be an exclusively agricultural com- munity, but is acquiring diversified industries, with the new modes of think- ing that such change implies. New ways of looking at things are always evolved by contact with new interests, and new policies prevail. New ideas of banks and banking, of money and of standards of value are likely to develop when more money is handled and local examples abound. Already the orator begins to lose his preeminence in public life. The lawyer takes on new varieties in the State legislatures, the corporation lawyer helping to curb the fiery zeal of the rustic attorney. The cotton- mill owner, the mine owner, the ironmaker, the lumberman, and the banker and broker find their way more frequently than formerly to the 'halls of legislation' and to State offices. The . horny-handed farmer '
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SOUTHERN STATES
still predominates to the public advantage, but he gets new ideas from rubbing up against the representatives of new interests. Thus more con- servative views are taken of public questions. Discussion modifies opinions, and rash decisions are avoided. Progress is, therefore, the striking fea- ture in the South at present, in public life as well as in industrial affairs."
THE PRESS AT WORK
No one thing is calculated to do greater good in the way of stimulating that progress than a hearty, active interest in the affairs of the South upon the part of the leading daily newspapers of the South and Southwest. A significant fact to be noted is that the principal journals of the North and East have of late been devoting column after column to an appreciation of the peculiar advantages offered by the South to the investor. A great trade journal, in celebrating its twentieth anniversary, has issued an elabo- rate edition, covering several hundred pages, and the writers of the most important articles are residents of the North and East. Outsiders can tell our story, it seems, better than we can tell it ourselves.
MANY OBSTACLES AT FIRST
When Lord Macaulay, the most broad-minded and versatile of all English historians, looked out upon England and saw the smoke of her thousand factories curling upward, viewed the ever-lengthening miles of rail- roads that were forming even at that early period a network across her lands and adding day by day to her rapidly accumulating gains, these and other substantial proofs of a great industrial era in the progress of his peo- ple brought forth this splendid tribute, paid to the man of industry every- where: " We see in almost every part of the annals of mankind how the industry of individuals struggling up against wars, taxes, famines, mischiev- ous prohibitions, and more mischievous protections, creates faster than gov- ernments can squander and repairs whatever invaders can destroy. We see the wealth of nations increasing and all the arts of life approaching nearer and nearer to perfection in spite of the grossest corruption and the wildest profusion on the part of rulers."
Reviewing the industrial growth of the South for the last forty years in the light of this comprehensive statement, we find that its philosophy will apply in part-in part will not. The manufacturer of this section has risen
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COMMERCIAL HISTORY
to the prominent place he now occupies in the world of business in the face of many adverse conditions. Verily, he has had to contend with many of the worst obstacles hinted at in this noted appreciation. He began his com- mercial career under inauspicious circumstances, to say the least. Even at so late a period as ISSo he had little promise of obtaining anything more than a mediocre success as a manufacturer. A comparative statement would help us to appreciate the difficulties under which he labored. His brother in the North and Middle West at that time had capital of his own and foreign capital at his command. He was enjoying well-developed rail- road facilities, and had the advantage of experienced managers and skilled operatives in his mills and factories. His success, in a commercial way, has been the result of a hundred years' growth undisturbed.
THE EXPERIMENTAL STAGE
The manufacturer of the South, on the other hand, was in the begin- ning burdened with heavy debts, and had no means of obtaining credit. His chiefest hope for a means of livelihood was in the soil, but recently ensanguinated with the blood of his countrymen.
From the sale of its products alone could he expect capital with which to invest along other lines than agricultural. Providence smiled benignly upon his fields, and having lifted some of his debts, he began manufactur- ing on a small scale. His mills and factories were at the first no more than experiments. These experiments he must needs conduct without the aid of experienced managers or skilled labor, owing to his very limited capital. In most cases, though new at the business, he became his own manager and served an apprenticeship in cooperation with his employes. Railroad facilities were the poorest, and in many cases were not to be had at all. Modern machinery could not be introduced without a tremendous cost. With these and inany other obstacles in the way of his progress, he was forced to meet competition of his more fortunate neighbors in the North and East.
After all, his experiment has met with unqualified success. The thought of the great though dormant possibilities of his section grew upon him from time to time as he viewed with ever-increasing pride the slow but steady gain that was being inade each year.
Finally the full value and import of his relative position as to natural advantages and the magnitude of what his future commercial importance
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SOUTHERN STATES
might be burst upon him intuitively, and the revelation worked its magic charm. From the ashes left him in 1864, he has indeed lived to see "a brave and beautiful city" emerge phoenix-like and stretch forth her hands invitingly to the capitalist, great and small, to the home-seeker, to him who is "on pleasure bent," and to the workingman.
The fiery enthusiasm and redoubled energy which the very prostrate- ness of the South evoked was more than fifty years of experience to him.
THE PRESENT STATUS
The man of the South is no longer an enigma in the industrial world. From a bare possibility in 1865 he has grown steadily, and of late years with such remarkable gains that to-day, 1903, he finds himself a potent factor in the making and distribution of the world's material wealth, and not, therefore, provincial or sectional, but national in his commercial im- portance. His success, be it known, is no longer an aspiration; it is now an accomplished fact. He no longer dreams of great prosperity; it has come to pass. His fond ambition to be commercially great is no longer a secret locked within his own bosom; the world has heard it, and rejoices with him. Situated in a land whose natural advantages will outrival that of any other corresponding region on the earth, he has learned to employ all the agencies known to man's invention and genius to beautify and per- fect his home, better say his workshop. If once when that land was deso- late, and his eyes were dimmed with tears, and his heart sore with remorse because his cause had been irretrievably lost, the world might have seen in him a supplicant and an object for sympathy (though he himself would never have admitted it), what shall we say of him now-forty years later- with his wounds healed, his eyes bright with expectancy, his heart full with joyous hope, his home restored, his wasted fields covered with plenteous crops of corn, cotton, wheat, and his wide territory crossed and recrossed with railroads that transport the products of his mills and mines and fac- tories, not only to the North and East, but to Europe and all parts of the civilized world-is he not a conqueror and a king ?
SOME FAVORABLE CONDITIONS
All of this material growth has been attained without the use of artifi- cial methods. The advancement of the Southern manufacturer has been steady and sure. It was due to no unnatural causes. His development
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COMMERCIAL HISTORY
and ascendency along all the various lines of industry has been chiefly due to his own efforts. In the spirit of self-reliance and practical knowledge of his own wonderful resources, upon which he has almost entirely depended for success, lies the inherent secret of his splendid achievements.
Not until recent years has he found capital or friends to assist him in his mission. It has not been wholly up-hill business. We must concede that the many adverse conditions that have confronted him during this period of time have been offset by a series of favorable conditions not to be found elsewhere. The first of these is found in the fact that he has had at all times the benefit of an abundance of raw material of almost every kind with which to work, and all of which was capable of economical operation. The saving in the cost of importing material was no little one. Prophecy has been made by no less an authority than ex-Controller James H. Eckels that in less than ten years the greater part of the world's cotton goods will be woven within the States where cotton is grown, and that Southern steel furnaces, within that length of time, will be furnished entirely with South- ern iron ore and heated altogether with Southern coal. Southern men will ship Southern products of every description only in a finished state.
CLIMATIC CONDITIONS
Climatic conditions must not be overlooked in making a summary of the causes that have contributed wonderfully to the prosperity of this favored section. The climate has proved a blessing to all classes, and especially to the numerous workers in the mills and factories. More than this, its winters afford a pleasant retreat for tourists from the rigors of the North, and in its mountain resorts there is relief from the excessive heat felt in large cities during the summer season. With an influx of new capital and the application of modern ideas, the time is coming when the South shall easily rival the East in the way of noted hotels and pleasure resorts.
In connection with the climate, it should be observed that this section has a soil with unequaled possibilities as to the variety and character of its products. In addition to that most suitable for corn and cotton, wheat and tobacco, and other staples, there is a soil adapted for fruit and vegetable growing purposes. The great fertilizer plants, that have been for the last few years shipping large tons of their output to all parts of the world, have not neglected their own section. A large per cent of their products have
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SOUTHERN STATES
been distributed over the South itself. This means much for the quantity and quality of our garden products. It means that the North and East must in the future look to the South for their choicest fruits and vegetables.
A BLESSING TO THE POORER CLASSES
The mill owner and the manufacturer in the South has taken advantage of the large per cent of the poorer classes living in this section. He has helped them and they have rendered him honest service. Although the labor has not been of the most skilled sort, it has been abundant. He has suffered but little from strikes. He has opened up, by establishing these numerous enterprises, a means of employment for thousands of mountain people who hitherto had no industry to interest them beyond the acquisi- tion of their simple household needs. He has taught them the value of work. Thousands of negroes who but a few years ago were living in apparent idleness are now regularly at work in Southern coal mines and coke ovens, in phosphate beds and rock quarries, tempted by the sight of the weekly pay-roll. This has been done without any great injury to the farmer, and although it has had the effect of concentrating the greater part of the population of the South into the cities, it has not deteriorated one whit from the importance of agricultural pursuits. The change has been for the social and religious betterment of all classes concerned. But recently there has been a strong movement toward establishing training schools for Southern boys, white and black, where they can acquire a good literary education and get a fair knowledge of the mechanical arts. This can be done only at a considerable outlay of money, but when we consider what the value of it would be to the mill owner and the manufacturer, who represents better than any one else the greatest wealth of this section, and who at this time can well afford to spend some of that wealth, and what a striking improvement it would make in the social and economic conditions of the people, no one will gainsay the right for agitation of this important question.
A NEW MAN WITH NEW IDEAS
The man of the South to-day is a new figure in the political and indus- trial horizon of the United States. His chief hobby in politics is that which tends toward the further development and progress of his people. He is destined to play no little part in the attainment of this country's commer-
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COMMERCIAL HISTORY
cial supremacy. It can not be truthfully said that his is precisely the same nature and spirit that characterized the Southerner whose best days were before and immediately after the war. The era of commercialism has not taken away the old-time hospitality from his heart, has not removed the latch-string from his door, nor lost for him the high sense of honor or chiv- alric ideas that were so characteristic of the past.
With respect and deference to all the traditions of that past, one must agree that in many respects he is a different man. The Southerner of to-day is no longer content with spending his industrial energies wholly on agricultural pursuits. as did his baronial father and grandfather. They were willing to walk over hidden treasures and leave them undisturbed. He had determined to dig them up and have the world share in his bounty. He has discovered more than any one else perhaps how lavish Dame Nature was in dealing with him, and he has profited much by the discovery. Consequently the picture of the South to-day is quite different from that one presented forty years ago. Great acres that were covered then with forests are now open fields of waving wheat and corn. The sunny sky has become clouded somewhat with the smoke from numerous factories. The miner and his pick is no unusual sight. The whir of the loom and the buzz of the saw have been mingled with the song of the darkey picking his cotton and plowing his corn. Where there was one industry forty years ago to attract attention, now there is a score or more. For the last ten years the Southerner has gone about his work practically, using advanced methods and persistent energy, and the report of the late census is something beyond the estimate of the most sanguine of the prophets who forty years ago dreamed of what his future might be. The man of the South to-day is characterized by broadness in his views and liberality of thought. In his desire for the best legislation he seeks above all things for the public good. His views are expressed without rancor or show of selfishness. He is not overconfident. He is keenly alive to the fact that with all of his growth in the past and his present prosperous condition, he is to-day but laying the foundation for greater things to come. He is sowing seed - his chil-
dren shall reap the harvest. Therefore he is desirous that the rights of capital shall be guarded as well as the privileges of the laborer. He is providing well for a necessarily great increase of population in the South within the next few years, and is making room for a larger consumption of home products. He has profited by the experience of other sections, and is trying to avoid the mistakes which were unavoidably made in the earlier history of his industrial growth.
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