USA > Kentucky > History of Kentucky, Volume II > Part 25
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80 Kentucky Gazette, April 4, 1839.
31 Editorial in Kentucky Gazette, March 28, 1839. For other town rivalries, see Ibid., Sept. 20 et seq. 1820.
32 Lexington Observer and Reporter, Jan. 1, 1845. Message to the Legislature, De- cember 31, 1844.
33 Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 78. Also see Ibid., 41, 46, 540. Individuals had expended by 1837 almost $2,000,000. Ibid., 540.
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HISTORY OF KENTUCKY
that the state would be able to sell the power at each of the dams in the Kentucky River for from $3,000 to $12,000 annually. The fact was that about one-fortieth of that amount was realized.34 The returns to the state on its investment in turnpikes ranged from 4.02 per cent to .09 per cent. On a majority of the roads it made less than I per cent.35 Despite these low returns, the people had a feeling that tolls were too high, and there were frequently complaints that any tolls at all should be exacted. In 1848, ministers on duty were allowed to travel the state roads free of tolls.36 The internal improvements bonds at first were eagerly bought up by the Eastern market, $100,000 being sold in New York at a premium of $3.10, but within a half dozen years the outside market had vanished and the governor of the state was begging wealthy Kentuckians to sub- scribe for them.
Hard times in 1842 caused many people to examine more closely into the wisdom of impoverishing the state on internal improvements that were after all not meeting expectations. Governor Letcher, in his mes- sage to the Legislature, December 31, 1842, threw out a caution against further expenditures beyond what was absolutely necessary to carry out the projects then under contract.37 Many members of the Legislature advocated the abandonment of the whole system, while others would finish the projects then under contract.38 The latter policy finally pre- vailed, resulting in a further appropriation of $420,000 for the purpose.39 More expenditures in projects, with little earning power, soon ran the stocks in internal improvement projects down to from 25 cents to 30 cents on the dollar by 1851.40
In 1847 the Legislature passed a resolution looking toward the con- clusion of the internal improvement program. The Board of Internal Improvements was requested to report on what parts of roads and con- necting links should be completed, without further expanding the system. It was stated that Kentucky "has expended large amounts of money in the construction of Turnpike roads, many of which have been left in- complete, and some of them with only short intervals between long lines of finished road, whereby the usefulness of the improved parts of said road is greatly impaired and the productiveness of said roads diminished." It was further resolved that it would be impolitic to complete all of the contemplated roads.11 The whigs had made internal improvements their chief concern and while enthusiasm ran high for these works they en- joyed a valuable political asset, but when the day of turnpikes and rivers was waning, it was easy for the democrats to point to the large public debt incurred in these undertakings, which had not fulfilled the glowing prophesies of a decade and a half ago. In 1851 the democrats indicted the whigs on their internal improvement folly thus: "They built locks and dams on two rivers, and made patches of turnpike roads here and there in the state, and then sank down exhausted with the mighty effort. . Since then they have been engaged in the laudable work of devising ways and means of paying the interest of the debt created on the mem- orable occasion." 42
Methods of transportation are constantly in a process of change and development. The era of river and turnpike expansion had scarcely
34 Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 545, 549.
35 Ibid., 541. During the year of 1843, the state received from all of her turn- pike holdings $18,805.01, from the Kentucky River, $10,863.85, and from the Green and Barren rivers, $4,515.16. Lexington Observer and Reporter, Jan. 1, 1844. 36 Ibid., 56.
37 Frankfort, Commonwealth, Jan. 4, 1842.
38 Ibid., March 8, 1842.
39 Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 47.
40 Ibid., 63.
41 Acts of Kentucky, 1847, p. 385.
42 Kentucky Yeoman, Jan. 16, 1851.
Vol. II-11
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begun in Kentucky when a new challenge was thrown out. The fame of the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad in England reached America in the later '20s and fired the imagination of the restless would-be cap- tains of industry. Many immediately began preparations to build rail- roads and then to find out what they were. Lexingtonians, with their characteristic energy and initiative, were among the first in the West to agitate the subject. In 1830 they secured a charter from the Legislature to build a railroad from Lexington to some point, to be determined, on the Ohio River. The capitalization was fixed at $1,000,000, with the right of the directors to increase it to $2,000,000. For a time Cincinnati was looked upon as a likely objective, but Louisville (shipping port be- low the falls) was later determined upon. Subscription books were opened in early February (1830) and before two o'clock of the first day $204,000 was subscribed. There seemed to be no doubt among the people of this region that a railroad would be an unqualified success. The Reporter said, commenting on the first day's subscription : "These liberal subscriptions by persons who have carefully investigated the sub- ject afford conclusive proof that they consider the project not only a feasible one, but one that offers to the Capitalist an opportunity for a profitable investment of funds." 43 Preparations were soon under way to begin work on this road, to be called the Lexington and Ohio Rail- road. Henry Clay was actively interested in it and was chairman of the board of stockholders. He declared in a meeting in the spring of 1831 that his friends had subscribed for him a considerable amount of stock; in fact, more than he had at first believed he should hold, but his faith in the ultimate success of the venture was so strong that he had now determined to retain all that had been subscribed for him. The Town of Lexington became a stockholder to the amount of $25,000.44
Actual work was begun on the road to Frankfort in October, 1831. Tremendous enthusiasm prevailed, and a great celebration was held for the laying of the first "stone" and the driving of the first "nail." A long pageant parade formed and marched to the Transylvania College campus. Three military companies took part, and the political leaders and important organizations of the state participated. Governor Met- calfe, Col. Leslie Combs, Underwood and Buckner of the Court of Ap- peals, R. M. Johnson, R. P. Letcher and T. A. Marshall, members of Congress, and numerous lesser leaders, as members of the Legislature and lower courts, all were present. According to the account of the day : "For many years we have not witnessed so imposing a pageant and never one more interesting." Seven salutes were fired for the seven sections of the road that were to begin building immediately. All the church bells of the town were rung, prayer was said, and then the governor of the state "drove the nail attaching the first iron rail to the beginning stone sill." "Hail Columbia" and "Yankee Doodle" were played by the band.45
Work was carried forward rapidly, and by 1835 the road had been completed to Frankfort. A brief contemporary description of the struc- ture of the road follows: "The superstructure consists of a continuous line (single track) of hard, gray limestone sills, the cube of which may be estimated at 200 inches, varying in length from 4 to 20 feet. These sills are embedded, 16 inches below the surface, in broken stone of the same description, 5 perches of which to a rod of road, reduced to a size not exceeding 4 ounces in weight, are used in bedding the sills and in macadamizing the horse-path; horse-power in the first instance being intended." 46 Horse power was supplanted by a steam locomotive upon
43 Feb. 10, 1830.
44 Niles' Register, Vol. 40, p. 181.
45 Reporter, Oct. 28, 1831.
46 American Almanac, 1833, p. 221.
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the completion of the road, the equipment being manufactured in Lexing- ton itself.47 This road was important enough to soon have a disastrous wreck, in which one person was killed and others seriously injured. The account in the Argus said: "On the return, two burden cars, used as passenger cars, were placed in front of the locomotive, and became in some way entangled with each other in such a manner that one was forced off the road, with all its crowd of passenger, the wheels of the car rolling through them in dreadful confusion." This happened on Sunday, and the more religious observers were not slow to ascribe the catastrophe to the wrath of God.48
At the same time that work was begun on the portion of the route between Lexington and Frankfort, preparations were made to begin build- ing through Louisville to Frankfort. The city authorities and the railroad company were unable to agree on a route through the city for months, and it appeared that no agreement could ever be reached, so in 1833 a commit- tee of the Legislature was constituted and appointed to select the route. A short line was finally built from Sixth Street to Portland, but the people were violently opposed to the running of trains over it. It was claimed that the road was a menace to the city, that it endangered life, depre- ciated property, and injured business. Some of the more irate ceased to argue, and threatened to tear up the track. Resort was speedily had to the courts, where an injunction was granted. It was then appealed to the Court of Appeals by the railroad company, where the action of the lower court was reversed. Louisville had surprisingly failed to catch the spirit of the times in her senseless opposition to railways. Lexington, ever alert and progressive, said that she admired "the spirit and enter- prise of the Louisvillians," but warned them "that the city will not maintain her present ascendency unless she discards the apathy which strangely seems to pervade her at present." 49 While Lexington had boldly pushed the road to Frankfort, Louisville not only did not help
47 The Lexington and Ohio Railroad was not the first railroad to be built in the West or even in Kentucky. A small railroad operated by horse-power was con- structed and put into working in Bowling Green in 1832. Collins, History of Ken- tucky, II, 747. The Lexington and Ohio was also preceded by the Pontchartrain Railroad in Louisiana both in the date of the charter (one week) and the comple- tion of the road. True it was, however, that these roads were insignificant when compared to the Lexington road.
48 Jan. 28, 1835. The wreck occurred on the 25th. The Baltimore American gave the following account: "The introduction of an elegant locomotive upon the road had attracted a crowd to witness its operations. Two burden cars, fitted with only a temporary bench and without side railings, were in the train attached to the locomotives, which made its trip of six miles out in safety. On the return the train, filled with passengers, was pushed before the locomotive, and in passing a curve the wheels of one of the cars was jerked off the road creating a considerable shock to the whole train. Some of the passengers on the two burden cars attempted to jump off, the ground being nearly on a level with the road at the place; others, especially those standing on the forward burden car, were thrown backwards and knocked off. those near the edge of it under the wheels of the other; some, attempting to leap on the bank, fell and rolled down, and thus all the mischief was done. Lewis Lonkard and Leonard Taylor, of Lexington, William A. Cocke and Joseph Holt, of Louisville, F. W. Trapnall, of Springfield, and Daniel Green, of Fayette County, were in this way thrown off the forward burden car under the wheels of the other. Lonkard was instantly killed; Taylor and Green had each a leg broken ; Messrs. Trapnall and Holt were severely bruised, and were probably saved by Lonkard's falling before them, and in some degree stopping the car. Mr. Cocke had his right foot firmly fastened in the forward wheel of the hindmost car, and was much injured, and but for the presence of mind and promptness of the engineer in stopping at the moment, must have lost his leg, and most probably his life; another quarter turn of the wheel would have been fatal. He could be only released by taking that part of the car to pieces. Several gentlemen were bruised and slightly injured. The Lexington Observer, from which we derive this account, says that none of the cars turned over, and if the burden cars had been substantially railed round, or if only passenger cars had been used, or all had been drawn and not pushed, nothing serious would have been the consequence." Quoted in Niles' Register, Vol. 47, pp. 412, 413. 4ยบ Editorial in Kentucky Gazette, Dec., 1835.
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HISTORY OF KENTUCKY
in building the link from her limits to Frankfort, but had thus actually retarded the work. While Lexington was going forward in the develop- ment which was destined to remake the transportation facilities of the state and nation, Louisville was resting content with her river traffic. No extension of this short line in the city was made, and in 1844 it was transferred to a group known as the Louisville and Portland Railroad Company. This road was in fact little more than a street railway.50 In 1847 the unbuilt line of the Lexington and Ohio Railroad between Louis- ville and Frankfort was taken up by another company, which was incor- porated by the Legislature under the name of the Louisville and Frank- fort Railroad Company. Work was started soon thereafter, and in 1851 the road was completed, thus giving for the first time railway connec- tions between Lexington and a point on the Ohio River. The Lexington branch soon ceased to bear the old name of Lexington and Ohio and be- came the Lexington and Frankfort Railroad. In 1867 the two links were consolidated under the same management and ownership and were called the Louisville, Cincinnati and Lexington Railroad.51
About the time the Lexington and Ohio had been completed to Frank- fort, another project was brought forward and attracted much attention, especially in Lexington. This was the so-called Louisville. Cincinnati and Charleston Railroad, which was being projected by such leaders in South Carolina as Hayne and Calhoun, for political as well as commer- cial purposes.52 These far-sighted statesmen would thus more completely bind the West and the South together. This road was given a charter for Kentucky link by the Legislature, with a capitalization of $6,000,000. In order to placate the rivalry of certain cities, the road was to branch out at Lexington, with lines going to Louisville, Covington or Newport, and Maysville. Lexington would be the strategic center of this system in the state and was consequently much elated over the prospect. The Fayette County Court directed the issuance of $100,000 of bonds to aid the project, and in August, 1838, a great railroad festival was held in Lexington to arouse enthusiasm and support.33 A large barbecue was given, at which from 2,000 to 3.000 people were present. Among the speakers were Robert Y. Hayne, of South Carolina, and Judge Reese, of Tennessee. Henry Clay, John J. Crittenden, Richard M. Johnson, Chas. A. Wickliffe and Thomas Metcalfe and other distinguished Ken- tuckians were also there. According to the Kentucky Gazette: "The almost unanimous sentiment appeared to be enthusiastically in favor of the great work which is to strengthen the honds of union between the South and the West, and to make Kentucky what the God of her crea- tion designed-the finest portion of the habitable globe." 54 Hard times following the panic of 1837 were largely responsible for the failure of this project at this time. The idea was revived shortly before the Civil war, but the panic of 1847 and the war soon thereafter brought about a definite termination.35
50 History of the Ohio Falls Cities and their Counties, I. 57. 58.
51 History of the Ohio Falls Cities and their Counties, I, 58, 59; article on early railroads of Kentucky in Caurier-Journal July 15, 1883; Collins, History of Kentucky, I. 54, passim; J. H. Ellis, "In the Days of Auld Lang Syne" 14 pp. ( Pamphlet ad- dress at the Fourth Annual Banquet of the L. & N. Traffic Club, February 21, 1914. at the Seelbach Hotel, Louisville) ; Capt. Alfred Pirtle, "Early Railroading in Ken- tucky" in Engineers and Architects Club of Louisville, Papers and Reports, 1911. pp. 5-15; Capt. Alfred Pirtle, "Some Early Engineers and Architects in Kentucky" in The Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society, Vol. 12, No. 36 (Septem- ber. 1914), pp. 37-53.
52 This was the railroad corporation that attempted to secure a charter for the Southwestern railroad bank, heretofore noted.
53 Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 40, 41, 43. Also see Railroad Proceedings and Address of Fultan and Vicinity to the People af Ohio (Cincinnati, 1835).
54 Aug. 30, 1838.
55 The idea of such a road was, however, never lost. The bitter struggle and the
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HISTORY OF KENTUCKY
From the chartering of the Lexington and Ohio Railroad to its com- pletion, the people of the state were watching the progress of its con- struction, some doubting even that a road could be built at all, and many more believing that trains could not be successfully run if it were com- pleted. Moreover, the era of state aid to internal improvements had just begun when the Lexington and Ohio was completed, and the great amount of capital in the state would yet drift into rivers and turnpikes, certain developments, rather than into railroads, yet to be tried. Therefore, not until the '40s did the railroads come into their own and hold the stage, for directly previous was the hey-dey of internal improvements. Just as Lexington had begun the railroad movement, so was she foremost in carrying it forward later. Her location in the center of the richest and most progressive part of the state gave her a strategic position in the location of nearly every important line, for almost every railroad that should be projected by the other cities would of necessity run through Lexington, and thus the interests of this city were rarely pitted in rivalry with the other cities.
One of the first important projected routes to receive general interest after the Lexington and Ohio had been completed to Frankfort was a line from Louisville to Lexington and on to the mouth of the Big Sandy River, there to connect with a railroad which it was hoped Virginia would build on to the seaboard at Norfolk. In 1839 the Legislature suggested that such a survey should be made, as a road along this line would prove of commanding importance- it would in fact be the great highway con- necting Kentucky with the East. In the estimation of the Legislature this route would give Kentticky a commanding position in the markets of the east, and with remarkable foresight, adduced in reality by the early experiences of the Kentucky people, the Legislature also saw the great value of this road in case of a war that might close the lower Mississippi. By starting at Louisville, this road would also connect the railways of the Northwest with the East.56 Nothing of importance was done at this time, but this was a logical trade route that would some time have to be developed. Interest was continuous ; it could not die. Finally, in 1852, the main idea was carried out in the chartering of the Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad. Great enthusiasm prevailed at the terminal points and all along the way. Lexington voted bonds to the amount of $150,000, while Clark County voted $200,000 of bonds. Work was begun at Cattletsburg in November, 1853, amidst elaborate ceremonies and much speech-mak- ing. Trouble was encountered at the start on the Lexington end. That city refused to issue the bonds on the grounds that the company had not carried out the contract. The case entered the courts and was finally settled in favor of the railroad. In 1855 work was begun at Lexington and pushed forward toward Mount Sterling; but before the Civil war the whole project had failed, and the road was sold in 1860 for $60,000. For nine years war and its aftermath caused the abandonment of the project ; but in 1869 it was revived under the name of Elizabethtown, Lexington and Big Sandy. Enthusiasm ran high again with Lexington and Fayette County each voting $25,000 aid in bonds. Work was begun in 1871 at both ends of the line, and finally the line was completed and today bears the name of Chesapeake and Ohio.57
Interest was also early and persistent in another line in the same gen- eral direction. The road was projected from Lexington to the Cumber- land Gap. there to tap the road from East Tennessee to Virginia. This road would accomplish the same general purpose of the Lexington and
ultimate construction of the Cincinnati Southern Railroad was a consummation of this same project. This subject will be treated at length hereafter.
56 Acts of Kentucky, 1838, pp. 391, 392. Resolution dated Feb. 23.
57 Ranck, History of Lexington, 366, 367; Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 66, 68; Engineers and Architects Club of Louisville Papers and Reports, 1911, p. 13.
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HISTORY OF KENTUCKY
Big Sandy, but in a more round short way. In 1853 a widely attended meeting to promote this project was held in Richmond where delegates from North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Ohio came together. De- spite much agitation extending for years thereafter, this road was not built as such.58 Railroads were really carrying out in a much more com- plete fashion the purposes that had been held in view in the construction of the turnpikes. Just as Lexington had sought turnpike connections with Cincinnati, now she would have a railroad. The earliest road chartered to carry out this project was the old Licking and Lexington Railroad, chartered in 1847. But like many another paper railroad of this period, it soon changed in name and management ; and by 1851, under the name of Covington and Lexington it was in process of organization. In this year Fayette County voted $200,000 of bonds in its aid. By this time the road had been completed to Cynthiana where a barbecue was held to celebrate the event. This road was later called the Kentucky Central and came to be a line of great importance and strategic value in the Civil war. It was extended southward to Nicholsville, not far beyond which place the gorge of the Kentucky River held up its further extension for years. Danville, which was the next town in the line of this road, hoped to extend it on to the Tennessee line, and as early as 1853 Casey and Cumberland counties voted to tax themselves to aid in building this link. This great north and south route, which in its larger aspects was a connection between the Ohio valley and the South Atlantic region, was finally railed in the Cincinnati Southern and its rival the Louisville and Nashville.59
Another important connection of Lexington's with the driving force coming principally from Maysville was the Maysville and Lexington Railroad. This was merely bringing the old route of the Maysville Turnpike up to date. The beginning of this road was celebrated in Maysville in 1851 with Charles S. Morehead as the principal orator of the day. Maysville was a plucky town and deserved a better fate than the lines of trade and economic development have made her. At this celebration Lexington was not forgotten as the pioneer city of the West in railroad building. This road was pushed rapidly forward in the characteristic Maysville way, and by Christmas day, 1853, trains were running over it to Paris where it stopped as it here tapped the Lexington and Covington Railroad (Kentucky Central).60
Maysville also hoped to extend her iron tentacles eastward and this she prepared to do in the Maysville and Big Sandy railroad. In 1853 Mason County voted $100,000 to aid this project. Some construction work was begun, but hard times and various other factors soon brought about its abandonment. With much the same history as the Lexington and Big Sandy, it was revived after the Civil war under the name of Kentucky and Great Eastern, finally was built and is today part of the Chesapeake and Ohio system).61
By 1850 Louisville had shaken off the lethargy and even opposition to railroads which had characterized her attitude in the '30s, and in this year she took steps toward the construction of a line directly south- ward to Tennessee, the celebrated Louisville and Nashville, which was to become a line of commanding importance in the state and around which all Western Kentucky centered for years. As this road was not finished until the eve of the Civil war, and as its great role in the history of transportation in the state was not assumed until the conflict
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