USA > Michigan > Monroe County > History of Monroe County, Michigan : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests Volume I > Part 47
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
partly open, and the glass panel unbroken. A young man named Durell, watchman, who slept in the directors' room in the rear, connected with the banking office by two doors, was awakened, he states, by the opening of the front door, and with his revolver in hand, partly rose, and peered through the connecting door into the bank, while the robbers, three in number, suddenly confronted him with their pistols, and com- manded silence, and bound him securely, bandaged his eyes, and carried him into the front office. A wagon was heard to drive up the street door, and directly two or three bundles or bags were brought into the bank, and active operations at once began.
"There was no vault in this bank, but the funds and other valuables were kept in two large safes, which, while formidable in appearance, were very old-fashioned affairs, which would offer no great obstacle to the skilled burglar. In one of these which stood in the rear room, was a large amount of currency, bonds, and some specie; a portion of which was on special deposit at owners' risk, totaling some $25,000 or $30,000. This safe was at once attacked, the hinges knocked off with sledge hammers, the plates drilled and what must have been a large quantity of powerful explosives, forced into the door. When all was ready, the operators all retired into the front room, when, almost imme- diately a terrific explosion took place, shaking the building to its founda- tion and shattering the safe, woodwork and glass windows. The inner compartments of the safe were opened by the means of crow bars and chisels and access gained to the funds, which were removed, to the last dollar; within a quarter of an hour, the bound watchman said, the entire gang, with their plunder were leaving the place.
"Just before the work upon the safe began, two of the robbers ex- plored the building, stairway, and hall on the second floor. Here they found an old man named Phillips, who had taken refuge there for the night ; him they secured and took inside the bank, placing him alongside the watchman, neither of the two captives were treated harshly they state. Near the bank is a livery stable in the office of which was a watch dog, which they silenced with a ball from one of their revolvers. There were two men sleeping there, who were bound fast, and cautioned to make no sound, on peril of their lives.
"The scene of the explosion in the bank was one of utter destruction and wreck. The heavy door of the safe was blown against the opposite wall of the room, fifteen feet away, and debris of all kinds filled the space. A clock which hung in the room stopped at 2:30, doubtless indi- cating the time of the explosion. Tools of the burglars were left scat- tered about, together with tin cans and boxes. There were probably fifty people sleeping within a hundred feet of the bank building; but not more than five were sufficiently aroused to realize that something of a startling character was going on, but none of these investigated the cause. It is supposed that the burglars, after leaving the bank scattered in different directions. The wagon heard by Durell, was again heard leaving the bank, where it had evidently remained, during the robbery ; this probably conveyed away a part of the gang, while a hand car that was missed in the morning from the railroad station, took the remainder. The horse and wagon had been stolen from a farmer near Monroe, and was left by the thieves about three miles from the city."
No trace of the burglars, further than this, was ever found, though two or three arrests were made of suspects, and not a dollar of the money recovered. Taking into consideration all the circumstances of the robbery, the location of the bank, in the very heart of the business section, the apparently reckless manner of procedure of the criminals and their leisurely treatment of the job, the risks taken, it may be classed
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as one of the boldest robberies that ever occurred in Michigan. No public statement was made of the total amount of the loss, but the finan- cial standing of the bank was not affected in the least, nor was there any special uneasiness manifested by depositors as to the security of the institution.
BURGLARY OF LA FOUNTAIN & LORANGER BANK
The private bank of La Fountain & Loranger, was also the victim of burglars about ten years later. In this instance entrance to the bank was gained by cutting out an opening in the floor of the bank, from the basement beneath. The safe or vault was blown and the contents re- moved, without disturbance to the sleeping neighbors, and the burglars escaped without molestation, with a large amount of money and se- curities. This bank occupied the ground floor of the southeast corner of Front and Monroe streets, the most prominent business corner in the city. In this case as in that of the First National Bank, no clew to the burglars was ever found.
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CHAPTER XXVIII
COMMERCIAL DEPRESSIONS
DEPRESSIONS OF 1819-22-REVIVALS OF 1824 AND 1827-WILD-CAT SCHEMES AND PANIC OF 1837-"UPS AND DOWNS (1839-56) -PANIC OF 1857-PERIODS OF COMMERCIAL DEPRESSIONS.
The panic of 1819 caused by the inflation of the currency, succeed- ing the War of 1812, began to be felt uncomfortably about the first of April of the former year, when the Bank of the United States set about putting its affairs in order, and uncovered the rottenness of New York, Philadelphia and Boston banks.
DEPRESSIONS OF 1819-22
Monroe was more or less affected, because the disturbance inter- fered with the settlement of the territory, and delayed the emigration which had begun to set in towards this place. By the month of August in that year, the business of the country was prostrated. In the then small city of Philadelphia there were twenty thousand people throng- ing the streets looking for employment. Thirty traders of that city which usually employed about ten thousand persons reduced their combined force to two thousand with the same ratio prevailing in the other large cities of the east. There were a few failures among the dealers in Detroit, but Monroe, being a very small community, with no manufacturing at all worth mentioning, and but small general stores, catering only to the people who bought the simple necessaries of life, did not suffer materially, except in the manner stated, in the falling off in the number of emigrants from the east. This, however, was serious enough because there were no signs of a general revival of business until June, 1821. By October, the movement was fairly started toward better times. A set-back, however, was experienced in December, 1822, when a reaction in manufacturing occurred, which reduced prices sharply, amounting, in a case of cotton goods to as much as fifty per cent.
REVIVALS OF 1824 AND 1827
Business recovered from this, and went on improving rapidly. The general prosperity was very marked in 1824, and everything was going on swimmingly. In 1826 a panic was caused by commercial and financial disturbances in England, which was felt quite severely in this country, and lasted through the years 1826 and 1827.
In the latter part of the year a revival in business came, and the country entered upon a period of prosperity; business increased rap- idly, with but few temporary stringencies, in which Monroe and all western towns participated, and in this year there were many arrivals
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
of business men and farmers to engage in business and in the general movement to build up the west; and of others, seeking farming lands. mill sites, etc.
WILD-CAT SCHEMES AND PANIC OF 1837
It was during this period that many wild-cat schemes were exploited in this neighborhood, which by their impracticable and visionary na- ture, met disaster and ruin, carrying with them other more meritorious enterprises. Monroe had its share of these schemes, and became so involved that when the panic of 1837 struck, which was one of the most disastrous that was ever precipitated upon the country, it was in a deplorable condition, many fortunes were wiped out, and young and growing business firms were reduced to bankruptcy. The brunt of the crash occurred in the great centers of trade, as usual, especially severe in New York, in March; and by April, the whole country succumbed. This depression continued throughout 1837, but the following year the sun began to shine through the dark clouds, trade revived, and the banks generally resumed specie payments in August. Matters began to assume a little brighter aspect for the struggling towns west of Buffalo.
"UPS AND DOWNS" (1839-56)
This however sustained a disastrous check in 1839, caused by the de- fective banking system, or lack of systems, and the irresponsible meth- ods by which so-called banks were allowed to begin and conduct busi- ness. A special chapter is devoted to this period, during which 543 of the 850 banks then doing business were wiped out of existence and entailed wide spread disaster and losses. With its wonderful recuper- ative powers, the country, again got upon its feet, and passed two years of prosperity.
In 1843 a revolution took place which lasted throughout the year, and which was very seriously felt in the west. The years 1844 and 1845 saw a great betterment of conditions; financial institutions were upon a more substantial and conservative basis, and confidence was restored to a satisfactory extent. This comfortable state continued until 1851, where it received a temporary chill, encountered a mild panic, which fortunately was not of long duration, and the years 1855 and 1856 were very prosperous seasons.
PANIC OF 1857
During 1857, the farmers suffered severely from bad crops, and consequently this had its logical effect upon the business of the coun- try. Great uneasiness prevailed and apprehensions of trouble which finally came on the 24th of August, when the Ohio Life and Trust Company of Cincinnati failed with $7,000,000 of liabilities. This started the ball rolling, and between the 12th of September and the 13th of October, the banks of Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, the New York banks with the exception of the Chemical Bank, all suspended payment, followed within a few days by all the Boston banks. The ex- citement in the country was unparalleled, and the business in the west was prostrated. This marked the climax of the trouble. On December 11th the New York banks resumed specie payment, and others followed along one after another. Another of the wonderful exhibitions of the vitality and energy and hopefulness of the business communities was fur- nished in the rapid revival of business which ensued.
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY PERIODS OF COMMERCIAL DEPRESSIONS
A recapitulation of the foregoing shows that the length of commercial depressions has been in duration as follows : That of 1819, two years ; 1825, two years and a half; 1837, one year and a half; 1843, one year; 1853, six months; 1857, six months.
CHAPTER XXIX HARBOR AND TRANSPORTATION
RAILROADS TRAVERSING THE COUNTY-FIRST NORTHWESTERN RAILROAD OPERATED-THE MICHIGAN SOUTHERN RAILROAD-ERIE AND KALAMA- ZOO RAILROAD COMPANY INCORPORATED-FOURTH YEAR OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN-RAILROAD UNDER WAY AT LAST (DETROIT, MONROE, ADRIAN )-DETROIT AND CHICAGO-MAUMEE BRANCH RAILROAD COM- PANY-RIVER RAISIN AND GRAND RIVER RAILROAD-MANHATTAN AND HAVRE RAILROAD-LA PLAISANCE BAY HARBOR COMPANY-NORTIIERN DIVISION OF THE DETROIT, MONROE AND TOLEDO-LA PLAISANCE BAY- THE SHIP CANAL-THE TRANSPORTATION BUSINESS FOR 1912.
Monroe county does not lack ample transportation facilities; not less than eight railroad lines intersecting it in all directions, and few portions of it are beyond the sound of the locomotive whistle and the roar of the numerous heavily laden trains as they whirl through the county every hour of the day. Thriving villages and many passenger and freight stations have sprung up along their pathway to facilitate and augment the substantial growth and development, where but a comparatively few years ago stood the great forests in their primeval and luxuriant splendor, where the only highways were Indian trails.
RAILROADS TRAVERSING THE COUNTY
Parallel with the western shore of Lake Erie and separated by a dis- tance of but a few rods or a half mile, the Lake Shore Railroad, and the Michigan Central traverse the county from north to south, between De- troit and Toledo; while still another line, the Detroit and Toledo Shore Line parallels both the former.
The latter road was built either as an independent line or as a branch of the Wabash Railroad, to give it a terminal in Detroit, and it was un- doubtedly contemplated to include the operation of an electric local line, for it was double tracked and fully equipped for both steam and elec- tricity, and provided with station buildings at the principal towns, along the line. The plans for electric service were later changed and the equipment sold to the Detroit United Railway and a portion of it utilized on their line from Monroe to Detroit. The whole property and franchise of the Shore Line was afterwards sold to the Grand Trunk Railroad Sys- tem, and has since been operated by that company, exclusively as a freight line, no passenger service having ever been installed between De- troit and Toledo.
To the westward, the Pere Marquette Railroad enters the county from the north, swings to the southeast near Monroe, and passes through the western portion of the city about a mile west of the Lake Shore tracks, of the Detroit division-and crosses the main line of this road a few rods south of its passenger station, which is located on Front street a short distance from the River Raisin.
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
The Detroit, Toledo and Ironton, formerly the Detroit and Lima Northern Railroad enters the county from the west; from Dundee it turns northeast, crossing the Pere Marquette at the village of Carleton, and enters Wayne county at the northeast corner of the township of Ash. This line has always experienced serious difficulties arising from the fact that it had no suitable connections at either its north or south terminal, and was sadly handicapped by lack of adequate capital, and limited patronage. In 1812 the courts ordered it to close its business and to cease running trains because it had no means of serving the pub- lic; the only logical outcome seems to be a sale or lease of the property to the Pennsylvania System by which the latter could secure a much needed entrance to Detroit from the south.
The Ann Arbor railroad, heading for Toledo passes in nearly an exact northeast and southwestern line through the townships of Milan and Dundee, to its junction at Alexis with the Pere Marquette; nearly par- allel with it the Toledo-Adrian branch of the Lake Shore cuts the ex- treme southwestern corner of the county. The original main line of the Lake Shore, from Monroe to Adrian now designated as the Monroe- Adrian branch, (which historic line will be noticed, at length, further along) is the only line running east and west, within the limits of the county, passing through Ida, Petersburg, and crossing the Ann Arbor road at Federman.
FIRST NORTHWESTERN RAILROADS OPERATED
The two roads, branches of the Lake Shore, running from Monroe to Adrian, and from Toledo to Adrian have an extraordinary historical interest, being the first railroads to be built and operated in the north- west.
The Toledo-Adrian road was built by private capital in 1835 or 1836, and was called the Erie and Kalamazoo Railroad. Its charter permitted the building and operating railroads, not only, but banking privileges, as well, including the right to issue its own currency, of which the own- ers eagerly took advantage and put out a large amount of very hand- somely engraved notes, which circulated freely for a time. There is not much doubt that the banks of that time were far better prepared to issue their bank notes than they were to redeem them when presented for re- demption.
The first facilities offered by this line for transportation, were ex- tremely crude; the cars, what few there were, hauled by horses, over wooden rails which were replaced later by the old "strap rail," and the first locomotive appeared in 1835, and was looked upon in amazement by the inhabitants along the line, as one of the "Seven Wonders of the World."
The road from Monroe to Adrian was constructed in 1839 by the then infant state of Michigan for the purpose of opening up a system of "In- ternal Improvements" designed to develop the state resources and encour- age the settlement of the interior. The actual necessity of better com- munication throughout the middle northern and eastern portion of the state led to a measure which for many years, kept down the credit of the state, and crippled its resources, thereby driving away some of its own citizens, and effectually preventing the growth of its population by in- crease from abroad. This was the determination to borrow $5,000,000 to be expended in various public works. It was expected that by the aid of this sum, together with such donations as might be received from the government of the United States, three trunk railroads could be built across the state, two canals made, several rivers improved and made
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
navigable, some small railroads finished, and a ship canal opened around the falls of the St. Mary's river. A board of commissioners of internal improvement had already been appointed. On the 20th of March, 1837, this board was instructed to proceed with a survey of three railroad routes across the peninsula. The first was the Michigan Central from Detroit to the mouth of the St. Joseph river in Berrien county. The second was the Southern to run from the mouth of the River Raisin, through Monroe, to New Buffalo. The third route was the Northern, to run from Palmer, or Port Huron to Grand Rapids or Grand Haven. The purchase was first to be made of the Detroit and St. Joseph Railroad, which had been partially built through Washtenaw county; $550,000 was appropriated for these roads at once; $400,000 for the Central, $100,000 for the Southern, (both of which included private railroads to be purchased) and $50,000 for the Northern road; $20,000 was appropriated for surveys of a canal, or combined canal and railway, from Mt. Clemens to the mouth of Kalamazoo river, a canal from Saginaw river to Maple or Grand river; and river surveys on the St. Joseph, Kalamazoo and Grand rivers for "slack water" navigation; $75,000 was to be expended on these and other works. The Michigan Central was pushed by slow degrees as far west as Marshall, Calhoun county, and built largely from the earn- ings of the road.
THE MICHIGAN SOUTHERN RAILROAD
The Michigan Southern Railroad, in whose origin and future Monroe was most largely interested, was, as already stated, one of the roads origin- ally projected by the state as part of their system of internal improve- ments, and prosecuted by the state until she failed in her resources and credit; and finally, in the year 1846, sold out to a company incorporated by the name and style of "The Michigan Southern Railroad Company," giving to the company a liberal and perpetual charter, and which, by its terms is not subject to amendment, except with the consent of the com- pany. The road as originally surveyed and laid out by the state, started at Monroe, on La Plaisance Bay, (near the head of Lake Erie) and pur- suing a due west line, passed through the southern tier of counties of Michigan from county seat to county seat, to New Buffalo on Lake Michi- gan its then proposed western terminus.
The organization of the Michigan Southern Railroad Company was effected by the following shareholders who were subscribers to the capital stock in the amounts set opposite their names, viz :
Elisha C. Litchfield, New York 1,000 shares
W. A. Richmond, Buffalo 500 shares
Charles Noble, Monroe 400 shares
T. B. Van Brunt, Monroe 250 shares
G. W. Strong, Monroe
200 shares
Dan'l S. Bacon, Monroe 200 shares
C. W. Ferris, Detroit 200 shares
Charles T. Mitchell, Hillsdale 200 shares
Henry Waldron, Hillsdale
120 shares
Thomas G. Cole, Monroe
100 shares
Morton & Wing, Monroe
100 shares
Noble & Sterling, Monroe
100 shares
Samuel J. Holley, Monroe
100 shares
James J. Godfroy, Monroe 100 shares
James Nelson, Monroe 100 shares
Fifield & Sterling, Monroe
100 shares
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
Ambrose Beach, Monroe 100 shares
N. B. Kidder, Monroe 100 shares
Stephen G. Clarke, Monroe 50 shares
Charles G. Johnson, Monroe 50 shares
Harry V. Mann, Monroe 50 shares
Geo. Landon, Monroe 50 shares
William M. Smith, Monroe 50 shares
Isaac Lewis, Monroe
50 shares
William Mitchell, Monroe 20 shares
A. R. Bentley, Monroe 20 shares
David McCormick, Monroe
20 shares
Hiram Stone, Monroe 50 shares
W. V. Stoddiford, Monroe
50 shares
John G. Miller, Monroe
50 shares
John Burch, Monroe
50 shares
E. G. Morton, Monroe
50 shares
Allen A. Rabineau, Monroe
50 shares
T. E. Wing, Monroe
30 shares
Benjamin Dansard, Monroe
30 shares
William W. Gale, Monroe
30 shares
William P. Gale, Monroe
25 shares
Wedworth W. Wadsworth, Monroe
10 shares
Stillman Blanchard, Monroe
10 shares
Michael Sweeney, Monroe
10 shares
Robert Levington, Monroe
10 shares
Bronson & Colton, Monroe
10 shares
More than one-half being subscribed in Monroe, the first meeting of stockholders was held in Monroe, on December 25, 1846, and elected the following officers : President, James J. Godfroy, of Monroe; treasurer, Elisha C. Litchfield, of Detroit ; general superintendent, Thomas G. Cole, of Monroe.
Officers and directors in 1849: George Bliss, Springfield, Massachu- setts, president ; Elisha C. Litchfield, Detroit, treasurer; Charles Noble, Monroe, secretary ; Charles Butler and Edwin C. Litchfield, New York ; Hugh White, Waterford, New York; John Stryker, Rome, New York; Joel Rathbone, Albany, New York; Charles Seymour, Canandaigua, New York; Elisha C. Litchfield, Detroit, Michigan; Charles Noble, Monroe, Michigan.
At the time of the transfer of the road to the company, the state had completed it from Monroe through Adrian to Hillsdale, a distance of sixty-eight miles and had also completed a branch of ten miles northerly from the main line at Lenawee Junction to Tecumseh, making seventy- eight miles of road actually constructed. On this the state had ex- pended up to the time of its transfer something more than $1,300,000. By the charter the power was vested in the company to extend the road from Hillsdale, westerly to Lake Michigan, either upon the line which had been previously contemplated and surveyed by the state, or any other more southerly line which the company might see fit to adopt. The difficulties in the way of supplying the means for its further exten- sion seemed to be insuperable until the company succeeded in over- coming them by a bond issue.
The road from Monroe to Adrian runs on a line fifteen miles due north of Toledo, on the Maumee bay, at the head of Lake Erie, and the legis- latures of Ohio and Indiana had also at an early day, incorporated the "Buffalo and Mississippi Railroad Company," for the purpose
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
of constructing a road from Toledo on a line due west through the northern counties of Ohio and Indiana to Chicago, at the head of Lake Michigan, thus connecting by a direct line, the heads of Lake Erie and Lake Michigan, and constituting a principal link between the east and west, which seemed to be indispensable, to accommodate the business and travel passing both ways, and increasing rapidly each year. The line of the Buffalo & Mississippi Railroad Company from Toledo to Chicago, was parallel to the line of the Michigan Southern Railroad from lake to lake and only ten to twenty miles distant from it. It was obvious that both these important and expensive routes could not be supported, even if the means could be supplied to construct and equip them. The friends and advocates of each route made strenuous but ineffectual efforts to enlist capital for their respective roads, which seemed to be idle, since it was apparent that neither could succeed while both projects were en- tertained.
In this state of things, the friends of both routes turned their atten- tion to a union of the Toledo road with the Michigan Southern, at Adrian. The surveys showed that starting from Toledo and running northwesterly to Adrian and thence westerly on the line of the Michigan Southern through Hillsdale to Coldwater, and thence in a southwesterly course into Indiana and there adopting the line of the proposed Buffalo and Mississippi railroad, through La Porte to Chicago, would make a difference of less than ten miles in actual length of line, between this route and the direct route from. Toledo to La Porte as proposed by the Buffalo and Mississippi Company, which difference in distance would be more than offset by a saving in the grade for a considerable distance, of fifteen feet per mile, by passing through a country more productive and more densely populated and by avoiding the competition of the eastern division of the Wabash and Erie Canal; and to this was to be added the further important consideration of adopting a line already established and in operation for sixty-eight miles.
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