History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 44

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1358

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Under this authority a contract was negotiated, and concluded on the 22d of November, 1851, with Messrs. H. C. Seymour & Co., of New York, by which they agreed to construct and equip the road from Cincin- nati to St. Louis for nine million dollars, the rela- tive proportions of the cost to be paid by each com- pany, to be determined by the amount of work done and equipment furnished on each division.

At a meeting of the directors of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad Company held on the 7th of September, 1851, Col. John O'Fallon was unani- mously re-elected president; George K. McGunnegle, secretary ; and Sidney Breese, of Illinois, counselor of the company.

At a meeting of the directors held Feb. 2, 1852, it was

" Resolved, That a public demonstration of the commence- ment of the work on the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad be had at Illinoistown on Saturday, the 7th instant, at eleven o'clock A.M., that the secretary request the insertion of a proper notice thereof in all the daily journals in this city, and that in the same an invitation be extended to the Governors of the States of Illinois and Missouri, to the people of these States generally, and to the citizens of St. Louis and Belleville and their public functionaries, and that the president appoint a committee of five to make arrangements for said celebration, and that at the same hour the work be commenced on said road at its intersec- tion with the Central Railroad in Marion County, Ill.

" Resolved, That the secretary of this board communicate with the City Council of the city of St. Louis and request them to take action in aid of said celebration, in such manner as to the Council may seem most proper, in co-operation with the committee appointed by the board."

The resolutions were submitted to the City Council by the secretary of the company, and the invitation accepted by both boards.

The following committees were appointed by the Council to confer with the committee of the railroad company : from the Board of Aldermen, Messrs. An- derson, Sturgeon, Degenhart, and Lynch ; from the Board of Delegates, Messrs. Farrar, Pilkington, Trask, and McKee.1

On Feb. 7, 1852, the ceremony of breaking ground took place according to the announcement.

" About ten or eleven o'clock," says a contemporary account, "a large number of the citizens congregated

1 " On Saturday next at eleven o'clock the construction of this road will be simultaneously commenced in Illinoistown and at its intersection with the Central Railroad in Marion County. The intervention of the telegraph enables the directors to have the work commenced at each point, although far distant, at almost the very same moment of time.

" At the commencement of the construction in Illinoistown there will be present Judge Ellis, the president and father of the enterprise; Professor Mitchell, who has taken from the first a most lively interest in the work ; Mr. Seymour, the contractor for the construction of the entire distance; and the board of directors, at least such of them as are in the city. The public functionaries of Belleville, Collinsville, Alton, and St. Louis will be present."-Republican, Feb. 5, 1852.

Technically, the work had already been commenced. By the contract of Seymour & Co. it was stipulated that the construction of the road should be commenced on or before the 1st day of February, 1851, and "on Saturday last," said the Republican of February 2d, " Mr. Morris, the engineer for the contractors, commenced the construction by breaking ground in Illinois- town. This was necessary on the part of the contractors to save the contract."

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HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

on the ferry-boat, and proceeded across the river to take part in and witness the interesting spectacle. The spot selected for the purpose was within a few rods of the Mississippi, and there, with a plank or two for the wheelbarrows, and an old cart for a ros- trum, the immense work of connecting Cincinnati and St. Louis by railroad was commenced.

" Charles D. Drake announced in a short but witty and pithy spcech the programme of the ceremonies. By the arrangement Col. O'Fallon, as president of the road, opened the business of the day. Having addressed the citizens present on the magnitude of the undertaking and the great results which must follow from its completion, he proceeded to the working part of his duties, and in a few moments had quite a load of sand and gravel for the mayor of the city to wheel off. Col. O'Fallon is one of the oldest inhabitants. Hc has almost grown up with the city, and the past and present in his memory represent two views of the metropolis, one a French village on the borders of civilization, the other a magnificent emporium, the centre of commercial attraction, the nursery of refine- ment and science for an immense area of country, extending north to the Lake of the Woods and west to the Pacific slope. His words on the occasion were few but terse. Like the old Roman general, who was ' no orator,' he seemed to say, ' What others promisc I will do.' Although silvered with the frost of many years, he looks forward to the completion of the work within ' his day.'

" Judge Ellis next took the stand. Hc briefly re- viewed the difficulties encountered thus far in the work, spoke confidently of its completion, and dwelt for a time on the great importance of the road. He assisted Col. O'Fallon in 'breaking ground,' as an earnest that on his section of the line the great under- taking was commenced, to be prosecuted with unabated energy to a full and triumphant completion.

" Mayor Kennett then addressed the assembly, and in some happy remarks, in which he alluded to the progressive links of connection with Illinois, from sand to stone dikes, and now by iron bands, he hoped the tie would ultimately become strong and indisso- luble, wedded by reciprocal interests which nothing should be able to dissever.

" The officers of the Pacific Railroad Company were invited to take part in the ceremonies of the day, and they were accordingly present. The presi- dent, Mr. Allen, expressed his warmest wishes for the success of the enterprise, as one intimately connected with the prosperity of the work over which he pre- sided." Addresses were also delivered by Professor Mitchell and Mr. Seymour, the contractor.

At an election for directors of the company, held Sept. 7, 1852, the following were chosen :

John O'Fallon, Henry D. Bacon, William H. Belcher, Joshua H. Alexander, Joshua B. Brant, Samuel Gaty, Isaac. H. Stur- geon, Abner T. Ellis, Sidney Breese, J. L. D. Morrison, Charles P. Chouteau, Samuel H. Clubb, Alfred Kitchell.

The first section of the road was opened with ap- propriate ceremonies on April 8, 1854.

" At the hour appointed," says a writer in a St. Louis news- paper of April 9th, "we, in company with nine hundred and ninety-nine others, presented ourselves at the office of the com- pany on Fourth Street, and there found some twenty or more omnibuses drawn up in array to receive their freight; from thence a few minutes' ride brought us to the Mill Creek station, where the invited disembarked from the horse conveyances and jumped into the railway cars. Precisely at noon the first train started, and in fifteen minutes was followed by the second.

" The line is of the six-foot or broad gauge, and is built be- tween the banks of the Ohio and the Whitewater Canal, the scenery on both sides being most variedly picturesque. On the train moving the band struck up a lively air, the people thronged the windows, road, and bridges, and amid the vivas of the multitude, the cheers of the passengers, and the firing of cannon the iron horse commenced its trip. All along the line the same gay scene was presented until the cars reached Sedamsville, where the train paused in its progress a few minutes. The band again played, and Mr. Sedam, from the bridge, fired several feu de joies from a small piece of artillery, making the welkin ring again. A short ride from Sedamsville brought us to Industry, a flourishing little town of some fifteen hundred inhabitants. Once again the iron horse moves on through the valley, between the hills of Indiana and Kentucky, till it reaches the bank of the Great Miami, at the junction of the Lawrenceburg and Indianapolis Railroad.

" Here we were met and welcomed by a train from Aurora (our destination), filled with the gallant sons of Indiana. With this accession of numbers the cars crossed the Miami bridge, a plain but substantial and ingeniously built structure of wood. A few hundred yards over this a halt was made at Lawrence- burg. Leaving Lawrenceburg and its inhabitants behind, Far- mer's and Miller's Creeks are passed (both spanned by wooden trestle bridges), and the train approached Aurora, which lies at the foot of surrounding hills, with the Ohio on one side and Hogan's Creek on the other. Here some time was passed in examining the machine- and locomotive-shops, which are built of stone, and in size commensurate with the prospective busi- ness of the road. The train started homeward at 4.30 P.M., stopped on the road at Lawrenceburg, at Gen. Harrison's seat, where the band played ' Auld Lang Syne,' at Sedamsville, where the cannon was again fired, and finally arrived at the Mill Creek station at six P. M., the passengers having had a most pleasant trip, attended with unmixed pleasure."

The " last spike" on the road was driven Aug. 15, 1857.1

1 " We have official information that the grandest internal im- provement work of the West will be completed to-day at noon, by the driving of the last spike necessary to close up the gap in the Eastern Division of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad. A company of gentlemen left here last evening to meet one from Cincinnati at the point of completion, near Mitchell, Ind., where, with appropriate extemporaneous observances, the happy event will be duly inaugurated."-Republican, Aug. 15, 1857.

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RAILROADS.

Two years after the " last spike" was driven, Aug. 2, 1859, the following notice appeared in the Republi- can of that date :

" To St. Louis Merchants .- The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company is receipting for goods through from all Eastern cities from St. Louis, all rail via the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, without the necessity of insurance against the perils of river navigation, and in as short time as by any other route."

The well-laid plans and bright anticipations with which the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad began its career did not avail to save it from the influence and effects of the panic of 1857, and both companies of that name succumbed before the blows of a financial disaster that destroyed almost all commercial valucs and prostrated enterprises of every kind. In order to save the property, the " Ohio and Mississippi Rail- road Company of Illinois" was organized in 1861, and under the authority of its charter purchased the whole road from East St. Louis to Vincennes. Similar action was taken by the Indiana Company, and in 1869 the two companies werc consolidated. In 1871 steps were taken to reduce the gauge from six feet to four feet eight inches, in conformity with that of the Marietta and Cincinnati and Baltimore and Ohio Roads, over and by which its " through" business with Baltimore must be transacted. This feat, then considered very remarkable, but now not so much so, was completed in seven hours on the 23d of July, 1871. It was during the administration of J. L. Griswold as gen- eral superintendent that the change of gauge was effected.

Before this time the gauge of the Ohio and Mis- sissippi had conformed to that of the Erie Road of New York, with which it connected via the Atlantic and Great Western, across the State of Ohio. Hence freights reaching Cincinnati from St. Louis and far- ther West via the Ohio and Mississippi road, and des- tincd for the Atlantic seaboard, must have gone for- ward to New York by the Erie connection or been reshipped at Cincinnati, subject to the additional ex- pense of that operation. To obviate this great ob- struction to the trade of Baltimore as well as of St. Louis, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, by a large subscription to the new loan of the Ohio and Missis- sippi, obtained an influence and power in the man- agement of that company which effected first the change of gauge, and subsequently a practical consoli- dation of the Ohio and Mississippi, the Marietta and Cincinnati, and the Baltimore and Ohio in one great central líne.

The Louisville Branch of the Ohio and Mississippi, from North Vernon to Jeffersonville, Ind., was built under an act of March 3, 1865, and opened in 1869.

Surveys for the Springfield Division, extending from Beardstown, on the Illinois River, to Shawnec- town, on the Ohio, were commenced in 1865. The organization that completed that part of the road was the Springfield and Illinois Southeastern Railroad Company. The road was opened from Springfield to Pana in 1869, from Shawneetown to Flora in 1870, from Springfield to Beardstown in 1871, and from Pana to Flora in 1872. The panic of 1873, and the years of business depression that followed, caused, in 1874, a sale under foreclosure proceedings, at which, on the 1st of January, 1875, the property was purchased by the Ohio and Mississippi Railway Company for $1,700,000 in bonds secured by mort- gage on that division. .

On the 17th of November, 1876, the Ohio and Mis- sissippi Railway was placed in the hands of a receiver.

The Ohio and Mississippi Railway is a direct line between St. Louis and Cincinnati, and the main stem is three hundred and forty-one miles in length. It has intersections at Sandoval, Olney, Vincennes, and other points along the road. At North Vernon, two hundred and sixty-eight miles from St. Louis, the Louisville Branch leaves the main line, making fifty- five miles to Louisville. At Flora, Ill., the Spring- field Division crosses the main line, connecting Shawneetown and Beardstown, two hundred and twenty-eight miles, and joining at the north with the St. Louis and Rock Island Division of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad.

The mileage of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad on Dec. 31, 1882, was as follows :

Miles.

St. Louis to Cincinnati 341

Louisville to North Vernon 55

Shawneetown to Beardstown 228

Total 624

The earnings for the year ending Dec. 31, 1881, amounted to $4,074,407.81 ; operating expenses, $3,115,355.19 ; net earnings, $959,052.62. The share capital of the company is $24,030,000, of which $20,000,000 is common and $4,030,000 pre- ferred. The total funded debt is $12,872,000.

After the road was placed in the hands of a receiver, it was proposed to reorganize the company as fol- lows : To create a series of five per cent. fifty year bonds secured by mortgage on road, equipment, and personal property of the company to the amount of $16,000,000, of which $12,784,000 will be exchanged for old bonds as they mature as follows : Income and funded debt bonds, due Oct. 1, 1882, $174,000 ; first consolidated mortgage bonds, due Jan. 1, 1898, $6,- 772,000 ; second consolidated mortgage bonds, due

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HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

April 1, 1911, $3,829,000 ; Springfield Division bonds, due Nov. 1, 1905, $2,009,000. The residue ($3,216,000) to be used for the following purposes : To pay past-due coupons on the first mortgage, $48,- 825; on second mortgage, $536,060; on Springfield Division, $351,575 ; to pay contributions first mort- gage sinking fund, $177,000 ; second ditto, $165,845 ; to pay second mortgage, Western Division bonds, $97,000; debenture bonds, $140,000; special loans (for which Springfield Division bonds have been hy- pothecated), $250,000; remainder of floating debt, $150,000 ; contingent liabilities, $300,000; addi- tional equipment and terminal facilities, $999,695. The $3,216,000 issue is to be further secured by a pledge of $991,000, Springfield Division bonds, which will be canceled on the retirement of the present first mortgage bonds of the company. The $12,784,000 to be held for the sole purpose of re- tiring the old bonds as they mature. The above proposition of the committee on reorganization, which was under date of Jan. 20, 1882, was accepted by the stockholders of the company on the 7th of April, 1882. The officers of the company are : Directors, W. T. McClintick, Chillicothe, Ohio ; Charles A. Beecher, John Waddle, Cincinnati; R. L. Cutting, Jr., Henry M. Day, New York ; Robert Garrett, Osmun Latrobe, James Sloan, Jr., T. H. Garrett, Baltimore, Md .; F. W. Tracy, Springfield, Ill. ; F. Janssen, Louisville, Ky .; H. Pearson, London, Eng. President, W. F. McClintick, Cincinnati ; Receiver, J. M. Douglas, Cincinnati ; Superintendent, W. W. Peabody, Cincinnati ; Secretary, W. M. Walton, New York ; Treasurer, Charles S. Cone, Cincinnati ; Chief Engineer, N. A. Gurney, Cincinnati; Master of Car Repairs, J. P. Coulter, Cochran, Ind .; General Passenger Agent, W. B. Shattuck, Cincinnati ; Gen- eral Freight Agent, William Duncan, St. Louis ; Purchasing Agent, G. E. Atwood, Cincinnati ; Road Master, H. D. Hanover, Aurora, Ind. ; Superin- tendent of Bridges, H. M. Hall, Olney, Ill.

The Ohio and Mississippi Railroad Company has contributed immensely to the development of East St. Louis. "The Ohio and Mississippi Railroad at East St. Louis," said a St. Louis newspaper of April 16, 1864,

" has congregated a population large enough to constitute quite a populous village of most industrious inhabitants. The company owns there forty-two acres of ground about a mile from the river. On that tract, with great labor and expense, they have constructed an elevated plateau of more than four acres of ground, about twelve feet above the average level of the surrounding bottom land, and about six feet above the high-water mark of 1858. On these four acres are the exten- sive machine-shops of the company, which, with necessary

yard-room, occupy nearly the whole of that large space. Within these shops over two hundred and seventy men are employed,-machinists, carpenters, blacksmiths, painters, gla- ziers, upholsterers, copper- and tin-workers, and common laborers. In the various departments the workmen are of the best class, skillful machinists, carpenters, and painters, who all command the highest wages, and would be in demand in any city where skilled labor is required."

The Marietta and Cincinnati and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroads, continuing the great central St. Louis and Baltimore line to the Atlantic Ocean, fill a place in the railway system of which St. Louis is the commercial and business centre, which requires some description and explanation. The Belpre and Cincinnati Railroad Company was chartered in 1848 to construct a line of railway from the Ohio River opposite Parkersburg, W. Va., up the Hocking valley to the Little Miami Railroad, and by an amendment to the charter in 1851, was authorized to construct to Cincinnati and to consolidate with the Franklin and Ohio River Railroad, under the corporate title of the " Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad Company." For seven years the work of construction was pros- ecuted slowly ; and the company having become em- barrassed, was placed in the hands of a receiver in 1857, in which year (April 20th) it was opened, the Little Miami Railroad being used from Loveland to Cincinnati. From this receivership the company emerged in 1860, barnacled with "first preferred," "second preferred," and " common stock." Other legal obstructions as to the character of its franchises kept the company " in chancery" until relieved by legislative action in 1863. The Union Branch Rail- road from Scott's Landing to Belpre was soon after purchased, and also the road from Hillsboro' to Loveland from the Hillsboro' and Cincinnati Railroad Company. In December, 1863, the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad Company purchased that part of the Scioto and Hocking Valley Railroad between Portsmouth and the track of the Cincinnati and Muskingum Valley Railroad, now known as its " Portsmouth Branch."

The extension from Loveland to the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad was completed Feb. 17, 1866, and the Cincinnati and Baltimore Railway, which continues the line into Cincinnati, was opened June 1, 1872. The Baltimore Short-Line Railway was opened Nov. 15, 1874. The Marietta and Cin- cinnati Railroad Company guaranteed the stock and bonds of these companies.

Owing to the non-completion of the Northwest- ern Virginia Railroad, now known as the Parkers- burg Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio, from Grafton to Parkersburg, it was not until 1857

1185

RAILROADS.

that through business with Baltimore could be effected. The material aid extended by the Balti- more and Ohio kept the company afloat until June 27, 1877, when, having made default in the interest on its fourth mortgage bonds, its property was placed in the hands of a receiver. After remaining under the control of receiver John King, Jr., for several years, J. H. Stewart was appointed receiver, and in 1880 a committee on reorganization was named by the bondholders, as follows : Augustus Kountze, E. R. Bacon, George Arents, and J. B. Dumont, of New York ; T. Edward Hambleton, Skipwith Wil- mer, and H. Irvine Keyser, of Baltimore. This committee adopted plans looking to the reorganization of the road, which was finally sold for $4,375,000 to the purchasing committee of security-holders, com- posed of Messrs. E. R. Bacon, of New York, T. Edward Hambleton, and Robert Garrett. The Bal- timore and Ohio interest, in the absence of Robert Garrett, was represented by John K. Cowen. The price was about two-thirds of the appraised value of the property, the lowest amount at which it could be sold under the order of the court. As the transac- tion was entirely formal and in accordance with the plan of reorganization, which was assented to by ninety-eight per cent. of the security-holders, the price is not a criterion of the value of the road. Under the reorganization, the leased short line at each end becomes part of the new line, one hundred and ninety-five miles long, from Cincinnati to Parkers- burg, with branches, etc., that make the total length two hundred and fifty-five miles. The purchasers paid $100,000 cash and the remainder in the securi- ties of the corporation. After the ratification of the salc new securities were issued. Their classification is as follows : First mortgage bonds, four and a half per cent. guaranteed, $7,185,000, subject to reduc- tion ; second mortgage, five per cent., $3,040,000 ; third mortgage, three per cent. for ten years and four per cent. thereafter, $2,270,000 ; fourth mortgage, first income, five per cent., $3,410,000 ; fifth mort- gage, second income, five per cent., $4,000,000, to- gether with preferred and common stock to be issued upon the completion of the rcorganization. Some claims in litigation remained to be settled by the courts. The old first and second mortgages were seven per cents., and the thirds and fourths were eight per cents.

After confirmation of the sale by the court a new company was incorporated, which was styled the Cin- cinnati and Baltimore Railroad Company. It forms the connecting link between Parkersburg and Cincin- nati, in the St. Louis line of the Baltimore and Ohio,

and is fully under the control of the Baltimore and Ohio corporation. J. H. Stewart, formerly receiver of the Marietta and Cincinnati, is general manager of the reorganized road.

The length of the Marietta and Cincinnati Rail- road proper, from Cincinnati and Baltimore Junc- tion, Ohio, to Main Line Junction, Ohio, in 1882, was 156.80 miles.

Branches :

Scott's Landing, Main Line Junction to Scott's Landing. 31.20

Belpre, Marietta to Belpre. 11.10

Hamden, Portsmouth to Hamden .... 55.40

Hillsboro', Blanchester to Hillsboro' 21.40

Total branches.

119.10

Leased lines :

Cincinnati and Baltimore Railway, Cin- cinnati to junction Marietta and Cincin- nati Railroad

5.80

Baltimore Short Line Railway, Main Line Junction to Belpre. 30.30

Total leased lines 36.10

Total length of lines operated .. 312.00

The directors of the company, elected Feb. 15, 1882, were Robert Garrett, W. T. Burns, Theodore Cook, W. W. Peabody, Baltimore, Md .; George Hoadley, H. C. Smith, R. M. Bishop, W. W. Scar- borough, James D. Lehmer, W. B. Loomis, John Waddle, Cincinnati, Ohio; William T. McClintick, William Waddle, Chillicothe, Ohio. General super- intendent, W. W. Peabody, Cincinnati, Ohio ; ticket agent at St. Louis, J. D. Phillips.

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company .- The history of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company is too voluminous for more than brief and cursory treatment in this work. As early as 1827 the mer- chants of the Atlantic cities were looking to that vast and fertile region of the great West between the Alleghenies and the Mississippi River, for the bulk of the productions that were to constitute the com- merce and subsistence of the country. The Erie Canal of New York and the public works of Pennsyl- vania promised to New York City and Philadelphia a future interest in that great valley, from which Balti- more would be practically cut off for want of some- thing better than the "National road." The Ches- apeake and Ohio Canal, confronted by the clevations of the Alleghenies, could promise but little, and that little would go to Georgetown on the Potomac, hinder- ing rather than promoting the commerce of Baltimore. Steam railroads at that day were unknown, none having been built either in England or elsewhere for the transportation of passengers and produce. Iron tramways for coal and other heavy productions were in use only to a very limited extent. It was a bold thought which induced Philip E. Thomas, then presi-

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History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 44

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898 Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts Number of Pages: 1358

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1358