History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 29

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1170

USA > New Jersey > Somerset County > History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 29
USA > New Jersey > Hunterdon County > History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 29

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

" I am here waiting for the packet on my way home from the canni celebration. On Wednesday the directory of our caual and ruitrond com- pables, and some thirty or more of the principal stockholders, together with the Governor, and sundry others of onr great peuple, came up the ' freder' as far as Lambertville in n Chesapeake und Dela vure cunul - barge. After dining there all hands got aboard the barge-myself among the number-and startel for Trenton alemnt nine o'clock at night. . . By good Inck more than good management, we got to Trenton without wrecking the bont, and after a short nop started off yesterday morning for New Brunswick.

" The canal-banks for the whole distance were lined with people,- that is to say, there were large collections of thetn at the landing-, bridges, etc. A more jolly party than ours was in the afternoon you seldom meet. John C. Stevens, James S. Green, and Thomas Billy acted as fun-makers, and they nequitted themselves admirably. . . When we arrived at New Brunswick we were greeted with a salute of twenty- for guns, were received by the military with presented urms, stood some- thing less than half an hour with our hats off while the mayor made a speech and was answered, hurrahed in return to their civilities until we were all hoarse, were marched up and down the streets, and a little after dark sat down to a sumptuous dinner, provided at the expense of the canal company. The military, for their arduons services (to wit, waiting umuler arius four or five hours and being nearly broiledl), received their pay partly in champagne, partly in glory."

The Delaware and Raritan Canal Company and the Camden and Amboy Railroad and Transportation Company were at the time of their incorporation, in 1830, rival and antagonistie corporations. They were consolidated in interest by act of the Legislature, Feb. 15, 1831, and assumed the title of the "Joint Compa- nies," their affairs being controlled by the boards of hoth companie- joined as one body. March 14, 1872, the " Joint Companies" and the " New Jersey Rail- road and Transportation Company"# were, by act of the State Legislature, merged into one corporation, known as the " United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company." Its present management Isso is as follows: John G. Stevens, President ; A. I. Den- nis, Vice-President ; F. Wolcott Jackson, General Superintendent. Directors: John Jacob Astor, John t'. Barron, William Bucknell, A. L. Dennis, Charles E. Green, Robert L. Kennedy. Thomas MeKean, Isaac W. Scudder, John G. Stevens, Robert F. Stock- ton, Ashbel Welch, Samuel Welsh ; Charles A. Butts, State Director.

This canal extends from the Delaware at Borden- town to Trenton, thenee across the State to New Brunswick, where it joins the Raritan, passing through the southwestern portion of Somerset County, along the east bank of the Millstone River and the south bank of the Raritan. It is forty-four mile- long, with a feeder, twenty-two mile- in length, which extends from Bull's Island, above Stockton, in Hunterdon County, southward to the main canal, with which it unites at Trenton. The canal crosses the Assanpink Creek, east of Trenton, in a fine stone aqueduct. This canal is eighty feet wide and eight feet deep, admit-

* Incorporate i March 2, 1832; It constru tool the milroad from deray l'Ity, through Newark, Elzabeth, anl Rahway, to and through the ity of New Hinnywick.

110

HUNTERDON AND SOMERSET COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.

ting the passage of barges of two hundred and fifty tons burden, and its cost is not far from five million dollars. In 1867 it passed into the hands of the "United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company," by whom it was subsequently leased to the Pennsyl- vania Railroad Company, at an annual rental of ten per centum per annum upon the capital stock, free of all taxes ; and, in accordance with the lease, quarterly dividends of two and one-half per cent., in cash, have been regularly paid.

The receipts and expenditures of this canal for 1879 were as follows :

From tolls on boats

$4,375.40

lading.

410,816.70

steam towing.

273,563.10

miscellaneous.

7,203.90

$695,959.10

Working expenses ..

326,924.85

Net earnings.

$369,034.25*

IV .- RAILROADS.

The coach of the sixteenth century, the stage of the seventeenth, and the mail of the eighteenth led step by step to the locomotive of the nineteenth,-the cen- tury marked by such giant strides in the matter of travel and transportation. In 1750 it took from five to seven days to make the trip from New York to Philadelphia ; in 1850, two hours.t

THE CENTRAL RAILROAD OF NEW JERSEY.

The principal east-and-west railroad line traversing the counties of Somerset and Hunterdon is The Cen- tral Railroad of New Jersey. This road, besides being one of the leading avenues for conveying the products of Pennsylvania and the West to New York City, is one of the most important routes from the Atlantic seaboard to the West. No road in the Union is so indispensable a link in the chain of communication between the East and West, and none can excel it in the picturesque attractions which it opens up to the tourist.

The history of the road is full of interest, especially as in its construction it acted as a pioncer and made the all-important preparation which led to the build- ing of other and important connecting railroad lines.

The road from Elizabethport to Somerville was built by the " Elizabethtown and Somerville Railroad Company," under a charter granted in 1831. The company was poor, and the road was opened first from Elizabethport to Elizabeth, two and one-half miles, and connected at the Point with New York and New Brunswick by boat. The route to Somerville was surveyed in 1835 by Col. James Moore, the present chief engineer, who has filled this office and that of

general superintendent since the commencement of the road.

In 1836 it was built as far as Plainfield, and the panic of 1837 told severely on the finances of the company ; but they still pressed onward, though slowly extending the road to Bound Brook, and finally reached Somerville in 1839,¿ by a desperate effort which resulted in the failure of the company and the foreclosure of the mortgage upon the road. The road was sold in 1846, the strap-rail taken up by the new organization, the track relaid with heavy T-rail, and preparations made for a large business. Feb. 16, 1842, the State Legislature, by special enactment, ex- tended the time for completing the road until July 4, 1856. A new company was chartered in 1847 (ap- proved February 26th) to extend the road to Easton, under the name of "The Somerville and Easton Rail- road Company." In the fall of 1848 the road was opened to White House; the following year? authority was given the above-named company to purchase the Elizabethtown and Somerville Railroad, and the name of the consolidated company was changed to "The Central Railroad Company of New Jersey." This was carried into effect in 1850, the existing roads brought under one ownership, and immediately thereafter, in the spring of the same year, the remainder of the route to Phillipsburg was put under contract. The portion to Clinton was opened in May, 1852, and the cars made one round-trip per day from New York to Clinton, in Hunterdon County, from whence passen- gers reached Easton in stage. On the morning of the Ist of July, 1852, the last rail was laid, and the next day, in eight splendid cars (drawn by the gigantic engine " Pennsylvania," decorated with flags), the directors of the road, with their invited guests and accompanied by Dodsworth's Band, sped through the glorious landscapes of Hunterdon and Warren, to the wonder of thousands of delighted inhabitants, who thronged to the stations and greeted the party with the firing of guns and the waving of handkerchiefs and banners. From this time that undeveloped country began to yield up its wealth. Iron-works that had lain in ruins for the want of fuel since the Revolution were rebuilt, and with the advent of the thundering coal-trains began the ring of tilt-hammers ; while the exchange of log cabins for beautiful dwellings, and the founding of churches, schools, etc., marked the succeeding years of the history of this road.

For eight years more were passengers transferred from Elizabethtown to New York by boat, but in 1860 authority was obtained to extend the Central Road to Jersey City, which was soon after accomplished. The most important feature in this extension is the Bay

* Report State Comptroller, 1879.

+ In 1829, when steamboats wore running, and the same journey was made in nine honra, it was cause of great rejoicing as the inauguration of a new era in the history of traveling in the United States, and truly it was a marvel when compared with the slow-moving stage-coach and canol-boat. But the steamu-cars soon Jett even the stoumboats In the background.

# Jolin O. Stearns, who died in Elizabeth in November, 1862, com- mencod his connection with the road in 1834, the firm of Colkett & Stearns having taken the contract for the construction of a part of the originni Elizabethtown and Somerville Railroad. After the foreclosure and sale of the road, in 1846, Mr. Stearns was appointed superintendent, and retained the office until his death.

¿ Act approved Feb. 22, 1849.

111

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

Bridge, nine thousand eight hundred feet in length, over Newark Bay.

In 1869-70 the Central Railroad Company made many important improvements at points within Hunterdon County and in its immediate vicinage, calculated to contribute to the comfort and safety of passengers, and of persons crossing the track. They are thus detailed by the Hunterdon Republicun of March 10, 1870:

" At Phillipsburg the farmer complicated network of tracks has been so changed that the rails all now run from one switch to the main street. The old freight-house has been removed to the main street and changeil to a passenger-car house. A new freight-house at the same place lins lately beon Anished. At Bloomsbury brhige another track has been Innd, so that danger from a single track over the bridge is thus avoided. At High Bridge the now station has been finished In a style appropriato to that romantic growing town. Below the White House a mile of new track on each side of the road hus just been completed for turn-ont pur- james, so that freight- and cont-trains may lay over, making four tracks here. A bridge lus also just been completed by the company over their track below White House, so that vehicles on the public rond in crossing ure entirely out of danger. This bridge is one hundred and one feet long and has three spans, one of which is fifty-one feet long. A mile of truck has also been added ench side of the road from Clinton Station towards High Bridge, making four tracks here, nud three-quarters of a mile from Hampton Junction towards Spruce Run. Thesr Improve- mente have all been very judicloudly mude, and prove the good judgment and engineering skill of the superintendent."

The first station-agent at Somerville was Bernard Stearns, with James Kreusen as helper; the last named is now, and has been for years, the agent at Somerville.

In 1855 the Lehigh Valley Railroad was opened from Easton, first to AAllentown and then to Mauch Chunk, the centre of the Lehigh Valley coal-region. During the same year, also, the Delaware, Lacka- wanna and Western Railroad completed the line from New Hampton (its point of junetion with the Central Railroad of New Jersey) to Scranton, the centre of the Lackawanna coal-region, and a convenient depot for the coal transportation from the Wyoming Valley eastward. Through these two roads the products of the richest anthracite mines of Pennsylvania were brought to the Central Railroad of New Jersey for transportation to the metropolis. The Lackawanna connection requiring a six-foot gauge, the Central Railroad Company at an early period anticipated this necessity by laying a third rail to Hampton junction. The common gauge of the Central road is four feet eight and a half inches, which is uniform with that of the railroads of the country generally. The value of these connecting lines may be appreciated from the fact that during the first year after their completion the business of the Central Road was nearly double. During the second year the Lehigh Valley road brought eighty-six thousand three hun- dred and fifty-five tons of coal, and the Lackawanna road two hundred and twenty-four thousand tons, to the Central road for transportation.

In 1858 the East Pennsylvania ( now Philadelphia and Reading) Railroad was opened between Allen- town and Reading, establishing a direct line, with

unbroken gauge, to Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, and the West; and it has direct control of and operates the roads in Pennsylvania extending from Easton, through Bethlehem, Mauch Chunk, White Haven, and Wilkes-Barre, to Carbondale, under the title of the Lehigh and Susquehanna Division. It also oper- ates, within the State of New Jersey, the "New York and Long Branch Railroad," from Perth Amboy to Long Branch; the "New Egypt and Farmingdale Railroad," from Long Branch to Ocean Beach; "The Long Branch and Sea Girt Railroad," from Long Branch to Sea Girt,-aggregating thirty-four miles,- and in the summer of 1880 extended the line to Point Pleasant, under the name of "New York and Long Branch Extension Railroad,"-three miles; also the "Jersey Southern Railroad," from Sandy Hook to Bay Side,-one hundred and seventeen miles. The Central Railroad, being in harmony and acting in unison with the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, makes connections with the various lines of the latter road, one important branch of which, the " New York and Philadelphia New Line," intersects with the Central at Bound Brook, Somerset Co.

These are the immediate connections of the "Cen- tral Railroad of New Jersey," all of which are of incalculable value. Certain it is no road could have a geographical position more favorable for numerous and important connections than this one. Along the line of the Central the beauties of nature and the utilities of man vie with each other for the overmas- tering interest. The trunk route -- that is, that of the Central road itself-extends across the central portion of New Jersey, and hence its name. Its termini are Jersey City and Easton, Pa. It traverses the finest portion of the State, passing through a succession of alluvial valleys containing the very richest land in New Jersey, and increasing both in beauty and fer- tility as one approaches the borders of Pennsylvania. Who that has looked from New Hampton upon the Musconeteong valley of Hunterdon County, will ever forget the scene or its suggestions ?*

The first president of this company was Governor Isaac H. Williamson, who was succeeded by Col. John Kean. Stephen Vail followed, and officiated until the consolidation of the companies, when John Taylor Johnston was elected. The last-named gen-

* The route beyond Easton affords an extent and variety of scenery found on few ronds on this continent,-mountain ranges of characteristic grundeur, eleft here and there by abrupt fissures to their very base, through which stately rivers lend their pomp of water lo the sea; rich undl benutiful valleys, sometimes so turmow, and, within], wo picturesque. ns to remind tho traveler of Swiss cantons among the Alps, and some. limes allowed a broader and longer reach by the yielding mountain- ranges that incluso them ; forests that still retain the rugged aspect of their primeval wilderness, and romantic cascades. The mention of these features but feebly suggests the reality as seen by the eye. One must actually visit the Delawaro Water-Gap, must himself climb the Poemno range, must follow the winding Susquehanna, must be drawn up the in- clued planes of Mount Pisgah,-must actually realize these things in his own experience, for it is beyond our power adequately to describe them.

112

HUNTERDON AND SOMERSET COUNTIES, NEW JERSEY.

tleman served for many years, and until recently, when the present incumbent was chosen.

The present officers, 1880, are as follows: E. C. Knight, President ; John Kean, Vice-President ; Sam- uel Knox, Treasurer and Secretary; F. S. Lathrop, Receiver; James Moore, General Superintendent and Engineer; W. W. Stearns, W. S. Polhemus, Assistant Superintendents ; Jacob M. Clark, Engineer; H. P. Baldwin, General Passenger Agent; P. H. Wyckoff, General Freight Agent. The directors are E. C. Knight, F. S. Lathrop, F. A. Potts, J. J. Barnes, G. G. Haven, Edward Clark, Benjamin Williamson, John Kean, and F. T. Frelinghuysen.

The capital stock of the company is $18,563,200, while the value of the road and equipments is over $20,000,000. For the year ending Dec. 31, 1879, the balance net earnings was $1,371,579.64.

The stations upon this road within Somerset and Hunterdon Counties are Bound Brook (where connec- tion is made with the "New York and Philadelphia New Line," and with stages for New Brunswick), Finderne, Somerville (connecting with the "South Branch Railroad," to Flemington), Raritan, North Branch, White House, Lebanon, Annandale (Clin- ton), High Bridge (connecting with the " High Bridge Branch," to German Valley, Chester, and Port Oram, etc.), Glen Gardner, Junction (where connection is made with the " Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad"), Asbnry, and Valley. From the last- named station the road crosses the southern corner of Warren County to Phillipsburg and Easton, where the "Lehigh and Susquehanna division" of the road, with its half-dozen branches, commences.

SOUTH BRANCH RAILROAD.

This road, a branch of the "Central Railroad of New Jersey," extends from Somerville to Flemington. It was chartered in 1870, and its construction com- pleted soon thereafter. Its length is fifteen and a half miles, and its cost was $441,868.87. Its capital stock is $438,300; its floating debt, $3568.87. O. D. Hayne and W. F. Rand are the condnetors on this road ; the former is a veteran in railroad service,- twenty-six years " on the rail," and mostly in the em- ploy of the Central.

The stations on this line are Somerville (connecting with the main line, east and west), Ricefield, Flagg- town, Neshanic, Three Bridges, and Flemington,-all within Somerset and 1Hunterdon Counties.

THE HIGH BRIDGE RAILROAD.

In 1873 a charter was procured for the construction of a railroad from High Bridge, in Hunterdon County, to Chester, in Morris County, and to connect with the New Jersey Central at the first-named point. This was afterwards consolidated with the "Longwood Valley Railroad." Work was commeneed on the High Bridge road in 1874, and completed in 1876 to Port Oram, in Morris County, twenty-five and one-

fourth miles. It is contemplated to extend it east- ward to the Hudson River. The first president of this corporation was Lewis H. Taylor, of High Bridge. This road has short branches to Chester, four and one- half miles, and to Hacklebarney Mines, one and one- fourth miles. The statisties of this road show : Cost, $972,830.03 ; capital stock, $850,000. This line is also operated by the Central Railroad of New Jersey.

THE DELAWARE AND BOUND BROOK RAILROAD.

THE NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA NEW LINE.

The history of this road is one of unusual interest. In 1867, Henry M. Hamilton, Esq., of New York, conceived the idea of building a new line of railroad from New York to Philadelphia. He removed to New Jersey for that purpose and entered on the un- dertaking, which only succeeded after a tremendous struggle between the popular will as it centred in him and the United Railroads of New Jersey,-a struggle which will ever be memorable in the annals of the history of this State. From the outset the new line, which crosses the southern part of Somerset County, was a very popular undertaking, and its conflict en- listed general sympathy. Mr. Hamilton began with the Attleborough Railroad Company, a corporation chartered by the Legislature of Pennsylvania, April 2, 1860, its charter being renewed March 24, 1868. It was authorized to build a railroad from Philadel- phia to the Delaware River above Trenton. In order to be able to withstand the opposition of the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company, which, with every resource of money and influence, he was well aware would throw its whole power against every step of his advance, he proceeded to procure amend- ments to the charter of the Attleborough Railroad Company from the Legislature of Pennsylvania, au- thorizing the increase of its capital, so that it could hold sufficient to build the whole road from Philadel- phia to New York, empowering it also to purchase. the stock of railroad corporations in New Jersey. Thus authorized, he procured the purchase of con- trolling interests in the Yardleyville Bridge Company, the Millstone and Trenton Railroad Company (a body corporate of the State of New Jersey under an aet approved April 3, 1867), the Peapack and Plainfield Railroad Company (under acts approved March 30, 1855, and March 11, 1864), the Elizabeth and New Providence Railroad Company (under act approved March 22, 1867), and afterwards the Narrow Gauge Railway Company (under act approved March 22, 1871), these all being corporate bodies existing under legal charters in the State of New Jersey, with full powers to build their respective roads, and so situated as to connect and form, when built, a con- tinuous line from New York, with the Attleborough Company, to Philadelphia.

Another thing was necessary besides filling up the links in the chain from New York to Philadelphia, and that was the protection of the stock of this new

113

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

enterprise from being bought up by the opposition or controlled in any way in its interest. To this end, he had the Attleborough Railroad Company made the parent company, with its name changed by law to " The National Railway Company," and, pursuant to authority granted by the Legislature of Pennsylvania, he had its stock arranged into two classes, common and preferred, each being equal in amount and having equal privileges, except that the preferred stock was entitled to receive ten per cent, dividends out of the net earnings of the road before the common stock would receive anything. He also had authority granted by the Legislature of Pennsylvania to place the common stock in trust, that is, to transfer the power to vote it to a trustee by a deed of trust,-the conditions of the trust being such that no vote could be cast on it in the interest of the Camden and Am- hoy or any other opposition company. This would put forever safely out of the reach of the control of anybody hostile to the interests of the new company one-half of its entire voting stock. The other half- the preferred -- could be sold to any purchaser without risk to the control. It could only be obtained at its par value in cash, and its proceeds could be used only towards the building of the road. The equitable in- terest or money value of the common stock was not conveyed to the trustee, being reserved for the benefit of the company. This common stock was used in buying up the control of the New Jersey corporations which were needed to make the line from the Dela- ware River to New York, it having been exchanged for their stock. This had a twofold result : it com- pleted the line, and it was made full-paid by the ex- change, so that it could be placed in trust. The deed of trust provided that any attempt to vote it in the interest of any competing line should be void, and the hokler of a single share of it was given full, real, and equitable power to enforce this provision as com- pletely as if he were a party to the contract.

The purpose of this provision was not clearly seen at the time, even by the members of the legal pro- fession generally in New Jersey, it being the first time it was over introduced for the protection of a railroad company. Mr. Hamilton had worked out this application of the principle himself, after having exhausted all the possibilities of protection otherwise. He had consulted able lawyers, among them Prof. Theodore W. Dwight, of the Columbia Law School of New York, as to the possibility of an irrevocable proxy, and whatever other forms of protection against outside control could be suggested ; and this plan was finally approved, and adopted as the only one reli- able and satisfactory. It was made the occasion of a great ery of fraud, and much odium against Mr. Hamilton was raised in consequence of its misappre- hension, it being made to appear to the public as a Very great bug-bear. It was in reality the key to the whole position, and was so essential as a means of protection that but for it the enterprise could never

have been carried through. This arrangement has been copied by other corporations since, notably the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad Company, which has used it for the same purpose,-to protect itself from the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- pany.

The National Railway Company still lacked the power to execute a single mortgage on the whole line from Philadelphia to New York, and capitalists re- quired that legislative authority to do this should be secured as a condition precedent to their putting in the money to build the road. A bill was therefore , introduced into the Legislature of New Jersey in 1870 supplementary to the charter of the Millstone and Trenton Railroad Company, authorizing that company to consolidate with the National Railway Company, so as to give the required mortgage on the whole line; but it was defeated by the powerful op- position of the Camden and Amboy Railroad Com- pany after a two months' contest in the Legislature. From 1570 to 1872 the time was spent in endeavoring to obviate the difficulty growing out of the inability to make a consolidated mortgage. At length, in the session of the Legislature for 1872, the Stanhope charter was obtained, which was approved by the Governor, March 13, 1872, having passed both branches of the Legislature without opposition, though it contained a clause providing for this neces- sity, this clause having escaped the notice of the agents of the t'amden and Amboy Railroad Company, who were guarding their interests in the Legislature.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 29

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1170

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1170