History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 15

Author: Franklin Ellis and Eugene Arns Nash
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In the spring of 1836 the line was put under contract along the Delaware River, between the mouth of the Calli- coon and Deposit, for the reason that this was the only portion of the entire line in regard to which there could be no possible question as to location. The work was com- menced in the summer of 1836, under circumstances highly auspicious, and was vigorously prosecuted through that season on the portion of the road considered the most difficult, and with such success that a new era seemed to have dawned upon the long-neglected section through which the route had been laid. The commercial em- barrassment of 1837, however, occasioned a suspension of operations ; and the people of the southern counties then

* In the year 1834, Major Long, of the United States Engineer Corps, surveyed a route for a railroad from Belfast, Maine, to Quebec, Canada, and in his report pronounced the route impracticable, for the reason that the maximum grade would be forty feet to the mile, and that there was no locomotive power then known by which such a grade could be overcome.

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

had not only to experience the business derangement and disaster of that dark period, but were also led to fear that the benefits which they had so fondly anticipated from this improvement were to be snatched from them and lost forever.

In their report to the Legislature, made Feb. 24, 1837, the management stated that the eastern end of the road had been located " to approach the Hudson River at Tappan Landing [Piermont], in Rockland County," and that at the western end " it will approach Lake Erie at the harbor of Dunkirk."

State aid to the amount of three million dollars had been granted to the road by an act passed April 23, 1836; but, as this was conditional upon the procuring and actual paying in of a certain amount of subscriptions, and as the financial revulsion had involved many of the largest stock- holders and thus rendered it impossible to procure the necessary amount from private sources, efforts were made to obtain a modification of the terms accompanying the grant of State aid. These efforts were successful, and the desired modification obtained by an act passed April 25, 1838, loaning to the company three million dollars, upon certain conditions, among which were these: that the route of the road should be laid wholly through the southern tier of counties, and that ten miles of the road at cach end should be located and placed under contract before any portion of the State aid could be realized by the com- pany. At this consummation, and particularly at the con- dition which compelled the location of the line through the southern tier,* there were most unbounded demon- strations of rejoicing in Cattaraugus and the other counties traversed by the line. About this time Mr. Eleazer Lord became president of the company, and there was awakened, not only among the people of the Southern Tier, but among the business community of the city of New York, an in- terest such as had never been felt before in any public improvement projected in the State, and considerable amounts were subscribed to the stock of the road.

It is a curious fact that even for years after the com- mencement of this great railway public opinion still con- tinued to regard the highway of the Allegany River as of prime importance, and that in the early plans for the com- pletion and successful operation of the road a connection with this river was apparently more thought of and calcu- lated on than the through connection with Lake Erie and the West. A committee appointed by the management of the road to examine into this subject, in 1837, reported to the directors " That the committee for investigating the subject became fully satisfied that, in the Allegany River, the State of New York possesses a source of internal navi- gation unequaled during its continuance for cheapness, security, and expedition ; that the navigation of this stream remains open frequently until midwinter ; that it invariably opens within the first ten days in March, and often before that time, and always remains open, and perfectly available

for purposes of descending navigation, for at least six, and frequently for ten or twelve weeks in the spring ; and, finally, that merchandise placed on its banks may be delivered in the warehouse of Pittsburgh in three days from the State line, and at an expense not exceeding fifteen cents per hundred pounds. It must be apparent how important it is to this State, and particularly to the merchants of our com- mercial metropolis, to have this navigation, aptly termed the 'key of the Mississippi,' placed within their reach ; opening as it does into the immense basin drained by that mighty river, it will enable our metropolis to pour through its deep, safe, and rapid channel, in the early spring, a portion of the supplies of a population already exceeding three million of souls." And the Mayville Sentinel of Nov. 29, 1837, in an article devoted to a consideration of the same subject, said :

"The other improvements (the Genesee Valley Canal and the Erie Railroad) are of minor importance without the Allegany River be made navigable for steamboats as far up, at least, as Olean. This is an object which must be accom- plished, and one in which every section of this State has a deep interest. We say it must, or New York will lose irre- trievably her importance as a commercial mart for the Western country. She has already fallen behind Phila- delphia, and will continue to lag yearly in this point until some avenue of trade shall be opened from there to the Mis- sissippi Valley, other than those now completed. .

" The completion of the New York and Erie Railroad to its junction with the Allegany, and the improvement of that river, will at once accomplish this much-desired object. This will lay open a direct avenue from that city to the fertile regions of the West, through which she will receive in return for her many articles of commerce the agricultural products of that country." In the light of later experience, it seems amazing that such speculations and ideas could ever have been seriously entertained.

In the spring of 1838, Maj. Thompson I. Brown, of the United States Engineers, was appointed to make the final location of the line at the western end, and Mr. H. C. Seymour appointed to perform the same duty at the eastern end. Mr. Edwin F. Johnson was also appointed to act as consulting or advisory engineer.

It had been ascertained from surveys previously made that no grades exceeding sixty feet per mile would probably be encountered upon the entire line, except at the western end and upon the western slope of the Shawangunk Moun- tain in Orange County.

Maj. Brown and Mr. Johnson, after spending several days in examining the country between Dunkirk and Mud Lake summit, finally concluded that, by lengthening the line about one mile in the vicinity of the road east of Fre- donia, it would be practicable to reduce the grade to sixty feet per mile, and Maj. Brown proceeded at once to make this location, and also to place the work upon the first ten miles under contract.

Late in this season the surveys were extended eastward through the Connewango Valley to Randolph, and thence over the Cold Spring Summit to the Allegany River, and up the river to the vicinity of Olean.

This part of the line was placed under contract in the

* But for this timely thought on the part of the representatives of this section the road would probably have never passed through Cat- taraugus and Chautauqua Counties, as Buffalo was ready to offer in- ducements sufficient to induce the directors to make the terminus at that city if they had been permitted to do so.

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

spring of 1839. The eastern part, from Piermont to the Shawangunk Mountain, had been contracted, and on both these divisions the work was prosecuted vigorously until 1842, when it was suspended for lack of funds, and the affairs of the company were placed in the hands of as- signees.

In the spring of 1840, Silas Seymour was acting as Resi- dent Engineer for Cattaraugus and Chautauqua Counties, and was instructed to change the line, which had previously been located for a graded road, and adapt it to a piled rond .* He was also instructed to visit the Susquehanna Division (where nearly one hundred miles of piling had already been driven), to make himself familiar with the mode of con- structing piled road, so as to introduce the system success- fully upon the Western Division, during the absence in Europe of Maj. Brown, the Division Engineer.

Thus it came about that during 1840-41 several miles of piles were driven in the Allegany Valley, west of Olean, and several miles were also driven in the Connewango swamp, between Randolph and Rutledge,-all of which was done previous to the assignment in 1842.

At the time of the assignment the Eastern Division had been completed and opened for business as far west as Mid- dletown, while upon the Western Division the grading of the first ten miles had been completed for a double track, and several miles of superstructure had been laid and consider- able amount of work had also been done between the east end of the ten miles and Olean. Mr. Horatio Allen was president during the period covered by the assignment.

During the session of the Legislature in 1845, a law was passed by the terms of which the State released its lien upon the road for its three million dollars, on condition that the company would raise by private subscription the neces- sary means to secure completion by May 1, 1851.

Having succeeded in procuring the necessary subscrip- tions the company, with Mr. Benjamin Loder as presi- dent, and Major Brown as chief engineer, resumed work during the summer of 1845, from Middletown westward, under the immediate supervision of Mr. Silas Seymour as engineer in charge of location and construction.

In the mean time the company had, by the concurrent action of the New York and Pennsylvania Legislature, se- cured the privilege of carrying the road through a portion of Pennsylvania, between Port Jervis and Narrowsburg, in order to avoid the high grades through the interior of Sul- livan County, and also between Deposit and Binghamton,

in order to strike the Great Bend of the Susquehanna River. The road was completed to Otisville in October, 1847 ; to Port Jervis on the 1st of January, 1848; and to Binghamton on or about the 1st of January, 1849; and successively to Owego, Elmira, and Corning during same ycar.

In the year 1849, Major Brown resigned the position of chief engineer of the road to accept an appointment from the Emperor of Russia, when Mr. Silas Seymour was placed in charge of the surveys and the final location of the line between Corning and Dunkirk, with instructions to thor- oughly examine the whole intervening country, with a view, if possible, of shortening the line and reducing the maximum grades. Particular attention was also called to the desirability of finding a practicable route through the interior of Cattaraugus County, north of the Allegany Valley.

Nearly a year was spent in making these examinations, the result of which was the adoption of the original loca- tion via Hornellsville, Cuba, and Olean as far westward as the mouth of Little Valley Creek, with the exception of a change in the line between Hornellsville and "Tip Top Summit," which reduced the maximum grade from seventy to sixty feet per mile, and another change in the vicinity of Cuba, which also effected a material reduction in the grade. In Mr. Seymour's final report to the board of di- rectors he recommended the abandonment of the entire original line, between the mouth of Little Valley Creek and Dunkirk, upon which about half a million dollars had been expended, and the adoption of the present line via Little Valley, Dayton, and Forestville, giving as his rea- sons therefor, that by this change a distance of five miles would be saved and the maximum grade would be reduced from sixty to forty-five feet per mile.

The people along the portion of the line thus proposed to be abandoned, being very naturally indignant at the pro- jected change of route, which would deprive them of the advantages which they had always expected to derive from the line as originally located, immediately appointed a committee, with Mr. T. S. Sheldon as chairman, to go to New York and represent to the board of directors that Mr. Seymour had entirely misstated the facts respecting the two routes, and to ask that another engineer be appointed to examine and report upon the subject. Mr. McRae Swift was accordingly appointed by the company to per- form this duty. After a careful examination of both routes, and a thorough investigation of the entire subject, he gave a full indorsement of Mr. Seymour's views and figures. The board of directors proceeded at once, upon the receipt of his report, to adopt the new route, and the work was placed under contract.

The maximum grade, ascending eastward from Lake Erie, had thus been reduced, by successive stages, from an inclined plane, as originally contemplated, to sixty-eight, then to sixty, and finally to forty-five feet per mile, together with a saving of five miles in distance.

The value and importance of these patient and perse- vering engineering investigations through a country pre- senting so many natural difficulties as were encountered upon the line of the New York and Erie Railroad can

* The idea of constructing the greater portion of the New York and Erie Railroad upon piles was adopted at the suggestion of Mr. Charles B. Stuart, who acted as Division Engineer upon the Susquehanna Division in 1840-42. He had previously built some portions of the Utica and Syracuse Railrond upon piles through a swampy country, and therefore concluded that it was preferable to a graded road, even through a dry country. The Board of Directors became thoroughly converted to the idea, and authorized the work to be prosecuted vig- orously upon the Susquehanna Division. With the reorganization of the company and resumption of work, in 1845, this system of con- struction wns entirely abandoned, and the piles that had been driven were never utilized. In riding over the line as finally constructed, and viewing the continuous rows of piles standing in the adjoining fields, strangers, when inquiring for what purpose they had been placed there, were usually answered that these piles represented "Stuart's folly."

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

hardly be overestimated. Their effect upon the commer- cial interests of the country cannot be better illustrated than by the simple statement of the fact that if the road had been constructed upon the route which was originally indicated by the surveys made under the direction of Judge Wright, with its formidable inclined planes, the entire scheme must have been a complete failure; whereas, with the improved location that was finally adopted, the road has become one of the most important avenues of com- merce between the Atlantic seaboard and the Great West.

The road was completed to Hornellsville, and thence to a point near Cuba, during the year 1850, and to Dunkirk early in the following April. The first engine was run over the Western Division on the 17th, and the directors made their first excursion to Dunkirk on the 22d of April. In the same year a representative of the New York Even- ing Post, who accompanied that excursion, thus describes its passage through Cattaraugus County :

" At Cuba the convoy reached the untried and entirely new portion of the road. The distance thence to Dunkirk, on Lake Erie, is seventy-nine miles. As the train passed various sections of the road, the resident and superintend- ing engineers and contractors joined the party. At Olcan the rushing waters of the Allegany met their view, covered with rafts, floating on the great Father of Waters, and on its banks, gathered in groups, the wondering children of the forest. For several miles the road follows its banks through the Indian Reservation, and the Indians, whose attention was arrested by the shrill whistle of the locomo- tive as it thundered through their hitherto quiet domain, gazed with a sort of melancholy interest. There were no expressions of surprise in their countenances upon the rude disturbers of their peace, the precursor of their fate, the exterminator of their race - the genius of mechanism. Throughout the whole valley called ' Little Valley' the eye and attention are deeply interested, and the exclamation ' Look ! look !' was constant.

" At Dayton, twenty miles or more beyond, they came in view of Lake Erie, lying before them and extending as far as the eye can reach. As the party caught the first glimpse of the lake, three hearty cheers broke from the directors, engineers, contractors, and the entire company of guests."

The final completion was celebrated on the 15th of May, 1851, by a grand excursion over the entire line, which was participated in by the President of the United States, Millard Fillmore, and his Cabinet, including Daniel Web- ster, Secretary of State, and also by the Governor of the State of New York, Washington Hunt, and other State officers, together with the president, directors, and other officers of the company, and a large number of the most influential citizens of the country.

As the opening train sped on through Cattaraugus, the people everywhere greeted its progress with unbounded joy and exultation, as well they might, for its passage marked an event which lifted the ban of isolation from their county and doubled the value of its domain.

THE ATLANTIC AND GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.

The construction of this line of railroad grew out of a project, which was first agitated immediately after the open-

ing of the Erie Road, to build a railway line from the mouth of Little Valley Creek to the State line in the direc- tion of Erie, Pa., and to reach that city by a connection with the Sunbury and Erie Road (which was then in pro- cess of construction) ; or, if this connection could not be effected, then to reach Erie by a direct road from the State line, under a charter to be procured from Pennsylvania.

The first meeting to promote the project was held at Jamestown, June 27, 1851, with Hon. Benjamin Cham- berlain as President; Samuel Barrett, of Jamestown, Daniel Williams, of Ashville, and T. S. Sheldon, Vice- Presidents; and John Stewart, of Panama, and F. W. Palmer, of Jamestown, Secretaries. After the usual speeches had been made setting forth the superior advan- tages of the proposed route over that of the Erie Road, as a means of reaching Lake Eric, a committee was appointed to prepare articles of association, to superintend the organ- ization of a company, and to ascertain the amount of sub- scriptions which could be obtained.

Several subsequent meetings were held. An organization was effected, under the name of the Erie and New York City Railroad, to build the road from West Salamanca, through Randolph and Jamestown, to Erie. Money was raised by subscription, and towns along the line were bonded in aid of the enterprise. On the 6th of May, 1853, a contract for most of the work east of Jamestown was awarded to Calvin T. Chamberlain & Co. A committee was appointed to attend a meeting of the Erie people at Sherman, and also a committee to close the contract with the Seneca nation of Indians, and to draw upon the treas- urer for money to pay them. Ground was broken at Ran- dolph on the 19th of May amid great rejoicings, and the people considered the road as assured. The Randolph Whig of that date, headed its announcement of the cere- monies with " A RAILROAD AT LAST ;" but in due time the funds of the company were all expended, and then came years of alternate hope and despair, until in July, 1857, at a meeting of the stockholders held at Jamestown, proposi- tions were received from Messrs. Morton & Doolittle, acting for English capitalists, to build the road from the castern terminus to the State line, there to connect with the Mead- ville Railroad of Pennsylvania. Nothing was immediately effected under this proposition, but in 1858 Sir Morton Peto, as the head of an English company, purchased the eastern end of the road, and it became merged in the Atlantic and Great Western Railway, organized as such Dec. 9, 1858. The road was completed from the eastern end as far as Randolph in the summer of 1860, and soon after to Jamestown, which continued as the western ter- minus for several months. In June, 1861, trains were run through the entire distance from West Salamanca to its junction with the Philadelphia and Eric Railroad at Corry, Pa. In 1864 the eastern terminus and junction with the Erie Road was carried from West Salamanca to Salamanca Village, as at present. It is in good condition, well equipped, and one of the important railway lines of the country.

THE BUFFALO, BRADFORD AND PITTSBURGH RAILROAD.

This railroad line had its origin in the Buffalo and Pitts- burgh Railroad, which was organized at the Tefft House,

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HISTORY OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

in the city of Buffalo, Oct. 13, 1852, Orlando Allen, presi- dent, for the purpose of constructing a road from that city to the coul-fields of Pennsylvania. Advertisements for pro- posals were made for the construction of the line of the road between Ellicottville and the Pennsylvania State line in the valley of the Tunegawant; also for the remainder of the road, from Ellicottville to Buffalo, a distance of about fifty miles. The work of grading was commenced, but progressed slowly. A public meeting was held at Ellicottville, March 3, 1854, William P. Angel, chairman, to adopt measures to procure the passage of a bill author- izing towns in Cattaraugus County on the line of the road to subscribe for stock. A petition was sent to the Legis- lature, which was favorably acted on, and a law passed to that effect. A considerable amount of grading had been done, and money expended, but the enterprise was finally abandoned for want of funds.

The Buffalo and Bradford Railroad was chartered March 14, 1856, and was consolidated with the Buffalo and Pitts- burgh Railroad March 22, 1859, under the name of the Buffalo, Bradford and Pittsburgh Road. This was opened for travel and traffic Jan. 5, 1866, and was leased to the Erie Railway Company, under which it is now operated as the Bradford branch of the Erie.

THE BUFFALO, NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA RAILROAD.

This road was first projected in 1865 as the Buffalo and Washington Railway, and in March, 1866, there was placed under contract, between Buffalo and Emporium, a distance of one hundred and ten miles. A new contract was closed June 9, 1869, for constructing the road a distance of seventy-seven miles, between Aurora and Port Allegany, a station twenty-four miles from Emporium ; and in August, 1870, five miles was contracted from South Wales to Olean.

The road was completed from Buffalo to Aurora, and the first train run over it, Dec. 23, 1867. Trains ran to Ma- chias June 1, 1872, and to Olean July 3 in the same year. The entire length of the road is one hundred and twenty-one miles. The amount of lands taken within Cat- taraugus County was about $150,000, for which stock of the road was taken. This was subsequently purchased by the management at seventy to seventy-five per cent. of its face.

The value of this road to the entire eastern part of the county is great. It traverses a rich and productive agri- cultural region, and has been of great importance in the transportation of oil from the oil districts.

The road was built largely with Buffalo capital, and is regarded as one of the most important enterprises centering at that point, for the reason that a large extent of produc- tive country not before accessible has been made tributary to that city by this line.

Charles S. Carey, of Olean, has been general attorney for the road since 1874.

BUFFALO AND JAMESTOWN RAILROAD.

The company was organized in 1872. The city of Buffalo contributed one million dollars, and various towns

along the line one million dollars, in aid of its construc- tion. The work was commenced, pushed rapidly, and completed as far as Gowanda, Oct. 20, 1874. It passes through the north part of the town of Persia, and enters the town of Dayton at the northeast corner. At the village of Dayton it passes thirty feet under the Erie track, con- tinuing diagonally through the town, passing out at the southwest corner into Chautauqua County. It re-enters Cattaraugus at Old's Corners, in the town of Conne- wango, and after traversing that town a distance of 51307 miles along the valley of the Connewango Creek, again crosses the town and county line into Chautauqua. The road was opened in sections of about five miles, and was completed in July, 1875.

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History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, Part 15

Author: Franklin Ellis and Eugene Arns Nash Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: Franklin Ellis and Eugene Arns Nash
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: