USA > New York > Dutchess County > History of Duchess county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 20
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* Clarkson's Clermont or Livingston Manor, 123-138.
98
HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
Poughkeepsie, via Pine Plains to Ancram or Copake, and thence to the Connecticut line. The survey was made by P. P. Dickinson, who re- ported February 15, 1866, the estimated cost of the road and equipments at $1,002,206.80. April 15, 1866, the Poughkeepsie & Eastern Railroad Co. was incorporated, with a capital of $1,000,000, to construct a road over the above route, with a branch at or near Salt Point to the Harlem road at Wassaic. The first directors were : George Innis, Isaac Platt, James G. Wood, George Morgan, Harvey G. Eastman and Robert F. Wilk- inson, Poughkeepsie; Pomeroy P. Dickinson, Birdsall Cornell and William Corwin, New York ; William Eno, Pine Plains ; Platt G. Van Vliet and Stephen T. Angell, Pleasant Valley ; James M. Welling, Washington ; Elihu Griffin, Clinton ; Isaac Carpenter, Stanford ; George Peasley and Conrad Niver, Ancram. The first meeting of the directors was held at the office of the company in Poughkeepsie, April 28, 1866, and the following named officers were chosen : President, George Innis ; Vice-President, George Morgan; Treas- urer, Isaac G. Sands ; Secretary, Robert F. Wilk- inson ; Attorney, Mark D. Wilber ; Chief Engineer, P. P. Dickinson. George Morgan, H. G. East- man, James G. Wood, Birdsall Cornell, Platt G. Van Vliet, William Eno and Conrad Niver were constituted an Executive Committee, with authority to employ agents in the city and towns to obtain subscriptions to stock.
Meantime the opposition project of a railroad to Fishkill was revived with greater force, and, receiving a powerful ally in the person of George H. Brown, of Washington, made rapid progress. Some of the Poughkeepsie people were in favor of a road more directly east from Amenia instead of the route to Pine Plains, and this idea was fostered as much as possible by the friends of the Fishkill road. At the same time a violent opposition dis- played itself among the largest property holders and prominent men in Poughkeepsie, and but for George Innis, President of the Fallkill Bank, the untiring energy of Mark D. Wilber, and the con- tinued efforts of the Eagle, it is doubtful if the enterprise would not have dropped again, as it did on previous occasions. In October, 1866, a series of meetings was held in the interest of the Pough- keepsie & Eastern Railroad at Washington Hol- low, Bangall and Pine Plains, and addresses were made by P. P. Dickinson, George Innis, Mark D. Wilber, H. G. Eastman, Isaac Platt and others. Subscriptions to the stock of the company were
opened. It was proposed to raise $300,000 in this way before starting to build the road, but it was found that very little aid could be expected from the country, as the towns on which most de- pendence had been placed had become interested in the Fishkill road. After a long effort, mainly by a few men, at the head of whom Mr. Wilber continued to be most active and persistent, the subscription was given up, and it was decided in- stead to bond the city for $200,000 and obtain in- dividual subscriptions for $ 100,000.
By great labor and persistency, mainly through the persevering efforts of Mark D. Wilber, the project of bonding the city proved successful; and April 1, 1869, a small number of men proceeded to a point on the farm of John A. Van Wagner, just north of the crossing of the Salt Point turn- pike, near the bank of the Fallkill, and there, without special ceremony, ground was broken for the Poughkeepsie & Eastern Railroad. In 1870, 15.26 miles of road were built ; in 1871, 5.57 miles ; and in 1872, 21.02 miles. Jan. 24, 1871, the opening of the first division of twenty-one miles, from Poughkeepsie to Stissing, was cele- brated by an excursion over that portion of the road. In the fall of 1872, the road was completed to the Connecticut line, and Oct. 1, 1872, trains commenced running regularly from Poughkeepsie to that point, a distance of forty-three miles. There then remained to be built the division be- tween Smith street in Poughkeepsie and the Hud- son River, the grading on which was pretty much done, and the laying of the rails commenced. The road is 44.88 miles long. It follows the line of the Fallkill, and thence crosses to the valley of Wap- pinger Creek, up which it continues to the north line of the county, thence passes east around the north end of the range of hills that enclose the Harlem Railroad, and reaches the State line at the terminus of the Connecticut Western Rail- road, near Millerton. It touches the Duchess & Columbia (now Newburgh, Duchess & Connecti- cut,) at Stissing, and crosses the Harlem at Boston Corners.
The stations and their distances on this road from Poughkeepsie in miles are as follows : Van Wagner's, 3.79; Pleasant Valley, 6.04 ; Rus- sell's, 8.02 ; Salt Point, 10.64; Clinton Corners, 13. 13 ; Willow Brook, 15.72; Stanfordville, 17.71 ; McIntyre, 19.73; Stissing, 21.02 ; Pine Plains, 26.55; Ancram Lead Mines, 30.59; Halstead's, 32.31 ; Tanner's, 34.28; Boston Corners, 37.01 ; Mt. Riga, 40.87 ; C. W. R.
99
RAILROAD ENTERPRISES.
R. Junction, 43.09 ; Millerton, 44.88. The total cost of road and equipment to 1879, was $1,499,- 920.40. The rate of fare charged for first-class through passengers is 3.02 cents and for first-class way passengers, 4 cents per mile.
July 1, 1870, the company executed and deliv- ered to James Winslow as trustee a mortgage on its road and appurtenances. Jan. 30, 1875, the Supreme Court decreed the foreclosure of the first mortgage bonds on the road, which were sold April 14, 1875, and deeded May 15, 1875, to George P. Pelton, of Poughkeepsie, who organized, the latter date, the Poughkeepsie, Hartford & Boston R. R. Co., with a capital of $850,000, and associated with himself the following persons as directors : E. L. Bolles, of New York City, and George Innis, John F. Winslow, George R. Gay- lord, Edward L. Beadle, Alanson Swain, John O. Whitehouse and Michael J. Myers, of Pough- keepsie .*
While the friends of the Poughkeepsie & East- ern were laboring to advance the interests of that road, even greater activity was manifested by those favoring the Fishkill road ; and in 1865, before either road was chartered, a section of four and one-half miles, from Boston Corners towards Pine Plains, had been completed and put in running order at a cost of less than $20,000 per mile. The survey was completed and arrangements made to build the road to Pine Plains. Arrangements had also been made to continue the survey to Stan- fordville, and negotiations were pending for the construction of the road to that point the following summer. There it was proposed to stop until a determination was reached as to whether the road should terminate at Poughkeepsie or Fishkill.
A meeting was held at Verbank, Dec. 5, 1865, to make arrangements for having a survey for a railroad from Boston Corners to Fishkill land- ing. Between 200 and 300 people assembled and organized by electing the following officers : Presi- dent, Leonard B. Sherman; Vice Presidents, Abm. Storms, George H. Brown, Col. John Thompson, Jeremiah Emigh, Clark C. Barınour, William Eno, Daniel P. Wheeler ; Secretaries, Samuel Thorn and George Potter. Alonzo Davis, Henry Bostwick, Mark N. Wheeler, Clark C. Bar- mour and Daniel P. Wheeler were appointed to re- ceive subscriptions for the survey of the three routes proposed to reach Verbank ; one by Stanford and
Washington Hollow; one by Bangall, Hart's village and Four Corners ; and one by Thompson's Pond, Mabbettsville and Little Rest. The follow- ing were appointed to receive, conduct and enter- tain the corps of engineers in surveying through their respective towns : La Grange, A. W. Storms, Mark H. Wheeler, James Townsend ; Union Vale, Leonard B. Sherman, Elias N. Vail, Henry Bost- wick ; Fishkill, Ward Emigh, Laurence Rapelyea, Van Wyck Brinkerhoff ; Pleasant Valley, D. P. Wheeler, Capt. Pond, Henry Sutherland ; Wash- ington, Dr. John S. Thorne, Hugh B. Howard, Timothy Preston; Stanford, Leonard Carman, Col. John Thompson, Smith B. Tompkins.
A meeting of persons in central Duchess and Columbia counties interested in the construction of the proposed railroad from Fishkill to Boston Corners, was held at Millbrook chapel, in the town of Washington, April 26, 1866. The committee appointed at a previous meeting to procure a sur- vey of the routes reported that a survey had been made under their direction, by P. P. Dickinson and his corps of engineers, and that the estimates for construction varied from $1,000,030 to $1,000,- 076, according to which route was adopted. A committee was appointed to prepare articles of as- sociation and other papers necessary to complete an organization for the construction of the road, with power to adopt a suitable name. The survey committee were instructed to employ a new corps of engineers to examine the routes as surveyed for the purpose of verifying the estimates of the for- mer engineers, and ascertaining if any advantageous alterations could be made. William Eno was added to that committee.
An organization was effected that year (1866) under the name of the Duchess & Columbia Rail- road Co., and articles for an eastern branch, sixteen miles long, were filed Oct. 11, 1867. Forty-three miles of road were completed and opened to public travel in 1869, and an additional fifteen miles, in 1871. The road extends from Duchess Junction on the Hudson River road in Fishkill, through the towns of Fishkill, East Fishkill, La Grange, the north-west corner of Union Vale, Washington, Stanford, Pine Plains and North East, to Miller- ton, where it connects with the Harlem road. Its total length is 58.58 miles. The cost of road and equipment to 1879, was $2,258,342.29. In 1873, the road was consolidated with the New York, Boston & Northern Railroad. August 5, 1876, it was sold under foreclosure of mortgage. J. N. Whiting, of New York City, purchased the road,
* We are indebted to the files of the Poughkeepsie Eagle; the State Engineer's Report on Railroads, 1879 ; and other documents, for data respecting these early railroad enterprises.
1 Poughkeepsie Eagle, Nov. 18, 1865.
100
HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
with the exception of a small section, in the inter- est of the first mortgage bondholders, paying there- for $297,500. J. P. Lowry, also of New York City, purchased the balance, the right of way to the river, for the third and fourth mortgage bond- holders, for $40,000. These purchases did not include the rolling stock, which was the property of the Brown family. A reorganization was effect- ed and chartered under the name of the Newburgh, Duchess & Connecticut Railroad Co., Jan. 15, 1877, with the following directors : John N. Whit- ing, John S. Schultze and Samuel Thorn, of New York City ; William Schultze, of Manchester, N. J. ; Joseph Howland, of Matteawan ; R. G. Coffin, of Washington ; W. S. Eno and W. W. Sayre, of Pine Plains ; Albert Emans, La Grange ; Wm. A. Reid and Oliver Davidson, Silver Lake; John S. Emans, East Fishkill.
The stations and distances on this road in miles from Duchess Junction are: Matteawan, 1.8; Groveville, -; Glenham, 3.8; Fishkill, 5.92; Brinckerhoff, 7.07 ; Hopewell, 12.11 ; Clove Branch Junction, 13.37 ; Arthursburgh, 15.70 ; La Grange, 17.33 ; Billings, 18.8 ; Mooers, 21,34; Verbank, 25.33 ; Coffins, 28.17 ; Millbrook, 30.19 ; Shunpike, 33.49; Bangall, 37.03; Stis- sing Junction, 39.84 ; Attlebury, 41.2 ; Pine Plains Junction, 44.27 ; Pine Plains, 44.62; Bethel, 46.7 ; Shekomeko, 49.82 ; Husted, 52.45 ; Win- chels, 54.08 ; Harlem R. R. Crossing, 58.08 ; Mil- lerton, 58.58. The rate of fare for through pas- sengers is 2.63, and for way passengers, 3 cents per mile.
While these railroad projects engaged the atten- tion of the people of Duchess, two others of greater importance, and one of them of scarcely less local interest, were earlier pushed to completion-the Hudson River and New York & Harlem rail- roads-the latter of which is said to have doubled the value of the eastern towns in this county, and the former to have more than doubled the value of the western towns, while the interior towns scarcely increased a dollar during the same period .* Both were in process of construction and were com- pleted through the county at nearly the same time.
The scheme of a railroad running along the east bank of the Hudson originated in and was advo- cated by the prominent citizens of Poughkeepsie- most conspicuous among whom were Matthew Vassar, D. B. Lent and A. J. Coffin-until the capitalists of New York and other places were con-
vinced of its feasibility, its safe investment, and its great practical worth as a connecting link with the commercial channels of the North and West. The first survey of the road was paid for by Poughkeep- sians; and it was through their influence that a charter was obtained May 12, 1846. The con- struction of the road was commenced in 1847, and seventy-five miles were completed in 1849, which year it was in part first opened to the public. It was opened to Peekskill, from New York, Sept. 29, 1849 ; to New Hamburgh, Dec. 6, 1849; and to Poughkeepsie, Dec. 31, 1849. The road was rapidly completed, and the northern section was opened from Albany to Hudson, June 16, 1851 ; to Tivoli, Aug. 4, 1851 ; and through its entire length, from New York to Albany, a distance of 1432 miles, Oct. 1, 1851. It has 3,018 feet of tunnels, varying from 60 to 835 feet, one of which is through solid rock just above New Hamburgh in this county. Nov. 1, 1869, it was consolidated with the New York Central Railroad, under the name of New York Central & Hudson River Railroad. The second track of this road (the Hudson River,) was laid in 1863-'64.
The stations within this county upon this line of road and their distance in miles from 30th street, New York, are : Duchess Junction, 57.16; Fish- kill, 58.85 ; Low Point, 62.38; New Hamburgh, 64.95 ; Milton Ferry, 69.41 ; Poughkeepsie, 73.3 ; Hyde Park, 79.01 ; Staatsburgh, 83.42 ; Rhine- beck, 88.75 ; Barrytown, 94.35 ; Tivoli, 98.59; the latter being 43.54 miles from Albany.
The project of the road was emphatically a child of Poughkeepsie, and hence there was great rejoicing among her citizens when ground was broken for its construction. A number of the leading citizens celebrated the event by a grand supper, given March 4, 1847, at the Poughkeepsie Hotel, then kept by John H. Rutzer. One who was present says it surpassed anything of the kind ever witnessed in Poughkeepsie. The large dining hall of the Poughkeepsie Hotel was handsomely and appropriately decorated, and the table was filled to overflowing with the choicest viands, with a minature locomotive and train of cars, in sugar, for a center piece. After the removal of the cloth several toasts were read. That to "The Pioneers of the Hudson River Railroad " called out Mat- thew Vassar ; "Our Merchants " was responded to by Hon. James Bowne ; " The Bar," by Leonard Maison ; and "the Press," by Theopolus Gillinder, then editor of the Poughkeepsie American. While this animated scene was enacting there was
*Poughkeepsie Eagle, Nov. 18, 1865.
101
RAILROAD ENTERPRISES.
general rejoicing in the streets. "On Main and Market streets bon-fires sent up volumes of flames and smoke, and young and old of both sexes thronged the sidewalks, while Young America hurled fire balls through the air." Some of the citizens "illuminated their residences and called in their neighbors to partake of bountiful spreads which they had prepared in the exuberance of their joy."*
The New York & Harlem Railroad Co. was char- tered April 25, 1831, to build a road from 23d street, New York, to Harlem, and commenced the con- struction of their road Feb. 24, 1832. One mile was built and opened that year, an additional mile in 1833, and two miles in each of the years 1834, '37 and '39. In 1840, the company were allowed to extend to meet the New York & Albany Rail- road, and in 1842, they opened an additional six miles of road, and twelve miles in 1844. In 1845 they were allowed to continue this road to Albany. Twenty-five miles of road were opened in 1847; twenty-nine miles in 1848; and fifty-one miles in 1852, on the 19th of January in which year it was opened to Chatham Four Corners, where it con- nected with the Albany & West Stockbridge Rail- road. April 23, 1870, it was continued by the Harlem Extension Railroad from Chatham Four Corners to Vermont and Canada, thus forming a great through line of travel. That part of the road operated by steam-north of Harlem-is leased to the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad Co. In this county it passes in a northerly direc- tion through the eastern tier of towns.
The stations upon this line of road within this county and their distances in miles from the Grand Central Depot in New York are: Pawling, 63; South Dover, 69; Dover Plains, 76; Wassaic, 81 ; Amenia, 84; Sharon, 87; Coleman's, 88; Miller- ton, 92 ; Mt. Riga, 95.
The Boston, Hartford & Erie Extension Rail- road Co. organized to build a railroad from Fishkill landing to the Connecticut State line, filed articles of association Oct. 1, 1863, and was consolidated with the Boston, Hartford & Erie Railroad Co. Aug. 23, 1864. About eighty per cent. of the grading from Hopewell was finished in 1870. Pos- session was taken by trustees, under the terms of a mortgage, Sept. 13, 1871, and work on the road was for some time suspended. In 1873, the name was changed to the New York & New England Railroad. In June, 1877, the road was completed from Boston to Willimantic and from Providence,
R. I., to Waterbury, Conn., with sundry branches, and partly graded from Waterbury to Hopewell Junction. In that year a committee of the Massa- chusetts Legislature examined the route to deter- mine whether it was best for the State to complete or sell the road. At present, (1881,) a branch of the road between Hopewell and Brewsters on the Harlem road in Putnam County is under construc- tion.
The Cornwall Suspension Bridge Railroad and the Eastern Branch of the Duchess & Columbia Railroad were projects of 1868, but both were abandoned. The former was organized with a capital of two and a half million dollars, as a branch of the Erie Railway from Fishkill to New- burgh, and filed articles Jan. 14, 1868.
Clove Branch Railroad Co. was chartered Nov. 21, 1868, with a capital of $150,000, to construct a road from Clove Branch Junction to Sylvan Lake, a distance of 4.25 miles, which was built and opened in 1869. April 28, 1870, the company were allowed to extend their road from any point on the line then located, into or through East Fishkill, Fishkill, Beekman or Union Vale, by a branch to any iron mines in those towns, also a branch from the Duchess & Columbia Railroad. A branch was opened in 1877, from Sylvan Lake to Clove Val- ley, a distance of 4.01 miles, and is leased to the New York, Boston & Montreal Railroad.
The stations and distances in miles from Clove Branch Junction are : Adriance, 1.77 ; Sylvan Lake, 3.31 ; Ore Mines, 4.09 ; Beekman, 6.09 ; Clove Val- ley, 8.04.
The Rhinebeck & Connecticut Railroad Co. was chartered June 29, 1870, with a capital of $1,000,- 000, for the purpose of building a railroad from Rhinecliff, on the Hudson River road in Rhine- beck, to the State line: Amended articles of asso- ciation were filed with the Secretary of State in 1872, in the fall of which year construction was commenced. Wm. Chamberlain, Wm. B. Platt, Ambrose Wager, Thomas Cornell, Anthony Ben- son, Edward Martin and John S. Thompson were then the directors. Twenty-eight miles of road were finished and opened in 1874, and 7.2 miles in 1875. The entire length of the main line is 41.6 miles .* The cost of road and equipment up to 1879 was $1,440,920.30.
The stations upon this road and their dis- tances in miles from Rhinecliff are : Rhinebeck, 3; Red Hook, 7.4; Spring Lake, 11.2; Ellerslie,
* The Sunday Courier, Poughkeepsie, Oct. 12, 1873.
* The track from Boston Corners to State Line, 6.4 miles, is held under lease.
IO2
HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
13.6 ; Jackson Corners, 17.6; Mount Ross, 19.3 ; Gallatinville, 23 ; Ancram, 25.4; Copake, 31.5 ; Boston Corners, 35.2 ; Mount Riga, 38.6; State Line, (C. W. R. R. Junction) 41.6.
The Putnam & Duchess Railroad Co. filed arti- cles April 4, 1871. It was formed for the purpose of constructing a railroad from a point on the New York & Boston Railroad in Carmel northerly to the Duchess & Columbia road, at or near Hope- well, a distance of about twenty miles. The cap- ital of the company was $1,000,000. It was con- solidated in 1873 with the New York, Boston & Northern Railroad Co., which the same year was consolidated with the New York, Boston & Mon- treal Railroad Co.
The Iron Hill Railroad Co. in Duchess and Put- nam counties, was chartered in 1873, but has beconie extinct ; likewise the Pine Plains & Rhine- beck Railroad Co., chartered the same year. The Fishkill & Newburgh Railroad Co. was chartered in 1876 to build a road from the terminus of the Duchess & Columbia road to Newburgh, but it is not in operation. The Poughkeepsie Grand Junc- tion Railroad Co., formed to build a road from the west bank of the Hudson, at a point in the town of Lloyd, Ulster County, to connect with a line of railroad designed to cross the proposed Poughkeep- sie bridge, and extending thence south-westerly twelve miles to a point on the Wallkill Valley Rail- road, in the town of Gardiner, Ulster County, filed articles Feb. 27, 1879, and, with the State Line & Eastern Railroad Co., which filed articles April 18, 1879, and was formed to build a road from the point where the Poughkeepsie Grand Junction should intersect the Wallkill Valley road, to the locality of Port Jervis, was consolidated to form the Poughkeepsie & Grand Junction Railroad Co., which filed articles June 14, 1879.
The Poughkeepsie Bridge Co. was incorporated May 10, 1872, with a capital of $2,000,000, for the purpose of building a bridge for a railroad and common road travel across the Hudson at Pough- keepsie, a project first publicly suggested by Mr. T. G. Nichols, in an article in the Daily Press, of Poughkeepsie, of which he was then editor, dated January 19, 1854, as a means of establishing a direct and expeditious communication between the manufacturing interests of the Fast and the limit- less coal and ore fields of Pennsylvania, Virginia and the West. The charter provided that the work of construction should be begun before July I, 1872, and finished before 1876; that the bridge should be so built as not to obstruct navigation, and
at least 130 feet above high tide. No pier was to be built outside the pier limits then established by law. In 1872, the charter was amended, so that the shore abutment of the bridge should not be constructed beyond the river line of the whale- dock property on the east side of the river, nor beyond the river line of the ferry-dock on the west side, and the company were permitted to construct and maintain besides the shore abutments, piers of masonry in the river, not exceeding four in num- ber, and distant from each other and the shore abutments not less than five hundred feet. The time limited for the commencement of the bridge was extended to January 1, 1874, and for its com- pletion and opening for use to January 1, 1879. The officers of the company in 1872, were : John F. Winslow, President ; Robert F. Wilkinson, Sec- retary ; George Innis, John M. Toucey, Matthew Vassar, Homer A. Nelson, P. P. Dickinson, Charles Wheaton, Charles W. Swift, William A. Davies, and Judge Anthony, Directors. A meeting of stock-holders was held in Poughkeepsie, September 5, 1873, and a permanent organization was effected as follows : Directors, J. Edgar Thompson, Phila- delphia, of the Pennsylvania R. R., A. L. Dennis, Newark, President N. J. R. R. & T. Co., Hon. H. G. Eastman, LL. D., Mayor of Poughkeepsie and President of Eastman's National Business College, Andrew Carnegie, New York, of the Keystone Bridge Works and Union Iron Mills of Pittsburg, Charles G. Franklyn, of New York, Cunard Steam- ship Co., David Solomon, New York, Financial Agent Penn. R. R. Co., Andrew J. Cassatt, Phila- delphia, General Manager Penn. R. R., George P. Pelton, Poughkeepsie, President Poughkeepsie and Eastern R. R., P. P. Dickinson, Poughkeepsie, Chief Engineer P. & E. R. R., Strickland Kneass, Philadelphia, Asst. President Penn. R. R. Co., Gardiner F. McCandless, New York, Treas. I. M. & N. R. R. Co .; President, A. L. Dennis ; Vice- President, H. G. Eastman; Treasurer, G. F. McCandless ; Secretary, Charles B. Thurston ; Assistant Secretary and Attorney, R. F. Wilkinson. The work of construction was commenced in the summer of 1876, and two piers carried above the surface of the water, in which condition it still remains, doubtful if further work on it will soon be prosecuted. The proposed bridge is to be a mag- nificent and costly structure. The iron work is to be sixty-four feet in height, above the piers, thus mak- ing the total height from the water to the top of the bridge at least one hundred and ninety-four feet. Its construction will necessitate the erection of an
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