USA > New York > Orange County > Newburgh > Newburgh; her institutions, industries and leading citizens, historical, descriptive and biographical > Part 45
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In connection with this site for the elevator, and to give access thereto from other parts of the city, is the necessity for an under- ground crossing at Washington Street, the only practicable point. The present railroad grade-crossing is unsafe and tedious. Numer- ous tracks cover the street, and trains are constantly passing. The steep grade of Washington Street is not only an inconvenience, but, for heavily loaded trucks, a great hindrance-all of which is well understood.
The substitute proposed is represented in the drawings. It will be seen very perfect in its provisions and operations, yet inexpensive as to cost, and affording an easy grade for ascending from the water level to the high grounds to the west. Mr. Ramsdell suggests an
Homer attended the common schools, and finished his education at the academy at Monson, Hampden County, Mass. In April, 1827, he went to New York City to enter upon an engagement as clerk in the dry goods store of Hedge & Lee, in William Street. In 1829 he secured a better position with C. & U. J. Smith, who were large wholesale and retail dealers in dry goods in Maiden Lane. In Feb- ruary, 1832, he commenced business in the firm of Ramsdell & Brown, at the corner of Maiden Lane and William Street, dealing in silks, laces, fancy goods and white goods. Thus when only twenty-one years old Mr. Ramsdell was well on the way to success. Doubtless had he continued in his mercantile career in New York, his rare business ability and energy would have earned him the same measure of fortune and renown as that which he has achieved in other walks of life.
Mr. Ramsdell married on June 16, 1835, Francis E. L., daughter of Thomas Powell, of Newburgh. He continued in business in New York till 1840, when he dissolved his connections there and took up his permanent residence in Newburgh, in order to assist in the su- perintendence of Mr. Powell's large interests. The latter had been engaged in mercantile, forwarding and banking business here for many years. He was interested in almost every considerable under-
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taking of his time, and was the originator of many projects that have proved of great benefit to the city. He was a large stockholder in factories, railroads, banks, steamboats, docks and storehouses. In 1844 Mr. Ramsdell became a member of the firm of Thomas Powell & Co., and thenceforth and until Mr. Powell's death, in 1856, he was very largely the administrator of Mr. Powell's affairs, and to him perhaps the community owed most of the undertakings in which the firm engaged. When Mr. Ramsdell came to Newburgh the store- house and dock of the firm were south of First Street, whence the steamer Highlander made regular trips to New York. In 1846 the firm of Thomas Powell & Co. built the steamer Thomas Powell and placed it on the line. Subsequently the Powell was sold to the Erie Railroad Company, to run between New York City and the terminus of the road at Piermont, and the Highlander to Anderson, Romer & Co., of Rondout, and their places taken by barges. Upon the death of Mr. Powell, Mr. Ramsdell continued the enterprises in which they were both interested, and extended them or widened their scope as opportunity offered, or as his financial and executive genius could open a way to new results. On February 1, 1865, Mr. Ramsdell bought the dock property and barge of B. Carpenter & Co., and consolidated the business of that firm with that of Homer Ramsdell & Co. During the season the Carpenter storehouse was moved to a new foundation. and the storehouse of Ramsdell & Co. was joined to it, forming the present building, which is 250 feet in length. In 1875 Mr. Ramsdell, associated with his sons, formed the Homer Ramsdell Transportation Company.
In 1845 Newburgh, from a condition already prosperous, and prom- ising even greater advances in the future, was threatened with im- mediate and perhaps permanent disaster by the opening of the New York and Erie Railroad to Goshen, two years before. At this time the company had defaulted in the payment of interest to the State upon a three-million dollar loan, and a sale under foreclosure seemed inevitable. The company appealed to the Legislature, asking that it forgive the debt. A bill for that purpose was prepared, but New- burgh brought all her influence to bear against it, and those in op- position to the measure outnumbered its friends. For a time the Erie Railroad project and all the ambitions clustered about it seemed destined to defeat. At this point the people of Newburgh, who through their representatives held the balance of power on the ques- tion, offered to consent to having the debt forgiven if the company would agree to build a branch road to Newburgh. The company ac- quiesced, on the condition that Newburgh should subscribe $100,000 (or one-third of the estimated cost of the Branch) to the capital stock of the Erie Company, and the bill was passed. The stock subscrip- tion required from Newburgh was raised (Mr. Ramsdell's firm being the largest subscriber) and $15,000 in addition-in all $115,000. On the fulfilment of this stock subscription by the citizens of Newburgh, it was their prerogative to be represented in the board of the Erie Company by a local director, and Mr. Ramsdell, who had been most prominent in the movement, was nominated by the subscribers and elected as such director in the Summer of 1845. The first contracts made by the Erie Company upon its re-organization under the amended act of 1845, were those for constructing the Newburgh Branch and that part of the main line between Middletown and Otisville. The work was carried forward under the agreement until 1847, when by reason of enormous expenditures upon the main line between Otisville and Binghamton, and when only about $115,000 (the amount subscribed by Newburgh) had been expended upon the Branch, the Erie Company was so pressed for money that a suspen- sion of the work upon the Branch was deemed imperative. To pre- vent this and to bridge over the necessities of the hour, Mr. Ramsdell agreed to negotiate the acceptances of the company for each succes- sive monthly estimate until January, 1849, at which time all were to mature. During this time the further sum of $130,000 was expended on the Branch.
The opening of the main line of the Erie to Binghamton on the 27th of December, 1848, was attended by a cost far exceeding the estimates, and the finances of the company were correspondingly embarrassed; added to this were heavy drains for work then being vigorously pushed on the Susquehanna division, so that the directory
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RITCHIE & HULL, NEWBURGH, N. Y
AN ELEVATOR PROJECT, NEAR THE FOOT OF WASHINGTON STREET. (See Page 225.)
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in January, 1849, deemed themselves forced to discontinue the expen- ditures on the Branch. At this juncture Mr. Ramsdell proposed to raise the further sum of $145,000 upon the acceptances of the com- pany, to mature in May, 1851, provided responsible parties in New- burgh would endorse the acceptances, and also provided the company would execute a mortgage upon the Branch as security for the amount .* The company agreed to the proposal, and Mr. Ramsdell secured the endorsement of the acceptances by a number of Newburgh business men. These acceptances were also all endorsed by T. Powell & Co. Mr. Ramsdell's firm also purchased $55,000 worth of railroad iron for the company, and in addition to the iron he pur- chased the depot grounds, erected depot buildings and leased the whole property to the company with the option to purchase. In . short, all the money spent on the Newburgh Branch was advanced through Mr. Ramsdell's instrumentality as the work progressed, and on January 9, 1850, the Branch was opened with appropriate fes- tivities.
The building of the Branch ensured the continued prosperity of the city. Large industries were thereby induced to locate here, and
only between Piermont and Otisville, a distance of sixty-one miles, and had a limited equipment of rolling stock, while the construction of the most difficult and expensive part of the road-that between Otisville and Binghamton-was then in progress. The change could then have been made in that portion already built for about seventy- five thousand dollars, and a saving of five hundred thousand dollars made on the construction of the unfinished portion ; and when ulti- mately made, thirty years later, the change cost about seven million dollars.
The company succeeded in opening the road to Dunkirk on May 14, 1851, but this work was only accomplished by herculean efforts and resort to all sorts of expedients, the enumeration of which would be tedious. The directors found it necessary to aid the company with both individual capital and credit in times of extreme necessity. They passed frequently over the line, encouraged the contractors, and bolstered the market value of the securities by purchasing largely of them at public sales. Mr. Ramsdell was regarded as especially interested in the Newburgh branch, and thus had a double duty imposed upon him during the whole period.
"THE HOMESTEAD"-RESIDENCE OF HOMER RAMSDELL.
it eventually brought about the extension of the New York and New England to Newburgh. Mr. Ramsdell continued a member of the board of directors of the company, with the exception of a brief in- terval, till 1884, and is now (1891) the only survivor of those with whom he first served in the early history of the road. His practical judgment and foresight were freely given to the use of the great line through his connection therewith, and many specific points might be named where mistakes could have been avoided and better means employed had his advice been followed.+ For instance, when, in 1847, the question of the change of the gauge of the Erie from six feet to four feet eight and one-half inches was discussed, Mr. Rams- dell advocated the narrow gauge. The road was then in operation
In the Summer of 1853 Mr. Ramsdell was elected President of the company, and he immediately devoted himself to the discharge of the great responsibilities thus laid upon him. A difficulty in the location and management of the road had been caused by undue State pride, which had led the Legislature of New York, in granting the charter of the road, to limit its termini to points within the State-Piermont in the east and Dunkirk in the west. It thus encountered at its origin every Winter an embargo which threatened to defeat the object of its construction. For the purpose of obtaining a direct connection with Jersey City, a road was laid from Suffern and thence through New
* Ruttenber's History.
+ See " Railroad Men of America," in Magazine of Western History, March, I88g.
Illustrative of this fact, it may be stated that after the exhaustion of the second mortgage bonds the only resource for the further prosecution of the work was in the issuing of income bonds to the extent of $8,500,000, which were mainly disposed of at auction in Wall Street, their market value being largely sustained by individual directors as purchasers. "Syndicates " were unknown in those days.
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Jersey. When Mr. Ramsdell assumed the administration of the cor- poration this connection, then just made, was imperfect in many res- pects and without terminal facilities. With rare sagacity he sought relief for his company by the purchase of the Long Dock property, which is substantially the property now owned by the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad Company at Jersey City, namely, the lands pierced by the Bergen tunnel, the river front at Pavonia ferry, and the intermediate lands connecting them, a distance of more than two miles through Jersey City. Mr. Ramsdell purchased this prop- erty for abont one million dollars, solely on his own account and re- sponsibility, taking the title in his own name, and keeping the nego- tiations unknown from all save three personal friends in the Board of Directors, in order to enable him to make the purchase at a reason- able price. At the sitting of the Legislature of New Jersey in 1856, Mr. Ramsdell secured the pas- sage of an act incorporating the Long Dock Company, to which he conveyed the proper- ty, and also obtained another act authorizing the Erie Rail- road Company to purchase and hold lands in New Jer- sey, and to finish and com- plete the Paterson and Hnd- son River Railroad. In this way a legislative mistake was overcome, and the great thor- oughfare was extended into the business center of the great metropolis, and the foundation was laid for ter- F E minal facilities equal to its then extended and rapidly in- creasing necessities.
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The presidency of the road was resigned by Mr. Ramsdell in July, 1857, which occasion was seized upon by the board of directors to formally ex- press their opinion of the value of the above described opera- tions. In a letter to him, ex- pressive of their personal es- teem and regret at his depart- ure, they said:
" We desire particularly to ten- der the thanks of the board for that crowning service of your ad- ministration, your original concep- tion and judicious purchase of the Long Dock property, which prop- erty, when fully completed and annexed to the Erie Railroad, will constitute an unbroken channel of communication between the im- mense granaries of the productive West and the markets of the great me- tropolis and Europe, so that, while one end of our road terminates at the lakes and rivers of the West, the other end shall discharge and receive its freight and passengers at the wharf or shipping at the port of New York, an advantage of location, productiveness and economy which is withont precedent in the history of railroads, and as long as New York continues the great com- mercial center and distributing point for the commerce of the country, the Erie Railroad must be the great channel of its western transportation."
It is worthy of mention in this connection that the original estimate of the cost of constructing the Erie Railroad was bnt $6,000,000. In 1885 the aggregate cost of the Erie and its branches exceeded $200,000,000. At that time the company saw the need of a further loan to pay for needed improvements and to discharge the floating debt. The whole property, personal, real and mixed, was already entirely hypothecated, save only the Bergen tunnel, and that for $3,000,000. But $7,000,000 additional was needed, and the security which this Bergen tunnel afforded, was availed of in this honr of need.
Another idea originated by Mr. Ramsdell was the construction, some twenty-eight or thirty years ago, of the Hawley branch of the Erie, the connecting link between the roads of the Pennsylvania Coal Company and the Erie, by which means the product of the coal beds of Pennsylvania found their way to market and gave a new portion of business to the great line. He procured the passage of the charter by the Legislature and the signature of the Governor solely by his own personal influence. Mr. Ramsdell was also influential in promoting the construction of the Newburgh & New York Railroad (Short Cut), between Vail's Gate on the Newburgh branch and Arden on the main line of the Erie-a valuable contributor to the business and convenience of Newburgh. In 1876, during Mr. Jewett's absence in Europe, Mr. Ramsdell acted as receiver of the Erie Road. Dnring his whole intercourse with the company he never accepted or received any fee, commission or reward for the large sums of money which he advanced, or for his endorsements and other finan- cial assistance which he gave, except simply the legal interest.
In 1868-69 the company found itself in urgent need of more cars, to supply which a company was formed, accom- panied by a liberal mileage contract guaranteeing a fixed and generous dividend, to the stock of which Mr. Ramsdell was invited to subscribe. This raised the question of a di- rector dealing with himself, and upon reflection he propos- ed to furnish his quota of the number of cars required "in trust," their cost to be reim- bnrsed in forty equal quarterly payments, with interest, the cars to be used and maintain- ed by the company, bnt to be owned by him till paid for, when they would belong to the company. Accordingly he placed on the road fifty mer- chandise cars at a cost of $40,000, war prices then pre- vailing. Ten years later an equally urgent need was felt for an increased supply of roll- ing stock, when the basis thus established was found conven- ient for the creation of a nnm- ber of " Car Trusts," covering a period of five years, under which the want was supplied at an aggregate cost of $10,485,100. Mr. Ramsdell was chosen chairman of the trusts, the plan of which he had originated .*
RESIDENCE OF H. STOCKBRIDGE RAMSDELL-160 Montgomery Street.
When the New York, West Shore & Buffalo Railroad surveyed its route along the west shore of the Hudson in 1881, it obtained from the City of Newburgh the privilege of building and operating its road "in, npon, through and across Front Street and the other streets of the city." The people were protected from what would have been a grievous imposition, only by Mr. Ramsdell's ready recognition of a menace to the interests of the town and his prompt action in thwarting it. It was naturally proposed to locate the track along Front Street, which was in itself not radically objected to; but when it was
* The total number of cars thus furnished may be given in detail as follows: 10,024 box freight cars, 2,550 gondola coal cars, 4,050 twenty-ton coal cars, 300 grain cars, 450 butter and cheese cars, 500 flat cars, 500 stock cars, 1,000 drop gondola cars, 200 refrigerator cars, 20 passenger coaches, 30 passenger locomo- tives and 40 consolidation locomotives.
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realized that the company intended not simply to make an economical use of the street, but to monopolize it, a very reasonable antagonism to the plan was aroused. Extensive structures line this thoroughfare, and large business interests are located there, which the building and operating of this railroad as originally intended would have irrepara- bly injured, and even the heaviest land damages that could have been hoped for could not make good the damage to the city's business and general inconvenience that would in the nature of things have ensued. About three-fourths of the property on the east or river side of this street was either owned or represented by Mr. Ramsdell, and here were concentrated his large business interests, and in addition to his own he represented, by appointment, the interests of the Erie Com- pany. In opposition to the proposed location remonstrances were of no avail, and the only alternative was litigation. Consequently pro- ceedings such as are provided for by the general railroad act of the State were resorted to, and a suit was commenced. Engineers were
Mr. Ramsdell's undertakings have ever been characterized by a spirit of enterprise and accommodation to the public, of which his maintenance and management of the excellent ferry and his spacious covered wharves and commodious storehouses are an example. In many public movements in his life-time his financial ability and talents have been leading factors, while even his works of a more private character have been such as necessitating the employment of labor on a large scale and the consequent distribution of capital, have tend- ed to promote business interests generally. Beginning in 1860 he was for a number of years president of the Washington Iron Works com- pany, which in 1865 covered an area of twenty acres, with nearly twelve hundred feet of water-front, and manufactured boilers, en- gines, car-wheels and general machinery. An approximate idea of the extent of this business may be obtained from the fact that its pay- roll amounted to $60,000 a month, or about $700,000 a year. Fire destroyed a considerable portion of the works, and part was removed
STOREHOUSE OF THE HOMER RAMSDELL TRANSPORTATION COMPANY, AND STEAMER "HOMER RAMSDELL."
employed to establish another line, and notwithstanding what were considered almost insurmountable obstacles, made greater by the limit of fifteen days allowed for the work, it was performed, and sub- stantially the present location was made, which the West Shore Com- pany adopted without any further litigation. Thus the city was saved from a serions marring feature, and some of its most important in- terests were spared.
To keep pace with the increased progress in transportation, in 1886 Mr. Ramsdell found it necessary to return to the use of steam in the forwarding business in which he has been engaged for half a century, and placed on the route between Newburgh and New York two fast steamers, constituting a morning and evening express line and affording the public express freight accommodations unsurpassed by any other water or freight line in the country. Two of these boats were built expressly for the line, and modeled for speed and carrying capacity. One of them, the steel propeller Homer Ramsdell, was built entirely in Newburgh, and affords a fine illustration of the capa- bilities of the builders and artisans of the place.
by the West Shore Railroad. Since 1870 it has been leased by Mr. Ramsdell to William Wright. Mr. Ramsdell was vice president and director of the company, formed in 1844 with a capital of $100,000, which erected the Newburgh Steam Mills, giving employment to hundreds of hands. He was one of the first board of directors of the Newburgh Gas-Light Company, organized in 1851 with a capital of $65,000. He was president of the company, formed in 1850, which built and operated the Newburgh and Ellenville Plank Road. In these and many other ways by the employment of his capital has he been useful to his community. He has been intimately identified with the various local institutions of Newburgh, and a prompt contributor to the elevating movements of the day. He sees from afar the results to be obtained only by a long train of operations, and combines in a marked degree the faculty of perceiving the practical relation of things with a skillful use of the means at his command. As an evi- dence of his interest in his home town, it may be mentioned that he was a member of the Board of Village Trustees from 1844 to 1851 in- clusive, and from 1861 to 1863 inclusive. In 1861 he was president of
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FISHKILL LANDING AND FERRY APPOINTMENTS.
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the village. In politics he was originally a Whig, but upon the dis- solution of that party he became a Democrat. His religious affilia- tion is with the Episcopal Church. For many years he has been an officer of St. George's, and is now Senior Warden. He has had a creditable part in all the work of that church, and was a leading spirit in the building of the Church of the Good Shepherd.
Homer Ramsdell is one of those men of whom it can be said, he has grown old gracefully and with dignity. While more than four score-" full of years, full of riches, and full of honors"-he is still in the possession of unusual mental faculties, and while not compelled to do so, he has in a measure retired from those intense activities which characterized his career, and entered upon that serene and sat- isfying rest which seems the appropriate reward of a well-spent life. Mr. and Mrs. Ramsdell have had the following sons and daughters: (1) Mary L. P., born March 23, 1836, died July 29, 1841; (2) Frances J., (married Major George W. Rains); (3) Thomas P .; (4) James A. P .; (5) Henry Powell ; (6) Homer S. (married Maud, daughter of David M. Clarkson), and (7) Leila R.
THOMAS POWELL FOWLER, President of the New York, Ontario and Western Railway Company. Among the many Newburgh men who have come prominently before the public and who have at- tained high honor and distinction for sterling qualities and native tal- ent, few are better known or more generally respected in railroad circles, or have been more successful in the legal profession, than the subject of this brief sketch. He was born in Newburgh, October 26, 1851. His father, Isaac Sebring Fowler, was a descendant of Isaac Fowler, who settled near this city in 1747. His mother, Mary Ludlow Powell, was the daughter of Robert Ludlow Powell, who was the son of Thomas Powell, long prominent in the affairs of the Empire State, and one of the most successful men of his time. His great-grandmother, Mary Powell, was in every way a remarkable woman; she was possessed of great talent and judgment, which were much appreciated in society. Her name is inseparably linked with the steam navigation of the Hudson River, and is familiar as a house- hold word with the oldest as well as the youngest traveler on Amer- ican steamboats.
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