USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of the city of Cleveland: its settlement, rise and progress, 1796-1896 > Part 27
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The next project that interested the people of Cleve- land and of Ohio-to their serious cost-came some seven years later. The Ohio Railroad Company came forward
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with a plan that was to secure all the benefits of the rail- road at a cost far below that of lines already built or in course of construction. This was to be accomplished by placing the tracks on a double row of piles, or posts, upon which planks were to be placed edgewise, and bolted together.
The Ohio Railroad Company was organized at the Mansion House, Painesville, on April 25th, 1836. Its in- corporators were: R. Harper, Eliphalet Austin, Thomas Richmond, G. W. Card, Heman Ely, John W. Allen, John G. Camp, P. M. Weddell, Edwin Byington, James Post, Eliphalet Redington, Charles C. Paine, Storm Rosa, Rice Harper, Henry Phelps, and H. J. Reese.
In considering the expansive charter under which the company was to work, we must remember that it was ob- tained at a time when state legislatures were disposed to grant anything to corporations that promised to create great wealth out of nothing, and when the country was in the wildest state of speculation of that great specula- tive decade. It was obtained through the efforts of Nehe- miah Allen, of Willoughby, who then represented his county in the Legislature, and who became president of the company.
The company was allowed not only wide latitude in all matters relating to legitimate railroad building, but was given also banking privileges, including the issuing of money, as the holders of some three or four hundred thousand dollars' worth of their bills eventually discov- ered to their cost. In addition to this, it received the benefit of a remarkable act passed by the Ohio Legisla- ture on March 24th, 1837.8+ It was a measure, possible only to days of reckless speculation and an irresponsible administration of public affairs. It provided that the State should loan its credit in six per cent. stock to the amount of one-third of the authorized capital if the other
N This measure was described by itself as "An Act to authorize a Loan of Credit by the State of Ohio to Railroad Companies,-also to Turnpike, Canal and Slackwater Navigation Companies." It was generally de- scribed as " The Plunder Law," after its character was understood.
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two-thirds had been paid in "to the companies organized to build railroads," etc., which made the State a partner, to the extent of one-third, in all the reckless schemes that might be set afloat. The State issued its bonds to the amount named, and received company stock to the same amount in return.
The great advantage given a corporation by this meas- ure can be seen at a glance. The law was repealed on March 17th, 1840, when a great loss had been put upon the State, and at a time when many new companies were being formed for added schemes of public plunder.85
The plan of the Ohio Railroad Company was to run a line from the western edge of Pennsylvania to a point on the Maumee River, near the present city of Toledo. Two great cities were to be created as a part of the scheme. One was Richmond, on the Grand River, be- tween Fairport, on Lake Erie, and Painesville, four miles to the south, and the other was Manhattan, on the Mau- mee River, three or four miles north of Toledo.
A glowing prospectus was issued, capital enlisted, and plans prepared. The first pile was driven in Fremont on June 19th, 1839. The details of actual construction, and the methods employed in this unique specimen of railroad building were as follows: A roadway, 100 feet in width, was prepared; 112 piles and 1,056 ties were used in each mile; the piles running from 7 to 28 feet in length, according to the grade, and from 12 to 16 inches in diameter; the ties were 9 feet long, and 8 inches in diam- eter. " The piles were driven by a machine, consisting of two sills, 30 or 40 feet long, placed parallel with each other, at a distance of 7 feet, that being the width of the track. At the forward end of these sills were erected four timbers, termed 'leaders,' 30 feet high, between which, on each side, the iron hammers, weighing one- half a ton each, were raised and let fall upon the pile. A
85 The grand total of Ohio's investments under this law was as follows: Railroads, $751,915; turnpikes, $1, 853,365; canals, $600,000. Total, $3,205,280. The returns were very much less.
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circular saw, attached to a shaft projecting between the leaders, cut the pile to the proper grade, when the driver was moved and the operation repeated. These machines employed eight men and drove about forty piles per day, covering some twenty rods in distance. Upon the head of each pair of piles was fitted a tie, 8x8 inches, in which a gain was cut nine inches wide and four deep, the tie being pinned down through this gain with a two-inch cedar pin; but before this was done, half a pint of salt was deposited in the auger hole of each pile, which, permeating the wood, was expected materially to preserve the same from decay. A locomotive saw-mill upon the track, and behind the pile driver, attended by three men, prepared the rails at the rate of 900 lineal feet per day. These rails or stringers were 8x8, and 15 feet in length. On the wood stringers thus provided were to be placed iron ('strap') rails, of the weight of twenty-five tons to the mile. Behind all, upon the prepared track, was a boarding house for the work hands, which moved with the rest of the establishment." 85a
The main portion of the work was done between Fre- mont and Manhattan, with some sections to the eastward, near the Cuyahoga River. Some of these piles were still in evidence fifty and more years later. Misfortune over- took the enterprise at an early day, as was inevitable in the very nature of things. The panic of 1837, the repeal of "The Plunder Law," quarrels among those who favored Manhattan and those who favored Richmond, and the in- herent weakness of the whole scheme, worked together and brought on a total collapse. This came in 1843. How total it was, can be learned from the report made by the Auditor of State in December of the same year. Said he: "The original subscriptions to the stock of the company were $1,991,766. Of this sum, only $13,980 had been paid in cash; $8,000 or $10,000 in labor and material; and $533,776 in lands and town lots. These have
85a " The Ohio Railroad: That Famous Structure built on Stilts," by C. P. Leland. Western Reserve Historical Society's Tract No. S1.
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been reported as a basis for the credit of the State; also, there has been added $293,660 in donations of lands for right-of-way, all of which of course are conditioned to revert upon failure to complete the work. The lands re- ceived in payment of subscriptions were all taken at the most extravagant rates." He further showed that the amount received by the company, from the State, was $249,000, for which it had in return "some sixty-three miles of wooden superstructure laid on piles, a consider- able portion of which is already rotten, and the remainder going rapidly to decay." In 1845, the Legislature passed a law authorizing the board of public works to sell the whole concern. But little, if anything, was realized.
There were other projects put forward, in the same year which saw the incor- poration of the Ohio Rail- road Company, that came to little or nothing in the forms in which they were then pro- posed. These were: The Cleveland, Warren & Pitts- burg Railroad Company,8% leading from Cleveland to the State line, or some other point on the Ohio River in the direction of Pittsburg ; MAYOR WILLIAM B. CASTLE. the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad Company, leading from Cleveland to Cincinnati by way of Colum- bus ; and the Cleveland & Erie Railroad Company, from Cleveland to Ravenna.
The panic of 1837 blocked. these measures for a time.
86 The " Cleveland Herald " of January 26th, 1836, states, with no small pride, that the engineers of the Cleveland, Warren & Pittsburg Railroad had reached Cleveland on the previous day, and adds, that "everything con- nected with this improvement seem's to progress with an activity and spirit which promises the most favorable results." Stock was readily subscribed to a large amount, and at a meeting held on May 12th the organization of a board of directors was effected, with Mayor John W. Willey as president.
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The subsequent history of each is practically the story of the railroads of Cleveland, and each may be taken up in the order of relative importance.
The charter of the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad was granted on March 14th, 1836. It lay dormant until 1845, when it was revived, revised, and amended by an act of March 12th, so as to permit it to build as far as Columbus, but not compelling it to go any further than that point. It also was permitted to "unite with any other, then, or thereafter, constructed under authority of the gen- eral assembly, leading from any point at, or near, Lake Erie to, or towards, the southern part of the State." &î A new company was organized, with John W. Allen, Richard Hilliard, John M. Woolsey, and Henry B. Payne, as the Cleveland directors, and John W. Allen, as president. The City of Cleveland, in encouragement of the enter- prise, voted to loan its credit to the extent of two hun- dred thousand dollars.
There were many difficulties in the way, but one by one they were surmounted. Capitalists abroad were un- willing to lend their aid. A canvass of the city resulted in securing a subscription of but twenty-five thousand dollars. Mr. Woolsey was sent to Cincinnati to negotiate the bonds subscribed by the city, and to Philadelphia and New York to enlist the aid of the capitalists of those cities. The latter part of his mission was a failure. In the spring of 1847, it looked as though the whole thing would have to be given up in despair, but help came through the willing effort of two influential and sagacious men. Richard Hilliard and Henry B. Payne agreed to
87 "In the spring of 1846 there were three or four rival projects for a road to Columbus from the Lake, but none of them were unfriendly to Cleve- land. We called a meeting of all the commissioners at Mansfield, and at our request they all agreed to give us six months to enable us to carry out our project, and, if we were successful, they would rest quietly as to theirs." Mr. Allen relates at some length the steps then taken, and adds: "Out of these devices grew this road of great and immediate importance to Cleveland."-"Our First Attempt at Railroad Building," by John W. Allen ;- " Annals of the Early Settlers' Association," No. 5, P. 96.
RAILWAY STATION AND DOCKS, 1854.
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devote three months of earnest personal effort to one final attempt, and so well did they apply themselves that ad- ditional subscriptions to the amount of forty thousand dollars were obtained, and the skies began to clear.
Alfred Kelley, then of Columbus, accepted the position of president, and thus a new source of influence and strength was added. Another fortunate move was made when the managers prevailed upon Frederick Harbach, Amasa Stone and Stillman Witt, to undertake the con- struction of the line; and they agreed to take the principal portion of their pay in stock.
An episode which illustrates the difficulties they had in keeping the charter alive, and the low ebb to which the enterprise was at one time reduced, is related by George F. Marshall, ** one of the actors therein, as follows: "In order to save the charter, it was thought best to make a show of work on the line already surveyed. One bright autumn forenoon about a dozen men got themselves to- gether near the ground now occupied by the A. & G. W. Railway depot, with the noble purpose of inaugurating the work of building the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad. Among the number was Alfred Kelley, the pres- ident, T. P. Handy, the treasurer, J. H. Sargent, the engi- neer, James A. Briggs, the attorney, and H. B. Payne, Oliver Perry, John A. Foot and others, besides your humble servant. On that memorable spot one could look upon those vast fields of bottom land, and nothing could be seen but unbroken wide meadows; the brick residence of Joel Scranton on the north, and the ruins of an old mill in the ravine of Walworth Run on the south, were the only show of buildings in all that region roundabout. These gentlemen had assembled to inaugurate the work on the railway, yet there was a sadness about them that could be felt; there was something that told them that it would be difficult to make much of a railroad without money and labor. Yet they came on purpose to make a show of a
88 " A Sketch of Early Times in Cleveland," by George F. Marshall .- " Annals of the Early Settlers' Association," No. I, p. 102.
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beginning. Alfred took a shovel and with his foot pressed it well into the soft and willing earth, placing a good chunk in the tranquil wheelbarrow close at hand, repeat- ing the operation until a load was attained, and dumping it a rod or so to the south. We all shouted a good sized shout that the road was really inaugurated. Then Mr. Handy did a little of the same work as well as Sargent and Briggs, while I sat on the nearest log rejoicing to see the work going so lively and in such able hands. The fact was demonstrated that the earth was willing, if man would only keep the shovel, the pick and wheelbarrow moving lively according to this beginning. All that fall and winter one man was kept at work on the great enter- prise simply to hold the charter, with a hope that some- thing would turn up to enable the directors to push things with a greater show for ultimate success. During the winter that followed, any one passing up Pittsburg street near the bluff could see day by day the progress this one-man power was making in his work. Foot by foot each day the brown earth could be seen gaining on the white snow on the line towards Columbus, and hope remained lively in the breast of everyone that saw the progress, that if the physical powers of that solitary laborer held out long enough, he would some day be able to go to State's prison by rail."
Success so crowned the efforts of the earnest men who had this great project in hand, that on February 21st, 1851, the first through train was run from Columbus to Cleveland,"9 bearing the members of the general assembly, State officers, and many prominent citizens from the capi- tal, and from along the line. It was a day of great re-
69 " The road was so far finished that trains were run over its entire length, from Columbus to Cleveland, on the 21st of February last, but the road could not be considered as fully open for regular business operations before the ist of April. Since that time a large and profitable business has been done-larger, and more profitable, it is believed, in proportion to the amount of capital invested, than has been done on any other road in the United States for the first eight months after its being opened for use."- Extract from the report of President Alfred Kelley for 1851.
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joicing in the city, which now for the first time found itself in actual steam connection with the outside world.
Ample preparations were made to make the event of a character to reflect credit upon Cleveland. A special meeting of the City Council was held on February 13th, at which a formal invitation was extended to the governor of the State, the members of the Legislature, the heads of the various State departments, and the mayors and city officials of Columbus and Cincinnati, to visit Cleveland on Washington's birthday, and participate in the formal opening of the railway. A committee of arrangements and reception was appointed, consisting of Messrs. Gill, McIntosh, and Stedman. The invitation was cordially ac- cepted, and the occasion was one of great rejoicing. The " Herald's" extended report of the celebration says: "On Saturday, as we saw Buckeyes from the banks of the Ohio and the rich valleys of the Miami and the Scioto mingling their congratulations with those of the Yankee Reserve, upon the completion of an im- provement, which served to MAYOR GEORGE B. SENTER. bring them into business and social connection, and to break down the barriers which distance, prejudice, and ignorance of each other had built up, we felt that the completion of the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Rail- road would be instrumental in accomplishing a good work for Ohio, the value of which no figures could compute. On the morning of the twenty-first, the members of the Legislature, the State officers, the councils of Cin- cinnati and Columbus, and citizens of Columbus and Cin- cinnati, in all four hundred and twenty-eight persons, left the capital on the C. C. & C. Railroad cars, for a visit to Cleveland, as guests. On their arrival, they were greeted
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by discharges of artillery, and the welcome of thousands of our citizens."
A grand procession was formed, and the guests were escorted to the Public Square, where an address of wel- come was delivered by Mayor William Case. Hon. C. C. Converse, president of the State Senate, responded. Samuel Starkweather then delivered the oration of the day, and speeches were made by Alfred Kelley, Henry B. Payne, Mr. Pugh, of Cincinnati, Governor Reuben Wood, and Cyrus Prentiss, president of the Cleveland & Pitts- burg Railroad Company. The visitors were then taken to Hudson, over the last named line.90 On the return to Cleveland a banquet was served at the Weddell House. A torch-light procession paraded, the city firemen taking a leading part. On the Sabbath, Dr. Aiken preached a powerful sermon on railroads in the Stone Church, and on Monday the visitors departed for home, leaving Cleveland to settle down to the realities of every-day life.
By act of the Ohio Legislature, on March 14th, 1836, the same day on which that of the above described road was passed, a charter was granted to the Cleveland, Warren & Pittsburg Railroad Company, permitting it to construct a line from Cleveland to the eastern border of Ohio, and there to connect with any road built under the laws of Pennsylvania. As all railroad experience was limited in those days, in matters of legislation as well as actual opera-
90 The details of this expedition are graphically set forth by R. F. Smith, general manager of the Cleveland & Pittsburg Railway Company, in a communication to the Board of Trade, in 1871: " The general assem- bly, with the governor and various other officers of the State, having passed over the line of the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati, from Cincinnati to Cleveland, celebrating its opening to the public, were, on the twenty-second of February, 1851, invited to visit the thriving village of Hudson, before their return to the substantial realities of life at the capital. This trip was accomplished by the honorable gentlemen, not, however, without experi- encing upon the rough and unballasted track of the incipient highway, the vicissitudes incidental to railroad life. Owing to some misunderstanding, the supply of edibles at Hudson was far too meagre, and the train getting off the track upon the return trip, the excursionists were detained to a late hour of the night, but eventually their honors were landed again in the city upon the lake shore, a hungrier if not a wiser and happier set of men."
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tion, the charter was broad in its scope and loose in its provisions. It allowed the president and directors to issue and sell stock to any limit that their desires or necessities might direct, gave them permission to select any route they might choose, to condemn land, and to propel their cars by any motive power they might prefer. The same evil days that befell the connection between the Forest City and Cincinnati, disturbed and delayed the venture toward the southeast, and the same revival of confidence that set the one afloat had a similar effect upon the other.
An act of revival and amendment was passed on March IIth, 1845, and the route was changed from "the most direct in the direction of Pittsburg," to "the most di- rect, practicable, and least expensive route to the Ohio River, at the most suitable point." The company was or- ganized at Ravenna, in October, 1845. James Stewart, of Wellsville, was elected president, A. G. Cattell, secretary, and Cyrus Prentiss, treasurer. Preliminary arrangements were made as speedily as possible, and the usual amount of labor and responsibility placed upon the shoulders of the willing few. The history is similar to that of its neighbor, and its final triumph and usefulness formed a parallel thereto. In July, 1847, the first contracts were let from Wellsville northward, and the actual work com- menced. The Cleveland end of the line dragged, some- what, through lack of money, and it was not until 1849 that the last of the work was let. By legislation had in February of that year, the City of Cleveland was author- ized to subscribe to the capital stock of the company. In February, 1851, the long trial began to have an ending, and the line was opened from Cleveland to Hudson, in March to Ravenna, and in November to Hanover.91 In
91 " In March (1851), the track was constructed to Ravenna, and in No- vember to Hanover, a distance of seventy-five miles from Cleveland. In the exuberance of their joy the stockholders at their meeting resolved ' that the directors be requested to give a free ticket to each stockholder and his lady to ride over the road from Cleveland to Hanover, and return at any time within thirty days, and that landholders, through whose land the road passes, shall be entitled to a free ticket for themselves and wives
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1852, the connection through to Pittsburg was arranged for. On April 18th, 1853, the Legislature of Pennsylvania passed a law incorporating the Cleveland & Pittsburg Rail- road Company, and giving full assent to all the provisions of the Ohio charter. In October, 1871, the Cleveland & Pittsburg Railroad Company passed into the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, where it has since remained.
Another venture of the same busy period of railroad building was the Cleveland & Mahoning Valley Railroad Company, which, eventually, had much to do with the manufacturing and commercial development of this city. This line was projected for the primal purpose of opening and developing the coal and mineral regions of the Mahon- ing valley, and also to furnish a connection between Cleve- land and Pittsburg. It was chartered on February 22nd, 1848, incorporated in 1851, and the first meeting of stock- holders held at Warren, in June, 1852. Local subscrip- tions to the amount of $300,000 were reported, and esti- mates and surveys ordered prepared. The prime mover and most earnest friend of the scheme, was Jacob Perkins, . of Warren, who risked his fortune, gave his strength, and finally sacrificed his life in its behalf.92
The directors, in the day of beginning, were Jacob Per- kins, Frederick Kinsman, Charles Smith, David Tod, Dudley Baldwin, Robert Cunningham and James Magee -the first three residents of Warren, and the rest of Youngstown, Cleveland, New Castle and Philadelphia, in the order named. It was a long and uphill struggle before the day of success was reached. Cleveland was
from twenty days of the opening of the road, and that the same privilege be extended over the other portions of the road when completed."- From the statement made by R. F. Smith, general manager of the Cleveland & Pittsburg Railroad.
92 " He died in Havana, Cuba, on January 12th, 1859, and the half- grave, half-playful, but altogether pathetic remark made to a friend previ- ous to his death, 'If I die you may inscribe on my tombstone, 'Died of the Mahoning Valley Railroad,"' was more of a sombre fact than a light jest or passing fancy."-" Magazine of Western History," Vol. II., p. 618.
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selected as the headquarters, and a purchase of land made that gave the road a foothold here. There was much sur- veying of proposed routes, and hesitation among those proposed, but finally the present one, through Mantua, Warren, and Youngstown, was chosen. Attempts were made to induce the Pennsylvania Legislature to allow an extension of the line into that State, but the influence of rival lines prevented.
There was a fair promise of success up to 1854, when the annual report of the directors took on a tone of de- spondency that boded ill for the future. The condition of the money market had altered for the worse, and capital became very cautious; at this time, Jacob Perkins and his associates stepped in, and by pledge of their personal fortunes, secured the continuation of the work. In 1857, the road was completed as far as Youngstown, and a point thus reached where returns began to come in from the growing coal and iron regions. In October, 1863, it was leased to the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad Company, and later, with that organization, passed into the control of the Erie system.
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