USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > Annals of Cleveland, 1818-1935 > Part 30
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The bill to revive the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad co. passed the house of representatives day before yesterday and is now be- fore the senate. It is also much improved in some points from the old charter, and will pass the senate by Tuesday. (Mar. 19) It will enable Cleveland to draw the rich produce of Richland and Wayne to her own markets. No day fixed for adjournment yet. (verbatim) (3)
274
CLEVELAND NEWSPAPER DIGEST JAN. 1 TO DEC. 31, 1845
Abstracts 1563 - 1567
RAILROADS (Cont'd) 1563 - H Apr. 10; ed:3/1 - The OHIO STATESMAN announces that a consider. able amount of stock in the Columbus and Xenia railroad has been taken up . perhaps sufficient to complete the road, and expresses the hope that it will be put under contract at once.
"Columbus and Cincinnati will ere long be bound together by an iron link, and is it not true interest of Cleveland, and the country along the route, to take measures to add another link which shall connect the Queen City and the Capitol of the State with the Lake at this point?" (2)
1564 - H Apr. 15; ed:2/1 - Things in this age are progressive, and he who adheres to the stand-still policy will soon be left alone. We have the canal to bring other channels of communication with the interior. If we want to bring additional business to us, we must get good roads of some sort east and west of the canal route, and if we effect this we can con- tinue to preserve our relative importance and indefinitely increase it.
Let a railroad be built from Cleveland to Mansfield to connect with the road from there to Columbus. This will give us our share of business from the center and south as is rightfully due us. We ought to be represented in the proposed convention at Mansfield, and we hope the commissioners named for this county will attend it.
(18)
1565 - H Apr. 23; ed:3/1 - There will be a meeting of the railroad com- missioners of the proposed Cleveland and Pittsburgh railroad at Ravenna on Apr. 25. Samuel Starkweather, J. W. Allen, Charles Brodburn, Irod Kelley, Philo Scovill, Thomas Bolton, and Samuel Williamson are the local representatives and to them we say: "Are you ready? The enterprise is a very important one to us all. We hope you will be on the spot, to aid in giving a right direction to it at the beginning." (2)
1566 - H Apr. 26:3/1 - Meeting of the commissioners of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad co. at Mansfield on Thursday next. (Apr. 31) Commissioners from Cuyahoga county are John W. Allen, Philo Scovill, Richard Hilliard, Irad Kelley, Truman P. Handy, and Horatio N. Ward.
The public hope these gentlemen will remember this meeting and attend one and all. (verbatim) (2)
1567 - H Apr. 29:2/1,2 - In an anonymous letter to the editor, the writer says: As the subject of a railroad to Cleveland is agitating the minds of our citizens, you will oblige me, and possibly be of some service to them and to the country, by permitting me to occupy a small portion of your paper in stating a few facts, and in making a suggestion or two.
There is no town on the lake shore west of Buffalo as central for busi- ness as Cleveland; but in these days of "go ahead," we cannot expect to retain our natural advantages without some exertions. If our capitalists stand by and will not give us the benefit of their wisdom and experience, and shall withhold their wealth from the construction of railroads to this .
city, they will ultimately regret their decision. It is now in the power of Cleveland to insure not only the commencement, but the ultimate comple- tion of a railroad from this place to the Illinois river. Capitalists
275
CLEVELAND NEWSPAPER DIGEST JAN. 1 TO DEC. 31, 1845
Abstracts 1568 - 1571
RAILROADS (Cont'd) will be attracted by the many inducements offered by the route from Toledo to the Illinois.
Cleveland occupies too important a position to sport with it, or with the times she is called upon to act. Her decision will affect her destiny for years, if not forever, and she should act with reference to what the west is to be, and that at no distant day. (20)
1568 - H May 6:2/1 - In a letter to the editor, "Chenango" says: By reference to the proceedings of the railroad commissioners' meeting at Mansfield you will see that they have selected the line ending in Cleve- land in preference to either of the others, one of which contemplated a junction with the Mad River road 40 or 50 miles south of Sandusky, and which is a very feasible route, while the other would have been a con- nection with the Mansfield road.
"The people of Columbus and North of it are determined to have a Rail Road communication with the Lake somewhere, and most of them would pre- fer its termination at Cleveland."
(9)
1569 - H May 6:3/1 - We refer our readers to the proceedings of the meet- ing of the railroad commissioners at Mansfield and the letter of "Chenango" and would urge upon all the great importance of following up the first steps, now so favorably taken, by liberal, efficient, and prompt action. Books for subscription to the stock are to be opened, and the citizens of Cleveland should not so disregard their own interests as to suffer the golden opportunity to pass unimproved. (verbatim) (2)
1570 - H May 7:2/2 - In a letter to the editor, "Cleveland City" says: Your paper of yesterday contained the proceedings of the railroad commis- sioners' meeting at Mansfield and the letter of your correspondent relat- ing to those proceedings. Your correspondent no doubt desires to pro- mote the growth of Cleveland. If the road to Columbus through Mansfield were built, and the road from Columbus to Springfield or Xenia were also built, this city would derive some advantage. But admitting the advantage, the first question is whether such a road will enlist capital. "If it will not, we must turn our attention elsewhere. I have no disposition to dis- courage enterprises of this sort, but discretion is never more necessary than in planning works whose future prospects are not the subject of demonstration."
(12)
1571 - H May 13:2/2 - In a letter to the editor, "A Farmer" says: I have read and thoroughly weighed the arguments set forth in the communication of Elisha Whittlesey, Esq., on the subject of a railroad extending west. ward and nearly parallel with the south shore of Lake Erie and connecting with the Mad River railroad near Sandusky. Although I highly approve of many of the propositions set forth, I think he misjudges the interest of our city in the direction of the road.
"If we are to have only one Westerly road, I think it can be demon- strated that it should lead directly from Cleveland into the rich and great wheat growing, Central counties of Ohio, and it fortunately happens that
276
CLEVELAND NEWSPAPER DIGEST JAN. 1 TO DEC. 31, 1845
Abstracts 1572 - 1574
RAILROADS (Cont'd) this route leads direct to Columbus and Cincinnati. A large amount of travel would thus be transported upon this road, to and from Cleveland, thereby sustaining the road and lessening the price of transporting our provisions and merchandise."
(12)
1572 - II May 14:2/2 - In a letter to the editor, "Cleveland City" says: The first question I want to ask the supporters of the Mansfield route is - can the stock be taken? If not, then the matter is at an end. If the answer is yes, who will take it amounting to $1,500,000? This ques- tion settled, we can discuss the comparative profits of the two routes. On this point the people want some statistics to prove that travel "is of comparatively small importance to the produce business which a good rail - road would bring to our city." To show that the Mansfield road will introduce into this place more provisions than the Ohio canal, "we want some facts, too, that will demonstrate how a railroad to Mansfield and Columbus will bring the produce of Richland, Marion, Knox, Delaware, and Crawford Counties, with a portion of Huron, Lorain, Medina, and Wayne, to Cleveland City." (10)
1573 . H May 21:2/2 - The Wellsville PATRIOT says: "We understand that the entire route of the Cleveland and Wellsville Railroad is to be surveyed in the course of a few weeks. From the interest taken in the grand object by capitalists, we have no hesitation in stating, as our belief, that the work will be commenced this fall or early next spring, and speedily completed. " (verbatim) (1)
1574 - H May 23:2/1 - In a letter to the editor, "A Farmer" says: I be- lieve I feel as deeply interested in the welfare of Cleveland as any of those gentlemen who would enlighten the public on the subject of roads. I would as soon steal money from their pockets, as to deceive them inten- tionally. My friend "Cleveland City" appears to flutter a little and asks many questions; and as some of them are very proper, I will endeavor to answer as well as the nature of the case will admit.
The length of the contemplated railroad to Columbus will depend upon the route taken. The distance on a straight line is 130 miles, but it is more expensive to construct a road straight than by avoiding hills and ravines, thereby increasing the distance, but lessening the expense.
If every householder in Cleveland would take $100 worth of stock in this road, they would receive more than the interest annually.
In the winter, when farmers are best prepared to market their produce, this road would accomodate them. Cleveland would then receive from central Ohio daily from two to 6,000 bushels of wheat, from one to 4,000 barrels of flour, and other articles in proportion. Respecting passengers, I admit they help to defray expenses, and thereby lessen the price of freight.
"I sincerely wish the best route adopted, and something done, after the citizens of Cleveland are fully persuaded. I ask for truth and reason only to prevail. Then let every man put his shoulder to the wheel, and if it does not move, I will guarantee Hercules will assist." (18)
277
CLEVELAND NEWSPAPER DIGEST JAN. 1 TO DEC. 31, 1845
Abstracts 1575 - 1578
RAILROADS (Cont'd)
1575 - H May 27:2/1 . In a letter to the editor, one of the commissioners says: "I have observed two communications in your paper over the signa- ture of 'Cleveland City' to which 'A Farmer' has made some reply; and I will add a little to what he has said, with your permission. And I will here say, that though I differ from the first as to location of the route, I have no doubt he desires, as I do, that one should be selected which is not only most likely to be built, but which shail add most to the business and prosperity of this city."
Our object is to bring both men and things, passengers and property, to this point. It is not one, but both that we want; and in my opinion, in the language once used by Mr. Van Buren, if we "penetrate the interior" we shall fully accomplish our purpose. (15)
1576 - H June 2:2/1 - In a letter to the editor, "A Commissioner of Both Roads" says: The books for subscription to the stock of the Cleveland and Pittsburgh railroad are to be opened this day. I long have been, now am, and ever shall be exceedingly anxious to see this project effected, and I have great confidence that it will be, but with this feeling I think it is best that some prudence should be combined. We cannot do very much here at this time for either of the contemplated projects, but if we attempt to carry on both, the presumption is that the division of our efforts will result in the defeat of both. My view then is that we should defer action on that one that may be safely postponed and direct all our exertions to- ward the one that cannot be so postponed, and the success of it will of necessity work the success of the other. As a firm, undeniable friend of the Pittsburgh road as well as of the other, I would advise this course.
(7)
1577 - June 7; ed: 2/1 . Our friend, the Wooster DEMOCRAT, objects to our intimation that the Loudonville hills render the Wooster and Mount Vernon route impracticable for a railroad and declare it to be a well-known fact that there are valleys as level and as favorable for the construction of a railroad between those points as on any other route from Cleveland to Columbus, and far less circuitous than some other routes which the Cleve- landers seem so anxious to adopt.
"We are glad to see the DEMOCRAT rousing the people of Wayne to the importance of earnestly engaging in the work of internal improvements. That rich County can do much, if she will." (3)
1578 - H June 13:2/1 . In a letter to the editor, "Along the Shore" says: I have noticed in your paper several articles concerning the proposed rail- road and different routes from Cleveland to Columbus and Cincinnati. As this is a matter in which we along the shore feel some interest, will you allow me to offer some reasons in favor of the lake shore or northern route?
By the northern route there are no hills or obstacles in the way of con- struction, a very considerable part of the grading has been done between Cleveland and the Maumee river, and many piles driven, all of which might be made available in the construction of the new road. I am convinced this route can be built cheaper, can be run in or near the same time and at least expense than the southern route.
278
CLEVELAND NEWSPAPER DIGEST JAN. 1 TO DEC. 31, 1845
Abstracts 1579 - 1581
RAILROADS (Cont'd)
Cleveland has an enviable position in either case, and may continue to keep the high stand she has now attained in commerce and trade by rightly directing her energies and judiciously applying her means.
"The section of country South from Huron or Sandusky to Mansfield, Mt. Vernon and Newark, between the Canal and the Lake shore, she is sure of, either by the Canal or by the Rail Road, if the Northern route is pursued, besides the immense travel from these lines of Rail Road will soon be ex- tended West across the Peninsula of Michigan to Chicago, and from thence West no one knows where, unless it be Mr. Whitney; and would not this be a bright link in the chain, think you?" (10)
1579 - H June 20:2/1 - In a letter to the editor, "A Farmer" says: Cleve- land is perhaps as deeply interested in the subject of railroads as any other place in Ohio. It is only necessary for her citizens to see their true interest to embrace it. Much has been said verbally and through the press. The general assembly has renewed charters, and made new ones, for roads of nearly all descriptions and in almost every direction. Now is the time to act. The books for subscriptions are now open at the office of T. P. Handy, Esq., for the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati railroad, and at the office of the Firemen's Insurance co. for the Cleveland and Ohio railroad.
"Sufficient stock must be taken to organize the companies, and twenty- five thousand dollars is the least amount that can be expected to start with from Cleveland. This is only half of the sum authorized by the law authorizing our city to borrow for the Wooster plank road. If this trifling sum cannot be subscribed here, with what force can we ask those vastly less interested to subscribe?" (8)
1580 - H June 21; ed: 2/1 - The St. Lawrence and Atlantic railroad, an im- portant one, will be built, for the Yankees and Canucks have willed it.
Books are to be opened at Montreal and Quebec, and the governor general has written to the home secretary urging him to lay the subject before the ministry. (3)
1581 . H July 5; ed: 2/1 . Mr. Whitney, the projector of the stupendous scheme of a railroad from Lake Michigan to the Pacific ocean, arrived at Chicago on June 13, accompanied by several young men from the east who will go with him on his route of exploration.
To build the road, Mr. Whitney asks the government for a grant of public lands, 60 miles wide along the route, or 30 miles on each side of the road from point to point, the proceeds of this land to constitute the fund for building the road. The proposed grant would include about 92,000, 000 acres. The cost of the road is estimated at $20,000 per mile. making the entire cost about $50,000, 000.
Mr. Whitney's plan was submitted to the last Congress, but no specific action was taken.
"Mr. Whitney will personally explore the route from Lake Michigan to the vicinity of the Rocky Mountains before the next session of Congress, and will probably again bring the scheme before the body, accompanied by such facts in regard to it as the exploration will furnish." (15)
279
CLEVELAND NEWSPAPER DIGEST JAN. 1 TO DEC. 31, 1845
Abstracts 1582 - 1585
RAILROADS (Cont'd)
1582 . H July 9; ed: 3/1 - Canton citizens are enthused over a railroad movement originating in that town, with the purpose in view to connect the Ohio river and the lake. A survey has been made from Canton to Akron. From Akron northward, a company called the Cleveland and Hudson, was chartered last winter; thus a road may be built from Cleveland to the Ohio river. However, the scheme of reaching the river by this route has not been considered here seriously. Instead, local sentiment has been in favor of a route via Ravenna to Wellsville toward which plan $25,000 has already been subscribed in Cleveland. Still another route is the pro- posed southwestern one through Cincinnati. These latter two, if completed, will place Cleveland on a strong commercial basis and will probably spell a 10,000 increase in population here.
The Canton and Akron route is longer than the Ravenna and Wellsville route by ten miles.
. H July 16; ed: 2/2 - See Commerce
(7)
1583 - H July 22:3/1 . Cleveland and Columbus Railroad - The Delaware GAZETTE of the 18th states that about $24,000 of stock has been taken in Delaware county conditionally - about $1,800 positively - and that the committee of correspondence consisting of H. Williams, S. Finch, and B. Powers of Delaware are authorized to call a meeting for the purpose of organizing the company as soon as they shall receive information of $50,000 of the capital stock having been positively subscribed. Sufficient returns have not been received from the places at which books were opened to sat- isfy the committee that this amount has been subscribed. (verbatim) (2)
1534 - H July 23; ed:3/2 - The committee of commissioners of the proposed Cleveland and Columbus railroad have no more information concerning sub- scriptions showing the progress of this venture than those made at Delaware. "The difficulty we suspect is, that although notice of subscriptions was given to the Committee in a mode supposed to be sufficient, yet that it was not in such official shape as to authorize them to count them. This objection we presume can and will be readily obviated." (3)
1585 - 1I July 25:2/2 . At a meeting of the commissioners of the Cleveland and Pittsburgh railroad at Ravenna yesterday, Cyrus Prentiss was appointed chairman and John W. Allen, secretary. It was resolved that as the amount of stock necessary to be subscribed in order to authorize the organization of the company was not yet obtained, a special committee be appointed to solicit further subscriptions at such times and places as the committee may deem expedient, and that A. G. Catlett, James Stewart, Zadock Street, Cyrus Prentiss, and John W. Allen be that committee. It was also resolved that said committee be empowered to employ a competent engineer to survey the territory as soon as practicable, and that Joseph J. Brooks, Esq., of Columbiana county be appointed a commissioner in place of Dr. George Mc- Cook, resigned.
(5)
280
CLEVELAND NEWSPAPER DIGEST JAN. 1 TO DEC. 31, 1845
Abstracts 1586 - 1589
RAILROADS (Cont'd) 1586 - H July 30; ed: 3/1 - We are glad to learn that there is a probability of companies being formed within a few weeks for the construction of a railroad hence to Columbus and Cincinnati and to Wellsville and Pitts- burgh. These roads would be of incalculable advantage to the country through which they would pass, and especially to this city. The com- missioners on the Pittsburgh route, in anticipation of the regular organ- ization of the company, have made an arrangement with Colonel Dodge by which several lines will be explored so minutely as to enable the company to determine the general route and the probable expense of construction.
"Of one thing, we of the Lake City may be assured, that if we sit with folded arms, content with such advantages as we now have, we may find when it is too late that Miama Extension Canals and Mad River Rail Roads have not only most materially diminished our ability to go ahead, but even to hold on to what we now think we have a right." (9)
1587 - H July 31; ed: 2/3 - A few years ago a company was chartered to build a railroad from Sandusky to Monroeville. The road was constructed, but not in a very substantial manner. There was a good deal of business done upon it, but at a heavy expense. The stock decreased in value and the road was finally sold by the state for its lien, although it took stock to the amount of its claim under the new charter. Since then, perfect confidence has been felt, not only in the speedy completion of the road and in the liberal profits to be realized by the enterprising stockholders, but in the great advantages to be derived by extending so valuable a work more than 50 miles into one of the most fertile portions of the state. By Sept. 1 it is expected that the road will be completed.
"Our Sandusky neighbors may well congratulate themselves on the result of their enterprise. It shows what may be effected by a few individuals of some means and more enterprise .... If the citizens of Sandusky, not numbering a third of our population, can build one road and materially aid in building another, what can the citizens of Cleveland do towards the roads about which they are talking?"
(10)
1588 - H Aug. 1; ed:2/1 - Measures are being taken to secure subscriptions amounting to $500,000 for the construction of a 55 mile railroad between Xenia and Columbus. Cincinnati citizens are already subscribing, realizing the need of such a line.
"This is an important link in the iron road in which our citizens are deeply interested. for unless we would lag behind in the race of pros- perity, Cleveland and Cincinnati must eventually be united by railroad communication. We earnestly ask our capitalists to emulate the spirit and enterprise of Columbus and Cincinnati in urging forward the 'consummation devoutly to be wished. '" (4)
1589 - H Aug. 4; ed: 3/2 - A survey of the proposed railroad from Akron to Canton has been made, and according to Civil Engineer White, the cost of the 22-1/2 mile line will be $127,067.07, or $5,647.42 per mile. Mr.
281
CLEVELAND NEWSPAPER DIGEST JAN. 1 TO DEC. 31, 1845
Abstracts 1590 - 1592
RAILROADS (Cont'd)
White calculates that the yearly freight and passenger receipts will bring a profit of seven per cent on the investment.
"The route is very feasible, and the work becomes one of no little importance to Cleveland, as it is not only intended, says the report, for a road from Canton to Akron, but is a link in a contemplated road from the Ohio River to Lake Erie. which will connect with the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road at Wheeling." (7)
1590 - H Aug. 8:2/1 - In a letter to the editor. "M.S." of Buffalo says: Allow a travelling New Yorker to give some results of his observations in Ohio. When I left New York my intention was to go to Cleveland and thence to Columbus and Cincinnati, but unfortunately your city's lack of railroad facilities kept me away and I failed to see your much-heralded town.
"Now, Mr. Editor, I take it for granted that a place like Cleveland, famed as one of the most beautiful and desirable in the country, with such enterprising inhabitants as I know you have, with such a commerce and such capabilities of improvement, owning some of the finest vessels on the Lake and the most magnificent steamboat on fresh water in the world, will not permit herself to be surrounded, as she will soon be almost, by the improvements extending from rival towns to the River, diverting from you travel and commerce which, all things being equal, would naturally seek your town, without doing something in her own de- fense. If you were required to build a railroad from Cleveland to Cin- cinnati, to compete with that from Sandusky thither, (saying nothing of the Mansfield road) I suppose that you would not hesitate to make the attempt at least, though it might be deemed a Herculean task, yet it is no more than your neighbors are doing from Sandusky; but, as I understand it;' you need only a road to Columbus, say 140 to 150 miles, to connect you at once with Cincinnati, and to bring the whole of the rich interior of your noble State to your very doors! Truly this is a small undertaking when the magnitude of its results is considered." (11)
1591 - H Aug. 12; ed:2/1 - There are three charters in existence for the construction of railroads across Canada north of Lake Erie. One, the Toronto and Lake Huron, cannot by its charter fix its western terminus below Port Sarnia. Another, the Great Western road, by its charter can fix its western terminus at any point on the St. Clair or Detroit river. No western terminus has as yet been determined upon. Another charter which expires next spring authorizes a road from Windsor to Berthie.
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