Century history of Youngstown and Mahoning County, Ohio, and representative citizens, 20th, Part 32

Author: Sanderson, Thomas W., comp
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1074

USA > Ohio > Mahoning County > Youngstown > Century history of Youngstown and Mahoning County, Ohio, and representative citizens, 20th > Part 32

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Although many difficulties were encoun- tered in the early building, the road at once proved itself a money maker. During 1879 alone, it earned $335,649, leaving a profit of $157,589 net. The policy of placing the earn- ings into the rebuilding of the road was then begun in a small way, and the following year the gross earnings climbed to $840,578, with a net profit of $441,565. The line had been built economically, naturally so because of the contract with McGrann. The bridges were single track, the grading was as slight as it could possibly be made, and from Saw Mill Run into Pittsburg the road ran along the Monongahela river over a right of way of pil- ing. Everything was done on a modest scale. But the wisdom of it all was shown in the rapid increase of earnings, and the gross earn- ings have now grown to over ten million dol- lars, and the net earnings to more than the original capital, although liberal dividends have been paid for years. The wisdom of the Wabash will probably not be realized for a de- cade, but financiers believe time will tell.

There was one time in the early history of the Pittsburg & Lake Erie when the Vander- bilt influence almost reached the vanishing point. That was during the early 80's, when the line into the Connelsville coke region and the famous South Penn Railroad were first contemplated. It was all because of the old voting trust which the original stockholders wisely devised in order that they might be as- sured of a road independent and intended to serve them as well as the people. It was the late Henry W. Oliver, coupled with good legal talent, who swung the pendulum toward the

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side of the Vanderbilts, and few have since regretted it, unless it be because the Vander- bilts joined the iniquitous community-of-inter- est arrangement, and arraigned themselves on the side of selfish railway management.

The original voting trust was formed Oc- tober 20, 1877, the majority stockholders exe- cuting a deed of trust, and placing the power of control in the hands of five trustees-Will- iam H. Vanderbilt, president of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern; J. H. Devereux, president of the Atlantic & Great Western; Jacob Henrici, trustee of the Harmony So- ciety; James I. Bennett, then. president of the Lake Erie, and David Hostetter, a member of the executive committee, and one of the largest individual holders of stock and bonds. James I. Bennett had succeeded William McCreery as president on July 6, 1877, and on January 12, 1881, Jacob Henrici had assumed the reins of power. There was also a considerable shift in the board at that time.

Bennett and David Hostetter were elected vice-presidents, and Joshua Rhodes, Captain John F. Dravo and Jacob Painter disappeared from the board, while John Dunlap, Herbert DuPuy (son-in-law of David Hostetter), A. E. W. Painter and Ralph Baggaley were elect- ed. Bennett, Hostetter, M. W. Watson, James M. Bailey, William M. Lyon and John Reeves and John Dunlap were made members of the executive committee.

In 1882 C. W. Whitney, attorney for the West Penn syndicate, conceived the idea that a connecting line between the pet Vanderbilt scheme of Southeast Pennsylvania and Pitts- burg was necessary; and the Vanderbilts had decided to project, finance and build the Pitts- burg, Mckeesport & Youghiogheny to effect a connection along the Youghiogheny. The earnings of the Pittsburg & Lake Erie had shown a gratifying increase by that time. The gross earnings of $335,649 and net of $157,- 932 had grown to $1,265,748 and $508,704, respectively at the close of 1882, the surplus after payment of fixed charges alone being $344,671. The property was getting to be a tidy affair, and the mill owners began to

feel their oats. They wanted to run the rail- road according to their own ideas. The Van- derbilts had had enough experience in railroad matters by that time to realize what that meant, and they became quite active-sub rosa. They thrust out the mailed hand.

The Vanderbilts had taken the stock and bonds of the new road to the coke region, and they thereby had a very substantial and dan- gerous interest in the Lake Erie. But the vot- ing trust was in the way. And that meant a great deal. The Pittsburg, Mckeesport & Youghiogheny had cost $4,848,389.35 for sev- enty-five miles, and $3,000,000 of stock and $2,250,000 of first mortgage bonds had been issued, but that was not enough to down the Southside mill owners. The quarrel evidently drifted to the outside and discouraged some holders, as the stock declined in price to $8 and $10 per share during 1882 and 1883. Henry W. Oliver and David Hostetter, whether by prearranged plan or not, picked this up quietly, and by the end of 1883 they had a very com- fortable load of very cheaply obtained valuable stock.

Then Cornelius Vanderbilt unlimbered his guns and went after the control. He bought the stock held by Oliver, which gave him a comfortable majority, and he received the friendly assurances of David Hostetter, who, as a reward for his faithfulness and loyalty, was continued as vice-president of the pros- perous property until his death in 1888.

Cornelius Vanderbilt entered suit in the United States Circuit Court asking for the dis- solution of the voting trust and the right to vote his individual holdings as he pleased. He obatined the decision and the trust was dis- solved, and the original stockholders awoke to find that they had been outwitted. President Jacob Henrici, David Hostetter, W. K. Van- derbilt, James I. Bennett and John Newell, then president of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company, at that time com- posed the trust, and some bitter fighting was done, but James H. Reed, P. C. Knox and D. T. Watson won their spurs in a brilliant legal controversy to the discomfiture of the minority.

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On January 14, 1884, Jacob Henrici was relieved of the necessity of acting as president, and John Newell, a tried and true Vanderbilt man, was chosen as his successor. Henrici was let down easily. He was appointed a member of the executive committee and was retained .as a member of the finance committee, while Ralph Baggaley had to make way for Newell. In 1885 Baggaley replaced Henrici on the ex- ecutive committee, and in 1886 the Vander- bilts entered strongly on the board, Cornelius .and William K. Vanderbilt being elected, with the addition of Henry Hice, to the exclusion of Baggaley, Henrici and John Reeves.

The finance committee were also com- bined and W. K. Vanderbilt, David Hostetter, James I. Bennett, Mark W. Watson, Henry Hice and J. H. Devereux were named, while David Hostetter was given the lonely honor of being vice-president, with W. C. Quincy still ·as general manager, and D. T. Watson as chief legal expert. Another of the Vanderbilt fam- ily, Hamilton McK. Twombly, entered the board in 1888. Knox and Reed became coun- .sel, and Elliott Holbrook, who holds the dis- tinction of having devised the Pittsburg and .Mansfield bridge and terminal, by means of which the Wabash was enabled to enter Pitts- .burg, became general superintendent.

In 1889 two more Vanderbilts were elected, F. W. Vanderbilt and E. D. Worcester, of New York, while J. H. Reed was also chosen .a director to represent the Vanderbilt inter- ests. With the death of David Hostetter, Her- bert H. DuPuy retired, as did A. E. W. Painter. In 1892 Judge Reed was chosen vice-president, and in 1893 A. E. W. Painter was again elected to the board in place of James I. Bennett. Since then there have been few changes save by death.

Newell remained one of the best and most "exacting presidents the system ever had. It was his plan, and it was during his adminis- tration that the radical changes and the entire rebuilding of the road occurred. He simply ripped the little system from one end to the other, poured money into it, and made it the perfect system that it is today. It was Judge

Reed who planned the present splendid ter- minals on the Southside, and it was he who purchased the property for them; and it was Colonel James M. Shoemaker who actively took up the work, spent money liberally, sought increased tonnage energetically, and who put interest, skill, and enthusiasm together to make the road one of the most perfect and profitable in the world.

BALTIMORE & OHIO RAILROAD.

In February, 1881, the Pittsburgh, Youngstown and Chicago Railroad Company was incorporated in Ohio and a similar incor- poration taken out in Pennsylvania. These two companies were consolidated on April 15, 1881. The consolidated company intended to build from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Chi- cago Junction, Ohio, passing through Youngs- town and Akron. Certain real estate was pur- chased, but no actual work of construction was undertaken by this company.

In April, 1882, the Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Toledo Railroad Company was incor- porated in Ohio to construct a line from the Pennsylvania-Ohio state line, in Poland town- ship, Mahoning County, to Pikes Station, Canaan township, Wayne County. At the same time a company was incorporated in Pennsylvania to construct a line from New Castle Junction, Pennsylvania, to the Ohio- Pennsylvania state line.

In June, 1882, these two companies were merged and consolidated under the name of the Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Toledo Railroad Company, with a capital authorized of $3,000,- 000, with C. H. Andrews, of Youngstown, Ohio, as president. Associated with him were W. J. Hitchcock and L. E. Cochran, both of Youngstown.

In August, 1882, the Pittsburgh, Youngs- town and Chicago Railroad Company con- veyed by deed to the Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Toledo Railroad Company all of its charter rights and property. The Pittsburgh, Cleve- land and Toledo Railroad proceeded to con- struct the line, which was completed and op-

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ened for traffic on March 1, 1884, and has been an important factor in the development of the Mahoning valley.

The Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Toledo Railroad was leased to the Pittsburgh and Western Railroad Company and was operated as a part of the Pittsburgh and Western sys- tem.

The president of the Pittsburgh and West- ern Railway Company in the annual report for 1891-92 states: "That the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company had purchased a con- trolling interest in the stock of the Pittsburgh and Western Railway Company and that our road will become a section of the main line of the great B. & O. system." Since that date the property has been continually improved and enlarged and has played a most important part in the great local development that has taken place.

In June, 1887, the Trumbull and Mahon- ing Railroad Company was incorporated to build a line of railroad from Niles, Ohio, to a point on the Pennsylvania-Ohio state line. This railroad has constructed and in operation a line between Haselton, Ohio, and Girard, Ohio, which is operated in connection with the Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Toledo Railroad Company as a part of the present Baltimore and Ohio system.

In order to further develop the resources of the Mahoning valley, there was incorporated in July, 1902, the Mahoning Valley Western Railroad Company to construct a railroad from Girard, Ohio, to Cuyahoga Falls. This railroad has been completed and is being oper- ated as a part of the Baltimore and Ohio sys- tem.

The construction of the Pittsburgh, Cleve- land and Toledo Railroad was mainly the re- sult of the efforts of C. H. Andrews, of Youngstown. It formed the link by which the great Baltimore and Ohio Railroad system gained entrance to the Mahoning valley and its extensive manufacturing plants.

YOUNGSTOWN AND SOUTHERN RAILWAY.

On July 1, 1902, the articles of incorpora- tion of the Youngstown & Southern Railway Company were filed by R. L. Andrews, W. S. Anderson, John H. Ruhlman, Asa Jones and W. H. Ruhlman. The first meeting had been held Tune 7, 1902. The capital stock was $1,800,000, with a bond issue of $1,500,000.

The road was originally planned to run from Youngstown to Columbiana, through Leetonia and Salem, Lisbon, Westpoint and East Liverpool. The construction of the road was begun at Youngstown in the spring of 1903, and the track was laid through to Co- lumbiana during the summer of that year. The first train carrying passengers and freight was run between Youngstown and Columbiana in October, 1904. In May, 1905, the property was purchased by John and Henry Stambaugh, Richard Garlich, David Tod, James Campbell, Warner Arms, and other well-known Youngs- town business men.

During the summer of 1906 an extension of the road between Columbiana and Leetonia was begun and preparations made for chang- ing from steam operation to electric operation. It is expected that the trains will be electric- ally operated by April 1, 1907. The line will terminate at Leetonia, Ohio, where connec- tions will be made with the Youngstown & Ohio River Railroad, which is now building between Salem and East Liverpool. The road is single track, with first-class construction all through. The Youngstown terminal is on East Front street, near the post office; the general offices of the company are to be at 21-23 East Front street. The officers of the company are John Stambaugh, president; S. J. Dill, vice- president and general manager, and David Tod, secretary and treasurer. The business done by the steam road up to the present time has demonstrated that the road will cover a profitable territory.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE COAL AND IRON INDUSTRIES

The County Formerly an Important Coal Mining Center-Extensive Operations-The Man- ufacture of Iron an Old-Established and Leading Industry of the Mahoning Valley-A Large Amount of Capital Invested in These Two Industries in Mahoning County.

The exact limit of black coal areas in the Mahoning valley has never been ascertained, owing to the irregularity of the deposits and to other reasons which the reader will find more fully explained in the first chapter of this volume. It may be here said, however, that but little knowledge can be obtained from sur- face indications, and the location of a profita- ble shaft can be determined only by piercing the ground. The coal beds have been rarely found more than four feet thick and in some instances they lie as far below the surface as one hundred and fifty or two hundred feet. The quality of the coal also greatly varies. In the townships where productive mines have been found not one out of ten drillings passed through veins of workable thickness. Block coal has been found in all five of the northern townships of Mahoning County. In Canfield township a block coal seam of workable thick- ness was found at a depth of 160 feet, and a bed of the same coal two feet thick was found in Ellsworth at a depth of 150 feet. The Min- eral Ridge block coal, in a bed two feet thick, was found overlaid with a ten-inch band of shale and immediately under the coal was a ten-inch vein of black band iron ore, this in turn being covered by a bed of nearly three feet

thick of an inferior, soft, pitchy coal, contain- ing a large per cent of bitumen, which has re- ceived the name of black-band coal. It has been proved by geologists to be of a later form- ation than the superior block coal, though es- sentially the same in kind. It was for some time mined and worked with profit. The Min- eral Ridge belt in Mahoning County extended from the old Warner & Company's mines in Weathersfield to the southern part of Austin- town, and included eight workable slopes. There was a similar belt in the western part of Youngstown township extending into Coits- ville. Owing to the reasons already referred to, many of the shafts sunk in these belts failed to strike coal, and the operations were attended consequently with much financial risk. From the place of the first development of the coal resources of the valley-the old Brier Hill mine on Governor Tod's estate, which had a famous reputation-the search for coal radi- ated in every direction. In 1847 Governor Tod's mines furnished 100 tons of coal per day. A number of extensive basins were prof- itably worked in the neighborhood of Youngs- . town. Among others, the mines of Crawford, Camp & Company yielded sixty tons per day. These profitable banks, however, have been all

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worked out, and owing to the great element of chance which attends the sinking of new shafts, the coal industry in Mahoning County has died a natural death, and it is improbable that it will ever be resuscitated. One of the most extensive mines was known as the Church Hill mine, in the township of Liberty, in Trumbull County, and there were several others in the adjoining townships of Hubbard and Vienna.

IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY.

"The beginning of the iron industry in Ohio is contemporaneous with the admission of the state into the Union. It was admitted in 1802, and in 1803 its first furnace, Hope- well, was commenced by Daniel Eaton, or Heaton, and in 1804 it was finished. The fur- nace stood on the west side of Yellow creek, about one and a quarter miles from its junc- tion with the Mahoning river, in the township of Poland, in Mahoning County. On the same stream, about three-fourths of a mile from its mouth, and on the farm on which was furnace of the Struthers Furnace Company, in the town of Struthers, another furnace was built, in 1806, by Robert Montgomery and John Struthers. This furnace was called Montgomery. Thomas Struthers writes : 'These furnaces were of about equal capacity, and would yield from about two and a half to three tons each day. The metal was prin- cipally run into moulds for kettles, bake ovens, flat irons, stoves, and irons and such other arti- cles as the needs of a new settlement required, and any surplus into pigs, and sent to the Pitts- burg market.' A lean 'kidney' ore, which was found in the hills near the furnace, furnished the basis for the iron, and limestone could be had on either side.

"Hopewell furnace is said by Mr. Struthers to have had a rocky bluff for one of its sides. It was in operation in 1807, but it was soon afterwards blown out finally. Montgomery furnace was in operation until 1812, when the men were drafted into the war, and it was never started again. This furnace stood on the north side of Yellow creek, in a hollow in

the bank. About 1807 Hopewell furnace was sold by Eaton to Montgomery, Clendenin & Company, who were then the owners of Mont- gomery furnace, John Struthers having sold his interest in this furnace, or part of it, to David Clendenin in 1807, and Robert Alexan- der and James Mackey having about the same time become part owners."

Daniel Eaton disposed of his interests for $5,600 furnace, land, ore rights and every- thing. He received $600 in cash in the first payment, $300 in sixty days and 40,000 pounds of castings on July 1, 1808, 40,000 on July 1, 1809, and 40,000 on July 1, 1810. The Eatons came from the east and were de- scendants of Theophilus Eaton, or Heaton, a deputy in the British India Company and a merchant of great wealth and influence in London, England, until 1637, when he brought a Puritan colony to Boston.

The foregoing details relate to what may be termed the charcoal era of the Ohio iron in- dustry. The second stage in the development of the iron industry of this state dates from the introduction in its blast furnaces of the bitu- minous coal of the Mahoning valley in its raw state. This coal is known as split coal, or block coal, or as Brier Hill coal, from a local- ity of that name near Youngstown, where it was largely mined. The first furnace in Ohio to use the new coal was built expressly for this purpose at Lowell, in Ma- honing county, in 1845 and 1846, by Wilkeson, Wilkes & Company, and it was suc- cessfully blown in on the 8th of August, 1846. The name of this furnace was at first Anna and afterwards Mahoning. A letter from John Wilkeson, now of Buffalo, New York, informs us that William McNair, a millwright, was the foreman who had charge of its erection. It was blown in by John Crowther, who had pre- viously had charge of the furnaces of the Bra- dy's Bend Iron Company, at Brady's Bend, Pennsylvania.

The first blast furnace in Youngstown, con- structed for the use of this coal, was also erected in 1846. This was the Eagle furnace, built by William Philpot, David Morris, Jona- than Warner and Harvey Sawyer, on land pur-

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chased of Dr. Henry Manning, lying between the present city limits and Brier Hill. The coal used was mined from land contiguous, leased from Dr. Manning. The terms of this lease as to price, were one cent per bushel for the first 25,000 bushels, and one-half cent per bushel for all over 25,000 bushels dug in any one year, and to mine not less than 75,000 bushels per year, or to pay for that quantity if not mined. The money paid for coal not mined in any year was to be applied on the ex- cess mined in any other year. A bushel of coal was to weigh seventy-five pounds, and the lease was to continue in force for twenty years. This lease, Dr. Manning stated was the first coal lease made in this township. In 1847 the amount of capital invested in the manufacture of iron in Youngstown was about $200,000, which at that time was considered a very sat- isfactory figure. There were then three fur- naces here-the Eagle, Brier Hill and Mill Creek-each having a capacity of from sixty to one hundred tons of pig metal per week. There was also a rolling mill at which were made various sizes of bar, rod, and hoop iron, sheet iron, nails and spikes.

Immediately after the successful use of un- coked coal in the furnace at Lowell, many other furnaces were built in the Mahoning val- ley to use the new fuel, and it was also substi- tuted for charcoal in some old furnaces. At a later day the use of this fuel in other parts of Ohio contributed to the further development of the manufacture of pig iron in this state, and at a still later date the opening of the ex- tensive coal beds of the Hocking valley and the utilization of its carbonate ores still further contributed to the same development.

The proximity of the coal fields of Ohio to the rich iron ores of Lake Superior has been a very important element in building up the blast furnace industry of the state. The use of these ores in Ohio soon followed the first use in the blast furnace of the block coal of the Mahoning valley. An increase in the rolling mill capacity of Ohio was naturally co-incident with the impetus given to the production of pig iron by the use of this coal and Lake Su- perior ores. David Tod, afterwards Governor

of Ohio, bore a prominent part in the develop- ment of the coal and iron resources of the Mahoning valley, where, however, there is no longer any coal mined to an appreciable ex- tent, the beds having been worked out.

YOUNGSTOWN IRON INDUSTRY.

The beginning of the iron industry at Youngstown dates from about 1835, when a charcoal furnace called Mill Creek was built on the creek of that name, a short distance southwest of the city, by Isaac Eaton, a son of James Eaton. There was no other furnace at Youngstown until after the discovery at Low- ell that the block coal of the Mahoning valley could be successfully used in the smelting of iron ore. In a sketch of the history of Youngs- town, Hon. John M. Edwards said: "In 1846 William Philpot & Company built in the north- western part of Youngstown, adjoining the present city, and near the canal, the second fur- nace in the state for using raw mineral coal as fuel. In the same year a rolling mill was built in the southeastern part of the village and ad- joining the new canal, by the Youngstown Iron Company. This mill is now owned by The Republic Iron Company." In a sketch of "Youngstown, Past and Present," printed in 1875, a fuller account is given of the first bitu- minous furnace at that place. It was known as the Eagle furnace, and was built in 1846 by William Philpot, David Morris, Jonathan Warner and Harvey Sawyer, on land pur- chased of Dr. Henry Manning lying between the present city limits and Brier Hill. The coal used was mined from land contiguous, leased from Dr. Manning. The second fur- nace at Youngstown to use raw coal was built in 1847 by Captain James Wood, of Pittsburg, It was called Brier Hill furnace.

It was not until 1844 that we commenced to roll any other kind of rails than strap rails for our railroads and not even in that year were we prepared to roll a single ton of T rails.

What wonderful changes have taken place since those good old colony times and the early days of the new republic, when our forefathers needed only a little iron, and what little they

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required was made by slow and simple meth- ods.

A feature of our iron and steel industries which has attended their marvelous produc- tiveness in late years is the aggregation of a number of large producing establishments in districts or "centres," in lieu of the earlier practice of erecting small furnaces and forges wherever sufficient water power, iron ore, and charcoal could be obtained. This tendency to concentration is, it is true, not confined to our iron and steel industries, but it is today one of the most powerful elements that influence their development. It had its beginning with the commencement of our distinctive rolling mill era, about 1830, but it received a powerful im- petus with the establishment of our Bessemer steel industry within the last twenty years.

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Century history of Youngstown and Mahoning County, Ohio, and representative citizens, 20th, Part 32

Author: Sanderson, Thomas W., comp Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1074

Author: Sanderson, Thomas W., comp
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1074