Fifty years and over of Akron and Summit County : embellished by nearly six hundred engravings--portraits of pioneer settlers, prominent citizens, business, official and professional--ancient and modern views, etc.; nine-tenth's of a century of solid local history--pioneer incidents, interesting events--industrial, commercial, financial and educational progress, biographies, etc., Part 78

Author: Lane, Samuel A. (Samuel Alanson), 1815-1905
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Akron, Ohio : Beacon Job Department
Number of Pages: 1228

USA > Ohio > Summit County > Akron > Fifty years and over of Akron and Summit County : embellished by nearly six hundred engravings--portraits of pioneer settlers, prominent citizens, business, official and professional--ancient and modern views, etc.; nine-tenth's of a century of solid local history--pioneer incidents, interesting events--industrial, commercial, financial and educational progress, biographies, etc. > Part 78

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WORK RESUMED-COMPLETION OF ROAD, ETC .- The work under the new contract, was somewhat delayed by the breaking out of the civil war, but in the spring of 1862, under the energetic and somewhat extravagant management of the new chief engineer, . Thomas W. Kennard, of London, the work was pushed so vigor- ously forward, that the chief engineer's palace car, with the officers and directors on board, drove into Akron on the 17th day of April, 1864, and its final completion to Dayton was celebrated in that city, June 21, 1864, President Kent laying the last rail and driving the last spike, as he had thrown the first shovelful of earth, nearly eleven years before. In the meantime the capital had been increased to $6,000,000, and on July 1, 1863, the entire Ohio division had been conveyed by deed of trust to the attorney of the road, William H. Upson, Esq., for the purpose of securing a loan of $4,000,000, with which to finish and equip the road.

PROSPERITY, ADVERSITY, SALE, ETC .- Space will not permit a detailed history of the varying vicissitudes of the road during the quarter of a century of its existence. Though at once entering into a large passenger and freightage business, it was substantially at the mercy of the connecting roads at either end, through which, and a combination of other causes, the road in 1869 passed into the hands of Judge Reuben Hitchcock, of Painesville, as receiver, who, under a decree of the Court of Common Pleas of Summit county, on the 26th day of July, 1871, sold the road to Gen. George B. McClellan, Hon. Allen G. Thurman, and William Butler Duncan, as trustees for certain creditors, at the following figures: New York division, $655,000; Pennsylvania division and its various branches, $600,000; Ohio division (subject to first mortgage lien of $2,400,000), including its lease of the Mahoning branch, for $4,435,- 000-total, $5,690,000.

FURTHER COMPLICATIONS-SECOND SALE, ETC .- The new pur- chasers organized under the title of "The Atlantic & Great West- ern Railway Company," but owing to innumerable complications,

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THE VALLEY RAILWAY, ETC.

in December, 1874, its affairs were again brought under the juris- diction of the Court of Common Pleas of Summit county, and John H. Devereaux was appointed receiver, pending litigation extend- ing more than five years, and involving many millions of dollars, and participated in by the most eminent legal talent of both Europe and America.

January 6, 1880, Receiver Devereaux, as Special Master Con- missioner, again sold the road, as a whole, to S. A. Strang, and R. G. Rolsten, as trustees for the parties in interest, for the sum of $6,000,000, the new owners, mostly foreign bond-holders, organizing under the name of the "New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Rail- road Company," which name it still bears, being now operated, under lease, by the New York and Erie Railroad Company.

THE " BALTIMORE AND OHIO."

In the Spring of 1870, a proposition was made to extend the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, from its intermediate connection, the Pittsburg & Connellsville, from Pittsburg to Chicago, to run through Akron, provided her citizens would subscribe for $300,000 of its capital stock. A subscription book was opened and circu- lated for signatures, authorizing David L. King, Lewis Miller and Charles Brown to pledge and guarantee the required amount, the subscriptions being payable, 10 per cent. when the road should be located through Akron, and the balance in monthly installments as the work progressed.

Through public meetings and the personal efforts of the gen- tlemen named, an excess of the sum required sufficient to cover all contingencies was raised, in sums ranging from single shares to thousands of dollars, and high hopes were indulged in that the road would be speedily built, but for reasons never satisfactorily explained, in the Spring of 1871 the project was indefinitely post- poned. The Baltimore & Ohio, however, still kept its eye turned Akronward and a revival of its old plan, though differing in detail, has within the past year made Akron a point on a B. & O. New York-Chicago line, as is told farther on in this chapter.

THE " VALLEY RAILWAY."

In 1869, largely through the influence of David L. King, Esq., of Akron, a charter had been obtained for the "Akron and Canton Railway," which, now that the Baltimore extension scheme had failed, speedily developed into the larger and more important enterprise of the " Valley Railway Company," which was incorpo- rated August 21, 1871, Mr. King being one of the incorporators.

The authorized capital of this company was $3,000,000, and the road was to run from Cleveland via Akron and Canton to Bowers- town, on the "Pan Handle" road. Meetings were held, committees appointed and stock subscriptions vigorously canvassed for, and Akron's quota of $150,000 was speedily raised, the subscription of. the entire county amounting to $191,700.

ORGANIZATION, CONSTRUCTION, ETC. - The company was organized at Cleveland, April 24, 1872, David L. King and John F. Seiberling being elected directors for Summit county, Mr. King also being elected vice president of

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AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

the company. May 10, 1872, P. H. Dudley, then city engi- neer of Akron, was elected chief engineer of the road. The surveys being completed, the contract for the entire line, between Cleveland and Canton, was awarded to Col. Arthur L. Conger and Mr. Nicholas E. Vansickle, of Akron, February 3, 1873, ground being broken in Springfield township early in March of that year. The work was so vigorously prosecuted by the contractors, that on the 15th day of August, 1873, Engineer Dudley reported that the grad- ing was about two-thirds completed, with all the bridges under contract and part of them up.

CONTRACT CANCELLED, WORK SUSPENDED, ETC .- Differences arising between the directors and the contractors, the contract was canceled and the work suspended May 14, 1874. September 25, 1874, Mr. King was elected president of the road, the directors, as a con- dition precedent to his acceptance of the position, individually assuming the entire liabilities of the company, then amounting to about $150,000, from which, owing to the monetary stringency growing out of the panic of 1873, they were not fully relieved until 1879.

PRESIDENT KING VISITS EUROPE .- Failing, through the strin- gency of the money market; to secure the necessary aid at home to complete the work, President King visited England in Febru- ary, 1875, to interest the capitalists of London in the enterprise. After many discouragements, Mr. King finally secured a highly favorable proposition for the sale of the company's bonds, but, unfortunately, on the eve of closing the matter up, a report from a committee of the House of Commons, inveighing against American securities generally, and railroad securities especially, was published, simultaneously with which came a cablegram from America announcing the appointment of a receiver for the Wabash & Western Railroad, large blocks of whose bonds were held in London, and the proposition was withdrawn.

SUCCESS AT LAST .- Returning home, President King brought the merits of the line to the attention of Cleveland and New York capitalists (the capital stock having been increased from $3,000,000 to $6,500,000) his negotiations finally resulting in placing the bonds of the company with prominent capitalists of the two cities named. The new contractors, Messrs. Walsh and Moynahan, resumed work upon the road August 7, 1878, the first rail being laid by President King at a point near the Old Forge, in Akron, on the 26th day of October, 1878, at high noon. Track-laying was at once proceeded with, in both directions, as well as from Cleveland southward a few days later.

THE FIRST THROUGH TRAIN .- Another misunderstanding occur- ring between the directors and contractors, work was again tem- porarily suspended January 25, 1879. June 3, 1879, a new contract ' was entered into with Messrs. Strong and Carey, who finally com- pleted the road through from Cleveland to Canton in the Winter of 1879, '80.

The first through train, with the directors, officers and other friends of the road, left Cleveland at 9:30 A. M., January 28, 1880. With brief stops at the several stations along the route, the train reached Canton at 1 o'clock P. M. On the return trip, the run of 22 miles between Canton and Akron was made in 38 minutes, and

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SOME OTHER RAILROAD PROJECTS.

the entire trip from Canton to Cleveland, 59 miles, in just two hours, evincing the remarkable thoroughness of the grading, track- laying and ballasting.

Regular trains, both passenger and freight, commenced run- ning February 2, 1880, and the road has proved itself a very valu- able acquisition to the travel and transportation facilities of the entire region which it traverses, as well as an enduring monument to the enterprise and prosperity of the people of Summit county, and is one of the very few railway lines of the country that, for nearly 20 years, remained continuonsly in the hands of its original proprietors.

EVIDENCES OF PROSPERITY .- About 1884, the Valley Railway extended its main line from Canton southward to Valley Junction, on the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad, 26 miles, forming at that point a connection with the Cleveland & Marietta Railroad. The Valley Railway, proper, is therefore 75 miles in length, with 19 miles of branches and 35 miles of side-tracks (including a two mile track completed in 1888 from Mineral Point to the extensive coal mine now being developed by John F. Seiberling, Esq., and other Akron gentlemen).

At the West Market street crossing of its costly side track running to the principal mills in Akron, a fine new passenger depot was completed in 1888, which has proved a great conven- ience to the people of the entire city and vicinity, and, in addition to its constantly increasing freight traffic, its passenger business may be judged by the fact that four regular trains run daily each way between Cleveland and Valley Junction, and an additional daily train each way between Cleveland and Akron.

BALTIMORE & OHIO GETS THE VALLEY .- Figuring for the acquisition of the Valley road, to make it part of a system, or to give access to Cleveland to an important road that had hitherto been debarred from that city, began in the spring of 1889. For some time it was generally believed that a Pittsburg syndicate, composed of Andrew Carnegie and associates, had secured control of a majority of the stock and expected to build an extension to Pittsburg, making a competing line to the Cleveland & Pitts- burg. Such a plan really was in contemplation, but when the details came out, of the long looked-for Valley deal, it was found to be in the hands of the B. & O. Taintor & Holt, New York brokers, bought up a majority of the stock and turned it over to the B. & O., in the fall of 1889. Early in 1890 Thos. M. King, of the B. & O., was elected president of the Valley, on the resignation of J. H. Wade.

SEVERAL OTHER EARLY ROADS.

In the chapter on Hudson township, is given sketches of the "Clinton Line" eastward from Hudson, to the Pennsylvania state line, and the "Clinton Line Extension" westward from Hudson to Tiffin, as links in "The Great American Railway," from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and also of the "Hudson and Painesville Railroad," commenced in 1852, '53. The stock of all these roads was liberally subscribed for, by the people of Hudson, and elsewhere along the line, and several hundred thousand dollars expended in grading, masonry, etc., but finally suspended in 1856.

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AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

The "Clinton Line" was so named in honor of Gov. DeWitt Clinton, the projector of New York's great water highway, the Erie Canal, and who, previous to his death, in 1828, had suggested the plan of building a great continental railroad from the city of New York to the Missouri River. By reason of financial embar- rassments, the three roads in question were sold under decrees in foreclosure, the Clinton Line being purchased, in April 1861, by John P. Converse as trustee for the bondholders. Mr. Converse dying, Mr. A. D. Kibbie was appointed trustee by the United States Court. Attempts were made from time to time, under the authority of the trustees, to revive the project, for the purpose of maintaining their title to the road.

THE CLINTON LINE REDIVIVUS .- In the Summer of 1887, Prof. M. C. Read, of Hudson, about the only person in the place who had faith that the road would ever be built, at the instance of Mr. D. M. Yeomans, an enterprising capitalist and contractor of Kinsman, Trumbull county, and several other wealthy gentlemen, spent sev- eral months in an endeavor to secure from the original bond- holders and their heirs and assigns, authority to convey, on a given percentage, their claims to any company which would undertake the construction of the road.

Having obtained authority from over two-thirds of the parties in interest, to act as their agent to sell the road on the terms pro- posed, Mr. Read was appointed by the United States Court, trustee for all the bondholders, in the place of A. D. Kibbie, deceased.

THE NEW YORK AND OHIO RAILWAY .- Mr. Yeomans, with four associates, organized the New York and Ohio Railway Company, together subscribing $100,000 to its capital stock, having later, as was alleged, placed a sufficient amount of its stock to make the enterprise an assured success. In March, 1888, Mr. Read, as trus- tee for the bondholders, entered into a contract with the company to transfer their several interests to the new organization, on the condition of the construction of the road to Hudson within two years from that date, and the company confidently expected to com- plete the road within that year.

On the east it secured a favorable connection with the Che- nango system, and on the west, with Cleveland by the Cleveland and Canton road at Streetsboro, in Portage county. The company hoped, in time, to make it the central link in the great Continental Line projected by Prof. Henry N. Day, and his associates,. in 1851, '52; the managers, while claiming that they could give a a shorter route between Cleveland and Pittsburg to the traveling public than at that time existed, believing that the transportation of coal from the Pennsylvania mines might be made to yield a fair rate of interest upon their investment. For some reasons not now apparent, the work upon this road was not prosecuted as conteni- plated, and in the Spring of 1890 Mr. Yeomans sold his interest to Benjamin F. Holmes, of New York City, president of the American Live Stock Express Company, who was then elected president of the railway company. The express cattle cars, forty-seven in number, with the patents, were transferred to the railway con- pany, and it is stated that Mr. Holmes is actively engaged in maturing his plans for the speedy completion of the road, and the construction of a large number of additional cattle cars, it being understood that if the work is delayed beyond the extended period.

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OUR LATER ACQUISITIONS.

of time granted by the trustee for the bondholders, he has an arrangement for the sale, to other parties, who will surely build the road.

THE MASSILLON BRANCH .- In the middle sixties a short line of road was built from Clinton, in Summit county, to Massillon, in Stark county, some eight or ten miles in length only, by the " Mas- sillon and Cleveland Railroad Company." This road was leased to the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad Company, June 22, 1869, the lease being assigned to the Pennsylvania Rail- road Company, July 1, 1869, and by that company, in turn, to the Cleveland, Mount Vernon and Delaware Railroad Company, November 4, of the same year. It was operated by that company, until its sale, as heretofore set forth, to the Cleveland, Akron and Columbus Railway Company, since which time it has been opera- ted by the Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne and Chicago. Between one and two miles only of this road is in Summit county, running through the southwest corner of the township of Franklin, but is properly here briefly mentioned as one of Summit county's railroads.

LAKE SHORE AND TUSCARAWAS VALLEY .- This road, built in the latter seventies, runs from Black River, in Lorain county, on Lake Erie, in a southeasterly direction, cutting across the south- west corner of Franklin township, and crossing the Cleveland, Akron and Columbus Railway at Warwick, a short distance south of Clinton. Its length is 157 miles and its eastern terminus is Bridgeport, opposite Wheeling, W. Va., on the Ohio river. This road is moderately beneficial to the people of Summit county in reaching points in Stark and other eastern counties of the State, and in the shipment of coal and other products to points on Lake Erie, west of Cleveland.

THE "CLEVELAND AND CANTON RAILWAY."-About 1880, a nar- row gauge (three foot track) railroad was built from Bowerstown, on the Pan Handle road, in Harrison county, to Cleveland, passing through Canton, in Stark county, touching Summit at Mogadore on the east line of the county, going from there to Kent, in Portage county, and from thence northwesterly direct to Cleveland, passing diagonally through Twinsburg, in Summit county. This road is chiefly serviceable to the people of Summit county in affording the village of Mogadore facilities for the procurement of its coal and other supplies, and for the shipment of the large amount of stoneware which is yearly manufactured at that point; and as a means of transporting from Twinsburg the products of its mag- nificent quarries and its extensive dairies, and in bringing in mer- chandise and other articles from abroad. This road was originally named " The Connotton Valley Railway," but some two or three years ago changed its title, as above indicated, and has since brought its track to standard gauge, with first-class rolling stock to match.

THE "PITTSBURG AND WESTERN."-Early in 1881, Chauncey H. Andrews, Esq., and other wealthy gentlemen of Youngstown, projected what was then called the "Pittsburg, Youngstown & Chicago Railroad." The company was organized March 18, 1881, with Mr. Andrews as its president, at which time it was reported that three-fourths of its authorized capital of $2,000,000 had been subscribed. It was at first intended that the line should enter Summit county at Mogadore, passing westward down the Valley

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AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

of the Little Cuyahoga to the Sixth ward, in Akron, and fron thence along Wolf Ledge in the southern part of the city, westward to its destination. But modifications and changes were made by which, following the bed and banks of the defunct Pennsylvania Canal from New Castle, Pa., passing through Ravenna, Kent and Cuyahoga Falls, it enters Akron at the Old Forge, its present western terminus.

For several years this road has had an arrangement with the Cleveland, Akron & Columbus Railway, by which its cars are run over the track of the latter from Cuyahoga Falls to Orrville, where it connects with the Wheeling and Lake Erie road. The most important move for Akron in the P. & W.'s history, was its lease by the B. & O. road, in the Spring of 1891, which made it an important link in a New York-Chicago through line, under B. & O. control, as is more fully explained below in connection with the history of the Akron & Chicago Junction R. R.

"NEW YORK, MAHONING AND WESTERN."-In 1887, '88, a com- pany figured in Wadsworth, Seville and Lodi, in Medina county and other points west, under the above title, of which Mr. Norvin Green, of the Western Union Telegraph Company, was the presi- dent. Mr. Green confidently said: "I believe that the company will have no serious difficulty in raising funds for the early completion of the line of road across the State of Ohio, eastward to the Penn- sylvania line, near Youngstown, and westward through Indiana as far as Fort Wayne."

"It is contemplated that this line of road shall form a part of the long projected American Midland Railroad from New York to Chicago, on or near the 41st parallel, and on which much work has been done in various places." Work went on for some months at various points on the surveyed line of the N. Y., M. & W., but the funds expected by the projectors could not be secured when needed. Sub-contractors and others levied on ties and other material at Findlay, O., and one or two other places; and with the beginning of litigation came the end of the project as far as the then exist- ing organization was concerned.

PITTSBURG, AKRON & WESTERN.

In 1883, the Ohio Railroad Company was incorporated, at Col- umbus, by W. A. Lynch, of Canton, and others, including Col. A. L. Conger, Lewis Miller and David E. Hill, of Akron. The con- pany proposed to construct from Akron westward, to Chicago Junction, or to some other good connecting point, the link that had long been desired, to make a new east and west line. At Chicago Junction the B. & O. road could be connected with, and at Akron the Pittsburg & Western, leading directly to Pittsburg. It was expected that the building of the link would materially shorten the distance between New York and Chicago by existing routes. Considerable interest was aroused in the project in Akron and Medina, and in the latter place, and in the townships of Medina, considerable money and right of way was subscribed. Surveys were made and the route determined upon. Funds for construc- tion purposes could not readily be negotiated, however, and the project lagged. Mr. Lynch, who was general counsel for the

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PITTSBURG, AKRON & WESTERN.

company, kept at work, however, and in the end his patience and energy were rewarded with success.

The name of the company was changed November 10, 1883, to the Pittsburg, Akron & Western Railway Company. That was the chief event in the history of the enterprise for six years. In October, 1889, new life was given to the "Lynch line" project, as it was called, by a consolidation of the Pittsburg, Akron & West- ern Railway Company and the Cleveland & Western Railroad Company, the new company, taking the name of the Pittsburg, Akron & Western Railroad Company. . The Cleveland & Western was a narrow gauge road, running between Delphos and Carey,'O. Its principal owners were William Semple, an Allegheny merchant, and James Callery, the latter for a time president of the Pitts-

burg & Western. This consolidation made Carey the western terminus of the link from Akron westward, instead of Chicago Junction. Arrangements for funds to begin construction work had been consummated at length, and on March 17, 1890, mortgage bonds in the sum of $3,630,000 were issued to the American Loan and Trust Company, as trustees. An election of directors was held about this time, resulting in the choice of D. E. Hill, A. L .. Conger, Lewis Miller, of Akron; James M. Semple, of Toledo, [tak- ing the place of William Semple, Sr., of Pittsburg, then recently deceased]; Chas. G. Milnor, of Pittsburg, {to take the place of James Callery, deceased]; A. W. Jones, Youngstown; James Schoonmaker and Josiah N. Davidson, Allegheny; James D. Callery, Pittsburg. An election of officers resulted in the choice of James D. Callery, president, in place of Wm. Semple, 'Sr., deceased; W. A. Lynch, secretary and general counsel; Chas. G. Milnor, treasurer; William Semple, general manager; James H. Sample, chief engineer.

The contract for the building of the line from Akron to Carey, Wyandot county, was let to W. V. McCracken, of New York, and Wm. Semple, of Allegheny, under the firm name of .McCracken & Semple. Work began in the latter part of May, 1890, and on Jan- uary 24, 1891, the track was completed to Silver street, Akron. The right of way in Akron begins at. Old Forge, runs along the old P. & O. canal, almost to Summit street, crosses over to the north side of the water way, crosses North High street and North Main street, striking North Howard street at the old Beebe property, thence across North Howard street by bridge, spanning the valley of the Ohio canal with an immense trestle, then striking the north brow of West Hill, out to Silver street, and thence on to Copley. From Copley the line goes to Medina, and then on to Greenwich, New London and Plymouth.

Trains began running from Akron west, early in the Spring of 1891. The principal offices are in this city, for the present in the old brick homestead of the Beebe family, the company purchasing that property. C. W. Risley is superintendent and auditor, and W. S. Taylor, general freight and passenger agent. The depot is to be on the west side on North Main street, just east of the Beebe property.

For the present the P., A. & W. runs no farther than Akron. The capture of the Pittsburg & Western by the B. & O. dashed the calculations of the P., A. & W. Company, which had expected to get to Pittsburg over the P. & W., while the B. & O. lease made

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AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY.

the P. & W. the eastern connection at Akron, of the Akron, & Chicago Junction, the Pittsburg, Akron & Western's rival.

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Author: Lane, Samuel A. (Samuel Alanson), 1815-1905 Publication date: 1892 Publisher: Akron, Ohio : Beacon Job Department Number of Pages: 1228

Author: Lane, Samuel A. (Samuel Alanson), 1815-1905
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Akron, Ohio : Beacon Job Department
Number of Pages: 1228