History of Delaware County and Ohio, Part 43

Author: O. L. Baskin & Co; Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 818

USA > Ohio > Delaware County > History of Delaware County and Ohio > Part 43

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The American nation, not to be outdone by the Mother Country, commenced the railway business on its own account, and, as early as 1826, built a "tramway " from Quincy, Mass., to the granite quarries, a few miles distant. This is the pioneer railroad of America. On this primitive affair, only mules or horses were used, and it was never put to any other purpose than the hauling of granite from the quarries. But one idea led to another, and improvements upon the crude system, as first invented, were making giant strides. Railways operated by steam, carrying trains of cars that " annihilated both time and space," were rapidly coming into use in England. In this country, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad commenced in 1830 to open a line extending westward from that city, I

an enterprise that was looked upon at its begin- ning as one of almost unparalleled magnitude. The following items in the early history of this great road would cause a ripple of humor, doubt- less, in the minds of some of our railroad kings of the present day. In July, 1832, we find the fol- lowing: " Many passengers and large quantities of freight pass daily on the railroad to and from Baltimore, to the Point of Rocks on the Potomac, at which latter a new village is being built very rapidly. The entire journey " out and home,' 140 miles, is now made in seventeen continuous hours, giving ample time to view the Point of Rocks, one of the most agreeable excursions that can be found in the country, and on many accounts highly inter- esting." And of its earnings: "The receipts for traveling and transportation, on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, for the six months ending the 31st of August, 1833, exceeded $108,000. The receipts during the same period last year did not quite amount to $90,000; the increase was therefore about $18,000, being an average of $3,000 per month." The receipts of this trunk line have in- creased somewhat since the above record was made.

From 1830 to 1835, railroads in the East received a considerable impulse. Improvements of all kinds were being made in them, a speed, of twenty and thirty miles an hour was attained, and the benefits of their construction and use were be- coming more and more apparent. As the railroad system developed in the older settled Eastern States, the Western people caught the " internal improve- ment " fever, and, with a high and laudable ambi- tion to give to their own States a full share of those advantages which were adorning their elder sisters, they voted away millions of money for the con- struction of railroads and canals. Legislatures responded to the ardent messages of their Govern- ors in a liberal manner, by chartering such a num- ber of roads as to literally checker the map of their States. They saw nothing but the most prosperous times ahead, and the system of finan- ciering that was inaugurated well-nigh, in the end, impoverished the entire country.

Ohio, as well as the other Western States, took a front position in the old internal improvement system. "In January, 1817, the first resolution

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relating to a canal, connecting the Ohio River with Lake Erie, was introduced into the Legislature. In 1819, the subject was again agitated. In 1820, on the recommendation of Gov. Brown, an act was passed, providing for the appointment of three Canal Commissioners, who were to employ a com- petent engineer and assistants, for the purpose of surveying the route."* But, as the canals of the State have no especial place in the history of Dela- ware County, we do not propose to enter into a discussion of them in these pages. This brief allusion is made merely to illustrate the early ex- citement produced by the system of internal im- provements.

The first railroad built in the State of Ohio was the old Sandusky & Mansfield road, and was com- menced somewhere between 1830 and 1835. It was originally intended to run from Sandusky to Cincinnati. The next road was the Little Miami. Several railroad projects were inaugurated, in which the people of Delaware took more than a passing interest, before any of them proved successful. We take the following from the Ohio State Gazette of July 5, 1832: " At a meeting of Railroad Com- missioners, held at Springfield, of the Mad River & Lake Erie R. R. Co., books were ordered to be opened at Delaware by Ezra Griswold and Solomon Smith, and at Marion by Geo. H. Busby and Hezekiah Gordon, in addition to places mentioned in last meeting." A resolution was adopted asking Messrs. Vance, Finlay, Crain, Cook and Corwin, members in Congress from the part of Ohio through which the road is to pass, to " request of the Presi- dent of the United States an engineer to make a survey, etc." Another resolution requests the pro- ceedings published in the towns where books are to be opened, and " by such other printers as are friendly to the object thereof." The proceedings are signed by H. G. Philips, Chairman. In the same paper of November 14, 1833, under the head of "Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad," we find the following: "It appears from statements in New York papers that the stock-books were closed without the requisite amount of stock being taken in Eastern cities, and the New York Advertiser expresses a doubt as to "whether the great work will be accomplished." . The Gazette further alludes to the obligations of the Company to city editors, and regrets the failure of the enterprise. It urges a change in their charter, so as to enable them to make a shorter and more direct route, that an effort

is being made to raise money in towns along the route, and that meetings had been held at Urbana, where 400 shares had been taken.

The interest manifested in this road eventually died out, however, as did many other similar projects of that time. The first road that proved successful in this section, and one in which the people of the county evinced especial interest, was that leading from Cleveland to Columbus, now known as the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway ; popularly designated as the " Bee Line," and called the " Three C.'s and I." for short. The question of building the Cleveland & Columbus Road was agitated as early as 1835-36. A charter was granted March 14th of the latter year, " for the purpose"-as the document states -- " of constructing a railroad from the city of Cleve- land through the city of Columbus and the town of Wilmington to Cincinnati." Several amend- ments were made to the charter prior to the commencement of the work, among them that of relieving the Company from any obligation to " con- struct its road to or through any particular place." Cleveland and Columbus were finally settled on as the northern and southern termini, and work com- menced in the fall of 1848. A corps of engineers and surveyors had in the mean time run several lines between Cleveland and Columbus, and all necessary steps had been taken looking to a per- manent location of the route. It was long a matter of doubt, and a source of considerable speculation, as to whether this road would pass through Dela- ware or Mount Vernon, and several preliminary sur- .veys were made through both Delaware and Knox Counties. It was finally decided to locate the road through this county, provided the county would subscribe $100,000 in addition to what citizens might take individually. This was, for a time, considered of doubtful propriety, as the people in the portions of the county remote from the proposed road argued that, as it would be of little benefit to them, they could see no reason why they should be taxed to build a railroad which would be almost beyond their reach. A meeting to consider the matter was held at the court house in Delaware, and at this meeting Judge Powell made the following proposition, which was accepted : That the Commissioners, on the part of the county, subscribe the required amount, and that the people who felt interested in the success of the enterprise should give mortgages on their individual property to indemnify the county for any loss that might occur. This proposition, as we have said, was

* Howe.

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

accepted, and the Commissioners subscribed the $100,000, while a similar amount, perhaps, was subscribed by individual parties. This proceeding secured the road through Delaware County, but not through the city of Delaware, as at present. The original route was through Oxford, Brown, Berlin, and Orange Townships, on a straight line, passing to the east of Delaware Township, without touching it. A promise, however, had been made the people of Delaware, that, if the county sub- scribed the amount of stock asked for, there should be a connection made with the city by a curve or arm. But the Columbus people, looking upon Delaware with a somewhat jealous eye, threw all possible obstructions in the way of a connection between the latter place and the road. Thus it was not until some time after the completion of the road that the present curve was made. Presi- dent Kelly at last came to Delaware to fulfill the contract, and asked whether the connection should be made by an arm or curve. The curve was accepted, and the Company proceeded at once to build it. When it was finished, the trains all continued to run through on the direct route, except the " accommodation," which came round by Delaware once a day, going each way. But if any one wanted to take a through train, they had to go two or three miles out to the main line for the purpose. At length it occurred to the Com- pany that with the Wesleyan University located at Delaware, and four or five hundred students mak- ing several trips over the road each year, it was to its interest to cater for their accommodation, and the citizens of Delaware generally. So, a regular passenger train came round daily ; then all the pas- senger trains ; and very soon none but through freights ran by on the direct route. Eventually the track was taken up between the two extreme ends of the curve, a distance of about eight miles, and all travel and traffic brought through the City of Delaware.

But we have digressed somewhat, and will return to the period when the railroad fever first struck the county in anything like a malignant form. As we have said, the project of a road, known as the Cleveland & Columbus Railroad, and extending between those points, was agitated at an early day, and the question was long unset- tled as to the route-whether it should be through Delaware County, or, bearing further eastward, tap Mt. Vernon, the capital of Knox County. The present route was at last decided on (the $100,000 subscription, perhaps, being a strong

argument in favor of it), and preliminaries defin- itely arranged, so that work commenced at both the northern and southern termini in the latter part of the year 1848. Notwithstanding the most of the country through which it passed was new, the work was rapidly pushed forward, and, in 1851, trains were running over the road. After the road got into active operation, the curve con- necting with the city of Delaware was built; and the first train to run in on the new connection had for a passenger Louis Kossuth, the distin- guished Hungarian exile, who was on his way from Cleveland to Columbus, and accepted the invi- tation of the city of Delaware to make a short stop at that place. The Gazette, of February 6, 1852, says: "Kossuth reached Delaware on the first pas- senger train that came over the curve." The same paper, in its issue of March 12, 1852, announces the fact that " the curve is finally completed, and trains are running over it regularly every day."

In illustration of the interest exhibited in the completion of the Cleveland & Columbus Railroad, we give the following from a song sung at a cele- bration in Cleveland in hour of the event, in Jan- uary, 1851:

" We hail from the city-the Capital City, We left in the storm and the rain ;

The cannons did thunder, the people did wonder,

To see pious folks on a train !

The iron-horse snorted and puffed when he started, At such a long tail as he bore ;

And he put for the city that grew in the woods- The city upon the lake shore. -

CHORUS-The beautiful city, the Forest Tree City, The city upon the lake shore.

" The mothers ran out with their children about, From every log cabin they hail ; The wood-chopper, he stood, delighted to see, The law-makers ride on a rail !

The horses and cattle, as onward we rattle, Were never so frightened before ;

We are bound for the city that grows in the woods, The city upon the lake shore.

CHORUS-The beautiful city, etc. *

* * * *

"From lake to the river, united forever, May roads such as ours environ, The Forest, the Queen, and the Capital Cities, Like network all woven with iron. Magnificent trio-bright gems of Ohio, Enriching the State evermore,

Hurrah ! for the city built up in the woods, The city upon the lake shore ! CHORUS-The beautiful city, the Forest Tree City, The city upon the lake shore.

It was not until some time after the completion of the " Short Line Railroad," as it was called, that

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

the Cleveland & Columbus road passed under the name and title of Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway. The latter part of 1850 a project was strongly agitated of building a road from Springfield to Mount Vernon via Delaware and on northeast. The Olentangy Gazette of April 25, 1851, has the following in reference to it : "The Directors of the Springfield & Mansfield Railroad Company, accompanied by a corps of engineers, have been in this place and neighborhood for several days past, exploring the country and making the preliminary surveys, preparatory to locating the road through the county. The surveys show the county to be admirably adapted to the construction of a road, and that it will be speedily built may be re- garded as a fixed fact. A single glance at the map will show the vast importance of the work. At Springfield it will connect with two roads to Cin- cinnati and one to the lake, and by reducing the distance from the river to the lake so as to make the route over this road considerably shorter than any other can be, it will defy all competition for through travel. At this place it will unite with the Cleveland & Columbus road, and on east at Mount Vernon with the Pennsylvania & Ohio road, now being constructed from Philadelphia west through Pennsylvania and this State to Indianapo- lis. It must necessarily be a very important road, and the stock cannot but pay well." In its issue of June 13, the Gazette has the following under the head of "Springfield & Delaware Railroad :" "On Saturday last, a vote of Delaware Township, to take $25,000 stock in the above road, was decided in the affirmative by 303 votes for and 13 against it. A meeting was held at the court house on Wednesday night, for the purpose of discussing the proposed subscription on the part of the county to the Springfield & Delaware. Railroad. After remarks by Powell and Little of Delaware, and Whitley of Springfield, in favor of subscription, the following resolution was offered by Powell, and passed with but three dissenting votes : 'Resolved, That, in the opinion of this meeting, it is expedient to vote a county subscription of $50,000.'" The issue of June 27 announces the fact that officers and Directors of the Springfield & Mansfield Rail- road and a road in contemplation from Mount Ver- non to Loudonville, and Mr. Roberts, the chief engineer of the Ohio & Pennsylvania road, who represented the Directors of that Company, held a meeting in Delaware, and consolidated the Spring- field & Mansfield, and the Mount Vernon & Lou- donville Companies, into one company for the

construction of a road through Marysville, Dela- ware, Mount Vernon and Loudonville, where it will intersect the Ohio & Pennsylvania road. A meet- ing, large and enthusiastic, was held the same night at the court house, which was addressed by Gen Anthony, Judge Powell, and Mr. Roberts, of the Ohio & Pennsylvania road. In the Gazette of July 4, a communication from Gen. Anthony an- nounces that a subscription of $50,000 has been voted by Delaware County, and $25,000 by Dela- ware Township, and that everything is being ar- ranged for beginning work on the road. August 8, it is announced that a corps of engineers are lay- ing out the route between Marysville and Dela- ware, and October 17, that the route is perma- nently located.

The Gazette of May 13, 1853, has an article on the building of the bridge over the Olentangy at Delaware, and states that the road will soon be in running order to this place. Early in 1854, it notes the completion of the road, and connection made at " this city with the Cleveland & Colum- bus road." This road, for several years after its completion, was known as the Springfield, Dela- ware & Mt. Vernon Railroad. It finally became involved, however, in financial difficulties, and, un- able to stem the tide of misfortune that environed . it, it was sold in January, 1862, and purchased by the Cleveland & Columbus Railroad for $134,000. Several years afterward, an arrangement was made, or consolidation effected, with the Cincinnati & Dayton Road, whereby a direct route was formed to Cincinnati, which was considerably shorter than by way of Columbus. A line had previously been established to Indianapolis by way of Galion and Bellefontaine, but, upon the opening of the new route to Cincinnati, direct communication was also made with Indianapolis by way of Cincinnati. Thus it was that the road obtained the title of the " Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianap- olis Railway."

In August, 1872, the Springfield Republic makes the following announcement in regard to the Short Line Division of this road: "Six mag- nificent sleeping-cars, to cost $55,000 apiece, and to be unequaled in style, comfort and coveniennce, are being built at the factory at Philadelphia for the Short Line Route between Cincinnati and Cleve- land, and will be on the road in a few days." Referring to the same matter, the Cincinnati Com- mercial, a few weeks later, said : "The Empress, one of the four fine sleeping-coaches now being built, made its first trip out on Monday, at 9:30,

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in charge of Capt. F. Long, over the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway, to Cleveland. The exterior of these coaches is plain, and they are provided with rotundas at each end, and balconies with iron railing, and a patent safeguard over the steps. The gates close securely, and travelers desiring a whiff of fresh air, and a view of the country while they enjoy their Partagas, can regale themselves sitting on the verandas.'

From the report to the Railroad Commissioner, in 1868, we find that the road had 25 stations, 9 engine-houses and shops, 45 engines, about 800 cars of all kinds, and 1,315 employes. The main line (in 1868) had 138 miles of track, 29 miles of double track, and Springfield Branch 50 miles. Average cost of road, $34,000 per mile.

Before the purchase of the Springfield, Dela- ware & Mt. Vernon Railroad by the Cleveland & Columbus road, it had occurred to the people of Delaware that their city was a suitable place for the shops and offices of the former road. Upon this subject we find the following in the Demo- cratic Standard, of May 13, 1852 : "Mr. J. Muzzy, of Springfield, employed to construct frieght cars for the road, is now in Delaware seek- ing subscriptions to enable the Company to erect buildings and build cars at this place. If the plans of the Company, as stated to us, are carried out, it will involve an expenditure of from $50,- 000 to $100,000. This county has subscribed $50,000 ; three of its townships $50,000, and individuals about $10,000, making, in the aggre- gate, $110,000. * *

* We make this state- ment from reliable authority, to show to the citi- zens of Delaware, and the farmers of this vicinity, who are, and should feel, equally interested in the importance of making every exertion to induce the Company to adopt this central point in the road as their headquarters for making cars. This would be of great advantage to Delaware, and it is but right that we should take stock enough to enable the Company to erect the necessary buildings and establish their workshops at this place."

After the consolidation of the two roads, nego- tiations were opened with the new company, the result of which was a contract for the building at the city of Delaware, the shops, offices and depot buildings of the consolidated road, upon the pay- ment by the city of $35,000 for the purpose of assisting in erecting the buildings. The money was paid according to contract, and excellent shops put up by the Railroad Company, but the depot buildings (as agreed upon) have not yet been

erected. Recently, too, the Company have with- drawn most of the employes from the Delaware shops, leaving them, in a manner idle, but, upon a remonstrance from the city, have agreed to send them back, and re-open the shops as usual, as soon as the revival of business will justify it.

The Columbus & Toledo Railroad is compara- tively a new road, being completed but little over two years ago. As everything connected with it is new, even its history, we cannot do better than to take a synopsis of its history from the first annual report of President Greene. The Company was incorporated May 28, 1872, under the general act of May'1, 1852, the corporators being M. M. Greene, P. W. Huntington, B. E. Smith, W. G. Deshler, James A. Wilcox and John L. Gill, of Columbus, for the construction of a railroad from the city of Columbus to the city of Toledo, through the counties of Franklin, Delaware, Marion, Wyan- dot, Seneca, Wood and Lucas, a distance of 123 miles. The capital stock was fixed in the certifi- cate of incorporation at $2,500,000, and on the 1st of July (1872) subscription-books were opened in Columbus and Toledo. October 15, 1873, the line of the road was permanently located through the towns of Delaware, Marion, Upper Sandusky, Carey and Fostoria. It was originally designed to run the road due north from Delaware, but an extra $10,000 of stock had the effect of producing a slight curve in it, so as to carry it through Delhi and Middletown.

Bids for the construction of the road were opened on the 4th of August, and on the 16th of the same month a contract was concluded with Miller, Smith & Co. They commenced work on the 17th, and in November, 1876, the portion between Columbus and Marion, a distance of forty- six miles, was sufficiently finished to justify the Company in complying with the urgent solicita- tion of stockholders and business men along the line, to operate the same. On the 10th of Janu- ary, 1877, the entire line was so far completed that through business was commenced and regular trains run between Columbus and Toledo, under an arrangement with the contractors, who were, how- ever, occupied for some time after that in finishing up the road, so that it was not fully completed and accepted by the Company until July following. The original design of building a first-class road was strictly adhered to, and it is now completed in accordance with this resolution.

A few particulars relating to the building of the road, its length, grade, etc., may not be devoid of

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interest to our readers. Its extreme length from the Union Depot in Columbus, to Walbridge, five miles south of Toledo, where it joins the Toledo & Woodville Railroad, is 118,2% miles, of which 110 miles are straight. The remaining dis- tance is in curves, the slightest of which is from 10' to 1º; while the greatest is at the rate of 5° 30'. The latter, however, is in the yard at Colum- bus. The highest point is forty-three miles north of Columbus and two and a half miles south of Marion, where the summit of the water-shed between the Ohio River and Lake Erie is crossed, at an elevation of 265 feet above the Olentangy River bridge at Columbus, and 410 feet above the level of Lake Erie ; 43,5 miles of the line are level, and the grades vary from five to twenty-six feet per mile. The rails, laid with standard angle- bar joints, and 3,000 ties to the mile, are steel, sixty pounds to the yard, from Columbus to Upper Sandusky, a distance of sixty-four miles, and iron of same weight and best quality, for the remaining distance of fifty-four miles. The frogs and switches are of steel rail, and the sidings, of which there are 13:33 To0 miles, are laid with iron of the quality described. The bridges are all iron, except one, and the depots and water stations, fences and tele- graph line, are all completed in a thorough manner.

The terminal accommodations of the road are good. The track of the Toledo & Woodville Rail- road, a road operated by the Pennsylvania Com- pany, is used from Walbridge to Toledo, a distance of five and a half miles, also the bridge of the latter road over the Maumee River, at Toledo, to- gether with its depot and other terminal facilities and connections in the city. On February 22, 1877, a contract was made with the Hocking Valley Rail- road Company, for the joint use of its terminal property and facilities at Columbus, and also for the joint management of the roads of the two com- panies. A dock on the Maumee River, at Toledo, was found necessary for the traffic in coal, iron ore and lumber, in addition to the facilities afforded by the Toledo & Woodville road. Accordingly, a strip of ground fronting 1,200 feet on the river, and running back about 400 feet, was purchased, in March, 1877, and a substantial and permanent dock built along the entire front, for the accom- modation of lake vessels, and the grounds in the rear graded for yard purposes. The present equip- ment of the road is as follows : Nine locomotives, 10 passenger cars, 4 baggage cars, 134 box cars, 66 flat cars, 50 stock cars, 337 coal cars and 6 caboose cars. As we have already

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History of Delaware County and Ohio, Part 43

Author: O. L. Baskin & Co; Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 818

Author: O. L. Baskin & Co; Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 818