USA > Ohio > Madison County > History of Madison County, Ohio : its people, industries and institution with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families > Part 31
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MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.
1810, at the expense of Robert Hume, and is called Humes road on the records. In December, the commissioners ordered this road to be opened fifty feet wide for a public highway. On September 3, 1810, the inhabitants of Union and Pleasant townships peti- tioned for a road to begin on the Fayette county line, at the end of the road established by the commissioners of Ross county, ere the erection of Fayette and Madison, run- ning thence in a northwesterly direction through Pleasant and Union townships, on the best route to Urbana, Champaign county. The viewers were Peter L. Helphenstine, Hugh Montgomery and William Lewis; Patrick McLene, surveyor. The road was laid out in February, 1811, and in March the commissioners ordered the same road to be opened as a public highway, its width not to exceed sixty-six feet. It ran some dis- tance west of London, to a certain point on the line between -Madison and Champaign counties, and was known to the old settlers as "Langhams trace."
In December, 1810, James Ewing petitioned for a road to run from the east line of Madison county, starting about three miles south of the northeast corner of the same, and run westerly on the best and most direct line to Urbana. James Ewing, William Chard and George D. Roberts were appointed viewers and Joshua Ewing, surveyor. The petition was granted and the road was ordered to be opened. At the same session, John Blair presented a petition for a road beginning on the east line of Madison county to run on the nearest and best course to Blairsville. William Chard, John Blair and Abijah Cary were the viewers and Joshua Ewing, surveyor for the same, the width of the road not to exceed sixty-six feet. Both of these roads were opened in the spring of 1811. In 1812, a road was opened from London to Dyer's mill, on Big Darby creek. It was viewed by John Murfin, Hugh Montgomery and John Wilson, and surveyed by Patrick McLene.
From that time on throughout the early years, roads were opened in every part of the county, and running in every direction. The records of the county commissioners are filled with petitions of the citizens of Madison county praying for certain roads to be opened for travel. These petitions were as a rule always granted. The roads were laid out wide enough, but, as a rule, were execrable in wet weather, the undrained con- dition of the land partly explaining this cause. At certain times, when the ground was frozen and worn smooth, or at other times when the ground was dry and solid, no roads could be better. The proceeds acquired from the road laws were, for many years, in money or labor, totally inadequate to keep the roads even in passable condition at the time most desired. Up to the middle period of the last century in every section of the county, "corduroy" was found on every road, which was the name given to the roads made of rails or poles placed crosswise through the soft and miry places. This closed the period of early roads and leads up to a new era in road building, the "pikes" or macadamized roads.
THE NATIONAL ROAD.
The history of the national road, which was one of the most important public works of the early times, begins with the admission of Ohio into the Union. Congress enacted "that one-twentieth part of the net proceeds of the lands lying within the said state, sold by Congress from and after the 30th day of June next, after deducting all expenses incident to the same, shall be applied to the laying-out and making public roads, lead- ing from the navigable waters emptying into the Atlantic, to the Ohio, to the said state, and through the same. Such roads to be laid out under the authority of Congress, with the consent of the states through which the road shall pass: Provided, that the said state shall provide by an ordinance, irrevocable with the consent of the United States, that each and every tract of land sold by Congress, after the 30th day of June next, shall be and remain free from any tax laid by said state for the term of five years from the day of sale. Approved, April 30, 1802."
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MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.
In 1806, Congress passed a law entitled "An act to regulate the laying-out and making a road from Cumberland, in the state of Maryland, to the state of Ohio." President Jefferson appointed Thomas Moore and Eli Williams, of Maryland, and Joseph Kerr, of Ohio, as commissioners to lay out said road, and to perform the other duties assigned to them by the act. The building of this great highway weut slowly forward for many years, but at times the labor ceased on it altogether for want of funds, different presidents vetoing bills appropriating money toward its construction. lu 1831, a bill was passed and approved, appropriating money for the extension of the Cumberland road through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. In 1836-37, this great road was completed through Madison county. It crosses Big Darby creek near the north- east corner of survey No. 2677; thence takes a southwest direction, passing through Jefferson, Deer Creek and Somerford townships, and leaves the county at the south- west corner of survey No. 4200, on the Clark county line. Along its course three thriv- ing villages sprang up, Jefferson, LaFayette and Summerford, the two first mentioned supporting three taverns each, and the latter two, all of which did a thriving business. Between Jefferson and LaFayette, on the glade, there was a tavern called the "Golden Lamb," and it, too, had its share of the prosperity which the extensive traffic on this great thoroughfare inaugurated.
A WORD FROM THE PAST.
A very good description of this great thoroughfare is taken from an article written by one who had traveled over it during its palmiest days; "The national turnpike that led over the Alleghanies from the east to the west is a glory departed and the traffic that once belonged to it now courses through other channels; but it is simply because it is the past that the few old men living who have reminiscences of it glow with excite- ment and exalt it in recalling them. Aroused out of the dreamy silence of their ebbing days by a suggestion of it, the octogenarians who participated in the traffic will tell an inquirer that never before were such landlords, such taverns, such dinners, such whiskey, such bustle or such endless cavalcades of coaches and wagons as could be seen or had in palmy days of the old national pike, and it is certain that when the coaching days were palmy, no other post road in the country did the same business as this fine old highway, which opened the West aud Southwest to the East. The wagons were so numerous that the leaders of one team had their noses in the trough at the end of the next wagon ahead; and the coaches, drawn by four or six horses, daslied along at a speed which in that day compared favorably with the speed of the cars of today.
"Once in a while, Henry Clay or General Jackson made an appearance, and answered with stately cordiality the familiar greetings of the other passersby. Home- spun Davy Crockett sometimes stood in relief against the busy scene, and all the states- men of the West and South-Harrison, Houston, Taylor, Polk and Allen, among others -came along the road to Washington. The traffic seemed like a frieze, with an endless procession of figures. There were sometimes sixteen gaily painted coaches each way a day ; the cattle and sheep were never out of sight; the canvas-covered wagons were drawn by six or twelve horses, with bows or bells over their collars; the families of statesmen and merchants went by in private vehicles; and, while most of the travelers were unostentatious, a few had splendid equipages. Its projector and chief supporter was Henry Clay, whose services in behalf are commemorated by a monument near Wheeling. The coaches ceased running in 1853; the 'June Bug,' the 'Good Intent,' and the 'Landlords.' as the various lines were called, sold their stock, and a brilliant era of travel was ended."
The building of railroads, from that time until the present era began, deprived the road of its prestige; for many years Congress neglected to make appropriations for the
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uecessary repairs, until finally it was transferred to the states through which it passed. The portion running through Ohio became a part of the public works of the state, but in 1876 the Legislature reduced it to. the level of other pikes, since which time the county commissioners of each county through which the road passes have had charge of it, the same as all other roads. This road, through the improvements which are being made on it and the coming of the era of automobiles is gradually coming into its own again. Travel on it is increasing and where once the stage coaches lined the way is now being traversed by the faster-moving vehicles of today.
CORPORATION PIKES.
Soon after the opening of the national pike, about the year 1838, the Jefferson, South Charleston & Xenia Turnpike Company was organized for the purpose of build- ing a pike from Xenia, Greene county, to Jefferson, Madison county, Ohio. In the course of time the road was completed and opened for traffic. It runs almost parallel with the Little Miami river and entering the county from Clark, a short distance north of where the railroad strikes the county line, it runs in a northeasterly direction, passing through London on its route to Jefferson, and there intersects the national road.
Another early turnpike was the one known as the Madison and Fayette turnpike, which was also built by a private corporation. It starts at London and runs in a south- ern direction through Newport and Midway to the Fayette county line.
The Urbana pike was the third and only other road in Madison county built by a private company. It begins at the national road, about a mile and a half west of Jef- ferson, and runs in a northwesterly course to Mechanicsburg, Champaign county, leaving Madison county near the northwest corner of Somerford township. These three pikes, with the national road, were the only ones in Madison county on which tolls were charged the traveling public. All other pikes were as free as they are today, and were built by the county, under an act of the General Assembly of Ohio, passed April 5. 1866. The first petition was presented to the commissioners of Madison county, June 5. 1866, by F. O. P. Graham et al., for the improvement of the London and Mt. Sterling road. The viewers appointed for this road were Benjamin Harrison, E. Bidwell and Robert Read. The road was granted on September 6, 1866, and the length, according to the survey, was seventeen miles.
PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD.
The first railroad leading into or out of this county was first known as the Colum- bus & Xenia railroad. The company was chartered by a special act of the Legislature, passed March 12, 1844, but the road was not constructed until 1848 and 1849, the first passenger train passing over it on February 20, 1850. Soon after this date, the mem- bers of the Legislature took an exeursion over this road and the Little Miami road from Columbus to Cincinnati and return. The Little Miami Railroad Company obtained a charter March 11, 1836. The two companies, November 30, 1853, entered into a con- tract of union, or partnership, by which the roads of both were operated as one line. The two companies on January 1, 1865, leased the Dayton & Western road and pur- chased, the same year, the Dayton, Xenia & Belpre road from Xenia to Dayton. The partnership, or union, was dissolved on November 30, 1868, and a contract or lease entered into by which the Little Miami Company leased, for ninety-nine years, the Columbus & Xenia road, and the rights and interests of that company in the other roads, that had been leased or purchased by the two companies. The condition was the promise of the Little Miami Company to pay seven per cent. per annum on capital of one million seven hundred and eighty-six thousand two hundred dollars, and interest on the funded debt.
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MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.
On December 1, 1869, the Pittsburg, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad Company leased of the Little Miami Railroad Company its railroad and its right to the Columbus & Xenia and other roads. At the time this railroad was built, the citizens of Madison county voted twenty thousand dollars towards its construction. When this latter rail- road company came into possession of the stocks of the Little Miami Railroad Company it subsequently proposed to take from the county fourteen thousand dollars of said stock, leaving the county with but six thousand dollars of the agreed stock. The road passes through Madison county from Columbus, in a southwest direction, and runs through Jefferson, Deer Creek, Union and the northwest corner of Paint township. The stations of London and Jefferson are the only stops which this line makes in Madison county. This road is now operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and is locally known as the Pennsylvania road. This road has been very successful in its operations and ranks as one of the leading roads in the state, both as to equipment and service.
The Pennsylvania system also operates another road which runs through the north- east corner of the county. This was originally known as the Columbus, Piqua & Indiana railroad and was the third railroad built through Madison county. The company con- structing it chartered on February 23, 1849, and the first train passed over the road from Columbus to Urbana July 4. 1853. In a few months the road was completed to Piqua. The Columbus, Piqua & Indiana Railroad Company becoming embarrassed, it was reorganized under the name of the Columbus & Indianapolis Railroad Company. The road was sold on August 6, 1865, under an order of the court, and subsequently was transferred by deed to the reorganized company. This was one of the several roads which, consolidated, made the line generally known as the Columbus, Chicago & Indiana Central railroad. In 1869, the road was leased to the Pittsburg. Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad Company, under whose management it was operated until it became a part of the Pennsylvania system. The only station of this road in Madison county is that at Plain City and it affords a good shipping point for that portion of the county. When this road was proposed the six thousand dollars in stock which the county had in the Springfield & London Railroad was transferred to the Columbus, Piqua & Indiana, where it still remains. This was all the assistance that Madison county ever gave to the construction of railroads through her territory.
CLEVELAND, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO && ST. LOUIS RAILROAD.
The Cleveland, Cincinnati. Chicago & St. Louis railroad passes through the center of the county from east to west. It runs through Fairfield and Union townships, with stations at London and Lilly Chapel. The Columbus and Springfield Railroad Company, which built this line, was chartered on February 16, 1840. but for some years nothing was done towards building the road. In June, 1851, a company was organized under this charter, at Springfield, and the road was completed, fromn Springfield to London, September 18, 1853. The road was known as the Springfield & London railroad, and its length of track was nineteen miles. This was the second road organized to pass through this county and the six thousand dollars which Madison county had invested in the Columbus & Xenia road was transferred to the Springfield & London, with the object of assisting the latter. In 1854, the road was leased to the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad Company, since called the Cincinnati. Cleveland & Lake Erie Railroad Company. The road was sold on May 8, 1868, under a decree of the United States district court, and was bought by Jacob W. Pierce, of Boston, for one hundred thousand dollars. The Columbus, Springfield & Cincinnati Railroad was incorporated on May 1. 1869, with a capital stock of one million five hundred thousand dollars and Mr. Pierce transferred bis purchase soon after to the new company. By an arrangement with the
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MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.
purchaser, the road was continued under the management of the Cincinnati, Sandusky & Cleveland Railroad Company, to which it was permanently leased on July 1, 1870. It was subsequently completed to Columbus, and many citizens of Madison county sub- scribed certain amounts, to be paid on condition that the road would be finished by September 1, 1871; but it was not finished until December 19, 1871, and the money was never paid. On March 8, 1881, the road was leased, for ninety-nine years, to the Indiana, Bloomington & Western Ohio Division Railway, the lease to begin May 1, 1881. It is at present under the management of the New York Central Lines.
The Toledo & Ohio Central railroad passes through the extreme northeast corner of the county and has one station, Kile, within the limits of Madison county. This road is also operated by the New York Central Lines. This line extends from Columbus northwest through Union county and as far north as Toledo. To obtain this road there was much labor and excitement, and years passed before it was finally accomplished. This affords a direct outlet through Columbus and also connects the northeastern part of the county with the commerce of Great Lakes. It was completed through to Colum- bus in January, 1894, having reached as far as Marysville, in Union county, in 1893.
DAYTON, TOLEDO & IRONTON.
This road runs from Sedalia, in Madison county, to Kingman, in Clinton county. An agitation for this line was first begun in December, 1875, in Clinton county. J. F. Ely, of Washington C. H., was the chief promotor of this line, which was to run from Waynesville to Jeffersonville, and ultimately to Columbus. The incorporators, J. F. Ely, Ethan Allen, J. M. Hussey, James Ellis and Doctor Marshall, immediately procured a charter and the prospective road was incorporated as the Waynesville, Port William & Jeffersonville Railroad. After a sufficient amount of stock was raised, an organiza- tion was effected in March, 1876. Meetings were held along the proposed route and stock was raised to the amount of sixty-five thousand dollars. The success of this road never reached great heights and part of the road that was laid west of Kingman, Ohio, was taken up and there is only the line from Sedalia to Kingman. This road is now under the charge of the Dayton, Toledo & Ironton Railroad Company through a lease, but the traffic is very light and evidently the owners are awaiting the opportunity to make a junction with some other road. Or it has been predicted by others that this line would be taken over by an electric company.
In 1878, the Springfield Southern railroad was built through South Solon. This is the only town in Madison county which this line accommodates. The road was later leased by the Dayton, Toledo & Ironton Railroad Company and is at present a part of that system. This road accommodates the southern part of the county with east and west shipping. Springfield and the coal fields of the southeastern Ohio are opened up to the people along this line.
BALTIMORE & OHIO RAILROAD.
The Baltimore & Ohio railroad passes through the southeast corner of the county. There is only one station of this line in Madison county, that being at Mt. Sterling.
OHIO ELECTRIC RAILROAD.
On March 8, 1901, the London city council granted permission to the Columbus, London & Springfield Railway Company, its successors and assigns, to construct, operate and maintain a line of street railway within said village and along the following route, to wit : Beginning on Lafayette street at the northeastern corporation line of said vil- lage; thence to the intersection of Maple street ; thence south on Maple to First; thence on First to Main; thence on Main to the northwest corporation line; thence westerly to Springfield.
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MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.
It being expressly provided in said ordinance that if the village at any time should order the improvement of said streets, or any of them, by laying gravel, stone or other material thereon, or pave the same, or change the grade of the same, the said railway company, its successors and assigns, shall, at its own expense, in like manner improve such portion of said street or streets as is occupied by its tracks and two feet outside of the outer rails thereof, and then use a rail to be approved by the council of said village.
On March 9, 1901. the Columbus, London & Springfield Company duly accepted the provisions of said ordinance; immediately thereafter entered upon the work of con- structing the said railway, and continued to maintain and operate the same as an inter- urban and street railway until about January 1, 1905, when it became insolvent and was on February 28, 1906, sold to A. E. Locke, who on June 29, 1906, assigned and transferred the property to the Indiana, Columbus & Eastern Traction Company, which operated it until August 31, 1907, when it transferred, assigned and conveyed it by lease for nine hundred and ninety-nine years to the defendant, The Ohio Electric Railway Company, which still owns and operates it.
This is a branch line of the main road from Springfield to Columbus. It branches off from Summerford on the west, entering London from the northwest side of town, and returns to the main line at Lafayette. Only the local cars pass through London, the limited cars using the direct route from Columbus to Springfield and passing through Jefferson, Lafayette and Summerford in Madison county. The cars to Columbus leave London hourly, twenty minutes after the hour, the first car going out at 6:20 a. m., and the last one at 12:20 a. m. The cars to Springfield leave on the half hour, the first at 6:30 a. m., and the last at 12:40 a. m.
GENERAL RAILWAY STATISTICS.
The following statistics are taken from the last report of the district assessor com- piled in July, 1915: Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis-Cincinnati division- miles of main line, 19.05; second track, 19.05 miles; sidings, S.17 miles. Value of all real estate, $7,850; value of right-of-way. $22.010; buildings, $16,860; second track. $200,030; sidings, $48,610; value of all other property, $1,345,820; total value, $1,641,180. Indianapolis division of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis, 4:5 miles of main track : 4.5 miles of second track ; . 93 miles of siding; value of all real estate used in operation, $370; value of right-of-way, $6,640; value of buildings, $850; value of second track, $47,250; value of sidings, $5,530; value of all other property, $317,910; total value, $378,550. Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis railroad-Columbus, Spring- field and Cincinnati division, 16.02 miles of main track in Madison county ; 4.9 miles of sidings; value of real estate, $650; value of right-of-way, $14,620; value of bulldings, $6,760; value of sidings, $20,830; value of all other property, $656,520; total value, $699.380. Delaware branch of the same line, .29 miles of track in Madison county ; right-of-way valued at $200; all other property, $11,880, making a grand total of $12,080. Baltimore & Ohio railroad-Columbus and Cincinnati Midland division, 3.6 miles of main line; 1.125 miles of siding: real estate valued at $250; right-of-way, $2,740; buildings, $1,170; sidings, $6,750; value of all other property, $109.530; total, $120,440. Figures for the Toledo & Ohio Central Railroad in this county show. main line .6 miles ; yards. . 17 miles: sidings. . 16 miles; real estate, $150; right-of-way, $330; buildings, $300; yard tracks, $1,080; sidings. $940; all other property, $29.530; total, $32,330. The Dayton, Toledo & Ironton Railroad has 3.85 miles of main line; 2.20 miles of branches ; 1.25 miles of sidings; value of real estate, $70; value of right-of-way, $3,160; buildings, $$00: sidings, $1,960; branch sidings, $140; value of all other property, $46,110; total, $52,240. This includes the Sedalia & Kingman branch, which alone is valued at $12,380.
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MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.
The main railroad depots in the county are valued as follows: Ohio Electric at London, valued at $3,000, a brick structure thirty years old; Summerford depot, frame, $500; Deer Creek township depot, frame, $500; West Jefferson depot, frame, $1,000; Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis depot at London, $6,760; Baltimore & Ohio depot at Mt. Sterling, $1,000; Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis depot at London, $4,000.
TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANIES.
There are fourteen telephone and telegraph companies, with lines in Madison county. The Western Union Telegraph Company has 869.20 miles of wire, valued at $52,080; the Franklin County Telephone Company has 17.50 miles, $610; the Receivers Union Telephone Company, 956 miles, $57,020; the Ohio Postal Telegraph-Cable Company, 340.5 miles, $16,750; the Resaca Farmers Telephone Company, 210 miles, $5,680; the South Charleston Home Telephone Company, 14.5 miles. $4,730; the United States Telephone Company. 382 miles, $33,329; the Farmers (West Jefferson) Telephone Company, 136 miles, $5,456; the Washington Home Telephone Company, 212.2 miles, $5600; the Home Telephone Company (Plain City), 903.46 miles, $20,370; the London Home Telephone Company, 1,392.31 miles, $53,3 0; the Mechanicsburg Telephone Com- pany, 38 miles, $2,420; the Ohio Telegraph and Telephone Company, 782.88 miles, $78,220; the Mt. Sterling Telephone Company, 503 miles, $25,530.
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