History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume II, Part 32

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1196

USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume II > Part 32

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The canals still retained the consideration and confidence of the public and their intersets were not permitted to be sacrificed in behalf of railways; on the contrary, it was believed and stated that, in an important degree, the Little Miami Railway would " aid the business and replenish the revenues of the princi- pal canals of the State instead of drawing business and profits from them."3 In compliance with public sentiment the company was required to report to the Auditor of State the amount of its dividends, and when they exceeded six per cent. on the stock the Auditor was required to draw on the company for an amount equal to the amount of tax the company would be liable to pay under the act of March 2, 1846. On March 30, 1864, an agreement was made between the Little Miami and the Columbus and Xenia companies of the first part, and the Columbus & Indianapolis, the Richmond & Covington and the Indiana Central of the second part; the Dayton, Xenia & Belpre of the third part, and the Dayton & Western of the fourth part, for an equitable arrangement for operating and distributing traffic and proceeds. On June 6, 1854, the last rail was laid on the Ohio & Mississippi, and on August 29, the same year, the Indianapolis & Belle- fontaine and the Greenville & Miami railways were opened, making a line from Dayton to Indianapolis. On January 1, 1865, the Little Miami Company leased the Dayton & Western ; on November 30 it leased the Columbus & Xenia ; and on January 3, 1865, the Dayton, Xenia & Belpre, sold under forclosure, was pur- chased by the Little Miami and the Columbus & Xenia companies for $250,000. On January 1, 1868, the Little Miami, the Columbus & Xenia and the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati made a contract with Charles W. Doubleday which gave the latter an exclusive right to run sleepingears on their roads between Cincin- nati & Cleveland. On April 7, 1868, the Little Miami and the Columbus & Xenia companies made a contract with the Western Union Telegraph Company giving it the exclusive right to operate a line on their premises.

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

On December 1, 1869, the entire property of the Little Miami and the Colum- bus & Xenia and leased lines were leased to the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railway Company at eight per cent. on the capital stock, the interest on the funded debt, five thousand dollars per year for the expense of the orgamzation and the assumption of all lease obligations of the Little Miami organization, which was to receive and pay over all dues to its leased lines, thus giving the Little Miami company and all leased lines eight per cent. net on their capital stock. At the election in 1847, Jeremiah Morrow, Jacob Strader, John Kilgore, Griffin Taylor, R. R. Springer, A. Hivling, Samuel Barnett, James Hieks, Lewis Broadwell, John Kugler and Nathaniel Wright were chosen directors, Jeremiah Morrow, president; Jacob Strader, secretary ; John Kilgore, treasurer, and Wil- H. Clement, superintendent. A stock dividend was paid as early as January, 1845, before the road was complete, and from three to eight and one half per cent. semiannually thereafter has been paid in every year since December, 1852, except in December, 1867, when four and onenineteenth per cent. was paid in stock. On February 23, 1870, the Little Miami leased its own and all leased lines, inelnd- ing the Columbus & Xenia, to the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis.

Columbus &' Xenia Railway .- This company was incorporated March 12, 1844, by Joseph Ridgway, Samuel Medary and William Dennison, of Franklin County, with others from Madison and Greene counties. The capital stock was $500,000, which was increased on February 14, 1848, to 81,500,000, and on January 7, 1864, to $1,800,000. On December 31, 1889, the stock was reported at $1,786,200. The company was authorized to construct a railway from "any eligible point in or near the town of Columbus, in Franklin County, thence by the most practicable route to the town of Xenia, in Greene County, or the suburbs thereof." It was also authorized to " construct branch roads to other towns or places in the several counties through which said road may pass," and the management was given authority to contract with any person or corporation for the use of roads, streets and bridges. This latter provision, or something similar, is found in many of the earlier railway charters in Ohio, the idea seeming to have been that a common road bridge could be used as a railway bridge. The charter further provided that the company might demand and receive tolls for passengers and freight not exceed- ing the tolls charged on the canals for the same kinds of goods or for passengers going in the same direction, and that it should not be lawful for any other company or individual " to transport any person, merchandize, produce or property of any description whatsoever along said road or any part thereof, without the license or permission of the president and directors of said company." This latter provision is found in many of the railway charters of that period, its object being indicated by the charter of the Scioto & Miami Railroad Company enacted March 18, 1839, and providing that the company might construet a railway " from or near the town of Lockbourne, in Franklin County, by the way of the town of Xenia, in Greene County, to the town of Dayton, in Montgomery County ;" that is, from the Ohio to the Miami Canal. Section nine of this act provided that the corporation might demand from all persons using its road a freight charge of eight cents per ton per mile, and a rateable proportion for any greater or less quantity ; and "for every

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pleasure carriage or carriages used for the conveyance of passengers four cents per mile in addition to the toll of freight upon the road;" all persons paying such toll being permitted, with suitable and proper carriages, to " use and travel upon said railroad, subject to such regulations and rules as the corporation are authorized to make." One of the objections brought against railways being that they could not be used like a common highway by any or all persons alike, such provisions as these were inserted in the charters to meet that objection by permitting the use of the road by any person who would furnish " proper and suitable carriages."

The charter of the Columbus & Xenia company further provided that the State should have the right at any time after twenty years (extended to thirty- five years March 8, 1845,) to purchase and hold said railroad for the use of the State at a price not exceeding the original cost and necessary expenditure for fix- tures up to the time of purchase, " and fifteen per cent. thereon." If the divi- dends should at any time exceed six per cent., the legislature might levy a tax thereon equivalent to that received from other railway companies. This latter clause was repealed February 23, 1846, by an act amending the charter and pro- viding that the State should have power to reduce the charges for transportation of persons and property should such charges, in the opinion of the Board of Public Works, be deemed unreasonably high. The Board was authorized to exercise this power of reducing charges onee in every ten years, but this amend- ment was not accepted by the company and has not been considered by it to be binding.

The Little Miami railway having been completed between Cincinnati and Xenia, the first daylight trip ever made between Columbus and Cincinnati took place August 19, 1845. One of the newspapers stated as follows: "Two new [stage] coaches have been put on the line between Columbus and Xenia. They are named George M. Dallas and Cave Johnson, and are very superb vehicles. All we want now is a railroad between here and Xenia and another to Cleveland to render traveling a pleasant past time. The first road will be built at no dis- tant day ; what shall we say about the other ?" Response to this inquiry was soon made. A subscription of 8200,000 having been made to the stock of the Colum- bus & Xenia Railway a meeting of the stockholders was held on April 12, 1845, and William Neil, Joseph Ridgway, Senior, Joseph Ridgway, Junior, William S. Sullivant, D. W. Deshler, Samnel Medary, Charles H. Wing, A. F. Perry, Joshua Martin, R. E. Neil, Orange Johnson and William Dennison, were chosen diree- tors. On the same day William Neil was elected president, Joseph Ridgway, Junior, secretary, and D. W. Deshler treasurer. On May 29, 1845, the commissoners and surveyors left Columbus to locate the line and on June 11, it was announced that the preliminary survey had been completed. The Cincinnati Atlas newspa- per of July 25, 1845, said : " We understand that an effort is making to fill up the stock of the road from Columbus to Xenia and that an influential member of the company (Mr. William Neil) is now in the city for this purpose. The greater part of the stock has been subscribed at Columbus and on the line of the road, but they need $50,000 more which they wish to raise here. As soon as this sum is subscribed the road will be put under contract and the work commenced with a

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view to its completion in the fall of next year ; say at the farthest, by December, 1846. They have already decided to put down the heavy rails and to make the road substantial in the first instance." Sylvester Medbery, appointed engineer, completed the second survey of the line from Columbus to Xenia, September 24, 1845, and reported it as fiftytwo miles long, with only four deviations from a straight course. On November 22, 1845, a settlement with the engineer and his employés was ordered and their salaries were suspended until further notice.

An act of March 2, 1846, amending the charter of the Franklin & Washington Railroad Company, subjected the Columbus & Xenia Company to the same condi- tions as to taxation which had been imposed npon the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati company, and reserved to the General Assembly power to levy such taxes on the capital stock and dividends as it might deem proper. By another act of February 6, 1847, the directors of the Columbus & Xenia were authorized to connect their road with the Little Miami at a point to be selected at their dis- cretion. Further legislation of February 4, 1848, empowered the directors to construct a branch from the terminus at Columbus to Delaware, and on March 21, 1850, the company was authorized to extend its road to Dayton. To insure prompt action the charter provided that if contracts were not made for the con- struction of one-fourth of the road within one year from its date, it would be void. By different acts passed in February, 1846, subscriptions to the capital stock of the company were authorized as follows: By the town of Xenia not over 850,000; by the City Council of Columbus and the Commissioners of Franklin County, 850,000 each; and by the town of Xenia 86,000; and by the Commis- sioners of Greene County 850,000. The company was authorized by the same legislation to borrow 8300,000 at not more than seven per cent. interest, and the directors were given discretion to connect their road with that of the Little Miami company at any other point than Xenia if they should so elect. On February 8, 1847. the Commissioners of Madison County were authorized to subscribe 820,000 to the stock of the Columbus & Xenia, and the same amount to the Columbus & Springfield. On February 23, 1846, the charter was so amended as to authorize the directors to reduce the amount of each individual stock subscrip- tion to snch a sum as the subscriber might desire, provided that the total subscrip- tion should not be reduced below 850,000. This seems to have been done in order to enable some of the subscribers to transfer a part of their subscriptions to another company. On February 14, 1848, the company was authorized to borrow funds in addition to those realized by payments on stock sufficient to complete the road and furnish it with necessary cars and machinery.

The Ohio State Journal of August 13, 1845, contained these editorial admoni- tions having reference to the Columbus & Xenia Railway :

This is an enterprise which deserves the attention of Central Obio, and more particu- larly of Columbus and Franklin County. We understand that nearly all the stock is sub- scribed and we hope some of our citizens who have the means will give their aid to it imme- diately. We also understand that William Neil, the president of the company, has returned from Cincinnati and that the citizens of that city, ever liberal in public enterprises, are awake to this also. . . . The immense trade to the North and East from the South and West

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must be entirely lost to Columbus and the central portion of the State unless the road is commenced and brought to a speedy completion. The Mad River Railroad, which is now building, from Cincinnati to the Lake, is destined to monopolize this entire trade unless the Columbus & Xenia railroad is completed. As the speed and comfort of passengers are always consulted they will undoubtedly universally choose the trip through the northwest part of the State by railroad to the lake in preference to a long and laborious ride from Cin- cinnati to Cleveland through Columbus by stage. But should the road be completed and the speed and accommodations of this central route be made equal to the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad it must be the most preferable route from the Ohio River to the Lake, as it runs through the richest and most prosperous portion of Ohio and the seat of government of the State, and makes a short lake trip to Buffalo.

Passenger trains were started August 19, 1845, between Columbus, Cincin- nati and Xenia, leaving Cincinnati at seven o'clock A. M. and arriving at Xenia at noon, where, as announced in the newspapers, passengers could take the coaches to Columbus and arrive there at eight P. M., accomplishing the whole journey in thirteen hours, including all stoppages. It was also announced that the stages of the accommodation line would leave Columbus at six A. M., and at one P. M. arrive at Xenia, where the passengers would dine, take the cars at two p. M. and arrive at Cincinnati about six o'clock in the evening. On December 1, 1846, stock to the amount of $187,800 was purchased of the individual directors by the Board, with the agreement that no liabilities should be created until $100,000 of that amount should be sold.

On March 8, 1847, L. Goodale, Joseph Ridgway, A HI. Pinney, R. E. Neil, William Dennison and Samuel Medary were elected directors, and on March 20, same year, it was stated that the Little Miami company was willing to guarantee to the stockholders of the Columbus & Xenia six per cent. per annum on their stock as soon as the road should be completed, and would agree to pay that rate annually and perpetually if desired, for the use of the road from Columbus to its point of intersection with the Little Miami.

"Shrieks of locality " were loud and earnest. On March 10, 1848, a stock- holder published a card in which be said that most if not all of those who had sub- scribed for stock in the Columbus & Xenia road did so with the understanding that the passenger station would be located near the cossing of High Street. On March 23 a large public meeting, of which W. T. Martin was chairman and Lorenzo English secretary, was held, and S. E. Wright, A. P. Stone, J. Hare, M. Jewett, A. Sites, J. Funston, and E. Glover were appointed a committee to confer with the president and directors of the road and require location of the station equidistant between the north and south boundaries of the city ; and further, to demand that this city and county should be represented in the reorganization in proportion to the amount of stock subscribed. When the directors of the two companies - Col- umbus & Xenia and Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati - came to the selection of a site for the station, their choice lay between the northeast corner of High and Spring streets and the present location, but the latter was agreed upon by a bare majority of the two boards. Another controversy was raised about the same time by the claim of Springfield that the road should connect with the Little Miami at that place instead of at Xenia.

the

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

On April 14, 1847, a vote taken in the city of Columbus resulted 828 ayes to 214 noes, in favor of a subscription of 850,000 by the city to the stock of the com- pany, and on May 6 an arrangement was made by which, in consideration of stoek subscriptions by the city and county they should each have representation in the board of directors. On June 28 the directors agreed to lay a horse railway track from some convenient point on the main line north of Broad Street to and across the canal near its bridge on Friend Street so as to accommodate the ware- housing interest in that vicinity. This track was not laid south of Broad Street. On the same day it was resolved that the main line should cross the Scioto River at some eligible point between the National Road Bridge and the Penitentiary. The salary of the president of the road was fixed at $1,500. On July 15, 1847, the Columbus City Council adopted the following :

Resolved, that the right of way be granted to the Columbus & Xenia Railroad Company to run their railroad track or tracks through the city and along any street or alley, or part of a street or alley in the city north of Broad Street (excepting along High Street); and that they have the right to run locomotive engines upon the main line of their road running through the city and connecting with the dépots and enginehouses at a rate of speed not exceeding four miles per hour.

A proviso was coupled with this that the company should be liable for all damages that might accrue from such location.

On October 13, 1847, Alfred Kelley, president of the company, solicited bids for grading and bridging the roadway from the west bank of the Seioto River to and ineluding Big and Little Darby creeks, and on July 24, 1848, he advertised for proposals for grubbing, grading, bridging and ballasting the road from South Charleston to the Greene County boundary. On October 25, 1847, semi-annual interest was pledged on all cash payments of stock until the road should be com- pleted and commence paying dividends. Proposals from the Little Miami Com- pany to eonstruet as a branch of their line so much of the Columbus & Xenia road as lay from Xenia eastward within Greene County were accepted November 3, 1847. On November 9 of that year the treasurer was authorized to sell any amount of city or county bonds not exceeding $10,000 for the best price that could be obtained not less than eighty cents on the dollar. On the same day the salary of the treasurer was fixed at three hundred, and that of the secretary at one hun- dred and fifty dollars per year.

On March 6, 1848, the road was under contract from Columbus to West Jef- ferson and on December 4 of that year the Columbus station was located by a vote of seven to three. On March 29, 1849, the New York Tribune stated that the negotiation of the bonds of the Columbus & Xenia Railroad Company to the whole amount of 8300,000 had just been completed by Winslow, Lanier & Co., and on August 7 two hundred tons of iron for the road had reached Sandusky. Part of the iron arrived at Columbus October 15, and on November 5 tracklaying was commenced at Columbus and prosecuted at the rate of threequarters of a mile per day. It was stated that the rails were delivered at Montreal from England at a cost of one and a half cents per pound ; which, with the transportation to Colum- bus, brought their cost up to three cents per pound. The expense for transporta-

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tion from Montreal to Columbus was therefore equivalent to the original cost of the iron and its freight from England to Montreal. An engine was shipped from Cincinnati by river and canal and was used in tracklaying. The rails had all reached Columbus by January 17, 1850, and on February 25 of that year the newspapers announced that trains would run in connection with the Little Miami Railway as follows : Leave Columbus one P. M. and two p. M .; arrive at Cincin- nati at nine P. M. and ten A. M ; leave Cincinnati at six A M. and two-thirty P. M .; arrive at Columbus at two p. M. and ten p. M. The one P. M. train from Columbus and the six A. M. train from Cincinnati were discontinued on Sundays. The com- pany declared that it would not be responsible for baggage exceeding fifty dollars in value, unless the same should be returned to the conductor or agent and freight paid on it at the rate of one passage for every five hundred dollars in value above fifty dollars.

Under date of February 25, 1850, we have the following account of the open- ing of the road : 4

The twentysecond of February, 1850, was the commencement of a new era in Central Ohio, for on that day the railroad from Columbus to Xenia (fiftyfour miles) was open for use; and thus, for the first time, was opened to the people of this region a system of transit des- tined immediately to supplant and almost render obsolete all other modes of conveyance. The Twentysecond . . . was a clear, bright day, such a day as does honor to the winter climate of this meridian, in which the cheerful beauty of spring and the rigor of winter were admirably blended. . . . Such was the day ... when I accepted the polite invitation of the engineer to accompany the President, a portion of the board of directors and a few friends on the first trip over the track from Columbus to Xenia. Among the passengers down, besides the officers and agents of the company, were Judge Myers, of the Senate, Mr. Fairchild, of the House, Mr. Drake, late Speaker of the House, Mr. Collins, president of the Cincinnati & Hillsborough Railroad Company, and several others. The trip down was made on an open platform, and was made in three hours and five minutes. This was not remark- able for speed, but when it is recollected that this is the first and an experimental trip when more than ordinary caution is required in testing an untried work, the speed (averaging eighteen miles an hour) was amply sufficient. When the arrangements for regular trips are completed and the machinery properly adjusted, twentyseven miles per hour will be about the average. . .. The company, leaving Columbus at two o'clock P. M. reached Xenia at five. In the course of the evening a new locomotive (appropriately named the Washington) built by Messrs. A. Harkness & Son, of Cincinnati, for the Columbus & Xenia Railroad Com- pany, arrived at Xenia, and it was resolved to run it up to Springfield (twenty miles) in the forenoon for the purpose of ascertaining its weight and trying the quality of its performance. The engine, with ordinary equipments, weighed nineteen and a half tons, and the perform- ance of its machinery was highly satisfactory to those concerned. The cost of the locomo- tive, we heard, was eight thousand dollars. Returning from Springfield, the company par- took of a substantial repast served at the railroad office, and being joined by a number of gentlemen from Xenia, two passenger cars were attached to the new locomotive and the party left Xenia about half past three o'clock, reaching Columbus just at sunset.

The Ohio State Journal of February 27, 1850, thus announced the " first train :"

The splendid locomotive Washington with the first regular train of passenger cars from this city left at one o'clock today in the presence of a concourse of spectators. We put the

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fact on record for future reference when the historian shall search the archives of the past to discover the date when an era so promising was opened by an event so interesting.

On March 2, 1850, the state officers and the General Assembly by invitation of the company made a trip over the road to Cincinnati and return. One of the newspapers remarked in expectancy of this event that it would be " a novel sight to see the government of the great State of Ohio going off at the rate of twentyfive miles an hour." The road had been completed in a little less than two years under the management of its president, Alfred Kelley, and its chief engineer and super- intendent, S. Medbery. Its track was laid with rails weighing sixtyone pounds to the yard on hewed oak ties well bedded in gravel. Its first cost with equip- ments was stated at $1,403,145.99. It has but three miles of curved line with a minimum radius of 5,700 feet. Its elevation above the Scioto, at the Big Darby crossing is 145 feet, at the Little Darby, 183 feet, at London 344 feet, at South Charleston 421 feet, at the Greene County line 356 feet and at Xenia 130 feet. Its maximum grade is thirtynine feet per mile.

On March 26, 1850. S. Medbery, engineer, asked for proposals for grading, ballasting and masonwork for a track from the east side of the Scioto River to the station grounds on the east side of High Street, about 2,500 feet ; and on Dec- ember 14, 1850, notice was given that after that date the cars would start regu- larly from the station grounds at the north end of High Street. Prior to that date a temporary station had been used in what was then known as Franklinton. On May 30, same year, the City Council requested the company to construct a branch from some point between Franklinton and Columbus to and across the Scioto River at or near the junction of the canal feeder with the river, but the board declined. On October 28 it was agreed that from November 1 dividends should be paid semiannually to the stockholders on the first Monday in January and July beginning with July 1, 1851, the interest on installments to cease from that date. The salary of the president, Mr. Kelley, for 1851 was fixed at $500. On January 31, 1851, we find the following paragraph in one of the Columbus papers : "One of our friends, a lady of Columbus, yesterday breakfasted at home, dined with her mother in Cincinnati, and after a chat of two hours returned and took tea at home. Such events may not be uncommon hereafter, but this is pro- bably the first instance of the kind."

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History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume II, Part 32

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co Publication date: 1892 Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co. Number of Pages: 1196

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1196