USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Memoirs of the Miami valley > Part 22
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The first boat passed up the canal in May, 1827, and was known as Packet No. 1, Farmers' and Merchants' line. P. A. Sprigman was its master, and it was announced that regular trips would be made between Cincinnati and Middletown. An example of one of the effects of building this canal, and indeed one that is strikingly typical of the effect of transportation upon community building, is found in the experience of Jacksonboro, a town in Butler county. Prior
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to 1825 the principal highway of this section extended through Ham- ilton from Cincinnati to Jacksonboro. As a result of its being the terminal the town grew rapidly and was soon the second in size in the county. Middletown was an isolated country village without good road connections and most of its people did their trading in Jacksonboro. With the building of the canal, Middletown became prosperous and grew rapidly, while Jacksonboro shrunk in propor- tion, until today its population is smaller than it was in 1825, and Middletown ranks as the second city in the county.
With the building of the railroads through the valley the impor- tance of the canal diminished, since its capacity was limited and the competition of the steam lines very vigorous. Finally, in the late 60's, that portion of it in Cincinnati south of Broadway was abandoned, and Eggleston avenue constructed, the water being turned into a sewer near Eighth street, and emptied into the river. Later, like the Whitewater canal, its terminal was leased to a steam railroad.
Unlike the Whitewater, however, the vitality of this public work was not destroyed, and business continued to be done in a sufficient amount to justify the state in keeping it in operation. It is interesting to note that one of the forces most potent in preventing its abandonment was the C. H. & D. railroad, which had contributed so largely to destroying its business. This was not done in any spirit of affection or foresight into the future development of water- way transportation, but because competing lines of steam roads were looking with covetous eyes upon this right of way which led through so many prosperous towns of the Miami valley and into the very heart of Cincinnati. In no small degree due to this influence canal associations were formed, resulting in an education of the people as to the potential value of the canal. Finally the United States Gov- ernment became interested in the preservation and expansion of the waterway. In 1894 an act of Congress was passed directing the secretary of war to appoint a board of three army engineers to survey the Miami and Erie canal and the Ohio canal, with branches, rivers, etc., as might in their judgment form a continuous canal connecting Lake Erie with the Ohio river, through the state of Ohio. This board was directed to report upon the feasibility of improving and widening such canal to seventy feet, with a depth of seven feet. Great interest was taken in commercial circles and every opportu- nity was given to the commission, headed by Major Chittenden, to carry out its work. The Chittenden report recommended the Miami and Erie canal as the most feasible and produced statistics to prove its commercial value when completed. The report, however, held that the proposed depth of seven feet was entirely inadequate, since it would restrict the benefits to intra-state commerce. A sufficient water supply was available, it said, for a ten-foot canal during the dry season, which was not true of any other route in the state. In his report, Major Chittenden says that the size and type of boat to be used will be fixed by the maximum draft possible on the Ohio river, and the minimum draft capable of navigation on the lakes. Naturally this will control the character and capacity of the canal, as it is assumed that whenever the work of uniting these two im-
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portant systems of inland navigation is undertaken, it will be upon a comprehensive scale designed to render the ports of both systems accessible to a single type of boat. Such boats of not less than eight or nine feet draft could operate by way of the Erie canal, Lake Erie, the Miami and Erie canal, and the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, from the Atlantic seaboard to the gulf. The possibility of being traversed by such a highway of commerce produced much enthusi- asm in the Miami valley, but only disappointment followed, as no practical steps were taken to complete the improvement.
In the meantime, having successfully resisted the schemes of steam and interurban railway promoters to seize its right of way for a roadbed, the Miami and Erie canal entered upon a new phase of its tempestuous career. A company was formed for the purpose of towing canalboats by means of an "electric mule" operated on tracks along the towpath. The suspicion that the real purpose of this company was to gain possession of the canal property for inter- urban railway purposes aroused the most vigorous opposition on the part of the waterway advocates. It was insufficient, however, to prevent the passage of enabling legislation and the execution of a lease between the state and the electric mule company. The road- bed was graded, tracks laid, and apparently everything in readiness for operation, but the continued agitation of the opponents, the most active among whom were the owners of water right leases,
together with the publication of the names of the stockholders, including the names of many persons prominent either directly or indirectly with the passage of the enabling act, interfered with the financing of the project or the carrying out of its plans, whatever they may have been. The company disappeared and the rails, ties, and other equipment disintegrated on the banks of the canal.
That portion of the canal property lying within the city limits has now been turned over to the city of Cincinnati, to be used as an entrance for interurbans, the very purpose which had been so earn- estly opposed in previous years.
It might be supposed that this would write finis to the canal story on the Miami valley. On the contrary, the stimulus given to water transportation by the inability of the steam railroads to handle the traffic of the nation during the war period, has brought about a revival of interest in the building of a cross state canal connecting the lakes with the Ohio river. Again Congress has provided for a survey to determine the most feasible and practical route, and this work is now being carried on under the direction of Col. Lansing H. Beach, of the United States Corps of Engineers.
Notwithstanding its dependence upon water transportation, the valley took little interest in the invention of the steamboat by Robert Fulton, and when Nicholas J. Roosevelt, a brother of the grand- father of the former president, visited Cincinnati and discussed his plans for building a steamboat to navigate on the Ohio, he was treated with polite incredulity. He had, however, been in confer- ence with Fulton and was confident of his enterprise. In 1809, from May to December, he floated down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and studied the channels and shoals preparatory to the operation of his steam-propelled craft.
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In the spring of 1810 the keel was laid in Pittsburg for a boat 116 feet long and 20 feet wide, costing when completed $30,000. He arrived in Cincinnati, the first stop, and was greeted by throngs who congratulated him upon his success, but cheerfully assured him that he would never be able to go back, as the boat could not pos- sibly run up stream. At Louisville the same assurances caused him to give a banquet to leading citizens and while there on board, to their great alarm and consternation, got up steam and actually car- ried them several miles up stream. The noises of escaping steam and the rattle of machinery caused great excitement along the river, where it was thought the comet of 1811 had fallen into the Ohio. A devastating earthquake occurred, adding to his difficulties. The trip was made, demonstrating the feasibility of steamboat operation on the western rivers, and the intrepid promoter lived to see the industry he had launched rise to a pre-eminent position, but before his death in 1871, he must have been brought to the sad realization that it was being forced out of the field by a newer method of transportation.
Shortly after the success of the experiment had been fully ad- mitted, efforts were made to have Congress grant exclusive rights for the operation of steamboats on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, it being argued that capital was timid and that it would not invest in steamboats unless assured against competition. Congress, how- ever, did not yield to the argument and capital did invest in hundreds of boats to ply these rivers and their navigable tributaries. As Cin- cinnati was the port of the Miami valley, the entire territory shared in the control exercised by the Queen City over the markets of the south and entire middle west.
Steamboat building became a great industry and the most pala- tial steamers plied the river, lending a glamour and romance to the period that still lives in song and story.
In 1852 there were 4,058 arrivals at Cincinnati and the shipyards were turning out upwards of thirty new boats a year. No heed was given to the railroads that were being chartered by the legislature, nor the promotions that were being fostered. But there came a period when the roads were actually built and when trunk lines led the traffic away from the river instead of toward it. In the latter part of the 50's there began a railroad policy, most natural in itself but since admitted as most unwise, by which reduced rates were given at river points in order to destroy the steamboat business. The uncertainty of river transportation, caused by periods of low water, aided the railroads and gradually reduced the revenues of the steamboats and made their future so precarious, investors became wary. As boats were burned or sunk by accident, none were con- structed to take their places. Steamboat building at Cincinnati accounted for but three boats in 1885 and, from the records of the Chamber of Commerce, then ceased to exist. Towboats towing barges of coal and heavier materials took the place of the numerous freight packets and the passenger business all but disappeared.
In the latter part of the 80's the people of Cincinnati and other parts of the Miami valley set out to arouse a national interest in the
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improvement and canalization of inland waterways, in order that, with permanent channels assured, one of the handicaps might be removed.
So successful was this movement that the improvement of the Ohio with 48 locks and dams is now more than half completed, and the nation is spending millions in various parts of the country.
The necessities of war brought about the adoption of a national policy of co-ordination of rail and water transportation, which will doubtless bring back into use latent resources of the Miami valley, materially aiding in the advancement of her prosperity.
While water transportation on both rivers and canals was still in its earlier period of development, it was recognized that this system had its limitations, since its highest usefulness would be con- fined to those industries located along the natural and artificial streams. The bad condition of the roads acted as a deterrent, since they made truckage not only slow, but an expensive factor. The coming of the railroad was being foreshadowed, and the entire valley was thrilled with discussions of the great prosperity which would follow the building of these inland arteries of commerce. Great stimulus was given to these discussions when, early in the 30's, the Erie & Kalamazoo railroad, connecting Adrian, Michi- gan, and Toledo, Ohio, was put into operation. It was an unchar- tered affair at first, operated by horse power, but it was not only the first railroad in Ohio, but the first operated west of New York. In 1837 it was changed to a steam road.
Although the Miami valley could not boast the first railroad, it exercised leadership of the whole state in the rapid and feverish de- velopment of this character of transportation, which set in about this period. The thirtieth general assembly, in 1831 and 1832, was deluged with incorporations and proposed incorporations of railroads promoted and backed by some of the most distinguished men of the day. The first of these to be incorporated was the Richmond, Eaton & Miami Railroad company, by an act of December 29, 1831, giving it the sole and exclusive right to construct a railroad from Richmond, Indiana, to some point on the Miami canal, between Dayton and Hamilton, deemed most eligible to "carry persons and property upon the same, by the power and force of steam, of animals, or of any other mechanical force or power, or any combination of them." The capital stock was $500,000, divided into ten thousand shares of $50 each. The incorporators were Cornelius Van Ausdal, Joseph C. Hawkins, William Hall, Peter Van Ausdal, Benjamin Sayre, David Powell, Abraham Troxell, Samuel Caldwell, Jonathan Martin, Robert Milliken, James McBride and Abraham Chittenden, all of Ohio, and John Erwin, Warren B. Leeds, Samuel Shutes and Robert Morrison, of Indiana.
The second incorporation, granted on January 5, 1832, was to the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad company, and showed the dis- position of the progressive capitalists of the valley to extend their opportunities into other parts of the state. The right was given to construct a railroad from Dayton to Springfield, Urbana, Bellefon- taine, Upper Sandusky, Tiffin and Lower Sandusky. This was in- corporated for $1,000,000, and prominent among the promoters were
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the following citizens of the Miami valley section : Samuel W. Davis, Francis Carr and Ethan Stone of Hamilton county; Charles G. Swain, Alexander Grimes and Horatio G. Phillips of Montgomery ; Pierson Spinning and Henry Bechtel of Clark, who had associated with them leading capitalists from other points along the proposed route.
On January 25, 1832, the third incorporation was authorized by the legislature for a railroad in the Miami valley. It was the Frank- lin, Springboro & Wilmington railway, to run from Franklin, on the Miami canal, through Springboro to Wilmington. On Feb- ruary 8, 1832, the Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad company was launched with $1,000,000 capital to run from Cincinnati to the state line in the direction of Lawrenceburg, thence from Lawrenceburg to Indianapolis and St. Louis. The incorporators were Samuel W. Davis, Ethan Stone, W. Green, J. P. Foot, George Graham, Calvin Fletcher, W. S. Johnston, Lyman Watson and Alexander McGrew, all of Hamilton county.
The Chillicothe & Lebanon Railroad company, incorporated February 11, 1832, was the first proposed to extend from the outside into the valley, its route being from Chillicothe through Leesburg and Wilmington to Lebanon. Many features of these charters seem peculiar, in the light of present day operating methods. For ex- ample, they contain clauses permitting private individuals to pass over and along the tracks of the railways in their private vehicles, thus early recognizing the basic principle upon which subsequent interstate commerce railroad legislation is founded. This principle is, that charters granted to steam railroads are for the use of the public highway, which primarily belongs to the people, and over which they reserve the right of regulation. Other provisions limited the charges per ton mile by providing that they must not exceed the tonnage schedule of the Miami and Erie canal.
Other incorporations relating to the Miami valley were the Oxford & Miami Railroad company in 1835, the Chillicothe & Cin- cinnati, Wilmington & Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus & Cincin- nati, the Cincinnati Western, and the Ohio, Miami & Wabash in 1836.
From this period until 1851 sessions of the legislature granted charters to railroads in every direction, throughout the state. In a great many cases the hopes of the promoters were shattered and many financial losses were sustained. In a great number of cases charters lapsed without any attempt being made to build the road. On some roads construction was begun, only to be abandoned, while others were partially built and operated, but later absorbed by their more successful competitors. After 1851 legislative charters were advocated and in conformity with the new constitution, incorpora- tions came under the terms of railroad laws general in their appli- cation.
Notwithstanding the early agitation, railroad development was held in abeyance by the timid investors and doubting Thomases, and it was not until 1835 that serious steps were taken for the building of a railroad through the Miami valley. This road was the Little Miami, extending from Cincinnati to Springfield, a distance of 84
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miles. It encountered the greatest difficulties and progressed very slowly. This is clearly indicated by the words of historian Cist in his "Cincinnati in 1841," in which he says: "About 35 miles of this road are graded and more under contract. The iron rails for fifteen miles are bought, and locomotives procured to run on the road. The fifteen miles from Cincinnati, it is supposed, will be in operation the first of September, 1841. Funds are procured to finish the whole road from Cincinnati to Xenia and it will no doubt be completed to Springfield."
In 1851 the Little Miami was the only railroad leading from Cincinnati in actual operation. It had, however, been extended to Springfield and had become one of the most important factors in the upbuilding of the Miami valley territory, located, as it was, entirely in the valley of the Little Miami. Its connection at Springfield with the Mad River & Sandusky railroad, and at Xenia with railroads for Columbus and Cleveland, opened up transportation facilities to the northern system which was rapidly being developed. That it was patronized is shown by the fact that in 1851 it carried 52,288 through passengers, and a total of 144,486, and collected $204,589 from this source. Its earnings from freight transportation disclose that the largest part of its business was between the towns of the Miami valley, since its through freight for the year brought $35,000 and its way freight $157,607. Two trains were operated daily "at five o'clock and twenty minutes a. m." and "two o'clock and thirty minutes p. m." Evidently the early morning train was the Flyer, as it was designated as "the Express," and did not run on Sunday. The trip to New York was made in 48 hours by the following sched- ule-leaving Cincinnati at five o'clock and twenty minutes a. m., and Columbus at 11 o'clock and thirty minutes a. m., arriving at Cleve- land at six o'clock that evening. From this point passengers took the boat for Buffalo, arriving the next morning, and thence by express train at Albany, at which point they again embarked by boat for New York, arriving 48 hours after leaving Cincinnati. The trip was made over four railroads and two steamboat lines, but, in the light of present day cost of traveling, the fares could hardly be regarded as excessive, since they amounted to $17.50 from Cincin- nati to New York and there was no charge for meals or staterooms on the boats. The sleeping accommodations of the trip were on the boats, as sleeping cars were then an unheard of luxury. It is hardly likely that traveling was an unmixed pleasure, in those days, as much remained to be desired in the way of construction and equipment, such as are now required, even in the least highly devel- oped lines. In place of the hundred pound rails of the present day, oak stringers were used, covered with five-eighths inch thickness of strap iron. The first passenger coaches were extremely crude and followed closely the design of stage coaches, with a double deck ar- rangement, in all seating about twenty-four persons. The first engines were similar in design to those used for threshing machines and weighed only ten tons, including fuel and water. This may be contrasted with the modern 280-ton engine with a tank capacity of 7,000 gallons of water and ten tons of coal. The speed of the early engines was about ten miles per hour for passenger, and half of that
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for freight, while transportation charges ran as high as 25 cents per ton mile.
The construction of the Little Miami opened up railroad con- nection in the valley of the Little Miami river, and suggested the demand for a similar facility for the territory of the Big Miami valley, which led to the construction of the second railroad, the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton. It was largely a Cincinnati enter- prise, promoted by the leading capitalists of the day, and was put into operation between Cincinnati and Dayton in 1851. This road exercised a potent effect upon the commercial development of the valley, as it was regarded with highest local pride, until in its latter years it became a football for frenzied financiers and finally passed out of existence, being absorbed into the Baltimore & Ohio system.
The Eaton & Richmond railroad opened from Cincinnati to Camden the same year, and by the end of 1852 was completed to Eaton, and thence extended to Richmond, Ind., a year later. Con- necting links of a developing railway system were pushed rapidly, hooking up Troy, Greenville, Piqua and other points in the Miami valley, and the Ohio & Mississippi railroad was promoted as a great east and west trunk line from the Mississippi river to the Atlantic ocean.
Less difficulty was experienced in procuring the necessary cap- ital, since the success of the roads already in operation had been manifested. The Little Miami stock, which had sold as low as $7 a share, was quoted at 108, and the C. H. & D. declared dividend of 4 per cent in the first nine months, said to be the only instance of the kind on record of western roads up to that time. The feverish spirit of the 30's, which led to so many wildcat enterprises with attendant losses, had given way to a more substantial belief in the future of steam railroad investments, based upon investigation, and public subscriptions were made with a restored faith that was not always justified.
If railroads advanced the prosperity of the valley, in their earli- est period, there at length came one which imperiled it. Through the Cincinnati gateway, the south had offered a profitable market for the products of factory and farm, transported by river. The citizens of Louisville raised the funds necessary to build the L. & N. railroad, which tapped the southern system of railroad at Nashville, giving the Falls City a tremendous advantage, since to compete the merchants of the valley must use the L. & N. at Louisville, and that city placed a heavy arbitrary charge on all shipments to and from Cincinnati. Because of this situation, the city of Cincinnati built the Cincinnati Southern railroad, as a municipal enterprise, to Chat- tanooga.
Following the panic of 1873 there came a period of narrow- gauge railroad building, and these lines were projected in many directions, and much capital invested with the belief that the lower cost of construction and equipment would make them formidable rivals of the older roads. They were not, however, successful and were later abandoned or standardized.
Consolidations into related groups followed, and today almost without exception the important rail lines of the Miami valley may
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be traced back to the foresight of the early promoters of the period of the 50's.
About 1895 came the beginning of the development of the inter- urban electric railroad, which promised to revolutionize not only the passenger but the freight and express transportation as well. As the name indicated, it proposed to furnish transit between cities by means of high-speed electric cars, operating directly into the business district of the cities through which it passed. Syndicates were formed and promoters waxed fat on selling the stock in enter- prises promoted in every direction, without much consideration of the cost of construction, the probable traffic to be furnished or the conditions imposed by the authorities granting the franchises. It was found that none of the existing laws which had been drawn for steam railroads and street railways covered this new character of enterprise, so its development proceeded without much, if any, public control. The earliest promotions which resulted in the actual building of these lines was in the vicinity of Dayton, radiating out to Piqua, Troy, Xenia, Eaton, and into Indiana.
The first road in the southern part of the valley was the Cincin- nati & Hamilton, connecting these two points. This was followed by the C. D. & T., organized for the purpose of building over the route from Cincinnati to Toledo. The Cincinnati, Lawrenceburg & Aurora extended west along the Ohio river, with branches to Aurora and to Harrison, the former terminal of the Whitewater canal.
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