Past and present of the city of Zanesville and Muskingham County, Ohio, Part 11

Author: Sutor, J. Hope, 1846-
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 898

USA > Ohio > Muskingum County > Zanesville > Past and present of the city of Zanesville and Muskingham County, Ohio > Part 11

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From Brownsville west to Washington, an old road, probably an original Indiana trail, was fol- lowed, and an intense rivalry arose between Steu- benville and Wheeling for the terminus; the lat- ter won through the influence of Henry Clay, to whom the eity later ereeted a monument in eom- memoration of his great serviees.

Contraets for the construction of the first ten miles from Cumberland were let April 16, and May II, 1811, and the work was completed in September, 1812; the next seetion of eleven miles was let in August, 1812, and completed early in 1815 ; the next seetion of thirteen miles was begun in August, 1813, and completed in 1817 : an addi- tional six and one-half miles were begun in Sep- tember, 1813, and completed in 1817, and in that year the remaining twenty-two and one half miles to Uniontown were let and in 1818 the road from Cumberland to Uniontown was completed, a dist- ance of sixty-three miles. Soon after the seetions to Brownsville and Washington were completed, and in 1818 mail coaches were running between the national capital and Wheeling.

The cost from Cumberland to Uniontown was $9,745.00 per mile, and from the latter point to the Ohio river $13,000.00 per mile, due to too liberal contracts.

Western travel increased with the several open- ings of the road to traffic, and upon its completion to Wheeling the passenger and freight business was immense for the period. One commission house at Wheeling paid $90,000.oo in freiglit charges in 1822, and unloaded 1.081 wagons. The tide of immigration was constantly at the flood ; wagons of all sizes and descriptions rolled along the road, fast expresses called "shakeguts" rushed past the less rapid wagons and plodding freight- ers and ox teamis, which wearily dragged their loads toward the setting sun. Hospitable taverns sprung up, towns were laid out and the wilderness began to blossom as the rose.

The opening of the road to Wheeling served two purposes ; to give an impetus to travel on the Ohio river, as those to Kentucky and river points could secure more comfortable service, and to di-

PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY.

vert the road from the originally contemplated course through Chillicothe to Cincinnati, to the more northern one through Zanesville and Co- lumbus.

With the completion of the road to Wheeling and the heavy traffic which followed, a new ques- tion arose respecting its maintenance. May 4, 1822, President Monroe vetoed an "act for the preservation and repair of the Cumberland road," which established toll gates and tolls, and imposed penalties for violation. Two fundamental princi- ples of the Democratic party were violated by the act : the doctrine of states' rights and the unconsti- tutionality of internal improvements by the gen- eral government, and the President returned the bill "under the conviction that Congress does not possess the power under the constitution to pass such a law." Upon the same day he transmitted a very lengthy paper entitled "Views of the Pres- ident of the United States on the subject of inter- nal improvements," in which the subject was ex- haustively treated. As it was held to be unconsti- tutional to maintain internal improvements, the presidential and congressional consciences com- promised on the principle of building the road and conveying it to the states for operation, upon con- dition that they would maintain and operate it, the opinion being held that the states alone had au- thority to impose tolls. Accordingly, as rapidly as the road was completed, by a practical rebuild- ing, the states accepted it, action to this end be- ing taken by Pennsylvania, April 4, 1831 ; Mary- land. January 23, 1832, and Virginia, February 7. 1832. Pending this determination of the ques- tion the national government appropriated large sums for the "completion of the road, and it was practically rebuilt on the Macadam plan, the ma- sonry repaired and reconstructed in the most sub- stantial manner and every part of it placed in first class condition.

When the question was raised, respecting the constitutionality of the work, the people west of the Ohio were very much in doubt about securing the desired road, but May 15, 1820, an appropria- tion of $10,000.00 was made for laying out a road from Wheeling to the Mississippi river, eighty feet wide, and the people's hopes revived and there was much rejoicing.

March 3. 1825, an appropriation of $150,000.00 was made for building the road from Canton, as the point opposite Wheeling was then called, to Zanesville, to pass through the capitals of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. As surveyed through Ohio the road was practically a straight line, 300 miles long, and ground was broken opposite the court house, at St. Clairsville, July 4, 1825, with impres- sive ceremonies and an address by W. B. Hub- bard, a once familiar person in Zanesville. Twen- ty-one miles east of Zanesville were let on contract July 21, 1826, and the average cost between the

Ohio river and Zanesville was $3.400 per mile.

The commissioners to locate the road to Colum- bus reached the latter city October 5, 1825, and the road was begun in 1829 and completed in 1833. In Columbus rivalry arose between the res- idents of the north and south ends for the location of the road through the town, and resulted in the eastern entrance being on Main street to High street, thence to Broad and the exit by that street to the west.

When the road reach Illinois the railways were being talked about and in 1832 the House Com- mittee on Roads and Canals reported the relative cost of wagon and railroads, and in 1836 a senate committee seriously considered the expediency of constructing a railroad for the uncompleted dist- ance to the Mississippi river.

The construction of railroads by private capital caused Congress to suspend appropriations for the National road, the expenditure on which had been :

East of the Ohio

river $2,000,881. 23

Repairs

960,503.08

West of the Ohio

river

3,863.535.02 $6,824,919.33

The first passenger' coaches were long, awk- ward and uncomfortable, without springs; seats were crosswise, with a door in front, and rear passengers were obliged to climb over the front seats. Later, handsomely painted, decorated and upholstered coaches were introduced, with bodies suspended on wide, heavy leather straps instead of springs ; they contained three seats each holding three persons and a seat alongside the driver and bore fanciful names, or those of states, cities and persons.

The freighters had long, deep beds bending up- wards at each end, and were covered with heavy sail cloth stretched over broad, wooden bows, and were hauled by teams of from four to six horses.

Passenger fares were about four cents per mile and the time between Columbus and Zanesville was seven hours, and from Zanesville to Wheel- ing, seventeen hours, with a rest at St. Clairsville of five hours. Before the road was built the cost of carriage for goods, from Baltimore to the Ohio, was $8.00 per hundred pounds and the rate was reduced to $3.00 by the road.

The United States' mail schedule, with a lim- ited passenger service, was from Washington, D. C., to Wheeling, 30 hours; Columbus, 1512 hours ; Indianapolis, 20 hours; Vandalia, 20 hours ; St. Louis 812 hours ; ninety-four hours or three days and twenty-two hours.

The regular passenger service was not so rapid, the schedule being: Washington, D. C., to Wheeling. 59 hours ; Columbus, 29 hours ; Indian- apolis, 76 hours ; Vandalia, 62 hours; St. Louis,

PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY.

18 hours ; 244 hours, or ten days and four hours.

The influence of the road upon the growth of the states it traversed is manifested by the census returns of the population at the times stated :

1810 1820 1830 1840

Ohio 230,760 . 581,295

937,903 1,519,467

Indiana 24,520 147,178 343,031 685,866

Illinois. .. 12,282 55,162 157,445 476,183

Kentucky 406,51I 564,135 687,917 779,828 showing that while in thirty years Ohio increased 558 per cent., Indiana 2,793 per cent. and Illinois 3,777 per cent., Kentucky had increased only about 92 per cent.

February 4. 1831; the General Assembly of Ohio, in view of the rapidly approaching comple- tion of the National road, authorized the Governor to take under his care, in behalf of the state, so much of the National road as was finished, when- ever the consent of Congress was obtained.

The difficulty experienced in collecting tolls and maintaining the road persuaded the General As- sembly to transfer the operation of the road to private control and May 1, 1854, the Board of Public Works was authorized to lease the road to the highest bidder, and May 29 it was awarded to Joseph Cooper & Company at $6,105.00 per an- num, and June I it passed to their hands. April 4. 1859, an act was passed for the relief of the sur- veying lessees and after examination the Board of Public Works discharged the lessees from further management, and June 8, appointed a resident engineer. May 15, 1876, the state turned the road over to the counties, in accordance with an act of the General Assembly, and this great highway is now only a neglected county road.

UNITED STATES MAIL.

May 24, 1794, Postmaster General Pickering wrote Gen. Rufus Putnam. at Marietta, that a mail service would be established between Pitts- burg and Wheeling, by land, and thence to Lime- stone, Kentucky, by water, and from the last named point the mails would be sent, by a new road, to interior Kentucky offices, and the former post road through the wilderness would be discon- tinued. As the boats for this service were in course of construction, it was anticipated they would be completed and in operation during the ensuing July, and as Marietta would be on the line, a blank commission for a postmaster was en- closed, to be given bv General Putnam to some suitable person, and to this General Putnam re- plied that he had engaged R. J. Meigs, jr.

The Zane trace having been opened, on Octo- ber 27, 1798, a contract was concluded with Dan- iel Convers "to carry the mail of the United States, or cause it to be carried, from Marietta, in the Northwest Territory, to Zanetown, on the Muskingum river, and from Zanetown to Mari-

etta, once a week, at the rate of ninety dollars for every quarter of a year during the continuance of the contract." A penalty was imposed of $1.00 for each hour's failure to make the schedule thereto attached, to be deducted from Con- vers' pay unless he could make it ap- pear to the satisfaction of the postmaster general that it was unavoidable. The Post- master General was to furnish portmanteau and bags, and Convers was required to carry the mail under cover, if by stage, and when a stop was made at night, it was to be locked in a secure place, and a pledge of a faithful performance of duty Convers gave bond in the sum of one thous- and dollars. The contract began November 1, 1798, and continued until September 30, 1800.

This was the first regular mail between Zanes- ville and Marietta, and in compliment to Zane the northern end of the route was named Zanetown; as there was no postoffice the mail was carried to McCulloch's cabin, where, by arrangement, it met the mail between Wheeling and Maysville, the distribution being made by McCulloch and Con- vers. January 1, 1801, a regular postoffice was established and William McCulloch appointed postmaster, and private local records allege that a postoffice was opened at Putnam, in 1803, with Dr. Increase Mathews as postmaster, but no such record exists in the postal department at Wash- ington, but it does assert that an office was first es- tablished in that village, January 30, 1817, with Henry Safford as first postmaster ; an office was also opened at West Zanesville, January 14, 1852, with J. S. Parke as postmaster : both of these of- fices were closed when free delivery was inaugu- rated at Zanesville.

August 17, 1817. the Zanesville Express stated that the mails were carried in stage coaches ; the eastern mail arrived Tuesday, Thursday and Sat- urday. at II a. m., and the western mail on Mon- day, Wednesday and Friday at I p. m. In the spring of 1821. W. H. Beard secured a contract to carry the mail between Zanesville and Lancaster, and established a four horse stage line with three trips per week, which consumed nine hours, and the latter service was extended to Maysville, Ken- tucky.

October 1, 1880, free delivery, by carriers, was established at Zanesville, with two regular and two auxiliary men, but the force was inadequate and one additional regular was appointed ; at the time of this improvement in the service the post- office was in the Maginnis block, southwest corner of Fifth street and Fountain alley, to which point it had been moved August 26, 1872, from the first building on the east side of Fifth street, south of Main, where it had been located for many years before. May 1, 1804, the office was moved to the Memorial Building, where more room was secured and where it will doubtless remain until the com-

PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY.

pletion of the Government Building, at Fifth and South streets, for which Congress has made ap- propriations.

The postmasters at the several Zanesville of- fices have been :

Putnam :

Harry Safford, January 30, 1817.

John Herron, June 19, 1829.

D. M. Sellers, November 24, 1831.

Samuel Glass, March 26, 1833.

James T. Cherry, March 25. 1843. Jeremiah Elder, July 25, 1846. John Goshen, February 8. 1849.

William H. Moore, May 29, 1849.

John Goshen, April 26, 1853.

Jeremiah Elder, August 8, 1853.

W. Stonesipher, March 31, 1860.

James Finlayson, May 4, 1861.

Francis R. Potts, September 23, 1863.

Daniel Dugan, August 30, 1866.

John Dixon, October 20, 1866. Francis R. Potts, November 27, 1866.

Samuel Large, July 8, 1872.

Eliza R. Large, July 27, 1875.

Charles Parsons, March 5, 1879. West Zanesville.

Joseph S. Parke, January 14, 1852.

W. Wimmer, March 7. 1854.

James Miller, January 29, 1857.

W. W. Wimmer, September 23, 1861. D. Dugan, October 20, 1866.

L. M. Reamy, March 19, 1869.

Adam C. Brown, November 4, 1872. Zanesville :

William McCulloch, January 1, 1801. David Harvey, July 1, 1802.

Chris. Spangler, April 1, 1804.

Abel Lewis, April 1, 1805.

Jeffrey Price, January 1, 1806.

William Pelham, July 1, 1818. S. Sullivan, October 13, 1825.

Samuel J. Cox, July 24, 1828.

William Blocksom, May 6, 1834.

A. R. Cassady, April 1, 1840.

Israel Hoge, February 3, 1841.

The incumbents, as presidential appointees have been :

Isaac Dillon, May 2, 1849. John B. Roberts, April 29. 1853.

P. Bateman, March 28, 1861.

WV. C. Moorehead, January 9, 1863.

J. T. Douglas, November 9, 1866, withdrawn by President Johnson.

W. C. Moorehead, November 17, 1866.

J. J. Douglas, March 28, 1867. J. C. Douglas, March 30, 1871. W. S. Harlan, March 3, 1879. Thomas S. Murphy, March 22, 1887.

David J. Richards, January 31, 1891.

Daniel H. Gaumer, January 10, 1895. Fenton Bagley, April 1, 1898.

CENTRAL OHIO RAILROAD.

The pioneer railroad of the county is the Cen- tral Ohio, which was incorporated, by special act of the General Assembly, February 8, 1847; amendatory acts were passed March 8, 1849, and March 20, 1851, which granted additional rights. The incorporators were: Robert Neil, Samuel Medary, Joel Ruttles, Joseph Ridgway and Bela Latham, of Franklin county ; David Smith, Daniel Duncan, Adam Seymour, Israel Dille, Albert Sherwood, Nathaniel B. Hogg, Levi J. Haughey, Jacob Glessner, George W. Penney, Jonathan Taylor, A. P. Pritchard and Wickliff Condit, of Licking; James Raguet, Robert Mitchell, Daniel Brush, John Hamm, Solomon Sturges, Richard Stillwell, Daniel Convers, Levi Claypool and Sol- omon Woods, of Muskingum.

The franchise authorized the construction of a railroad, with single or double track, from Colum- bus, through Newark and Zanesville, to the Ohio river, with the right, if desired, of extension west- ward to the Indiana line. The order for the rails was placed in England, but the last consignment was not received until March, 1852. Construction was begun at Newark and January 26, 1852, the line was opened between that city and Zanesville; January 8, 1853, marked the opening of the road to Columbus, and April 27, 1854, the opening of the line to Cambridge was made the occasion of special celebrations. At an early hour the depot grounds, at Zanesville, were filled with people and the Zanesville Guards and Warren Greens, attended with a martial band, marched to the train which was to carry them to the Guernsey capital ; at 8:30 the train, in charge of Frank J. Terry, - still a resident of the city, pulled out and arrived at Cambridge at the appointed time, and was met by such a crowd that the military had difficulty in

forming. A procession was finally formed, with the military, in their showy uniforms, in the lead, and citizens following and marched through the town to the court house, where speeches were made upon the significance and importance of the event they were celebrating, after which an old time public dinner was served the visitors. The return train was scheduled to leave at 4:30 p. m. and the military presuming that their appearance was as essential for the return as the initial trip, were indifferent about the fleeting hours and when they arrived at the brow of the hill overlook- ing the station observed the train speeding towards Zanesville; they remained as guests of the citizens until morning when a special train was sent for them. June 7, 1854, the road to Cam- bridge was opened for business, and November I, following, the first train was run through from Columbus to Bellaire.

June 19, 1857, a contract was entered into with the Steubenville and Indiana railroad to carry its traffic between Columbus and Newark with the

PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY.

same dispatch and care as was given the Central Ohio business, and during 1858 a telegraph line was built.

The company became financially embarrassed and May 1, 1858, Hugh J. Jewett was named as receiver, and March 14, 1864, an undivided one- half interest in the thirty-three miles between Newark and Columbus was purchased by the Steubenville and Indiana Company, and the deed executed August 31, 1864. A plan of reorganiza- tion and capitalization of stock and debt having been agreed upon, a sale of the road was made March 28, 1865, and November 1, 1865, the Cen- tral Ohio Railroad Company, as reorganized, was formed, to which all the rights and franchises of the old company were conveyed November 8, and January 29, 1866, the new company took posses- sion. November 21, 1866, 43,213 shares of stock unanimously voted in favor of the lease of the property to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, and after December 1, 1866, it was op- erated by the latter company as its Central Ohio division, the lease being modified in some particu- lars February 13, 1869.

When receivers were appointed for the Balti- more and Ohio Railroad, by the Circuit Court of the United States, for the District of Maryland, February 29, 1896, the same receivers were ap- pointed for the leased lines in Ohio, by the United States' Courts in Ohio, and they immediately no- tified the directors of the Central Ohio company that they would not operate the road under the terms of the lease. When the plan of reorganiza- tion of the Baltimore and Ohio was perfected it embraced a proposition which was made to the stockholders of the Central Ohio, to pay them $7.50 per share, in cash, for the stock and the re- mainder of the face value of the stock in preferred stock of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Com- pany. This was accepted and the property is now operated by the B. & O. as owner of the stock of the Central Ohio company.

CINCINNATI AND MUSKINGUM VALLEY RAILROAD.

The Cincinnati, Wilmington and Zanesville Railroad Company was chartered February 4. 1851, to construct a railroad from Cincinnati, by way of Wilmington, Washington Court House, Circleville and Lancaster to Zanesville, and sev- eral supplementary acts were passed authorizing counties and towns to subscribe to the stock ; the railroad was built from Zanesville, where it con- nected with the Central Ohio, to Morrow, where connection was made with the Little Miami, a distance of 132 miles.

The stock subscriptions and proceeds of the sale of first, second and third mortgage bonds were expended in construction, and the fixed charges were so onerous that a receiver was appointed

March 3, 1857; a plan of reorganization having been agreed upon a sale was made August 27, 1863, to Charles Moran, as trustee; March IO, 1864, the parties interested with Moran met at Cincinnati and organized the Cincinnati and Zanesville Railroad Company, and to it, March 12, 1864, Moran transferred his purchase. New bonds were issued, and the company having again failed to meet its obligations, foreclosure of the mortgage was instituted and the road sold Decem- ber I, 1869, to Thomas L. Jewett, for $1,400, 000.00 and he operated it as an individual until May 1, 1870, when the Cincinnati and Muskin- gum Valley Railway Company, which had been or- ganized January 25, 1870, took possession and op- erated it until May 1, 1873, when it was leased to the Pittsburg, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railway Company, for ninety-nine years, commencing Jan- uary 1, 1870. This lease to the "Panhandle" was practicable by reason of the construction of the Dresden Extension, which was completed in 1870, but the lease was set aside and the road sold at public auction and purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company on account of the Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway Com- pany.

June 29, 1898, the road was sold under fore- closure of the mortgage of September, 1870, and reorganized August 1, 1898, by the purchasers, as the Cincinnati and Muskingum Valley Railroad Company, and is operated in harmony with the Pennsylvania Company.

PITTSBURG, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO AND ST. LOUIS RAILWAY.

The Steubenville and Indiana Railroad Com- pany was chartered February 24, 1848, by the General Assembly of Ohio to construct a railroad from Steubenville, by way of Mount Vernon, to the Indiana state line, and March 12, 1849. the charter was amended to permit the construction of a branch line by way of Newark to Columbus, pro- vided that any company thereafter constructing a road from the Ohio river, opposite Wheeling. by specified rontes, should have the right to con- nect such road with the Steubenville and Indiana company's tracks at any point in the valley of the Tuscarawas river. Permission and authority were also given, with the consent of the legisla- ture of Virginia and the Congress of the United States, to construct a bridge across the Ohio river at Steubenville, provided the navigation of the stream was not obstructed.

Under these and other amendments to the act. the road was constructed from Steubenville to Newark, where connection was made with the Central Ohio and trackage rights secured to Co- lumbus, but the obligations incurred were too heavy and September 2, 1859, suit was brought in

PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY.

the Court of Common Pleas, of Harrison county, for foreclosure of the mortgage and sale of the road, and Thomas L. Jewett, president of the road, was appointed receiver. A plan for reorganiza- tion having been perfected, on January 6, 1864, the court directed a sale of the entire property be- tween Newark and Steubenville, and February 27, 1864, J. Edgar Thompson, H. M. Alexander and George W. McCook purchased it, for certain mortgage creditors, for $1,908,889.00, but the court refused to confirm the sale and the receiver continued to operate the property.

March 24, 1849, the legislature of Pennsylvania chartered the Pittsburg and Steubenville Railroad Company to construct a railroad from Pittsburg to the line between the states of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and December 30, 1857, the Western Transportation Company, of Pennsylvania, agreed to construct a single track railroad between Pitts- burg and Steubenville, and equip and operate it for a period of twenty years. March 6, 1867, this road was sold under foreclosure of the mortgage and the Panhandle Railway Company was incor- porated to operate it.

March 30, 1860, the legislature of Virginia in- corporated the Halliday's Cove Railroad Company across the Virginia panhandle to connect the S. & I. and P. & S. roads, with valuable franchises between Pittsburg and Wheeling, and October I, 1865, an agreement was made between the Steu- benville and Indiana, Halliday's Cove, and Pitts- burg and Steubenville companies to operate the three lines from Pittsburg to Columbus under the name of the Pittsburg, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad, a bridge across the Ohio at Steubenville having been erected by authority of an act of Con- gress, approved July 14, 1862.

March 17, 1868, the Panhandle, Halliday's Cove and Steubenville and Indiana companies made another agreement for consolidation, which was ratified by the stockholders of the several lines, and the proper legal formalities having been observed, the consolidation was effected as the Pittsburg, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railway Com- pany.

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Past and present of the city of Zanesville and Muskingham County, Ohio, Part 11

Author: Sutor, J. Hope, 1846- Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 898

Author: Sutor, J. Hope, 1846-
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 898