USA > Pennsylvania > Erie County > A twentieth century history of Erie County, Pennsylvania : a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 30
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Thus it will be seen that Erie was pretty early in the midst of railroads. And so it was, in a different way, however, than people of today would understand such a situation. Because there was this com- plication : The railroad that entered Erie from the west was of the gauge of 4 feet 10 inches; the railroad east from Erie was a six-foot gauge, but it led, twenty miles east to another railroad of 4 feet 10
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inch gauge. This made trouble, for these two breaks-with two others in New York State-were not agreeable to the traveling public, and neither were they to the railroad companies; none of the railroad com- panies were suited. Therefore the railroad companies set about cor- recting the evil, and this precipitated a state of affairs at Erie which will be told of in detail in the next chapter. However, the Erie stock- holders of the Erie & North East Railroad had continued to hope for the construction of a road of uniform gauge with their line from the State line to Dunkirk, until on January 18, 1853, this hope was aban- doned, the formal declaration to that effect being given in the follow- ing annual report of the Secretary, J. C. Spencer, Esq. :
The Erie & North East was the first commenced and the first road completed on the lake shore. It was made a six-foot track in accordance with a contract between this company and the Dunkirk & State Line Company, the latter having been got up by the New York & Erie interest to be used for the purpose of making a six-foot con- nection with this road at the state line, which connection the New York & Erie Company by a written agreement with this company guar- anteed should be made. The Buffalo & State Line Company, being identified with the central line of New York roads, the gauges of which are four feet, eight and a half inches, complained that our laying the six-foot track only would be doing injustice to them. This company, therefore, with the consent of the New York & Erie Com- pany, agreed to furnish a track for each of the roads mentioned, cor- responding to their respective tracks, six feet, and four feet eight and a half inches. Thus matters remained for some weeks, when, for reasons best known to themselves, without notice or any consultation with this company, the New York & Erie agreed with the Buffalo & State Line Company, the former in violation of their contract with this company, and both regardless of the wrong they were inflicting on the public, to introduce between this road and theirs a four feet ten inch track-a track different from all the roads with which it con- nected, and between which it only formed an intermediate link, thus compelling all freight and passengers passing between the east and the west to change cars both at the state line and at Dunkirk or Buffa- lo, as the case might be. Whatever inconvenience or expense, there- fore, is incurred in consequence of these two changes, is solely at- tributable to the Buffalo & State Line Company sanctioned by the New York & Erie Company.
"Much complaint is justly made on account of the unnecessary obstructions, and none regret their existence more than this company. It was out of the power of this company to prevent them. and is there- fore out of its power to remove them-they can only be removed by those who placed them there.
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"It is thought by some of our friends in Buffalo and Cleveland that Congress, in the exercise of its power to establish post roads, may remove such nuisances. If so, it is but reasonable to suppose that the Buffalo & State Line Company will be compelled to change their imported gauge to one of their own state, and thereby remove the obstructions they have made on this important thoroughfare.
"This being the first report of the directors to the stockholders, and a desire to place this company in its true position on the question of gauge alluded to, we trust will be considered a sufficient justifica- tion for this somewhat lengthy statement.
"By order of the board of directors.
"J. C. SPENCER. "Secretary."
This report gives a full and fair explanation of the influence that was at work. The New York Central and the New York & Erie were in contention, and the former had prevailed. Under the circum- stances the New York & Erie was unable to carry out its contract with the Erie & North East. What was then to be done? Only what busi- ness sense suggested. In time the short line of road from Erie to the New York state line was compelled to accommodate itself to the circumstances that had been forced upon it by the opposing interests. By this time two-thirds of the stock of the Erie & North East road were held by Buffalo & State Line parties. The railroad war was the result, for the people of Erie lost all patience when it became evident their hopes for Erie harbor were not to be realized. And yet the Erie & North East Railroad Company was not to blame. It was simply manifest destiny.
That the railroad company was not to blame, seems to be fully justified by what occurred subsequently. The officers and directors of the Erie & North East Railroad Company had not lost hope of making Erie the terminus of a direct line of railroad to New York. That was their original plan, but it had been frustrated by the manipulations of the shrewd managers of railroad affairs in New York state. Forced into an acceptance of the plan agreed upon between themselves by the New York railroads, the Erie men seemed to have been defeated. But they were not ready to acknowledge themselves altogether beaten. The ambition to have a direct route to New York independent of the New York Central was not dead, and hope was not destroyed. The men who had been the pioneers in railroad construction. thwarted in their original effort, got together and organized an altogether new enter- prise, and it was named the Erie City Railroad Company. It was officered as follows : Milton Courtright, president; J. C. Spencer, secre- tary and treasurer; Chas. M. Reed, Prescott Metcalf, Ira W. Hart, Miles W. Caughey, John A. Tracy, John McClure, John H. Walker,
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James Skinner, Pressly Arbuckle, Wm. M. Arbuckle, J. C. Spencer and Wm. C. Curry, directors.
From the title assumed it might be supposed, as names signify to- day, that the purpose of the company was to build a railroad in the city of Erie. That was not the intention. The design was to build a railroad to Erie, and the plan as it took shape was to build a line to connect the Erie railroad with this city-in reality to bring about a change of plan adopted by a New York company so as to end the pro- posed extension of the road at Erie instead of continuing it through over the route selected for what was then known as the Atlantic & Great Western, but later as the N. Y., P. & O. Railroad. For this pur- pose the proposition was to construct a line 81 miles in length from Little Valley, a point west of Olean, by way of Jamestown to Erie. The route had been carefully surveyed and, as Civil Engineer Thos. Hassard stated, partially graded. It was a route that was declared to be of very favorable grades and of easy curvature, an admirable route for such a line of railroad.
It was directly on the heels of the Erie railroad war that the new company was organized, and the first declaration made was in the form of a pamphlet issued early in 1858, which contained a report of Mr. Has- sard, in compliance with a request made by Mr. Courtright, president of the Erie City Railroad Company. The request was that Mr. Hassard should furnish "the result of your surveys, corrected to the present adopted line" (of the A. & G. W.) "as compared with the route from Little Valley here, thence by the Lake Shore road and Cleveland to Cen- tral Ohio and westward, and what view the New York & Erie Com- pany took of the matter after having the facts laid before them, to- gether with your own views as to the effect such a line would have upon the New York & Erie Company, if encouraged by them, taking into consideration the great natural channel through which business from the west flows, or as to the value of the line itself, with your views on the subject generally." The reason assigned by Mr. Court- right for calling upon Mr. Hassard for this report was that "having made all the surveys for both of these routes, and being still connected with the main line. I have taken the liberty to apply to you as the only engineer who can give definite and reliable information on the subject."
The report of Mr. Hassard was most favorable for the Erie en- terprise. The result of his surveys, he stated, were to demonstrate to the New York & Erie Company the fact that any line passing south- ward through Crawford county and Central Ohio would be longer than their own line in connection with the roads already built, and would also, in grades and alignment be far inferior ; besides, not having any local advantages to make up for these deficiencies, they decided not to embark in a project which would bring them into competition with
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roads well established, already doing a very profitable business, and from these shorter lines, easy curvature and low grades, and large local business, able to carry all the through traffic at such low rates as to render the success of the new line very doubtful, if not impossible.
He added: The only line by which the New York & Erie can save distance and make a good connection with the roads west and south from Erie, is the Little Valley & Erie route, via Jamestown. This will give a good line with easy curves and grades, very moderate cost, and con- nect with the Lake Shore road at its termination in the city of Erie, thus making the whole railway interest west of that point friendly to a con- nection which will keep the great western traffic of the Erie Railroad upon the present lines.
The comparison of routes that followed was instructive and interest- ing. Making Little Valley the starting point, it was shown that to Cleve- land there was a saving in distance via Erie of 33 miles and 75 miles less of new road to be built. To Cincinnati there was a saving of 18 miles with 300 miles less of new road to be built. To St. Louis there was a saving of 64 miles with 300 miles less of new road to be built. To Chi- cago a saving of 31 miles with 193 miles less of new road to be con- structed.
Thus it was shown that with reference to every trade center of the west the Erie route offered great advantages both in distance saved and in the amount of new road necessary to be built, besides the other very important consideration of being far preferable in grades, alignment and curvature. The question of cost was also introduced, the statement show- ing that $10,000,000 more would be required to build the 300 miles necessary to complete the A: & G. W. line as surveyed.
Great hopes were built upon the influence to be exerted in behalf of the Erie connection by the western roads. All these lines, said the engineer, are directly interested in preventing the construction of any line running parallel to their routes and in direct conflict with their in- terests, as in the case of the Atlantic & Great Western, and as a matter of safety to themselves would unite in opposition to any such project, as well as to the New York & Erie Railroad Company if favored by them.
It seemed like a good proposition-a "dead open and shut," as the boys say-that the only thing to be done and the easiest thing to be ac- complished was to build that 81 miles of road which would give a con- nection with Erie and the roads west. But it was never done. The reason why is not far to seek. The antagonistic interests that had in the preliminary fight been able to win out were in a better position to wage another war than they were before. Besides they realized the importance to their line of the business of the western roads quite as much as the projectors of the new road did, and they had a tremendous advantage, namely, a road already completed. Moreover, they were shrewd enough to know a far better way to get around the question of
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interesting the western roads. They took an interest in them as stock- holders. The upshot of the business, of course, was that the Little Valley connection was never built. The A. & G. W. road was, however, and the judgment of Engineer Hassard was vindicated for before many years it went bankrupt.
Summing up the results of the past, it is now apparent that had the New York & Erie lived up to its contract with the Erie & North East Railroad it might today have been the principal line between New York and the west, and Erie might have been one of the great cities of the country.
As has been related, those in control of the New York railroads declined to carry out the contract entered into between the Dunkirk & State Line road and the Erie & North East Railroad, and then undertook to induce the latter to reconstruct its twenty miles of road so as to accord in guage with both the road from the west and that which had been built east from the Pennsylvania-New York State line. Fail- ing to win out by persuasion the expedient was resorted to of obtaining control of the stock of the Erie & North East Railroad, and this was accomplished, nearly two-thirds of the shares having passed into the hands of the company subsidiary to the New York Central Railroad by the middle of 1853. This coup having been accomplished the Erie & North East Railroad Company set about making preparations for the change of gauge. As soon as the work was begun it precipitated a violent opposition which became known as the "railroad war," but in spite of the opposition the work, begun on December ?, 1853, progressed and on February 1, 1854, was completed and the first train arrived at Erie from the east.
Out of the controversy precipitated by this change of guage there came a series of legal troubles that will be presented in the chapter devoted to the Railroad War, and these, properly adjusted, in due time two new corporations came into existence, known respectively as the Buffalo & Erie and the Cleveland & Erie Railroad Companies. These companies were operated separately for a number of years. Both used the passenger and freight station that had been built in 1851, but separate round-houses were erected, the B. & E. at Holland street in 1862 and the C. & E. at Chestnut street in 1863. Trains were run through over both roads, after a time and though separate organizations were main- tained the traveling public were accommodated by a service prophetic of what was to be even if not yet what it is at the present day.
Of course railroad consolidation could not stop with such an in- "ident as that in which the Erie & North East was concerned. When that dispute had been settled all the railroads from Buffalo to Chica- go were of uniform gauge, but during the sixties various deals brought about the consolidation of the Cleveland & Erie with the Cleveland &
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Toledo, and of that combined road with the Michigan Southern and into this, called the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, the Buffalo & Erie was merged in 1869. Meanwhile important improvements had been made in Erie, and changes were effected. A new union passen- ger station was built in 1864, to be used jointly by the lake shore roads and the Philadelphia & Erie, this tripartite arrangement re- quired by the settlement in court at the conclusion of the Railroad War. A large freight depot was built at Sassafras street in 1877. At the time it was built it was supposed it would be sufficient for all time. Four years ago, however, a much larger freight station was completed and equipped with loading and unloading devices, such as a traveling crane and other modern conveniences that are required to bring it up to date.
For a number of years after the consolidation into the L. S. & M. S. Railroad Erie was the terminus of two divisions, and engines on through trains were changed here. This, however, was abolished in 1891, and the round-house at Chestnut street was abandoned and finally torn down. During all these years since the railroads parallel with the shore of the lake were first built there has been a system of im- provement steadily in progress. At first the streams and ravines were crossed by wooden trestles and bridges. There were many of these within the limits of Erie county. Gradually they were filled up, the streams being covered by arch culverts or bridges covered. with their approaches, by earth filling. In several instances these fills are of pro- digious proportions, notably those of Twenty-mile creek, Walnut creek and Elk creek. The double-tracking of the road was accomplished years ago and at the present time the work of four-tracking the road is nearly completed through this county.
Controlled at present by the New York Central Railroad Com- pany, the L. S. & M. S. forms one of the leading railroads in the land. Perhaps it is the foremost of them all. The train service has advanced to a remarkable degree. One innovation has followed another with such frequency that the introduction of a novelty ceases to attract spectators. as used to be the case in the olden time. When the "Fast Mail" was introduced in the seventies people crowded to the station to see it. Now the "Twentieth Century Limited" flies by with scarcely a head turned to look in its direction. The Reeds had a prophetic vision with reference to railroads when in the thirties they turned their minds that way, but that vision stopped far short of what now has become commonplace.
CHAPTER XXVI .- THE RAILROAD WAR.
WHAT WAS IN CONTROVERSY .- EXTREME BITTERNESS ENGENDERED .-- VIOLENT METHODS EMPLOYED .- SERIOUS PERSONAL ENCOUNTERS.
On the 7th of December, 1853, there broke upon Erie a storm that for intensity of violence, duration and wide-spreading effect, was probably never equaled in any other American community. So bitter was the feeling engendered that for a quarter of a century afterwards one approached the subject only with the greatest caution, and it was hazardous to mention it, for it was possible with but slight reference to circumstances of the period in question to start a small conflagra- tion. Today, however, it may safely be spoken of, for most of those who took part in that memorable conflict have passed over to join the silent majority, and those who remain have permitted time to heal the fever that then raged through the entire community. But people now living in Erie cannot realize the depth and bitterness of feeling that, in the winter of 1853 and for several years afterward, prevailed among the people of Erie. The occurrence that dates from December 2, 1853, was the "Railroad War," today sometimes referred to jokingly. or mentioned to provoke a laugh. At that time it was far from being a joke; it was the most serious thing possible. As one who was of it remarked, there was more acute bitterness engendered by that con- flict of the fifties than resulted even from that of a decade later-deeper animosities between former friends, more painful differences in fami- lies, and more lasting injuries to interests and to society than any community, north or south, could show as the result of the war that resulted from the rebellion of the states in 1861.
The cause of the uprising of the people has been set forth in the chapter that precedes this, being the attempt of the railroad interests to abolish the break or difference of gauge between two connecting lines of railroad that existed at Erie. The reason why this proposi- tion excited the people to the degree it did and led them to deeds of violence and the exercise of injustice upon fellow citizens was be- cause they saw, or thought they saw in what the railroad people proposed to do, the usurpation of their rights and the positive injury of their property. It appeared, as they viewed the development of the case, as though a plot had been deliberately conceived to ruin Erie. Because this was the situation here: The people of Erie desired to have a railroad that would connect the harbor of Erie with the eastern
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cities. They had been promised such a railroad, and the charter that by the state had been granted for that railroad had provided that the terminus of the railroad should be at the harbor of Erie. It was with disgust that they noted the fact that the terminus of the road not only was not at the harbor, but almost beyond the boundaries of the city. more than a mile away from the harbor, and to their chagrin it was found impossible to offer any inducement sufficient to bring the road's terminus to the bay.
However, there remained a hope to the people in the fact that a charter had been obtained for the Sunbury & Erie Railroad, which was to form a section of a road from Erie to Philadelphia, and, while inducements continued to be set before the Erie & Northeast Railroad Company with the purpose or hope of yet securing the harbor terminus, so long as the conditions then existing were maintained by the rail- roads the people were not greatly disturbed. When, however, it was proposed to change the gauge of the road so that traffic could be carried on uninterruptedly through Erie, the spirit of revolt was at once excited. For they saw in this the closing forever of opportunity and the wreck of the project of obtaining a line of railroad to Phila- delphia. So long as there was a break of gauge at Erie there was a chance for business to be done by a railroad from the harbor. If the break of gauge were abolished the Sunbury & Erie would not be 011 even terms with the other roads. And neither would any other rail- road enterprise at Erie. This was the judgment of the business men of the time, and in view of the situation they believed they were striking a blow for their liberties and for civic life when they pro- posed to stop by any means in their power a proceeding that was to bring upon them as individuals and as a community such disaster. The grievance was not that of being deprived of a chance to sell peanuts or coffee and sandwiches at the railroad station, as has some- times been stated. It was a matter of far deeper concern.
Of course in this twentieth century we look at railroad consoli- dations in a vastly different light, and many through lines of rail- road from the west to the east have not prevented the development of Erie harbor and many other harbors besides. But in the beginning of the fifties the people did not view railroad affairs as they do now. and when they believed they were being wronged by the railroad corporations they could not wait for the tardy course of existing law. They made laws of their own and enforced them.
So the matter came before the citizens. It was the talk of the business circles, of people on the streets, and came up in councils. At length official notice was taken of the matter. On December 6. 1852, just a year before the destruction of the bridge, councils after discussing the matter passed the following resolutions.
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"Whereas, The joint resolution granting to the Franklin Canal Company the right to cross the streets of the city with their railroad where the same is now located, is not sufficiently guarded and re- stricted to protect the rights of the city ; and whereas, the city council will at all times be ready to grant all the facilities in their power to railroads terminating here, when the same will promote the interests of this city, when the policy of such railroad companies shall become settled and fixed with regard to width of track, etc .; therefore,
"Resolved, etc., that the joint resolution granting the use of the streets of the city to the Franklin Canal company, passed November 12, 1852, and also the resolutions passed March 14, 1850, granting the Erie & North East Railroad Company the use of State street from the depot to the lake on conditions therein named, for railroad pur- poses, be and the same are hereby repealed."
It looked like an open breach. But in reality the people of Erie were not over-hasty. They knew what the city required in a business way and meant to have it if such a thing were possible. Of course, there were all sorts of gatherings and not a few of them characterized by fervid utterances. But there were many cool-headed men who counseled an appeal to reason and good sense. It would be sure to win out, they believed. They had faith in Erie and in the business advantages that Erie possessed. The commerce of this port was not a thing to be lightly regarded they were sure, and no railroad company could, after considering what the splendid harbor of Erie offered, turn aside and decline to accept it. They were undoubtedly waiting for overtures of some sort. This seemed to be the attitude assumed by a fair contingent of the people.
It was in furtherance of this view of the case that the councils again attempted to win over the Erie & North East Railroad Com- pany. The situation had been up for consideration and a committee appointed to examine and report. On May 30, 1853, the report was submitted and councils unanimously adopted the following resolution, submitted by A. P. Durlin, chairman :
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