Century history of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and representative citizens 20th, Part 37

Author: McKee, James A., 1865- ed. and comp
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1526

USA > Pennsylvania > Butler County > Butler > Century history of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and representative citizens 20th > Part 37

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THE PERRYSVILLE PLANK ROAD.

The Browington and Perrysville Plank Road Company was organized March 8, 1851, when subscription books were or- dered to be opened. The signers of this order were Thomas H. Bracken, David Shannon, Jonathan Ransen, M. F. White, Joseph McElwain, Henry Buhl, Samuel Marshall, Alexander Graham, and John Fletcher. The organization was completed on the 2nd of July, when Samuel Marshall was elected president and Thomas H. Bracken vice-president. The legislature of

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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY

1852 authorized the construction of the Zelienople and Perrysville Plank Road and empowered the company to borrow $20,000.00 to build it. This road was in use for many years but was abandoned after the advent of the Pittsburg & West- ern Railroad.

The Butler and Callensburg Plank Road Company originated in the meetings of March, 1851, and in the Fairview meeting of March 24 of the same year. Nothing was ever accomplished by this company.

The Centerville and New Castle Plank Road Company was incorporated in 1852, and in November of that year Abraham Ziegler was elected president, Francis Wallace treasurer, and John Levis secre- tary.

FIRST RAILROADS.

More than thirty-five years elapsed from the first agitation in Butler County on the question of railroads until a road was fi- nally completed into the borough of But- ler. As early as 1836 a survey of the Free- port and New Castle railroad was made, locating a line through Butler Borough, and crossing the county from east to west. The preliminary work of this survey was made by Dr. Charles T. Whipple, who per- formed his work in the field so well that his field notes were sought after in later years, when the Northwestern Railroad Company entertained the idea of building a road across the county.

The question of building a railroad from the Pennsylvania Central Railroad through Freeport, Butler and New Castle to connect with the Cleveland and Mahon- ing road near the Ohio line, was agitated in 1852 and culminated in a meeting held in Butler which was presided over by J. G. Campbell, Andrew Carns acting as sec- retary. A committee of correspondence was chosen, which was composed of C. C. Sullivan, John Graham, James Campbell, Samuel A. Purviance, and G. W. Smith.

THE NORTHWESTERN RAILROAD.

The Northwestern Railroad Company, which resulted in financial disaster and al- most endless litigation, was chartered February 9, 1853, and the first meeting of the directors was held at Butler June 1, 1853, when W. Warner was chosen engi- neer. On August 16, the president of the company, was authorized to produce the Lawrence County subscription of $200,000 and the Butler County subscription of $250,000, the resolutions providing for the construction of a road from Blairsville to Freeport, thirty-five miles, thence to Butler, twenty-three miles, and thence to New Castle, thirty-one miles, a total of eighty-nine miles. On May 10, 1854, a contract was made with Malone, Painter, Clark and Gouder, which bound that firm to complete the whole line for $3,800,000 before May 1, 1856. On June 1, 1856, only the grading and ballasting of the first di- vision from Blairsville to Freeport was completed, and this failure to complete the whole line warranted the cancellation of the old contract. A new contract was made which was less favorable to the sub- scribers and by the close of 1856 the sub- scribing counties were in revolution, for their bonds had almost entirely passed out of official hands and there was little to show for the money expended.

Enthusiasm for this road was at a high pitch in Butler in 1854, when on the 22nd of February the news reached the town that the Common Council of the city of Philadelphia had appropriated $750,000 for the construction of the road. So jubi- lant were the Butler people that they cele- brated the event by a grand illumination of the town. Before the close of August, 1854, a showing was made on David Wal- ker's contract of the Northwestern Rail- road four miles west of Butler, in Center Township. The big cut which is still in existence is 3,000 feet long and 711/2 feet deep. One hundred and ninety-seven men

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and eighty-four horses were employed at this cut during 1855 and part of 1856, the whole force being under the superintend- ence of Smith Agnew. The entire excava- tion, part of which is in solid rock, was made by hand, and the material carted away to the dump in horse carts, a Hercu- lean task that would now be accomplished with a steam shovel and a train of dump cars. In January, 1855, the Summit cut, five miles southeast of Butler in Summit Township, was being worked by Contractor Moorehead. Operations on both of these contracts ceased after 1856 and they re- sulted in financial disaster to all the par- ties concerned with them.

Col. A. N. Meylert, who was the first treasurer of the company, resigned in Feb- ruary, 1854, and D. Sankey, of Lawrence County, was elected. In October, 1854, a petition for an injunction against the pay- ment of the Philadelphia subscription was filed in the Supreme Court of Pennsylva- nia, and considered at the session held in Erie. Hon. C. C. Sullivan and John Gra- ham of Butler represented the railroad company, and on their argument the peti- tion was dismissed. The pent-up discon- tent of the people of Butler and Lawrence Counties about the management of the Northwestern Railroad Company found expression in the local newspapers, and the county commissioners were strongly urged to resist further payment toward the road. Prior to March, 1858, a sequestrator had charge of the company's affairs and in March the anxiously awaited report was issued which had the effect of increasing the discontent heard on all sides and de- termined those in authority to resist pay- ment of the county bonds.

The trial of the Butler County Bond Case in the United States Circuit Court at Pittsburg was heard in May, 1859. The case is on the records as Jacob C. Curtis vs. The County of Butler. The county was represented by John N. Purviance, James Bredin, and John Graham, of Butler, and

Thomas M. Marshall and A. M. Brown, of Pittsburg. The point was made that the commissioners of Butler County agreed only to pay interest on the bonds until the railroad would be completed. The con- tract for construction made with Malone, Painter, Clark and Gouder in May, 1854, provided that the road was to be completed in June, 1856. Little or nothing was done in Butler County, so that in August, 1856, a new contract was made which provided that the contractors would return to the company $331,000 in Butler and Lawrence County bonds, and take in lieu $50,000 in cash, $31,000 in the company's notes, and $250,000 in first mortgage bonds. This ex- traordinary proceeding was denounced by the Butler men, but Lawrence and Butler Counties were compelled to pay the bills. The commissioners of Butler County fi- nally compromised with the holders of the county bonds issued to the Northwestern Railroad Company, the consideration be- ing sixty per cent. of the face value. Six- ty-five thousand dollars' worth of bonds were thus disposed of, and in May, 1865, $13,000 worth of these bonds were still outstanding. The county did not finally get free from the debt until about 1870.

THE ALLEGHENY VALLEY RAILROAD.

The advantages of railroad connection with the outside world were obtained in a limited way by the construction of the Allegheny Valley Railroad from Pittsburg to the mouth of the Kiskiminetas River. The company was organized February 12, 1852, and the road completed in October, 1855. The people of Butler patronized this road by using the old stage line from Butler to Freeport.

THE WEST PENN RAILROAD.

The Western Pennsylvania Railroad Company, commonly called the "West Penn," was incorporated March 22, 1860, and works under that and the special act of April 27, 1864, together with the sup-

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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY

plemental acts of March 9, 1865, March 22, 1865, April 17, 1866, April 10, 1867, February 25, 1870, and March 25, 1871. One of the provisions of the act of 1864 is of special interest to Butler County peo- ple and reads as follows :

"Provided, that the right to use and operate the road by said Western Pennsylvania Railroad between Free- port and Allegheny City shall not be enjoyed until con- tracts are entered into with responsible parties for the completion of a railroad from Freeport to the town of Butler; And provided, that said contract shall be entered into within one year and the road completed within five years. "'

The late John H. Negley of Butler, who was a member of the legislature in 1864-65 contributed some history in regard to the above quoted proviso a few years before his death. Butler County had been dis- appointed a number of times in regard to the building of the Butler branch of the Western Pennsylvania Railroad, and the patience of the county's representatives in the legislature with Col. Thomas A. Scott, who was the political manager of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, was well nigh exhausted. At the session of the legislature in the winter of 1865, Col. Scott wanted Mr. Negley and William Hazlett, the other representative from Butler County, to vote for some special legisla- tion that was desired by the city of Phila- delphia. It so happened that the two But- ler County representatives were in a po- sition to either pass or defeat the bill, and Mr. Negley was quick to see the advantage he was placed in. When Col. Scott ap- proached him in regard to the Philadel- phia legislation Mr. Negley called his at- tention to the above proviso in the act of 1864. Mr. Scott did not want to enter into a contract or agreement to build the But- ler branch at once, and resorted to all kinds of subterfuges to avoid the issue. Negley and Hazlett "stood pat" and the reluct- ant railroad magnate finally came to their terms and signed his name to the agree- ment. The contract was carried out on the part of Col. Scott, and in September,

1869, twenty-one sections of the Butler Branch Railroad from Butler to Freeport were placed in the hands of contractors. Shortly after work began on the Freeport end, and in February, 1870, ground was broken at Butler. The work was prose- cuted with vigor and the road formally opened January 18, 1871. The event was made the occasion of a great celebration in Butler and along the line of the road, the festivities lasting two days. An ex- cursion over the road was indulged in, the number of excursionists leaving Butler be- ing 180. At Saxon Station, the number of excursionists was increased to 200, and on the return of the train to Butler in the evening a banquet was given which was patronized by 134 subscribers. The pro- ceeds of the banquet, including the sum realized from the sale of dishes, knives and forks, muslin, etc., amounted to $622.98, the expenses being $520.01. The remain- ing amount was distributed among the poor by Henry C. Heineman of Butler, who was appointed a committee for that purpose. The first train run into Butler consisted of five coaches, a baggage car, and locomotive. W. B. Thompson was the conductor in charge and Jack Adams was the engineer.

MOCK FUNERAL OF THE STAGE COACH.

Perhaps the most interesting feature of the festivities in Butler was the mock fu- neral of the Butler and Freeport Stage Coach. The leading spirit in this affair was D. L. Walker, the superintendent of the old stage line, and he was assisted by many of the well-known citizens of the town who acted as mourners and pall- bearers. The old coach was draped in black, while the trappings of the horses were of the same character. The mourn- ers were all dressed in black clothes, silk hats and wore white gloves, and the pall- bearers were given the place of honor in- side the old coach. Walker acted as driver and, escorted by the Butler militia, made

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a round of the town. The old stage was deposited in a building in a back alley, where it remained for thirty years, and was finally resurrected in 1900 and took part in the civic parade in Butler held in commemoration of the centennial anniver- sary of the county. Alexander M. Hays, who was one of the drivers on the old stage line from Freeport to Butler, and is now one of the few surviving members of that interesting race of "Jehus" which long ago furled their whips and dismounted from the box forever, was a visitor at the centennial celebration and upon seeing the old stage coach, dedicated the following lines to its memory :

"It stands in the stable yard, under the eaves,

It leans to one side and is covered with leaves ;

It once was the pride of the gay and the fair,

But it has now gone to ruin-that old stage there.

"It is battered and tattered, and it little avails

That once it was varnished and glistened with nails ;

The varnish is cracked now, crooked and square,

Like canvas on top of that old stage there.

"See! Here is the thorough-brace, and here is the place

For the pole for the horses-but gone is their race.

It was cushioned with plush, it was wadded with hair,

As the birds have discovered in that old stage there.

"It was built in Troy. Here, under the seat

Is a nestful of eggs; 'tis the favorite re- treat

Of an old speckled hen, who has hatched, I dare swear,

Quite an army of chicks in that old stage there.

"I remember when I drove it on the But- ler Plank Road,

The élite of Butler was often its load.

When we dashed o'er the bridge and on through the square,

All Butler Town welcomed that old stage there.

"Oh, the scandal it knows; oh, the tales it could tell

Of the young and the old, the rake and the belle !

But those tales of the times which would raise up your hair

Will ne'er be revealed by that old stage there.

"But here is a thing that remains to be said-

It deserves better fate than an old stable shed;

It should be painted and varnished with greatest of care,

And sent back to Butler-that old stage there.

"But as years roll around I suppose 'twill stand where

'Tis a home for the fowls and birds of the air;

But the mem'ry of the days when I drove it will e'er

Still cling, fondly cling, to that old stage there."

The construction of the twenty-one miles of this road cost $400,000, and was car- ried out under the authority of the act of April 27, 1864, containing the proviso above quoted. In 1888 the road was leased to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company for a period of forty years, and the latter com- pany still continues to operate the line.

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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY

The completion of this railroad marked a new era in the history of Butler Borough and of the county, and was the beginning of a period of growth and improvement which has since been realized in a notable increase in population and many other evi- dences of progress and prosperity.

The only serious accident that has oc- curred on this line happened on August 16, 1889, when a wreck occurred one mile west of Sarver Station which resulted in the death of William J. Powers of Pitts- burg, and Katie, a four-year-old child of Mrs. M. Farrell, of Butler. Twenty-four persons were injured, among whom were George Spang, Mrs. David Gosser, Joseph Gray, and Mrs. Helen McJunkin, of But- ler.

THE CONNOQUENESSING VALLEY RAILROAD COMPANY.

In March, 1865, bills were passed in the legislature chartering the Connoqueness- ing Valley Railroad Company and the Bear Creek Railroad Company. The Bear Creek Road was to run from Sharpsburg on the Pittsburg and Erie road to Martins- burg in Butler County, and among the in- corporators of the company were Messrs. Bredin and Kerr of Butler. The commis- sioners named in the act of March 22nd were J. G. Campbell, J. N. Purviance, J. G. Muntz, E. McJunkin, R. C. McAboy, Thomas Robinson, A. Lusk, J. Levis, A. Ziegler, W. Irwin, J. M. Mckinney, W. G. Rose, S. Griffith, Vance Stewart, J. R. Hanna, D. L. Imbrie, J. J. Cuthbertson, J. Ferguson, and J. W. Blanchard. Work was commenced on this road in Butler County in the fall of 1872, when the right of way for twelve miles was cut through the forest. Operations were then aban- doned and the road was never completed.

THE PARKER AND KARNS CITY ROAD.

The narrow-gauge railroad from Par- ker's Landing to Karns City was promoted by S. D. Karns, who was elected temporary

president at the meeting held August 20, 1872. The company was formally organ- ized on the 27th of the same month, Mr. Karns presiding. At this meeting the committee on stock reported a subscription of $22,750. By May, 1873, the stock was increased to $100,000 and in August of the same year the work of construction was begun. Five miles of the road were graded by the end of October, five hundred men being engaged on grading the remaining five miles to Karns City. At this time the officers of the company were S. D. Karns, president, Charles P. Badger, su- perintendent, W. C. Mobley, secretary, and they, with Fullerton Parker, Robert L. Brown, and William Phillips, formed the directorate. The capital was increased to $150,000 and contracts were made for the rolling stock. The high viaduct, four hun- dred feet long and seventy-five feet high, over the north branch of Bear Creek, was completed in December, and on Christmas day four passenger trains were run south to Martinsburg, and four north to the Parker junction with the Allegheny Val- ley Railroad. The road was opened to Karns City for regular traffic in April, 1874.

In April, 1876, the Karns City and But- ler Railroad Company was organized by the same parties interested in the Karns City and Parker Road, the citizens of But- ler and Millerstown subscribing for its bonds. This road was constructed and opened for business in November, 1876, and continued in successful operation un- til June 10, 1881, when with the Parker and Karns City Railroad, it was consoli- dated with the Pittsburg and Western Railroad. The old narrow-gauge road from Butler to Parker had a good patron- age, paid its projectors a handsome profit upon their investments, and demonstrated the practicability of narrow-gauge rail- roads in the oil regions. Much sport was made of its rolling stock, and it was a com- mon remark among the patrons of the

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road that there was no danger of being hurt by the train leaving the tracks, as that part of the road never had a serious accident to its passenger trains, and never killed anybody.

THE PITTSBURG AND WESTERN RAILROAD.

The Pittsburg and Western Railroad Company was originally organized Sep- tember 7, 1877, under the name of the Pittsburg, New Castle and Lake Erie Rail- road. The original projectors of this road were Austin Pierce of Harmony, and Gen. James S. Negley, of Pittsburg. The road was opened between Etna and Zelienople in December, 1878, and was at first a nar- row gauge. During the summer of 1879 the company became financially embar- rassed on account of the general want of confidence in railroad enterprises and their inability to market their bonds and meet their obligations. The road was sold at sheriff's sale August 27, 1879, and pur- chased by Major A. M. Brown of Pitts- burg, who organized the Pittsburg and Western Railroad Company, with James Callery of Pittsburg as its president. Un- der the new management the road was completed from Zelienople to Allegheny City and from Zelienople west to Wurtem- burg.

In June, 1881, the Parker and Karns City, the Karns City and Butler, the Red Bank and Youngstown, and the Pittsburg East and West Railroads were consoli- dated with the Pittsburg and Western. James Callery was president of this com- pany, Solon Humphreys, vice-president, A. J. Thomas, treasurer, W. K. Hyndman, manager, and W. C. Mobley, of the Karns City and Parker road, general agent. The road was extended from Wurtemburg to Youngstown, Ohio, and from Hiawatha Station, or Callery Junction, to Butler, in 1881, and the following year the main line from Youngstown to Allegheny City was changed to the standard gauge. In 1887 the branch from Callery Junction to But-

ler was changed to a standard gauge, and in 1904 the old narrow-gauge division from Butler to Foxburg was changed to the standard gauge. In the fall of 1881 the Pittsburg and Western was a link in the Wabash chain from Wurtemburg to Alle- gheny, and in 1882 the road was leased by the Baltimore and Ohio Company, and in 1893 the latter company secured complete control of the Pittsburg and Western sys- tem.

THE BESSEMER RAILROAD.

The Bessemer Railroad had its begin- nings in the construction of the old Pitts- burg, Shenango and Lake Erie Railroad, which was constructed from Shenango to Pardo in Mercer County in 1869, and com- pleted to Harrisville in Butler County in July, 1872. The Pittsburg, Shenango and Lake Erie Company had its inception in the charter of the Bear Creek Railroad Company, which was granted March 20, 1865. The name was changed by a legis- lative act in April, 1867, to the Shenango and Allegheny, which name it bore until February 11, 1888, when a reorganization occurred and the title Pittsburg, Shenango and Lake Erie Railroad Company was adopted. Originally intended as a coal feeder to the Atlantic and Great Western, which ran north of Butler County, its pur- pose was to reach the coal field in the northern part of this county. In January, 1876, the road was extended to Hilliard in Washington Township, Butler County, and several branches were built in 1880, 1882 and 1883, tapping the coal fields in Butler and Mercer Counties.

In February, 1882, the Connoquenessing Valley Railroad Company was chartered to construct a road from Butler north- ward to the Shenango and Allegheny Rail- road, connecting with the latter at Branch- ton. J. T. Blair, who was superintendent of the Shenango and Allegheny Railroad, was one of the principal promoters and stockholders of the new railroad, and he,

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with Thomas P. Fowler and A. H. Steel, financed the enterprise. The contract for building the branch from a point within one mile of Coal Town to Butler was let to W. W. Reed in August, 1882, and the work was completed August 9, 1883. Reed's contract provided that he should complete the road before six o'clock on August 9th. His hopes were suddenly dashed to earth on the morning of that day by some thirty of his laborers striking and refusing to go to work. Other laborers were quickly pushed into the field, and the contract was completed on time. On August 27th an excursion train was run from Greenville to Butler, carrying about nine hundred passengers from various points along the line, who were given the freedom of the town and entertained by the citizens of Butler.

The Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad was organized in 1897 and is the succes- sor of the old Pittsburg, Shenango and Lake Erie, which was completed from She- nango to Butler in 1882. The financial backers of this road were the Carnegie in- terests of Pittsburg, which at that time were seeking an outlet from the mills at Homestead and Braddock to the ore docks at Conneaut Harbor on Lake Erie. After the old Shenango and Lake Erie Road had been purchased, the lines were extended from Girard, Pennsylvania, to Conneaut, Ohio, and the old line from Shenango to Butler was rebuilt, making it a double track road. At the same time an extension of the road was built from Butler to North Bessemer in Allegheny County, which is used principally as a freight road. The construction of the Bessemer road placed Butler on a through line from Pittsburg to the lake, and gave the northern portion of the county an outlet for its coal and lime- stone.

BUFFALO, ROCHESTER AND PITTSBURG.

In 1899 the Buffalo, Rochester and Pitts- burg Railroad Company, which had pre-

viously been operating in Jefferson and Indiana Counties, invaded Butler County and extended their line from Mosgrove on the Allegheny River through Clearfield and Summit Townships to Butler. This company had made traffic arrangement with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to reach Pittsburg and New Castle, and un- der this agreement the Harmony cut-off was constructed which leads from Riebold Station on the Butler division of the road to Harmony Junction on the main line. This cut-off is used for freight traffic west and the passenger trains on the B. R. & P. R. R. use the B. & O. tracks from But- ler to Pittsburg. The advent of the B. R. & P. Road marked an era in the internal improvements of the county, and gave the town of Butler the advantages of a trunk line road from east to west.

THE WESTERN AND ALLEGHENY RAILROAD.

Following the organization of the Great Lakes Coal Company and the taking up of a large amount of coal land in the northern part of Butler County and in Armstrong County, the Western and Alle- gheny Railroad Company was organized for the purpose of giving the coal com- pany an outlet to the lakes. In 1903-4 the company constructed a road from Queens Junction on the Bessemer Railroad in Clap Township through Concord and Fair- view Townships to the Butler County line at Kaylor, and thence to Brady's Bend in Armstrong County. Subsequently the line was extended from Queens Junction west to New Castle, following the Muddy Creek Valley to the county line. One of the prin- cipal promoters of the enterprise was Thomas Liggett of Pittsburg, who is vice- president of the company. This road opened up extensive coal fields in Concord and Fairview Townships, and also fur- nished an outlet for the residents of Brady, Franklin, Muddy Creek and Worth Town- ships that had previously been shut out from railroad communication.

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Century history of Butler and Butler County, Pa., and representative citizens 20th, Part 37

Author: McKee, James A., 1865- ed. and comp Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1526

Author: McKee, James A., 1865- ed. and comp
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1526