USA > Pennsylvania > Beaver County > History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and its centennial celebration, Volume I > Part 31
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Dam No. 7. The property has been purchased, but no work done.
The construction of all of these dams corresponds in a gen-
1 P. L., 4.
View from below Merrill Dam, No, 6, Showing Lower Lock-Gate Closed,
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eral way with that of Davis Island Dam, a full description of which will be found by the reader in the transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers in a pamphlet by B. F. Thomas, C.E., entitled Movable Dams.
It is right to say that the legislation necessary to the im- provement of the Ohio River and the appropriations as made from time to time, have been secured largely by the influence of the late Hon. Matthew Stanley Quay, United States Senator from Pennsylvania, and Hon. John F. Dravo,' the former until his death a citizen of Beaver and the latter still such.
RAILROADS
We have italicized the last sentence in the quotation given on page 247 from Gordon's Gazetteer, in order to emphasize the reference to that which became the next great step in the de- velopment of this region, as well as that of the whole country, viz., the advent of the railroad.
That the leading spirits of Beaver County were among the first to perceive the importance of this great instrument of civilization, will be seen by a comparison of dates. The first railway built in the United States was from the granite quarries of Quincy, Mass., to tide-water, length five miles; begun in 1826
1 Hon. John F. Dravo is the very Nestor among the men of affairs in Beaver County. Mr. Dravo was born at West Newton, Pa., October 29, 1819, his parents being Michael and Mary (Fleming) Dravo. Receiving a good common school and college education, he learned the details of the coal business in his father's office, and in 1845 embarked on his first venture in that business, with which he has since been mainly connected. In 1854 he founded the town of Dravosburg, Pa., now a flourishing mining centre. In 1868 he or- ganized the Pittsburg & Connellsville Gas, Coal, and Coke Co., becoming its general manager and treasurer. In 1860 he was elected president of the Pittsburg Coal Exchange, which position he held continuously for ten years. He was active in securing the organization of the Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce, was one of its charter members, and for several years its president. No man has done more towards securing the improvement of navigation on the Ohio and Monongahela rivers than Mr. Dravo, and the freeing of the latter in 1897, was largely due to his influence. He was also one of the most active promoters of the building of the Pittsburg & Lake Erie Railroad, and served for several years on its board of directors.
Mr. Dravo's political career has been as remarkable as that which he has led as a business man. He was one of the organizers of the Republican party and was a delegate to the convention which nominated Lincoln for the Presidency. He has twice held the position of Collector of Customs and Surveyor of the Port of Pittsburg, and has been twice (in 1887 and 1889) elected as a representative of Beaver County in the State Legislature.
Mr. Dravo has been a life-long member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for many years a local preacher in that body. He has always been an ardent supporter of all movements looking to the elevation of humanity, and at eighty-three years of age, while spending much time in the care of his beautiful home and gardens on the bank of the Ohio, at Beaver, is still active in every public enterprise and good work.
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and completed in 1827, and built to carry granite for the Bunker Hill Monument. The second was at Mauch Chunk, Pa., nine miles long, begun and finished in 1827. In 1828 the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company built a road from its mines to Honesdale, and by the close of the year 1830 the Baltimore and Ohio and several other roads were under construction. Only five years after the latter date, a meeting of citizens was held in the court-house in Beaver (February 12, 1835) to consider the question of uniting with citizens of Ohio to secure the con- struction of a railway from Conneaut, Ohio, to the mouth of the Big Beaver, for which a charter had been granted by the Legislature of Ohio. At this meeting, which was very enthusi- astic, Hon. Thomas Henry was President; Ovid Pinney and Dr. John Winter, Vice-Presidents; and W. H. Denny and J. P. Johnston, Secretaries. Favorable action was taken, and a com- mittee was appointed to co-operate with a similar committee from Ohio. Preliminary surveys in Ohio and Pennsylvania were made, of which full reports were published in the Western Argus at Beaver, Wednesday, December 14, 1836. This publication was headed: "REPORTS on the Conneaut & Beaver, & Beaver & Conneaut Rail Roads: which, together, constitute one continu- ous line from Conneaut Harbor, on Lake Erie, to the Ohio river at the mouth of Beaver; By W. K. Scott, Esq., Civil Engineer."
These reports are too long to reproduce here, but they make very interesting reading to-day. The first is addressed to "The Commissioners of the Conneaut and Beaver Rail Road," and the second to "The Commissioners of the Beaver and Conneaut Rail Road Company." One line, laid by Scott for the Pennsyl- vania portion of the road, began at the Ohio State line, near the mouth of the Little Yankee Run, and followed the valley of the Shenango to New Castle. It reached the valley of the Beaver at the foot of Wampum hill, and ran down the west side through Brighton and Fallston, terminating "at the banks of the Ohio near Gleim's tavern." Another line was surveyed on the east side of the Beaver, diverging from this at Brighton, crossing the Beaver a little above the bridge, passing through the village of New Brighton, and terminating at the Ohio, near the mouth of the Beaver. The report gives the eastern line the preference in two respects. One is "the greater security of the work," and the other "the ease with which it can be connected with the
Hon. John F. Dravo.
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contemplated rail road to Pittsburgh." The whole length of this road was to be 44} miles, and its estimated cost $459,858, or $10,393 per mile. The Ohio portion was to be 602 miles in length, and its estimated cost $467,866, or $7702 per mile. Note the manner of construction: "The superstructure will be formed by two parallel lines of mud sills, twelve inches wide, and six thick, imbedded in the earth so that their upper surfaces shall correspond with the graduation of the road ;- cross ties, six inches square, spiked upon these once in three feet, measuring from centre to centre ;- wooden rails six inches square, secured in notches made in the cross ties, and an iron plate rail 2} inches by ¿ firmly spiked to it; the ends underlaid and connected with splicing plates."
The survey of this road was over a great part of the present line of the Pittsburg and Lake Erie Railway. The road was not built, as the project went down with the general wreck of the finances of this region that accompanied the closing of the United States' Bank.
We noted previously the reference in Gordon's Gazetteer to the project of a railroad from Pittsburg through the Beaver valley. Whatever may have been the history of that particular project a road was finally built, and the story of its building is as fol- lows. Sometime in the early "thirties" the people of Salem, Ohio, began to feel the necessity for a railroad, and it was prin- cipally through their efforts to secure the advantages of such means of transportation that the first link of the present Penn- sylvania Lines West of Pittsburg was constructed. After years of effort, sufficient interest was aroused in the railroad project to cause the formation of a company, upon whose Board of Directors were Zadok Street and Samuel Chessman of Salem. This company was known as the Pittsburg & Cleveland Railroad Company, and at the meeting of the Board of Directors, just after its organization, it was decided to locate a road from Wells- ville, Ohio, to Cleveland, Ohio, via Alliance, passing some twelve miles to the west of Salem.
Disappointed by this action, the Salem members of the Board withdrew and immediately began the work of securing sufficient funds with which to do the preliminary work on a railroad which should pass through Salem, having Pittsburg,
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Pa., and Mansfield, Ohio, for termini. The first survey was made by Captain Whippo of New Castle, Pa., who ran a line from Rochester, Pa., to Salem, Ohio; after which a charter was secured from the Legislature of Ohio, and supplemented by one from the Legislature of Pennsylvania, for a railroad under the name of the Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad Company. This was done during the latter portion of 1847 and early in 1848. General William Robinson, Jr., of Allegheny, Pa., was the first president.
No very great difficulty was experienced in securing funds with which to carry on the project, and January, 1852, saw the completion of the line between Allegheny, Pa., and Alliance, Ohio, at which latter point connection with the Cleveland and Pitts- burg Railroad, recently constructed, was had for Cleveland. The work of construction was pushed with vigor until the line ex- tended to Crestline, Ohio, where it connected with the Ohio and Indiana Railroad, which latter railroad connected at Fort Wayne with the Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway, forming a through line to Chicago, which, after consolidation, became known as the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway.
Ground was first broken for the Ohio & Pennsylvania Rail- road on the 4th of July, 1849, near the town of East Palestine, Ohio, when Solomon W. Roberts, the chief engineer delivered an address on the history and value of the undertaking. The first train from Pittsburg passed up Beaver Creek as far as Block House Run on July 30, 1851; and October 23d, the same year, the first excursion train came from Pittsburg and passed through the county. To this original line there have been and are constantly being added other lines, until now the little road which, when first contemplated, was to run only from Allegheny to Mansfield, has, in connection with its affiliated lines, a mileage approximating ten thousand miles and furnishes employment to about 125,000 men. Its first time-table shows but three trains scheduled in either direction, including passenger and freight trains. The present time-table shows one hundred and twenty-two passenger trains regularly scheduled over the division running through Rochester, besides which from one hun- dred and twenty to one hundred and forty freight trains pass over this piece of road every twenty-four hours.
With this enormous business to be handled, there has been
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almost absolute immunity from serious accident. During the World's Fair at Chicago, from May to October, 1893, 3142 pas- senger trains, made up of 23,947 cars and containing 603,103 passengers, were run over this main line to and from Chicago, without injury to a single passenger or train man.
CLEVELAND & PITTSBURG
The next railroad to be built through Beaver County was the Cleveland & Pittsburg. Its history is as follows. By a special Act of the Ohio Legislature on March 14, 1836, a charter was granted to the Cleveland, Warren & Pittsburg Railroad Company, permitting it to construct a railroad from Cleveland to the eastern Ohio line, there to connect with any road to be built under the laws of Pennsylvania. A curious illustration is found in the provisions of the second section of this Act of the very experimental nature of railroading even at that comparatively recent period. This section authorized the corporation to trans- fer "property and persons upon their road by the power and force of steam, of animals, or of any mechanical or other power or any combination of them," and permitted all other com- panies and persons to transfer property and passengers upon the said road in their own vehicles and with their power, subject to the rules and regulations of the company, upon the payment of tolls, after the manner of canal navigation. Hard times fol- lowing a period of inflation prevented the building of the road. An Act of revival and amendment was passed on March II, 1845, and the route was changed to "the most direct, practic- able and least expensive route to the Ohio River, at the most · suitable point." The company was organized at Ravenna, Ohio, in October of 1845. James Stewart of Wellsville was elected President; A. G. Cattell, Secretary; and Cyrus Prentiss, Treas- urer. In July, 1847, the first contracts were let from Wellsville northward, and the actual work was commenced. The connec- tion through to Pittsburg was finally arranged for in 1852. On April 8, 1850,' the Legislature of Pennsylvania passed a law incorporating the Cleveland & Pittsburg Railroad Company and giving full assent to all the provisions of the Ohio charter. Under this and later legislation the company completed its
1 P. L., 417.
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road to Rochester, Pa. In December, 1862, a contract was entered into with the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Rail- way Company for a division of gross earnings of the two com- panies upon a specified basis, and for the joint use of the track of the latter from Rochester to Pittsburg, a monthly rental of $7083.33 being paid therefor, in addition to one half the cost of repairs. In October, 1871, the road was leased to the Pennsyl- vania Company for nine hundred and ninety-nine years from December 1, 1871. Beaver County invested $100,000 in this en- terprise. This road enters the county at Glasgow, runs along the north bank of the Ohio River and crosses the Big Beaver at its mouth to Rochester, which is, properly speaking, the terminus of the road, although, as stated above, its traffic is carried on from that point to Pittsburg over the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago track.
ERIE & PITTSBURG RAILROAD
For several years prior to 1856 various attempts were made to build a road from Erie to Pittsburg, and a company was incorporated under the name of the Pittsburg & Erie Railroad, principally by citizens along the line. Little actual work was done, however, outside of the embankment built from below Transfer to the Shenango River.
The corporate history of the Erie & Pittsburg Railroad Com- pany begins with the incorporation of the Pittsburg & Erie Railroad Company, which was incorporated under various Acts of the Pennsylvania Legislature, as follows, viz .:
The Act of April 24, 1846,1 authorizing the construction of a railroad from the western terminus of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, if that road should be constructed in Allegheny County, -and if it should not terminate there, then the road was to begin at Pittsburg and extend to Erie.
The Act of May 4, 1852,2 authorizing subscription to the capital stock in Beaver, Lawrence, Mercer, Crawford, and Erie counties.
The Act of May 4, 1854,3 reviving and renewing the charter of the company.
The Act of April 5, 1855,4 authorized further subscription to
1 P. L., 448. 2 P. L., 605. 3 P. L. 592. P L. 188.
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the capital stock, and subsequent Acts up to 1859 revived and renewed the charter and extended the time for the completion of the road.
The company, after passing through various vicissitudes, failed, and when it failed the portion of the road extending between the points before mentioned was sold at sheriff's sale to private parties, from whom the Erie & Pittsburg Railroad Com- pany afterwards purchased it.
The Erie & Pittsburg Railroad Company was incorporated under the following special laws:
April Ist, 1858.1 An Act of incorporation subject to the provisions of the general law of February 19, 1849,2 regulating railroad companies and the Acts supplemental thereto. It authorized the completion of the road between Girard Junction and Jamestown, Mercer County, then being built by the Erie & North East R. R. Company, it being necessary accord- ing to the language of the Act to have it constructed under separate organization.
The Erie & North East Railroad Company were by this Act required to continue the work on the line under the Act of April 22, 1856,3 and were given further time of two years to complete it, and after $400,000 were expended they were to transfer their right, title, and interest in the right-of-way, con- tracts, stock, and railroad to the Erie & Pittsburg Railroad Company, and receive $400,000 of the capital stock of that company. The road was built for the most part on a route different from the one located by the Pittsburg & Erie Railroad Company, the only part of that road that was used being from Greenville to the Shenango River, between Clarksville and Sharpsville, as will be seen by the history of the Pittsburg & Erie Company.
A contract was entered into early in 1862 with the late W. L. Scott for the construction of the road from Jamestown to New Castle. The road was opened August 1, 1864, for operation from Girard Junction to New Castle, at which latter point it made connection with the New Castle & Beaver Valley Railroad.
The road has never been extended beyond Girard Junction or New Castle, entrance to Erie being obtained over the lines of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad
1 P. L., 5II. 2 P. L., 79. 3 P. L., 565.
VOL. I .- 17.
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The Erie & Pittsburg Railroad Company are the owners of various tracks and terminal facilities at Erie, Pa. The con- struction of the dock branch, extending from Dock Junction to the Erie docks, three and a half miles, was begun in 1863 and completed in 1865.
The capital stock of the company is $2,000,000.
Under date of March 24, 1870, taking effect March 1, 1870, the company leased its entire railroad and property to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company for 999 years, the lease being assigned to the Pennsylvania Company, April 1, 1871.
In order to protect the interests of the company, the lessee in 1870 secured the control of the Erie Canal by the purchase of stock and bonds of that company. The canal was operated for about one year under arrangement with the Erie & Pitts- burg Railroad Company, when executions were issued and the canal sold. The canal property was subsequently sold to parties living along the line of the canal, and the Canal Company was dissolved.
Prominent among the first officers of the company are men- tioned John A. Tracy, John H. Walker, D. W. Fitch, Milton Courtwright, Prescott Metcalf, and John Brawley, all of whom are now dead. The late W. L. Scott secured control of the road in 1865, and continued in the management of it until its lease to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company.
The present officers of the company are: C. H. Strong, Presi- dent; M. H. Taylor, Vice-President; J. P. Smart, Secretary and Treasurer; Directors: C. H. Strong, Erie, Pa .; M. H. Taylor, Erie, Pa .; J. P. Green, Philadelphia; C. H. Fairchild, New York City; James McCrea, Pittsburg; J. J. Spearman, Sharon, Pa .; G. R. Metcalf, Erie, Pa.
The Darlington Cannel Coal Railroad Company was among the early railroads of the county. It was incorporated March 3, 1852,1 by an Act of Assembly of that date. Its incorporators were John White, John McCowin, William Sterling, Atkin- son Martin, and Matthew Elder. John White was elected president.
. The road remained under this management for about three years, when it got into difficulties which led to the foreclosing
I P. L., 103.
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of a mortgage and its public sale by N. P. Fetterman, Esq., then of Beaver, later of Pittsburg. It was bid in by the Harmony Society and operated under the management of Henrici and Lenz, trustees for the Society. In 1880 the railroad was bought by Gen. James S. Negley and Captain Ira F. Mansfield for the sum of $40,000. A new company was organized, and the road was extended from the mines at Cannelton to New Lisbon, Ohio.
The present officers are: N. R. Billingsley, President; George W. Dixon, Superintendent; K. E. Barringer, General Freight and Passenger Agent.
THE PITTSBURG & LAKE ERIE RAILWAY
Before the construction of the Pittsburg & Lake Erie Rail- way, the South Side, Pittsburg, had no railroad facilities, but depended almost entirely upon the river transportation for the movement of its immense freightage. With the annexation of its boroughs to the city, the need of a railroad became still more apparent, and the question of building one began to be strongly agitated. In the spring of 1874 a meeting was held in the office of Mr. Bennett, of Graff, Bennett & Co., to consider the advisability of building a road from the South Side, through Beaver, to Youngstown, Ohio. The meeting was attended by representatives of all the industrial plants on the South Side. Among the firms represented were Jones & Laughlins; Singer, Nimick & Co .; Whartons; Oliver, Phillips & Co .; and Painter & Sons. It was decided at this meeting to attempt the project.
The public was not informed that the road was contem- plated, but nevertheless the promoters had great difficulty in securing the right-of-way. Surveyors were put to work and a route secured from the Ohio River at Beaver to Youngstown, Ohio, but the effort to get one from Pittsburg to Beaver was not successful. The projectors of the road became very much discouraged, and some of them were ready to abandon the enter- prise altogether, when the Harmony Society, which had large interests at Beaver Falls that would be benefited by the road, and which also owned a large amount of property along the proposed route, offered its assistance for the construction of the road. On the reception of this offer the officials of the company
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decided to issue $2,000,000 in bonds. The Harmony Society took $250,000 of this amount, and in addition granted free right-of-way through all its land between Beaver and the South Side, amounting to over three fourths of the distance; and Dr. David Hostetter subscribed for $750,000 of the bonds.
May II, 1875, articles of association were filed, styled Pitts- burg & Lake Erie Railroad Company.
President and directors named were as follows: William McCreery, President; William McCreery, Joshua Rhodes, James Westerman, George C. Reis, John F. Dravo, P. W. Kel- ler, John Bissell, William M. Short, A. J. Mckinley.
John Bissell was Secretary and William M. Short, Treasurer. The principal office was located at Pittsburg, Pa. May 18, 1875, a charter was issued by the State of Pennsylvania. May 12, 1876, all the old officers were re-elected. December 19, 1876, John D. Scully was elected a director in place of A. J. McKinley, resigned.
January 29, 1877, it was voted to increase the number of directors to twelve, exclusive of the president, and new directors were elected as follows: David Hostetter, James M. Bailey, M. W. Watson, James M. Schoonmaker, and James I. Bennett was elected in place of William M. Short, resigned.
April 25, 1877, articles of association were filed in Ohio for that portion of the road from the Pennsylvania line to Youngs- town, Ohio.
April 26, 1877, an executive committee was appointed, con- sisting of James I. Bennett, James M. Bailey, and John F. Dravo.
July 6, 1877, the board was reorganized, James I. Bennett being elected president; and John Reeves, Jacob Henrici, Wil- liam M. Lyon, and Jacob Painter, directors, to take the place of William McCreery, George C. Reis, P. W. Keller, and W. S. Bissell, resigning.
June 21, 1877, Samuel George was elected treasurer; and Samuel Rea secretary, in place of Bissell and Short, resigned.
September 26, 1877, the contract for the construction of the road was let to Bernard J. McGrann of Lancaster, Pa., for building the road complete, and a single line was completed the following year.
January 5, 1878, the Ohio organization was consolidated with that of Pennsylvania.
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January 14, 1878, the following officers were elected: Presi- dent, James I. Bennett; Directors: Jacob Henrici, James M. Bailey, Jacob Painter, David Hostetter, Joshua Rhodes, John Newell, John Reeves, William M. Lyon, J. H. Devereux, M. W. Watson, John F. Dravo, and J. M. Schoonmaker. This board elected John Reeves Vice-President.
September 21, 1878, the first locomotive crossed the Ohio River bridge. October 15, 1878, A. D. Smith was elected audi- tor and general passenger agent and John G. Robinson secretary and treasurer.
January II, 1879, all the directors and officers were re- elected.
February 6, 1879, the road was taken off the contractor's hands.
February 10, 1879, freight was started over the road, and on the 24th of the same month regular passenger trains were running.
January 12, 1880, the annual meeting elected the old officers and directors, as follows: President, James I. Bennett; Direc- tors: Jacob Henrici, James M. Bailey, James M. Schoonmaker, David Hostetter, Joshua Rhodes, J. H. Devereux, John Reeves, William M. Lyon, John Newell, M. W. Watson, John F. Dravo, and Jacob Painter. General Manager, W. C. Quincy; General Freight Agent, E. D. Nettleton; Auditor and General Passenger Agent, A. D. Smith; Secretary and Treasurer, John G. Robin- son; Master of Transportation, R. W. Jones.
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