USA > Pennsylvania > Tioga County > History of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, with Illustrations, portraits and sketches of prominent families and individuals > Part 9
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bonds; and in due time the work commenced. The chief engineer was S. M. Seymour, with James M. Morris and Frederic Leach jr., assistants. The contractors were A. Wallace & Co.
The road was finished in October 1876, and the
excursion from Elmira to Arnot and back. The train provided for the accomodation of the excursionists con- sisted of seven cars. The engine was a ten wheeler, No. 14, with Joseph Schusler engineer, an old and trust- worthy employe of the Tioga road, and William Wallace fireman. The train was in charge of Henry F. Shattuck, assistant superintendent of the road, as conducter.
The road proved to be substantially built, well bal- lasted at every point, and the cars ran as smoothly over it as on an old road. It is about 19 miles in length. From Elmira it rises by a grade of about seventy feet to the mile to the summit, and the descent of six miles to the Tioga Junction is about one hundred feet to the mile. There are two notable iron trestles on the road: one at Alder Run, thirteen miles from Elmira, 732 feet
A company was formed during the year 1881 called long and 70 feet high, and the Stony Fork trestle, about the Arnot and Pine Creek Railroad Company, which is a mile from Alder Run, which is 480 feet long and 50 constructing a railroad from Arnot to Babb's Creek in feet high.
At the various stations along the road there were large assemblages of people and additions to the party. Arriv- ing at Blossburg the excursion was greeted with cheers, while the proprietors of the Seymour House, Messrs. Morgan & Ward, displayed a fine national flag in honor of the auspicious event. At Arnot coal mines, the south- west terminus of the road, the whole population turned out to welcome the train, the Arnot cornet band playing "Hail Columbia" and other national airs. After spend- ing a short time in examining the coal mines and ap- pliances the excursionists prepared to return. They had taken a new engine at Blossburg, in charge of George Lewis, engineer, and Mart Van Houten, fireman. .
At Bush's Park four hundred of the party left the train to partake of the hospitalities which had been pro- vided by A. C. Bush in the park. This park is on the hillside overlooking the beautiful village, and the view of the winding waters of the Tioga and the level and fertile lands of the valley was in the soft autumn sunlight very beautiful. Tables were spread in the large dining hall and theatre hall. After dinner the company assembled in a meeting. Hon. A. S. Diven presided and made a short speech. A preamble and resolutions were passed complimentary to Mr. Bush, who modestly acknowledged the honor. Then followed congratulatory speeches by Fred. E. Smith, of Tioga; F. N. Drake, president of the Tioga Railroad; Judge Williams, of Wellsboro, and W. H. Bogart, of Aurora, N. Y. The company then ad- journed to the cars, and were safely returned to their several localities, well pleased with the excursion and with the prospects of benefits to be derived from the new road by the people of Chemung county, N. Y., and Tioga county, Pa.
Enthusiastic meetings were held in the court-house in Elmira, and speeches made by General A. S. Diven and others, who showed the advantages to be derived from the proposed road. A committee was appointed to solicit subscriptions, to make a survey, etc. The citizens of Elmira responded with alacrity. All the necessary steps The road deflects from the Tioga Valley about three were finally taken, the Tioga Railroad guaranteeing the | miles south of Lawrenceville, and ascends Inscho Creek
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RAILROADS IN TIOGA COUNTY.
to the summit of the mountains in the township of Jack- son, where it attains an elevation of about fifteen hundred feet above tide. From this point it descends to the valley of the Chemung, intersecting the Northern Central about two miles south of Elmira, and thence continuing to the city, delivering its passengers and freight at the union depot.
This line was soon consolidated with the Tioga road as the Tioga and Elmira State Line Railroad. The gen- eral office of the company is at Elmira. The officers are:
F. N. Drake, president, Corning, N. Y .; H. H. Cook, vice-president, New York city; D. S. Drake, secretary, Elmira; H. H. Cook, treasurer, New York; L. H. Shat- tuck, general superintendent, Blossburg; S. B. Elliott, general engineer. The directors are F. N. Drake, J. A. Drake and A. S. Kendall, Corning, N. Y .; M. B. and I. W. Bush, Buffalo; H. H. Cook, New York; E. (. Cook, Bath, N. Y .; C. C. and D. S. Drake, H. D. V. Pratt, and S. T. Reynolds, Elmira; and L. H. Shattuck, Blossburg. C. ('. Drake, Elmira, is general passenger and freight agent, and H. F. Shattuck assistant superin- tendent.
The capital stock of the company is $1,000,000. The total cost of the road up to December 31st 1880 was $1,- 545,620.78. The average cost of the road per mile was $22,530.91.
The company transports the entire product of the coal mines and coke ovens at Arnot, and the product of the mines at Morris Run, which with other freight make the average annual tonnage from 700,000 to 900,000 tons. The company owns seventeen locomotives and about one thousand cars of all descriptions. The number of men employed is from 260 to 300. The car shop, ma- chine shop and round house are at Blossburg, and a de- scription of them appears in the history of that borough. A telegraph line extends from Arnot to Elmira. The fare for both through and way passengers is at the rate of three cents per mile. The charge for through freight is at the rate of four cents per ton per mile, but to ship- pers of quantities of 100,000 tons one and one-half cents; way freight per ton per mile, five cents. The length of the road from State Line Junction, N. Y., to Arnot is 50.6 miles; length in Pennsylvania, 44; from Blossburg to Morris Run, 4 miles; aggregate length of main line, branches, leased roads, sidings and other track, 68.6 miles; length in Pennsylvania, 59 miles. The road has a three-rail track-both broad and standard gauge. The United States Express Company operates on the line. At Blossburg the road connects with the Fall Brook Railroad, at Lawrenceville with the Corning, Cowanesque and Antrim Railroad, and at Elmira with the New York, Lake Erie and Western, the Northern Central, the Lehigh Valley and the Utica, Ithaca and Elmira railroads; and it is presumed that ere this is placed in the hands of the reader connections will be made with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, and the Arnot and Pine Creek Railroad will have been completed to Babb's Creek from Arnot. The tonnage henceforth will be
large, for there will be during the next year fifty million feet of hemlock lumber manufactured and transported along the line. The shipments of glass will also be in- creased; not less than sixty thousand boxes manufac- tured at Blossburg and Covington will pass over this road on the way to market. The passenger business will also increase, for the country through which the road passes is rapidly gaining in population, as well as the lo- calities at its termini. Could the members of the old Tioga Navigation Company, from which the railroad company derived its origin, arise and see the great coal, lumber and passenger trains that daily pass over this road they would be as much astonished as poor Rip Van Winkle after his long sleep Enterprises are projected which it is confidently expected will still further de- velop the resources of the southern portion of the county and increase the business and tonnage of the road.
CORNING. COWANESQUE AND ANTRIM RAILROAD.
In 1851 Hon. John Magee, of Bath, N. Y., obtained by lease the coal mines at Blossburg, and became the owner of the Corning part of the Blossburg and Corning Railroad, or that portion of the railroad from the State line at Lawrenceville to Corning, N. Y. The railroad was originally laid with a strap rail on sleepers. He im- mediately commenced relaying the track with durable and substantial T rails, and induced the stockholders of the Pennsylvania portion to do the same. This insured a first-class road from the mines at Blossburg to Corning, and stimulated the mining and sale of coal to a very great extent. Mr. Magee continued mining for several years and shipping from Blossburg to Corning, where the coal was distributed east and west by canal and railroad, wherever the demand required.
In the year 1856 his eldest son, Duncan S. Magee, commenced the exploration of coal lands situated in the township of Ward, about seven miles east of Blossburg, on the waters of Fall Brook, a tributary of the Tioga River. The exploration after much trouble and expense proving finally satisfactory, the Legislature of Pennsyl- vania granted a charter March 9th 1859 to John Magee, James H. Gulick and Duncan S. Magee as the Fall Brook Coal Company; the charter was vetoed by Gov- ernor W. F. Packer, and passed over his veto by the Senate and House April 7th of that year. The follow- ing gentlemen were subsequently elected officers: Presi- dent, Hon. John Magee; treasurer, John Lang; superin- tendent, Duncan S. Magee; civil engineer, H. Brewer.
A railroad was constructed during the year 1859 from Blossburg to Fall Brook, by the Fall Brook Coal Com- pany, and the business of mining was prosecuted with vigor.
These mining enterprises did much toward increasing the wealth and population of the county, and toward stimulating the farmers in the vicinity to increase their facilities for production, by creating a ready cash market for every article raised upon the farm.
In 1860 the population of the county was 31,044, an increase of 7,057 since the census of 1850.
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42
HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.
In 1866 the Fall Brook Coal Company commenced ex- ploration of coal lands on the mountains near Wilson's Creek, a tributary of Babb's Creek, about twelve miles south of Wellsboro. The exploration was conducted by Thomas Farrer and John Smith, gentlemen experienced in that line. A large coal field was discovered through their investigations, which discovery resulted in the purchase of the lands by the Fall Brook Coal Company and the incorporation April 4th 1867 of the Lawrence- ville and Wellsboro Railroad Company; H. Brewer, of Fall Brook, president, and James Heron, of the same place, secretary and treasurer. A preliminary survey of the road was commenced September 23d 1867 by A. Hardt, civil engineer, under the direction of the presi- dent of the road. In December of that year Mr. Brewer died, and he was succeeded as president in January fol- lowing by Hon. Henry Sherwood, of Wellsboro, who of the Fall Brook Coal Company, obtained in the year continued to act in that capacity until the road was fin- ished from Lawrenceville to Wellsboro, and thence to the mines-a distance of about fourteen miles from Wellsboro by rail. In May 1872 the railroad was com- pleted from Lawrenceville to Wellsboro, and on the 28th of October to Antrim, as the new mining town was named.
About the same time that the last mentioned road was under construction the Cowanesque Valley Railroad Company was chartered. Its line extended from Law- renceville west to Elkland, in the Cowanesque Valley. a distance of eleven miles. It was completed and opened for business September 15th 1873. For years the subject of a railroad up that most fertile valley of the county had been agitated. As far back as 1840, when the New York and Erie railroad was located in the western portion of the State, it was thought by many that the Cowanesque Valley was the most feasible route to Olean and the lake. Ten years ago some public spirited gentlemen of Corning, among whom were C. C. B. Walker, Austin Lathrop jr. and Stephen T. Hayt, together with the Fall Brook Coal Company and gentlemen living at Elkland, Nelson and Osceola, among whom were Joel and John Parkhurst and C. I .. Pattison, put the enterprise in motion and employed Horatio Seymour jr., ex-State surveyor of New York, to lay out the road, which was promptly completed and became a part of the Corning, Cowanesque and Antrim line, being leased for 21 years from September 15th 1873.
The officers of the Corning, Cowanesque and Antrim Railroad are: George J. Magee, president; Daniel Beach, secretary and treasurer; directors-George J. Magee, Daniel Beach, John Lang. Daniel C. Howell, Horatio Seymour, Alfred I. Edwards and Henry Sherwood. The capital stock of the company authorized by law and by votes of the company is two million dollars. The length
of the main line, from Corning to Antrim, is 53 miles, 3776 miles in Pennsylvania; the Cowanesque branch, ex- tending from Lawrenceville to Elkland, II miles; the track from Blossburg to Fall Brook about seven miles; other sidings make the entire length of the road 76 miles, 54 miles being in Tioga county. The cost of the entire road was $1,900,000, and the total cost of equipment 8500,000. The road is leased and operated by the Fall Brook Coal Company. That company and the Corning, Cowane-que and Antrim Railroad Com- pany also operate the Syracuse, Geneva and Corning Railroad and the Geneva and Lyons Railroad, making a total of 144 miles. They have 24 locomotives and about 1, 100 cars. The road bed used by the company is the one built in 1840 by the Blossburg and Corning Com- pany, which the Hon. John Magee, deceased, president 1851. The Fall Brook Coal Company owns and operates the mines at Antrim and Fall Brook, besides having a large interest in the mines at Morris Run, operated by the Morris Run Coal Mining Company. The product of the mines at Fall Brook is run over the road of the owners to Blossburg, and thence on the Tioga railroad to Lawrenceville, tonnage being paid the Tioga Com- pany; the Morris Run Coal Mining Company sends its coal over the Morris Run branch of the Tioga road, and the main line to Lawrenceville, where it is taken upon the Corning, Cowanesque and Antrim road, conveyed to Corning and there distributed according to orders.
The tonnage of the Corning, Cowanesque and Antrim Railroad is large, consisting of six or seven hundred thousand tons of coal, besides a large amount of lumber, leather, bark, agricultural products, etc. Fare is three cents a mile; through freight per ton per mile 672 cents; local freight 8 cents, and through coal per ton in quan- tities of 100,000 tons ile cents.
John Parkhurst is president, S. T. Hayt vice-presi- dent, C. L. Pattison secretary and treasurer, and A. Hardt chief engineer. A telephone line is established between Elkland and Lawrenceville, which serves the | Magee, one of the executive trustees of the estate. This public instead of a telegraph line and is less expensive.
The opening of this railroad in May 1872 was one of the historical events of the county, as it marked an era in the development of its commercial, industrial and mineral resources. On the zend of May the road was opened from Corning to Wellsboro. It had been built from Lawrenceville to Antrim by General George J. Magee in fulfillment of a plan conceived by his father, the late Hon. John Magee, and Duncan S. Magee, his brother. Hon. John Magee died April 5th 1868. Dun- can S. Magee's health failing in the autumn of that year he departed on a trip to Europe to recuperate, but died in the spring following. The whole responsibility of carrying forward to completion the work already begun and in contemplation devolved upon General George J. was a great task for a man of thirty; but Mr. Magee proved equal to the responsibility. Under his direction A. Hardt completed the survey and location of the road. The celebration of the opening of travel was in all respects a grand success. An excursion train left Corn- ing at 10 o'clock, carrying Governor Seymour, William E. Dodge and other prominent citizens. The excursion was reinforced at every station, while thousands of citi-
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RAILROADS IN TIOGA COUNTI.
zens from Tioga county flocked into Wellsboro to see the iron horse steam into the valley of Crooked and Marsh Creeks, to listen to the speeches of the distinguished gen- tlemen and otherwise celebrate the important event. As the train arrived at Wellsboro it was saluted by the wav- ing of flags and handkerchiefs, the firing of cannon, and cheers.
A platform had been erected in front of the present depot. Judge Stephen F. Wilson acted as chairman and Colonel A. E. Niles as marshal of the day. Hon. Henry W. Williams delivered an address of welcome.
The Hon. William E. Dodge was then introduced. Among other things he said: " Last evening at 7 o'clock I entered the Erie Railway cars at Jersey City, and here I am in Wellsboro. It took about the same time that it did to get into Westchester county before the railroads were built. It is, therefore, as if you had been taken up and set down in Westchester county. I have seen many railroad openings, but never one like this. Many towns were impoverished by bonds, subscriptions and donations to get their railroads. How is it here ? Where are the stockholders ? They are all on this platform. There is wherein this opening differs from others. It has not cost you a dollar except perhaps the right of way, which you have cheerfully given. You have subscribed noth- ing, you have given nothing, you have bonded nothing, but you have got your railroad. What are you going to do about it ? I do not suppose that noble and truly great man John Magee built this railroad to gratify Wellsboro. No. He built it for an object. He might have got out his coal by a tram road behind the hills, but he preferred to build a passenger and freight road and ask you to support it. This is what he expected of you. Thanks are well, but something more is needed. You must support this railroad. You must not keep on in the old way before it was built. You must clear more land, raise more grain, build more factories. The more you do of this the cheaper will you get your railroad facilities. If you use it but little the cost will be high. If you use it much the cost will be less. This railroad will add to your comfort and to the value of your prop- erty. You make good butter here-as good as in Orange county. It will enable you to compete with Orange county in New York. Twenty years ago you had to send it by the way of Chemung Canal, and it was old butter when it reached the city. Now you can get it down to New York city in fourteen hours. It is so with every- thing else, you are right in market. You have been set down by the side of New York city."
At the conclusion of Mr. Dodge's speech the Hon. Horatio Seymour was introduced. He said his relation with this great work was slender and remote. Its pro- jector, that great man John Magee, was living now, even in his grave. It was natural to dwell on the changes which had taken place in this valley. Thirty-five years before, the speaker came into the valley of the Tioga, a young man, on horseback. He knew something of the early settlers. They were men of remarkable power and vigor, men of great self-reliance and enterprise. Their
works were quite equal to any accomplished smog. There was a class of leading men among the early settlers of southern New York and northern Pennsylvania of won- derful native energy. Among them was John Magee.
Governor Seymour's remarks were received with great satisfaction and delight, and he was enthusiastically cheered at the conclusion. At an opportune moment James Stoll, conductor on the road, presented A. H. Gorton, superintendent, with a beautiful and costly gold headed cane. General George J. Magee was then called for; he arose, thanked the multitude, and retired amid applause. A procession was then formed and marched to Bowen's Hall, where a sumptuous dinner was served, after which toasts were read and responded to. About 5 o'clock the excursionists left Wellsboro for Corning.
Closely allied to this road is the Syracuse, Geneva and Corning, giving the people of the county direct com- munication with central and eastern New York. This road was completed late in the fall of 1877. On the roth of December 1877 the first through train from New York via the new line arrived in Corning. Two Wagner palace coaches were attached to the train, and the party included Mr. Wagner himself and other prominent rail- road men. An impromptu reception, under the charge of Charles G. Dennison, greeted the party on its arrival. A salute was fired, and Pier's band gave some of its liveliest music, while the citizens assembled in large numbers and expressed their pleasure in cheers and con- gratulations. F. A. Williams made a brief address of welcome, to which General G. J. Magee responded in a happy manner. James A. Rutter, of the New York Central, and others also spoke. After a little delay the party continued to Antrim, stopping at Wellsboro a few minutes, and returning to Corning in the evening.
JERSEY SHORE, PINE CREEK AND BUFFALO RAILWAY.
For many years the people of Tioga county have been trying to secure the building of a railroad along the line of Pine Creek to Jersey Shore, on the west branch of the Susquehanna, there to connect with the Philadelphia and Erie, or to continue to Williamsport and connect there with the Philadelphia and Erie and the Catawissa branch of the Reading Railroad. That object will now be con- summated. At a meeting of the stockholders of the Jersey Shore, Pine Creek and Buffalo Railway Company, held at the Ross land office, in the borough of Couders- port, Potter county, January 23d 1882, the following of- ficers were elected: President, Henry Sherwood, of Wellsboro; vice-president, George J. Magee, of Watkins, N. Y .; secretary, William Howell jr., of Antrim; chief engineer, Anton Hardt, Wellsboro; treasurer, Cornelius Vanderbilt, New York city; executive committee, Henry Sherwood, Jefferson Harrison, Anton Hardt, W. H. Van- derbilt, W. K. Vanderbilt, Cornelius Vanderbilt, George J. Magee; directors, W. H. Vanderbilt, W. K. Vander- bilt, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Augustus Schell, George J. Magee, William Howell jr., E. G. Schiefflein, Henry Sherwood, Walter Sherwood, Jefferson Harrison, Jerome B. Niles, Anton Hardt and John W. Bailey.
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HISTORY OF TIOGA COUNTY.
The stockholders passed a resolution to the effect that operations should be commenced at once for the build- ing of the road from Williamsport, via Jersey Shore, up Pine Creek to the mouth of Marsh Creek, in Tioga county; thence up Marsh Creek to Stokesdale, in the township of Delmar, near the north line of the borough of Wellsboro, connecting with the Corning, Cowanesque and Antrim Railway. The charter for this road formerly belonged to the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company, but by a late business arrangement it is now practically in the hands of the Vanderbilts, George J. Magee and their associates. The road will be con- structed as speedily as money will do it, and will open up a country rich in timber and minerals, and afford a connecting line from the New York Central Railroad at Lyons and Geneva to the anthracite regions of Pennsyl- vania, the semi-anthracite of Dauphin county, and the vast deposits of iron in Lebanon, Lehigh and other por- tions of eastern and central Pennsylvania. It will also run through the great glass sandrock belt of Tioga, and the hemlock lumber regions of Tioga, Potter and Lycom- ing counties. When completed it will mark an era in the history of Tioga county, and will stimulate business along its entire line.
STAGE ROUTES.
The locomotive has not entirely superseded the stage coach in Tioga county. Along the valleys of the Tioga and Cowanesque and Crooked Creek it is partially ban- ished; but from Elkland, on the Cowanesque, there are two lines, one running up that river and off into Potter county, Pa., and another running north over the hills to Addison, in New York, on the waters of the Canisteo.
From Wellsboro there is a line west and south; from Mansfield one east and one west; and from Blossburg two lines, one leading over the mountains to Roaring Branch, on the line of the Northern Central Railway, and another to Liberty. There it intersects a line from Canton, touching at Gleason and Ogdensburg in Union township, and Liberty, Barfelden and Nauvoo in Liberty township, and passing on by the way of Babb's Creek to Antrim, with a branch leading down to Jersey Shore, in Lycoming county. A line also leads from Morris Run, in Hamilton township, to Fall Brook, there connecting with a line to Canton by the way of Chase's Mills. There are one or two other short lines in the county.
The stage routes therefore have not outlived their use- fulness, but they are modest in their pretensions and equipments. None of the coaches have more than two horses attached, while many have only one, the mail being carried in a buggy or cutter. They have none of the eclat, pomp and circumstance of the old four-horse Concord stages of forty years ago, when such men as John Magee, of Bath, and Cooley & Maxwell, of Elmira, had lines extending all over southern New York and northern Pennsylvania, and such men as J. C. Bennett, of Covington, or the late Benjamin R. Hall, of Bloss- burg, drew the reins over their prancing steeds, and made their trips from Painted Post to Lawrenceville, up
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