USA > Pennsylvania > Carbon County > History of the counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pt. 2 > Part 46
USA > Pennsylvania > Lehigh County > History of the counties of Lehigh and Carbon, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pt. 2 > Part 46
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Tonnage.
1836
148,211
1837
223,902
1838
213,615
1839
221,025
1810.
225,318
18.11
243,037
1812
272,516
1813
267,793
1811
377,002
1815
129,453
1816
517,116
1817
633,507
1848
670,321
18.19
781,656
1850
690,456
1851
964,224
1852
1,072,136
1853
1,051,309
1834
1,207,186
1855
1,275,050
1856
1,186,230
1857
901,314
1858
908,800
1859
1,050,659
The Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad eamne into existence through the enterprise of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, and as a logieal result of that corporation's progressiveness and the increased demand for transportation down the valley. The immediate cause of its construction, however, was a disaster. The great flood of the 4th and 5th of June, 1862, resulted in the almost complete destruction of the company's costly improvements on the Upper Lehigh. A heavy and continuous rain, which com- menced on the afternoon of the 3d and fell with more or less intensity until about one o'clock on the morn- ing of the 5th, effected a rapid rise in the Lehigh and its tributary streams above Mauch Chunk. Many of the mill-dams upon them gave way, and the freshet on that part of the river became so great on the after- noon of the 4th as to cause the booms placed at and near White Haven to give way, thus casting adrift a large quantity of saw-logs and other timber to pursue an almost resistless course down the stream. Many of the dams and guard-banks of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company's canal, unable to withstand the combined accumulation of water and logs, yielded to their forec. It was thought by many that Dam No. 4, near White Haven, was the first torn away, and that the water and lumber thus let loose, gathering force as they pursued their downward career, partly carried away or seriously injured most of the dams and locks between White Haven and Mauch Chunk. In some instances locks were entirely swept away, leaving no vestige, and parts of the canal so completely destroyed that a stranger viewing the scene would not suspect that one ever existed there. The breaking of Dam No. 4 occurred about nightfall, and no doubt the greater number of those broken followed as soon as the great wave suddenly let loose reached them, though some of them did not give way until much later in the night.'
On the upper part of the company's works the damage from this flood was so great that it would
1 From " Incidents of the Freshet on tho Lehigh River, Sixth month,
4th and 5th, 1862," a pamphlet published in 1863.
600
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
probably have required two-thirds of the original cost of the improvements to have replaced them.
It was commonly believed that the giving way of the large dams had been the chief cause of the large 'damage done all along the valley, and there arose a strong popular feeling against their being rebuilt. This opposition culminated in the passage of an act by the Legislature, March 4, 1863, prohibiting the rebuilding of dams on the Upper Lehigh for canal purposes, because of the peril to which they subjected people and property. In lieu of this right the As- sembly granted the company a charter for a railroad from Mauch Chunk to White Haven, to connect with the railroad built from that place to Wilkesbarre in the period from 1837 to 1842. On March 16, 1864, a supplementary act was passed authorizing the com- pany to extend the road to Easton. Thus a line of railroad communication was secured which entirely supplanted the canal and slack-water navigation above Mauch Chunk, and largely relieved the over- burdened canal below that point. The road was soon built, and the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company continued to operate it until 1871, when it was leased to the company owning the Central Railroad of New Jersey, by which it was managed until the recent lease was made to the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company.
Prior to the building of the Lehigh and Susque- hanna Railroad, authority had been procured to con- struct the Nesquehoning Valley Railroad. The act passed the State Senate April 12, 1861, and the House April 16th, and, reaching the Governor, was disapproved and returned. The Senate passed it over the objection May 8th, and the House May 14th. The incorporators were John Leisenring, Thomas L. Foster, J. B. Moorhead, Jacob P. Jones, Samuel E. Stokes, R. H. Powell, Andrew Manderson, James S. Cox, and Samuel Hepburn. The capital stock was to consist of ten thousand shares at fifty dollars each. Quite a variety of privileges were extended by the charter, the company being empowered to construct a railroad from the Lehigh Canal, near Nesquehoning Creek to the head-waters of the same, and also to con- struct branch roads, not exceeding two miles in length cach, with the privilege of connecting with the canal, the Beaver Meadow Railroad, the Lehigh Valley Railroad, the coal-mine road of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company in Nesquehoning and Panther Creek Valleys, " and such other railroads as are now or may be hereafter constructed contiguous to the said Nesquehoning Valley Railroad or its branches." The road was duly built, received the coal traffic formerly belonging to the Gravity and "Switchback" Railroads, was merged with the Le- high and Susquehanna Railroad, and passed by lease successively to the company managing the Central Railroad of New Jersey, and the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company. From the time it was opened until it was merged with the Lehigh and
Susquehanna Railroad, its tonnage was as follows : 1863, 9086.01 ; 1864, 125,159.16; 1865, 200,437.09; 1866, 322,229.17.
The Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company built, in 1861-62, a railroad from Hauto to Tamaqua called the Tamaqua Branch, which, after passing through several changes in proprietorship, is now operated by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company. Another road was also built by the company which extended From the Summit Station of the Catawissa, Williamsport, and Erie Railroad to Audenried.
Following are statistics from the last report of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company :
Miles of lines owned, leased, and controlled ..... 2,96×
Locomotives. 882
Passenger-cars. 919
Coal-, freight-, and other cars. 55,190
Passengers carried ..
20,500,000
Coal, tons (2240 pounds).
13,800,000
Merchandise, lons (2000 pounds).
9,500,000
Gross earnings, all lines $34,500,000
Net earnings, all lines
15,000,000
Capital stock.
34,7241,375
Funded debt ..
82,039,485
Deferred income bonds.
7.618,807
Floating debt ..
6,012,386
Acres of coal lands owned and controlled. 201,000
-
We have spoken of the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad and the smaller railroad improvements of the Coal and Navigation Company to conclude the account of the great operations of that corporation which commenced the work of providing transporta- tion facilities in the valley in 1818. Prior to the building of the company's railroad, however, came the construction of the Lehigh Valley Railroad and the Beaver Meadow Railroad. The latter-mentioned road, although first built, we shall reserve for after consideration, as it is now simply a branch of the more important Lehigh Valley Railroad.
John Brown, for many years identified with the operations of the Coal and Navigation Company, the son of Francis and Anna Brown, was born in New- burgh, N. Y., where his parents resided, on the 9th of June, 1808. Here he was engaged in labor on the farm until about fourteen years of age, when, on leaving the paternal roof, he sought employment with the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company. After a service of a few years he, in April, 1831, came to the Lehigh at Mauch Chunk, and was there for a short period employed as a common laborer. As his services became valuable he received promotion, and remained, either directly or indirectly, as one of the trusted employés of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company for a term of nearly forty years, much of this time being either at White Haven or Easton. Ilis last position was in connection with the manage- ment of all their canals and railroads. He retired from their service in 1877, since which time his ener- gies have been devoted to his own private interests, in coal, iron, lumber, and slate. Mr. Brown was, on the 7th of December, 18-10, married to Miss Maria Stoddart, of Stoddartsville, and has four children, three dangh- ters and one son. In religion he was educated a Pres- byterian, and is still a supporter of that church. In
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$
601
PROGRESS OF SETTLEMENT AND INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
polities he is a Republican, but does not confine his vote to that party, always indorsing the best men for office, irrespective of party affiliations. Mr. Brown has enjoyed an extended reputation as a successful manager of the interests of large corporations, and as a man of integrity and sound judgment in all business matters. On retiring from his official position Easton became his permanent residence.
The Lehigh Valley Railroad .- This important railroad, the first opened through the valley, had its inception in the efforts of a few enterprising and far-seeing men in Lehigh and Northampton, and was carried to successful completion and prosperous operation chiefly through the labors of an eminent citizen of Carbon County, Hon. Asa Packer, for many years its efheient president.
The first definite movement toward the undertaking of the enterprise of establishing rail communication in the Lehigh Valley, of which we have any knowl- - edge, was made in a publie meeting at Allentown, of which Hon. Jacob Dillinger was president; Dr. Jesse Samuels and Maj. William Fry, vice-presidents ; and Samuel Marx, sceretary. Hon. Henry King made a strong speech caleulated to arouse the popular feel- ing in favor of seeuring a railroad, and a committee of thirteen was appointed to draw up resolutions ex- pressive of the sense of the meeting. At an adjourned meeting they reported the following :
" Resolved, That the people of Lehigh and of the valley of the Lehighi generally onght to make every effort in Their power to obtain the neces- sary charter, and promote the construction of a railroad from the Dela- ware up The river Lehigh to the Lehigh and Schuylkill region."
After considerable trouble the letters patent were issued, and on Oct. 21, 1847, the first election for ofli- cers was held, resulting as follows : President, James M. Porter ; Managers, Dudley S. Gregory, John S. Dorsey, John P. Jackson, Daniel MeIntyre, Edward R. Biddle, and John N. Hutchinson ; Secretary, Jolm N. Ilutehinson. These officers were re-elected for the years 18-18, 1849, and 1850. In the fall of 1850 the first survey of the road was made from the month of the Mahoning Creek to Easton by Roswell B. Mason, civil engineer. Early in 1851 the canal commissioners of the State appointed Jacob Dillinger and Jesse Samuels as a committee to ascertain whether the pro- posed railroad would injure the canal of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company or obstruct its works. They reported that it would not, and the court imme- diately authorized Mr. Hutchinson to commence the construction of the road, the time limited by the char- ter for its beginning having almost expired. Mr. Dil- linger was appointed superintendent, and Dr. Sam- uels engineer.
On April 4, 1851, seventeen days before the charter would have expired by its own limitation, Asa Packer became one of the board of managers. On that day the court sanetioned the grading of one mile of rail- road near Allentown, thus avoiding the default by limitation. On the 31st of October following, Mr. Paeker became the purehaser of nearly all the stock which had been subscribed, and eommeneed to obtain additional subseriptions with a view to the prompt construction of the road. Mr. Robert H. Sayre, who held a responsible position with the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, was appointed chief engineer of the railroad company in the spring of 1852, and on May 11th commenced the survey and location of the line, completing it in the latter part of June. About the Ist of October he again engaged a eorps of assistants, and started upon the work of permanently locating the road, finishing it during the winter.
It was resolved, also, that a petition for a charter be printed and circulated for signatures, and five per- sons in Allentown, and three in each township in the county, were appointed to solicit signatures. A bill was duly prepared and submitted to the Assembly, and although there was strong opposition manifested, it was passed April 21, 1846. It was carried through the Legislature mainly by the exertions of Dr. Judge Packer on the 27th of November, 1852, sub- mitted a proposition for constructing the railroad from opposite Mauch Chunk, where it would touch the Beaver Meadow Railroad, to Easton, where it. Jesse Samuels, representative from Lehigh County. This net incorporated the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuyl- kill and Susquehanna Railroad Company. On May 6. 1816, the commissioners named in the act-Peter I would connect with the Central Railroad of New Mickley, Caspar Kleckner, Benjamin Ludwig, Chris- Jersey and the Belvidere Delaware Railroad, agree- ing to receive in payment for the work the company's stock and bonds. This proposition was accepted, and work was commenced immediately at each end of the line. tian Pretz, Peter Huber, William Edeleman, Henry King, and George Brobst (of Lehigh County), and Asa Packer, Stephen Balliet, John D. Bowman, and Thomas Craig (of Carbon County)-met at George Haberacker's hotel in Allentown, to effeet an organ- The name of the corporation was changed to the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company by act of the Leg- islature, passed Jan. 7, 1853. On the 10th of, Jan- uary, James M. Porter was re-elected president ; John N. Hutchinson, treasurer and secretary ; Wil- liam Hackett, David Barnet, William H. Gatzmer, Henry King, John T. Johnston, and John O. Stearns, managers. The work was prosecuted by Judge Packer with unceasing vigor. Very formidable obstructions : had, however, to be overcome at many points in ization and to open books for stock subscriptions. There seemed to be but little faith in the project on the part of capitalists; for, although the commis- sioners were active in their endeavors to advance the project, it was not until Aug. 2, 18:17, that a sufficient amount of stock was secured for a commencement. On that day five thousand and two shares had been taken, on each of which an installment of five dollars had been paid.
602
HISTORY OF CARBON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
making the roadway. In some places rocky bintl's, by the Central Railroad Company, the Beaver Meadow Railroad and Coal Company, and Packer, Carter & Co. In the early part of October, 1855, an arrange- ment was made with Howard & Co., of Philadelphia, rising to a great height directly from the water's edge, had to be excavated by slow and laborious processes. During the summer of 1853 the advance in the prices of labor, materials, and provisions, and the ravages of ' to do the freighting business of the road (except coal, cholera throughout the valley, materially retarded the ' iron, and iron ore), they furnishing cars, train-hands, etc., and paying a fixed rate per mile for toll and transportation. An arrangement was also effected with the Hope Express Company of New York for carrying the express matter at a given sum per month. The receipts and expenditures for the three months were as follows : work. A contract for connection with the. Belvidere Delaware Railroad at Phillipsburg, N. J., made sub- seqnent to the survey and grading of the line, in- volved an entire change of plan, much additional work, and an increased expense. The ditliculty to be surmounted was to connect with two roads on the east bank of the Delaware, running at right angles RECEIPTS. to each other, and varying about twenty-two feet in Coal. Passengers. Freight. Total. elevation. This required a style of bridge as yet October .. $912.47 $6,812.93 $94.34 November. 2,648 42 6,223.14 59 .03 wholly unknown. Much of the difficulty attending December .. 1,792.43 5,675.4.1 1,768.45 its construction arose from the frequency and long continuance of freshets in the river. To avoid this EXPENSES. October .. $4,501.15 the greater part of the structure was raised upon wire November ... 5,350,60 cables stretched from pier to pier, a novel under- December. 13,884.58 taking, which was successfully accomplished. Net profit ..
The community at large had not at this early period much confidence in the success of the new enterprise, and its securities were insufficient to realize all that was needed in the department of finance. Valued aid was rendered in this juncture by several gentle- men connected with the Central Railroad of New Jersey, who purchased the Lehigh stock and bonds, and by the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company, which loaned its securities to the contractor.
The opening of the Lehigh Valley Railroad from South Easton to Allentown occurred June 11, 1855, and two trains were run daily to the latter place until September 12th, when the road was finished to Manch Chunk, though it was not formally accepted from the contractor until the 24th of that month. Up to the Ist of October one train a day was run to Mauch Chunk. From that time until the 19th of November two passenger-trains were run daily between Easton and Mauch Chunk, connecting at the former place with the Philadelphia trains on the Belvidere Dela- ware Railroad. At this date one of the passenger- trains was withdrawn, a freight train, with passenger. car attached, being substituted. Up to this time the road had been operated by Judge Packer with rolling stock hired from the Central Railroad Company, but towards the close of 1855, a passenger locomotive and four cars being purchased, a new train was put on the road to connect with the early and Jate trains between Philadelphia and New York, and at the same time a daily freight train was put on, which left Easton in the morning and returned in the evening. The Cen- tral Railroad Company at the same period ran mid- day trains over the road.
During the first three months that the road was in operation the receipts from passengers were larger than had been anticipated. Those from coal and mis- cellaneous freight were limited by want of cars. The eoal, iron, and ore were transported in cars furnished
$7,819.74
9,461.89
9,236,32
$26,517.95
$25,736.33
$2,781.62
In the beginning of the year 1856, the persons own- ing the largest amount of stock came to the determi- nation that it was best to remove the main offices of the company to Philadelphia. Judge Porter on this account declined a re-election to the presidency, being succeeded on February 5th by Mr. William W. Long- streth, who resigned on the 13th of May following, when Mr. J. Gillingham Fell was elected to the office.
During the next few years a number of connections were made which added largely to the effectiveness of the road. These included the connection with the North Pennsylvania at Bethlehem in 1857, that with the Catasauqua and Fogelsville Railroad' in the same year; the union with the Quakake Railroad (now the Mahanoy Division) in 1858, and with the East Penn- sylvania Railroad in 1859. Of some of these, and of several not here mentioned, we shall treat more spe- cifically hereafter.
In the year 1860 the large shops at Easton for the manufacture and repair of engines and cars were built. In January, 1862, steel fire-boxes were introduced, and in the following year steel tires were first used on the wheels of the company's rolling-stock. In June, 1862, occurred a great freshet, which carried away bridges, embankments, and track to the value of at least one hundred thousand dollars, and seriously impaired the business of the road. In this same year Mr. Fell re- signed the presidency of the company, and Judge Asa Packer was elected in his stead.
In 1863 forty-seven acres of land were bought at Burlington (now Packerton), to afford space for the more convenient making up of coal trains, and to answer as a site for car- and machine-shops, which were at once put under construction.
In 1864, Judge Packer resigned the presidency, and William W. Longstreth was elected in his place.
1 See chapter on Internal Improvements in history of Lehigh County.
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1
1
£
603
PROGRESS OF SETTLEMENT AND INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
On the 8th of July, 1864, by the unanimous ap- proval of the stockholders of the respective compa- nies, this company incorporated with itself the Beaver Meadow Railroad and the Penn Haven and White Haven Railroad. The former road, with double track, extended from East Manch Chunk to Penn Haven, and thenee to Beaver Meadow, and by its various branches to the adjoining mines in Carbon and Schuyl- kill Counties. By this union the Lehigh Valley Rail- road Company became owners also of a considerable body of coal-land near the village of Beaver Meadow. The second of the two roads thus merged extended from Penn Haven Junetion to White Haven, a dis- tance of seventeen miles. By the acquisition of these roads with their various important connections the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company added at once very largely to its business of every deseription, and was put in a position of still greater prosperity for the future. At the same time, by its subscription to the stoek of the Lehigh and Mahanoy Railroad Com- pany, it was aiding materially an early extension of its business in other directions.
During the year 1865 the second track between Easton and Mauch Chunk was laid. In this same year the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company an- nonneed its determination to build from Penn Haven to White Haven. This made it necessary, in order to secure a portion of the Wilkesbarre trade, to put the extension of the Lehigh Valley Railroad under con- tract, which was promptly done. About this time, also, the Morris and Essex Railroad was opened, con- necting with the Lehigh Valley at Phillipsburg, and reaching to Hoboken, thus giving increased facilities to trade in that direction.
In June, 1866, by the unanimous aetion of both companies, the Lehigh and Mahanoy Railroad was merged with the Lehigh Valley Railroad, thus adding two million one hundred and forty-five thousand eight hundred and fifty dollars to the capital of this latter company, and greatly increasing its capacity and facilities. The length of the main line thus added, from Black Creek to Mount Carmel, is forty mik's.
Judge Packer in the early part of this same year purchased, on behalf of the company, a controlling interest in the North Branch Canal, extending from Wilkesbarre to the New York State line, a distance of over one hundred miles, with a charter from the commonwealth, authorizing the company to change its corporate title to the Pennsylvania and New York Canal and Railroad Company, and to build a railroad the whole length. The canal, over three-fourths of which was embraced in the purchase, was valued in this arrangement at one million and fifty thousand dollars. Subscriptions were received the same year for twenty-four thousand four hundred and sixty-two additional shares of stoek, amounting to one million three hundred and twenty-three thousand dollars, for the purpose of extending the line from White Haven to the Wyoming Valley.
This extension was opened for business May 29, 1867, greatly to the satisfaction of the people of the valley, who celebrated the event at several localities. Then the construction of the road to Waverly was rapidly pushed forward.
By a merger of the stock of the Hazelton Railroad Company, effected June 1, 1868, and soon after by a similar arrangement with the Lehigh and Luzerne Railroad, the Lehigh Valley Company came into possession of those roads, with all of their rights, franchises, and property. By these mergers, and by purchase from the lessees, the company obtained sixty-five miles of track, about eighteen hundred acres of coal-land, a large number of town lots and other real estate, cars, machinery, etc. The railroad of the Spring Mountain Coal Company, from Leviston to Jeanesville, was purchased in August, 1868, and soon after grading was commenced for a short extension towards Yorktown and towards the mines of the Ger- man Pennsylvania Coal Company. On November 20 the road of the Pennsylvania and New York Canal and Railroad Company was opened for business from the Lackawanna and Bloomsburg Junetion to Tunk- hannoek. During the same year ground was bought and coal pockets erected at Waverly of sufficient ea- pacity for the transfer of one hundred thousand tons of coal per year.
Judge Packer was again elected president in 1868.
The road of the Pennsylvania and New York Canal and Railroad Company was opened to Waverly, its northern terminus, on Sept. 20, 1869. This event was hailed with evident satisfaction by the people of Northern Pennsylvania and Southern and Western New York. To guard its interests at Buffalo, and to provide facilities for transferring egal and other freight to lake vessels, the company subseribed for thirty-four- fortieths of the stock of the Buffalo Creek Railroad Company, and commenced the work of construction, which was completed in 1870. Arrangements were made in 1877 for running trains over portions of the Erie and the Southern Central Railroads of New York.
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