Standard history of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Part 12

Author: Wilson, Erasmus, 1842-1922; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852-1926. cn
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago : H.R. Cornell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1192

USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > Standard history of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania > Part 12

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The Pittsburg and Coal Hill Turnpike Road was begun in 1828. In March

(r) William Robinson, Jr.

(s) Niles Register, published at Baltimore, April 28, 1827.

(t) Gazette, July 20, 1827.

(u) Memorandum of Pittsburg gentleman in Gazette of November 16, 1827.

HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

books were opened for subscriptions by the commissioners, William Wilkins, Henry Holdship, William B. Foster, Peter Mowry, William Arthurs and James Brown. From November 1, 1827, to July 1, 1828, the number of steamboat arrivals here was 276, and number of departures 284, the total tonnage being 34,350 (v). The important questions in 1828 were the slackwater improvements of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, the improvement of the channel of the Ohio, the connection with the Lake Erie and Ohio Canal, and the Chesa- peake and Ohio Canal, and the construction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. A national road from Uniontown via Pittsburg to Lake Erie, distance 368 miles, was strongly talked of in 1828. Beginning in 1826 and continuing until the com- pletion of the canal in 1829, the wagon trade through Pittsburg from the West was something almost inconceivable. The facts and figures of that day are bewil- dering. Cotton from Tennessee and Northern Alabama could be conveyed via Pittsburg to Philadelphia and New York as cheaply as via New Orleans and the ocean route (w).

"The reduction in the expense of transportation added to the increased value of the lands adjacent to the three great turnpikes leading from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, Erie and Tioga, have amounted to a sum which at the lowest esti- mate exceeds the cost of constructing not only these roads, but all the turnpikes in the State collectively" (x).

But at this time none of the roads had yielded dividends sufficient to remu- nerate its stockholders, and many yielded nothing and some were abandoned. Many of the owners were adjacent farmers and merchants.

Among the turnpikes projected about this time were the following: Indiana and Pittsburg, Harrisburg and Pittsburg, Pittsburg and Meadville, Pittsburg and Kittanning, Pittsburg and Mercer, Birmingham and Pittsburg, Mononga- hela Turnpike Road Company, Pittsburg and Williamsburg.

It was stated that in 1829 freight from New York had reached Cincinnati via the Erie Canal and the Lake Erie and Ohio Canal, at $3.50 per hundred- weight. The Ohio Canal was just finished. Early in November, 1829, the first steamboat (Amulet) to engage in freightage directly from the canal boats took on her cargo of 150 to 200 barrels of salt at the outlet lock of the canal. The carriage was 75 cents per barrel from the Conemaugh Salt Works to Cincinnati. At this time the cost of making salt there was less than 25 cents per bushel, and required from thirty-six to forty-eight hours to bring it here.

"What think ye of this, ye venerable fathers of Allegheny County, who used to pay the storekeepers of Pittsburg $10 per bushel for your salt, equal to $50 per barrel? Then you had European salt brought over the mountains on horse- back; now one horse can bring 200 barrels, or 1,000 bushels, in a canal boat from twenty to thirty miles a day" (y).

In April, 1829, so great became the travel over the Philadelphia and Pitts- burg Turnpike that the stage proprietors were obliged to put on extra stages every other day. In 1829 the Pittsburg and Beaver Turnpike Road Company was resuscitated, having lain dormant since 1819, owing to hard times. The Legis- lature gave it new life in 1829. The outlet to the eastward of the city was always bad, and aside from the Pittsburg and Greensburg Turnpike, the only other out -. let was through the little valley which separated Grant's from Boyd's Hill. The county road through this valley, via Chadwick's to East Liberty, was usually in bad and often impassable condition, so that travel was usually confined east- ward to the turnpike. It was again proposed in 1830 to build a turnpike over this route, commencing at the line of Ross street and extending four and a half miles

(v) Gazette, July 18, 1828.

(x) Statement of George W. Smith, in 1828.

(w) Gazette, 1834.

(y) Gazette, November 10, 1829.

Helleano A. Herron

HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

eastward to the old turnpike, a clear gain of one mile, and the avoidance of Foster's Hill. This was called Farmers' and Mechanics' Turnpike.

The Uncle Sam was the largest boat afloat on the Western waters in 1829, registering 550 tons, and capable of carrying 500 passengers. Her engine, of 200 horse-power, was built by Warden, Arthurs & Benny, of this city. She was launched in March, 1829, at a cost of $30,000.

It became evident in 1828-30, owing to the astonishing and unexpected suc- cess of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, that inland transportation by rail was bound to succeed all other means of intercommunication. Leading citizens saw at once that the canal was doomed. It was admitted that the Pennsylvania Canal, which had just begun to exhibit its usefulness and power, would, no doubt, in a comparatively short time, be exchanged for a railroad.

In March, 1830, a new arrangement of mail stages over the northern route from Pittsburg to Philadelphia and Baltimore via Blairsville, Huntingdon and Harrisburg was made by J. Moorhead, A. Horbach, J. Bigham, S. Moore and Colder & Wilson. The trip was made in four days, each passenger being allowed thirty pounds of baggage at his own risk.

In March, 1830, Mr. Blanchard launched the steamboat Allegheny, 90 feet long, to be used in navigating the Allegheny River. It was stipulated that she should not draw more than ten inches, unloaded, nor more than twenty-four inches, loaded with 40 tons and 100 passengers. It was the first steamboat to arrive in Warren-April 21, 1830, about II o'clock a. in., a large crowd collect- ing to witness the wondrous sight.

The Allegheny arrived at Pittsburg May 24, 1830, with twenty-seven tons of freight from Olean, New York, 300 miles up the Allegheny River from Pitts- burg.

In March, 1830, the steamboat owners here built a floating dock to be used in repairing steamboats. It was 140 feet long and 32 feet wide. It was noticed that in March, 1830, the steamboat Talisman made the round trip to Nashville, Tenn., in nineteen days, not the quickest trip on record, but one of the quick- est. It was related that twenty years before it would have required at least ninety days to make such a trip. The rate of freight in 1830 was $1.50 per hundred; in 1810 it had been about $8. In 1830 a small steamboat ran between Pittsburg and Brownsville, which was a great accommodation to traders bound for the West.

A steam ferryboat commenced running June, 1831, from the end of Penn Street to Steele's Landing on the Ohio, about 300 feet below the glassworks, and was considered a great improvement. Four wagons and many foot passengers could be taken at one trip. The owner was Joseph Irwin.

In 1829 and 1830 great improvement took place in the conveniences of stage traveling, as in everything else. In 1831, Reeside, Haymaker & Co. were in possession of the whole line of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and placed thereon three lines of stages: (I) A small stage which traversed the route to Philadelphia in less than two days and a half; (2) another in four days-the two lines running . daily, and (3) one which ran every other day. Then there was the fourth line over the northern route via Blairsville, Huntingdon and Lewistown, which made the trip in less than four days. The travel over these lines early in 1831 was very great. A stage line was established in 1831 between Pittsburg and Wheeling, another from Pittsburg to Steubenville, and the speed of the line from Pittsburg to Cleveland via Beaverstown was greatly increased, and the stages between Pittsburg and Erie were run through in thirty-six hours. These important changes and improvements were necessitated by the demands of a greatly in- creased patronage.

Ephraim and Samuel Frisbee established their boatyard at the point in 1831, on the site of old Fort Duquesne, and on Saturday, August 27, 1831,

HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

launched their first steamboat, the Napoleon, of 150 tons burden. In 1831 The. Pennsylvania and Ohio Transportation Company was formed here and soon began operations. The Pittsburg and Birmingham Road Company was also in opera- tion, with Joseph Patterson, F. Wendt, J. Beltzhoover, J. McDonald, D. O'Con- nor, O. Ormsby, R. Burke and F. Bausman at its head.

The Mediterranean, built here in part in 1832, was 193 feet long and 60 feet breadth. Its engine was 320 horse-power, and was also built here; and its hull, of great strength, was built by Samuel Walker, of Elizabethtown. This boat was the largest, strongest and most beautiful yet turned out here-582} tons. Mr. Strodes was captain. It cost nearly $40,000, and was destined for the lower Mississippi trade, and went down the Ohio at the rate of seventeen miles an hour.

On January 21, 1832, in the morning, the northern pier of the Monongahela bridge fell to the river, carrying down two arches and a team of horses, both ani- mals being drowned.

In June, 1833, a turnpike convention was held in this city to take into consid- eration the question of a uniformity of tolls and other matters of mutual interest. The companies represented were: Washington and Williamsport, Somerset and Bed- ford, Summit and Mt. Pleasant, Robbstown and Mt. Pleasant, Huntingdon, Cam- bria and Indiana, New Alexandria and Conemaugh, Pittsburg and Greensburg (David Shields and D. R. McNair, delegates), Pittsburg and New Alexandria (James Murray and Samuel Jack, delegates), Stoystown and Greensburg, Bed- ford and Stoystown, Mt. Pleasant and Pittsburg (James Estey and Jesse Lippen- cott, delegates), Pittsburg and Butler (Hugh Davis, delegate), and Chambersburg and Bedford. So many divergent views were expressed that little resulted, ex- cept that resolutions were adopted to memorialize the Legislature for assistance and to appoint a committee to correspond with the various turnpike officials to learn their wishes regarding the price and changes in price of tolls.

In 1831-3, Mr. Craig, of the Gazette, took great interest in the State improve- ments in Western Pennsylvania, and did much for their advancement. He drew a map, with Pittsburg as the center, with lines diverging from it in all directions, showing the proposed routes of canals and railways, which was widely exhibited, and became popularly known as "Craig's Spider."

In 1834 merchandise was carried from Philadelphia via Pittsburg to Louis- ville in fourteen days for $1.33 per hundredweight, and to St. Louis in twenty- one days, for $2 per hundredweight. In the spring of 1834 several small steam- boats plied regularly between Brownsville and Pittsurg. There was an immense revival of trade this year. Steps to macadamize the first five miles of the Greens- burg and Pittsburg Turnpike Road were taken in January, 1834, for the benefit, particularly, of this county and Pittsburg and its suburbs. It was expected that the necessary amount would be raised by subscription.

In 1835 the People's Line of stages ran daily between Philadelphia and Pittsburg, covering the distance in sixty hours, and using the Columbia Railroad as far as it had progressed. In 1835 is was proposed to extend the Pittsburg and Coal Hill Turnpike to a junction with the Greensburg and Pittsburg Turnpike. In the spring of 1835 the Pittsburg and Philadelphia Pioneer Line of packets was set in operation on the canal and portage railroad for the accommodation (exclu- sively) of passengers, and the company advertised to carry them through in three and a half days. This was such a decided improvement that great rejoicing was indulged in by Pittsburgers. About this time, also, the Western Transporta- tion Company advertised to carry freight through from Philadelphia to Pittsburg in eight days. It was noticed by the Louisville Journal that goods had reached that place via Pittsburg in eleven days from Philadelphia. This was considered wonderful.

HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

In the spring of 1835 the trade of Wheeling was solicited by Philadelphia merchants, and was largely secured by the efforts of the great mercantile houses of the latter city-shipments to be made via Pittsburg for $1.37} per hundred. It was shown to be out of the question at the time to ship freight from Wheeling to Baltimore over the turnpike for that sum. The canal and the river had thus verified predictions (z).

It was noted in February, 1835, that the Legislatures of New York, Pennsyl- vania, Maryland, Virginia and Ohio and the Congress of the United States were then considering propositions of improvement which were designed to embrace Pittsburg in their measures-the railroad and the Rochester and Olean Canal, in New York; the canal connection with Erie and with the Ohio Canal, in Pennsyl- vania; the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, in Maryland; the same in Virginia; the two cross-cut canals, in Ohio; the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the improve- ment of the Monongahela and the Ohio rivers in Congress (a).

A daily line of steamboats was added to the transportation facilities of this city February 23, 1835. The Western Transportation Company improved its conveyance eastward at this time.

Previous to the close of the year 1835, and subsequent to 1811, there were built in the Pittsburg district 304 steamboats, out of a total of 684 built on all the Western rivers. They measured 106,135 tons. Of the total number, 344 were worn out or abandoned, 238 snagged or otherwise sunk, 68 burned, 17 lost by collisions, and 17 by explosions, the latter being the Washington, Union, Atlas, Caledonia, Porpoise, Cotton Plant, Tallyho, Tricolor, Car of Commerce, Ala- bama, Hornet, Kanawha, Helen McGregor, Huntress, General Robinson, Arkansas and Teche. The number built each year was as follows (b):

18II.

1820.

9 7

1829. 55

1812.

1821

1830 43

1813.

1822 IO

I831 61

1814 2

1823. 14

1832 80

1815 O

1824 13

1833 48

1816. 5

1825 32

1817 8

1826 60

1818. 3I

1827

1819. 34

1828.

Total. .684

"We were informed yesterday by a respectable merchant of this city that goods from Philadelphia by way of the Columbia Railroad and Pennsylvania Canal arrived here within six and a half and seven days after shipment, and that some lots, which were destined for Louisville, arrived at that place within three days thereafter, making only ten days from Philadelphia to Louisville !!! Com- ment is unnecessary. This serves to show what can be done" (c).

Goods sent by a Cincinnati merchant from New York, via Philadelphia and Pittsburg, on October 16, 1836, arrived in the first named city November 3. They passed over Leech & Co.'s line, and the transit was considered a remarkably swift one. In 1836 there were located here eight transfer lines eastward, and in 1837 the number had grown to fourteen. In 1836 the engines on the Portage Railway could draw from ten to fifteen cars; in 1837 they could draw thirty loaded cars. The inclined planes, which delayed the mountain transit in 1835-6, were operated without delay in 1837.

In August, 1836, the United States Mail Line ran westward twelve good steamboats, one departing each day; the Good Intent Line ran westward, also,

(z) Gazette, March 3, 1835.

(a) Gazette, February 28, 1835.

(b) Western Boatman, No. 3. (c) Advocate, April 8, 1835.

1834 59

1835 52

100

HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

twelve good boats, one leaving daily. Two more lines were added in 1837 -- one to Louisville and one to Beaver. A daily line to Brownsville was also started in 1837. These gave the city eleven regular daily departures by rivers. There were nearly as many more irregular departures.

At this time (August, 1836) there were eight regular lines operating freight boats on the canal, and three lines operating passenger packets. In May, 1837, passengers were carried from Philadelphia to Pittsburg in three days and six hours by the Pioneer Fast Packet Line (d).

In 1837 there were two steamboats which ran regularly on the Allegheny River-the Newcastle and the Pulaski.

"There are two regular lines of steamboats leaving this port daily for Louis- ville, and every important forwarding house has an arrangement by which he is enabled to ship daily by one or other of these lines. Besides these regular lines of boats, there is at least an equal number of transient boats departing from Louisville, St. Louis, Nashville, Florence, etc., which ply constantly in their respective routes, although not organized as yet into lines. The forwarding houses prefer the regular lines generally, because they afford the most prompt and speedy conveyance to goods; and in order to secure room for the goods of their respective customers in those best conveyances, nearly every forwarding house is interested to a small extent in each boat of the line by which he ships. There can be, therefore, no inducement, no temptation, with the merchant to hold goods for a single hour, because he has at all times a boat in port to receive his shipments; and the extremely active competition between the lines and between transient boats affords a perfect guarantee to the owner of goods that his freight will be charged at the lowest rate at all times. The canal lines deliver goods at the basin to the consignees who present bills of lading or other authority to receive them. From occasional omissions by the forwarding merchants of Phil- adelphia, to send forward bills of lading, there have been instances of goods remaining in the canal stores here, because the consignee had no knowledge of the shipment and could not, of course, make application for them" (e).

In September, 1837, the following freight rates per one hundred pounds from Philadelphia to Pittsburg were adopted here by Leech & Co.'s Line (Tustin & Harris), Pittsburg Line (J. O'Connor & Co.), Union Line (Dulith, Humphreys & Co.), Dispatch Line (John White & Co.), Reliance Line (John Dougherty), Pennsylvania & Ohio Line (James Steel & Co.), Pilot Line (Bolton & Co.), to wit (f) :

Dry goods, queensware in crates, stationery, drugs, fruit,

leather, confectionery, shoes, saddlery $1.25

Hardware, paints, dyestuffs I.123

Groceries and tin boxes . 1.00

Hats, bonnets, clocks, oil vitrol, pianos, new furniture,

looking-glasses, basket carriages, willow baskets, car- riages 2.50

Burr blocks .90

Manufactured marble 1.50

Fish, per barrrel 2.25

Queensware in hogsheads 2.00

Second-hand furniture 1.50

Clay (whiting) .90

(d) Advocate, May II, 1837.

(e) Reply of Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce to attack of Philadelphia Commercial Herald against the commission houses here, August, 1837.

(f) Gazette, September 12, 1837.

IOI

HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

'The Farmers' and Mechanics' Turnpike Road Company had secured $30,000 of stock subscriptions by 1837. As before stated, the road terminated beyond East Liberty. To meet the first expenses, the company issued $12,000 in loan cer- tificates, which depreciated greatly when the panic of 1837 descended upon this community. It was thought by many that the company would never be able to redeem its paper. Over sixty of the leading merchants of this city came to the rescue of the company by agreeing in a public notice to receive the certificates that had been issued in exchange for goods (g).

In April, 1838, the forwarding merchants of Philadelphia permanently fixed the price of freights between that city and Pittsburg by the Pennsylvania Canal and Columbia Railroad, as follows, per hundredweight: Dry goods, $2; hardware and grocers' ware, $1.70; groceries, $1.40 (h).

When the first iron steamboat was launched, September 9, 1838, all experi- enced river men thought she would draw from twelve to fourteen inches. When it was known that she drew but nine inches astern and nine and a half forward :-

"All were astonished. The instance is without parallel. A timber boat of her capacity, similarly constructed, would draw twenty-one inches, while the iron steamboat draws but nine and a half. The draft ascertained, the next rush was to the hatches to note how rapidly she leaked. It seems that many came to the launch expecting to see the boat sink. They must have thought the truth strange, for when that was known the boat did not leak a drop. Here, then, is a boat, the product of Pittsburg enterprise and mechanical skill, the first of any considerable size built in the country, which, when finished, will afford the safest vehicle for the conveyance of persons and property which can be produced in the shape of a steamboat. She cannot be sunk, she cannot be burnt, she is proof against explosion, and she runs in almost no water at all; and what, we would ask, does the traveler or shipper want more than these?" (i).

Robinson & Minis turned out seven steamboats from their works from January 12 to May 15, 1839. Previous to April 20, 1839, 130 steamboats were built at Pittsburg, 83 at Cincinnati and 22 at Wheeling (j). In May, 1839, a line of hacks to run tri-weekly between Uniontown and Pittsburg was estab- lished by John Morrison. In June, 1839, the Reliance Transportation Com- pany, a firm consisting of Peter Shoenberger, John D. Davis, John McFadden, John and William Bennett, John Dougherty, James M. Davis and G. and J. H. Shoenberger, dissolved, sold all their stock of boats, horses, etc., to a new company -- Reliance Portable Boat Company-composed of the same indi- viduals except John Dougherty (k).

An immense convention, at which many counties of Western Pennsylvania were represented, was held here November 19, 1839, to memorialize Congress on the subject of a national road from Erie via Meadville and Pittsburg to the Cumberland Road. The object argued was to connect the United States arsenals at Meadville and Pittsburg with that great highway.

"We have never witnessed such a display of business as is this day made at our landing along the Monongahela River. The whole extent of the landing, from the bridge to Ferry Street, appears to be covered with packages of mer- chandise, bales of cotton, bacon in casks, flour, corn, lead, hemp, pig-metal and a variety of other articles, while the carts, drays, etc., kept up a continual bustle, passing and repassing between the river and the canal basin. . The short time required to transport goods from Philadelphia to Pittsburg the present season-eight days or thereabouts-is a subject of general remark. This is in part owing to the excellent condition of the canals and railroads

(g) Gazette, July 29, 1837. (h) Niles Register, April 27, 1839.

(i) Gazette, September, 1839.

(k) Gazette, June 28, 1839.

(j) Louisville Price Current, April 20, 1839.

IO2

HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

and in part to the greater perfection in the arrangements of our enterprising and indefatigable transporters. We occasionally look into the warehouses at the basin and have been surprised to find them comparatively clear, when, judging from the long line of heavily laden drays which from morning to night may be seen wending their way to that point, we expected to see them crowded. Great as the trade is, the means of conveyance are adequate to it (1).

"Our business season, now nearly closed, has been one of unusual fluctu- ation in facilities for transportation of merchandise by river and canals, in prices of our leading manufactured articles and of the various products of our soil, and in our moneyed operations and exchanges. Our city now occupies a most enviable position from a commercial point of view. On the one hand we have the great line of canals and railroads connecting us equally with Phila- delphia and Baltimore, and on the other hand by one crosscut canal inter- secting the grand Ohio Canal at Akron, we have easy and cheap access to Cleveland, Detroit, Buffalo and adjoining lakes and country, and by our rivers we have intercourse with every important or unimportant point in the mighty West. At the present time our canal is suspended, yet we have ample means of transportation by land between our city and Philadelphia and Baltimore- to the former by wagon lines connected with the railroad at Chambersburg, and to the latter by wagons entire. At present merchandise of various kinds is coming from Baltimore to our city at $1 per 100 pounds and from Philadelphia by railroad and wagons in like proportion" (m).

In February, 1840, upon the breaking up of the ice in the Monongahela River, nearly all the coalboats between Brownsville and Pittsburg were destroyed and sunk (n).

In March, 1840, it was noted by the local newspapers that a contract had recently been made for the transportation of 10,000 barrels of flour from points between Pittsburg and Wheeling to New York by way of New Orleans. To meet this unfavorable condition of affairs the canal commissioners passed a resolution to allow a drawback of twenty cents per barrel on all flour entered at Pittsburg which should be certified as having been passed to Philadelphia. By so doing they virtually reduced the toll to fifty-four cents per barrel for the route and prevented the general shipment of flour from Pittsburg to New York by way of New Orleans (o).

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Standard history of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Part 12

Author: Wilson, Erasmus, 1842-1922; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852-1926. cn Publication date: 1898 Publisher: Chicago : H.R. Cornell & Co. Number of Pages: 1192

Author: Wilson, Erasmus, 1842-1922; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852-1926. cn
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago : H.R. Cornell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1192