Standard history of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Part 16

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 16

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(q) Niles National Register, June 6, 1846.

138

HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

to Baltimore. The county of Allegheny was authorized to subscribe to the stock of the Pittsburg and Connellsville Railroad, which it did to the amount of 15,000 shares, in 1853, and this act was promptly accepted by the officials of that road (r).

Colonel William Robinson, Jr., of Allegheny was elected president of the Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad at the great meeting held in Canton, June 15, 1848, and immediately after that date books for the subscription of stock were opened in this city by Lorenz, Denny & Robinson. In October, 1849, the surveyors and engineers established the route of this road.

On March 27, 1848, the act incorporating the Pennsylvania Railroad was passed. The question of taking $1,000,000 of stock in this road was submitted to Allegheny County and was carried by a vote of 14,471 to 8,266. On the heels of this decisive action an immense convention was held in the court-house in June, 1848, on which occasion Judge Grier presided. The object of the convention was to ratify the popular vote and pass resolutions addressed to the County Commissioners, recommending the issuance of 20,000 thirty-year bonds of $50 per share. Judge Wilkins was called out and addressed the con- vention at length, and among other things said:

"In all human probability I shall not survive to see the full effect of this improvement. I have no manner of interest in it further than to subserve the interests of my fellow-citizens and those who shall come after me. I may have been wrong in many things during my long life. I have been a politician and a lawyer, but my life has always been an active one. Sometimes I have been prostrated beneath the displeasure of my fellow-citizens and crushed under a weight of unpopularity; on other occasions I have been erect; yet in all, as God is my judge, I have never meant to deceive them. . ... What do I gain, what can I gain, my fellow-citizens, by urging this upon you? I see around me few who are as old as myself. I see many of the sons of my old clients and friends. As for myself, this is perhaps the last time I shall address you, and I hope that I may not have spoken in vain" (s).

This strong speech produced a powerful impression upon the audience. The old man was so feeble as scarcely to be able to stand erect. He trembled with weakness and emotion and almost broke down more than once, but made by far the most effective address of the convention, owing to the intensely dramatic surroundings and the overpowering general interest in the success of the road. Strong affection for the old lawyer was manifested.

The convention by a vote of fifty yeas to thirty-nine nays recommended the County Commissioners to subscribe the $1,000,000 stock, which they accord- ingly did June 4, 1848, the same being accepted by the railway company June 25th. The bonds were issued and the building of the road was commenced.

The Pittsburg and Wheeling Railroad was incorporated in 1849. The Little Saw Mill Run Railroad was established in 1850-I and was designed to open up the vast coal beds on that stream. Early in 1852 the total cost of the three miles which constituted the road, including one locomotive and the necessary cars, was $41,900. In April, 1850, the Pittsburg and Erie Railroad was incor- porated.

In September, 1851, the Chartiers Coal Railroad was put in operation and an excursion went from Pittsburg to McKee's Rocks, where they took passage. In 1851 the Pittsburg and Steubenville Railroad was brought forward for consideration before a big meeting. George Darsie, Lecky Harper, Edwin

(r) Post, 1854.

(s) Extract from speech of Judge Wilkins. See Commercial Journal, May and June, 1848 ..

I39

HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

M. Stanton and Harmar Denny spoke in favor of the enterprise. Resolutions were passed to the same effect.

In April, 1852, the County of Allegheny was authorized to subscribe to the stock of the Allegheny Valley Railway, formerly the Pittsburg, Kittanning and Warren Railroad. The county commissioners were petitioned by 3,988 citizens to subscribe 20,000 shares to aid this road. They finally subscribed for 10,000 shares. The following year they subscribed for 10,000 shares in the Pittsburg and Steubenville Railway upon petition of 1,064 citizens; also 3,000 shares to the Chartiers Valley Railroad, and 3,000 shares in the Cleveland and Pittsburg Railroad. By 1857 the debt of the county amounted to $8,000,000, of which $5,500,000 was incurred in aid to railroads.

On July 1, 1850, the ground was first broken for the Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad, which had been incorporated by act of April II, 1848. Handcars ran west from Allegheny as far as Rochester on June 28, 1851. For this road seven first-class locomotives were contracted for-four in Philadelphia and three in Boston. In January, 1851, the mail from Philadelphia arrived here in thirty-one hours over the Central Railroad and the Good Intent Transportation Line. In January, 1851, William O'H. Robinson sold to the Ohio and Penn- sylvania Railroad twenty acres in Allegheny for $35,000. In February, 1851, the Central Railroad was completed to within a few miles of Pittsburg. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co. were also nearing this city with its line. The Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad was being pushed forward with wonderful speed. The Erie Railroad in New York was nearly finished and Pennsylvania knew by sorry experience that it would be fatal to her interests to permit tliat road to gain the Western trade. People here so regarded the outlook. Therefore, all railroads were assisted and pushed forward with vehement speed. Public meetings were held, petitions circulated, stock subscribed-all done under feverish enthusiasni, to be mourned for later, whether wisely or unwisely, in sackcloth and ashes.

On March 17, 1851, the first boat left here to connect with R. G. Parks' Express Packet and Railroad Line and unite with the canal at Beaver and then communicate with the Cleveland Railroad. It was possible on this date to leave here at 9 a. m., and by 2 p. m. the next day reach Cleveland at a total cost of $3.50 (t).

The laying of rails in Allegheny was begun May 12, 1851; by May 23d they were down as far as Manchester. Locomotives began to arrive here from Phila- delphia over the Central Railroad with rails, ties, chairs, etc., for the Western road. By June 2, 1851, the rails were down nearly the whole way to Beaver, and on June Ioth and IIth the grading and bridging contracts for the Ohio and Penn- sylvania road were let at Wooster, Olio. At this time the Pittsburg and Erie Railroad and the Pittsburg and Steubenville Railroad were pushed forward. This was a wonderful period. Railroads were building in every direction. Pittsburg had a half dozen or more such projects in active preparation. The old canal, over · which the hopes and tears of Pittsburg had so often been spent, was already relegated to the background, and a new era, full of higher commercial and industrial possibilities, was dawning upon this busy city, and a realization of the wonderful improvement of modern times had fastened upon the local mind. Men were yet living here who, in the light of the marvelous advancements, could scarcely credit the evidences of their own senses. They came here with the canoe, the bateau, the ark, and here now was the locomotive that could whirl them to Philadelphia in less than twenty-four hours.

The contract required that rails from Pittsburg to New Brighton should

(t) Post, 1851.

140

HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

be down by July 1, 1851; to Massillon by November 15th, and to the intersection of the Cleveland and Cincinnati Railroad by October Ist. These contracts were completed on time, and the road was formally opened with a big excursion on July 30, 1851. At this time General Robinson was president; S. W. Roberts engineer, and among the directors were Frederick Lorenz, Captain Wood and Mr. Schoenberger, of this vicinity. On October 6, 1851, a regular passenger train began to run as far as New Brighton, leaving Pittsburg at 10 a. m., and returning at 4 p. m .; fare, eighty-five cents. The Allegheny Valley Railroad, designed to connect Pittsburg with New York State, was selling shares about this date.

On November 22, 1851, the locomotive Indiana arrived at the outer depot,. near Pittsburg, from Philadelphia. On December 10, 1851, the road was formally opened with an excursion of the public to Turtle Creek, and on December II, 1851, an "express" train was scheduled to leave the Liberty Street depot every morning at 6:30, bound eastward, run twelve miles to Turtle Creek, there to connect with stages; thence to Beatty's station, twenty-eight miles away; thence by rail to Philadelphia; all for $II.

On November 24, 1851, regular "express" trains began to leave Allegheny, bound westward, for Enon Valley, forty-four miles distant; there a gap of six- teen miles was covered with stages to Salem; thence the railroad conveyed pas- sengers directly to Cleveland.

"At the last session of the Legislature thirty-one new railroad companies were chartered, and seventy-eight new supplements to other railroad companies and ninety more for incorporating plank roads were passed" (u).

By act of April, 1854, the two railways were designed to be connected by a bridge across the Allegheny River. The contract was given to Henderson, Allston & Co., and the expense fixed at $160,000. Two years later $120,000 had been spent on the bridge and toward bringing the Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne and Chicago Railroad across the river. Opposition in Allegheny had delayed the work. It was also proposed to extend the Pittsburg and Steubenville Railroad across the Ohio River at the mouth of Saw Mill Run, and then continue it over the Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad tracks to Pittsburg. In 1855 James S. Craft was president of the Pittsburg and Steubenville Railroad.

During the month of October, 1855, Pittsburg shipped to Cleveland over the railroad 4,500 tons, among which were the following items: 54,696 bars of iron and steel; 12,016 bundles of iron and steel; 15,060 kegs of nails; 19,369 pack- ages of glass; 3,463 packages of hardware; 3,763 kegs of white lead; 17,400 packages of sundry merchandise. During the first year of the operation of this road only 6,000 tons were shipped west over it; in 1855 about 30,000 tons were thus sent (v).

On September 12, 1855, a big excursion went from this vicinity to West Newton by boat and then over the Pittsburg and Connellsville Railroad to Con- nellsville to celebrate the completion of the railroad to that city. The Mayor, city councils, members of the press and many private citizens participated. On January 29, 1856, the Allegheny Valley Railroad was formally opened to Kit- tanning with a free excursion; 450 citizens made the trip. The cost of the road from Pittsburg to Kittanning was $1,796,500 for the forty-four miles. The entrance of this railroad into the city was one of the most vexatious questions of that date. In November, 1856, a continuous line of railway was opened to Chicago; three lines were united and took the name Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne and Chicago Railroad. So enormous was the freight business over the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1856 the company was obliged to enlarge its facilities, and accord-

(u) Dispatch, April, 1853.

(v) Commercial Journal, 1856.

141

HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

ingly bought a tract, 259x386 feet, near the old Methodist burying-ground, to be used as a temporary storage or warehouse. The Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne and Chicago Railroad experienced the same difficulty, and likewise overcame it by increasing its facilities. The locomotive Ashland, on which were four persons, ran across the Allegheny Railroad bridge for the first time on the morning of September 21, 1857; cars and trains soon followed. The following table shows the average of the freight business of the Pennsylvania Railroad in tons (w):

Tons Shipped.

1853.

1854.

1855. 106,406

1856. 88,707

1857.

Through, east.

34,302

45,118

94,906

Through, west.

38,837

53,826

65,564

76,456

77,167

Local, east.

10,152

13,321

127,614

196,230

238,127

Local, west

18,797

47,966

65,302

92,599

120,220

Totals

102,088

160,23I

364,886

453,992

530,420

In October, 1855, work on the Northwestern Railroad was rapidly progress- ing between Freeport and Butler, and likewise between the latter and Mercer. For the $1,500,000 stock held by Pittsburg and Allegheny County in the Pitts- burg and Steubenville Railroad, it was alleged that only $750,000 was realized, owing to the depreciation in the East of the local bonds. The discount of $300,000, or nearly thirty per cent., was looked upon with great alarm by the sagacious business men of this vicinity. The failure of General Larimer in 1854 revealed the fact that he was indebted to the Pittsburg and Connellsville Railroad to the amount of $218,799, which sum was later reduced by the assignee to $196,481. In order to assist the railway the Legislature enacted that the bonds of Allegheny County, held by the company, might be sold at a discount of twenty-five per cent. Pursuant to this act they were accordingly placed upon the market in the East, but even at that ruinous figure could not at first find a purchaser. The county and municipal credit here at this date and a little later was perhaps lower than at any other time in the history of this community. No wonder the people groaned under the enormous burden, and no wonder the party called the "Repudiationists" sprang into numerical and vigorous strength.

Many citizens at the outset had objected strenuously to the wholesale manner in which the cities and county bound themselves to aid the railways. In most cases they pledged themselves to pay interest on the bonds in case the railways were unable to pay. Several of the railways paid such interest for a time, and then failed to do so, while several could not do so from the start. This threw the burden upon the cities and county, until, in 1857, it was found necessary to levy an eight mill tax to pay current railway obligations. Hence arose the Repudiationists, the father of whom was Hon. Thomas Williams. This faction was the strongest political force in the county in 1857. The contest over the bonds marks an important epoch in the history of the county.

It may be said as a fact that the existence of the canal prevented the char- tering of the Central Railroad for several years, because it was argued as unfair to parallel the canal with another public highway that was certain to rob it of much of its carrying trade. The difficulty was avoided by uniting the two high- ways. In 1857 the Legislature sold the public works (canals, Portage Railway, etc.); but, through the Supreme Court, the canal commissioners enjoined the State from making the transfer. It became a political question, and finally turned upon the partisan complexion of the Supreme Court. The Pennsylvania Railway was enjoined from purchasing such public works. At last all con- troversy was settled by the transfer of the property to the railroad.

(w) Commercial Journal, 1858.

142

HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

While the bill for incorporating the Pennsylvania Railway was pending in the Legislature many in that body feared the competition between that highway and the canal, and so at first refused to let the former have the use of the Portage Railway. On February 15, 1854, the mountain division of the railroad was opened for use, whereupon the Portage Railroad fell into disuse, though it had been employed since 1848 by the Pennsylvania Company. The Governor, by proclamation, August 1, 1857, transferred to the Pennsylvania Railway the canal and the Portage Railway, and the two latter were permitted to languish, and finally became extinct before or during the War of the Rebellion.

In 1860 the following railway indebtedness hung like a millstone around the neck of this community:

ALLEGHENY COUNTY.

Pittsburg and Connellsville. $ 750,000

Allegheny Valley. .

750,000

Pittsburg and Steubenville.

500,000

Pittsburg and Cleveland

150,000

Chartiers Valley.

150,000

CITY OF PITTSBURG.

Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne and Chicago $

200,000

Pittsburg and Steubenville.

550,000

Pittsburg and Connellsville.

500,000

Allegheny Valley

400,000

Chartiers Valley

150,000

CITY OF ALLEGHENY.

Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne and Chicago

$ 400,000

Total

$4,500,000

County assessment outside of cities

$12,500,000

City of Pittsburg 10,500,000

City of Allegheny .

3,000,000

Total

$26,000,000

CHAPTER VII.

COMMERCE-STORES OF THE INDIAN TRADERS-THEIR GOODS, HOW AND WHERE OBTAINED- EARLY MERCHANTS AND MERCANTILE PURSUITS-VARIETIES OF GOODS REQUIRED-IMPORTANCE OF THE TRADE OF THE GREAT WEST-THE NEW ORLEANS MARKET-EXTENT OF LOCAL MANUFACTURES-SELLING AND BARTERING - COMPARISONS OF PRICES - CHARACTER AND EXTENT OF TRADE BY WAGONS AND RIVERS-GREAT INCREASE OF COMMERCE IN 1812-15-THE HARD TIMES OF 1818 -- 21-IMPORTANCE AND AGGREGATE OF THE REVENUE FROM THE CARRYING TRADE-ACTION IN OPPOSI- TION TO THE USE OF IMPORTED GOODS, ETC.

In very early times Pittsburg consisted of a motley collection of characters- Indians, hunters, traders, troops, professional men, adventurers, mechanics, law- breakers and a sprinkling of the few who, in the earliest directories, were denom- inated "gentlemen," a class that brought, or thought they brought, to the wilder- ness with them the cultured taste and elegant manners of the older districts of the East or of Europe. The few persons of real culture made haste to show their accomplishments and to assert their social superiority. The others, unmindful of a higher order of social life, pursued their wild Western ways and apparently lived as happily as their more refined neighbors. Social lines were strictly drawn and none was admitted to the select circle without the proper passport. Arthur Lee, who visited this place in 1784 and failed to reach the inner circle, libeled the inhabitants by insinuating that the town was destitute of good manners and refinement. He wrote only of whom and of what he saw-the wild borderers, the savages, the renegades, the adventurers. He did not write of the few of noble blood, refined manners and classical education. He may have written in a revengeful mood, not having been permitted to enter the best homes. And yet his assertions have worried the inhabitants of Pittsburg from that day to this. As a matter of history, the place was full of blacklegs and perhaps criminals, though here and there a home of love, purity, law and religion shone out like a star. Yes, the town was rough, wild, largely bad, but full of golden possibilities, because the seed of education, order and Christianity had been sown among the tumbleweeds which infested the border.

The earliest commercial transactions here were between the white traders and the Indians. The establishment of Fort Duquesne in 1754 and of Fort Pitt in 1758 insured the permanent location here of stores with general lines · of merchandise. The character and quality of the goods suited the demands of the times. As late as 1786 tomahawks and scalping knives were kept for sale here (a). Immediately after the Revolution trade began to assume greater importance. Wagons began regularly to cross the mountains, carrying away the produce of the frontier and bringing back the merchandise needed in the new country. Boats began to ply regularly up and down the rivers on the same mission, and homes sprang up in all parts of Western Pennsylvania. It is said that James McBride and others descended the Ohio River as early as 1754 (b). As early as 1782 Jacob Yoder descended the Monongahela and Ohio rivers from

(a) Gazette, 1786.

(b) Filson's History of Kentucky.

143

144

HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

Fort Redstone to New Orleans in a flatboat loaded with produce (c). In the year 1784 sixty-three wagon-loads of merchandise arrived in Pittsburg from over the mountains. From October 10, 1786, to May 12, 1787, there floated down the Ohio River past Fort Harmer, at the mouth of the Muskingum River, 177 boats, 2,689 people, 1,333 horses, 766 cattle, 102 wagons and I phaeton (d). This list did not include those which passed in the night unobserved.

Craig, Bayard & Co. were one of the leading mercantile firms in 1786 and before; they dissolved in July of that year, and stated that produce at its cash valtie would be received in payment of debts due the firm. Daniel Britt & Co. were prominent contractors and merchants, and called for wood ashes, and John and Samuel Calhoun conducted a general store in John Watson's house on Front Street. Britt & Co. called for ginseng, but stated that it must be dried slowly and not in an oven. It was a chief article of export-all the merchants wanted it. They advertised that all their goods were exchangeable for cash, flour, whisky, beef, pork, bacon, wheat, rye, oats, corn, ashes, candlewick, tallow, etc. Wilson & Wallace owned a general store next door to David Duncan's tavern on Water Street. John McDonald had conducted a general store here previous to September, 1786. William Hawting sold clocks and watches. Isaac Craig's saw- mill was in operation in 1786. William Tilton & Co.and William & Thomas Green- ough conducted stores here then. Colonel John Gibson, who had been in business here for many years, still kept for sale "dry and wet goods" on the river bank, between David Duncan's and John Ormsby's and kept tavern for "man and beast." William Wilson of Wilson & Wallace was an auctioneer. He sold out the effects of a Mr. Volck, who had been an Indian trader here, and among the same were one and one-third dozen scalping knives. James Williamson was a merchant about this time. Alexander Fowler, who married Sally, daughter of the old settler, Devereux Smith, conducted a store in 1786. Thomas Greenough mar- ried Elizabeth, another daughter of Devereux Smith. Charles Richards kept a bakery. The store of General James O'Hara, where both "dry and wet goods" were dispensed, had long been a familiar feature here. William Rowley, Free- man & Leverin, G. Fowler and E. Butler were merchants here early in 1787. Barnebas McShane removed his tavern from Black Horse Alley to the Harp and Crown on Third Street in the summer of 1787. The Gazette kept for sale state laws, history of the Revolution, the New Testament, Dilworth's spelling- books, New England Primers with the Catechism, Dutch quills, ink-powder, sealing-wax, wafers, etc. A large general store was conducted by John Wilkins & Co. in 1787. Andrew Watson kept tavern. David Kennedy owned a general store here in 1787; so did John and William Irwin. Alexander and William Fowler, who had been partners in merchandising here, dissolved in October, 1787. William Amberson managed a big store here in 1787. Gregg & Baker sold jewelry, particularly "Pascall's golden drops," whatever they may have been. Their advertisement sounds like a modern patent medicine announce- ment. Blain, Wilkins & Co. were prosperous merchants in 1787. They and others complained grievously over the scarcity of cash and said that no further credit would be given by them without sonie cash as well as produce. M. Curtis sold hats. William Braden and Thomas Wylie were partners in merchandising in 1787-8; they dissolved in March, 1788. Adamson and Josiah Tannehill, mer- cliants, dissolved partnership in April, 1788. In 1788 Elliott, Williams & Co. conducted a large store in the old building at Front and Ferry streets, formerly occupied by Devereux Smith. Craig, Bayard & Co., Daniel Britt & Co., Isaac Craig & Co., Turnbull, Marmie & Co., were large and prosperous mercantile

(d) From journal kept by the Adjutant of the post.

147

HISTORY OF PITTSBURG.

houses here in the autumn of 1788. In 1789 Adam Funk, W. H. Beaumont and Gray & Forbes also were in business here (e).

"If we had more dairymaids and fewer fine ladies, more graziers and fewer distilleries, more artists and fewer hunters, a good breed of horses and fewer packers, the country would be more prosperous" (f).

"It ought to be a great object with the State of Pennsylvania to encourage and cultivate the town of Pittsburg. It will be a means which will bind the two extremes of the State together. The greater part of those who settle here are from that city, or the counties within the State and below the mountains. These have connections in trade or manufactures with those whom they have left behind. A town of note at the confluence of these rivers must for ages secure the trade of the Western country to Pennsylvania" (g).

"From the 6th of July last to the 10th instant the following peltry was brought up by one trader in this place from the Indians and mostly paid for in whisky and flour: 2,173 summer deer skins, 74 fall do., 48 fawn, 94 bear, 37 elk, 84 beaver, 387 raccoon, 29 fox, 219 muskrat, 29 fishers, 14 martens, 15 wildcats, 17 wolves, 16 panthers, 67 pair moccasins. What must the whole Indian trade of this place amount to during that time or for one year-what the advantages of the Indian trade to this town and the country adjacent!" (h)

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Standard history of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Part 16

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