History of Davidson County, Tennessee, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 54

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1013

USA > Tennessee > Davidson County > History of Davidson County, Tennessee, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 54

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The first steamboat, called the " Andrew Jackson," built at Pittsburgh, and owned by Governor William Carroll, arrived at Nashville in 1819. She was one hundred and ten tons burthen. He sold the boat for thirty-three thou- sand -dollars to Messrs. Fletcher, Young & Marr. Freight from here to New Orleans was then five cents per hundred pounds. In the course of two or three years the steam- boat business increased considerably, wharves were built, and commission- and forwarding-houses were opened. The pioneer boat was snagged and sunk in Harpeth Shoals, June 20, 1821. The next steamboat which arrived here was the " General Robertson," built on the Ohio River for a company in Nashville in 1820-21. The third was the " Rifleman," built at Cairo, near Gallatin, Tenn., by a com- pany of men living there, and was commanded by Sterling M. Barner, who afterwards commanded the "Tennessee" and the " Ellen Kirkman," owned by Col. A. W. Johnson and John K. Rayburn. The " Ellen Kirkman" was a famous craft in her day, and was named after the mother of John Kirkman, Esq., a well-known citizen of Nashville and president of the Third National Bank. This boat was built for the Nashville and New Orleans trade in 1838 at New Albany. Her original owners were Anthony W. Johnson, John K. Rayburn, Thomas R. Price, James Johnson, John and Robinson Yeatman, and Sterling M. Barner, her captain and builder. All of these men are dead except the first named, who, at the advanced age of ninety, lives near Nashville.

RAILROADS.

Six railroads enter Nashville,-viz., the Nashville and Chattanooga and Northwestern Railroads, consolidated, forming the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Rail- way; the Louisville and Nashville and Nashville and De- catur, consolidated ; the St. Louis and Southeastern ; and the Tennessee and Pacific, extending to Lebanon, Tenn. Two others are in process of construction, the Owensboro' and Russellville and the Cumberland and Ohio, and a route for a narrow-gauge road from Nashville to Clarksville has also been surveyed. A brief historical sketch will be given of some of the older and more important of these roads, together with some statistical information.

In the year 1837 a proposition was introduced into the Legislature by William Armour, of Shelby County, to unite the Mississippi with the seaboard by constructing a line of railway from Memphis to Nashville, thence to Knoxville, and through to the Atlantic Ocean. He suc- ceeded in enlisting many in its favor, but the great finan- cial crash of that year rendered the movement unsuccessful. Still there were a few who adhered to the project notwith-

standing the ridicule which they received from the people as visionaries and enthusiasts. Among these may be men- tioned Dr. James Overton, a man of far-seeing sagacity, undaunted resolution, and indefatigable genius. In a contest for the Legislature in 1843 he advocated the building of a railroad from Nashville to Chattanooga, to connect with the Western Atlantic. Chattanooga at that time was a mere shipping-station in a wild section of country, hemmed in by rugged mountains, but lately aban- doned by the Indians, and in every respect unpromising. But the keen foresight of Dr. Overton had pointed out Chattanooga as the grand focus at which must converge the lines of traffic from the Southern States, and that by opening communication with that point Nashville would command a large trade from the cotton-growing districts of Georgia and Alabama. But the people did not so regard it, and his scheme was looked upon as the delusive dream of a fanatic. He was defeated and was nicknamed " Old Chattanooga," a cognomen which he retained till the pe- riod of his death,-in life a name of ridicule, depreciation, mockery ; in death one of crowning honor, pointing out the wisdom, the sagacity, and the almost prophetic foresight of him who bore it.

Though the labors of Dr. Overton were fruitless in prac- tical results, he sowed the seeds which were soon to germi- nate and bring forth fruit. About the year 1845 the de- pression in business circles, which had continued so long, began to be relieved. The growing trade of Nashville made other outlets than the Cumberland River a necessity. Other portions of the State began to show signs of an awakening interest in the subject of railroads, doubtless stimulated in some degree by the action of Georgia in chartering a road to run from Augusta to Chattanooga. The subject was brought before the Legislature, and under the pressure of influential citizens of Nashville it passed an act on the 11th of December, 1845, to incorporate " a railroad from Nashville, on the Cumberland River, to Chat- tanooga, on the Tennessee River," and by the seventeenth section of that act authorized " any State or citizen, corpo- ration or company, to subscribe for and hold stock in said company, with all the rights and subject to all the liabilities of any of the stockholders."

The act was amended by the Legislature on the 9th of December, 1847, in which provision was made that the town of Nashville, through its mayor and aldermen, be author- ized to subscribe five hundred thousand dollars, and was also further authorized to raise money on loan by pledging the faith of the corporation, by pledging a portion of its taxes, by mortgage or otherwise, to an amount not exceed- ing what might be demanded for the calls upon the stock, and that the loan might be created for such a length of time and payable in such manner as the mayor and alder- men might deem best. The mayor and aldermen were also authorized, should they deem such a course best, to issue the bonds of the corporation, provided the bonds so issued should be in sums not less than five hundred dollars each, and that they should not be at any greater rate of interest than six per cent. per annum, and should not be payable at a greater distance of time than thirty years.

These measures were resisted by the minority, and were

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HISTORY OF DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE.

characterized as iniquitous, visionary, and unconstitutional. A bill was filed in chancery to enjoin the subscription to the road or the issuing of bonds by the corporation. On appeal it was taken to the Supreme Court, and finally de- cided at the December term, 1848, the opinion being deliv- ered by Judge Turley. This opinion, able in its arguments and irresistible in its conclusions, decided that the Legisla- ture of Tennessee had the constitutional power to authorize the corporation of Nashville to take stock in the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad; that the making of this road was a legitimate purpose of the corporation, and that it was legally authorized to pay for its subscription to the stock of said road in either of the modes pointed out by the act of 1847.

It was about the time that the charter was obtained that Vernon K. Stevenson, a merchant unknown to fame, un- dertook to canvass the city and create a public sentiment in favor of the enterprise. He entered upon his work with a zeal and an energy which foreshadowed success. He visited every house, the high and the low, the rich and the poor, and secured the signatures of fully two-thirds of the popu- lation in favor of the subscription. Godfrey M. Fogg, Esq., who was one of his most earnest and efficient co-lab- orers, and who was acting at the time as the chairman of the city finance committee, had the honor of first signing his name in assent to the proposition. For two years Mr. Stevenson canvassed this question, often repelled, but never discouraged ; often perplexed, but never in despair; hope- ful, constant, persistent, working in season and out of sea- son, until he at last succeeded in accomplishing his purpose, -that of moulding the public sentiment in favor of building the road. Acting under the authority of the Legislature, the city readily voted five hundred thousand dollars to be expended in the construction of the road. This appropria- tion being secured, Mr. Stevenson, in the winter of 1847-48, visited Charleston, S. C., for the purpose of soliciting aid from that city. At first the opposition to his scheme was violent, and in advocating it he even had to endure the irri- tation of ridicule, it being considered presumptuous in the people of Tennessee to ask for an appropriation from a State not contiguous in aid of an internal improvement from which they would derive no immediate benefit. Un- daunted by these manifestations of opposition, he had the tact to secure a large attendance of the citizens at a public meeting, which meeting was continued for several evenings, and, though no orator, his plain, practical, luminous state- ments, enforced as they were with earnestness, directness, and candor, wrought conviction in the minds of a majority of the citizens, and before leaving the city he obtained an appropriation of five hundred thousand dollars. The success which he had attained in the accomplishment of his cher- ished design inspired him with renewed energy. Stopping at Augusta, he secured from the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and from the corporation of Murfreesboro' thirty thousand dollars, which enabled him, with the private subscriptions that were afterwards received and the aid which the State rendered by endorsing the company's bonds, to enter upon the work of construction.

Nor must we forget to mention the great services rendered

by Hon. James C. Jones, ex-Governor of the State. He canvassed many counties in aid of the enterprise, and se- cured a large subscription. His popular and fervid eloquence won many friends for the road, and awakened enthusiasm all along the route.

In the month of January, 1848, the company was or- ganized, and Mr. Stevenson was elected president. He continued in that position until the breaking out of the civil war. His arduous and long-continued services in the interest of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad have secured for ·him the title of the father of the railway system of Tennessee. The work upon the road was begun shortly after the organization of the company, but it was not opened for business till 1854, although the portion from Nashville to Bridgeport, on the Tennessee River, was put in operation in May, 1853, which, with the aid of steamboats, opened communication with Chattanooga.

It will be well to give the reader a few facts respecting the construction of other branches of the Tennessee system of railroads.

The Memphis and Charleston road was chartered Feb. 2, 1846, the charter authorizing a capital stock of eight hundred thousand dollars. Under the persevering labors of ex-Governor James C. Jones, who was the first president, Col. Samuel Tate, Joseph Lenow, Minor Meriwether, and others, the road was brought to a successful completion in 1857.

The East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad was chartered as the Hiawassee Railroad in 1836, and was completed and opened in 1856, twenty years after obtaining the charter. Maj. Campbell Wallace was then president. This road, especially that portion between Chattanooga and Cleveland, located and built under the superintendence of Col. R. C. Morris, as chief engineer, is well constructed. The bridges across a majority of the streams are built of stone, and the one across the Chickamauga is by all odds the most substan- tial structure to be found in the State.

The completion of the East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad, in 1858, formed a connecting-link between the two great systems of roads,-those on the northeast with those of Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. The two lines of railroad from Bristol to Knoxville, and from the latter place to Dalton, Ga. (and by a branch to Chattanooga), have been consolidated into one line, under the name of the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad.

The construction of other railroads followed in quick succession. Internal improvement was stimulated by the munificent aid received from the State under the operations of the Omnibus Bill, which was enacted by the Legislature in 1851-52. The provisions of this bill were most generous. ' Under it State aid to the amount of ten thousand dollars per mile was given every railroad in process of construction, or thereafter to be constructed, under certain regulations and restrictions.

From 1850 to 1860 one thousand two hundred and fifty- three miles of railroad were built in the State. The decade which follows shows only two hundred and thirty-nine miles, and since January, 1871, one hundred and forty-two miles, making in all one thousand six hundred and thirty-four miles at this time, May, 1880. In proportion to popula-

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CITY OF NASHVILLE.

tion, Tennessee has one mile of railroad for every seven hundred and fifty inhabitants, and one mile for every twenty-six square miles. England has one mile for every six square miles ; Ohio has one mile of railroad for every six hundred and forty inhabitants, and for every nine and seven-tenths square miles ; Connecticut, one mile for every six hundred and forty-one inhabitants, and for five and two- tenths square miles ; and New York, one for every nine hundred and fourteen inhabitants, and nine and six-tenths square miles.

The Nashville and Chattanooga, in connection with the Nashville and Northwestern, owned and operated by the same company, is the shortest line from the West to the Southeast, and in addition to all-rail connections with Louis- ville, Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis in the North and West, and with New Orleans, Montgomery, Mobile, Atlanta, Savannah, Augusta, Port Royal, Charleston, and Wilming- ton in the Southeast, has the Mississippi, Tennessee, and Cumberland Rivers to draw from. It traverses the heart of the richest sections in the State, passing directly through the middle of the Great Central Basin, throwing out arms to Shelbyville and Jasper, tapping the coal region at Cowan, intersecting the valley of the Tennessee River, and pene- trating a considerable portion of the cotton-growing district of Alabama ; then passing through a rich coal region on to Chattanooga. It also forms a junction with the McMinn- ville and Manchester road at Tullahoma, with the Fayette- ville road at Decherd, with the Suwanee road at Cowan, and with the Memphis and Charleston road at Stevenson. It is, in fact, a grand trunk line, gathering the products from each side through subordinate roads its entire length. It is now in first-rate order, with fine track, new bridges, fully equipped with superior engines, and the entire road, with the exception of seventeen miles south of Decherd, is laid with fish-bar iron.

The main line of road, from Nashville to Chattanooga, is one hundred and fifty-one miles in length ; from Wartrace to Shelbyville is a branch road eight miles in length, and from Bridgeport, Ala., to Jasper, another branch, fourteen miles; sidings and other tracks, eleven miles; in all, one hundred and eighty-four miles. Gauge, five feet ; rails, sixty-five pounds to the yard.

From a report made on the 13th of August, 1873, to the president, Col. E. W. Cole, by the general superinten- dent, Mr. J. W. Thomas, we gather the following informa- tion in regard to the business of this line for the year ending June 30, 1873 : The receipts of the Chattanooga division have increased from $80,000 to $138,000 per month, or 58 per cent. Deducting the carnings of the Shelbyville and Jasper branches ($12,932.23), the receipts of the Chatta- nooga division average $10,878, expenses $7753.95, and net earnings $3124.05 per mile of road,-an average un- equaled but by two roads south of the Ohio River, the total operating expenses, ordinary and extraordinary, being seventy-one and one-half per cent. of gross earnings. There have been forwarded from Nashville over the Chat- tanooga division 26,263 loaded and 5215 empty freight- cars, and 4027 passenger- and baggage-cars, making a total of 35,505 cars forwarded and 35,734 received; 1356 pas- senger-trains have been run over this division between

Nashville and Chattanooga, 720 between Stevenson and Chattanooga, and 570 between Wartrace and Nashville, a total of 2646 passenger-trains, transporting, without the slightest accident, 166,184 passengers, an average of 62 passengers per train, hauling 2.3 tons of dead weight to each passenger. There were transported 87,130 passengers north and 97,054 south, of which 47,861 were through and 118,323 local, at an average for through of $3.80 and for local of $1.75 each ; general average from each passen- ger, $2.34. Including passage, mail, and express, but ex- cluding Memphis and Charleston Railroad tolls, the receipts of the day passenger-trains have been $187,653.45, an average of $549.54 per round trip, or $1.98 per mile run. Receipts of the night passenger-trains were $165,530, an average of $453 per round trip, or $1.50 per mile run. Receipts of accommodation-trains, $36,106.75, an average of $115.35 per round trip, or $1.05 per mile run. Pas- senger-train mileage was 239,186 miles; earnings per train mile, $1.62; expenses, $1.12; net earnings, 50 cents. Car mileage, 956,744 miles ; earnings per mile, 40 cents; ex- penses, 28 cents ; net earnings, 12 cents.

There have been run 4414 freight-trains between Nash- ville and Chattanooga, 829 between Stevenson and Chatta- nooga, 620 between Bridgeport and Chattanooga, 87 bc- tween Cowan and Chattanooga, and 161 between Cowan and Nashville, making 6111 freight-trains, transporting 384,240 tons, at an average of $3.18 per ton. Average number of cars per train, 14} ; total mileage of freight- trains, 717,519 miles ; earnings per mile, $1.72; expenses, $1.23; net carnings, 49 cents. Total freight-car mileage, 10,477,162 miles; earnings per car per mile, 11g cents; expenses, 8g cents; net earnings, 33 cents. Total train mileage, 956,770 miles ; train earnings per mile, less Mem- phis and Charleston Railroad tolls, $1.70; expenses, $1.2076 ; net earnings, 4916 cents.

A comparison of the statistics of this road with the re- ports of Massachusetts shows that the expenses per train mile are ten cents less here than in that State.

From the tabulated reports made in 1873, it appears that the lumber shipped from the stations on the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad going north and south amounted to over 5,000,000 feet ; coal, over 3,500,000 bushels ; cotton, 29,000 bales ; bacon, 1,500,000 pounds; wheat, 332,000 bushels ; corn, 211,000 bushels ; flour, 6200 barrels; oats, 10,600 bushels; hay, only 287 tons; hogs, 373 car-loads ; cattle, 211 car-loads ; horses and mules, 71 car-loads. These figures are important as showing the productiveness of the country through which the road passes, but they leave out of the account a vast amount of minor products and merchandise shipped over the road.

NASHVILLE AND NORTHWESTERN RAILROAD.

This road, now consolidated with the Nashville and Chat- tanooga, forming the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway, was chartered as early as 1852, and was in the course of construction when the civil war put a check to all public enterprises in the State. It was projected by Vernon K. Stevenson, then president of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, who caused the surveys to be made, and secured a large amount of subscriptions in different

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HISTORY OF DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE.

counties and towns supposed to be most interested in the enterprise. Little, if any, of these subscriptions were ever paid. The city of Nashville raised two hundred and seventy thousand dollars, with which the work of construction was begun, and it had progressed but twenty-nine miles from Nashville and four from Johnsonville, and was running to Kingston Springs, when the war commenced. During the war the United States, for military purposes, built the road to the Tennessee River at Johnsonville. At the close of hostilities Mr. Michael Burns, who was then president of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, applied to the Legislature for the amount the road was entitled to under the then existing laws, both for ironing and bridging. Through his active and continued exertions the entire aid was granted, and with it Mr. Burns was enabled to com- plete and open the road to Hickman, Ky., as originally planned and surveyed. Mr. Burns accomplished this work when labor was high and bonds were low, and when great energy, judgment, and ability were required to carry it to completion. It was finished towards the close of 1868.

On the 27th of October, 1869, the president of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, Col. E. W. Cole, sub- mitted a written proposition on the part of his road to the directors of the Nashville and Northwestern, in which he agreed to lease the last-mentioned road for a period of six years, to put the road in good repair, to pay out certain amounts for salaries, and to pay to the State of Tennessee, monthly, any surplus earnings which were to be credited to the interest due or to become due to the State upon the bonds issued to the lessor. Any surplus after this should be paid to the lessor. This lease continued in operation for three years, when, upon the suggestion of Col. Cole, a two-thirds interest in the road was bought by the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad from the commissioners appointed by the Legislature and the Court of Chancery to sell delin- quent railroads in the State, individuals in Tennessee and New York taking the other third. The whole cost was two million four hundred thousand dollars in Tennessee bonds. After this the road was repaired thoroughly, new bridges constructed, new trestles built, new iron laid, and the whole road put in excellent order. Subsequently the directors of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, be- lieving it to be for the best interest of the company, bought out the one-third interest held by individuals, and the com- pany now owns the entire route from Chattanooga to Hick- man, Ky., as well as the branches to Jasper and Shelbyville, making the entire length three hundred and forty-one miles. This line is now called the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway.

The gross earnings of the whole line for the year ending June 30, 1873, were $2,298,200.67, and accrued from

Freight

$1,607,328.35

Passengers

618,781.96

Mail

40,582.39

Rents and privileges.

31,507.97

Total, as above.

$2,298,200.67

For the Chattanooga division :

Freight.

$1,222,841.50

Passage

388,476.77

Mail

25,580.00

Rents and Privileges

18,621.00

$1,655,519.31

The expenses were for

Maintenance and improvement of roadway. $329,208.28

Maintenance and improvement of motive power.

389,207.92

Maintenance of cars 96,404.19

Conducting transportation

287.445.17

Miscellaneous ...

81,528.15

Net earnings

$1,183,787.66 $471,731.65

For the St. Louis division :

Freight $334,486.85

Passage

230,305.19

Mail.

15,002.35

Rents and Privileges

12,886.97

$612,631.36

Expenses ..

559,150.33

Net earnings.

$83,531.03

LOUISVILLE, NASHVILLE AND GREAT SOUTHERN RAILROAD.

The main line of this road, from Louisville to Nashville, is one hundred and eighty-five miles. It was opened for business in November, 1859. The Memphis branch, ex- tending from Bowling Green, Ky., to Memphis. Tenn., a distance of two hundred and sixty-four miles, and embra- cing the Memphis and Ohio and the Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Railroads, was opened in 1860. The two last-mentioned roads, built under separate charters, were bought by the company and consolidated. The Nashville and Decatur road was leased for thirty years, commencing July 1, 1872. The company acquired a controlling interest in the stock of the South and North Alabama Railroad, which was completed in October, 1872, putting the capital city of Tennessee in direct communication with the capital of Alabama.

This road now constitutes one of the largest corporations of the South. It was the first road which placed in com- munication the cotton States of the South and Southwest with the great grain-growing States of the Northwest. Striking out boldly through the heart of Kentucky, it has thrown out branches and extended its main line until the aggregate number of miles has reached seven hundred and thirty-seven, three hundred and eighty of which are in the State of Tennessee. The value of property owned by the corporation is $25,583,575.91. The total earnings for the year ending June 30, 1873, were $4,909,426.44 ; expenses, $3,498,303.29, showing a net profit of $1,411,123.15. A dividend of seven per cent. was paid out of the earnings, besides interest on $14,820,500 bonded debt.

ST. LOUIS AND SOUTHEASTERN RAILWAY.

This road is very important to Nashville, and to the whole country along its route. It traverses one of the most fertile regions of the Mississippi Valley, and also passes directly through the immense coal-fields of Western Ken- tucky and Illinois. The quantity of coal shipped to Nash- ville by this road is estimated to be four hundred and forty- nine thousand bushels ; to points south of Nashville, one hundred thousand bushels. All the towns on the line of the road from Henderson, Ky., to Nashville are supplied with coal from the mines in Kentucky, while immense quantities are carried to St. Louis from the coal-fields of Illinois. In addition to coal, tobacco, wheat, corn, and other products are transported by this road in large quantities.

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History of Davidson County, Tennessee, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 54

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford) Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1013

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1013