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The original of this book is in 
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 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030109122 
 
BETWEEN THE OCEAN 
 AND THE LAKES 
 
 THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 By EDWARD HAROLD MOTT 
 
 X 
 
 New York : 
 
 TICKER PUBLISHING CO. 
 
 45 EXCHANGE PLACE, 
 iqo8 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1899, BY 
 
 JOHN S. COLLINS 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1901, BY 
 JOHN S. COLLINS 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1907, BY 
 JOHN S. COLLINS 
 
THE REASON FOR IT. 
 
 Why the history of a railroad ? Particularly, why 
 a history of the Erie ? Many times during his work 
 in the production of this Story of Erie the author 
 was asked those questions. They were apt, and it 
 was but natural that they should have been asked, 
 for, at first thought, it is difficult for the average per- 
 son to understand what there might be of interest or 
 general importance in the details of the conception 
 or building of a railroad. To-day there could be 
 but little more than local interest or importance in 
 such an undertaking, for the land is thick with rail- 
 roads, and the purpose of none now constructing or 
 to be constructed can be broader than that of local 
 benefit. But when the idea for a railroad through 
 the region and over the route now occupied by the 
 Erie first found expression, seventy years ago, rail- 
 roads were so strange in this country, so almost un- 
 heard-of, in fact, that in but three States of the 
 Union had there been any movement made toward 
 a practical application of them as a means of trans- 
 portation — in Massachusetts, in Pennsylvania, and in 
 Maryland ; less than sixty miles of railroad, or of what 
 then passed for railroad, in all the broad land. The 
 Massachusetts railroad was built to haul stone on, 
 from a quarry, by horse-power. The Pennsylvania 
 railroads were used and to be used for hauling coal 
 from the mines, the cars running by their own grav- 
 ity, or being hauled by stationary engines up in- 
 clined planes. The Maryland railroad alone had 
 been designed for the carrying of passengers as well 
 as freight, with the hope that some day it might ex- 
 tend as far as the Allegheny Mountains of Virginia — 
 and the cars were drawn by horses. The idea of the 
 railroad as the one great factor in the development, 
 the expansion, the civilization of the country had 
 not inspired any of the undertakings named, and 
 had found no expression until William C. Redfield 
 
 evolved it and called public attention to it, before 
 the sound of a locomotive whistle or the whirr of 
 a locomotive's wheels had been heard on the Ameri- 
 can continent ; and from that idea came the Erie, the 
 first projected link of all the links of railroad that 
 have been welded into one great chain of connection 
 between the Atlantic and the Pacific, making not 
 only possible, but creating, the marvellous develop- 
 ment of theretofore unknown regions, and peopling 
 them with industrious millions. 
 
 When the movement toward the construction of 
 the Erie began, Missouri was the only State west 
 of the Mississippi ; Chicago was a small village clus- 
 tered about Fort Dearborn, and yet unnamed ; Buf- 
 falo was a Western village, and Detroit a frontier post. 
 Summer and winter saw the poor emigrant, with his 
 whole household in a hooded wagon, which often 
 served for vehicle, stable, and tavern, moving toil- 
 somely to the distant West, or what was then called 
 the distant West, and it was rarely more distant than 
 Illinois. Beyond the Mississippi was virtually a land 
 unknown to emigration. 
 
 Redfield's idea for such a railroad as he advocated 
 involved even more than the project of those who at 
 last acted upon it. He planned for the construction 
 of a railroad from the Hudson River to the Missis- 
 sippi, but that was a project beyond the power of 
 his contemporaries to grasp the magnitude of. They 
 said : " Let us reach Lake Erie with our railroad. 
 Then other railroads will come from the West to 
 meet us." And railroads did come from the West to 
 meet them, brought into existence by the advance of 
 the Erie westward. Then, as the Erie project took 
 on form and substance, its purpose aroused the East 
 to action, and Massachusetts began the pushing of a 
 railroad westward, to share in, if not rule, the pros- 
 pects brought to view by the Erie idea. If the build- 
 
IV 
 
 THE REASON FOR IT 
 
 ing of the Erie had not been begun when it was, New 
 York City and Central New York would have been 
 without railroads for years, for it was the prospective 
 uniting of the Hudson with Lake Erie by such a rail- 
 road that spurred the interests between Albany and 
 Buffalo to the building of the local lines that were 
 consolidated as the New York Central Railroad soon 
 after the Erie was completed to Dunkirk. Boston's 
 connection by rail with the West was hastened a 
 decade or more by the Erie undertaking. It was 
 because the Erie was advancing toward Lake Erie 
 that all that system of railroads now known as the 
 Lake Shore and Michigan Southern came into ex- 
 istence as early as they did, and that lines of railroad 
 from the South and from the North were projected, 
 and their building was begun and carried forward to 
 meet the advancing Erie at some point along its 
 route. Thus it may be said, truthfully, that the 
 history of Erie is indirectly the history of the rail- 
 roads of the country; and as the prosecution of the 
 work of building and finishing the Erie between the 
 ocean and the lakes, and the early operations upon 
 it, were fraught with stirring and exciting incident 
 without precedent here or elsewhere ; involved so 
 much of personal sacrifice, and enlisted in it the 
 efforts of men so prominent socially and financially ; 
 brought into the commercial life of the country so 
 much that was new and of universal benefit ; evolved 
 so many ideas in the science of railroading that be- 
 came the basis of the future great development of 
 that science, to the general good ; and gave such op- 
 portunity, then and later in its existence, for the 
 enhancement of individual interests and schemes, 
 which opportunity was so eagerly seized and acted 
 upon as to bring into the records of Erie events 
 as startling and dramatic as any that enliven the 
 pages of fiction, the story of it all stands unique 
 among the chronicles of the time, and appeals not 
 alone to one locality, nor simply to one particular 
 class of readers. It is not alone the history of a rail- 
 
 road. It is a history of men, and measures, and 
 methods that for two generations were potent in the 
 social, financial, and commercial affairs of this country 
 and Europe ; and every page of it is of human in- 
 terest. This had long been in the thought of the 
 author. Hence " The Story of Erie." 
 
 To tell of the task the compiling of such a nar- 
 rative entailed would require a chapter as long as 
 any in the book itself. It was begun more than five 
 years ago, and has been in almost constant prosecu- 
 tion. The records of three-quarters of a century, 
 many of them long forgotten and hard to find, had 
 to be examined ; musty files of newspapers, old a 
 generation ago, carefully scanned, number by num- 
 ber and year by year ; old publications bearing on 
 the subject, rare, and of obscure possession, hunted 
 up and read ; railroad reports for nearly seventy 
 years past inspected, volume by volume, and the 
 Erie's showing in them analyzed and digested ; the 
 records of Wall Street for half a century compiled ; 
 the survivors of Erie's departed days, few and widely 
 scattered about the country, unearthed, and inter- 
 viewed as to their reminiscences of those days — all 
 these things, and many more, had to be accomplished 
 before the Story of Erie could be told. It may well be 
 expressed in the words of quaint Thomas i. Wood 
 of old : " A painfull work, I'll assure you, and more 
 than difficult ; wherein what toyle hath been taken 
 as no man thinketh, so no man believeth, save he 
 that hath made the triall." 
 
 In the preparation of this work the author has 
 had the earnest cooperation of Mr. John S. Collins, 
 to whose encouragement of the undertaking, and 
 tireless and persistent efforts in its behalf, are due 
 its completion, and the superior style in which the 
 book has at last been brought to publication. 
 
 E. H. M. 
 
 New York, June, 1899, 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 IN EMBRYO— 1779 TO 1831. 
 
 ] 
 A Great Wagon Road between the Hudson River and Lake Erie, over the Route now Covered by the Erie Railroad, Suggested more 
 than 100 Years Ago by Gen. James Clinton — Thirty Years later a State Road to Connect the Great Lakes with Tidewater, 
 Through the Same Part of the State, Demanded — First Suggestion for a Railroad Over the Route — The Redfield Pamphlet 
 and its Wonderful Prophecies and Projects — A Government Survey of a Railroad Route that this Pamphlet Outlined in 1829 — 
 How the Project of a Railroad between the Hudson and Lake Erie was Influenced by a Railroad in South Carolina — the Proj- 
 ect Abandoned, and a Canal Advocated 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 TAKING FORM— 1831 TO 1832. 
 
 New York Railroad Fever of 1831-32 — First Public Meeting Advocating a Railroad from the Hudson River to the Southern Tier held 
 at Monticello, Sullivan County, N. Y. — The Marvin Notice of Application for a Charter for a Company to Build a Railroad 
 between the Hudson and Lake Erie — The Church Notice of Application — The General Convention at Owego to Discuss the 
 Railroad Project — Birth of the New York and Erie Railroad 
 
 CHAPTER ni. 
 
 ORGANIZING ERIE— 1832 TO 1833. 
 
 An Unsatisfactory Charter — A Government Survey Ordered and Discontinued — Charter Amended — The New York and Erie Rail- 
 road Organized — Eleazar Lord the First President — First Board of Directors . . . .• . . . . . 15 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 FIRST ADMINISTRATION OF ELEAZAR LORD— 1833 TO 1835. 
 
 Bidding for Contributions and Donations — Opposition in the Western Counties— Philip Church's Protest — Demanding a Survey — 
 State Aid Asked and Engineers Appointed — The Survey — The Light it Throws on the Knowledge of the Science of Railroad 
 Construction Sixty Years Ago — Inclined Planes, Tunnels, and Careful Consideration of the Interests' of the Canals . . 20 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES GORE KING— 1835 TO 1839. 
 
 State Aid Asked for and Refused — Subscription Books Opened and $2,382,100 Subscribed — Ground Broken at Deposit and Contracts 
 Let — First Annual Report of the Company — President King's Efforts to Construct the Railroad — Eleazar Lord Appears 
 with a Plan which President King Does Not Approve — He Wants the State to Take the Work off the Company's Hands — A 
 Bill to that Effect Almost Becomes a Law — President King Resigns .34 
 
CONTENTS 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 SECOND ADMINISTRATION OF ELEAZAR LORD— 1839 TO 1841. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Building a Railroad on Stilts — How 150 Miles of Piles Came to be Driven, at a Cost of Upwards of $1,000,000, to Prove Utterly Use- 
 less — Another Effort to Have the State Assume Charge of the Work Fails — The First Erie Legislative Investigation — Lord 
 Retires .48 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES BOWEN — 1841 TO 1842. 
 
 How all the Present Great Terminal Possessions of the Vanderbilt System at Forty-second Street, New York, Might Have Been the 
 Erie's at an Outlay of Less than $90,000 — The First Train on the Erie — The Company's Treasury Again Empty and in Debt 
 $3,000,000 to the State — The Company Makes an Assignment, and the Railroad is Advertised For Sale — The Sale Postponed. 52 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OF WILLIAM MAXWELL AND HORATIO ALLEN— 1842 TO 1844. " 
 
 The Southern Tier and Western Counties Demand a Release of the Company from Wall Street Influences — William Maxwell, of 
 Elmira, Succeeds Bowen as President — Maxwell Retires, and Horatio Allen Succeeds to the Place — His Plans Result in Dismal 
 Failure — Eleazar Lord Again President ..,.,,,, t 67 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 THIRD ADMINISTRATION OF ELEAZAR LORD— 1844 AND 1845. 
 
 Work Resumed in Time to Save the Road from Sale — Asking the Legislature for Relief, which is Held up Until the Company Agrees 
 
 to Build a Branch to Newburgh — Trouble in the Management Over Changes in Route — Eleazar Lord Resigns ... 74 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF BENJAMIN LODER— 1845 TO 1853. 
 
 $3,000,000 Loan Asked for and Subscribed in a Few Weeks — Opening of the Road to Port Jervis — The Change of Route into Penn- 
 sylvania and Trouble that Came from It — The Fortunate Circumstance of the Scranton T Rail — Railroad Opened to Bing- 
 hamton — The Treasury Empty Once More — Dark Outlook for the Railroad to get any Farther on its Way — The Difficulty 
 Overcome — Triumph, 1851 — Final Link in the Chain — The Last Spike Driven — Opening of the Road from Piermont to 
 Dunkirk, May, 1851 — The First Through Excursion Train and its Distinguished Passengers — The Ocean United with the 
 Lakes — Insufficiency of the Piermont Terminus Apparent — The Coming of the Ramapo and Paterson Railroad into the Field 
 — The Ultimate Terminus at Jersey City Inevitable — The New Jersey Railroads Pass to the Control of the Erie — The First 
 Dividend 86 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF HOMER RAMSDELL— 1853 TO 1857. 
 
 Homer Ramsdell Succeeds Benjamin Loder — Charles Minot Retires, and D. C. McCallum Comes in as General Superintendent and 
 Precipitates a Serious Strike on the Railroad — Ramsdell's Master Stroke in the Matter of the Long Dock Franchises and Land 
 for Terminal Facilities — Another Disastrous Strike — The Erie in a Crisis — Ramsdell Retires 114 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF CHARLES MORAN — 1857 TO 1859. 
 
 A President Whose Salary Was $25,000 a Year — Resignation of Daniel Drew as Treasurer — President Moran Assumes the Duties 
 
 of the Whole Executive Force — Fruitless Efforts to Raise Money — The Company Goes into the Hands of a Receiver . . 123 
 
CONTENTS vii 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OF SAMUEL MARSH, PRESIDENT, AND NATHANIEL MARSH, RECEIVER AND 
 
 PRESIDENT— 1859 TO 1864. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Wages Months in Arrears, and More than a Million of Other Overdue Claims — The New York and Erie Vanishes Forever, and the 
 Erie Railway is Born — Bergen Tunnel Finished, Pavonia Ferry Established, and Piermont Ceases to be the Terminus of the 
 Erie, Except in Legal Fiction — Erie During the Early Years of the Civil War— Death of Nathaniel Marsh , , . .130 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 ADMINISTRATION OF ROBERT H. BERDELL— 1864 TO 1867. 
 
 The Hand ofVanderbilt — Robert H. Berdell Elected President — Daniel Drew Becomes the Controlling Influence — The Drew-Erie 
 Loan, and How it Helped Drew Worst Vanderbilt in a ^^'all Street Operation — Eldridge and the Boston, Hartford and Erie 
 Scheme — Election of John S. Eldridge as President — ■ The Coming of Jay Gould and James Fisk, Jr. , , . , . 139 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN S. ELDRIDGE — 1867 AND 1868. 
 
 Vanderbilt Undertakes to Capture Erie by Buying up its Stock, and Runs Against Daniel Drew and the Erie Printing Press — The 
 Famous Conversion of Millions of Bonds into Stock — The Long Series of Suits, Cross Suits, Injunctions, and Counter Injunc- 
 tions — Flight of President Eldridge, Drew, Gould, P'isk, and the Erie Treasury to New Jersey — The Erie Scandal Reaches 
 the Legislature — The Surrender of Drew, and His $5,000,000 Settlement with Vanderbilt 147 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 ADMINISTRATION OF JAY GOULD— 1868 TO 1872. 
 
 Jay Gould Made President— He Amazes Wall Street — Drew Enters into a Bold Coahtion with Him, Plays Him False, and Joins an 
 Opposing Clique — Gould Pushes Them to the Wall — Wall Street Wild — Daniel Drew on His Knees to Gould and Fisk, but 
 They Spurn Him — Gould Surprises and Alarms the Pennsylvania Railroad Company by His Moves Toward Making Erie the 
 Nucleus of a Great Through Line — The " Classification Bill " and its Story — P'oreign Shareholders Have Experience with the 
 Methods of Gould and Fisk — Gould's Plan to Change the Management of Erie and Why It Failed — The Shadow of the Fisk 
 Tragedy — The Influence of James McHenry Brought to Bear Against Gould — Gen. Daniel E. Sickles Moves Against Gould 
 in the Interest of McHenry — The Incident of Lord Gordon-Gordon- — The So-Called "Sickles Coup" — Betrayed by His 
 Friends, Jay Gould is Overthrown — The Inner History of It All ..#,,, 161 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN A. DIX— 1872. 
 
 McHenry, Barlow, and the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company the Power Behind the Throne — The Erie's Floating Debt 
 $5,000,000, and no Money in the Treasury- — JSarlow Appeals to Bischoffscheim for Aid and Gets It — The Extraordinary Con- 
 tract with the London Bankers to Place the $30,000,000 Loan — Dix Retires 201 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF PETER H. WATSON— 1872 TO 1874. 
 
 Dividend Declared — The Gould ' ' Restitution " — How Gould Brought it About, and Plucked Victory from the Jaws of Defeat — Story 
 of the "Restitution" — Again Under Legislative Investigation — Watson Declares that the Erie Must Spend $40,000,000 at 
 Once in Improving the Road — The Directors Order an Issue of $40,000,000 Consolidated Mortgage Bonds, and Send Watson 
 to Europe to Borrow Money on Them — Barlow Antagonizes Dunan, General Auditor of the Company — Dunan Resigns, and 
 Declares Publicly that all the Watson Dividends Were False — McHenry Secures ^/Lease of the Atlantic and Great Western to 
 the Erie on His Own Terms, and the Seed of Much Future Trouble is Sown — Beginning of the Angell Suit by Attorney- 
 General Pratt — Melancholy End of the Watson Administration 208 
 
vm CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF HUGH J. JEWETT— 1874 TO 1884. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Engaged at a Salary of $40,000 a Year, $15,000 of It Each Year for Ten Years to be Paid in Advance in One Sura of $150,000, Mr. 
 Jewett Takes Hold to Rescue Erie — The Rising Clouds of the McHenry-Atlantic and Great Western Entailment —Something 
 Rare in the History of Erie Occurs : The Truth is Told — The Company Utterly Bankrupt, and the Jewett Management Saved 
 by the Lawsuit that Was Begun to Destroy It — President Jewett Made Receiver of the Erie Railway Company — Receiver 
 Jewett Early Recognizes the Fact that Even Complacent English Shareholders may be Aroused to Action, and Moves Toward 
 Their Conciliation and Cooperation — The Erie Railway Company Succeeded by the New York, Lake Erie and Western Rail- 
 road Company' — Ten Years of the Jewett Management — Failure of the Marine National Bank and the Firm of Grant & Ward 
 Complicates Erie Affairs and Embarrasses the Management — Passing of the June Interest, 1884 — John King Elected Assistant 
 President — Mr. Jewett Retires , 230 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN KING (PRESIDENT) AND J. G. McCULLOUGH, RECEIVERS— 1884 TO 1895. 
 
 A Stubborn Floating Debt — Ex-President Jewett Resents His Snubbing by Worrying the New Management in the Matter of Western 
 Connections — The Trouble Settled — A Dividend, and the Last — Erie Again Tottering Under Its Burden — The Floating 
 Debt Asserts Itself — Interest Money Used to Quiet It Compels Default — Receivers Appointed — The Drexel-Morgan Plan to 
 Rescue the Company from Its Dilemma — The Efficacy of a $100,000,000 Blanket Mortgage — Sale of the Road — The Erie 
 Railroad Company Rises from the Ruins 270 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF EBEN B. THOMAS— 1895 (IN OFFICE, 1899). 
 
 The New Erie Strengthened by Consolidation — End of the Atlantic and Great Western-New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Corporation, 
 the Long-time Disturber of the Erie's Peace and Prosperity — For the First Time in Its History the Erie Pays as It Goes — 
 What the Rehabilitated Erie Owes After all Its Years of Tribulation — Over $300,000,000 of Debt Represented by Its Stocks 
 and Bonds — A Study in the Growth of Erie , 282 
 
 FIGHTING ITS WAY. 
 
 1832 TO 1850. 
 
 Story of Erie's Long Struggle in the Legislature for Corporate Existence and Power to Complete the Work it Had Undertaken — The 
 Erie Charter and its Amendments — The First Relief Bill — Details of All the Legislation in New York and Pennsylvania that 
 the Erie had to Fight for Almost a Score of Years to Get 295 
 
 THE BUILDING OF IT. 
 
 1832 TO 1851. 
 
 Early Talk About the Best Way to Build the Railroad — Work Begun in 1835 — Suspended in 1837 — The Resumption of 1838-40, 
 and the First Contractors ■ — Driving the First Spike at Piermont — Manipulating the Stock to Raise Money — How Con- 
 tractors Enforced Settlements — How the First Rails Were Bought in England — Opening of the First Section of Railroad in 
 1841 — Bankruptcy — Work Resumed in 1846 — The Shin Hollow War — Pioneer Trains and Incidents — Tragedy and 
 Comedy — Getting the First Train Through the Delaware Valley and to Binghamton — The Cascade Bridge and Starucca Via- 
 duct — Bloody and Fatal Riots — Driving the Last Spike — The Newburgh Branch — The Long Dock and Bergen Tunnel — 
 Getting to Buffalo and Rochester — Jefferson Branch — War of the Gauges.— Nypanp — Bradford' Branch ,. . . ■: ■ 310 
 
CONTENTS ik 
 
 THE TURNING OF ITS WHEELS. 
 
 1841 TO 1898. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Story of the Time-tables — Some Rare Old Time-tables in Facsimile — Development of Traffic — Henry Fitch, First General Pas- 
 senger Agent — Beginning of Milk Transportation — Original Locomotives — The Strange Career of " The Orange " — Joe 
 Meginnes and Other First Erie Engineers — Story of the " Diamond Cars," Sleeping Cars Built for the Erie Nearly Sixty 
 Years Ago — Worden, the First Conductor — " Poppy " Ayres and " Hank " Stewart — First Superintendents — Erie's Firs.t 
 Tragedy of the Rail and' Its Sequences — Amusing Incidents, Strange Accidents — Story of How the Erie Brought the Tele- 
 graph into Service for the Running of Trains — Original Railroad Telegraph Operators — Notable Strikes on the Erie, and 
 Historic Accidents — The Side-tracking of Piermont and Dunkirk 373 
 
 UNDER THE LEGISLATIVE PROBE. 
 
 Insinuations and Charges against the Management inquired into as Long Ago as 1841 — The Search for the Truth in the Days of 
 Daniel Drew — How the Action of a Senator Who Had Helped Investigate Erie Led to an Investigation of Himself — After 
 the Classification Bill in 1870, 1871, and 1872 — Seeking Truth About the Watson Dividend of 1873 — Erie Secrets Come to 
 Light — The Hepburn Investigation of 1879 Throws Light on Various Things 446 
 
 FATHERS IN ERIE (Biographical) 458 
 
 PRESIDENTS OF ERIE (Biographical) 459 
 
 RULERS OF ERIE: 
 
 Boards of Management from 1832 to 1898 — Treasurers — General Passenger Agents — General Freight Agents — General and 
 Division Superintendents, from 1841 to 1899 473 
 
 TABLES : 
 
 Mileage, Showing Growth of Erie, etc. ................. 483 
 
 Earnings, Expenses, etc., since 1841 ................. 484 
 
 Quotations of Erie Stock, Common, since 1848 ............... 485 
 
 Quotations of Erie Stock, Preferred, since 1861 ............... 486 
 
 FAMOUS CHARACTERS IN ERIE : 
 
 Daniel Drew — James Fisk, Jr. — S. L. M. Barlow 487 
 
 ERIE GRADUATES OF NOTE : 
 
 Hugh Riddle — John N. Abbott — Benjamin Thomas — Edgar Van Etten — Frank S. Gannon — W. J. Murphy — J. H. 
 Rutter — J. B. Morford — G. P. Morosini — A. S. Whiton 493 
 
 GAZETTEER OF CITIES AND TOWNS 500 
 
 ADDENDA. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF E. B. TtlOMA.5 {Continued) 515 
 
 PRESIDENTS OF ERIE {Continued) 518 
 
 OFFICIAL ROSTER .... y.^ 
 
 INDEX 519 
 
BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 IN EMBRYO— 1779 TO 1831. ' 
 
 A Great Wagon Road between the Hudson River and Lake Erie, over the Route now covered by the Erie Railroad, to be Constructed by the 
 United States Government, suggested more than 100 Years ago by Gen. James Clinton — Thirty Years later a State Road to Connect 
 the Great Lakes with Tidewater, through the Same Part of the State, Demanded — A Preposterous Survey of a Route for such a 
 Road Made — The Project Abandoned, and a Canal Advocated — First Suggestion for a Railroad over the Route — The Redfield 
 Pamphlet and its Wonderful Prophecies and Projects — A Government Survey of a Railroad Route that this Pamphlet Outlined in 
 1829 — How the Project of a Railroad between the Hudson and Lake Erie was Influenced by a Railroad in South Carolina. 
 
 The memorable invasion of the country of the 
 confederated Indian tribes of New York State by 
 the American troops under General Sullivan and 
 General Clinton, in 1779, which was provoked by 
 the bloody massacre at Wyoming the year before, 
 led the army through the valleys of the Susque- 
 hanna and the Chemung, and into that of the Gene- 
 see. Although those regions were then virtually an 
 unbroken wilderness, the far-seeing Clinton — states- 
 man that he was as well as soldier — recognized at 
 
 , once not only the importance of those valleys to 
 the future development of New York, but the great 
 influence they were destined to exert in hastening 
 the inevitable advance of civilization westward; and 
 
 - among the very ruins of Indian homes and villages, 
 whose charred and smokmg line between the Sus- 
 quehanna and the Genesee marked the end of ab- 
 original supremacy in all that fair domain and in the 
 State, he foresaw the beneficent changes that would 
 come to those valleys within a few succeeding years, 
 and took into his mind the great idea that domi- 
 nated it all his after life. That idea was the con- 
 necting of the seaboard with the great lakes by a 
 thoroughfare that should pass through the counties 
 bordering on the State of Pennsylvania, and which 
 was to be but the beginning of a national avenue 
 leading to what was then the far West. 
 
 When the war was ended, the Federal Constitu- 
 tion adopted, and the national government organ- 
 ized, one of the first matters of importance that 
 Congress was called to act upon was the petition 
 of General Clinton and General Sullivan, who had 
 become as enthusiastic as was Clinton in this stupen- 
 dous project, for authority and an appropriation to 
 construct a road, to be called the " Appian Way," 
 from the Hudson River, and through the valleys of 
 the Delaware, the Susquehanna, and the Alleghany, 
 to Lake Erie, the great route to be planned and car- 
 ried to completion by General Sullivan. Congress 
 had no constitutional authority to make an appro- 
 priation for such an undertaking, and it came to 
 naught. But until his death General Clinton never 
 ceased to advocate the practicability and wisdom of 
 his idea, and its great importance to the destinies 
 of the country, emphasizing its palpable truth by 
 pointed reference to the fact that the tide of emi- 
 gration, which had set in steadily toward the" Lake 
 Country" and the West, was being unduly retarded 
 and hgld in check because of this very absence of 
 thoroughfare in the intervening wilderness, with the 
 result of incalculable detriment to the national wel- 
 fare find to private interests. 
 
 But agitation of the subject was not interrupted 
 by the death of General Clinton. His illustrious 
 
BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 son,. DeWitt Clinton, was firm in the belief of his 
 father, and his faith in its ultimate triumph was 
 abiding. But when DeWitt Clinton came to the 
 control of the political and economic affairs of New 
 York, times had changed. The War of 1812 had 
 been fought and won, and the counties bordering on 
 Lake Ontario, and those of the central and eastern 
 portions of the State, were its centres of political 
 and commercial preponderance. Public and private 
 interests demanded a better means of communica- 
 tion between tidewater and the lakes. The South- 
 ern Tier had its great rivers — capricious and uncer- 
 tain though they were — as channels to transport its 
 products to market, while its northern neighbors 
 had for their dependence only tedious, slow, and 
 incomplete post roads. In 1817, recognizing the 
 justice of this demand, DeWitt Clinton, as Gov- 
 ernor, called to the attention of the Legislature that 
 great and long-cherished project, the construction of 
 a canal to unite Lake Erie with the Hudson River. 
 
 It is one of the remarkable facts connected with 
 the history of internal improvements in this country 
 that five years before Governor Clinton had sub- 
 mitted his message advocating the construction of 
 such a canal, but whose ideas on that subject were 
 widely known. Col. John Stevens of New Jersey, 
 then an old man, but jtill a wonderful one, wrote 
 that he would undertake to build a line of railway, 
 on which traffic in freight and passengers could be 
 by means of steam locomotive power transported 
 much more effectively and cheaply than it could be 
 carried on the proposed canal. In company with 
 the greater part of the world, DeWitt Clinton ridi- 
 culed the old engineer's ideas, and feared that age 
 had unseated his great mind ; but Stevens was sim- 
 ply a generation ahead of his time. 
 
 Governor Clintons message to the New York 
 State Legislature on the subject of the Erie Canal 
 greatly alarmed the people of the Southern Tier and 
 Delaware River counties. The construction of a 
 canal from the lakes to the Hudson River, over the 
 proposed route, they insisted would divert the course 
 of emigration from their valleys, turn elsewhere the 
 profitable trade of a wide region then tributary to 
 them, and forever be a bar to a public thoroughfare 
 for them between the East and the West, and to the 
 
 securing of markets other than the hazardous ones 
 of Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh. The 
 members of the Legislature from all these counties 
 were instructed to oppose the canal project in every 
 way. 
 
 DeWitt Clinton, however, had not abandoned the 
 interests of those portions of the State, the enhanc- 
 ing of which his father had in view in his project of 
 a highway between the East and the West, and he 
 allayed the fears of the people, and won their sup- 
 port for the Erie Canal, by a pledge — to which the 
 canal party assented — to secure the co-operation of 
 the representatives of the canal counties with those 
 of the opposing counties in the construction through 
 the latter of an avenue best adapted to the topog- 
 raphy of those localities, at the expense, or with 
 the substantial aid, of the State. But for the giving 
 of that pledge there would have been no Erie Canal 
 for years to come. 
 
 In 1825 the Erie Canal was completed and opened. 
 The year before that, DeWitt Clinton brought the 
 subject of a Southern Tier avenue before the Legis- 
 lature, and recommended that some provision be 
 made for a survey for a State road from the Hudson 
 to Lake Erie through that part of the State. The 
 survey was made, and with it began that persistent 
 policy of chicanery and duplicity with which politics, 
 selfishness, and ingratitude made fruitless for many 
 a year the efforts of the Delaware, Susquehanna, 
 and Alleghany valleys to escape from the bondage 
 of commercial isolation. 
 
 The route surveyed for this State road extended 
 almost in a straight line, via Bath, to Ithaca, and 
 from that place southerly through the interiors of 
 Delaware, Sullivan, Orange, and Rockland counties 
 to Nyack, on the Hudson, with a branch to King- 
 ston, Ulster County. It avoided all the valleys, 
 and passed through only high, unbroken, and uncul- 
 tivated lands the entire distance. The building of a 
 road over that route would have been a task greater 
 than that which confronted Napoleon at the base of 
 the frowning Alps, for this one was utterly imprac- 
 ticable. The survey was made under the influence 
 of the politicians of the canal counties, and in spite 
 of the palpable absurdity of the survey and the 
 transparency of the scheme that prompted it, and 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 against the protest of the Southern Tier and the 
 other interested counties, the Legislature, a major- 
 ity of which was hostile to the State road, accepted 
 and indorsed the report of the commission. Thus 
 was the great idea of General Clinton made ridicu- 
 lous, and his illustrious memory insulted by the first 
 ofificial movement toward a test of its value and 
 practicability. 
 
 The example of New York in preparing for the 
 enhancement of its commercial interests by con- 
 structing the Erie Canal had been followed, in 1825, 
 by the State of Ohio planning a similar work for its 
 own public betterment — a canal from the Ohio River 
 to Lake Erie. To prosecute this work money was 
 necessary, and Ohio was young and absolutely with- 
 out credit. New York City was thi, only place 
 where money miglit be raised. Two eminent men 
 of Ohio were sent to New York as commissioners to 
 negotiate the desired loan on canal stock issued by 
 the State. They had no personal acquaintance with 
 anyone in the city except Eleazar Lord, who was 
 among the conspicuous capitalists and financiers of 
 New York three-quarters of a century ago. The 
 commissioners appealed to him, and as the result of 
 his efTorts in behalf of the Ohio Canal had indirectly 
 great influence on shaping events toward the begin- 
 ning of the New York and Erie Railroad, the story 
 of them, interesting in itself, may find suitable place 
 in this history. 
 
 Eleazar Lord had enlisted friends of his in the 
 Ohio Canal project, and with them invested largely 
 in the State securities, on condition that the balance 
 of the loan, $1,000,000, should be placed by the 
 State within one year. This the Ohio commission- 
 eris were unable to accomplish, and the work seemed 
 doomed to failure, when Mr. Lord came to the 
 rescue. 
 
 In 1825 DeWitt Cl'nton was at the zenith of his 
 power and influence in New York State, and none 
 among his contemporaries in the whole country was 
 more illustrious than he. But his ambition was yet 
 unsatisfied. He fondly aspired to the Presidency. 
 He was then Governor of the Empire State. The 
 Erie Canal had just been completed. The great 
 work was everywhere associated with his name. He 
 
 was deeply interested in having the Ohio Canal con- 
 structed, not only because of the influence it would 
 have on the progress and welfare of the country, but 
 because it would be an indorsement of his idea of 
 internal improvements, and further spread his fame 
 and prestige through the land. Eleazar Lord knew 
 Clinton intimately, and all his ambition. 
 
 John Jacob Astor, at that time, had a claim of 
 $600,000 against the State of New York for escheated 
 lands in Putnam County. He was anxious to effect 
 a settlement favorable to himself, and he depended 
 on Governor Clinton to further such a consumma- 
 tion, the claim being in his mind just. This fact 
 was also well known to Eleazar Lord, and it occurred 
 to him that Clinton and his ambition and Astor and 
 his financial interests might be formed into a com- 
 bination that could be brought into service for the 
 assuring of the success of the Ohio Canal. Gov- 
 ernor Clinton was then in New York City, at the 
 City Hall. Mr. Astor had arrived in town from 
 Europe only a few days before. Mr. Lord at once 
 secured audience with the Governor. Placing the 
 situation before him in all its bearings on Clinton's 
 prospects and Astor's interests, he said : 
 
 " You will do well, I think, to call on Mr. Astor 
 at once, and ask him to either take the Ohio State 
 loan, or give such assurance that will warrant me in 
 saying to such bankers as I may think best to take 
 into my confidence, that he will subscribe for and 
 take the whole loan, provided others do not outbid 
 him for it." 
 
 The Ohio Canal, completed, would be a great in- 
 dorsement of his theories. Ohio had votes to give. 
 Self-interest as well as patriotism appealed to him in 
 the affair. So Governor Clinton acquiesced in Mr. 
 Lord's view of the situation. He had an immediate 
 conference with Mr. Astor, who lived then where 
 the Astor House now stands. His arguments had 
 such effect with the millionaire that in a short time 
 Mr. Lord was able to truly say to several bankers 
 that John Jacob Astor would take the entire Ohio 
 State loan. That gave to the previously discredited 
 security an instantaneous value, and capitalists vied 
 so with each other in bidding for the loan that more 
 than the amount of the issue was asked for, much 
 of it at a premium. Of the loan Mr. Astor took 
 
4 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 $600,000. In the course of a few years the canal 
 stock was paying 25 per cent, on the investment. 
 Almost in a moment Ohio's credit was established, 
 and the building of the canal assured. The Leg- 
 islature of that State passed a vote of thanks to 
 Eleazar Lord, Governor Clinton, and others, and 
 they were invited to be present as guests of the 
 State on the occasion of the breaking of ground for 
 the canal, and their journey from Cleveland to the 
 Ohio River was made amid the glad plaudits of the 
 people, who assembled everywhere along the route 
 to do them honor. But with that demonstration 
 of popular homage, and the greater fame it brought 
 him, it was fated that DeWitt Clinton should rest 
 content. The goal of his high ambition was never 
 reached. 
 
 During that memorable journey DeWitt Clinton 
 discussed earnestly the question of the public high- 
 way from the Hudson to the Lakes through the 
 southern part of New York State, and declared to 
 Eleazar Lord his unfaltering belief in its necessity, 
 and denounced the people of the canal counties for 
 breaking faith with the border counties, as they had 
 done in procuring by their influence the preposter- 
 ous survey for a road through the latter counties. 
 He urged Mr. Lord to become personally interested 
 in the matter, and to use his influence in bringing 
 the project to a successful issue, and the New York 
 capitalist was so deeply impressed with the impor- 
 tance and great future of such an undertaking that 
 he readily consented to Clinton's proposition. On 
 his return to New York Mr. Lord advocated with 
 such enthusiasm the subject of a Southern Tier State 
 road, that other influential men of the day were led 
 to his way of thinking, and the result was the calling 
 of a convention of people along the line of the pro- 
 posed road to protest against the action of the Leg- 
 islature, and to adopt measures calling for a repara- 
 tion of the injury done them. The convention met 
 at Newburgh, N. Y., October 19, 1826, and was in 
 session two days. A report of its proceedings was 
 sent to the Governor, who placed it before the Leg- 
 islature at the session of 1827, but that body took 
 no action upon it. Before further steps could be 
 taken by the friends of the project, DeWitt Clinton 
 died, and agitation of the subject ceased. 
 
 Soon afterward, the feasibility of a canal through 
 the Southern Tier between the Hudson River and 
 Lake Erie was suggested by leading men in the 
 Western counties, and the subject was being widely 
 discussed and favorably received, when Benjamin 
 Wright, the engineer of the Erie Canal, and one of 
 the greatest civil engineers of that day, made public 
 his views. They changed the entire aspect of the 
 situation, and brought forward a problem in domes- 
 tic economy the solution of which taxed for a gen- 
 eration the energies, the genius, and the resources 
 of public-minded citizens, and demonstrated the ca- 
 pacity and willingness of men to subordinate the 
 general weal to political and personal ends. En- 
 gineer Wright, in a letter published when the 
 Southern Tier canal discussion was at its height, 
 revealed the fact that, at the request of the Dela- 
 ware and Hudson Canal Company, which had then 
 almost completed the great canal from Honesdale, 
 in Northern Pennsylvania, to tidewater on the Hud- 
 son at Rondout, he had made a survey from the 
 canal at Lackawaxen, Pa., up the Delaware Valley 
 to Deposit, N. Y., to ascertain the practicability of 
 a branch canal westward to Lake Erie ; had ex- 
 amined the Susquehanna and Chemung valleys, and 
 made exhaustive inquiries relative to the topography 
 of the country west from Hornellsville, Steuben 
 County, N. Y. He declared that the obstacles be- 
 tween that point and the lake were too great to be 
 overcome by a canal, but hinted that a railroad 
 might not be impracticable. 
 
 The attention of the public was first really drawn 
 to this route as one over which a railroad might be 
 built, by a pamphlet issued by William C. Redfield 
 of New York, in 1829, who had given the matter 
 much study. The pamphlet was entitled a " Sketch 
 of the Geographical Route of a Great Railway, by 
 which it is proposed to connect the canals and navi- 
 gable waters of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, In- 
 diana, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri and the adjacent 
 States and Territories, opening thereby a free com- 
 munication at all seasons of the year between the 
 Atlantic States and the great valleys of the, Missis- 
 sippi," and proceeded as follows: 
 
 " The route commences on the Hudson River in the vicinity 
 of the city of New York, at a point accessible at all seasons 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 to steam ferryboats, and from thence proceeds through a 
 favorable and productive country to the valley of the Dela- 
 ware River, near the northwest corner of the County of Sulli- 
 van. From thence the route ascends along the Delaware to 
 a point that affords the nearest and most favorable crossing 
 to the valley of the Susquehanna, which it enters at or near 
 the great bend of that river. 
 
 '■ Pursuing a westerly and almost level course through the 
 fertile valleys of the Susquehanna and Tioga rivers, the route 
 crosses the head waters of the Genesee, having in its course 
 intersected the terminations of the Ithaca and Owego Rail- 
 road and the Chenango and the Chemung canals in New 
 York, the Great Susquehanna Canal in Pennsylvania, and sev- 
 eral other points that aflford important facilities for inter- 
 communication. 
 
 " From Genesee River our route enters the valley of the 
 Alleghany and proceeds along that river, which affords a navi- 
 gable communication with Pittsburgh, the Pennsylvania 
 canals, and the Ohio River. From Alleghany the route in- 
 tersects the outlet of the Chautauqua Lake, on which com- 
 munication may be had with Lake Erie, and proceeds to the 
 headwaters of the French Creek to Pennsylvania, from which 
 it again communicates with the Alleghany and the Pennsyl- 
 vania canals on the one hand, and may be connected with the 
 harbor of Erie on the other." 
 
 Thence the route was to proceed parallel to the 
 lake line, through the States of Ohio and Indiana, to 
 a point of junction with the Mississippi River, im- 
 mediately above the Rock Island Rapids. In this 
 pamphlet its author foresaw with prophetic accuracy 
 the course of the railroads that would connect the 
 infant states of Michigan, Indiana and Illinois with 
 the Atlantic seaboard, and foretold that these rail- 
 roads would advance with incredible rapidity the set- 
 tlement of those vast and fertile regions and would 
 divert their trade largely to the great Eastern me- 
 tropolis. He showed his possession of accurate 
 knowledge of the topography of the vast country 
 lying between the Hudson and the Mississippi, and 
 made an extraordinary forecasting of the rapid set- 
 tlement of the Western states, the magic develop- 
 ment of their agricultural and mineral wealth, and 
 the rapid and constant growth of the city of New 
 York. He set forth under nineteen distinct heads 
 the great superiority of railroads to canals not then 
 fully established, and he anticipated that after the 
 construction of the great trunk railway connecting 
 the Hudson and the Mississippi, many lateral rail- 
 ways and canals would be built which would com- 
 bine in one vast network the whole great West with 
 the Atlantic States. He said " this great plateau 
 will indeed one day be intersected by thousands of 
 
 miles of railroad communications, and so rapid will 
 be the increase of its population and resources, that 
 many persons now living will probably see most or 
 all of this accomplished." With this pamphlet the 
 author published a map on which the proposed rail- 
 road appears with connections traced by his pencil 
 to prominent points on Lakes Erie and Michigan 
 now reached by the Erie Railroad. 
 
 This remarkable Redfield pamphlet found wide 
 circulation, and in 1831, the principle of internal 
 improvement by the Government finding favor with 
 the existing national administration. Col. DeWitt 
 Clinton, son of the great Clinton, and a member of 
 the United States Army Engineer Corps, was de- 
 tailed to make a reconnoissance of the country from 
 the Hudson to the Mississippi, along the route of 
 the proposed railroad. He carried the work to the 
 Ohio portage waters, and made a report to the Gov- 
 ernment showing that the project was practicable so 
 far as he had investigated, although the general 
 features of that portion of the line within New York 
 State were not as favorable as the friends of the 
 undertaking had anticipated. 
 
 (The letter on page 6, in facsimile, from Clinton to 
 Hon. Samuel Preston of Wayne County, Pa., a 
 pioneer of the Delaware Valley, and one of the very 
 earliest advocates of railroad construction in this 
 country, is interesting in many ways as bearing on 
 the subject of this proposed railroad.) 
 
 Thus, then, came the first suggestion of a railroad 
 over that rugged route as the evolution of General 
 Clinton's idea of a great national Appian Way. In 
 the light of events then, this was a bold suggestion. 
 When the Redfield pamphlet appeared there were 
 but nine miles of railroad in the United States that 
 could be classed as railroad in operation. That nine 
 miles was a crude gravity road, or road of inclined 
 planes, which had been running then something 
 more than a year, connecting the Summit Hill coal 
 mine with the Lehigh River at Mauch Chunk, Pa. 
 True, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad had been 
 begun ; the South Carolina Railroad was building, 
 and several companies were under charter to build 
 local railroads in New York State. But no mind 
 had reached so far into the future of railroads as 
 had that of Redfield, and he lived to see his daring 
 
^ Ju,j5.M^:^i^^^^^^'=^^ 
 
 
 
 ^^2W^^ .^C^a^^^ ^ec^ 
 
 
 
 •<:^T< z:^-c 
 
 
 ^:5^ 
 
 FACSIMILE OF LETTER FROM COL. CLINTON TO HON. SAMUEL PRESTON. ORIGINAL LOANED BY MISS ANN PRESTON, 
 
 MIDDLETOWN, N. Y. 
 
 Washington, December 3, 1831. 
 
 My Much Respected Friend: When I had the pleasure to meet you at your house, you promised to procure for me 
 the level of the summit of the route proposed for the railroad between your place and the Susquehanna River, and also the 
 distance across between the two rivers. [The Delaware and the Susquehanna. — Author.'] I hope that you will be able 
 to fulfill your promises, and that you will enclose me the measurements without loss of time. 
 
 In a late letter I am told that it is proposed to hold a convention to promote the objects of the road. I hope 
 that Pennsylvania will enlist also in this measure by sending delegates to it. By Pennsylvania I allude to the northern 
 counties, and it would be better that our friends in both States should unite than to adopt two separate conventions 
 for that purpose. 
 
 If a convention should be held it would be well to instruct the members of Congress in both States and whose con- 
 stituents are interested, to exert themselves to procure a special appropriation by Congress to make the surveys next 
 spring. This, in any event, ought to be done. Most respectfully, yours, DeWitt Clinton. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 prophesies, if not all come true, yet the truth of them 
 established and their quick fulfillment inevitable. 
 
 It is a curious fact that it was the South Carolina 
 Railroad that hastened the beginning of the New- 
 York and Erie Railroad, and made it the second 
 railroad in the world projected and designed for the 
 use of locomotive power. This motive power on 
 railroads had become a comparatively old and uni- 
 versal thing when the Erie was ready to place its 
 first locomotive in service, but when the notice of 
 application for a charter for the New York and Erie 
 Railroad was published in 1831, there were only four 
 locomotives in use in this country, and only one rail- 
 road then in operation had been built with the orig- 
 inal intention of having locomotives as its motive 
 
 and it was attached to the first train-load of pas- 
 sengers ever drawn by a locomotive in this country, 
 January 15, 1831. Among those present on the 
 memorable occasion was Hon. Henry L. Pierson of 
 Ramapo, N. Y. Mr. Pierson was on his wedding 
 tour, and chanced to be in Charleston on the day 
 the railroad was opened. He and his bride were 
 passengers on the train — thus giving them the dis- 
 tinction, doubtless, of being the very first bridal 
 couple to enjoy a railroad trip. Mr. Pierson shared 
 with his brother-in-law, Eleazar Lord, the belief in 
 the importance of some avenue of communication 
 through the southern portion of New York. The 
 success of the trial trip of the locomotive on the 
 pioneer South Carolina Railroad satisfied him that a 
 
 FIRST PASSENGER TRAIN IN AMERICA TO BE DRAWN BY A LOCOMOTIVE IN ACTUAL SERVICE, SOUTH CAROLINA RAILROAD, 
 
 JANUARY 15, 183 1. (FROM AN OLD PRINT.) 
 
 power. This was the South Carolina Railroad, be- 
 tween Charleston on the coast and Hamburg on the 
 western border of South Carolina. In December, 
 1830, the first six miles of that railroad were opened. 
 The pioneer locomotive built for use upon it was de- 
 signed by Horatio Allen, who became President of 
 the New York and Erie Railroad Company some 
 years later. It was built at the West Point Foun- 
 dry, New York City, and was named " The Best 
 Friend of Charleston." The engine was placed on 
 the railroad in October, 1830. It was " set up " by 
 Julius D. Petsch, a Charleston machinist, who had 
 never seen a locomotive before. Nicholas Darrell, 
 another Charleston machinist, became its engineer, 
 thus being the first locomotive engineer in America 
 in actual service. After several trial trips the loco- 
 motive was pronounced ready for regular operation, 
 
 similar road would be feasible between New York 
 and Lake Erie. He returned home in 1831, enthu- 
 siastic over the subject, bringing the first news of 
 the wonderful railroad opening at Charleston. His 
 representations aroused Eleazar Lord to enthusiasm 
 on the subject of a railroad from the Hudson to the 
 Lakes, and he became an earnest advocate of such 
 an undertaking. 
 
 As the locomotive " The Best Friend of Charles- 
 ton " was thus instrumental in spurring men to 
 action in the matter of a railroad between the Hud- 
 son River and Lake Erie, the history of its career 
 and fate may properly have a place in this chronicle. 
 That history was thus tersely related in the Charles- 
 ton Courier of June 18, 183 1 : 
 
 " The locomotive ' Best Friend ' started yesterday 
 morning to meet the lumber cars at the Forks of 
 
8 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 the Road, and, while turning on the revolving plat- 
 fonn, the steam was suffered to accumulate by the 
 negligence of the fireman, a negro, who, pressing on 
 the safety-valve, prevented the surplus steam from 
 escaping, by which means the boiler burst at the bot- 
 tom, was forced inward, and injured Mr. Darrell, the 
 engineer, and two negroes. The one had his thigh 
 broken, and the other received a severe cut in the 
 face and a slight one in the flesh part of the breast. 
 Mr. Darrell was scalded from the shoulder blade 
 down his back. The boiler was thrown to the dis- 
 
 tance of twenty-five feet. None of the persons are 
 dangerously injured except the negro who had his 
 thigh broken. The accident occurred in consequence 
 of the negro holding down the safety-valve while 
 Mr. Darrell, the engineer, was assisting to arrange 
 the lumber cars, and thereby not permitting the 
 necessary escape of steam above the pressure the 
 engine was allowed to carry." 
 
 That was the first locomotive explosion on record, 
 but the " Best Friend " was patched up at a machine 
 shop, and was in service a long time thereafter. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 TAKING FORM— 1831 TO 1832. 
 
 New York Railroad Fever of 1831-32 — First Public Meeting advocating a Railroad from the Hudson River to the Southern Tier held ai 
 Monticello, Sullivan County, N. Y. — The Railroad Meetings at Jamestown and Angelica — The .Marvin Notice of Application for a 
 Charter for a Company to Build a Railroad between the Hudson and Lake Erie — The Church Notice of Application — The General 
 Convention at Owego to Discuss the Railroad Project — Differences of Opinion about the Propriet)' of One or of Two Corporation! 
 — The Sentiment of the Convention Favorable to Two Corporations — Defection of Philip Church — A Letter from New York that 
 Resulted in the Final Agreement on a Single Charter — Birth of the New York and Erie Railroad. 
 
 At the beginning of 1832 there were forty-four 
 miles of railroad in operation in New York State — 
 the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, 15 miles long, 
 between Albany and Schenectady, and the Ithaca 
 and Owego Railroad, 29 miles long, between the 
 two places named. The Mohawk and Hudson Rail- 
 road Company was chartered April 17, 1826, and 
 was the first railroad in the United States designed 
 for passenger traffic. When the railroad was fin- 
 ished in August, 1 83 1, locomotives had come into 
 use, and one, the DeWitt Clinton, was tried suc- 
 cessfully, and the experimental train was run from 
 Albany on the 9th of the month. This was the first 
 passenger train and locomotive ever run in the State 
 of New York. As an interesting relic of those in- 
 fant days of railroading a facsimile reproduction is 
 here made of a sketch of that pioneer excursion 
 train and locomotive. This picture was cut by a 
 silhouette artist, J. H. Brown, as the train stood in 
 the Albany yard, just before it started. David Mat- 
 thew was the engineer, John T. Clark was the con- 
 ductor. The Mohawk and Hudson Railroad is now 
 a part of the New York Central Railroad .system. 
 
 The Ithaca and Owego Railroad Company was 
 chartered January 28, 1828. Its railroad was con- 
 structed by aid of the State, and on the inclined 
 plane system, and was run by stationary engines at 
 planes, and by horse power on the levels. It is now 
 a portion of the Delaware, Lackawanna and West- 
 ern Railroad system. 
 
 The construction of these railroads brought to 
 
 New York State the first serious visitation of rail- 
 road fever in this country. There had been thirteen 
 railroad companies chartered in the State since 1826, 
 but, with the exception of the New York and Har- 
 lem, the Saratoga and Schenectady, the Rochester 
 Railroad and Canal, and the Brooklyn and Jamaica 
 Railroad, nothing had been done on them be)^ond 
 obtaining the charters. But a sudden craze for rail- 
 roads came in the summer of 1831, and the Legisla- 
 ture of 1832 found no less than twelve applications 
 for charters for railroads before it. A local news- 
 paper of that day thus jocosely pictured the situa- 
 tion : 
 
 It is almost impossible to open a paper without finding an 
 account of some railroad meeting. An epidemic on this sub- 
 ject seems nearly as prevalent throughout the country as the 
 influenza. From Albany to Buffalo the inhabitants, not satis- 
 fied with the canal, are holding meetings to further the project 
 of a railway between those places, and our friends on the east 
 side of the river, angry that the Hudson should suffer itself 
 to be frozen up, have resolved to withdraw their patronage 
 from it and forthwith construct something that shall answer 
 for cold weather as well as warm. Instead of the good old- 
 fashioned way of going twenty miles to market one day and 
 back the next, we may expect shortly to be whisked along 
 at the infernal rate of thirty miles an hour. — Independent 
 Repnblican, Goshen, N. Y., Dec. 26, 1831. 
 
 It seems more than strange that this newspaper 
 went to distant portions of the State to find exam- 
 ples of the rage for railroads, and had nothing to say 
 about one that was then being just as eagerly dis- 
 cussed along its own prospective line, and on which 
 the very town where the paper was published was 
 to be a prominent station. For months the subject 
 
lO 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 of this railroad between the Hudson and Lake Erie 
 had been agitated from New York City to Dunkirk. 
 
 As far as there is any record, the first public 
 expression on the subject of a railroad to cover the 
 ground subsequently occupied by the Erie, was given 
 at a meeting held at Monticello, Sullivan County, 
 N. Y., on July 29, 1831, which meeting was con- 
 tinued the next day, as the following proceedings 
 from the record testify: 
 
 At an adjourned meeting of the inhabitants of the village 
 of Monticello, held at Major S. W. B. Chester's on the 30th 
 of July, 183 1, relative to the project of constructing a railroad 
 through the Southern part of the State of New York, pursuant 
 lo public notice, it was 
 
 Resolved, That we view with deep interest the project of con- 
 structing a railroad from the Hudson River, through the 
 counties of Rockland, Orange, Sullivan, Delaware, Broome, 
 and Tioga to Elmira, and of a branch thereof to said Hudson 
 River in the county of Orange, and that we will use our 
 utmost exertions to further the undertaking. 
 
 Resolved, That John P. Jones, Piatt Pelton, Hiram Bennett, 
 Randall S. Street, and Archibald C. Niven be a committee 
 to promote the said object. 
 
 There is no record of what that committee did to 
 promote the object," but it is to be presumed that 
 the publication, some weeks later, of a certain notice 
 of application to the Legislature of New York satis- 
 fied the Monticello people that the work was going 
 forward satisfactorily without the necessity of their 
 promoting. It is to their lasting honor, however, 
 that they \yere the first to put in tangible form an 
 expression of appreciation of the practicability and 
 importance of the great work under discussion, al- 
 though it was then as yet without form or coherence, 
 and although, under the influence of subsequent cir- 
 cumstances, they were not permitted to enjoy any 
 direct benefit from its consummation. 
 
 About three months later than the Monticello 
 meeting (on September 20), a meeting was held at 
 Jones's Tavern, Jamestown, Chautauqua County, 
 to discuss the question of a railroad through the 
 Siuthern Tier of counties, between the Hudson 
 River and Lake Erie. This meeting was called 
 chiefly through the efforts of Richard P. Marvin, 
 then a young and unknown lawyer, but who became 
 a man of eminence, and, as Judge Marvin, had a 
 reputation second to none in the State. Young 
 Marvin had thought deeply on the question of bet- 
 
 ter means of communication between tidewater and 
 the Western part of the State, and was one of the 
 first to foresee the superiority of a railroad for that 
 purpose. Of this Jamestown meeting Hon. Elial T. 
 Foote, who was the first judge of Chautauqua 
 County, was the chairman. The result of the meet- 
 ing was the drafting of the following notice by Mr. 
 Marvin, which was published in the Albany Argus, 
 then the " State Paper," and in the newspapers of 
 the Southern Tier, such publication being a neces- 
 sary legal procedure in those days : 
 
 Railroad. — Application will be made to the Legislature 
 of this State at its next session for the passage of an act to 
 incorporate a company to construct a Railroad from the city 
 of New York through the Southern Tier of counties and the 
 village of Jamestown to Lake Erie, with a capital of six mil- 
 lions of dollars, or such other sum as may be deemed 
 necessary. 
 
 September 20, 1831. 
 
 This notice to the Legislature was practically the 
 first positive step toward the project of building a 
 railroad between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. 
 
 Early in October, 1831, a notice signed by Philip 
 Church and others was printed in the Allegany 
 County newspapers calling a meeting to be held 
 October 25, at the court house in Angelica, " for 
 the purpose of adopting measures in relation to the 
 contemplated railroad from the city or county of 
 New York to Lake Erie, or the portage of the sum- 
 mit of the Ohio Canal " (the Redfield project). The 
 meeting was held. Philip Church was chairman, 
 and Asa S. Allen and Daniel McHenry secretaries. 
 Philip Church made an address in which he said that 
 he, with others, had been for a year past moving to 
 form a company for the purpose of connecting the 
 port of New York with Lake Erie, and had drawn a 
 notice of application to that effect. He read the 
 notice to the meeting, and a committee — Philip 
 Church, Hon. John Griffin, B. F. Smead, J. B. 
 Cooley, and George Miles — was appointed to draft 
 resolutions expressing the views of the meeting, 
 which was adjourned until the next evening, Octo- 
 ber 26. The result was that the plan of the Na- 
 tional Railroad was ignored and Philip Church's idea 
 approved. His notice of application for a railroad 
 was adopted, and was published according to law. 
 It was as follows: 
 
THE STORY OF. ERIE 
 
 II 
 
 NOTICE OF INCORPORATION. 
 
 Notice is hereby given that an application will be made to 
 the Legislature at its next session for the passage of an act 
 incorporating a company with a capital of ten millions of 
 dollars for the construction of a railroad from the city or 
 county of New York to that part of Lake Erie lying between 
 the mouth of Cattaraugus Creek and the Pennsylvania line, 
 together with a branch of the Alleghany River, and also for 
 the establishment of a ferry acioss such part of the North 
 River as the route of the main line of the railroad may pass 
 over. 
 
 November 2, 1831. 
 
 To further the interests of such a railroad, citizens 
 of Owego issued a call for a convention at that place, 
 as being a central one and convenient for the pur- 
 pose, to discuss the matter by delegates from all the 
 counties interested. This was approved by all, and 
 the date of the convention was fixed for December 
 20, 1 83 1. The Pumpellys and Drakes of Owego, 
 prominent citizens and large landowners, were the 
 prime movers in the proposed railroad at Owego, 
 and at Binghamton the Whitneys and other leading 
 people brought their influence to bear in favor of 
 it, although that community believed more in the 
 value and importance of the Chenango Canal than 
 they did in the efficacy of a railroad to enhance their 
 interests. 
 
 The publication of the applications for a railroad 
 charter had an effect on the people of the southern 
 tier and interior counties of New York that was by 
 no means assuring to the sponsors of the proposed 
 company in the western counties. The railroad 
 was to be nearly five hundred miles long, and that a 
 work of such magnitude could be carried to a success- 
 ful issue by one corporation these people doubted. 
 The State itself, with all the strength of its govern- 
 ment and the resources of its treasury, they argued, 
 had been ten years in constructing the Erie Canal, 
 and here was a work, seemingly as formidable, to be 
 boldly undertaken by a private corporation. They 
 affected to see only utter failure as the outcome of 
 such an unheard-of project, and insisted that there 
 should be at least two separate companies chartered. 
 Conventions were held at various places in these and 
 the adjoining counties, the delegates being composed 
 of the representative men of those portions of the 
 State, and strong protests were made against the 
 single charter project. At a convention held at 
 
 Binghamton, December 15, 1831, at which the coun- 
 ties of Seneca, Tompkins, Tioga (which then in- 
 cluded Chemung County), Broome, and Orange, in 
 New York State, and the Pennsylvania counties of 
 Wayne, Susquehanna, and Luzerne were repre- 
 sented, the plan of two charters instead of one was 
 discussed and approved — that is, the convention ad- 
 vocated the application to the Legislature for a char- 
 ter for a railroad from Owego to New York City, 
 and approved of the project for a railroad from 
 Owego to Lake Erie. At this convention, as at 
 all the county conventions that had been held, dele- 
 gates were appointed to attend the general' conven- 
 tion of people along the line of the proposed rail- 
 roads at Owego on December 20, 1831. As it was 
 from the result of the action of this gathering of the 
 representative men of the counties then interested 
 in the undertaking that the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road Company and the railroad from the tidewater 
 to Lake Erie were born, the proceedings of the 
 Owego Convention, although only the cold, formal, 
 official report of them is possible at this late day, 
 are an important part of the history of Erie, and 
 are reproduced here as they were published in the 
 Owego Gazette of December 22, 1831, together with 
 the comment of that newspaper on the gathering and 
 its work : 
 
 RAILROAD CONVENTION. 
 
 One of the most numerous and respectable conventions, 
 we venture to say, that has been convened in this State, for 
 objects of Internal Improvement, was held in this village on 
 the 20th and 21st inst., on the subject of a railroad from Lake 
 Erie to the Hudson. It was composed of delegates from 
 some fifteen or sixteen counties, besides many gentlemen 
 from various sections interested in the proposed object, not 
 members of the convention. It is but justice to say, and we 
 allude to the fact with much pleasure, as evincing the high 
 estimation in which the proposed improvement is held by an 
 intelligent public, that the convention embraced much of the 
 wealth, talent, and enterprise of this enterprising State. We 
 have only time to remark, that a cordiality of sentiment pre- 
 vailed, in relation to the measures to be pursued for the 
 attainment of the grand object in view, to a degree that 
 reflects the highest credit on the convention, and furnishes 
 the most satisfactory evidence that the object will be per- 
 severed in until finally accomplished. The proceedings will 
 be found below. 
 
 THE PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 At a meeting of delegates from the counties of Chautauqua, 
 
 Cattaraugus, Allegany, Steuben, Tioga, Broome, Chenango, 
 
 Delaware, Otsego, Greene, Sullivan, Tompkins, and Seneca 
 
 convened at the village of Owego, on the 20th day of Decem- 
 
12 
 
 BETWEEN THE -OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 ber, 1831, George Morrell, of Otsego, was appointed Presi- 
 dent; Geo. McClure, of Steuben, James Pumpelly, of Tioga, 
 and S. S. Haight, of Allegany, Vice-Presidents; D. G. Garn- 
 sey, of Chautauqua, Sherman Page, of Otsego, and John C. 
 Clark, of Chenango, were appointed Secretaries. 
 
 The following-named gentlemen, on presenting their cre- 
 dentials, took their seats in the convention: 
 
 Chautauqua County. — D. G. Garnsey, R. P. Marvin, N. 
 Hacocks. 
 
 Cattaraugus.— F. S. Martin, C. J. Fox, G. A. Crooker. 
 
 .■illegally.— S. S. Haight, D. McHenry, Philip Church. 
 
 Steuben.— Wm. S. Hubbell, J. E. Evans, John Cooper, 
 Samuel Erwin, Samuel Besley, Edward Bacon, O. F. Mar- 
 shall, Thomas Awls, Wm. Lake, Geo. McClure, Z. A. Lelahd, 
 Henry L. Arnold. 
 
 Tioga. — Wm. Maxwell, Lyman Covell, John G. McDowell, 
 Isaac Shepard, Jas. Pumpelly, John H. Avery, Jonathan Piatt, 
 Stephen B. Leonard, E. S. Sweet, J. S. Paige, Charles Pum- 
 pelly, John R. Drake, L. A. Burrows. 
 
 Broome. — Horace Dresser, Davis C. Case, Theodore Pier- 
 son, Virgil Whitney, Levi Dimick, H. C. Bacon, Vincent 
 Whitney. 
 
 Chenango. — John C. Clark, John Newton, Dexter Newell, 
 Ira Church, Robt. D. McEwen, E. W. Corbin, Willis Sher- 
 wood. 
 
 Delaware. — Benning Mann, Wm. Webster, Hugh Johnson, 
 John Baxter, Andrew Parish. 
 
 Otsego. — Sherman Page, Isaac Hayes, Albert Benton, D. 
 Lawrence, Wm. Angel, Peter Collier, E. R. Ford, Geo. Mor- 
 rell, D. Hatch, S. D. Shaw. 
 
 Sullivan. — Randall Street, Piatt Pelton. 
 
 Greene. — Wm. Seaman, Isaac Van Loan, Jas. G. Elliott. 
 
 Tompkins. — Henry Ackley, Jacob M. M'Cormick, Francis 
 A. Bloodgood, Ebenezer Mack, Julius Ackley, Wm. R. Col- 
 lins, Levi Leonard, W. A. Woodward, J. B. Gosman. 
 
 Seneea. — Seba Murphy, Jas. De Mott, C. Pratt, J. B. Farr, 
 Nicoll Halsey, H. D. Barto. 
 
 T. B. Wakeman, Ira Clizbe, O. Beseley, of the City of New 
 York, by invitation, took seats in the convention. 
 
 The following resolution was adopted: 
 
 Resolved, That Messrs. Morrell and Woodcock, of Tomp- 
 kins County, Avery and J. Pumpelly, of Tioga, delegates ap- 
 pointed at a Railroad Convention held at Binghamton on 
 the 15th instant, to attend this convention, be admitted to 
 seats in the same. 
 
 Mr. Burrows offered the following resolution, which was 
 adopted: 
 
 Resolved, That a committee consisting of one delegate from 
 each county represented in this convention be appointed to 
 report resolutions for the consideration of the convention. 
 
 The committee was announced from the chair as follows: 
 
 Mr. Garnsey of Chautauqua, Crooker of Cattaraugus, Haight 
 of Allegany, Leland of Steuben, Burrows of Tioga, Virgil 
 Whitney of Broome, Clark of Chenango, Baxter of Delaware, 
 Page of Otsego, Pelton of Sullivan, Seaman of Greene, Blood- 
 good of Tompkins, Halsey of Seneca, Wakeman of New 
 York. 
 
 A communication addressed to the President of the Con- 
 vention from Messrs. B. Robinson, E. Lord, Richard M. 
 Lawrence, Robt. White, J. D. Beers, Wm. G. Buckner, Rich- 
 ard Ray, of the City of New York, on the subject of a rail- 
 road from Lake Erie to said city, was received, read, and 
 referred to the above-named committee. 
 
 The committee appointed to consider and report to the 
 convention the subjects which should particularly occupy 
 their attention at the present meeting, respectfully report: 
 
 1st. That it is expedient that application be made to the 
 Legislature of this State, at their ensuing session, for the 
 incorporation of a company with the necessary privileges to 
 construct a railroad from Lake Erie, commencing at some 
 point between the mouth of Cattaraugus Creek and the line 
 of Pennsylvania, and to run from thence, through the south- 
 western tier of counties, by the way of the village of Owego 
 to the Hudson River, or to connect with railroads already 
 chartered, or otherwise, as may be deemed most advisable 
 with a view to reach the city of New York by the best rail- 
 road with a capital of $5,000,000. 
 
 2d. That a notice of the foregoing application, emanating 
 from this convention, and signed by the officers thereof, be 
 forthwith published in the public papers, as the law directs. 
 
 3d. That a committee consisting of five members be ap- 
 pointed to prepare and report to the convention a memorial 
 to the Legislature, embracing the above-mentioned subjects. 
 
 4th. That Executive Committees be appointed in the several 
 counties interested in this application, for the purpose of cir- 
 culating and forwarding memorials, procuring the publica- 
 tion of notices, and doing such other things as may be neces- 
 sary to forward the objects of this application. 
 
 Sth. That a central corresponding committee be appointed 
 and also committees of correspondence for each of the coun- 
 ties interested in this application. 
 
 All which is respectfully submitted, 
 
 D. G. Garnsey, Chairman. 
 
 The following-named gentlemen were appointed a com- 
 mittee to draft the memorial to the Legislature: 
 
 Messrs. Burrovs, Leonard, Drake, and Avery of Tioga, 
 and Clark of ChenaiiSO. 
 
 The following-named gentlemen were appointed a corre- 
 sponding committee: 
 
 Messrs. McClure of Steuben, J. Pumpelly of Tioga, V. 
 Whitney of Broome, Clark of Chenango, Page of Otsego. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Page, the following resolution was 
 adopted: 
 
 Resolved, That the central committee be authorized to pub- 
 lish the proceedings of this convention, and notice of applica- 
 tion in all the counties immediately interested in this project, 
 also in the cities of New York and Albany. 
 
 The following-named gentlemen were appointed executive 
 and corresponding committees: 
 
 Chautatiqua County. — H. H. Camp, Sacket, W. Ches- 
 ter, T. A. Osborne, A. Diason, J. Mullet, O. Tinker, O. 
 M'Clure, J. Van Buren, S. A. Crum, Asa Gage, L. Crosby, 
 D. Sherman. Solon Hall, E. Convers, S. Tiffany, A. Plumb, 
 T. Campbell, J. Wait, D. G. Garnsey. 
 
 Cattaraugus. — S. N. Clark, H. Sexton, A. Gibbs, D. Backus, 
 A. Mead, F. S. Martin, H. Beach, P. Spencer. 
 
 Allegany.— S. S. Haight, J. B. Cooley, B. F. Smead, D. Mc- 
 Henry, G. Miles, J. M'Call, J\I. Smith, J. Grififin, S. King, 
 A. C. Hull. 
 
 Steuben. — H. Matthews, N. Besley, J. R. Gansevoort, R. 
 Roby, C. Cook, T. Raynolds. J. Van Valkenburgh, P. Swart, 
 H. L. Arnold, Dr. Hunter. 
 
 Tioga. — J. R. Drake, G. J. Pumpelly, L. A, Burrows, Thos. 
 Farrington, J. Fay, Thos. Maxwell, S. Tuthill, G. B. Baldwin, 
 T. North, C. Orwin. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 13 
 
 Broome.—]. Whitney, T. Robinson, T. G. Waterman, C. 
 Eldredge, G. Tompkins, P. Robinson, J. Hinds, jr., W. Sey- 
 mour, B. B. Nichols, W. Whittemore, Judson Allen, John W. 
 Harper, Robert Harper, Peter Robinson. 
 
 Chenango.— Gi.o. Welch, Silas A. Conkey, J. Latham, Rufus 
 Phelps, W. Clark, Eleazar Fitch, Jas. G. Mersereau, C. Hoff- 
 man, L. Bigelow, M. G. Benjamin, R. D. McEwen, Ezra 
 Corbin, Otis Loveland, Nathan Boynton, Dan. Stow, Ed. 
 Connell, Rufus Chandler, O. Parker, Wiley Thomas, P. G. 
 Burch, Elam Yale. 
 
 Otsego. — J. Hayes, D. Laurence, E. R. Ford, J. Goodyear, 
 J. More, M. MacNamee, S. Crippen, M. M. Chamberlain, A. 
 ^Nlorse, J. Bryant, C. Davidson, G. H. Noble, T. R. Austin. 
 
 Delaware. — N. Edgerton, J. Edgerton, A. Parrish, S. Gor- 
 don, V. P. Ogden, W. Cannon, S. Lusk, Sylvester Smith, 
 Nathan Mann. 
 
 Greene. — A. Van Vechten, J. S. Day, Piatt Adams, M. Wat- 
 son, S. Fuller, W. Edwards, H. Gosler, Z. Piatt, J. J. 
 Brandow, S. Nichols, D. A. King. 
 
 Schoharie. — Thos. Lawyer, W. Mane. 
 
 Ulster. — Theron Skeele, J. Keirsted, J. Trumpbour, John 
 Suydam. 
 
 Sullivan. — ^John P. Jones, R. S. Street, A. C. Niven, H. 
 Bennett, P. Pelton. 
 
 Orange. — G. D. Wickham, W. Walsh, Judge Seward, T. S. 
 Fisk, Stacy Beaks, Abraham J. Cuddeback. 
 
 Rockland. — J. H. Pierson. 
 
 A'ew York.^J. S. Talmadge, Nathan Weed, Silas Browne, 
 Eleazar Lord, Ben De Forest, R. Riker, S. Swartwout, Jas. 
 Lynch, Silas Stilwell, Arthur Bronson, R. G. Day, Silas E. 
 Burrows, Josiah Hedden, B. Robinson, R. M. Lawrence, 
 Robt. White, J. D. Beers, W. G. Buckner, Richard Ray. 
 
 Tompkins.— J. S: Beebee, S. B. Munn, jr., S. Marck, H. 
 Powers, S. Love. 
 
 Seneca.— C. Pratt, P. De jSIott, Seba Murphy, J. Maynard, 
 W. R. Smith. 
 
 On motion of Jilr. Burrows the following resolution was 
 adopted: 
 
 Resolved, That the convention cordially approve of the appli- 
 cation to the Legislature for the construction of a railroad 
 from the village of IthJica to the village of Geneva. 
 
 The thanks of the convention were voted to the President 
 and officers for the able discharge of their duties. 
 
 Geo. Morrell, President. 
 
 Geo. M'Clure, 1 
 
 Jas. Pumpelly, J- J^ice-Presidents. 
 
 S. S. Haight, j 
 
 S. Page, ] 
 
 D. G. Garnsey, y Secretaries. 
 
 J. C. Clark, 
 
 Such is the plain official report of the Owego Con- 
 vention, from which dates the birth of the Erie; but 
 there is an unofficial side to the proceedings of that 
 convention which demands recognition in this chron- 
 icle of Erie. The convention was held in the court 
 house. Philip Church of Allegany County was 
 chairman of it as it was originally organized. The 
 sentiment of the convention was so much in favor of 
 the application for charters for two separate corpo- 
 
 rations that a resolution favoring such a proceeding 
 was likely to be adopted. This was so utterly op- 
 posed to the original idea of the Chautauqua County 
 Convention, as proposed by Richard Marvin, and 
 the ideas of Philip Church, and, as they believed, 
 was destined to make the building of the railroad 
 beyond Owego so exceedingly doubtful, that Mr. 
 Church resigned as chairman of the convention and 
 took no further part in its deliberations. 
 
 Some weeks prior to the meeting of the conven- 
 tion at Owego, Eleazar Lord had wi'itten to the cor- 
 responding committee of the original Jamestown 
 Convention, in which letter he favored and recom- 
 mended the two-corporation idea. The committee 
 delegated Richard Marvin to reply to Mr. Lord's 
 letter, which he did, making it as able and earnest 
 as he was capable of making it, and insisting that 
 the work must be undertaken as a whole, as one 
 enterprise, and constructed by one company. Just 
 before Philip Church resigned as chairman of the 
 Owego Convention, and while the excitement over 
 the probable outcome of the debate on the railroad 
 question was at its height, a memorable incident 
 occurred. It is thus described by Richard Marvin, 
 who was a delegate to the convention : 
 
 " A prominent citizen of Owego came rushing into 
 the convention, and handed to the President a letter 
 addressed to ' The President of the Convention then 
 in Session.' The President, Church, handed the let- 
 ter to the clerk, and it was opened and read. It 
 was from Eleazar Lord. It was brief. After regret- 
 ting his inability to attend the convention, he then 
 in few and emphatic words declared that the entire 
 road to Lake Erie should be embraced in one char- 
 ter, and be constructed as a whole by one company. 
 The letter contained no argument. I understood. 
 then, and have always understood, that this letter 
 was a response to the letter of our committee." 
 
 This letter was not from Eleazar Lord alone. It 
 was also signed by such representative New York 
 business men of that day as Richard M. Lawrence, 
 William G. Buckner, Robert White, and Richard 
 Raj\ Mr. Lord, in his " Historical Review of the 
 New York and Erie Railroad," records that the 
 letter was a strong presentment in favor of a single 
 charter. 
 
H 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 George Morrell of Otsego County was chosen to 
 the chair left vacant by the resignation of Phih'p 
 Church, and the Lord letter was referred to the 
 Committee on Resolutions. If it were not the argu- 
 ments of that letter that brought about the result 
 accomplished it would be difficult to surmise what 
 the cause of the change in the sentiment of the com- 
 mittee could have been. After a long and hotly- 
 contested struggle in that committee, the resolution 
 quoted above was adopted, as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That it is expedient that application be made to 
 the Legislature of this State at its ensuing session for the in- 
 corporation of a company with the necessary privileges to 
 construct a railroad from Lake Erie, commencing at some 
 point between the mouth of Cattaraugus Creek and the hne 
 of Pennsylvania and to run from thence to the Southwestern 
 tier of counties by the way of the village of Owego to the 
 Hudson River, or to connect with railroads already chartered 
 or otherwise, as may be deemed advisable, with a view to 
 reach the city of New York, by the best railroad route, with 
 a capital of $5,000,000. 
 
 This resolution met with a vigorous opposition in 
 the convention, but was finally accepted as the sense 
 of the meeting by a substantial majority. Just why 
 the outcome did not satisfy Mr. Church and Mr. 
 Marvin that the Owego Convention was not com- 
 mitted to the two-corporations plan it is now im- 
 possible to know, but, according to the Marvin remi- 
 niscences of the event in the archives of the Chau- 
 tauqua Historical Society, such was the case, and it 
 was only through strong personal appeals to Church 
 by Marvin that the former was induced to take an}- 
 further interest in the project. He yielded to these 
 appeals, and went to New York to confer with 
 Eleazar Lord and other New York capitalists on the 
 
 subject, with the result that Church was named as 
 one of the incorporators of the company in the 
 charter presented to the following session of the New 
 York Legislature; the Church application framed at 
 the Angelica Convention in October, 1831, being 
 adopted by the memorialists instead of the one 
 drafted at the Owego Convention. 
 
 The people of Broome County and that part of 
 New York had been for a long time striving for the 
 building of the Chenango Canal, and the influence 
 of the strong feeling in favor of that project figured 
 prominently in the discussion of the proposed rail- 
 road, especially at Binghamton — so much so, that 
 on December 23, 1831, three days after the conven- 
 tion at Owego, at a public meeting held at Bingham- 
 ton, one of the resolutions adopted was to the effect 
 that " we feel a deep interest in the contemplated 
 railroad, but we feel a deeper interest in the con- 
 templated Chenango Canal, and consider its con- 
 struction of paramount importance." 
 
 An interesting reminiscence of those days of the 
 Erie's origin is contained in a letter from Mrs. John 
 Barker Church, a daughter-in-law of Philip Church, 
 who, in the latter part of 183 1, wrote to her father. 
 Professor Silliman of Yale College, as follows: " Mr. 
 Church goes to New York for the winter, endeavor- 
 ing to make interest for the railroad, which is now a 
 topic of much feeling throughout the country. If 
 they get it, it will be indeed ' annihilating all time 
 and space.' They talk most seriously of being able 
 to go from Buffalo to New York in twenty-four 
 hours! You may smile at this, but I assure you, 
 it's all true." 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 ORGANIZING ERIE— 1832 TO 1833. 
 
 An Unsatisfactory Charter — The Subscription Committee Thinks the United States Government Should Make a Survey for the Railroad — 
 The Government Survey, the Erie Canal, and New York State Politics — President Andrew Jackson's Reason for Ordering: the 
 Government Survey Discontinued — " It Would Interfere with the Management of the Politics of New York State" — Redfield's 
 Indignant Letter — The Survey through Rockland, Orange, and Sullivan Counties — The Original Subscribers to the Stock — 
 The Charter Amended, and the New York and Erie Railroad Company Organized — Eleazar Lord the First President — The 
 Original Board of Directors, which Comprised the Most Prominent of New York City's Business Men and Capitalists of that Day — 
 The First Vice-President, Treasurer, and Counsel. 
 
 The original draft of the charter for a company to 
 build the proposed railroad was made by the Hon. 
 John Duer of New York. In this the capital of the 
 company was placed at $io,OChd,ooo, and it was pro- 
 vided that after the subscribing of $500,000 of that 
 amount the company should have authority to or- 
 ganize. The old opposition to the construction of 
 any means of transportation through the State of New 
 York that might divert business from and lessen the 
 commercial and political influence of the canal coun- 
 ties at once showed itself among the representatives 
 of those counties, and the proposed charter for such 
 a thoroughfare was so amended during the session 
 that when a charter was at last granted by the Legis- 
 lature, April 24, 1832, it was by no means a document 
 calculated to further the interests of a great public 
 improvement, for the completion of which a large por- 
 tion of the population of New York State was appeal- 
 ing, and on which the enhancement of the material 
 interests of a wide extent of the country at large 
 depended. (Page 295, " Fighting Its Way.") As 
 finally adopted, the charter fixed the capital of the 
 company at $10,000,000, but provided that it should 
 all be subscribed and 5 per cent, of the subscriptions 
 ($500,000) paid in before a company should be organ- 
 ized ; named as incorporators Samuel Swartwout, 
 Stephen Whitney, Peter White, Cornelius Harsen, 
 Eleazar Lord, Daniel LeRoy, William C. Redfield, 
 Cornelius J. Blauvelt, Jeremiah H. Pierson, William 
 Townsend, Egbert Jansen, Charles Borland, Abram 
 M. Smith, AlpheusDimmick, Randall S. Street, John 
 P. Jones, George D. Wickham, Joseph Curtis, John 
 
 L. Gorham, Joshua Whitney, Christopher Eldridge, 
 James McKinney, James Pumpelly, Charles Pum- 
 pelly, John R. Drake, Jonathan Piatt, Luther Gere, 
 Francis A. Bloodgood, Jeremiah S. Beebe, Ebenezer 
 Mack, Ansel St. John, Andrew DeWitt Bruyn, 
 Stephen Tuttle, Lyman Covell, Robert Covell, John 
 Arnot, John Magee, William McCoy, William S. 
 Hubbell, William Bauman, Arthur H. Erwin, Henry 
 Brother, Philip Church, Samuel King, Walter Bowne, 
 Morgan Lewis, William Paulding, Peter Lorillard, 
 Isaac Lawrence, Jeromus Johnson, John Steward, Jr., 
 Henry I. Wyckoff, Richard M. Lawrence, Gideon 
 Lee, John P. Stagg, Nathaniel Weed, Hubert Van 
 Wagenen, David Rogers, John Hone, John G. Cos- 
 ter, Goold Hoyt, Peter I. Nevius, Robert Buloid, 
 Thomas R. Ronalds, John Haggerty, Elisha Riggs, 
 Benjamin L. Swan, Grant B. Baldwin, William Max- 
 well, and Darius Bentley — representative men of 
 the city of New York and of each county interested 
 in the building of the railroad ; provided for the con- 
 struction of a double, single, or treble track railroad 
 from. New York, or some point near New York, 
 through the Southern Tier, by way of Owego, to 
 Lake Erie, the raihoad to be begun within four 
 years, and $200,000 expended in construction within 
 one year thereafter, one-quarter of the railroad to 
 be completed and in operation within ten years from 
 the date of the charter, one-half within fifteen years, 
 the whole within twenty years, or the charter to be 
 null and void; named a subscription committee of 
 eighty persons, a majority of them living at a dis- 
 tance from New York City, where the headquarters 
 
i6 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 of the company were to be established, and provided 
 that work should not be begun on a double track 
 until the first one was completed between the Hud- 
 son River and Lake Erie, and passengers and freight 
 had been carried over it. 
 
 The route of the road was not otherwise defined 
 than that "it is to begin at the city of New York, 
 or at such point in its vicinity as shall be most eligi- 
 ble and convenient therefor, and continue through 
 the Southern Tier of counties, by way of Owego in 
 Tioga County, to the shore of Lake Erie, at some 
 eligible point between the Cattaraugus Creek and the 
 Pennsylvania line." The company was restrained 
 from making any connection with railroads in Penn- 
 sylvania or New Jersey, without the special permis- 
 sion of the Legislature. 
 
 At a meeting of the incorporators held at the 
 Merchants' Exchange in New York, May 9, 1832, 
 at which Philip Church presided, William C. Redfield 
 being secretary, a committee consisting of Eleazar 
 Lord, Walter Bowne, Morgan Lewis, William Pauld- 
 ing, Stephen Whitney, Peter Lorillard, Isaac Law- 
 rence, Gideon Lee, John P. Stagg, Nathaniel Weed, 
 William C. Redfield, Samuel Swartwout, and Rich- 
 ard M. Lawrence, was appointed to adopt the nec- 
 essary measures for effecting a survey of the route 
 " during the present season." 
 
 It was the sense of the meeting that it would be 
 useless to solicit money to build a railroad the sur- 
 vey for the route of which had not even been made. 
 It was also the opinion of many of the incorporators 
 that, even if they procured money to pay for mak- 
 ing a survey, it would be impossible to obtain the 
 $10,000,000 subscriptions and the amount of cash 
 necessary to organize a company to act on the sur- 
 vey. But, on the ground that the proposed railroad 
 would be a grand avenue for the quicker opening up 
 of the public lands, a link in the chain of communi- 
 cation between the East and the West, and thus an 
 undertaking tending to national benefit, it was re- 
 solved by the meeting that the General Government 
 be appealed to and solicited to make the survey for 
 the railroad. 
 
 To arouse interest in this proposition in the in- 
 terior counties, the committee issued a call to all 
 who were friendly to the proposed New York and 
 
 Erie Railroad to convene at Owego on June 4, 
 1S32, and there take the subject under advisement. 
 The assemblage was large and enthusiastic. Philip 
 Church was chairman and J. R. Drake secretary. 
 A committee consisting of J. R. Drake, J. H. Avery, 
 and S. B. Leonard was appointed to correspond with 
 the proper officers of the General Government in 
 relation to the survey of the railroad route, and to 
 solicit subscriptions for the object, and to create a 
 fund to be appropriated in premiums for useful infor- 
 mation respecting railroads and railroad machinery; 
 that subject having also been brought before the 
 convention — a circumstance in itself eloquent of the 
 meagre practical knowledge pertaining to the mat- 
 ters in hand that the founders of the Erie possessed, 
 and of the crude ideas of railroad construction that 
 then prevailed. 
 
 The effort to raise money by subscription to pay 
 for the survey failed, and it was at last resolved by 
 the committee to ask that it be made at the public 
 expense. This proposition was placed before the 
 authorities at Washington. The subject of internal 
 improvements at that time being a paramount one. 
 President Jackson approved of the proposition, and 
 in the latter part of June, 1832, an order was issued 
 from the War Department for the making of the sur- 
 vey at the expense of the Government, the work to 
 be in charge of Col. DeWitt Clinton, who had made 
 the reconnoissance for the proposed Redfield rail- 
 road survey in the autumn of 1831. Colonel Clin- 
 ton arrived at New York with four assistants soon 
 afterward, and began preparations for carrying out 
 his orders. On July 4, before he had completed 
 his arrangements for beginning the survey, an order 
 was issued from the War Department suspending 
 the work unless its cost should be paid for by the 
 New York and Erie Railroad Company or by private 
 funds. This sudden change in the attitude of the 
 Government was the first serious blow of the many 
 the railroad project was to receive before the com- 
 ing of the time when it should unite the ocean with 
 the lakes. 
 
 It was announced that the work had been ordered 
 discontinued because President Jackson's advisers 
 had declared that there was no constitutional war- 
 rant for it; but, according to Eleazar Lord's reminis- 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 17 
 
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 FACSIMILE OF LETTER FROM WILLIAM C. REDFIELD TO THE HON. SAMUEL PRESTON. 
 
 PRESTON, MIDDLETOWN, N. Y. 
 
 ORIGINAL LOANED BY MISS ANN 
 
 New York, y«</)' 25, 1832. 
 Respected Friend : Being on the point of leaving town I have just time to inform you that the survey of our 
 Railroad has just been suspended by order of the President of the United States. Thus we find that every thing which 
 is calculated to promote the growth and prosperity of the Northern, Middle and Western States is vetoed by the Execu- 
 tive authority. If the citizens of Northern Pennsylvania and Southern New York understand this fact as they ought they 
 will express their indignation to our Sovereign despot at the next election. 
 
 For the rest we must wait with resignation the progress of events more in favor of the Railroad. Yours in haste, 
 
 Wm. C. Redfield. 
 
 cences, it was learned that politics and partisan in- with the survey at the public expense, at the re- 
 
 fluences had again conspired to obstruct the progress quest and on the representations of a then promi- 
 
 of the contemplated railroad through the Southern nent Democratic politician of New York. 
 
 Tier of New York State. The President frankly " This gentleman tells me," said the President, 
 
 said to a committee of the Erie incorporators that " that the building of this railroad would make a 
 
 Colonel Clinton had been ordered not to proceed thoroughfare that would be a rival of the Erie Canal, 
 
iS 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 the effect of whose political patronage would be 
 likely to be neutralized by the patronage of the rail- 
 road, the latter not being under State control, thus 
 making it impossible to manage the politics of the 
 State, so well as they are managed now; and, surely, 
 as the gentleman says, that is of far more import- 
 ance than the railroad to a State already amply pro- 
 vided with means of commercial transportation by 
 its own canal." 
 
 (William C. Redfield, who, as we have seen, first 
 brought the subject of such a railroad forward, and 
 who had its interests greatly at heart, voiced the 
 bitter disappointment that this act of the President 
 brought to all friends of the infant project in the 
 letter to the Hon. Samuel Preston on page 17.) 
 
 This unexpected darkening of the prospects of the 
 New York and Erie Railroad at the very start was 
 discouraging to the advocates of the enterprise. 
 The New York and Erie Railroad Company could 
 not defray the expenses for the survey for the pro- 
 posed route for the very excellent reason that there 
 was as yet no New York and Erie Railroad Com- 
 pany, nor could there be one until $10,000,000 had 
 been subscribed as its capital and $500,000 of it paid 
 in. That event was, under the circumstances, a 
 great distance in the future. But the friends of the 
 railroad did not lose heart. The counties to be 
 benefited by the work were appealed to and asked 
 to make up the necessary fund for the expenses of 
 the survey through their respective territory by pub- 
 lic subscription. The only counties that responded 
 to the call were Rockland, Sullivan, and Orange. 
 
 The following letter will throw some light on the 
 subject of this now long-forgotten Erie survey: 
 
 MoNTiCELLO, N. Y., September 28, 1832. 
 D. K. Minor, 35 Wall St., New York. 
 
 Sir: It may be gratifying to the friends of the New York 
 and Erie Railroad to learn that the survey of the route near 
 this place was commenced last week under the direction of 
 Col. DeWitt Clinton, and that it is proposed to continue the 
 survey to the Hudson this fall. The first ten miles of the 
 route proves very feasible. The surface is comparatively even, 
 and a gradual descent towards the Delaware and Hudson 
 Canal of from twenty to twenty-five feet per mile. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 J. P. Jones. 
 
 D. K. Minor was editor of the A^ew York Ameri- 
 can and the American Railroad Journal. J. P. Jones 
 
 was State Senator John P. Jones, a power in South- 
 ern New York in those days. 
 
 To aid in paying the expenses of the survey, the 
 United States Government furnishing the engineer 
 corps, which was in charge of Colonel Clinton, tiie 
 first subscriptions to Erie stock were made, October 
 18, 1832, as follows: Eleazar Lord, merchant, New 
 York, 201 shares; Rufus L. Lord, merchant. New 
 York, 420 shares; Michael Burnham, printer, New 
 York, loi shares; Richard M. Lawrence, merchant, 
 New York, three shares; Jeremiah H. Pierson, manu- 
 facturer, Ramapo, N. Y., 151 shares; Josiah G. Pier- 
 son, manufacturer, Ramapo, N. Y., one share; Cor- 
 nelius Goetchings, one share; Solomon Humphrey, 
 one share; Daniel C. Heuring, one share; Thomas 
 Ward, clerk. New York, one share. With the ex- 
 ception of the Goetchings, Humphrey, Heuring, 
 and Ward subscriptions, on which 5 per cent. 
 was paid, the subscribers paid in 10 per cent, on 
 their subscriptions, the total cash received being 
 $9,880. 
 
 The survey through Rockland, Orange, and Sulli- 
 van counties was completed in the fall of 1832, and 
 a report of it made to the Government and the com- 
 pany, which was the last ever heard of it, that being, 
 however, a matter of no particular consequence, as 
 it was of no use whatever to the furthering of the 
 advancement of work on the New York and Erie 
 Railroad. 
 
 The experiences of the Subscription Committee 
 thus far in its efforts to get the great work in some 
 tangible shape left no doubt in its mind that unless 
 the Legislature could be induced to modify the char- 
 ter in important particulars, and to grant other con- 
 cessions, there would be no possible use of spending 
 further time or labor in efforts toward forwarding 
 the undertaking, even so far as the organizing of a 
 company. To these ends, such modifications and 
 concessions were asked for at the session of the New 
 York Legislature for 1833. In the face of much 
 opposition from the canal counties the charter was at 
 last so changed that a subscription of only $1,000,000 
 to the capital stock, instead of the entire $10,000,000, 
 was made obligatory before the company could or- 
 ganize, of which 10 per cent, must be paid in. The 
 quorum of the Subscription Committee was also re- 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 19 
 
 duced to a number that could be readily obtained at 
 any time. 
 
 With this amended charter, the committee went 
 to work. Subscription books were opened pursuant 
 to the following notice: 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 Notice. — The Books for subscription to the capital stock 
 of this company will be opened at the Merchants' Exchange 
 in this city on the 9th, loth and nth days of July next, be- 
 tween the hours of twelve and two o'clock. One million 
 dollars of the stock is required to be subscribed before the 
 commencement of the work, in shares of one hundred dollars 
 each, five dollars on each share to be paid at the time of 
 subscription. Dated New York, 24th June, 1833. 
 
 COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 Morgan Lewis, 
 Gideon Lee, 
 Robert White, 
 John G. Coster, 
 Step'nen Whitney, 
 Hubert Van Wagenen, 
 Isaac Lawrence, 
 
 Goold Hoyt, 
 Elisha Riggs, 
 Thomas T. Woodruff, 
 John Haggerty, 
 John Steward, jr., 
 Peter I. Nevius, 
 Michael Burnham. 
 
 N. B. — Applications by letter to the Commissioners inclos- 
 ing money or checks will be received as subscriptions. 
 
 The necessary subscriptions to the Erie stock were 
 received by the commissioners on the days adver- 
 tised, so that they were able to issue the call for the 
 election of the first Board of Erie Directors as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 NOTICE OF ELECTION.— NEW YORK AND ERIE 
 RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 One million dollars of the capital stock of this Company 
 having been subscribed in conformity with the charter, the 
 stockholders are hereby notified that an election for the 
 choice of seventeen Directors of the said company will be 
 held at the Merchants' Exchange on Friday, the 9th day of 
 August next, under the inspection of the Commissioners as 
 directed in the charter. The poll will open from 10 to 12 
 o'clock A. M. By order of the Commissioners. 
 
 New York, July 19, 1833. 
 
 The men selected as this original Board of Erie 
 Directors were: Stephen Whitney, Peter Harmony, 
 John Duer, Goold Hoyt, James Boorman, William 
 G. Buckner, Elihu Townsend, Michael Burnham, 
 Eleazar Lord, Samuel B. Ruggles, Benjamin Wright, 
 D. N. Lord, of New York; Jeremiah H. Pierson, 
 Cornelius J. Blauvelt, of Rockland County; George 
 D. Wickham, of Orange County; Joshua Whitney, 
 of Broome County; James Pumpelly, of Tioga 
 County. 
 
 Eleazar Lord was elected the first President of 
 Erie ; Goold Hoyt, Vice-President ; William G. Buck- 
 ner, Treasurer; and John Duer, Counsel. The or- 
 ganization of the New York and Erie Railroad Com- 
 pany thus became a fact on August 9, 1833, although 
 but 5 per cent, of the required subscriptions had 
 been paid in, instead of 10 per cent., as the charter 
 specified. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 FIRST ADMINISTRATION OF ELEAZAR LORD— 1833 TO 1835. 
 
 I. Faint-hearted Beginning : Bidding for Contributions and Donations — Opposition in the Western Counties — Philip Church's Protest--. 
 Demanding a Survey — State Aid Asked and Engineers Appointed. II. The Long-sought Survey : Report of Benjamin Wright, 
 Engineer in Charge of the Survey of the Route for the New York and Erie Railroad — The Light it Throws on the Knowledge of 
 the Science of Railroad Construction Sixty Years Ago — Queer Ideas, Suggestions, and Conclusions — The Route of the Railroad as 
 then Laid Out, with Estimates of its Cost, and Amusing Calculations — Inclined Planes, Tunnels, and Careful Consideration of the 
 Interests of the Canals — Yet that Survey, as a Whole, Stands To-day as a Striking Monument to the Engineering Genius of that 
 Early Day. 
 
 I. FAINT-HEARTED BEGINNING. 
 
 One of the first suggestions that received the favor- 
 able consideration of the Board was made by Eleazar 
 Lord, to the effect that before any of the Company's 
 subscribed capital should be expended for other pur- 
 poses, right of way and donations of land should be 
 solicited from the people along the line of the pro- 
 posed railroad. This action of the Board might 
 have been prompted by motives that its members 
 regarded as for the best interests of the Company 
 and. its work, but it was far from being one to in- 
 spire investors or others with any great degree of 
 confidence in their wisdom or qualifications as prac- 
 tical business men, or in the sincerity of their pro- 
 fessions of eagerness for the beginning and progress 
 of the railroad work. 
 
 For a year or more it had been the plaint of the 
 projectors of the railroad that they could do nothing 
 until a survey of the route gave them something 
 tangible to base their representations to the public 
 on. The Government had been appealed to for aid 
 in this respect, without success. The people of 
 direct interest in the proposed work had ignored a 
 like appeal. Yet nothing but a survey could avail 
 as a starting point. The Legislature had come to 
 their relief in so far as a modification of the charter 
 served, and by that they had been able to call into 
 their treasury $50,000, and had organized a com- 
 pany. Under the circumstances it would naturally 
 be supposed that they would have availed them- 
 selves of that ample fund, and proceeded without 
 
 delay to the ordering of a survey for a route for the 
 desired railroad, and thus secured the tangible some- 
 thing on which to build their hopes of popular finan- 
 cial support. Instead of doing that, they immedi- 
 ately resolved to expend none of the money until 
 right of way and donations of land from people 
 along the line of the proposed railroad could be 
 solicited, when, as a matter of fact, there was no 
 " line of the proposed railroad," and could be none 
 until one might be surveyed. It is by no means un- 
 reasonable to suspect that much of the opposition 
 that was manifested against the efforts of the Erie 
 founders to establish their project might have risen 
 from the contemplation of this and subsequent short- 
 sighted, foolhardy and inconsistent measures they 
 and their early successors were responsible for. 
 
 In September, 1833, less than a month after the 
 Company was organized, Eleazar Lord, " By order 
 of the Board of Directors," issued an address to the 
 people of the Western counties, in which he said: 
 
 We see no prospect of procuring means adequate to this 
 great undertaking, but on the contrary are satisfied that they 
 cannot be obtained; that is, that subscriptions to the stock 
 of the company snfificient for the object will not be made, 
 unless extensive and valuable donations of lands and money 
 irom the proprietors and inhabitants, on and near the route, 
 are made to the company, constituting such a fund as to in- 
 spire the requisite confidence in the value and security of the 
 stock, and to compensate the loss of income on the funds 
 employed in the construction of the road, during the time 
 occupied by the work, and perhaps for two or three years 
 thereafter. 
 
 This circular also made plain the fact that the ulti- 
 mate route of the railroad would be influenced by 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 21 
 
 such donations, and avowed that it was the deter- 
 mination of the Company to abandon the undertak- 
 ing and reHnquish the charter unless the requested 
 ■donations were made. The cessions asked for were 
 to be lands six rods in width along the route, and 
 the same amount at each end of the railroad, with 
 all the timber that might be thereon, as right of 
 way, and as many acres of land in tracts as the 
 donor saw fit; the larger the donation the better 
 •chance the donor would have, it was intimated, of 
 seeing the railroad pass over or contiguous to his 
 property. 
 
 The circular further stated that " if with the aid 
 now solicited the stock should be deemed desirable 
 on books being open for the capital, the donors of 
 land and money might avail themselves of the op- 
 
 essential subscriptions to the stock of the company on the 
 part of the State or of individuals, until preliminary steps 
 have been taken to ascertain the capabilities of the route 
 and the cost of construction. Application was also made at 
 an early period of the session (1833) by the eastern corpora- 
 tors for amendments to the charter, * * * asking a reduc- 
 tion of capital from ten to six millions, and permission to the 
 company to organize and enter upon its operations on a 
 subscription of $500,000. The former part of the request was 
 granted; the latter modified so as to require a subscription 
 of $1,000,000. This great reduction, united with the permis- 
 sion to commence and prosecute its object on subscriptions 
 of small fractions of its capital, at the same time that it 
 afforded facilities for its commencement, evidently would have 
 brought into extreme jeopardy the completion of the rail- 
 road, or its continuation to any great proportions even of 
 its extent. In order to preclude consequences so disastrous 
 to the claims and the hope of the western residents of the 
 Southern Tier of Counties, their immediate representatives 
 procured to be incorporated into the amendment a clause 
 requiring the whole route to be surveyed before any section 
 thereof should be undertaken. 
 
 ^«,.x - — .A/»v^«.v^*V*v^nfc.„._, 
 
 I, The Subscribers, an inJiaWumt oCthe cei;.-!U' of f';c:i'.i;':i, in cofi«l6!TJ'Jon '.Ibji the Sew York. amfKmj'Kai! RorJCdm-'^W 
 p:inv shall construct thcsr rail road so;3a tu p;is;; :.r.r>!!g;i theccuny c-f SJeutsoi:, '.i :■ li^echy agree lo^^^fd'the.r, (he lorri^'' ] 
 I (^A/h€C^Jkt»U:C^^X!C4XAtt4Jj:M.^.C^ on ite fiampierioauf all ifeat pau fti' s.5ia ml re 
 
 lise fJadaoaji^er 'o tee lb-;:;.!' Aileganjcuu.-ir. , _ .^^ o ' 
 
 Witnesi Diy ii„r,d sfid se;.,], -lii'. 'Clcrt-xSty- ^<ie^<fM osy 'of J/t^e^i, .'->■''- >* ,n ihe year ct s-w Irfyf-S^"! 
 
 one llHHjsMjdeiglnlmrrdferf and thirty iZ^^S'^l' ■ /^ -d^-*! 
 
 Sealed anddeJivereU ia tiiowOisericsf of >VX»«t>. /f? > / ^^-^ 
 
 l^1-VV*.%VV<.-V^A*VW*.'-.-v'- •>- 
 
 FACSIMILE OF FORM OF AGREEMENT ENCLOSED TO CITIZENS FOR THEIR SIGNATURES TO DONATIONS OF LAND 
 
 OR MONEY. 
 
 portunity of subscribing for stock, reserving in their 
 •cessions and pledges the right to do so to a given 
 amount, and thereby secure to themselves the advan- 
 tage of whatever premium the stock might bear." 
 
 The citizens generally did not take kindly to these 
 propositions, and those of Allegany County ad- 
 dressed the Legislature of 1834 in protesting terms 
 on the subject. Petitions from Allegany County 
 had been forwarded to the Legislature in 1833, ask- 
 ing for an appropriation for a survey of a route for 
 the railroad, upon the confident reliance, should the 
 survey prove favorable, that the State would grant 
 aid to the project. In the petition of 1834 the peti- 
 tioners, among them Philip Church, showed that 
 they began to mistrust the purposes of the Company 
 as organized, as these extracts from the petition show : 
 
 " It's [the railroad's] most ardent friends, and those who 
 have the utmost confidence in its feasibility, cannot expect any 
 
 "The amendments granted at the request of the Eastern 
 corporators gave rise to the expectation that the $1,000,000 
 would be subscribed, the company organized, and a survey 
 made, upon which, should it be favorable, might be founded 
 an application to the State for assistance. During last sum- 
 mer the required sum was subscribed, 10 per cent, paid in 
 and the company organized. The company being in funds, 
 the inhabitants of the Southern Tier of Counties were 
 anxiously expecting an immediate commencement of the 
 survey. It was with no small degree of disappointment, 
 about two months only subsequent to the above subscrip- 
 tion, that we received this circular. 
 
 " Stock would not go to a premium unless they made the 
 donations, and consequently any premium would be created 
 by them, and they would only be getting a return of their 
 donations, while the company, already owning $1,000,000 of 
 stock, would at the same tiine be raised to a premium by their 
 donations. If they raised $2,000,000 they would receive but 
 two-thirds of the return of their donations, and one-third 
 would be a gift to the company, for the purpose of enabling 
 it to dispose of its $r,ooo,ooo stock at a premium and would 
 most probably retard the work because the holders of $3,000,- 
 000 of stock raised to a premium, merely by donations, would 
 ■ under such circumstances of probable occurrence,' be un- 
 willing to call for further subscriptions that would permit 
 
22 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 others to participate in a premium thus created and sustained. 
 * * * Their omission to begin the survey, and their posi- 
 tive declarations in their circular, indicate a positive deter- 
 mination to rout the charter by lapse in deferring the begin- 
 ning of the work beyond April 24, 1836, as provided in the 
 charter." 
 
 The petitioners asked the Legislature, therefore, 
 for permission to withdraw their subscription to the 
 stock, " a permission which, without doubt, they 
 will readily embrace." They also asked the State 
 to provide for a survey at the expense of the State, 
 to an amount that would entitle the State to a 
 majority of the directors of the Company, In order 
 that the Inhabitants of the whole line of the South- 
 ern Tier of counties might have an Influence through 
 them on the affairs of the Company. Another re- 
 quest they made was that the State should offer 
 permission to those who might " give valuable In- 
 formation in reply to queries to be propounded In 
 such manner as the Legislature may direct, seeking 
 information In regard to the survey, construction, 
 and use of railroads and railroad carriages and ma- 
 chinery." 
 
 The Holland Land Company, which owned whole 
 townships In Allegany, Cattaraugus, and other 
 Western New York counties, and the Pultney estate, 
 which held vast areas In Steuben and adjoining coun- 
 ties, were among those that were asked to aid the 
 building of the railroad by donations of land. The 
 Pultney estate extended some aid in this way, but 
 the Holland Land Company refused to do so. It 
 offered to sell its land, however, at reduced prices, 
 if the purchasers would pledge a portion of It to 
 the Railroad Company. Acting on this suggestion, 
 Eleazar Lord, Goold Hoyt, and Ellhu Townsend, 
 fellow-directors with Mr. Lord In the first Board of 
 Erie Managers, purchased 500,000 acres of land In 
 Allegany and Cattaraugus counties, and with others 
 interested in the success of the railroad, 8,000 acres 
 at and about Dunkirk, in Chautauqua County. Al- 
 though Lord, Hoyt, and Townsend donated 50,000 
 acres of their land to the Railroad Company, on con- 
 dition that the road should be completed in seven 
 years, and the Dunkirk landowners contributed 2,000 
 acres on the same conditions, and others in counties 
 through which the road was to pass made similar 
 offerings, there were those, even among the friends 
 
 of the railroad, who could not help figuring on what 
 the profit to the purchasers of those vast estates- 
 would be when the railroad should come along and 
 open them to easy and convenient access by settlers. 
 The pledges of land to the Railroad Company, how- 
 ever, would have been worth hundreds of thousands, 
 of dollars to Its treasury if it could have fulfilled the 
 conditions of the grant. 
 
 Beyond this nothing was accomplished toward the 
 advancement of the undertaking so long discussed. 
 Capital stood aloof from the project. There was a 
 feeling abroad that the scheme was not one advo- 
 cated in good faith, but as a cloak for speculation. 
 Conventions of citizens of the various counties inter- 
 ested In the proposed thoroughfare were held during 
 the early fall of 1833, and each appointed delegates 
 to a general convention to be held at New York City 
 November 20th of that year, to devise ways and 
 means of furthering the great work. Gideon Lee 
 of New York was chairman of that convention ; 
 George D. Wickham of Goshen, Orange County, 
 and James Pumpelly of Owego, Tioga County, Vice- 
 Presidents; W. W. McKay of Steuben County, and 
 David Ruggles of Orange County, Secretaries. The 
 result of the meeting was a series of resolutions ask- 
 ing the State of New York for a substantial subscrip- 
 tion to the stock of the New York and Erie Railroad 
 Company, a loan to aid the work, and for an appro- 
 priation of money sufficient to have a competent 
 and complete survey made of the route for the pro- 
 posed road. This was supplemented January 13, 
 1834, by a memorial from Eleazar Lord, as President 
 of the Company, to the New York Legislature, in 
 which he stated that $1,000,000 had been subscribed, 
 in conformity to the amended charter, and stating 
 that, notwithstanding the great Interest the people 
 In New York City and In the Southern counties 
 manifested in the work, the conditions were such 
 that they could not assume " any considerable por- 
 tion of the expense," and that pecuniary aid of the 
 State was necessary to make the enterprise a suc- 
 cess. The amount necessary to build and equip the 
 road for business, he said, was $6,000,000, and he 
 petitioned for an advance of $2,000,000 in a stock 
 subscription by the State. 
 
 March 26, 1834, Messrs. Todd, Beardslev --"id 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 23 
 
 Parker, of the majority of the Assembly Committee 
 ■on Railroads, reported on the application of the 
 Company for aid. " To the knowledge of the com- 
 mittee," the report stated, " the State has never 
 lent its credit or aid to any incorporation, except 
 •when individuals had shown their confidence in the 
 work by subscribing and expending their own money 
 to more than two-thirds of the cost of the whole 
 construction. A company, then, which has not 
 made even a survey of a route, must have a strong 
 •degree of assurance to come before the Legislature 
 for its aid. * * * It is said in the memorials that 
 Legislative bounty is due to this enterprise because 
 it passes through a range of secluded counties." 
 The report scouted this idea because " before the 
 Erie Canal was constructed the counties of Scho- 
 harie, Herkimer, Montgomery, and Otsego were not 
 considered secluded counties, although they were a 
 hundred miles from the cities of Albany and Troy, 
 then the only marts of trade, * * * while Utica, 
 Ithaca, Rochester, Binghamton, Elmira, and other 
 places had now become markets, through the con- 
 struction of the canals, and occupied the same places 
 in the commercial geography of the country that 
 were once monopolized by Albany and Troy;" 
 lience the committee could not see how any of the 
 ■counties of the Southern Tier could justly call them- 
 selves secluded, " with the exception of the solitary 
 counties of Delaware and Allegany. By the con- 
 struction of the Delaware and Hudson Canal, to- 
 ward the completion of which the credit of the State 
 was loaned, and of the Erie Canal, the Cayuga and 
 Seneca Canal, the Chemung and Crooked Lake 
 Canals, and the Genesee feeder, canal navigation 
 has been extended from the waters of the Delaware 
 and Susquehanna to the Hudson, and, when the 
 Chenango Canal shall be completed, to, through, or 
 by the side of almost all the counties which have 
 called themselves and still call themselves secluded 
 counties. Chautauqua lies on the lake. Cattarau- 
 gus approaches within six miles of it. From Alle- 
 gany County, on one side, it is about thirty miles 
 to the head of Crooked Lake, on the other side 
 about twenty-five miles to the navigable waters of 
 the Genesee River. Steuben, Tioga, (Broome, when 
 the Chenango Canal shall be completed), Ulster, 
 
 Orange, and Sullivan, all have canal navigation 
 through them or within their borders. It is worthy 
 of the sober consideration of the inhabitants of these 
 counties whether they can longer maintain with 
 truth and justice their claim as secluded counties. 
 The Cayuga and Seneca Canal, the Crooked Lake 
 and Chemung Canals have been constructed for their 
 sake. Their cost, and the millions which must be 
 expended under existing laws, without the prospect 
 of their yielding a reasonable remuneration, have 
 been appropriated to their claim of secluded coun- 
 ties, and yet the call has come up before the Legis- 
 lature at this session with renewed volume." 
 
 The majority of the committee reported therefore 
 that the prayer of the petitioners ought not to be 
 granted. (Assembly Document No. 336, 1834.) 
 The minority of the committee, Messrs. Shays and 
 Coe, also made a report, and, after reviewing the 
 difficulties to be overcome in building a railroad over 
 the route proposed, and the various estimates of the 
 cost of such a railroad, and comparing it disadvan- 
 tageously with the Pennsylvania Railroad, said: 
 
 " Discarding estimates founded entirely on conjecture, and 
 adhering to the practical results from the construction of 
 these roads in Pennsylvania, 375 miles of the road in question, 
 for a single track, will cost $12,327,000. But it is apparent 
 to your committee that this road, with a single track, and 
 of so great length, cannot be advantageously employed for 
 general transportation, nor in any manner accommodate the 
 numerous villages through which it would pass, nor to any 
 extent compete for or accommodate the trade and business 
 of the great West. If constructed at all, it should, therefore, 
 be constructed with a double track, and will in all reasonable 
 propriety cost $16,435,875. The surveys and level taken by 
 the State Road Commissioners (1825), on diflferent routes, 
 through almost every section of the country through which 
 this road is designed to pass, exhibit, it is believed, in a satis- 
 factory manner, its great features and its general charcter, 
 and, taking for a guide the actual cost of railroads designed 
 for' general transportation, it is believed that the~ Legislature 
 may, without danger of error, determine that no further sur- 
 vey is necessary to enable them to decide that it is inexpedient 
 on the part of the State to use its funds in the construction 
 of this work." (Assembly Document No. 337, 1834.) 
 
 After weeks of warm discussion of the subject, the 
 matter was recommitted to the Railroad Committee, 
 which was instructed to report a bill authorizing a 
 survey, the purpose being to enable the State to de- 
 termine whether it would repeal the charter of the 
 Company or build the road itself. Such a bill was 
 reported and passed, appropriating $15,000 for the 
 
24 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 expenses of the work. The appropriation was utterly 
 insufficient for the purpose, but Benjamin Wright, 
 the engineer of the Erie Canal, came forward and 
 consented to make the survey, not a thorough and 
 scientifically complete one, but a survey that would 
 show the chief difificulties to be met with in con- 
 structing the railroad. 
 
 Governor Marcy appointed Wright engineer to do 
 the work. May 21, 1834. Wright selected James 
 Seymour and Charles Ellet, Jr., as his aides. Pend- 
 ing this survey, the New York and Erie Railroad 
 Company made a request for aid from the General 
 Government. This was the asking of a grant of 
 2,000,000 acres of the public lands to be sold for the 
 benefit of the Railroad Company, the condition of 
 the grant being that the Company should carry the 
 United States mails without further compensation 
 for thirty years. Congress refused to grant the re- 
 quest. And that was the first time that the carry- 
 ing of the mails by railroads was suggested in this 
 country, and perhaps in any other. 
 
 II. THE LONG-SOUGHT SURVEY. 
 
 When the original survey for the route of the 
 New York and Erie Railroad was made in 1834, 
 there was not a town between the Hudson and Lake 
 Erie on the line of the proposed railroad with a 
 population exceeding 3,000. Its starting-place was 
 a marsh on the banks of the Hudson River, and it 
 terminated at a rude village of less than 400 inhab- 
 itants on the shore of Lake Erie. Goshen, the first 
 town of consequence on the route, had a population 
 of 500. Middletown was not on the line of the orig- 
 inal survey, nor was Port Jervis, which was then a 
 straggling hamlet along the Delaware and Hudson 
 Canal. Monticello, the county seat of Sullivan 
 County, was a town then larger than Goshen. 
 From Monticello until it reached the village of De- 
 posit, the survey ran through an unbroken wilder- 
 ness, with scarcely a score of settlements the entire 
 distance. Deposit owed whatever of importance it 
 had then to the lumber business of the Delaware 
 Valley, and the question of a railroad was in nowise 
 disturbing it. Susquehanna was not in existence, 
 
 and it never would have been in existence if the 
 original survey had prevailed. Binghamton, owing 
 to the prospect of the Chenango Canal, and the situ- 
 ation of the village at the junction of the Chenango^ 
 and Susquehanna Rivers, had become a place of 2,000 
 inhabitants in 1834. Owego, the county seat of 
 Tioga County, was but Httle more than a hamlet. 
 Waverly was not in existence. Elmira was the 
 metropolis of the Southern Tier, with a population 
 of 3,000. Forests still covered the site of Corning, 
 and between Painted Post and the village of Hor- 
 nellsville the valley of the Canisteo was a wilderness- 
 broken here and there by lumber settlements. Hor- 
 nellsville was a town of 300 inhabitants lying on the 
 edge of a swamp. Westward across the steep bar- 
 rier of the Alleghany Mountains were at intervals 
 small villages in Allegany and Cattaraugus coun- 
 ties. The settlement of the most importance near- 
 est to which the railroad was to approach, between 
 Hornellsville and Lake Erie, was Jamestown, and 
 that place it avoided by a distance of three and one- 
 half miles, passing northwest through Chautauqua. 
 County to the hills overlooking the lake, down the 
 wild slopes of which it dropped by two routes, one 
 terminating at Dunkirk at the northwest, and one at 
 Portland harbor at the southwest. The chief indus- 
 try of the Delaware, Susquehanna, Canisteo, and 
 Alleghany valleys sixty years ago was lumbering. 
 The rivers were the channels by which the vast 
 amount of lumber from the forests of the Southern 
 Tier and the Pennsylvania counties adjoining reached 
 the market. Hundreds of saw-mills manufactured! 
 their products, and upon various branches of the 
 business the prosperity of that part of the country 
 through which the railroad was projected depended. 
 Even at this day, with all the modern appliances- 
 and advanced knowledge of railroad science at their 
 command, few men would be found willing to invest: 
 their money and give their time to the development 
 of a country of similar resources by the construction 
 of a railroad of the magnitude of this pioneer rail- 
 road, projected when railroad building was in its; 
 earliest infancy. 
 
 Chief Engineer Wright made his report on the 
 survey to the Secretary of State, in January, 1835^ 
 who submitted it to the Assembly, as follows: 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 25 
 
 State of New York, 
 Secretary's Office, Albany, January 29, 1835. 
 
 To the Speaker of the Assembly: 
 
 I have the honor to communicate herewith, in pursuance 
 of the resolution of the Assembly of the 14th inst., the profile, 
 map, and accompanying report of Benjamin Wright, of the 
 survey of a railroad from New York to Lake Erie, made under 
 the Act of 6th May, 1834. 
 
 I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 John A. Dix. 
 
 To John A. Dix, Esq., Secretary of State. 
 
 Sir: His Excellency, the Governor, h.-3ving been pleased 
 to appoint me to execute the survey, and make an estimate 
 of the expense of a railroad, from '' at or near the city of 
 New York to Lake Erie," under the act of May 6th, 1834; 
 which said act requires me to file the report, maps, profiles, 
 and estimates in the office of the Secretary of State, in con- 
 formity to said act, I now present my report, maps, profiles, 
 etc.. to be filed in your office as the law directs; and beg 
 leave hereby to report: 
 
 That, in undertaking the important and responsible duty 
 of surveying the route of a railway communication from the 
 Hudson River, near the city of New York, to Lake Erie, I 
 deemed it essential to keep in view the great public objects 
 sought to be obtained by the proposed work. It was obvious 
 that the road was to be constructed not only for the accom- 
 modation of the inhabitants of the district immediately adja- 
 cent to the route, but also in order to furnish the means of 
 a regular, rapid, and uninterrupted intercourse at nearly all 
 seasons of the year, between the city of New York and the 
 extensive and populous communities upon the western lakes 
 and waters. The vast and acknowledged benefits which have 
 been experienced throughout a great part of the State, and 
 especially by its commercial emporium, from the construc- 
 tion of the Erie Canal, as well in the increase of population 
 and wealth, as in the progress of agriculture and trade; the 
 augmented value of lands, and the rapid and unexampled 
 growth and creation of cities, towns, and villages along the 
 route, had plainly proved that a thoroughfare running through 
 the Southern Tier of Counties, and properly suited to their 
 topographical character, could not fail to impart similar ad- 
 vantages to that important and valuable section of country, 
 while the pressing necessity of establishing a channel of com- 
 munication within this State, which should be open during 
 nearly or quite the whole of the winter months, and thereby 
 remedy the evils occasioned by its high, northern latitude, 
 had not only been felt sensibly by the inhabitants of the 
 metropolis, but had excited public attention throughout a 
 great portion of the fertile and extensive regions upon the 
 upper lakes, and in the valley of the Mississippi. 
 
 The long line of counties in our own State through which 
 the road would pass, favored as they are with a healthful cli- 
 mate and an enterprising population, abounding in natural 
 resources which the proposed work could not fail to develop, 
 also possessed an additional importance in their peculiar 
 topography; being intersected in numerous directions by 
 important streams, leading into that section of the country 
 from other parts of the State, and thereby furnishing striking 
 facilities for connecting the proposed road with lateral 
 branches capable of accommodating large masses of our 
 population. Keeping, therefore, steadily in mind these gen- 
 eral considerations, I deemed it an incumbent duty, in select- 
 
 ing the line of location for the proposed road, to obtain a 
 route, which, as far as should be practicable, might combine: 
 (i) Reasonable economy in its construction; (2) Rapidity 
 and regularity of communication for passengers, light mer- 
 chandise of value, and the public mail; (3) Cheapness of 
 transportation for bulky commodities; (4) Facilities of con- 
 nection with lateral branches; (s) The general accommoda- 
 tion of the inhabitants, and the development of the resources 
 of the country along the route. And I considered it also 
 necessary to take into view not only the present, but the 
 prospective advantages of the route; and to arrange the 
 graduation of the whole work in reference to such further 
 additions and improvements as might hereafter become neces- 
 sary, in order to accommodate a great increase of trade and 
 transportation. 
 
 Being guided by these general outlines, I commenced the 
 survey of the route on the 23d of May last, under the appoint- 
 ment which I received from his excellency the Governor on 
 the 2ist of that month. 
 
 The work was divided into two grand divisions; of which, 
 the eastern, extending from the Hudson River to Bingham- 
 ton, was under the direction of James Seymour, and the west- 
 ern, from Binghamton to Lake Erie, was placed under 
 Charles Ellet, Jr., both acting as my assistants, and subject 
 to my supervision. Those gentlemen, with my advice and 
 approbation, each had two, and often three or four parties 
 employed in explorations through the season. I take great 
 pleasure in stating that the surveys thus committed to their 
 care have been executed to my entire satisfaction and I refer 
 to their reports and estimates as exhibiting the industry and 
 skill with which their duties have been discharged. 
 
 I have personally inspected the lines surveyed nearly their 
 whole length, and have particularly considered and examined 
 every part of the route at which there could be any reason- 
 able doubt or difficulty; and we have fully advised and com- 
 pared opinions as to all prices estimated for the graduation 
 of the work. It is possible, and I may say probable, that the 
 shortness of time allowed for the completion of so long a line 
 of survey in some instances not noticed by me, may have pre- 
 vented our ascertaining the very best and cheapest routes, of 
 which some portions of the country may have been capable; 
 but I have become perfectly satisfied, from the lines already 
 run and minutely measured, that a feasible route has been 
 obtained, free from formidable difficulties, and capable of 
 being completed with economy and dispatch. A more minute 
 and careful exploration over some particular parts of the 
 country will enable the engineer to adopt very considerable 
 alterations and improvements at many points, both as to the 
 graduation, and also the cost of the work. 
 
 The great object of securing rapidity and regularity of com- 
 munication between the city of New York and the lake, being 
 one of paramount importance, I have studiously sought to 
 avoid the use of stationary steam power on inclined planes, 
 as being productive of delay, danger, expense and difficulty, 
 and in this respect have been so successful that, with the ex- 
 ception of one single plane, near Lake Erie, I have brought 
 the whole line within the power of locomotive engines, draw- 
 ing passenger cars, light merchandise, and the public mail. 
 The steepest acclivity encountered on the whole line, with 
 the exception before mentioned, will be only 100 feet per 
 mile. And having been furnished with satisfactory evidence, 
 that by recent improvements in the locomotive steam engines 
 on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, they have been enabled 
 to ascend the acclivity of 176 feet to the mile, drawing 
 
26 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 between five and ten tons weight, I rely upon that fact in 
 stating that locomotive steam engines may be advantageously 
 used on the whole of the proposed route from the Hudson 
 River to the head of the plane near Lake Erie; that they will 
 be able to pass its steepest grades, drawing at least seventy 
 or eighty passengers with their baggage, while upon at least 
 nine-tenths of the whole route they will be able to propel 
 very great burdens at a great rate of speed. In order, how- 
 ever, to obtain these easy grades of acclivity, I have been, 
 compelled to pursue by a serpentine line, the valleys of 
 streams, and thereby lengthen very considerably the linear 
 extent of the route. 
 
 The general face of the country is undulating, and marked 
 by bold and prominent features; but nevertheless it is inter- 
 sected by numerous rivers and their branches, which have a 
 gentle descent and fortunately pursue the general direction 
 necessary for the route much of the distance. It is this all- 
 important and cardinal feature in the topography of the 
 country, and the facilities which the valleys of these streams 
 thus present for obtaining gentle ascents and descents, and 
 moderate graduations, which will explain the reason why I 
 have been able to find a cheap and easy route, without the 
 aid of stationary steam power, through portions of the State 
 which, to the eye of the passing traveler, crossing as he does 
 the numerous hills which are traversed by the ordinary stage 
 roads, would seem to present insuperable obstacles to the 
 accomplishment of the proposed work. The route, instead 
 of passing directly over, goes around the hills, and it has 
 not been necessary to surmount any considerable acclivities 
 except in three or four instances, in which the line crosses 
 the natural boundaries of the great valleys, into which the 
 route is topographically divided. 
 
 It is true that the departure from a straight line thus occa- 
 sioned by following the winding of the water-courses, has 
 considerably lengthened the whole route between New York 
 and Lake Erie. But when it is considered that great rapidity 
 of transportation and cheapness of construction have been 
 thereby secured, and a greater portion of country accom- 
 modated; that the conformation of the country wholly for- 
 bade the adoption of any other route, more direct, without 
 enormous expense, and that the circuity of route will be com- 
 paratively less than that on the Pennsylvania canal, its devia- 
 tion from a direct line will not be regarded as a formidable 
 obstacle or objection. The natural boundaries of the valleys 
 that are pursued by the route will serve to subdivide it into 
 six grand divisions, to wit: 
 
 The first or Hudson River Division, extending seventy- 
 three and a half miles from a point on the Hudson River 
 twenty-four miles north of the City Hall of New York, to 
 a point in the Deer Park Gap of the Shawangunk mountains, 
 dividing the waters flowing into the Hudson from those flow- 
 ing into the Delaware. 
 
 The second or Delaware Division, extending from the point 
 last mentioned through the valleys of the Delaware and its 
 tributaries, iiS miles to a summit twelve miles northwest of 
 the village of. Deposit, in Delaware County, dividing the 
 waters of the Delaware from those of the Susquehanna. 
 
 The third or Susquehanna Division, extending from the 
 point last mentioned through the valley of the Susquehanna 
 and its tributaries, 163^ miles to a summit thirteen miles 
 southwest of the village of Hornellsville, in the county of 
 Steuben, dividing the waters of the Susquehanna from those 
 of the Genesee. 
 
 The fourth or Genesee Division, extending from the point 
 
 last mentioned across the valley o£ the Genesee, thirty-seven 
 miles to a summit three miles east of the village of Cuba, in 
 Allegany County. 
 
 The fifth or Allegany Division, extending along the valley 
 of the Alleghany and its tributaries eighty-three miles to the 
 head of the inchned plane, distant four or five miles from Lake 
 Erie on a straight line. 
 
 The sixth or Lake Erie Division, embracing the short and 
 rapid descent to the lake, including the inclined plane and the 
 two branches, one to Portland, nine miles, and one to Dun- 
 kirk, eight and a half miles. 
 
 The only points where the rates of ascent exceed sixty feet 
 per mile, will be found on the summits above specified, as 
 forming the boundaries of the six grand divisions of the route. 
 The acclivities in passing these summits are respectively as 
 follows: One grade of 100 feet to the mile in passing from the 
 Hudson River Division, down the west side of the Shawan- 
 gunk mountain, into the Delaware Division; one of seventy 
 feet and one of sixty-one feet to the mile, in passing from the 
 Delaware Division to the Susquehanna Division; one of 
 seventy feet and one of sixty-five feet to the mile, on crossing 
 the ridge between the Susquehanna and its tributary, the 
 Chenango River; and one of seventy- two feet to the mile in 
 passing from the Susquehanna Division to the Genesee Divi- 
 sion. I have no doubt that all these ascents and descents 
 above specified may readily be surmounted by locomotive 
 engines drawing passenger cars, light merchandise, and the 
 mail. But in order to aid the passage of burthen cars, heavily 
 loaded, it will be necessary to station, at the several points 
 above specified, either auxiliary locomotive engines, as is 
 practical on the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad, or an 
 increase of animal power, as is used in passing the Parr Ridge, 
 on the Baltimore and Ohio Road. That this can be effected 
 without any material interruption or inconvenience, will be 
 obvious when it is recollected that the western slope of the 
 Parr Ridge, on the last mentioned road, has an ascent of no 
 less than 253 feet to the mile, an acclivity nearly three times 
 as great as the steepest grade on the proposed route; but that 
 it is nevertheless surmounted at all times by burthen cars, 
 heavily loaded, aided only by an increase of animal power. 
 It will be borne in mind, also, that at least three-fourths of 
 the heavy tonnage passing on this road, will descend east- 
 ward toward tide-water. The elevation of the head of the 
 inclined plane near Lake Erie being 1303 feet above the 
 Hudson River, the products of the western country, passing 
 eastward, will necessarily descend 1303 feet more than they 
 will ascend, and their passage will consequently be aided to 
 that extent by their own gravitation. It is, however, by no 
 means impossible that in the course of twenty years the great 
 increase of the population and agricultural products of the 
 interior, and the necessity of expediting their passage to 
 market, may render it expedient and economical to adopt 
 additional tracks, with a compound moving power, and 
 grades reduced in all cases to thirty feet per mile, with sta- 
 tionary engines, operating on inclined planes and located at 
 intermediate points along the road. In that event, the entire 
 change might be effected along the whole line without alter- 
 ing more than thirty or forty miles of the road. And, al- 
 though I do not believe that this change will ever be made, 
 or become necessary, except in the event of so great an in- 
 crease in trade .as to make steady, uniform power the best; 
 in which case I believe that stationary power applied on the 
 present grades, would be found the best, and used as Messrs. 
 Walker and Rastrick proposed, on the Liverpool and Man- 
 
THE STORY. OF ERIE 
 
 27 
 
 Chester Road, as reciprocating power. I have thought it 
 proper to state how far it would effect the graduation of the 
 road to substitute planes and stationary power, and grades 
 in other places of thirty feet per mile. The change of the 
 place last mentioned would only apply to burthen cars, in any 
 event, as passenger cars would be liable to less danger, 
 trouble, and delay by using the locomotives or extra animal 
 power to surmount the dividing ridges. 
 
 In making the survey and location, I have had lines of 
 exploration made on various parts of the route in two or 
 three different directions, and more particularly near the 
 Hudson River, where four different routes to several land- 
 ings were examined, and if the funds had held out to ac- 
 complish some further examinations in Rockland County, 
 and time had permitted, I should have pursued still another 
 line, and followed on the northern side and eastwardly side 
 of the Hackensack River, so as to join the line which runs to 
 the river at Tappan. Such a line ought to be explored before 
 final location of the road through Rockland County. 
 
 Another part of the line in Orange County ought also to 
 be noticed, as deserving of further examination. A strong 
 and ardent desire to accommodate by passing in the immedi- 
 ate vicinity of so important a town as Goshen, and former 
 examinations for a railroad having produced impressions 
 favorable to that route, I had supposed it would prove the 
 best ground, and therefore spent our labors upon it, and it 
 •was not until it was too late that we observed the formation 
 of the country from near Chester through by Florida, and 
 the practicability of passing the Wallkill near Pellett's Island 
 and joining the present line some six or seven miles west of 
 the Wallkill, that we supposed we could change from the route 
 near Goshen. 
 
 This route requires an instrumental survey, but unless it 
 proves greatly superior to that by Goshen, as now returned, 
 the accommodation of so important a town ought to give it 
 the preference. The route between the Wallkill and the Shaw- 
 angunk mountain and a final location on this part, are inti- 
 mately connected with the suggestion about the Florida route. 
 
 It has been proposed to cut open the top of Deer Park Gap, 
 which is a deep depression of the Shawangunk mountain, 
 about fifty feet at the highest point. This is done in order 
 to reduce the grade upon each side, and particularly on the 
 west side, to 100 feet per mile. The east side can be easily 
 reduced to a grade of sixty feet for a short distance and then 
 much less. I have looked at this point, and given it consider- 
 able thought, to determine what ought to be the present plan, 
 in reference to future improvements, when the great increase 
 of business on this road will demand every facility that the 
 nature of the country will permit; and it has brought my 
 mind to the conclusion that, before the lapse of twenty years 
 after the completion of the road, a tunnel will be driven 
 through the mountain, of about three-quarters of a mile in 
 length, whereby its elevation would be so far reduced as to 
 admit a grade of probably seventy-five to eighty feet on the 
 west side, and about thirty on the east. As the acclivity of 
 100 feet to the mile on the west side of the mountain is the 
 steepest grade encountered on the road, it has also appeared 
 /to me to be well worthy of consideration how far this ascent 
 could be relieved by the adoption of an inclined plane with 
 a stationary engine; believing that if it is admissible on any 
 intermediate part of the route it might be employed at this 
 point for the relief of the burthen cars to great advantage. 
 The idea of the tunnel and the stationary engine, will, how- 
 ever, be matters of subsequent inquiry, and are now referred 
 
 to only as parts of an ultimate plan, proper to be borne in 
 mind in the permanent location of the route. 
 
 The line as located then follows from the foot of Shawan- 
 gunk mountain, by ^ high embankment, across the Valley of 
 Bashe's Kill, and then crosses the Delaware and Hudson 
 Canal without difficulty, and soon enters the valley of the 
 Neversink River, which it follows to the mouth of a branch 
 of the river, called the Sheldrake, and up that to its source; 
 thence crossing the heads of the several branches of the Mon- 
 gaup, it reaches the head of the Calicoon, a branch of the 
 Delaware, which it follows to its junction with the latter 
 river. 
 
 A route has also been surveyed down the Popacton, or 
 Eastern Branch of the Delaware; and there are also several 
 other routes through Sullivan County, which have been ex- 
 amined, and regular surveys carried over them. One route, 
 passing near Monticello, which is the county town of Sullivan 
 County, would on that account deserve a preference, if the 
 facilities and advantages are nearly equal as to other points, 
 such as grade and cheapness of construction; and although 
 our surveys as we made them did not show as favorable a line 
 by Monticello as by the other route, I think a further and 
 more critical examination should be made through this dis- 
 trict of country to find a route more favorable than we have 
 yet seen; and, should this be the case, we should, I think, 
 shorten the route some miles, and obtain the advantage of 
 carrying it through a more populous and settled country. 
 Although the route following up the Eastern or Popacton 
 branch, and then the Beaverkill, and Willemock, and Little 
 Beaverkill, has been regularly surveyed, and profiles of it 
 returned, I however consider the route by the Calicoon to 
 be so far preferable that I have not required my assistant to 
 give me quantities on this route, and have not of course 
 estimated it, but it can be done hereafter if necessary or 
 useful. 
 
 In carrying the route of the railroad through the heart of 
 Sullivan County, and thereby giving great and permanent 
 advantages to a large district of country, capable of sustain- 
 ing a considerable population, I will make this passing re- 
 mark, that by passing down the valley of the Neversink, from 
 the foot of the Shawangunk mountain, until I reached the 
 valley of the Delaware River, and then passing up the Dela- 
 ware to the mouth of the Calicoon, I might have found a 
 route of much easier grade, and one which would not average 
 over fifteen feet to the mile. But to that plan there are in 
 my mind, serious objections: i. It would be a more expen- 
 sive line to grade, on account of its passing along steep side 
 hills, with heavy ledges of rocks, requiring expensive rock 
 excavations. 2. It would" not accommodate or be very use- 
 ful to Sullivan County, as the country along the bank of the 
 Delaware is not generally favorable for cultivation. 3. It 
 might come into collision with the Delaware and Hudson 
 Canal, and perhaps divert some of its legitimate and fair busi- 
 ness, and in construction it might interfere with that impor- 
 tant and very useful work, for the execution of which its enter- 
 prising proprietors deserve to be gratefully considered. 
 
 The line then passes up the Delaware from the Calicoon to 
 the village of Deposit, from which a lateral road may easily 
 be extended into the heart of Delaware County. The route 
 then crosses by a bridge the Main or Mohawk Branch of the 
 Delaware, and thence follows up the Oquago Creek to its 
 source, on the route towards Bettsburgh; from whence it de- 
 scends to the Susquehanna and, passing that river near Nine- 
 vah, follows up the valley of Belden Brook to its source and, 
 
28 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 then, taking the head waters of Page Brook follows that down 
 to the Chenango, and then down the Chenango to Bingham- 
 ton or its vicinity. Several routes have been examined between 
 the Delaware River at Deposit and the Chenango at Bing- 
 hamton; and lines were run on the most favorable ground, 
 on a nearly direct course between Deposit and Windsor, on 
 the Susquehanna, and between Windsor and Binghamton, 
 from the Susquehanna to the Chenango. Both these sum- 
 mits, however, proved to be considerably higher than those 
 on the route chosen; and they cannot be overcome but by 
 stationary steam power. After having attentively examined 
 these routes, I am decidedly of opinion that the northern route 
 by Bettsburgh and by Ninevah and by Page Brook, ought 
 to be adopted. That route, moreover, will possess a local 
 advantage of peculiar value in the facilities it will give to 
 various branch railroads leading into the populous and 
 wealthy sections of the State, along the valleys of the Upper 
 Susquehanna, the Unadilla, and Onondaga branch of the 
 Chenango, and. thus accommodating the counties of Otsego, 
 Chenango, and Cortland, and parts of the adjacent counties. 
 
 When the line came near the mouth of Page Brook on the 
 Chenango, it became a question to determine which side of 
 the Chenango we should pass down to near its mouth; a 
 desire to approach near and even pass into the growing and 
 important village of Binghamton, determined me to have the 
 survey made on the east side; but, ascertaining that the Che- 
 nango Canal had not then been finally located, I directed a 
 survey on the west side also, and to pass the river near the 
 mouth of Page Brook. This part of the line I do not con- 
 sider as settled; neither can it be finally determined until the 
 canal is nearly completed. When that shall be done, we can 
 see if there is a fair chance of carrying our railroad on the 
 upper side at reasonable expense. And, should this be the case, 
 a preference ought to be given to the east side of the Che- 
 nango, so as to approach near to Binghamton, and pass over 
 the river near the upper part of that village. 
 
 From the Chenango River the route in following down the 
 Susquehanna valley about forty miles passes through the 
 flourishing village of Owego, where it will become connected 
 with the steamboat line now in preparation for navigating the 
 Susquehanna, and also with the Owego and Ithaca railroad, 
 which will connect the main line with the important and fertile 
 section of the State adjacent to the Cayuga and Seneca Lakes. 
 After descending for forty miles along the east branch of the 
 Susquehanna, we approach near the Pennsylvania line north 
 of Tioga River (being a large branch of the Susquehanna) 
 and pass up its valley by Elmira, Big Flats, and Painted Post, 
 to the forks of the Conhocton and the Canisteo; and then, 
 following up the Canisteo to its source, we pass Hornellsville, 
 Almond, and over the summit, between the waters falling into 
 the Susquehanna and the waters of the Genesee River. Of 
 nearly 130 miles on the route between the point where we 
 leave the valley of Page Brook and near Almond the grades 
 are all extremely easy and favorable, or can be made so. 
 
 From near Almond, on going on westward, we pass the 
 dividing ridge, where we have for the present made our grade 
 line seventy-two feet per mile; but which can be somewhat 
 relieved. And passing down Dike Creek, we fall into the 
 valley of the Genesee River, and run down that a few miles, 
 and then up the valley of Van Campen's Brook through the 
 villages of Friendship and Cuba, until we take the valley of 
 Oil Creek, then down that to its junction with Ischua Creek, 
 and down the valley of Olean Creek to the Alleghany River. 
 Through this district from the summit between the waters 
 
 of the Susquehanna and Genesee, and the waters of Genesee 
 and Alleghany, we have some grades which reach fifty feet 
 per mile, as the line is now run; but it is believed that con- 
 siderable improvement will be made in this part on a revision 
 of the line. 
 
 Having reached the valley of the Alleghany, we pass down 
 it about twenty-six miles, over excellent ground, generally, 
 to the Indian village, near the Cold Spring Creek. There, 
 leaving the Alleghany, we pass up the valley of the Cold 
 Spring and over a small swell of land, and descend into the 
 valley of the Little Conewango (a branch of the Large Cone- 
 wango), and passing down that stream and the large Cone- 
 wango, through the village of Randolph in Cattaraugus 
 County, and the village of Waterboro and Kennedyville, in 
 Chautauqua County, following down the valley of the Great 
 Conewango to the Casadaga branch, and up that to its junc- 
 tion with Chautauqua outlet; we then follow up the Casadaga 
 valley to Bear Creek, and up that to near Bear Lake. Here 
 we arrive at the dividing point between the waters which run 
 southerly into the Alleghany, and those which run northerly 
 into Lake Erie. At this point, we are only about five miles 
 in a direct line from Lake Erie and 740 feet above it. And 
 here is a place where we find ground favorable to descend 
 by one plane 506 feet in a distance of about one and a half 
 miles. At the foot of this plane we find ourselves nearly equi- 
 distant from Dunkirk and Portland. 
 
 At Dunkirk the Government of the United States have 
 expended considerable money in the construction of a harbor 
 and are preparing to expend more. At Portland there has 
 been no money expended, except by individuals. The Gov- 
 ernment of the United States have had a regular survey and 
 estimate of cost, to make a harbor. It is said that the cost 
 of making a harbor, upon the plans reported by Captain 
 Maurice, of Portland, would be $40,000. 
 
 A route was surveyed from Randolph, in the County of 
 Cattaraugus, up the valley of the Great Conewango to its 
 source, and then striking off toward Dunkirk. This route 
 was tried in order to find a more direct and shorter course to 
 Dunkirk, or to Fayette, at the mouth of Silver Creek. This 
 latter plan has claims for its natural advantages for a harbor, 
 and probably will receive attention at a future day. 
 
 In running the line to the head of the Conewango, and from 
 thence beginning to descend the declivity towards Lake Erie, 
 I was in hopes of finding ground favorable for descending at 
 fifty or sixty feet per mile, and reaching Dunkirk by that 
 grade and thereby doing away with the necessity of stationary 
 steam power and inclined planes, but I found the whole face 
 of the country so cut by gulfs, and intersected by ridges, that 
 I was defeated in my project and abandoned it. The plan 
 appears to me to deserve further exploration before a final 
 decision. I had also lines of survey run on each side of the 
 Chautauqua Lake, and thence to Portland. 
 
 In selecting the Casadaga route, I have considered the ad- 
 vantages of passing through the centre of the County of Chau- 
 tauqua, and approaching within about three and a half miles 
 of Jamestown, at present the largest of all the towns in this 
 valuable country. Its approximation also to the harbors of 
 Dunkirk and Portland tends to entitle it to a preference; while 
 the strong probability that improvements will soon be made 
 in the Alleghany River, so as to render it at all times navi- 
 gable for steamboats, and the fact that it may now be navi- 
 gated during a considerable period in the spring, render it 
 desirable to continue the route as far as practicable, down 
 the valley of the stream, and thereby facilitate the direct com- 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 29 
 
 tnunication between the city of New York and the great valley 
 of the Ohio. And it ought also to be borne in ipind that 
 the construction of the road as far as this point will go far 
 to insure its continuation through the Western States to the 
 Mississippi River; in which event, the great western branch 
 would have the main line near the mouth of the Casadaga 
 ' Creek. 
 
 The total amount of the linear extent from the Hudson 
 River to Lake Erie will be 483 miles; which distance may, 
 however, be shortened from ten to fifteen miles by alterations 
 in the route which may be found desirable upon a further 
 survey. The curves upon the road are generally easy, none 
 of them having less than five hundred feet radius. The gradu- 
 ation of the road has been estimated throughout for a double 
 track, including embankments in all cases of solid earth, and 
 embracing all necessary bridges, viaducts, and culverts, to- 
 gether with the expense of grubbing and fencing; compre- 
 hending, in fact, the whole cost of the road, except that of 
 the superstructure, and of the damages (if any) to be paid 
 for the land to be taken. 
 
 According to the report of j\Ir. Seymour, the expense of 
 graduation thus estimated for the 222J4 miles between the 
 Hudson River and Binghamton, will amount to $1,551,982, 
 being $6,968 10-100 per mile. And according to the report 
 and estimate of Mr. Ellet, the expense of graduation thus 
 estimated for the 260^ miles, will be $1,165,536, being $4,478 
 51-100 per mile. Total graduation for the 483 miles, $2,717,- 
 518, or $5,626 33-100 per mile, including fencing, clearing in 
 timber land 100 feet on each side (to prevent trees falling on 
 the road) and also bridges over rivers, viaducts, culverts, 
 road crossings, etc., etc. 
 
 Cost of Grading as above $2,717,518 00 
 
 Add 10 per cent, for contingencies 271,751 00 
 
 $2,989,269 00 
 
 The cutting and embankments are all twenty-five feet wide, 
 and the slopes of the embankment are one and a half base to 
 one perpendicular. This I consider as a permanent and solid 
 form, and calculated for stability. The expense of super- 
 structure will vary according to the particular plan which 
 shall be adopted. 
 
 I have caused cross sections of several different roads now 
 completed to be drawn, and have also drawn some which I 
 think well adapted to the country through which the road 
 will pass, for 400 miles, if a wood and iron road is adopted. 
 (Mr. Wright here refers to two of these roads, one of which 
 " if built of yellow pine and oak, or chestnut, will cost, in 
 Orange or Rockland, about $2,830 per mile,'' and the other 
 " will cost about $3,400 per mile.") Such as the Camden and 
 Amboy, and the Columbia and Philadelphia road, cost ten 
 to twelve thousand dollars per mile. The Petersburg and 
 Roanoke cost about $2,600 per mile, as I have been informed. 
 These are all for a single track, with one turnout or siding to 
 each mile. 
 
 Brought forward $2,989,269 00 
 
 If the sum of $3,400 per mile be taken, it amounts 
 
 to 1,642,200 00 
 
 Add for engineer, etc., 3 per cent, on $4,359,788. . 130,791 00 
 
 .,762,260 00 
 
 This sum will grade and bridge over rivers the whole road 
 
 for two tracks, and put down one track, which is all that 
 ought to be done until the road is traveled nearly its whole 
 length; and this also includes the inclined plane and steam 
 power to operate upon it, and also a long and expensive wharf 
 into the Hudson River. These estimates are, in my opinion, 
 liberal, and such as will make an excellent ro4d; and, as I 
 have before observed, there are many places where a great 
 reduction might be made in the expense, by a small alteration 
 of the grade. There are also very great reductions which 
 may be made in the outlay of capital, in the construction 
 of this road, by making timber work, in many places, where 
 I have made calculations of earth embankments. There is 
 no doubt that when a final location of a working line shall be 
 made, the engineer will be able to make small variations in 
 the line which would very greatly reduce the expense. I 
 make these remarks to show that there is no doubt in my 
 mind of the estimate being amply sufficient for grading the 
 road. 
 
 The bridges over the large rivers I have also estimated 
 higher than they will cost, if only built without regard to 
 roofing, or otherwise protecting them from the weather. I 
 have considered and planned these bridges to be only sixteen 
 or eighteen feet wide, and so formed as to have a double 
 track over them, but that so fixed that loaded trains of cars 
 cannot pass each other on these large bridges. I did not 
 think so much weight as two trains of loaded cars passing 
 different ways ought to be permitted to pass on a bridge at 
 the same time. It would perhaps bring fifty tons or more 
 on it at the same moment, which is improper, unless in one 
 long, extended train. 
 
 I have also estimated one turnout or siding to each mile. 
 If locomotive power is used on the long easy grades before 
 mentioned, these turnouts ought to be dispensed with, and 
 only placed at every five or ten miles, as they are found 
 extremely troublesome where locomotive power is used, 
 owing to carelessness and inattention in leaving them open 
 when they ought to be shut. I find that on railroads now 
 in use, the test of experience has shown it necessary to take 
 up turnouts, which had been placed every mile, and only place 
 them once in ten miles, and that at the water stations for the 
 locomotives; and in this case the man who attends the water 
 stations sees to the turnout being in its place, whenever the 
 cars are coming in sight. 
 
 In making the estimate I have put down the item of fencing, 
 and also clearing away the timber on each side of the railroad 
 for 100 feet wide, to prevent trees falling on the road. These 
 items are of that kind that in many instances there may be 
 arrangements with the owners of property to save some part 
 of the estimated cost. I have said that water stations, where 
 locomotive engines are used, are generally about ten miles 
 apart; this is the case on some roads; on others these stations 
 are twelve miles and more distant. This is regulated by the 
 capacity of the water cars or tanks carried by each locomotive. 
 The country through which we pass is admirably adapted to 
 furnish water convenient and cheap. The springs in the sides 
 of hills are elevated above our road, so that it will only be 
 necessary to introduce some aqueduct logs, and bring the 
 water to the proper elevation required. 
 
 In the reports of railroads which have been constructed 
 and now in use, the heavy and expensive items for pounded 
 stone which has been used to fill up trenches has added very 
 greatly to the expense. Experience has, however, satisfied 
 most of the practical engineers that the road does not stand 
 as well when laid on broken stone as when laid on planks 
 
30 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 or timber. And the estimates have been made upon the lat- 
 ter plan. It is true that almost everywhere along the line of 
 the proposed road there is small flat stone gravel or sand; 
 and when the plank or scantling are laid in trenches, the small 
 flat stone may be thrown in and rammed down, and they 
 operate as drains to cast off the water from under these tim- 
 bers into the side drains; and these being properly prepared 
 to take away all water in them the bed of the road will be 
 kept dry and solid. 
 
 Although the appearance of the road as now located is cir- 
 cuitous, the curves have all more than 500 feet radius as we 
 have run the lines, and probably in making a final location 
 of the line it will be found that the boldest curve need not be 
 less than 600 feet radius. These are easier curves than some 
 made on important roads now in use in the United States. 
 And I do not consider that any difficulties can or will arise 
 in the locomotive engines turning them. 
 
 The report of the assistant engineer on the eastern division 
 shows two routes from the town of Liberty, in the County of 
 Sullivan, to Shbhockton, and the junction of the Papacton or 
 East Branch of the Delaware with the North or Mohawk 
 Branch in Delaware County. 
 
 I have before observed that the route down the Calicoon 
 was preferred, because it had less difficulty of ascent; and 
 that the Beaverkill route would have one inclined plane near 
 Young's Gap. This route by the Beaverkill is, however, 
 nearly nine miles shorter than the Calicoon route; and, admit- 
 ting that the tunnels are made, instead of going around the 
 bend at Hawk and Sprague mountains, then the distance 
 would be still further shortened three miles at least, making 
 twelve miles in the whole. Still, it appearing on a comparison 
 that the saving in ascent and descent, amounting to some- 
 thing more than 300 feet; the easier grading on the Calicoon 
 route, and the easier curves both on the Calicoon and Dela- 
 ware than on Beaverkill route, decided my mind in favor of 
 the Calicoon, although an increased distance. 
 
 The law under which the survey was made provides that 
 it shall commence at the city of New York, or its vicinity, 
 or at such point as is most eligible and convenient. The 
 point on the Hudson River where the road would strike it 
 being still subject to further revision, and knowing that no 
 great difficulties could arise in locating the road through 
 the county of Westchester, the want of time and funds pre- 
 vented my effecting this survey. Considerations of poHcy 
 would require this piece to be delayed until the other parts 
 should be in great forwardness, and then it would be made 
 without doubt. 
 
 All which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 Benj. Wkight, 
 Engineer N. Y. and Erie Railroad. 
 
 New York, January 20, 1835. 
 
 The field corps engaged in this original survey for 
 the New York and Erie Railroad consisted of George 
 C. Miller and R. S. Van Rensselaer, heads of parties; 
 Thomas L. Ogden, Jr., Philip Church, Jr., D. G. 
 Kennedy, D. E. Bishop, J. W. Ingersoll, F. Nichol- 
 son, William Schlatter, Charles S. Schlatter, C. L. 
 Seymour, W. B. Gilbert, Charles O. Sanford. 
 
 The reports of Chief Engineer Wright's assistants, 
 Seymour and EUet, were largely technical, embrac- 
 
 ing scientific discourses on inclined planes and ab- 
 struse algebraic demonstrations of power, etc. The 
 remarks of Engineer Ellet on the possibilities of 
 operating the proposed inclined plane, without which 
 it was thought Lake Erie could not be reached as 
 the western terminus of the road, and his recom- 
 mendation as to the management and economizing 
 of locomotive power in raising other elevations on 
 the Western Division, cannot but be provocative of 
 amusement in these later days of railroad construc- 
 tion and operation. Mr. Ellet said: 
 
 " As there are always some articles, such as lumber and 
 certain produce, which may be retained at the head of the 
 plane to be employed as occasion requires, to assist in the 
 elevation of the ascending cars, it would not be proper to 
 neglect entirely the assistance to be derived from this source. 
 We cannot hope to regulate the times of the arrival and 
 departure of the trains moving in either direction, so as to 
 obtain the full advantage of the descending loads; nor can we 
 fix upon any amount of tonnage that may be commanded at 
 all times, without interfering with the regular transit, to ac- 
 complish, in part, this object, unless we assume an amount 
 far below that which must actually pass. Yet I think if we 
 can predicate our calculations on the supposition that the 
 weight which may be retained at the head of the plane for 
 this purpose, together with that which may accidentally ar- 
 rive at the proper moment to be so employed, is barely suf- 
 ficient to overcome all the friction both of the cars and 
 machinery, we shall not be disappointed in practice. But I 
 would not wish to be understood to recommend a reliance 
 upon such assistance in general, when arranging the ma- 
 chinery of stationary engines, for, in most cases, this aid 
 would be fortuitous and attended with such uncertainty as 
 to render any dependence upon it extremely hazardous; and 
 it is only because of the peculiar situation of the present plane 
 that it is deemed proper to advise it. 
 
 " No inconvenience need result from the necessity of occa- 
 sionally letting down a few cars at a time; since no delay will 
 occur at the foot of the plane for want of power to convey 
 them through the next stage; the descent from this point to 
 the harbors of Dunkirk and Portland being more than suf- 
 ficient to overcome the friction. For the same reason it 
 would not be necessary for the engine, which had drawn the 
 load to the head of the plane, proceeding with it beyond this 
 point; so that the stationary engine would always be relieved 
 of the weight of the locomotive and its convoy, which it is 
 not intended to cause to pass the plane. Twenty-five tons 
 may be considered a sufficient load for a locomotive engine 
 of six tons weight to draw from the lake to the foot of the 
 ascent, where some of the grades exceed thirty-two feet per 
 mile; and this, too, may be deemed a sufficient load for an 
 engine of the same power to move onward from the head of 
 the plane, where none of the grades exceed twenty feet per 
 mile. 
 
 " There is one point between the Little Connewango and 
 the Alleghany River where the grade is forty-four feet per 
 mile, and an engine, under very unfavorable circumstances, 
 would be unable to overcome this height with such trains as 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 31 
 
 ' it would be found convenient to load it on other parts of the 
 line. I have no doubt of the perfect practicability of reduc- 
 ing this inclination very much, but even in its present state 
 it can present no serious obstacle, since it can rarely happen 
 that the extraordinary load and most unfavorable situation of 
 the road will occur at the same time. For if the load be found 
 to be less than might be taken with the greatest advantage, 
 it may always be increased along the line of the road by the 
 travel, lumber and produce of the country. 
 
 " We may, therefore, calculate the power of the engine on 
 the supposition that the gross weight to be raised is twenty- 
 five tons, and the friction is destroyed by the descending load. 
 We may suppose the velocity is twelve miles per hour, so 
 that, if it should hereafter be found desirable to increase the 
 loads, it may be done by changing the gearing so as to 
 diminish the velocity of ascent, and augment the force of the 
 machinery. Or, making due allowance for extra power, we 
 may consider two engines of sixty horse-power sufficient for 
 this plane. The probability is that this will be eventually 
 found insufficient for the accommodation of the trade, and 
 that it will be necessary to construct another plane to assist 
 in overcoming this ridge. This will not be necessary, how- 
 ever, until the trade exceeds 400 tons per diem in each direc- 
 tion; when, and sooner, perhaps, a double track from the lake 
 to the Hudson will have become indispensable. 
 
 ■' On a line of such great length it will be necessary to place 
 extra locomotives at intervals along the route, to be em- 
 ployed in case of accident to those forming a part of the regu- 
 lar system, or to replace them whenever, from any cause, it 
 be found requisite to withdraw one. At some of the positions 
 where these engines of relief will be required, a machine shop 
 will T)e established for the repair of disabled cars and loco- 
 motives, and at which the trains will generally halt for the 
 convoy carriage to receive its supply of water and fuel. Let 
 us suppose one of these establishments to be located at the 
 village of Almond on the Caneadea, where the locomotive 
 which had drawn the train up the valley of the Canisteo would 
 begin to require assistance. Now, even were the line per- 
 fectly level, it would be necessary to have engines in waiting 
 at certain points to relieve their predecessor and draw the 
 load through the next stage; and we may place one at this 
 station, as well as any other. Suppose, then, an engine of six 
 tons weight arrives with a load of twenty-two tons at the end 
 of this stage. My present remarks are intended to show the 
 arrangement where the combination of difficulties is the great- 
 est. In general, the train brought to this point by such an 
 engine, need not be less than fifty tons. If there then be an 
 engine of eight tons attached to it, the two together will be 
 able to ascend a grade of seventy-two feet to the mile, with- 
 out diminishing the load, and without any slipping of the 
 wheels under the most unfavorable circumstances. On ar- 
 riving at the summit, the lighter engine will be detached, and 
 the other will be able to surmount unaided the steepest 
 ascents that occur between this point and the village of Cuba. 
 The distance from the village of Almond to this place, by the 
 » line of the railroad, is forty-five miles; and here I would pro- 
 ■ pose establishing another station for changing the engines, 
 ' and keeping power in reserve. At this point, the engine of 
 
 eight tons would be disengaged, and a lighter one substituted 
 in its place. When the next train traveling from the west to 
 the east arrives, it will have to commence at this place (Cuba), 
 ascending a grade rising at the rate of fifty feet per mile. If 
 the load do not exceed forty-five or fifty tons the heavy en- 
 gine which is here attached would generally be able to carry 
 it through; and, if it do not exceed twenty tons, it will still be 
 able to accomplish the task, whatever be the situation of the 
 rails. But should it be greater than these amounts, the engine 
 which brought the train to the foot of the ascent must assist 
 in raising it to the summit, and afterwards return to its place. 
 " This arrangement, I will repeat, does not involve us in 
 any additional expense, excepting at those times when the 
 condition of the road renders necessary the assistance of the 
 second engine, for these stations and these engines of relief 
 will be required whether such ascents are to be encountered 
 or not. We only change their location in consequence of 
 these impediments, from that which might, in the contrary 
 event, be selected as preferable." 
 
 Before the railroad was built many changes were 
 made in that original route, as will appear as this 
 narrative progresses, but, although a railroad built 
 according to the plans and over the route provided 
 in 1834 would have been one utterly impossible of 
 practical utilization, that survey stands to-day a 
 wonderful exhibit of genius in railroad engineering, 
 and shows an originality of thought, and a peculiar 
 application of scientific principles to a work then 
 almost unknown to the .engineering world — an ap- 
 plication which established a precedent for all future 
 engineering of that kind. 
 
 It is a matter to be deeply regretted that the maps 
 and profiles of this survey, and the many plans for 
 roadbed, superstructure, railroad machinery, etc., 
 prepared and submitted with the reports, and which 
 would be of inestimable historic value now, cannot 
 be found in any of the public departments of the 
 State of New York at Albany. There is no record 
 of them after they were sent to the Legislature by 
 Secretary of State Dix in January, 1835. This is 
 also true of the Articles of Incorporation of the New 
 York and Erie Railroad Company. This document 
 is not in the office of the Secretary of State, where 
 it should have been deposited, according to law, nor 
 is there any record of its ever having been in that 
 office. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES GORE KING— 1835 TO 1839. 
 
 I. Making a Start : Eleazar Lord Resigns and is Succeeded by James Gore King — State Aid Asked for Unsuccessfully — The Company 
 Arouses to Action — ^ Ground Broken for the Railroad and Contracts for Grading Let — First Official Report of the Company. 
 IL Trying to Keep Going : Petition for Legislative Aid Renewed — Bitterly Opposed, but a Bill Authorizing $3,000,000 of State 
 Stock Passed — Hailed with Rejoicing, but Proves to be a Hindrance rather than a Help — President King Appeals to his Friends 
 — They are Enthusiastic in Efforts to Build the Railroad with Somebody Else's Money — Legislature Refuses Aid. III. Cross- 
 Purposes : Eleazar Lord Appears with a Plan — Why the Broad Gauge was Adopted — President King, Absent in Europe, Returns 
 and Does not Indorse Lord's Plan — King's Policy is to Make the Railroad a State Work — A Bill for that Purpose Defeated by only 
 One Vote — President King Resigns. 
 
 I. MAKING A START. 
 
 The survey of the route for the great railroad had 
 been made, but it was not claimed to be one on 
 which the entire route was to be located. There 
 was still much to be done before the final location 
 and beginning of the working of construction could 
 be accomplished. The result of Eleazar Lord's 
 management of the preliminary construction affairs 
 of the Company had not met with the entire ap- 
 proval of some members of the Board of Directors 
 and certain friends of the contemplated railroad in 
 New York City and interior counties, and being 
 unable to restore harmony, he resigned the office 
 in January, 1835. At a meeting of the Board of 
 Directors, February 4 following, James Gore King 
 was elected to succeed him, and the thanks of the 
 Board and of the stockholders were voted to the re- 
 tiring President for " the great ability and disinter- 
 ested zeal with which he has discharged the duties 
 of that office." It was also resolved by the Board 
 that " the funds of the Company, in the hands of 
 Messrs. Prime, Ward & King, consisting of the full 
 amount of the first instalment of 10,000 shares of 
 the stock, subscribed July, 1833, be deposited until 
 otherwise ordered with the New York Life Insur- 
 ance and Trust Company, subject to the joint order 
 of the President and Vice-President." This was 
 done because the new President was a member of 
 the banking house of Prime, Ward & King, which 
 house occupied in that day a position in the finan- 
 
 cial world not unlike that of the house of J. P. Mor- 
 gan & Co. of to-day. 
 
 On the resignation of Mr. Lord as President, 
 Goold Hoyt retired from the Vice-Presidency. Mr. 
 Lord was unanimously elected to succeed him, and 
 was also elected Treasurer in place of William G. 
 Buckner, who resigned office and from the Direc- 
 tory. Three others of the old Board retired, and 
 Peter G. Stuyvesant, John G. Coster, John Rath- 
 bone, Jr., all of New York, and Jeremiah H. Pier- 
 son of Ramapo, were elected to their places. With 
 these gentlemen were associated the following in the 
 Board: James G. King, Eleazar Lord, John Duer, 
 Peter Harmony, Goold Hoyt, James Boorman, 
 Michael Burnham, Samuel B. Ruggles, Elihu Town- 
 send, Stephen Whitney, J. G. Pearson, George D. 
 Wickham (of Goshen), and Joshua Whitney (of 
 Binghamton). 
 
 One of the first acts of the new management was 
 to seek legislation for State aid. The bill presented 
 to the Legislature at the session of 1835 was drawn 
 to authorize the Comptroller of the State to issue 
 and deliver to the Company certificates of stock to 
 the amount of $500,000 upon the first expenditure 
 by the Company of $1,000,000 in constructing the 
 road, bearing interest at 4% per cent., payable semi- 
 annually; also the same amount of stock upon every 
 expenditure of an additional $1,000,000, provided 
 that such State stock should not exceed $2,000,000; 
 the road and its appurtenances to be mortgaged to 
 the State as security for the payment of the princi- 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 33 
 
 pal and interest of the money for which such stock 
 was issued. 
 
 This aid was asked for on the plea that it would 
 insure the completion of the railroad, and was based 
 on the report made by Engineer Benjamin Wright, 
 that the railroad could be completed, with a single 
 track, from the Hudson River to Lake Erie for 
 $4,762,200, on which investment it was shown by 
 the estimates of the Company that the railroad 
 would return a profit of from 10 to 13 percent. Al- 
 though the Legislature was flooded with petitions 
 from people all along the line of the proposed rail- 
 road, and from the authorities of New York City 
 and Brooklyn, praying for the passage of the bill, 
 there was a strong feeling in the same region against 
 the legislation on the ground that it would authorize 
 a misuse of the public funds, although, in fact, that 
 feeling was fostered as a political measure. It found 
 expression in the Eastern section interested in the 
 building of the railroad, through a leading local 
 newspaper as follows: 
 
 The company incorporated have declared their inabihty to 
 proceed upon their own resources, and have petitioned for 
 Legislative aid. A bill has been introduced in accordance 
 with these petitions. Our opinion is that the State should 
 construct the work as soon as its resources shall be adequate 
 thereto. We dislike this mixture of State affairs with stock- 
 jobbing operations. If the company cannot fulfill its char- 
 ter, let the Legislature annul it and take the matter into their 
 ■own hands. The Southern counties have an equitable claim 
 on the State for assistance, and when it is approved it should 
 redound to their benefit, not to that of a private corporation. 
 If the State cannot construct the road the avails will go into 
 the public treasury for the common benefit; if otherwise, 
 into the pockets of stock jobbers. If the work belongs to 
 the State the tolls upon it may be reduced, after defraying 
 the expense of its construction, to such an amount as may 
 "be necessary to keep it in order. If a corporation has the 
 control, it remains a single monopoly, to be managed in 
 such manner as shall most conduce to the pecuniary benefit 
 of the stockholders. These and many other reasons may be 
 urged why a work of such magnitude, involving the interests 
 of so large a section of country, should not be intrusted 
 to a private corporation. We are happy to see that the sub- 
 ject is awakening attention along the route of the proposed 
 movement. — Independent Republican (Democratic), Goshen, 
 N. Y., Feb. 24, 1835. 
 
 The same feeling on the subject in the Western 
 counties was voiced by an influential newspaper as 
 follows: 
 
 We are astonished, while noticing every petition introduced 
 on this subject, that all the memorials ask for " aid " — not 
 one requesting the State to construct the road. But we 
 3 
 
 venture to say that of all those memorialists not one in fifty 
 knows they have prayed the Legislature to loan $2,000,000 
 to a wealthy company of speculators to secure them the in- 
 heritance of the most valuable stock ever granted in New 
 York — instead of asking the State to construct the road, the 
 tolls of which after five years would become an everlasting 
 and increasing fund sufficient to defray all the State expendi- 
 tures, to educate our children forever. The people have never 
 intended to ask this grant for a company. We ask the State 
 to perform this work. We demand it as a just claim. We 
 demand that the State inmiediately take back the grant from 
 the company, who have thus artfully stepped between us 
 and the Legislature to rob us of the claim we hold for the 
 funds taken from us to complete the great canals. — Farmers' 
 Advocate (Democratic), Bath, N. Y., Feb. 16, 1835. 
 
 In the same strain the bill was opposed in the 
 Legislature, strong points being made against it by 
 Assemblyman Wilkinson of Onondaga County, who 
 declared that, under conditions for construction more 
 favorable than those on the route of the New York 
 and Erie Railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio, the 
 Camden and Amboy, and the Columbia and Lan- 
 caster railroads, all then recently put in operation, 
 had cost from four to six times as much per mile 
 ($30,000 to $50,000) as it was estimated by Engi- 
 neer Wright that the New York and Erie Railroad 
 was to cost. Mr. Wilkinson also showed, to the 
 disadvantage of the engineer's report on that sub- 
 ject, a surprising knowledge, for that day, of the 
 capacity and practical working of locomotives, and 
 used it effectively in behalf of the influence of the 
 Erie Canal. He also dwelt on the fact that the 
 New York and Erie Railroad Company had been 
 organized on a payment of but 5 per cent, of the 
 amount of stock required to be subscribed in 1833, 
 when the act declared that 10 per cent, should be 
 paid, and that it had made no report to the Comp- 
 troller, in violation of law. 
 
 " In the winter of 1833," said Mr. Wilkinson, 
 " they [the Railroad Company] said they would be- 
 gin the work if they were permitted to organize on 
 the amount of stock then provided for. They were 
 permitted to do so; In September, 1833, they pub- 
 lished a circular stating that they could not go on 
 without liberal grants and cessions of land to them. 
 In 1835 [recently] they profess to the corporation of 
 the city of New York that they can finish the Dela- 
 ware Division in two years without the aid of the 
 State. Now they tell the Legislature that they 
 
34 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 cannot raise funds without the State's endorsement. 
 They have recently had an election of Directors. 
 Four of the old Board resigned, and Stuyvesant, 
 Coster, Rathbone, and Pierson took their places. 
 The funds of the Company, which consist of the first 
 instalment of 10,000 shares of stock subscribed in 
 July, 1833, the majority of which, it is alleged, was 
 taken by William G. Buckner, a Wall Street specu- 
 lator, are deposited with the New York Life Insur- 
 ance and Trust Company. Among the four new 
 Directors three of them are trustees of the Trust 
 Company. Three of the other Directors are trus- 
 tees of the Trust Company, making six railroad 
 directors in that company. 
 
 " The new President is James G. King. He is a 
 private banker, sustaining a relation to our State 
 government something similar to that of the Barings 
 and Rothschilds to the governments of Europe. 
 He asks your endorsement. Sir, throw this loan in 
 market, and it will be strange if he is not a bidder 
 for it at a premium. If the project was to be accom- 
 plished for the sum estimated, and the profits to be 
 such as we are told, he would not waste time in 
 coming here and telling his intentions, but would 
 make immediate provision for the hasty construc- 
 tion of the work without your aid. If the calcula- 
 tions they make as to the profits of the railroad 
 when completed approximate to any degree of cor- 
 rectness, we will be slow to believe that this Com- 
 pany would not go on at once and make the road. 
 When the Company shall have shown that they in- 
 tend to construct this work by setting about it in 
 good faith, and doing something to show it worthy 
 of the attention of the State, then will be the proper 
 time to consider the question of extending aid to it. 
 When the Company abandon it, as they say they 
 will if they fail in this plea for aid, then it will be 
 time to consider whether it will be wise and sound 
 policy for the State to construct it." 
 
 Philip Church, who had come to doubt very much 
 the sincerity of the Eastern promoters of the under- 
 taking, was at Albany watching the course of events 
 pertaining to the railroad, and, according to a letter 
 he wrote to his son Walter, at Belvidere, Allegany 
 County, it was fortunate for the future of the rail- 
 road, and for the people of the counties through 
 
 which the railroad was chartered to run in Western 
 New York, that he was present during the consider- 
 ation of the Erie bill in the Legislature in the win- 
 ter of 1835, if his surmises and charges were correct. 
 The letter was written under date of March 23, 1835, 
 and is in the scathingly polite and incisive style of 
 which Mr. Church was a master. This letter has 
 been among the papers of the Church family at Bel- 
 videre, N. Y., all these years, and now sees the light 
 of publicity for the first time. As a reflection of the 
 feeling that prevailed among the diverse interests 
 that were laboring to get the Erie project started, 
 and of the motives that seemed to be actuating 
 them, the letter is a most valuable contribution to 
 the history of the Company and the railroad. 
 
 " I write," Mr. Church declared, " for the purpose of giving 
 a history of the legislative proceedings in regard to the rail- 
 road, and of the plans proposed with a view to defeat the 
 construction of the western part of the road — plans which it 
 gives nie great pleasure to say I have been able to defeat. 
 
 " A bill was introduced into the house upon principles which 
 gave the widest range to speculations not only in stocks but 
 in the lands on the route of the railroad. The company, after 
 considerable debate, found that it could not be carried, and 
 then introduced, by Mr. Silby of Canandaigua, the following 
 amendment: 'That the State should give the company $500,- 
 000 on its constructing a railroad from the Hudson and Dela- 
 ware Canal to Binghamton; $500,000 from Binghamton to 
 Elmira; $500,000 from Elmira to Olean Point; $500,000 from 
 Olean Point to Lake Erie." 
 
 " Two or three weeks before the amendment was presented 
 it was proposed to me to combine with the company in com- 
 mencing the railroad at the Hudson and Delaware Canal, 
 thence to Binghamton, Elmira, and so on to the Olean and 
 Rochester Canal; thence descending the canal to Rochester; 
 thence, by the railroad now making, from Rochester to Batavia 
 and Buffalo. To this I gave a most prompt and decisive 
 denial, saying I would not admit of my pecuniary and local 
 interests sacrificing the rights of the western half of Allegany 
 and of the whole of Cattaraugus and Chautauqua County, 
 and of withholding from them this railroad and the hope of 
 all future internal improvements. 
 
 " The proposed amendment, if adopted, would have left it 
 in the power of the company to have made the railroad from 
 the Delaware and Hudson Canal to Elmira, a distance of 201 
 miles, for which they were to receive one million from the 
 State, which would be, proportionately, a much greater sum 
 than receiving $2,000,000 for the construction of the whole 
 distance of 483 miles — the 201 miles being also the easiest 
 part of the road to construct. When the railroad once reached 
 Elmira, goods could be transported along the Chemung Canal 
 and Seneca Lake to Geneva, thence to Canandaigua and 
 Rochester by the railroads now in contemplation, and thence 
 by the railroad to Batavia and Buffalo, which had, I believe, 
 been actually commenced, leaving the Southern Tier west of 
 Elmira without any improvement, as it was proposed to serve 
 the country west of the Rochester and Olean Canal. You 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 35 
 
 will readily perceive how much shorter the distance from 
 Geneva, even by way of Rochester, to Buiifalo is than that 
 from Elmira to Portland or Dunkirk. Add to all this is the 
 fact that the end of a great improvement farthest from the 
 sea coast is by far the less productive of toll, the company, 
 therefore, actuated by all these considerations, during the 
 term of seventeen years, until which they are not obliged to 
 finish the railroad to Lake Erie, would have ample time and 
 power, by arraying the rest of the State against us, to have 
 withheld entirely the extensions of the railroad from Elmira 
 to Portland or Dunkirk; but the members of the western 
 counties, however obvious this was, did not perceive it. 
 
 " The very foundation of our railroad is the uninterrupted 
 use of it during the winter months and the velocity of move- 
 ment on it, giving a continued and rapid communication be- 
 tween the country and the city of New York. By commenc- 
 ing at the Hudson and Delaware Canal these two great 
 features, its only support, were abandoned, and consequently 
 all the members from New York, except three, voted against 
 the bill, although they all more than ever have been in favor 
 of the main project, and after a most violent and continued 
 struggle of fifteen days the bill was, I am happy to say, 
 entirely lost, notwithstanding !Mr. Lord, Mr. Ruggles, and 
 many lobby members sent by the railroad and the Trust Com- 
 pany were making astonishing eflforts in its favor. 
 
 "At the commencement of the debate Mr. Ogden of Dela- 
 ware County made an allusion to me, although not by name, 
 which was most triumphantly refuted, and Mr. Burke of Cat- 
 taraugus made a smart but injudicious speech, in which he 
 attacked the motives of persons opposed to the bill, and 
 which was full of personalities. This not only produced warm 
 retorts on these members, but also occasioned, unjustifiably, 
 very violent abuse of Mr. King, who had written a letter his 
 friends were indiscreet enough to read to the house, and also 
 upon Mr. Lord, who was in attendance on the part of the 
 company, but who had not by any act brought his name into 
 the Legislature. No one ever recollects so warm and long 
 a debate. 
 
 " Since the failure of the bill I have proposed to the friends 
 of the company to join in trying to obtain the construction 
 of the road by the State; but they have refused, saying that 
 the company intends itself to construct the work, which, of 
 course, is entirely out of the question. I cannot say at present 
 what course I shall take in regard to our application from 
 Allegany, and the one from New York, both joining in recom- 
 mending its construction by the State. 
 
 " During the debate the Hudson and Delaware Canal stock 
 rose from about 70 to 114, and many hundred shares have 
 been sold at the advanced prices. I never felt more gratified 
 than I have at this triumph over those who would have sacri- 
 ficed the western counties, and indeed the whole project, to 
 their own local and sordid views." 
 
 Yet, at the next session of the Legislature, 1836, 
 a bill quite similar to the one so vigorously opposed 
 and emphatically condemned by Mr. Church became 
 a law, and it is recorded that it was opposed by Mr. 
 Lord. Whatever of insincerity might have pos- 
 sessed his contemporaries in Erie, or however much 
 he might have believed they were swayed by ulterior 
 motives, either must have in time been made sat- 
 
 isfactory to Mr. Church, or the work of their suc- 
 cessors he must have regarded as having condoned 
 for it all ; for, in reply to the invitation sent him by 
 the Company, May i, 1851, to be present on the 
 occasion of the opening of the railroad to Dunkirk, 
 he wrote as follows: 
 
 Angelica, May 10, 1851. 
 Gentlemen: I accept with great pleasure the invitation of 
 the Board of Directors of the New York and Erie Railroad 
 Company to be present at the contemplated opening of that 
 great work; prosecuted with much energy and devotion, with 
 so much skill and science constructed. 
 I remain, gentlemen, etc., etc.. 
 
 Yours, P. Church. 
 
 But the people in other localities along the line of 
 the proposed railroad did not share Mr. Church's 
 views on the Erie relief bill of 1835, and their dis- 
 appointment over its defeat was great. This feeling 
 was vigorously expressed by an Owego newspaper, 
 in its issue following the defeat of the bill. " It is 
 with feelings of mortification, disappointment, and 
 regret," this editor wrote, " that we announce the 
 defeat of this bill in the Assembly on Friday of last 
 week. The vote stood 61 to 45 ; who could have 
 calculated upon such a result ? Who, in view of the 
 strong claims which the Southern Tier of counties 
 have upon the State, and the acknowledged impor- 
 tance of the proposed road, who could have antici- 
 pated such a course at the hands of a Legislature 
 claiming to be honorable and high-minded ? No 
 one. We do not hesitate to say that their conduct 
 has been illiberal and unjust in this matter, and dis- 
 honorable to them as Legislators. But we console 
 ourselves with the conviction that the matter is not 
 going to rest here. This road must and will be 
 built! The intelligent and enterprising citizens of 
 the Southwestern counties will never suffer them- 
 selves to be duped in this manner. They have 
 rights which they will be bold to assert and, we 
 trust, found able to maintain. If treated in this 
 way, ^Aej will be driven to the ballot box for redress. 
 There they can make themselves heard — and there 
 they will be found I For our own humble self we 
 would waive every political consideration rather than 
 submit to a system of persecution so unjustifiable 
 and dishonorable. No man shall have our vote 
 whether for Governor or a less responsible station. 
 
36 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 who has not foresight enough, and firmness enough, 
 and independence enough, to come out boldly and 
 independently in favor of this grand improvement." 
 
 But the Company did not abandon the work, and 
 April 15, 1835, opened books for subscriptions to 
 the capital stock, and, during the spring and sum- 
 mer, $2,362,100 were subscribed, on which 5 per 
 cent, was paid, amounting to $118,105. The pros- 
 pects of the great enterprise were cheering, and 
 early in the fall of 1835 the question of making a 
 beginning on the work by breaking ground for the 
 railroad came up in the Board of Directors. This 
 brought forward differences that resulted in the first 
 serious trouble in the Erie Directory. 
 
 The Company's charter, it will be remembered, 
 provided that the work of constructing a railroad 
 was to begin at or near New York. Eleazar Lqrd 
 was a large landowner at Tappan Slote (now Pier- 
 mont), Rockland County, on the west bank of the 
 Hudson River, and the survey of the route for the 
 railroad located that place as one of the most feasi- 
 ble for the Eastern end of the road on the west bank 
 of the Hudson. When the question of breaking 
 ground for the railroad came up in the Board of 
 Directors, the announcement was made by Presi- 
 dent King that, in the interest of the Company and 
 the furtherance of its project, an amendment to the 
 charter had been obtained, authorizing the begin- 
 ning of the railroad's construction to be made at any 
 point on the line of the route that the Directors saw 
 fit to select. The President said that in his judg- 
 ment the interests of the enterprise would be best 
 subserved by making the beginning in the Delaware 
 Valley near Deposit, a locality 175 miles or more 
 from the Hudson River. 
 
 Eleazar Lord and his friends in the Board pro- 
 tested against the beginning of the work in the 
 rocky and isolated Delaware Valley, denouncing it 
 as folly, and the, inauguration of a policy of ruin. 
 New York, they declared, was the proper starting- 
 place of the railroad, and that it should be begun 
 and built from there to Goshen, or if more desira- 
 ble, to a connection with the Delaware and Hudson 
 Canal in the Delaware Valley. 
 
 President King argued that, although the section 
 of the road he thought it best to put under contract 
 
 was a difficult one to build, owing to the rocky char- 
 acter of the country thereabout, the very act of 
 undertaking such a task would inspire confidence in 
 the Company, showing, he maintained, a disposition 
 not to shirk the difficulties in its way. He favored 
 putting under contract forty miles of roadbed from 
 Deposit down the Delaware Valley to Callicoon, and 
 the Board sustained him. Eleazar Lord resigned as 
 Vice-President and Treasurer, and Peter G. Stuy- 
 vesant was elected to succeed him. 
 
 A company (the Hudson and Delaware) had been 
 chartered in 1830 to build a railroad from Newburgh, 
 N. Y., to the Delaware River. A portion of that 
 proposed railroad is now the Newburgh Branch of 
 the Erie. Mr. Lord and his friends thought they 
 had reason to believe that President King was inter- 
 ested in that project, and that his motive was to 
 have the New York and Erie Railroad built east- 
 ward, and then over the route of the proposed Hud- 
 son and Delaware Railroad to Newburgh, where the 
 eastern terminus was to be made, on the west bank 
 of the Hudson, instead of at a lower point in Rock- 
 land County. Whether that was President King's 
 intention or not, he advertised for bids for contracts 
 for forty miles of the roadbed between Deposit and 
 Callicoon Creek. The work was divided into forty- 
 four subsections, and twenty-six different contracts 
 were let November 5 and 6, 1835. The total of the 
 bids for the forty miles was $313,572, or $7,742 a 
 mile. The Company then had in its treasury just 
 $196,409. 
 
 First ground was broken for the New York and 
 Erie Railroad on the east side of the Delaware 
 River, near Deposit, Delaware County, N. Y. This 
 important event occurred at sunrise on the morning 
 of November 7, 1835. There were present about 
 thirty persons, among them President King, Comp- 
 troller Samuel B. Ruggles, Treasurer Peter G. Stuy- 
 vesant, Lieutenant-Governor Root, Judge Drake of 
 Owego, Judge Pine of Deposit, and prominent local 
 personages. The morning was clear and frosty. 
 As the sun came up, and tinged the surrounding 
 hills with the cold glory of an autumn dawn. Presi- 
 dent King announced the purpose of the gathering, 
 and in the course of his address made the following 
 remarks: "What now appears a beautiful meadow 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 Zl 
 
 will in a few years present a far different aspect — a 
 track of rails, with cars passing and repassing, loaded 
 with merchandise and the products of the country. 
 The freight will amount to $200,000 per annum in a 
 very few years." The latter declaration being re- 
 ceived with great incredulity by those present, the 
 speaker concluded his prediction with the modifying 
 expression — "At least, eventually." The address 
 completed, Mr. King shoveled a wheelbarrow full of 
 ■dirt, and Mr. Ruggles wheeled it away and dumped 
 it. Each one present went through the same rou- 
 tine, and quite an excavation was made, and could 
 be seen for several years afterward, the road as 
 ifinally located passing to the right of the spot. The 
 shovel and barrow used were loaned by Maurice R. 
 Hulce of Deposit, and President King took the 
 shovel with him to New York. It was preserved by 
 the Company until 1868, when it mysteriously dis- 
 appeared. 
 
 Mr. King did not live to see the " track of rails " 
 completed, but many of those present when he 
 made his address lived to see the little excavation at 
 Deposit succeeded by some of the grandest of engi- 
 neering achievements, and the day when the " ex- 
 travagant " prediction of Mr. King in regard to the 
 freight revenue of the road seemed ridiculously small, 
 in the light of events that raised the figures indicat- 
 ing the receipts from that traffic from the hundreds 
 of thousands far into the millions. 
 
 Work on the railroad progressed for a time as if 
 the Company's treasury were surfeited with money. 
 The management felt confident, for the subscribers 
 to the stock, most of them at that time New York 
 merchants and bankers, were regarded as good for 
 any call that might be made upon them at any time. 
 At a time when prospects seemed brightest the ter- 
 ribly disastrous fire of December 16, 1835, broke 
 out in New York, and swept away the entire lower 
 ipart of the city. Many of the heaviest subscribers 
 to the stock of the New York and Erie Railroad 
 Company were ruined by that conflagration, and 
 thus one of the prospective mainstays of the Com- 
 pany's treasury was destroyed. Following that ca- 
 tastrophe came the historic panic of 1836-37, with 
 its widespread financial stagnation and ruin. This 
 drove into bankruptcy many more of the large sub- 
 
 scribers to the Erie stock, and the prospects of the 
 Company and its work were robbed of whatever of 
 cheer and brightness they may have had. Never- 
 theless, depending on favorable action of the Leg- 
 islature on a renewed appeal for State aid to the 
 amount of $3,000,000, the management of the Com- 
 pany ordered a new survey to be made of the route 
 for the road, which was begun by Engineers Captain 
 Andrew Talcott and Edwin F. Johnson. The object 
 of this survey was to ascertain the most favorable 
 and feasible terminal points for the railroad, and, if 
 possible, to modify and improve on the original 
 survey of 1834. Captain Talcott, formerly of the 
 United States Army Engineer Corps, had charge of 
 the route from Lake Erie to Painted Post, in 
 Steuben County, N. Y. Engineer Johnson was in 
 charge between Painted Post and the Hudson River. 
 Although a strong effort was being made to have the 
 Eastern terminus at Newburgh, before the survey 
 was completed the Legislature had passed the first 
 Erie relief bill, and this provided that the Eastern 
 terminus must be in Rockland County, and it was 
 fixed at Tappan. Captain Talcott also reported in 
 favor of Dunkirk as the Western terminus of the 
 railroad. It may be well to state that the propri- 
 etors of Dunkirk had made the donation of 5,000 
 town lots to the Company, and that Cornelius J. 
 Blauvelt and others had given ninety lots — although 
 they were under water — at Tappan. 
 
 The report of the Directors of the Company for 
 the year 1835, which was Xh^ first official report ever 
 made of the Company's affairs, gives in detail the 
 condition and alleged prospects of the railroad at 
 that time. It was filed in the office of the Secretary 
 of State at Albany, January 12, 1836, and was sworn 
 to by James G. King and Samuel B. Ruggles, as the 
 Executive Committee of the Board, January 2, 1835, 
 and signed by them as President and Comptroller. 
 After citing the facts of the organization and the 
 survey, the report is as follows: 
 
 " On February 4, 1835, the first instalment of stock, $50,000, 
 was deposited with the New York Life Insurance and Trust 
 Company, at interest of 4j^ per cent, per annum. On April 
 IS. 183s, the company opened books for subscriptions, and 
 received subscriptions until September i, during which time 
 23,621 shares were subscribed, and s per cent., amounting to 
 
38 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 $118,105, paid thereon. A further instalment of 5 per cent, 
 was called, payable November 2. On this call $105,655 were 
 paid on 21,131 shares. On April 30, 1835, Benjamin Wright 
 was appointed Chief Engineer, at a salary of $3,000 a year. 
 James Seymour, who had been his chief assistant in the sur- 
 vey, was at the same time made Assistant Chief Engineer at 
 a salary of $2,000 a year. May i, nine parties of engineers 
 were put in the field to revise the previous surveys, making 
 new ones, and locating portions of the time for actual work 
 thereon. The directors and officers have been busy getting 
 information, examining route, getting right of way, etc. In 
 August, 1835, Moncure Robinson of Pennsylvania and Jon- 
 athan Knight of Maryland were engaged to consult with Chief 
 Engineer Wright, as a Board of Engineers, upon the surveys 
 of the route made in 1834. They made a voluminous report, 
 approving the work. September 8, advertisements for pro- 
 posals for contracts were published by the company. The 
 work to be done was the graduation of forty and a half miles 
 of roadway in the Delaware Valley. The company's estimate 
 of the work's cost was $366,286, or $9,040 per mile. President 
 King, Comptroller Ruggles, and a Committee of Directors 
 opened the proposals at Deposit, November 4, 5, and 6, 1835, 
 the work having been divided into forty-four sub-divisions, 
 157 to 200. They were taken by twenty-six different con- 
 tractors. The total amount of contracts was $313,572, or 
 $7,742 per mile, a saving of 165^2 per cent, below the estimate. 
 Several additional sections of the line were prepared for con- 
 tract and the company propose advertising them early in the 
 ensuing spring. The directors are convinced that the whole 
 work can be completed upon the plan recommended in the 
 report of engineers (including vehicles to the amount of $500,- 
 000) for a sum not exceeding, and probably falling consider- 
 ably short of, $6,000,000; that the road when finished will admit 
 of the use of locomotive engines throughout its entire length, 
 drawing weights of at least forty tons, net, and at a rate of 
 speed which will reduce the time of passage within forty hours 
 from the Hudson River to Lake Erie; and, if the necessary 
 funds shall be secured without delay, the whole work can 
 easily be completed and put in operation within five years 
 from this date." 
 
 RECEIPTS. 
 
 First instalment on 23,621 shares of the capital 
 stock, $5 each $118,105 00 
 
 Second instalment on 21,131 shares, $5 each 105,655 00 
 
 Interest on $150,000 deposited with New York Life 
 Insurance and Trust Company, six months, at 4J4 
 per cent 1,125 00 
 
 Interest on the several sums from time to time de- 
 posited with the Phoenix Bank, New York, at 4^ 
 per cent i,479 00 
 
 $226,364 00 
 
 EXPENDITURES. 
 
 For surveys and expenses incident thereto, includ- 
 ing salaries and pay of engineers $24,012 08 
 
 For purchase of land, including a payment of $100 
 for the privilege of purchasing a tract of land in 
 Delaware County for a station (subsequently 
 found to be unnecessary), preparing and obtain- 
 ing deed of cession, authenticating papers, filing 
 certificates, location and other expenses incident 
 to acquirement of title S.051 69 
 
 For salary of the late Treasurer and present Sec- 
 retary, clerk hire, rent, furniture, fuel, etc $3.8S3 7^ 
 
 The President, the Treasurer, and the Comptroller 
 serve without salary. 
 
 For services and expenses of agents employed in 
 the business of the company 2,776 87 
 
 For stationery and blanks, making and engraving 
 maps, printing notices, reports, and other docu- 
 ments 1,928 iS 
 
 For traveling expenses of committees and ofScers 
 of the company while engaged in its business, in- 
 cluding sundry petty expenses 812 42- 
 
 For amount of box rent, and postage paid 186 42- 
 
 $38,621 3& 
 
 Leaving a balance of $187,742 62- 
 
 Which is deposited as follows: 
 
 Phoenix Bank of New York $130,572 59^ 
 
 New York Life Insurance and Trust Company. . 50,000 OO' 
 
 Steuben County Bank 3,275 oa 
 
 Chautauqua County Bank 2,615 00 
 
 Broome County Bank 655 oO' 
 
 Orange County Bank 335 co- 
 in hands of Secretary 290 o;^ 
 
 $187,742 62: 
 Sworn as true in every particular by 
 
 P. G. Stuyvesant, Treasurer. 
 Talman J. Waters, Secretary. 
 January 5, 1836. 
 
 President King kept the promise made in his re- 
 port that the Company would advertise for proposals 
 for grading contracts on other sections of the road 
 early in the spring of 1836, but the advertisements 
 were withdrawn before the dates set for the opening 
 of bids; the reason alleged being that the Company 
 had been unable to " prepare in time the portion of 
 the line to be let." 
 
 II. TRYING TO KEEP GOING. 
 
 Early in the session of 1836, consideration of the 
 renewed petition of the Company for aid came up in 
 the New York Assembly, and encountered fierce 
 opposition. The scheme of the road was not only- 
 assailed as a wild and visionary one — " the greatest 
 humbug of the age," the Hon. Francis Granger 
 called it — and one from which wise business men 
 stood aloof, but the ofificers and Directors of the 
 Company were attacked on personal grounds, and 
 their motives impugned. President King and the 
 Directors had to defend themselves against the 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 39 
 
 charges of using their connection with the Company 
 for stock-jobbing purposes, and of having purchased 
 lands along the lines of the proposed road as a 
 speculation which their plan of constructing the 
 road would make a most profitable one for them. 
 In 1835 President King, Samuel B. Ruggles, the 
 •Comptroller of the Company, and Peter G. Stuy- 
 vesant, the Treasurer, had made a tour of the route 
 from New York to Lake Erie, and it was charged 
 that on that trip they had arranged the land specu- 
 lation, a charge which they indignantly denied, and 
 which no facts were ever put on record to substan- 
 tiate. It was also charged in the Senate by Senator 
 Young that the rumor was current that agents of 
 the Company had offered large holdings in land to 
 certain Members of Assembly as a bribe to secure 
 their votes for the Erie aid bill. Assemblyman 
 Campbell offered a resolution in that body calling 
 upon Senator Young to give the names of the 
 Assemblymen thus alleged to have been approached 
 corruptly, but it was laid on the table, and .the 
 matter was probed no further. Senator Young was 
 arrested on a criminal charge of libel made by citi- 
 zens of Tioga County for language used in the de- 
 bates on this bill, but nothing came of it. 
 
 Every county through which the railroad was to 
 pass, with the exception of Orange and Rockland, 
 sent petitions to the Legislature asking for the pas- 
 sage of a State-aid bill. The municipal authorities 
 of the cities of New York and Brooklyn also memo- 
 rialized the Legislature in favor of such a bill. A 
 remonstrance against the bill was forwarded from 
 Orange County. This was the result of political 
 feeling in that county and had no real bearing on 
 the sentiment of the people toward the railroad. 
 
 Governor William L. Marcy, in his annual mes- 
 sage to the Legislature in 1836, called attention to 
 the affairs of the New York and Erie Railroad, and 
 submitted a communication from President King, 
 accompanied by documents, and advised the serious 
 consideration of the questions involved, "uninflu- 
 enced by any other views than such as are inspired 
 by a comprehensive regard for the public good." 
 The communication from President King was a 
 r^sum6 of the work in hand, and assured the Gov- 
 ernor that " no reasonable doubt exists as to the 
 
 ability of the Company to complete the whole road 
 from the tidewater to the lake, with all requisite 
 vehicles, for the amount stated in the report of the 
 engineer, and that the sum will certainly not exceed, 
 and probably will fall considerably short of, six mil- 
 lions of dollars." It asked the loan of the State's 
 credit to an amount not to exceed three millions of 
 dollars, to be advanced in instalments. The docu- 
 ments accompanying the communication were engi- 
 neers' reports and estimates. 
 
 Acting on these petitions and memorials, a bill 
 was introduced in the Assembly providing that cer- 
 tificates of stock be issued when a section of railroad 
 from the Delaware and Hudson Canal to the Che- 
 nango Canal, near Binghamton, 146 miles, was com- 
 pleted. The cost of this section was estimated to be 
 $1,646,826. Another block of $700,000 of State 
 stock was to be issued when the railroad was ready 
 for operation from Binghamton to the Alleghany 
 River, 184 miles. This would have compelled an 
 additional outlay by the Company of $1,322,989. 
 When the road should be completed from the Alle- 
 ghany River to Lake Erie, seventy-nine miles, the 
 Company was to receive another instalment of stock 
 to the amount of $300,000, the cost of that section 
 being estimated at $640,547; and when the railroad 
 should be built from the Hudson River, in Rockland 
 County, to the Delaware and Hudson Canal, seventy- 
 seven miles, the cost of which would be $1,664,156, 
 stock to the amount of $400,000 would be issued to 
 the Company. This called for the expenditure by 
 the Company of $4,674,518 to receive $2,000,000 
 in State stock. The remaining $1,000,000 of the 
 State-aid stock was not to be issued until the rail- 
 road was completed, with a double track its entire 
 length, from the Hudson to Lake Erie. This second 
 track, the cost of roadbed having been provided for 
 in the above calculation, the engineers estimated 
 would cost $1,857,000. 
 
 The certificates of stock thus to be issued to the 
 Company were to bear interest at the rate of 4^ per 
 cent, per annum, payable quarterly, and were re- 
 deemable at any time within twenty years, the tolls 
 and income of the railroad to be pledged for the pay- 
 ment of the principal and interest. In default of 
 the payment of principal or interest, the Comptroller 
 
40 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 of the State was authorized to sell the road by auc- 
 tion, or to buy it in at such sale for the use and ben- 
 efit of the State. The bill met with strong opposi- 
 tion, one ground of which was the fact that it did 
 not provide for the beginning of the road at the 
 Hudson River instead of at a point in the interior. 
 This opposition was prompted by the Lord follow- 
 ing in the Company. But the bill passed the 
 Assembly, and in the Senate was referred to the Rail- 
 road Committee, which, having figured out that the 
 road, with a single track and equipment, could be 
 built for $6,000,000, and that it would, on a low 
 estimate, earn $922,000 a year, net, reported it favor- 
 ably, with a strong recommendation for its passage. 
 The report (Senate Document No. 62, 1836) was 
 accepted, and the bill became a law April 23d. Al- 
 though the Company and the friends of the rail- 
 road rejoiced over this recognition of the importance 
 and necessity of the railroad through the Southern 
 Tier, and the quick completion of the undertaking 
 was hailed as a certainty by means of the generous 
 helping hand extended by the State (a belief that 
 was affected by the management of the Company in 
 its report to the stockholders as late as September, 
 1836), it in reality must have been soon apparent to 
 those at the head of the Company's affairs that this 
 bill would be of but little use to them. To receive 
 the first $600,000, first instalment of State stock, 
 the Company would be obliged to expend nearly a 
 million and three-quarters of dollars — more than 
 double the amount to be received. To a corpora- 
 tion that had not a dollar in its treasury, nor any 
 means of raising a dollar, and which was deeply in 
 debt besides, this was generosity indeed ! The so- 
 called State aid could not be utilized, and the Com- 
 pany was soon in sore straits. In December, 1836, 
 a call was made for an instalment of $2.50 on each 
 share of stock that had been subscribed for. The 
 money was wanted to settle overdue claims of con- 
 tractors, who were becoming clamorous. Less than 
 one-half of the subscribers paid the instalment, and 
 active operations on the work ceased with the close 
 of the year. 
 
 The extreme seriousnesss of the Company's situa- 
 tion spurred President King to renewed effort to 
 
 extricate it from its peril. He brought all his great 
 personal influence in the business affairs of New York 
 City to bear in behalf of the lagging enterprise, with 
 the result that a call for a public meeting to be held 
 at Clinton Hall, Friday evening, January 20, 1837, 
 at half-past six o'clock, was signed by all of the 
 leading New York business men of that day. The 
 object of the meeting, as stated in the call, was " to- 
 receive from the Board of Directors important state- 
 ments representing the progress of their undertaking 
 and its improved financial condition, and to adopt 
 measures for an energetic prosecution and early com- 
 pletion of the work." 
 
 The meeting was called to order by James N. 
 Wells. Mayor Aaron Clark was chosen President; 
 James N. Wells and Nathaniel Weed, Vice-Presi- 
 dents; and Thomas R. Merceir and William Samuel 
 Johnson, Secretaries. The meeting was addressed 
 by President King, who placed the situation, pros- 
 pects, and needs of the Railroad Company before it. 
 One tempting scheme he laid stress upon. This was 
 the large provisional donations of land west of the 
 Genesee River along the line of the proposed rail- 
 road, which he said were of such value that their 
 sales would permit the payment of 6 per cent, per 
 annum to the stockholders of the Company, among 
 whom, also, the land remaining unsold would be 
 "rateably divided among the then holders of the 
 three millions of stock." He said the Company had 
 received an offer from Goold Hoyt, Nicholas Dever- 
 eaux, and Nevius & Thompson, of $400,000 for 
 these lands, to be paid in such sums, on July first of 
 each year, until 1841, as should suffice for the inter- 
 est at 6 per cent., accruing at those periods on the 
 instalments of stock paid up. This offer had been 
 declined, however, as the Company preferred to- 
 reserve for its stockholders the rise in the value of 
 these lands which the progress of the road could not 
 fail to occasion, selling only from time to time what 
 mght be needful to meet the payment of dividends. 
 The road, he said, could be completed for $6,000,000. 
 There had been subscribed $1,800,000. The State 
 stood pledged for $2,000,000, on the completion of a 
 single track for the whole route. New York City 
 was asked to raise enough to make the subscription 
 $5,000,000. No subscription thus made would be 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 41 
 
 called in exceeding instalments of 25 per cent, per 
 annum, and the first payment might be made in 
 notes at three or four months. President King 
 insisted on the declaration that he and his associates 
 had no interest in the work beyond that of every stock- 
 holder in the value of the stock. They owned no land 
 along the route, and had no separate pecuniary inter- 
 est. He warned the New York business men against 
 the efforts other cities were making to secure the 
 trade of the great West at the expense of New York. 
 
 John A. Stevens addressed the meeting in favor of 
 going to the aid of the Company. What was of the 
 greatest importance to the city of New York, he 
 declared, was to be secured by the building of this 
 railroad to the Alleghany Valley — connection in the 
 early spring between this part of New York and the 
 populous valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi — the 
 head of navigation of which rivers, he called the 
 particular attention of the meeting, lay within the 
 limits of this State, in the County of Cattaraugus. 
 " When the railroad shall be completed from the 
 Hudson to the Alleghany, the merchandise of this 
 city can be sent down into the valley of the Ohio 
 before the loth of March, earlier even than the open- 
 ing of the Pennsylvania Canal, and nearly six weeks 
 before the opening of the Erie Canal." Speeches 
 were made by George Griswold, Robert Cheese- 
 brough. General Tallmadge, and others, and resolu- 
 tions favorable to the increasing of the available sub- 
 scriptions of the stock of the Railroad Company to 
 $3,000,000 were imanimously adopted, and recom- 
 mending that books for that purpose be opened at 
 the Merchants' Exchange and other places. 
 
 A committee of thirty-nine was appointed by the 
 chair to obtain subscriptions, as follows: John Hag- 
 o-erty, John A. Stevens, Robert Cheesebrough, 
 Moses H. Grinnell, S. S. Howland, James N. Wells, 
 Charles N. Talbott, Moses Taylor, Benjamin Bird- 
 sail, Nathaniel Weed, Frederick Sheldon, E. J. 
 Gould, Stephen Allen, Simeon Draper, Jr., Charles 
 Kelsey, A. G. Thompson, T. R. Merceir, David 
 Austin, Daniel Jackson, D. W. Wetmore, Sheppard 
 Knapp, Samuel Jones, Robert Ray, George W. 
 Bruen, James B. Murray, Thomas E. Davis, Charles 
 Hoyt, J. A. Perry, Ogden E. Edwards, Charles 
 Wolfe, Henry H. Elliott, David Lee, E. G. Vaile, 
 
 Charles Dennison, Alfred R. Mount, Jacob Loril- 
 lard, Martin E. Thompson, Philip H. Woodruff, 
 Andrew Lockwood. 
 
 It would seem that it would have needed no more 
 aid than what the members of this committee could 
 themselves alone have offerfed, then and there, to 
 have not only tided the Company over its pressing 
 difficulties but insured the completion of its rail- 
 road without further delay or hindrance, if their faith 
 in its future and fears for its failure were as strong as 
 their professions ; but there is no record that they 
 did anything more than " open books," and wait for 
 the public to come and take shares in the Company, 
 which the public did not do. 
 
 The official report for 1836, and of the condition 
 of the Company's affairs, was as follows : 
 
 The work of grading the forty and a half miles in the 
 Delaware Valley has been actively prosecuted during the year. 
 The amount of work done amounted to $165,010.78, on which 
 the company paid the contractors in cash $121,939.49. Except 
 in ten instances, the people owning the land on that section 
 ceded right of way, and the land the company needed, gratu- 
 itously. Legal proceedings before the Vice-Chancellor to 
 condemn the lands were taken by the company, and the valu- 
 ation as confirmed by them amounted to $3,105. The com- 
 pany has located a section of the road near the west side of 
 the Hudson River, and extending into the same at or near 
 Tappan Landing, in the town of Orange, in Rockland County, 
 and commenced graduation of it. The company has paid on 
 the account of the same during the year $4,000. 
 
 Engineers have been revising the line, and particularly in 
 surveying and examining with great care the several harbors 
 on Lake Erie in the County of Chautauqua. These examina- 
 tions have enabled the material shortening and straightening 
 of the line and improvement of the grades of the road which 
 will first approach the Lake at Dunkirk. 
 
 James G. King, President. 
 S. B. RuGGLES, Comptroller. 
 
 January 31, 1837. 
 
 Report of the Receipts and Expenditures of the New York 
 and Erie Railroad Company durini^ the Year 18 j6. 
 
 RECEIPTS. 
 
 Balance on hand January i, 1836 $187,742 62 
 
 From instalments on stock $22,122 50 
 
 Interest on instalments and sums on 
 
 deposit 6,968 91 
 
 Rent of offices in buildings No. 12 and 
 
 46 Wall Street, relet by the company 
 
 to May I, 1836 740 14 
 
 From payment of money advanced for 
 
 purchase of instruments for the 
 
 junior members of the engineer 
 
 corps 360 00 — $30,191 55 
 
 $217,934 17 
 
42 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Total receipts brought forward $217,934 17 
 
 EXPENDITURES. 
 
 Paid to contractors' account of worlc 
 done in grading roadbed to Decem- 
 ber I, 1836 $125,93949 
 
 For surveys and expenses thereon, in- 
 cluding salaries and pay , of engi- 
 neers 65,713 96 
 
 Salaries of Secretary and Clerk, rent, 
 furniture, fuel, and petty expenses. . 5,316 70 
 
 Purchase of land roadbed, award to 
 owners, court and commissioners' 
 fees, etc., and other expenses in ac- 
 quiring titles to land 4,734 73 
 
 Salary of agent and expenses incurred 
 by him 2,660 93 
 
 Blanks and stationery, newspaper sub- 
 scriptions, advertisements, printing 
 reports, and documents I,I94 62 
 
 For purchase of instruments for engi- 
 neer corps, and advances to assist 
 the junior members 1,079 87 
 
 Traveling expenses of oflicers of the 
 company while engaged in its busi- 
 ness 718 07 
 
 Box rent and postage 125 94 — ^$207,484 31 
 
 Leaving balance, December 31, 1836 $10,449 86 
 
 T. J. Waters, Secretary. 
 January 31, 1837. 
 
 Thus the Company had received but $22,000 on 
 stock payments during the year. The total receipts 
 were Httle more than $30,000, and the expenditures 
 over $207,000. A more discouraging situation could 
 not well be imagined. President King made strenu- 
 ous efforts to extricate the Company from its depth 
 of trouble, but without success, and, in the spring of 
 1837, all work in the Delaware Valley and elsewhere 
 was ordered discontinued. The Company's debt 
 was then only $13,000, but there was much less than 
 that actually in the treasury. The prospects for a 
 railroad from the Hudson to Lake Erie were dark 
 indeed. 
 
 The King administration steadily became unpopu- 
 lar at large, and there was not entire and perfect 
 unison of feeling among its own members. Work 
 had not seemed to prosper under Mr. King's man- 
 agement, and he had at last become a convert to the 
 idea that a work of the magnitude of the one the 
 Company had in hand could not be successfully con- 
 structed by a private corporation, and that the work 
 should be done by the State. The stockholders 
 were discouraged, and the financial depression in 
 
 the country was becoming greater. A number of 
 leading officers of the Company had resigned. At 
 the annual election for the Directors in October, 
 1837, the votes of stockholders who had not paid 
 the instalments called for were refused. A memo- 
 rial from President King and the Directors asking an 
 amendment to the relief act of 1836 was presented 
 to the Senate during the session of 1837. The 
 memorial asked for further aid for the railroad be- 
 cause of the pecuniary disaster that had overtaken 
 many of its large stockholders, preventing them from 
 paying the amounts of their subscriptions to the 
 stock. The report of the Railroad Committee on it 
 declared its sympathy with the situation the Com- 
 pany found itself in, but claimed that " the same 
 causes which now embarrass the progress of the 
 work, and, in fact, agitate the whole commercial 
 world, have so greatly discouraged the financial 
 affairs of the country as to render it inexpedient, if 
 not impracticable, for the State to afford the imme- 
 diate aid requested by the memorialists." And none 
 was granted. 
 
 The official report of 1837, made January 8, 1838, 
 was signed by P. G. Stuyvesant and William Beach 
 Lawrence, as " Directors and Members of the Erie 
 Company." President King was in England using 
 his influence as a financier to stay the tide of the 
 commercial panic in this country, which he succeeded 
 in doing by inducing the Bank of England to advance 
 a large amount of specie to New York banks to 
 enable the resumption of specie payments and 
 restore confidence here. Officially, following was 
 the status of the New York and Erie Railroad Com- 
 pany at the close of 1837: 
 
 During 1837, and especially in the month of February, 
 2,200 additional shares of stock were subscribed, 1,355 of 
 which instalments were paid in cash to the amount of $20,- 
 137.50. On previous subscriptions $59,887.50 were paid dur- 
 ing 1837. The total number of shares subscribed for since 
 the organization of the company was 25,832. On these, calls 
 for 15 per cent, of the face had been made up to 1837, and 
 cash to the amount of $325,907.50 had been paid on 24,987 
 shares, leaving due on the calls on these shares $48,897.50. On 
 the remaining 845 shares nothing had been paid. No other 
 contracts have been made on the line; on the contrary, the 
 directors had found such difficulty during the commercial 
 embarrassments of the year in collecting instalments on stock 
 that they had deemed it their duty in, and shortly before, the 
 month of May, 1837, to discharge the contractors and sus- 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 43 
 
 pend all further operations in the Delaware Valley, and also 
 to discharge their engineers and surveyors throughout the 
 whole line of the road. The grading on the Delaware Valley, 
 forty and one-half miles, had cost $192,837.63, and on the sec- 
 tion at Tappan Landing, $5,889.40. All of this cost has been 
 paid to the contractors except aBout $13,000, which is being 
 liquidated and settled. The total amount of money raised 
 by the company since its organization to December 31, 1837, 
 was $338,637.15. The total amount expended during the same 
 period was $337,630.43 as follows: Construction, $186,116.62; 
 engineering and surveys, $112,147.84; lands for roadbeds and 
 stations, $10,282.26; salaries, rent, etc., $29,083.71. 
 
 Receipts and Expenditures of the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road Company during the Year 18 jy. 
 
 RECEIPTS. 
 
 Balance on hand, January i, 1837 $10,449 86 
 
 From instalments on stock $80,025 00 
 
 Interest on same and sums on deposit. 1,387 08 
 Prom rent of rooms relet by company. 214 04 
 
 From rent of property purchased for 
 
 roadbed and station at Binghamton. 157 23 
 
 From repayment of advances to junior 
 
 members engineer corps 29825 — $82,081 60 
 
 Total : . . .$92,531 46 
 
 EXPENSES. 
 
 Paid contractors ~. $60,177 I3 
 
 Surveys, expenses, salaries, etc.. Engi- 
 neer Department 22,421 80 
 
 Salaries of Secretary and Clerk, rent, 
 
 fuel, sundries 4.856 44 
 
 Salary of agent and expenses 638 76 
 
 Paid for instruments for use of engi- 
 neer corps 1,033 00 
 
 Paid interest on balance due contrac- 
 tors and on notes and drafts negoti- 
 ated 793 92 
 
 Paid for stationery, blanks, newspaper 
 subscriptions, and advertisements, 
 printing notices, reports, etc 754 04 
 
 Paid charges, land taken by process of 
 
 law, deeds, fees, etc 495 84 
 
 Expenses of Secretary traveling on the 
 company's business, services of Su- 
 perintendent, repair of road, sundry 
 law charges 27393 
 
 Box rent and Postage 79 88— $91,524 74 
 
 Leaving balance, December 31, 1837 1,006 72 
 
 $92,531 46 
 Talman J. Waters, Secretary. 
 January 8, 1838. 
 
 III. CROSS PURPOSES. 
 
 The Board of Directors for 1838 was made up of 
 the following eminent business men of that day: 
 James G. King (who was re-elected President), 
 
 Edwin Lord, Samuel B. Ruggles, Charles Hoyt, 
 Peter G. Stuyvesant, Stephen Whitney, John A. 
 Stevens, George Griswold, James Boorman, John G. 
 Coster, David N. Lord, Aaron Clark, John W. 
 Leavitt, Jeremiah H. Pierson, George S. Robbins, 
 George D. Wickham, William Beach Lawrence. 
 April 27, 1838, George S. Robbins resigned from the 
 Board. Eleazar Lord was chosen to the vacancy. 
 This was the beginning of a change in the policy 
 of the Company. President King returned from 
 Europe in May, 1838. On May 4, EHhu Townsend, 
 who had been appointed a Director in place of John 
 W. Leavitt, resigned as Treasurer, and the duties of 
 that ofifice were performed by the President and 
 Secretary Talman J. Waters. 
 
 Eleazar Lord had formulated a plan which was 
 presented to the Legislature in January, 1838. It 
 called for a State loan to the New York and Erie 
 Railroad Company of $100,000 to be made against 
 every like sum to be paid in by the Company, and 
 provided that ten miles of railroad from Tappan 
 Slote (Piermont) west, and ten miles from Dunkirk 
 east, must first be put under contract. This was the 
 result of the influence of Eleazar Lord and the large 
 Dunkirk landowner, Walter Smith. By this provi- 
 sion was secured for all time the Eastern terminus 
 of the railroad at Piermont and of the Western at 
 Dunkirk, and thus private landed interests at both 
 ends of the line were assured better tenure. But 
 the bill was greatly to the general welfare of the 
 Company, notwithstanding this not entirely disinter- 
 ested clause, and was the only one, perhaps, that 
 could have met with approval from the Legislature 
 at that critical time. It did meet with approval, 
 and was accepted by the Company, although it was 
 opposed to the policy President King had avowed 
 himself in favor of. Upon the passage of the bill, in 
 April, 1838, Samuel P. Lyman, of Syracuse, was 
 appointed by the Board of Directors General Com- 
 missioner of the Company, "to procure deeds of 
 cession and donations of land to the Company." 
 He was a friend of Eleazar Lord. 
 
 But this " obtaining of deeds of cession and dona- 
 tions of land " was not all the duty that Commis- 
 sioner Lyman was to perform. It would not have 
 looked well to nominate in the bond the other part 
 
44 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 of his duty. Samuel P. Lyman's services were con- 
 sidered none the less valuable because he had gifts 
 for lobbying and a graceful way of using them. And 
 at about this time there was need of a suave and 
 capable agent of Erie at Albany. One of Lyman's 
 first efforts as Commissioner was the making of a 
 report, November 21, 1838, that if the Company 
 pleased it could locate and put under contract three 
 hundred miles of the road by May i, 1839, from 
 Tappan to Goshen, Binghamton to Hornellsville or 
 Bath, and from the Genesee River to Dunkirk, and 
 that the Delaware Valley was fairly under contract. 
 The report suggested State Directors to be associ- 
 ated with the Company Directors. 
 
 This was a direct thrust at the policy of President 
 King, who had returned from Europe strong in the 
 belief that the Company positively had no prospects. 
 He was using his influence to have the State itself 
 take charge of the New York and Erie Railroad and 
 complete it as a public work, on the ground that in 
 that way only could the road be finished. Lyman's 
 utterance was the voicing of the Lord policy. How- 
 ever, President King sent Commissioner Lyman to 
 Albany during the session of the Legislature for 
 1839, with the outline of legislation having in view 
 the making of the New York and Erie Railroad a 
 State work, and with instructions to push it to a 
 successful issue if it could possibly be done. Infor- 
 mation came to President King toward the close of 
 the session that his agent had been working stead- 
 fastly against such legislation, whereupon he cen- 
 sured Lyman and Lyman resigned. 
 
 Eleazar Lord's influence apparently soon became 
 once more paramount in the Company's affairs. 
 The contracts on the ten miles from Piermont and 
 the ten miles from Dunkirk were let, and then Mr. 
 Lord proposed to the Board that the work be further 
 advanced, on a plan he had in mind, by letting con- 
 tracts for its construction from the point where the 
 ten-mile contract from Tappan ended to the village 
 of Goshen, thirty-six miles. For the accomplish- 
 ment of this he submitted his plan as being one most 
 likely to prove successful. It called for authority 
 from the Board to solicit subscriptions from the citi- 
 zens of Rockland and Orange counties, until a sum 
 suf^cient, with a corresponding amount thus earned 
 
 from the State, to commence and carry on the work, 
 was collected ; the subscriptions to be paid monthly. 
 He proposed a contract of such form that the con- 
 tractors should have no claim for damages under it 
 if the required instalments were not paid by the sub- 
 scribers. In addition to this, the Company was to 
 issue special certificates for the stock, entitling them 
 to interest on it, to be paid out of the earnings on 
 that part of the road after it should be put in opera- 
 tion, until such time as the road was completed to 
 Erie. The Board of Directors acquiesced in this 
 proposition, and official action in its favor was taken. 
 Eleazar Lord was appointed Commissioner to carry 
 out the details of the plan, the scope of which was 
 subsequently extended so that the work was to be 
 put under contract also as far as Middletown, nine 
 miles west of Goshen. At this meeting of the 
 Board of Directors, July 14, 1838, it was also 
 
 Resolved, That as soon as the sum of fifty thousand dollars 
 shall be subscribed in any of the Southern Tier of counties, 
 and instalments of 15 per cent, paid in thereon, in cash, and 
 deposited in bank subject to the orders of the Company, a 
 competent engineer with suitable assistants shall be forthwith 
 sent into such county to survey the line of the road therein 
 and prepare it for location; and that the said 15 per cent., or 
 so much as shall be necessary, shall be applied toward the 
 expense of such survey, and that the residue thereof, and of 
 all future instalments to be paid on such stock, together with 
 such corresponding amount as may in consequence be re- 
 ceived from the State, shall be applied exclusively to the con- 
 struction of the road through such county, and, if any such 
 counties shall see fit to anticipate the payments of future 
 instalments on their subscriptions, they shall be allowed in- 
 terest thereon at the rate of 6 per cent, per annum, until calls 
 shall be made by the Board to the same extent upon the 
 stockholders at large. 
 
 At the same time, on motion of Mr. Lord, the 
 Board passed a resolution which provided that the 
 railroad should be constructed of six-foot gauge 
 instead of the four-foot-eight-and-a-half-inch gauge, 
 which was the standard for all roads then building 
 in this country. There were several reasons for this 
 innovation. H. C. Seymour, the Chief Engineer, 
 and S. S. Post were the original controlling minds 
 in Erie practical affairs. These advisers advocated 
 the six-foot gauge because it was favored by all Eng- 
 lish railroad builders, who were then regarded as 
 masters of the economies of engineering science. 
 Then, the grades of the proposed New York and 
 Erie Railroad were to be of extraordinary degree. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 45 
 
 the overcoming of which, according to Mr. Post, 
 would require the use of locomotives of enormous 
 weight, a weight so great that a broad-gauged track 
 alone could offer sufificient space for placing within 
 the locomotives the mechanism necessary to give the 
 power required to move successfully so monstrous a 
 machine. Mr. Post, also, saw a great future for the 
 New York and Erie Railroad, and insisted that the 
 time would come when trains Avould necessarily have 
 to run in " squads "over it — a number of trains on 
 practically one schedule time — and that these squads 
 could be made few in number by the heavy locomo- 
 tives being capable of hauling trains of many cars; 
 which argument he used in favor of the practical 
 economy of the broad gauge. Mr. Post's prophecy 
 as to trains in " squads" came true years ago, as 
 witness the running of a regular passenger train in a 
 number of " sections," and regular freight trains 
 with many " extras." 
 
 But, if none of the arguments in favor of the adop- 
 tion of it had been made, the New York and Erie 
 Railroad would have had the broad gauge just the 
 same. Eleazar Lord had an idea of his own about 
 the six-foot gauge, and it was this that most moved 
 him to favor and insist upon it. There was an ap- 
 prehension in his mind that a change in a certain 
 provision of the charter of the Company would be 
 sought at some future time. The avowed object of 
 the originators of the project for a railroad such as 
 the Erie was to be was, besides the opening up and 
 developing an isolated portion of the State of New 
 York, to enhance the trade and commerce of New 
 York City by giving it communication with markets 
 in New York State and the West which were tribu- 
 tary, or likely to be, to Philadelphia, Baltimore, and 
 Boston, through public improvements then going 
 forward. Consequently, it was intended that the 
 New York and Erie Railroad should be entirely inde- 
 pendent of any connection that might, although 
 indirectly, lead the desired new trade away from 
 New York. The Camden and Amboy Railroad was 
 then building, as was a local road from Jersey City 
 to Paterson. A railroad from the New York State 
 line, near Elmira, leading southward into Pennsyl- 
 vania, its ultimate terminus to be Baltimore, was 
 about to be begun. Boston was hastening its con- 
 
 nection by rail with Albany, there to meet the 
 Canal and projected Central New York railroads. 
 Hence the charter for the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road expressly prohibited, under penalty of its for- 
 feiture, connection with any railroad leading into 
 New Jersey, Pennsylvania, or Ohio, on the childish 
 theory that thus traffic could not be diverted from 
 the Erie. 
 
 This was in 1832, and in 1838, when the New York 
 and Erie Railroad Company was committed to the 
 six-foot gauge, those railroads, and others, were 
 either entirely or partially in operation, and had the 
 lesser gauge. The charter provision prohibiting out- 
 side connection might be easily changed some day. 
 To change a great railroad's gauge so that connec- 
 tion with other roads might be made would not be 
 so easy. Hence Mr. Lord's adoption of the broad 
 gauge. Eleazar Lord looked a long way ahead, but 
 he did not look far enough. If he had, he might not 
 have insisted on his six-foot gauge. It came to be 
 responsible, in a great measure, for much of the 
 Erie's subsequent financial tribulation. While the 
 Western terminus of the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road was still at Middletown, in 1845, the then Chief 
 Engineer, Major T. S. Brown, returned from Europe, 
 whither he had been sent to study the best methods 
 of railroad building, and he reported that English 
 engineers were discouraging the six-foot gauge, and 
 that some of the railroads in that country had aban- 
 doned it. A. S. Diven, of the board of Directors, was 
 in favor of reducing the gauge of the Erie before the 
 work got further along. Major Brown, in response 
 to a request of the Board, estimated that the change 
 of the gauge of the fifty-four miles of track between 
 Piermont and Middletown would cost not more than 
 $250,000.. Director Diven offered a resolution that 
 the gauge be changed to the narrow, or what is now 
 the standard, gauge. James Brown and Homer 
 Ramsdell were the only members of the Board be- 
 sides Mr. Diven who voted for the resolution, and 
 the six-foot gauge remained. The road was com- 
 pleted with that width of track. When, at last, it 
 became necessary to make the road and its branches 
 standard gauge or go out of business, nearly forty 
 years later, the change cost far up into the millions 
 of dollars, this being actual outlay; not taking into 
 
40 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 account the millions in extra expense it had cost to 
 maintain, equip, and supply a railroad six feet wide. 
 That unwise act of Eleazar Lord, and the penny- 
 wise and pound-foolish policy that persisted in it, are 
 responsible for taking out of the Erie treasury not 
 less than $25,00x3,000 of much-needed money. 
 
 The Lord plan for raising money to build the road 
 to Goshen was in a great measure a success. Leading 
 citizens of Orange and Rockland counties lent sub- 
 stantial aid to the scheme; prominent among them 
 being Hon. John B. Booth, George D. Wickham, 
 Jesse Edsall, Henry Merriam, and Ambrose S. Mur- 
 ray of Goshen, and Jeremiah H. Pierson of Ramapo. 
 The Orange County committee pledged themselves 
 to raise $50,000, and they did raise that amount. 
 
 The ofificial report of the Company for 1838, 
 which, for some reason, was not filed with the Sec- 
 retary of State until January 11, 1840, throws inter- 
 esting light on the progress the management was 
 making. It is as follows : 
 
 Immediately after the reception of the law passed April 16, 
 1838, entitled " an act to amend an act entitled ' an act to 
 expedite the construction of a road from New York to Lake 
 Erie, passed April 23, 1836,' " the company adopted measures 
 for the active prosecution of the work, perfected the surveys 
 and locations of the portions of the road specified in the act 
 and, in August, 1838, entered into contracts for grading the 
 ten miles of the road in Rockland County and the ten in Chau- 
 tauqua County, and work was shortly afterward begun. To- 
 ward the close of the year a resurvey was begun preparatory 
 to a final location of the road from Binghamton to the Gene- 
 see River, and likewise from the west line of Allegany County 
 to the east end of the ten miles under contract in Chautauqua 
 County, and measures taken to obtain the cessions of land 
 on both of those portions. 
 
 Elihu B. Townsend, 
 William Beach Lawrence, 
 
 Directors. 
 
 46 Wall Street, January 7, 1840. 
 
 Report of the Receipts and Expenditures of the New York 
 and Erie Railroad Company during the Year ending 
 December ji, 18 j8. 
 
 RECEIPTS. 
 
 Cash on hand, January i, 1838 $1,006 72 
 
 From instalments on stock $20,330 00 
 
 Interest on same 1,482 84 
 
 From rent of rooms relet, 46 Wall 
 
 Street 450 00 
 
 Temporary loans 24,500 00— $46,762 84 
 
 $47,769 56 
 
 Total receipts brought forward $47,769 5^ 
 
 EXPENSES. 
 
 Paid on contracts $28,204 40 
 
 Salaries and expenses, engineering de- 
 partment 9,130 87 
 
 Salaries Secretary and Clerk, rent, fuel, 
 office sundries 4,267 68 
 
 Expenses of Commissioner and pay 
 and expenses of agents on line 2,751 83 
 
 Interest paid on notes and balance due 
 
 contractors 757 42 
 
 Law expenses, and expenses of officers 
 
 traveling on company's business.... 477 62 
 
 Costs of acquiring title to lands for 
 
 roadbeds 616 78 
 
 Printing, stationery, advertising, etc.. 31884 
 
 Box rent and postage 63 86— $40,589 30 
 
 Leaving balance cash, December 31, 1838. . . $1,180 26 
 
 Talman J. Waters, Secretary. 
 Sworn November 6, 1839. 
 
 Lettings for contracts for both grading and super- 
 structure were advertised, but work was not really 
 begun on the Goshen extension until the following 
 spring. The subscriptions had been, up to Decem- 
 ber 1838, $100,000, which earned the same amount 
 from the State. Contracts for grading having been 
 closed on satisfactory terms, the Eastern end of the 
 road began to assume that appearance of activity that 
 followed the unfortunate beginning of work in the 
 valley of the Delaware in 1835, and which ended so 
 disastrously in the spring of 1837. Operations on the 
 Eastern Division were restricted from month to 
 month to the amount of funds at command. 
 
 But toward the end of December, 1838, the Direc- 
 tors of the Company, or a majority of them, seem to 
 have begun to think that the arrangement with the 
 State was not as liberal as the requirements of the 
 work should have, and, on the 20th of that month, the 
 Company prepared a memorial to the Legislature, 
 which was presented early in the session of 1839, 
 reciting the fact that the Company had determined 
 the location of the work from the Western end of 
 the ten miles then under contract in Rockland 
 County to Goshen, in Orange County ; from a point 
 near the village of Binghamton, in Broome County, 
 to a point near the village of Elmira, in Chemung 
 County ; and from Corning, in Steuben County, to 
 the west line of Chemung County ; that the people 
 in the Southern Tier had subscribed to between 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 47 
 
 three and four thousand shares of. stock and would 
 subscribe more in case of success of the petition ; 
 and that the Company was prepared to locate and 
 put under contract further expensive portions of the 
 road with the view of completing a single track 
 from the Hudson to Lake Erie within five years if it 
 could command the requisite funds. The memorial- 
 ists asked the Legislature to amend the law of 1838 
 so as to provide for an issue of State stock in the ratio 
 of $3 to $1 advanced by the stockholders, without 
 requiring them to provide for the interest thereon, 
 and that the Legislature have the right to take the 
 road at the completion of it by paying what it had 
 cost, with interest, the stock to bear 5 instead of 
 4>^ per cent, interest. 
 
 The Legislature being slow to take any action on 
 this modest request, the management attempted 
 what, in sporting parlance, would be called a 
 " bluff." On February 7, 1839, Director William 
 Beach Lawrence, seconded by Eleazar Lord, offered 
 the following resolutions before the Board of Direc- 
 tors of the Company : 
 
 Resolved unanimously. That this board approve of the memo- 
 rial recently presented in their behalf to the Legislature, under 
 the seal of the company, and that no aid less than prayed for 
 therein will be adequate to a speedy and successful prosecu- 
 tion of the work entrusted to their charge, or enable them to 
 complete a single track of the New York and Erie Railroad 
 within a reasonable period. 
 
 Resolved, That if the Legislature deem it expedient to adopt 
 the road as a State work, this board will recommend to the 
 stockholders a surrender of their franchises, upon a just and 
 equitable term. 
 
 If this was intended to frighten the Legislature 
 and the people along the line into taking action in 
 behalf of the Company, to save the one from having 
 the railroad forced upon the State, and the other 
 from losing the money they had invested in the 
 work, it did not have that effect, for soon after the 
 
 presentation of the resolutions in the Legislature, 
 petitions from Orange, Delaware, Broome, Tomp- 
 kins, and Seneca counties, praying for the imme- 
 diate construction of the road by the State, were 
 presented in the Senate. Senator Johnson, of the 
 Committee on Railroads, February 14, 1839, made a 
 long report to the Senate favoring the prayer of the 
 petitioners, and accompanied it by a bill authorizing 
 the New York and Erie Railroad Company, on or 
 before July i, 1840, to surrender all its right, title, 
 franchises, and property in the railroad to the State. 
 This bill was rejected by the close vote of fifteen to 
 fourteen. But the Assembly passed a similar bill. 
 How nearly the New York and Erie Railroad came to 
 passing from the hands of the Company and becoming 
 part of the great public works of the State of New 
 York is shown by the vote on this latter bill in the 
 Senate. It was rejected there by a vote of seventeen 
 to fourteen. Two votes alone changed the whole 
 history of Erie,' for the Governor would have signed 
 the bill had it passed. 
 
 But while these bills did not pass, neither did any 
 bill looking to the further relief of the Company 
 pass, and the Directors went on with the work on the 
 lines made possible by the legislation of 1838. Mr. 
 King remained at the head of the Company until Sep- 
 tember 25, 1839, when he resigned. Elihu Town- 
 send was elected President Z;"!? tem. At the annual 
 meeting held October 4 following, Eleazar Lord 
 was elected President of the Company for the second 
 time, with the following Board of Directors : Jere- 
 miah H. Pierson, John A. Stevens, George D. Wick- 
 ham, George Griswold, Eleazar Lord, Stephen Whit- 
 ney, Aaron Clark, Elihu Townsend, David N. Lord, 
 Charles Hoyt, John A. King, William Beach Law- 
 rence, George S. Robbins, Henry L. Pierson, James 
 Bowen, William H. Townsend, Isaac L. Varian. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 SECOND ADMINISTRATION OF ELEAZAR LORD— 1839 TO 1841. 
 
 Marked by Folly, and Some Wisdom — Success of the Orange and Rockland Plan followed by its Extension to the Susquehanna and Western 
 Divisions of the Work — Building a Railroad on Stilts — How 100 Miles of Piles came to be Driven at a Cost of $1,000,000, only to 
 Prove Useless — Another Effort to have the State Assume Charge of the Work Fails — More State Aid Solicited in 1840 and 
 Obtained — What the Work was Costing — Serious Charges Made against the Management Investigated by the Legislature ; the 
 First Erie Investigation — The Management Exonerated — Political Influence Credited with the Result — Lord Retires the .Second 
 Time as President — -The Company's Prospects Apparently Promising. 
 
 The Southern Tier and Western counties had long 
 given up all hopes of the railroad ever reaching 
 them, and had lost confidence in the Company. 
 This was especially true of the Southern Tier. For 
 a year or more, and up to the time of the adoption 
 of the plan by which the railroad was being built 
 through Rockland County and into Orange County, 
 the Southern Tier had advocated and insisted on 
 the surrender of the Erie charter to the State, and 
 opposed all further efforts to obtain relief from the 
 Legislature. The reports of the success with which 
 the Rockland and Orange method was meeting 
 changed the drift of opinion in the Susquehanna and 
 Chemung valleys, and in February, 1840, confidence 
 in the work was so much restored that the same plan 
 was accepted by the Southern Tier counties, and 
 subscriptions sufificient having been made, 117 miles 
 of road, from Binghamton to Hornellsville, were put 
 under contract, and the work of construction was 
 immediately begun. 
 
 In the work on the Susquehanna and Chemung 
 sections of the railroad, Eleazar Lord, who had 
 proved himself so potent in his direction of the 
 affairs of the Company in many emergencies, com- 
 mitted himself to an act of folly which went far to 
 strengthen the charge of his enemies that he was 
 not a practical man, but one of wild and visionary 
 ideas. This act was the substitution of rows of 
 wooden piles for a graded roadbed on which to lay 
 the rails. Upward of one hundred miles of this 
 piling were driven along the route, at a cost variously 
 estimated from $600,000 to $r, 000,000. It was a 
 dead loss. No track was ever laid upon it. For 
 
 many years after the railroad was completed long 
 rows of these piles could be seen, and even to this 
 day, in the Canisteo Valley, near Hornellsville, many 
 of them are visible, mournful monuments to misdi- 
 rected effort in furthering a worthy cause. Their 
 interesting story is told elsewhere in this volume. 
 
 February 26, 1840, on the petition of the citizens 
 of the Southern Tier counties, and of sundry stock- 
 holders of the Company, Senator Furman, of the 
 Railroad Committee of the Senate, presented from 
 that committee a strong report in favor of the State 
 assuming charge of the New York and Erie Railroad 
 and completing it as a public work. The Company 
 itself was charged by opponents of such a course with 
 conspiring to arouse the people to efforts to induce 
 the State to take the work off the Company's hands. 
 At this session of the Legislature the President of 
 the Company, under date of January 24th, presented 
 a memorial asking for a further amendment of the 
 act of April 16, 1838. The memorial was accom- 
 panied by a letter from President Lord to the Chair- 
 man of the Assembly Railroad Committee, the Hon. 
 Demas Hubbard, Jr., in which he answered the que- 
 ries which had been made by Mr. Hubbard in regard 
 to the Company, in view of action on the proposed 
 new legislation. In this letter Mr. Lord said : 
 
 " It is proposed to grade the roadway for a single track of 
 rails, with the necessary turnouts; to erect substantial bridges 
 with timber in place of stone; to construct the road with piles 
 wherever that method shall be found most economical, and 
 to lay strong and well secured superstructures and a flat iron 
 rail of more than ordinary thickness. About two hundred 
 miles of the track can, it is believed, be laid on piles, in a 
 manner far more satisfactory, and at far less cost, than by 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 49 
 
 the ordinary method of grading; and in hope that the desired 
 change in the law may be granted, and in order to be pre- 
 pared to proceed with the work without delay, contracts for 
 about one hundred miles of pile road, on the margin of the 
 Susquehanna and its tributaries, between Binghamton and 
 Hornellsville, are in preparation and may be consummated 
 within two or three weeks. The cost of the road, as repeat- 
 edly estimated and revised, graded for a double track, with a 
 single track of rails, the ordinary fiat iron, and the necessary 
 engines and vehicles, will fall within $6,000,000. Upon the 
 plan now proposed, with the economy induced by the circum- 
 stances of the company and the use of piles on large portions 
 of the road, the utmost confidence is felt that the cost of the 
 work complete will not exceed, and may fall considerably 
 short of, the sum mentioned. The company, without any 
 hesitation or doubt, will be able to complete the road without 
 any additional amount of aid beyond the $3,000,000 contem- 
 plated in the act, which calls for an issue of the loan in the 
 ratio of $100,000 to every sum of $50,000 collect.;d on the stock 
 of the company and expended in the construction of the road, 
 that rate to be applicable to the past as well as the future 
 collections on the stock, the stock to bear interest at 6 per 
 cent, per annum, or such rate not exceeding 6 per cent., at 
 the option of the Comptroller, as will be saleable at par, and to 
 exchange the four and a half per cent, stock heretofore issued, 
 for stock bearing six, or not exceeding 6 per cent., that the 
 former, which on account of its low rate of interest is not 
 saleable without loss, may be taken out of market. Then 
 more than half the road may be put in use within two years. 
 " The company has not expressed the desire or taken any 
 measures or authorized any one to bring about the comple- 
 tion of the work by the State. With the aid asked, they will 
 proceed with the work rapidly and successfully complete it." 
 
 The petition which President Lord's letter accom- 
 panied stated that work was progressing under the 
 contracts made in August, 1838, according to the 
 act of April 16 of that year, for graduation and ma- 
 sonry on ten miles of the Eastern end and ten 
 miles on the Western end of the railroad. Seven 
 miles of the Western end were graded ; the remain- 
 der nearly. Half the Eastern end was graded. 
 Arched stone culverts had been built over the Pas- 
 cac and other streams, and one over the Hackensack 
 was building. A pier constructed on piles, with an 
 embankment of earth and stone, had been extended 
 to the navigable channel of the Hudson River, 
 4,cxx) feet from shore, with transverse wharf at the 
 end, 120 feet in length. A single track of rails used 
 in Carrying the materials of the embankment was laid 
 from the end of the pier, a distance of nearly two 
 miles. This work was in such a state that it would 
 permit laying of the superstructure the ensuing sea- 
 son. Legal titles had been acquired for lands for 
 roadway and, July, 1839, contracts were made for 
 grading single track from the western end of the ten- 
 4 
 
 mile section to Goshen, thirty-five miles, with the 
 exception of two miles of piles. Proposals at the 
 same time were received for grading a further dis- 
 tance of seven miles to Middletown, and contract 
 for one mile was let. These contracts amounted to 
 $330,000, or $8,250 per mile. A portion of the tim- 
 ber for superstructure had been purchased ; it being 
 deemed practicable to finish it within the ensuing 
 year. New surveys were begun in the latter part 
 of 1839, 3"'^ nsw examinations of the Shawangunk 
 ridge began January 30, 1840. Resurvey of the Sul- 
 livan route was making ; also from Binghamton west 
 to the Genesee River, and from the western boun- 
 dary of Allegany County through Cattaraugus and 
 Chautauqua counties. There had been finally lo- 
 cated 103 miles — fifty-three miles on the Eastern 
 Division, forty in the Delaware Valley, and ten in 
 Chautauqua County. Between fifty and sixty miles 
 were graded ready for superstructure. 
 
 This petition was an elaboration of the official 
 report for 1839, which also thus stated the condition 
 of the Company's affairs: 
 
 Report of the Receipts and Expenditures of the New York 
 and Erie Railroad Company during the Year 18 jg. 
 
 RECEIPTS. 
 
 Balance on hand, January i, 1839 $i,i8o 26 
 
 From collections on stock and interest 
 
 thereon $54,151 02 
 
 Rents 650 00 
 
 Temporary loan 11,000 00 
 
 Proceeds of sale of $300,000 of 4^/2 per 
 
 cent. State stock 245,225 00 — 311,026 02 
 
 Total $312,206 28 
 
 EXPENSES. 
 
 For grading, timber for pier and 
 superstructure, and laying of a por- 
 tion of latter, compensation of com- 
 missioners and agents in getting 
 land for roadway and stations, 
 fences, etc $229,423 18 
 
 Costs of said lands and fences, legal 
 proceedings in acquiring title, etc.. 42,899 19 
 
 Salaries, rent, fuel, stationery, print- 
 ing, postage, and incidental office 
 expenses 4,229 67 
 
 Interest on temporary loan, auction- 
 eer's charges for selling State stock, 
 county clerk's fees for searches 5,937 7S 
 
 Amount temporary loans stated in an- 
 nual report for 1838 24,500 00 — $306,989 79 
 
 Leaving balance, December 31, 1839 $5,2i6 49 
 
 February 19, 1840. 
 
 William M. Gould, Secretary. 
 
50 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 After a long fight against a " political reform" 
 element in the Legislature, the amended legislation 
 petitioned for was passed, and in a short time the 
 entire line of railroad, except forty miles between 
 Deposit and Binghamton, was under contract and 
 the work was actively progressing. The ten-mile 
 section of grading from Dunkirk eastward was com- 
 pleted, and the forty-seven miles between Piermont 
 and Goshen were nearly ready for operation. " Ail 
 this," said Eleazar Lord at the time, " without the 
 aid of one dollar from a New York City stockholder, 
 or the sympathy of its citizens." 
 
 Although the New York and Erie Railroad was 
 being built greatly for the benefit of New York City, 
 the political influence of the Erie Canal was so great 
 that the people of the city, the power of Wall Street, 
 and many of the metropolitan newspapers opposed 
 the work and discredited the Company and its efforts 
 at every turn. Thus it was that, in the face of the 
 progress the work was making, and in spite of the 
 fact that in twelve months the Company had risen 
 from a condition of weakness and distrust to strength" 
 and confidence, damaging charges were set in circu- 
 lation against its management. Eleazar Lord and 
 his coadjutors were charged with sinister and selfish 
 motives in locating the road ; with favoritism in 
 prices paid to contractors and in compensation of 
 ofiflcers ; with corrupt agreements with stockholders 
 in Rockland and Orange counties, by which amounts 
 of money subscribed were represented to the State 
 Agent to be much larger than they actually were, to 
 secure the payment of the State instalments ; and 
 with other corrupt and criminal practices and willful 
 extravagance. In recognition of this situation. Pres- 
 ident Lord sent the following letter to the Speaker 
 of the Assembly : 
 
 Office of the New York and Erie Railroad 
 Co., New York, December 30, 1840. 
 
 To the Honorable the Speaker of the House of Assembly of 
 the State of New York. 
 Sir : This company having expended in the construction of 
 this road about six hundred thousand dollars of money col- 
 lected on their capital stock, and likewise the proceeds of 
 eight hundred thousand dollars out of the three millions of 
 stock loaned by the people of this State; and no special exam- 
 ination of such expenditure having been instituted on the 
 
 part of -the State, other than that made during the past year 
 by the inspector appointed pursuant to the act of 29th of April, 
 1840, I beg, through you, to express the unanimous wish of 
 the directors that such investigation of the affairs and pro- 
 .ceedings of the company may be ordered as to the Honorable 
 the Assembly shall appear expedient. 
 
 With the further request that you would take the earliest 
 occasion after the commencement of the session to submit 
 this communication to the Honorable the Assembly, 
 I have the honor to remain, 
 
 Respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 Eleazar Lord, President. 
 
 The investigation was referred to the Committee 
 on Railroads, February 4, 1841. The result of its 
 labors was a report vindicating the management. 
 This was not satisfactory to the enemies of the Rail- 
 road Company and its management, and the fight 
 against them was kept up with increased bitterness, 
 the old charges being reiterated and new ones made. 
 Another and more thorough investigation by the 
 Legislature was demanded and, May 24, a special 
 investigating committee was appointed. The report 
 of this committee not only exonerated President 
 Lord and his management, but incorporated in its 
 report the following : 
 
 The result of this investigation not only exonerates the 
 company, its officers, and its agents from everything like a 
 charge of fraud or mismanagement or attempt to evade the 
 law, but it proves on the contrary that they are justly entitled 
 to the confidence which the Legislature has heretofore re- 
 posed in them. Instead of being liable to censure, the com- 
 pany is entitled to approbation." 
 
 In spite of this official indorsement of the Erie 
 management, the political enemies of the project 
 continued their fight against it, charging that the 
 legislative reports were influenced by the behests of 
 Whig politics. President Lord resigned May 28, 
 1 841, but before resigning he took up the interests 
 of original stockholders in the Company who had 
 suffered great financial loss by the disastrous fire in 
 New York City in 1835, but who had made payments 
 on their stock previous to that time. He proposed 
 to the Board of Directors that those stockholders, 
 by paying $5 per share on the stock they held, be 
 permitted to relinquish to the Company such original 
 scrip and receive full certificates of stock for the 
 amount of payments they had made, with a release 
 from liabihty for all outstanding contracts. This 
 was agreed to by a resolution of the Board, and the 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 5' 
 
 contractors assented to the exempting of such orig- 
 inal stockholders from liability. By this arrangement 
 a large sum of money was turned into the Company 
 treasury. Mr. Lord left the Company with its affairs 
 in apparently sound condition, and its prospects 
 seemed promising. The State had paid eleven of the 
 $100,000 instalments of the $3,000,000 loan to the 
 
 Company, or $1,100,000 in all. The Eastern Divi- 
 sion of the railroad, as the section between Piermont 
 and Goshen was called, was rapidly approaching 
 completion, and the work was progressing on other 
 parts of the line, so far as outward indication was, 
 with an activity that augured well for an early open- 
 ing of the entire road. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES BOWEN— 1841 TO 1843. 
 
 I. A Golden Opportunity Thrown Away : The Fatal Mistake that Made Possible All of Erie's Subsequent Woes — But for that Mistake 
 there would be no Vanderbilt Kingdom, and the History of Wall Street and of Railroads in this Country would have been Entirely 
 Different — All of the Present Great Terminal Possessions of the Vanderbilt System at Forty-second Street in New York City might 
 have been Erie's by a Nod of the Head and the Outlay of Less than $90,000 ! — The Offer not Accepted. II. Getting Results, 
 Good and Bad: Rosy Prognostications on the Threshold of Disaster — The Company's Treasury again Empty — And Owes 
 $3,000,000 to the State — Politics, the Press, and the Erie Question — Futile Aid Meetings in New York — The State Turns its Back, 
 and the Company Assigns — The Railroad Advertised for Sale, but the Sale Postponed by Action of a Special Session of the 
 Legislature. 
 
 I, A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY THROWN AWAY. 
 
 James Bowen, who was then Vice-President and 
 Treasurer, was elected to succeed Eleazar Lord as 
 President of the Company, and he had the honor and 
 glory of presiding on the historic occasion when the 
 first portion of the New York and Erie Railroad was 
 opened for trafific, although it was through no direct 
 effort of his that the work had progressed thus far. 
 Others who had been striving and hoping for years 
 for even this consummation of the long-laid plans 
 had no active part in the event. Upon many such 
 
 road put in operation. In fact, a month after Bowen 
 became President, a train was run between Piermont 
 and Ramapo, a distance of twenty miles. Already 
 the fact that, even with the railroad in operation on 
 the Eastern Division, its Eastern terminus would 
 still be nearly twenty-five miles from New York 
 City, which distance was to be overcome by steam- 
 boat between the city and Piermont, began to excite 
 much discussion, and the advantage that would 
 accrue to the Company if it might have the terminus 
 at or near New York became apparent to observant 
 people who gave the matter thought. " A railroad 
 
 not even the courtesy of being an invited guest was that begins twenty-five miles away from the place it 
 
 bestowed. Mr. Bowen was a native of New York 
 City, a man of wealth, a member of the Union Club, 
 and of the Kent Club, famous in that day, in which 
 James Watson Webb, Moses H. Grinnell, Richard 
 M. Blatchford, and similar spirits, were conspicuous. 
 President Bowen was a leader in that coterie, and 
 was especially an intimate of General Webb. The 
 latter had supported the New York and Erie project 
 in his paper, TAe New York Courier and Inquirer, 
 
 was chartered to bring into communication with some 
 other place," the Hon. Francis Granger remarked in 
 opposing an effort of the Company to obtain public 
 aid, " does not seem to be warranted in supposing 
 that it is entitled to a confidence in its purposes that 
 it would have if it could show that it would deposit 
 its traffic where it protested it intended to deposit 
 it." The charter of the Company gave it the privi- 
 lege of constructing its railroad from New York, or 
 
 from the beginning, and it was as a friend of his that from a point near New York. The uniting of the 
 
 James Bowen entered the Directory of the Company, seaboard with the lakes by a railroad which would 
 
 and through his influence that Bowen was advanced attract trafific of the great West to New York was 
 
 to the Presidency. the one idea the projectors of this railroad dwelt 
 
 So far as the public knew, the affairs of Erie were upon in seeking the charter. So the fact that the 
 
 easy. Work was actively progressing all along the road was to come no nearer the great center of the 
 
 line. On the Eastern Division it had reached a country's trade than twenty-five miles grew to be a 
 
 stage so near completion that it was only a matter of question of much comment. 
 
 a few weeks when the track would be laid the entire April 25, 1831, almost a year to a day before the 
 
 distance betwp^n Piermont and Goshen and the rail- corporation that became the New York and Erie 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 53 
 
 Railroad Company was chartered, the New York and 
 Harlem Railroad Company was granted letters of 
 incorporation, with authority to construct a single or 
 double track railway " from any point on the north 
 bounds of Twenty-third Street to any point on the 
 Harlem River, between the east bounds of the Third 
 Avenue and the west bounds of Eighth Avenue, with 
 a branch to Hudson River, between 124th Street 
 and the north bounds of 129th Street." April 6, 
 1832, the charter was amended to authorize the 
 company, with permission of the authorities of New 
 York City, to extend its railroad " along the Fourth 
 Avenue to Fourteenth Street." May 12, 1836, the 
 company was authorized to unite with any railroad 
 or canal company organized under the laws of New 
 York State, for the purpose of constructing a rail- 
 road, at any point which the directors of the two 
 companies might agree upon. Subsequent legisla- 
 tion empowered the company to extend its railroad 
 to the City Hall. May 7, 1840, the company was 
 authorized to extend its railroad from the Harlem 
 River through the County of Westchester to a point 
 of intersection with the proposed New York and 
 Albany Railroad. The company was also authorized 
 to build a drawbridge across the Harlem River. 
 
 At the session of the New York Legislature for 
 1 841, the New York and Harlem Railroad Company 
 was a petitioner for the aid of the State to the 
 amount of $350,000, by the issue of State stock at six 
 per cent, interest, payable in five years, to enable 
 the company to continue its work ; the railroad being 
 then in operation from the City Hall in New York to 
 Fordham, a distance of thirteen miles. To influence 
 feeling in its favor the company laid particular stress 
 on the fact that by this concession a communication 
 by rail between New York and Albany would be 
 greatly hastened. This petition was presented to 
 the Legislature, January 26, and was referred to 
 the Senate Committee on Railroads. The applica- 
 tion was refused. 
 
 At this time work on the Erie was at the height 
 of its activity. Eleazar Lord was President of the 
 Company. The President of the New York and 
 Harlem Railroad was Samuel R. Brooks. He seems 
 to have been a far-seeing man and a practical one. 
 The New York and Albany Railroad scheme was 
 
 languishing, as were most of the railroad enterprises 
 then, and President Brooks, failing to obtain aid 
 from the State for his company, and seeing no imme- 
 diate future for the New York and Albany Railroad 
 that would benefit him, turned his attention to the 
 Erie, a brief study of the scope of which project 
 convinced him that not only its future greatness, 
 but the salvation and enhancement of his own rail- 
 road, lay in a union of the two. 
 
 There is no record to show how his idea was re- 
 ceived by the Erie management. Eleazar Lord, in 
 his scathing review of the Erie, published in 1855, 
 makes no reference to the Erie-Harlem incident. 
 That President Brooks did submit it to the Erie 
 authorities would seem to be established by the fact 
 that, March 18, 1841, Mr. Furman, of the Commit- 
 tee on Railroads, presented the petition of the New 
 York and Harlem Railroad Company for an act au- 
 thorizing it to connect its railroad with that of the 
 Erie by branch railroad, and March 27 brought in 
 a report from his committee, of which the following 
 is a part : 
 
 The New York and Harlem River Railroad Company hav- 
 ing been authorized by an act of the Legislature of this State, 
 passed May 7, 1840, to construct their railroad through the 
 County of Westchester, and the New York and Erie Railroad 
 having on the same authority built their road from its termi- 
 nation at Piermont opposite the said County of Westchester 
 on the Hudson River, and are now engaged in vigorously 
 prosecuting the same through the Southern Tier of the coun- 
 ties of this State to Lake Erie, it has been deemed very desir- 
 able that these two roads should be connected by a branch 
 railway, extending from the Harlem road in Westchester to 
 a point opposite, or nearly so, to the termination of the great 
 Southern railroad at Piermont, and that this union should 
 be further effected by a steamboat ferry across that river, 
 being a distance of two miles, for transporting the cars, etc., 
 from the one road to the other, thus opening a direct com- 
 munication through those Southern counties with the city of 
 New York. The point at which this branch road should 
 begin, it was thought, should be located near Kane's quarry, 
 which now affords the marble for the construction of the new 
 Custom House in the city of New York, the General Post 
 Office in the city of Washington, D. C, and for other public 
 buildings, and which quarry will of itself afford a very large 
 amount of business for that branch road, in transporting the 
 stone to the Hudson River, in order that it may be shipped 
 to its destination. Another important consideration in the 
 construction of the proposed road is that it will enable the 
 various descriptions of produce which are brought from those 
 Southern counties for the consumption of that great city to 
 be distributed at the various depots through it, from the Har- 
 lem River to the City Hall, where the same may be required, 
 in place of being drawn up from the wharves at the rate of 
 
54 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 one lollar per load to Forty-second Street, and one dollar 
 and fifty cents per load to Eighty-second Street, or the center 
 of the island. The diminution which the construction of this 
 road will make in the cost of transportation to the consumer, 
 especially in the upper portion of the city, it is believed will 
 be immense in the aggregate. And during the winter, when 
 that river is closed by ice, and that great work of the New 
 York and Erie Railroad passes its passengers and freight 
 upon the New York and Harlem Railroad by means of this 
 branch road, it is quite obvious that this connection will not 
 only prove beneficial to the stockholders of both companies, 
 but will afford great facilities and accommodation to the pub- 
 lic. In this view of the subject it is hardly possible to esti- 
 mate the value and importance of this connection of the 
 Harlem road with that of the New York and Erie Railroad 
 Company opposite Piermont, a distance of only eighteen miles 
 and a quarter from the Harlem River. 
 
 Even though it might have been that President 
 Brooks had not consulted with the Erie management 
 upon this proposed connecting of the Harlem with 
 the Erie, it does not seem possible that the Erie 
 Directors, representative men of affairs that they 
 were, should not have at once become inspired with 
 the greatness of the idea suggested by the Harlem 
 proposition. It does not alone seem impossible. 
 In the light of present events it stands forth as in- 
 credible, startling. But greater stupidity, or what- 
 ever it might have been that impelled the Erie man- 
 agement to its criminal supineness, was to come. 
 
 The petition for authority to make the connection 
 with Erie and the report in favor of a bill were un- 
 necessary, for the charter of the Harlem Company 
 gave it that power, a fact which both President 
 Brooks and the legislators had overlooked. This 
 oversight was evidently discovered, for no further 
 legislative action was taken in the matter. But 
 although the Harlem Company had the power to 
 build the branch railroad to make connection with 
 the Erie, it did not have the means, and this pre- 
 pared the way for the golden opportunity which the 
 Erie deliberately, and, so far as there is anything to 
 show to the contrary, contemptuously, threw away. 
 What this opportunity was the following correspond' 
 ence vividly reveals : 
 
 PRESIDENT BROOKS TO PRESIDENT BOWEN. 
 
 Office of the New York and Harlem 
 Railroad Co., August 17, 1841. 
 
 James Bowen, Esq., President of the N. Y. and Erie R.R. Co. 
 
 Dear Sir: I beg to call your attention to the subject of a 
 
 branch railroad from the extension of the Harlem Railroad 
 
 in the valley of the Bronx, in Westchester County, to a point 
 on the Hudson River opposite the present terminus of the 
 Erie Railroad at Piermont. I have had a survey made of the 
 proposed branch, and have the pleasure to transmit herewith 
 a copy of it for your information. 
 
 You will learn from this report of a survey by Allen A. 
 Goodlifif, Esq., that the distance from the Harlem Railroad, 
 in the valley of the Bronx, to the Hudson River, opposite 
 Piermont, is eight and a third miles. 
 
 The total cost of a railroad between these points, including 
 superstructure, as carefully estimated from minute data, is 
 $131,618.82, equal to $15,796.09 per mile, and with a grade 
 not exceeding forty-four feet per mile. 
 
 No allowance for the right of way is included in the above 
 estimate. The distance from the City Hall to the point of 
 commencement of the present survey of this branch is eigh- 
 teen miles — adding thereto the branch of eight and one-third 
 miles gives the distance from the City Hall to the Hudson 
 River opposite Piermont, twenty-six and one-third miles; 
 and with two miles of ferry across the Hudson at Tappan 
 Bay makes twenty-eight and one-third miles from the City 
 Hall to the present terminus of the Erie Railroad, at the pier 
 on the Hudson River, which, with the fifty miles of railroad 
 already completed from that point to Goshen, would afford 
 to the public a continuous line of railroad from the City Hall 
 of seventy-eight and one-third miles toward Albany — being 
 more than half the distance between that city and the city of 
 New York. I beg to inquire whether your company are 
 willing to undertake to construct this branch of eight and one- 
 third miles and rent it to this company for a term of ten or 
 twenty years at 7 per cent, interest per annum on the cost, 
 we to keep it in perfect repair — the track to be the same width 
 as our present road? 
 
 On these conditions we will undertake to furnish you a sub- 
 scription to the New York and Erie Railroad Co.'s stock for 
 one-third of the cost of the road. 
 
 If your Board of Directors are pleased to entertain the con- 
 sideration of this subject you are hereby authorized to state 
 that this company are prepared to furnish you at once with 
 the subscriptions for one-third of the cost of the road, and 
 to ofifer to you the benefit of such business as our road can 
 furnish to your road, which will present to the public a direct 
 railroad route from the City Hall to Goshen, a distance of 
 seventy-eight and one-third miles, on or before the first day 
 of January next, provided you decide upon the adoption of 
 this proposal within a few days. Your early reply is respect- 
 fully solicited. 
 
 With great respect, your most obedient servant, 
 
 Samuel R. Brooks, President. 
 
 PRESIDENT BROOKS TO THE ERIE INVESTIGAT- 
 ING COMMITTEE. 
 
 Office of the New York and Harlem Rail- 
 road Co., New York, September 6, 1841. 
 
 To th : Committee of Investigation appointed by the Legislature 
 on the Affairs of the New York and Erie Railroad Co. 
 Gentlemen: I beg leave to enclose herein copies of the 
 report of Allen A. GoodlifT, Esq., of a survey of a line of rail- 
 road from the extension of the Harlem Railroad, in the valley 
 of the Bronx, in Westchester County, to the Hudson River, 
 opposite the terminus of the New York and Erie Railroad at 
 Piermont. The contractors of the extension of the Harlem 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 55 
 
 Railroad have engaged to have the road complete about one 
 mile beyond the proposed point of connection on or before 
 the first day of January next; the road is already complete, and 
 in daily use, twelve and one-half miles from the City Hall. I 
 also enclose a copy of the letter I have addressed in behalf of 
 this company to the President and Directors of the New York 
 and Erie Railroad Co., proposing to them the immediate con- 
 struction of the eight and one-third miles which would 
 connect these two important works, to the great accommoda- 
 tion of the public, and the certain benefit of both companies. 
 
 Permit me to inform you that the Board of Directors of this 
 company will esteem it a favor if you would express to the 
 President and Directors of the New York and Erie Railroad 
 Co. your views on this subject. 
 
 With great respect, I have the honor to be 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 Samuel R. Brooks, President. 
 
 ERIE INVESTIGATING COMMITTEE TO THE ERIE. 
 
 New York, September 14, 1841. 
 To the President and Directors of the New York and Erie 
 Railroad Company. 
 The President of the New York and Harlem Railroad Com- 
 pany has made an official communication to this committee, 
 under date of the sixth of September, instant, transmitting a 
 copy of a letter addressed to the President and Directors of 
 the New York and Erie Railroad Company, dated August 17, 
 1841, in which the New York and Harlem Railroad Company 
 invited the New York and Erie Railroad Company to extend 
 their railroad eight and one-third miles into the County of 
 Westchester, for the purpose of intersecting and joining the 
 New York and Harlem Railroad in the valley of the Bronx 
 at a point eighteen miles distant from the City Hall. In the 
 communication referred to, the committee have been requested 
 to express to the President and Directors of the New York and 
 Erie Railroad Company the views suggested to their minds 
 from a consideration of the subject. 
 
 Although desiring to confine themselves strictly within the 
 sphere of their duties, yet the committee, feeling deeply im- 
 pressed with the importance and usefulness to the public of 
 a continuous railroad from our vast interior to the very center 
 of the city of New York, have most willingly given to this 
 subject their deliberate consideration. 
 
 They have carefully examined the matter in the various 
 aspects it has been presented, not only as regards the present, 
 but in reference to the future, to the full period of the dura- 
 tion of the respective charters of both companies. From this 
 examination they have been led to the conclusion that the 
 proposed connection between these two important public 
 works would result in mutual benefit to both, and most espe- 
 cially to the public at large. 
 
 The undersigned have personally passed over the New York 
 and Harlem Railroad from the City Hall to Fordham — a dis- 
 tance of twelve and one-half miles. They were conveyed at 
 the rate of thirty miles per hour over the four and one-half 
 miles of road now constructed in the County of Westchester, 
 with an edge rail of the same weight as that used in the con- 
 struction of the New York and Erie Railroad. 
 
 The undersigned were gratified to find, in their visit to the 
 line of the proposed extension of the road, that the company 
 were actively engaged in extending this road, not only to the 
 point proposed as a junction with the New York and Erie 
 Railroad, but to the town of White Plains, and thence through 
 
 the County of Westchester. They ascertained from the con- 
 tractors whom they met with on the line that they had actu- 
 ally contracted to have that portion of the road completed 
 which extends to the proposed point of intersection with the 
 New York and Erie Railroad Company, on or before the first 
 of January next, notwithstanding the pecuniary embarrass- 
 ments of the period and the obstacles interposed by clashing 
 interests. 
 
 As the control and management of the different lines lead- 
 ing into the city have been placed under one direction, they 
 could arrive or depart without collision or conflict and afford 
 the greatest convenience to the public. Several depots may 
 be provided for passengers, merchandise, and produce, so that 
 the one may not embarrass the other, and the greatest degree 
 of punctuality, despatch, and economy be obtained in the 
 management of the vast inland trade destined, at no distant 
 day, to pour into the city of New York through the channel 
 of communication. 
 
 The New York and Harlem Railroad has been completed 
 to Fordham by individual enterprise, unaided by the bonds 
 of the State, and the causes heretofore operative in creating 
 opposition or difficulty have ceased to exert any material influ- 
 ence. It will not be denied at this day that the advantages 
 of a speedy conveyance are often of greater value than the 
 whole charges of transportation. Experience testifies that 
 increased facilities of intercourse between distant places and, 
 more especially, seaports and the interior of a country are 
 among the most effective means of extending individual and 
 general prosperity. The proofs and instances which sustain 
 this assertion are not confined to the case of any one country 
 or district, although they are more observable in communities 
 where the resources of wealth and commerce already pos- 
 sessed by the inhabitants enable them to turn every advantage, 
 as it arises, to immediate account. 
 
 In England, whenever new channels of communication have 
 been opened, either between different parts of the interior, or 
 the interior and the coast, or between different seaports, one 
 with another, or with other countries, whose opportunities 
 have invariably been embraced without delay, the degree to 
 which intercourse is not merely promoted, but actually created 
 by the facility of accomphshing it, could scarcely be credited 
 but for the numerous and authentic examples which establish 
 the fact. 
 
 This committee have been officially informed that the entire 
 investment made by the New York and Harlem Railroad at 
 this day amounts to $1,358,302, including cost of road, real 
 estate, appendages, and appurtenances of every kind. That 
 the establishment, as now constituted, actually performed and 
 traveled in their cars, in the year ending the first of September, 
 1840, no less than two hundred and ninety-seven thousand five 
 hundred and sixty-four miles and conveyed, during the same 
 period, upwards of one million of passengers. 
 
 The committee conceive that a road of the peculiar location 
 and usefulness of this; extending from a great and growing 
 city through an island of length without breadth, to the only 
 bridge communication that, in all probability, can ever be 
 made; with roads extending to every section of the East and 
 North, presents strong claims upon the New York and Erie 
 Railroad Company to unite them to the immense continuity 
 of railroads from the South and West; especially as it can be 
 done by the construction of only eight and one-third miles of 
 railroad and an expenditure not exceeding $150,000. 
 
 With these facts before the committee, they feel themselves 
 safe in saying that they conceive such a connection cannot 
 
56 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 result otherwise than beneficially to the interests of both com- 
 panies, and' be eminently conducive to individual and general 
 prosperity. 
 
 (Signed) A. G. Chatfield. 
 
 G. G. Graham. 
 
 Wm. B. McClay. 
 
 There is no record of any reply from President 
 Bowen or any of the Erie Directors to either the com- 
 munication from President Brooks or that of the In- 
 vestigating Committee (the committee appointed in 
 1 841 to investigate the Erie management). If such 
 reply was made, it must have been a refusal on the 
 part of the Erie management to consider the propo- 
 sition made by President Brooks, for the project 
 progressed no further. Why a matter so important 
 and vital to Erie should have been ignored it is 
 difficult at this late day, without any recorded mo- 
 tive for it to guide one, to conceive. The Erie, to 
 be sure, was approaching a crisis in its affairs which 
 only those in the secrets of the management knew 
 the seriousness of, but, in the hands of a directory 
 competent to grasp the consequences of such a co- 
 alition as was offered, the presentation of them to 
 public consideration would have at once established 
 a confidence in the result that would not only have 
 averted the impending crisis but would have placed 
 the Erie for the first time on a substantial footing. 
 It would no longer have been derisively termed " a 
 railroad starting from nowhere and bound for no 
 place." To accomplish the work this union of inter- 
 ests called for, the Company could well have afforded 
 to suspend all operations on the Western portions of 
 the route to save money thus being used and use it 
 to build the Harlem branch. Politics played a lead- 
 ing and demoralizing part in the affairs of Erie in 
 those early days of its struggles, and were responsible 
 for many of the ills that befell the Company. It 
 might have been that their hand was in this greatest 
 of all Erie misfortunes. Individual interests largely 
 controlled the direction of Erie's initial policy, as 
 they have largely controlled the policy of her later 
 days and always to her undoing. Perhaps they 
 might have had a sordid clutch upon her and held 
 her away from this, the opportunity of her life. 
 W^hatever or whoever it might have been that stood 
 in the way of her disenthralment made Erie vulner- 
 able to the assaults that have brought her low many a 
 
 time since then, and bowed her shoulders to the 
 burdens that have grown and grown with the passing 
 years until they became heavier than she could bear. 
 With the consummation of President Brooks's pro- 
 ject Erie would have borne up even under the bur- 
 den of the broad gauge, that costly heritage of folly, 
 whose evil consequences are entailed on Erie for all 
 her days. 
 
 True, the proposed Harlem branch was to have 
 been paid for by the Erie, with the exception of one- 
 third of its cost, and leased to the Harlem ; but, if 
 there had been a genius, or even a man competent 
 to look a year ahead of his time, at the head of Erie, 
 how easily a union of interests, especially in the 
 situation the Harlem Railroad Company was then, 
 could have been cemented between the great Erie 
 and the little Harlem for all time, such as would 
 have made the Erie the master of Harlem and all 
 that such a mastery implies. What would a Jay 
 Gould or a Thomas A. Scott have done with such an 
 opportunity ? 
 
 But the incomparable prize was declined by the 
 then controllers of Erie. The Harlem, with all its 
 great privileges in the heart of the metropolis of the 
 Union, languished and grew slowly, a companion 
 football with Erie in Wall Street. Then Cornelius 
 Vanderbilt dreamed his dream of railroad empire and 
 builded it on this very despised little Harlem Rail- 
 road. The great Vanderbilt system of to-day is 
 centered where the Erie might have been and should 
 have been. It is idle to speculate on how different 
 the country's commercial affairs and individual 
 power and fortune would have been if shortsighted- 
 ness, incompetence, or what you will, had not reigned 
 in Erie management two generations ago. It is 
 reasonable to say, however, that there would have 
 been no Vanderbilt kingdom, no Gould dukedom to- 
 day. Who might now be the King of Erie it is im- 
 possible to know; but he would be the greatest rail- 
 road monarch of the age. And an outlay of less 
 than $90,000 in 1841 would have made him such ! 
 
 II. GETTING RESULTS, GOOD AND BAD. 
 
 Although that within a month after James Bowen 
 became President of the New York and Erie Rail- 
 
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THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 57 
 
 road Company the road had been put in operation 
 for more than twenty miles, and that this was fol- 
 lowed, in a few weeks (September 23, 1841), by the 
 opening of it to traffic between New York and 
 Goshen ; and in spite of the enthusiasm shown by 
 the distinguished and influential men from all walks 
 in life who witnessed and participated in the cele- 
 bration of that opening, and of the sanguine elo- 
 quence and cheerful tone of confidence that marked 
 the sentiments expressed when the future prospects 
 of the Company and the railroad were discussed on 
 that eventful day, the Company was even then on 
 the threshold of disaster, and none knew it better 
 than its President, who still had the heart to face 
 the unwelcome fact with glowing and assuring words. 
 The unfortunate situation had been brought about, 
 according to the protestations of the management, 
 by delay in getting iron rails for laying the track on 
 the Eastern Division, thus postponing the opening 
 of that section weeks beyond the announced time ; 
 the failure of contractors on other parts of the work 
 to keep their terms with the Company, and the 
 rumors that parties interested in the road were 
 taking advantage of their places to serve individual 
 ends at the expense of the enterprise itself — all these 
 things and more, the Company declared, were made 
 use of by the increasing enemies of the road, who, 
 by skillful methods of keeping them continually 
 before the public in an unfavorable light, destroyed 
 confidence in the management. Moreover, the New 
 York Legislature of 1841 had been dominated by 
 influences that were set with determination against 
 the giving of any further State aid to public improve- 
 ments, and private capital became more reluctant 
 and cautious than ever. There were evidences, too, 
 of an impending revulsion in commercial and finan- 
 cial affairs. So suspicious, in fact, were investors 
 that, in June, 1841, an offering at public sale at 
 $100,000 of Erie certificates, with the State's guar- 
 antee, and under direction of the Comptroller of the 
 State, had been withdrawn without a sale, the bids, 
 owing to the weakness of the money market, being 
 far below the value of the security. 
 
 Time dragged on ominously. The contractors 
 kept at work on the road, but the most of them in a 
 
 half-hearted fashion ; for the Company was much in 
 arrears to them for labor and materials furnished. 
 Finally, at a meeting of the Directors, held at the 
 Company's ofifice, 35 Wall Street, November 15, 
 1841, the fact was brought forward by the President 
 that the State loan was nearly exhausted and that, 
 in consequence of that emergency, it would be well 
 to notify contractors, through the Commissioners 
 of the Divisions, that the Company could pay no fur- 
 ther drafts on their own responsibility until the 
 requisite assistance was secured. The suggestion 
 was accepted by the Board, and notification to that 
 effect was sent to the contractors, who were engaged 
 chiefly on the Susquehanna Division. The circular 
 announcing this to the contractors stated that the 
 balance of the State loan, after paying the drafts 
 then accepted, was about $200,000, but that liabili- 
 ties for cars, engines, etc., for the Eastern Division, 
 and the interest soon to be due on the State stock, 
 would absorb all that amount. Some of the con- 
 tractors on the Eastern Division decided to continue 
 work, on condition that a portion of the money for 
 work done in November be paid them in cash or 
 acceptances of the Company. The exact financial 
 condition of the Company was ascertained from the 
 Treasurer, and it showed that, after paying its out- 
 standing liabilities, the Company would have a sur- 
 plus of $163,549. It was resolved, therefore, to 
 accept six months' drafts of the contractors to the 
 amount of $100,000. This left enough money in 
 the treasury to pay the interest on the State stock 
 that would fall due the following April, and other 
 contingent expenses ; but, in the latter part of No- 
 vember, the State 6 per cent, stock declined on the 
 market from ninety-three to seventy-eight, and 
 money was scarce. The Company was forced to 
 hypothecate for temporary loans, at the depreciated 
 price, the stock it had been reckoning on, and the 
 embarrassment that prevailed compelled it, as we 
 shall see, to announce to the Legislature that default 
 would be made on the interest due April i, 1842. 
 Contractors continued to work and advance money 
 to their help, relying on the expected State aid to 
 relieve them in good time. 
 
 As early as 1836, E. F. Johnson, who was engi- 
 
58 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 neer in charge of the new survey of the route be- 
 tween the Hudson River and Painted Post, in Steu- 
 ben County, N. Y., discovered the difficulties of the 
 original route through the interior of Sullivan County 
 as compared with a route up the Delaware Valley 
 from the Neversink Valley, and so reported. This 
 change continued to be agitated until the people of 
 central Sullivan became alarmed, and in 1839 agreed 
 to pay for the services of a surveyor to resurvey for 
 a route through the interior of the county, the pay- 
 ment to be made good to them by a transfer of $20,- 
 000 in the stock of the Company to the contributors, 
 provided the report of the engineer on such a route 
 was not accepted. The report was not accepted, 
 and the $20,000 in stock was transferred according 
 to agreement. The people concerned were not con- 
 tent to abide by the decision, however. They had 
 contributed largely toward the construction fund of 
 the Company, and John P. Jones, one of their num- 
 ber, had been of invaluable service to the undertak- 
 ing in the Legislature. The talk in favor of the 
 proposed change of route to the Delaware Valley led 
 to an emphatic protest against it by the people of 
 the interior of the county, which protest was voiced 
 by John P. Jones, William E. Cady, and Daniel B. 
 St. John, who, as a committee, met President Elea- 
 zar Lord at Goshen in the summer of 1840, and he 
 assured them then, and by subsequent correspond- 
 ence, that the change should never be made in Sulli- 
 van County with his consent, and that all his influ- 
 ence should be used against it. A change of route 
 between Deposit and Binghamton was also suggested 
 by Engineer Johnson in 1836, and it, too, began to 
 be talked about, with such result that those in favor 
 of a different course for the railroad between the 
 Delaware and the Susquehanna valleys secured the 
 passage of an act by the Pennsylvania Legislature in 
 1 84 1, authorizing the Company to enter that State 
 with the railroad and pass through Susquehanna 
 County. At the time the resurvey was made in 
 central Sullivan, the engineers of the Company made 
 surveys for the proposed route up the Delaware and 
 for the change between Deposit and Binghamton, 
 completing them in 1841 ; and in 1842, under Presi- 
 dent Bowen, the Company's attitude became so 
 favorable to the new routes that, at the session of the 
 
 New York Legislature for that year, citizens of Sulli- 
 van, Ulster, and Orange counties presented petitions 
 protesting against the movement, and the Committee 
 on Railroads of the Senate made a report adversely 
 to it, and asked leave to bring in a bill to prevent it. 
 The bill was reported, but rejected. 
 
 It was seen early in the session that both branches 
 of the Legislature of 1842 were opposed to the fur- 
 ther loaning of the credit of the State to the New 
 york and Erie Railroad Company, and that no hope 
 of direct pecuniary aid from that source could be 
 entertained. It was therefore necessary to rely on 
 individual subscriptions to the capital stock of the 
 Company. As an inducement to capitalists to make 
 large investments, it was important to obtain the 
 passage of a law tending to secure the completion 
 of the railroad and relieve the Company from the 
 large annual payments of interest on the State loan. 
 A bill of that character was introduced in the Senate 
 by Mr. Faulkner. This bill provided that the Com- 
 pany should be authorized to borrow money to the 
 amount of $3,000,000, and pledge the road for the 
 payment of the same, and that the debt thus created 
 would be a prior claim to that of the State for the 
 $3,000,000 already lent to the Company. In ex- 
 pectation that the bill would become a law, the 
 Company obtained subscriptions in the city of New 
 York amounting to nearly $400,000, the subscriptions 
 to be valid only on the condition that $1,000,000 in 
 all should be subscribed. The Company's manage- 
 ment of that day has put it on record that " there is 
 abundant evidence to believe that, from the interest 
 manifested by every class of citizens in the construc- 
 tion of the road, a much larger sum than $1,000,000 
 would have been obtained if Mr. Faulkner's bill had 
 passed. On the line of the road, assurances were 
 given by leading citizens that large additional sub- 
 scriptions would be made. Contracts on highly favor- 
 able terms could have been concluded, and the road 
 from Binghamton to Lake Erie would have been put 
 in use during the present year " (1842). The advo- 
 cates of the measure for further State aid for the 
 Company were content to assume that the refusal of 
 the Legislature to grant that aid was due to the 
 critical condition of the financial and commercial 
 interests of the country, but that there was some 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 59 
 
 deeper cause than this was broadly charged by the 
 press and by public speakers, not only at large, but 
 by those in towns directly interested in the comple- 
 tion of the railroad. 
 
 " It is the misfortune of this great project," wrote 
 a leading Southern Tier editor of that day, " that 
 it fell into the hands of men who had neither the 
 means nor the will to carry it steadily and economi- 
 cally to its termination, but of those thinking to spec- 
 ulate and enrich themselves upon the bounty of the 
 State and the few thousands of the hard earnings of 
 the farmers and others residing along the line, who 
 were interested in its completion. The $2,000,000, 
 honestly applied, would have done all that the 
 $3,000,000 loaned by the State and all that has been 
 paid by stockholders have done. It is downright 
 effrontery for them to ask for more, with the threat 
 that unless they got it, the State would lose its three 
 millions." 
 
 The situation was put still more pointedly by a 
 
 ' communication read in the Legislature during the 
 
 discussion on the Faulkner Bill, in 1842, as follows : 
 
 In 1836 an act was passed for loaning three millions of dol- 
 lars to the New York and Erie Railroad Company, coupled 
 with conditions that the Company should construct a track 
 from the Delaware and Hudson Canal to the Chenango Canal, 
 a distance of about 145 miles, before any stock should be is- 
 sued by the State, and when so much of the road was com- 
 pleted out of the funds raised from the stockholders, the State 
 was to advance $600,000, and to continue its loan from time 
 to time as the work progressed, until the sum amounted to 
 $2,000,000, and the last million was to be paid not until the 
 road was completed from the Hudson River to Lake Erie. 
 If the restrictions of the law had not been relaxed the people 
 would have saved the $3,000,000 loaned to the said Company 
 by subsequent laws, and not thrown upon the treasury. In 
 1838 a law was passed providing that one dollar of State stock 
 should be issued for each dollar expended by the Company, 
 the expenditure to be proved by the affidavits of the Treasurer 
 and two of the Directors of the Company. By the aid of this 
 law the Company obtained $100,000 of stock in December, 
 1838, and $200,000 in June and August, 1839. In. 1840 an act 
 was passed authorizing two dollars of stock to be issued for 
 each one dollar raised and expended by the Company, and 
 also authorizing stock to be issued equal to the amount loaned 
 to the Company in 1838 and 1839, so as to give the Company 
 two dollars for every dollar it had expended since the com- 
 mencement of the work. Under this law $500,000 were is- 
 sued to the Company in 1840; $2,000,000 in 1841; $200,000 in 
 January, 1842. From November, 1841, to the 29th of January, 
 1842, less than ninety days, the officers of the Company re- 
 ceived from the Comptroller $800,000 of 6 per cent, stock; 
 within sixty days after the last $100,000 was received, the 
 President of the Company announced its insolvency and in- 
 
 ability to pay the interest on the first of April on the three 
 millions of stock loaned to the Company. 
 
 A generation or so later the affairs of Erie came to 
 be largely talked about in connection with manage- 
 ments that, with apparent ease, raised millions of 
 dollars on account of this same Company, the expen- 
 diture of which was then a deep mystery, and is a 
 deep mystery still, so far as it showed results in the 
 betterment or extension of the road and its prop- 
 erty ; but here, perhaps, those later managements 
 found a precedent. 
 
 The condition of the Company's affairs had been 
 made officially known January 20, 1842, by a peti- 
 tion presented to the Legislature praying for aid. 
 According to this, the railroad was in operation 
 between Piermont and Goshen, forty-six miles, with 
 necessary depots and cars and engine houses ; sub- 
 stantial edge rail, fifty-six pounds to the yard, laid 
 on longitudinal timbers framed together and covered 
 by cross-ties at short intervals ; a pier 4,120 feet 
 long ; steam and tow boats to carry passengers and 
 freight ; five locomotives ; numerous passenger and 
 freight cars, and four trains conveying daily 250 pas- 
 sengers and 200 tons of merchandise, " withdrawing 
 from Philadelphia the trade of West New Jersey, 
 and the border Pennsylvania counties." The work, 
 besides that between Piermont and Goshen, was 
 under contract as follows : Goshen to Middletown, 
 seven miles ; Middletown to the Shawangunk ridge, 
 nine miles ; Shawangunk ridge to Callicoon Creek, 
 fifty-nine miles ; Callicoon Creek to Deposit, forty 
 miles ; Deposit to Binghamton, thirty-nine miles ; 
 Bingham ton to Hornellsville, iiy% miles ; Hornells- 
 ville to Dunkirk, 132^^ miles — total 229 miles, of 
 which 117 miles were graded in 1841. Iron rails 
 were laid six miles east of Dunkirk to stone quar- 
 ries, where stone was obtained for the breakwaters 
 in Dunkirk Harbor. Three cargoes of iron had been 
 purchased, one sent to Dunkirk, to be laid during 
 the winter of 1842, to extend the road to the wes- 
 terly line of Cattaraugus County. Locomotives were 
 to be placed on that part of the road at an early 
 day. The work between Binghamton and Dunkirk 
 was so far advanced that it would be completed and 
 in operation by October i, 1842. if adequate pecu- 
 
6o 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 niary aid was forthcoming. The petition laid stress 
 on the fact that the railroad would be a military 
 road, capable of transporting an army of 25,000 men 
 with munition and camp equipments from New York 
 to the shores of Lake Erie in forty-eight hours, and 
 express in sixteen hours. " From the present dis- 
 turbed relations with Great Britain," the petition 
 argued, " it is conceived that these considerations are 
 deserving of the serious attention of your honorable 
 bodies." 
 
 Here are further arguments used by the petition- 
 ers, which are interesting as showing the peculiar 
 commercial relations of the metropolis with the 
 country at large in those days, and the lack of means 
 of transportation it possessed to collect the internal 
 commerce of even a nearby tributary region to itself : 
 
 " The New York and Erie Railroad traverses eleven coun- 
 ties, containing a population of 341,296 inhabitants; and adja- 
 cent to it and to be benefited by it there are, in this State and 
 the States of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, twenty-four coun- 
 ties, containing 496,000 inhabitants, making the aggregate 
 number of 837,296. The number of taxable acres of land in 
 this area is 10,600,000, and the taxed value of real estate is 
 $80,000,000. 
 
 " The population on the line and in the vicinity of the Erie 
 Canal is 680,000, and the number of acres taxed is 9,500,000. 
 It will thus be seen that the section of country to be benefited 
 by the completion of this road is greater in extent than that 
 which enjoys the advantages of the Erie Canal, while the 
 population on the line of the road exceeds that on the canal 
 by 150,000. 
 
 " A large portion of the trade of this vast region now flows 
 to the cities of Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Cin- 
 cinnati, by the Delaware, Susquehanna, and Alleghany Rivers. 
 The commerce of a portion of our State, less than three hun- 
 dred miles from the commercial capital of the Union, is yet 
 drawn from our borders to distant marts, and our own citi- 
 zens are compelled to pay higher for their purchases and to 
 submit to lower prices for their products than the citizens of 
 Massachusetts and Connecticut. Were the Erie Railroad com- 
 pleted this valuable trade would center in the city of New 
 York; the transportation of products would be rapid and in- 
 expensive and higher prices would be obtained for them, 
 and a general and certain prosperity diffused throughout the 
 country, where now there is but a bare remuneration for 
 labor at hazardous risks. 
 
 " The advantages of cheap transportation of freight to the 
 Alleghany River will add largely to the commerce of the city 
 of New York by diverting from its present channels the trade 
 of the Southwest and Western States, now possessed almost 
 exclusively by Philadelphia and Baltimore. 
 
 " During the spring the whole of this important trade seeks 
 the markets of our Southern neighbors, from the inability of 
 New York to forward merchandise to those sections before 
 the first of May, while the purchases are made in February 
 and March. Were this road completed to the Alleghany 
 River, always free from ice in March, this consideration alone, 
 
 independent of the rapidity of transportation, would be suf- 
 ficient to secure this lucrative and increasing trade. 
 
 " The alarming increase of business on the Canada canals, 
 derived chiefly from the Western States, clearly shows the 
 necessity of constructing new avenues between the lakes and 
 the seaboard, and multiplying the facilities of communication 
 with the West, if we would preserve the relations with that 
 section of the Union and continue to reap the annual harvest 
 of that rich and growing country. 
 
 " It is estimated that 200,000 emigrants annually arrive in 
 the ports of the United States. Were the New York and 
 Erie Railroad completed it cannot be doubted that, from the 
 facility it would afford for cheap and rapid traveling to the 
 West, a large proportion of this class would prefer vessels 
 bound to New York, and thus give a powerful impetus to the 
 increase of our shipping; while, from the fact that the road 
 could be traversed at all seasons of the year, this city would 
 be relieved from a serious and increasing evil, caused by large 
 bodies of emigrants arriving in the winter and spring, and 
 sojourning here until the canal is navigable. Many of these 
 people are thrown on our shores early in the year, with 
 limited means of subsistence, ignorant of the language and 
 friendless. The pittance they possess is soon expended, and 
 long before the canal is open they become an onerous tax 
 upon the charities of our citizens, or residing in the abodes of 
 squalid poverty and of crime, they learn the ways of infamy 
 while they are acquiring the language of their adopted 
 country. 
 
 " In another respect the completion of the road is of high 
 importance to the city of New York. There are in the city 
 of New York and its immediate vicinity near 400,000 inhabi- 
 tants. A large portion of this vast population is dependent, 
 from day to day, upon manual labor for the means of sub- 
 sistence. Owing to the high prices of provisions nothing 
 more than sufficient to sustain life is obtained under the most 
 prosperous circumstances, and when, from commercial em- 
 barrassments, or from other causes, there is no demand for 
 labor, they are reduced to extreme distress, and compelled to 
 solicit the assistance of their more fortunate fellow-citizens 
 or depend upon the public charities for relief In either case 
 the result is the same; the spirit of self-dependence is broken, 
 their energies are destroyed and they are no longer valuable 
 citizens. By the reduction of the prices of provisions this 
 distress and its consequent evils would be greatly diminished. 
 There is no mode that will so effectually accomplish this 
 desirable object as the completion of this road. It is respect- 
 fully submitted that the welfare of so large a portion of the 
 body politic as is embraced in the class referred to is well 
 deserving of your consideration. 
 
 " Your petitioners have expended, in the construction of 
 the road, the proceeds of the loan of three millions granted 
 by the Legislature in 1836; and, in adition, one and one-half 
 millions derived from subscriptions to the capital stock of the 
 Company, making an expenditure of four and a half millions 
 of dollars. In the original estiinate of the cost of the road 
 it was supposed that six millions of dollars would be abund- 
 antly sufficient to complete it; but it was seen that to render 
 the road effective as a means for the conveyance of the vast 
 amount of freight that would be sent on it, a more substantial 
 and expensive structure was necessary than was originally 
 contemplated. The plan of construction was therefore 
 changed, by substituting shorter bridges, more substantial 
 masonry, widening the track, and laying a heavy edge rail 
 instead of the flat bar in general use in this State. With 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 6i 
 
 these modifications of the original plan it is estimated the 
 road will cost $9,000,000, or $20,000 per mile. 
 
 "The means of your petitioners are exhausted; contractors 
 and men employed on the road, numbering between 4,500 and 
 5,000, wait with solicitude to learn if they may be continued in 
 employment; citizens on the line of the road, relying on the 
 pledge of your petitioners to prosecute the work with un- 
 abated diligence, demand its fulfillment." 
 
 This remarkable document was signed by James 
 
 Bowen, as President of the New York and Erie 
 
 The following exhaustive showing of the business 
 of the road is of still more interest as a part of the 
 original operations on the railroad, but it was not 
 made until it was called for by the Legislature dur- 
 ing the session of 1842 ; the making of reports having 
 been, apparently, something to which early managers 
 of the railroad attached but small importance, al- 
 though the charter particularly demanded them : 
 
 A PROFILE EXHIEITING THE GRADUAL INCREASE OF REVENUE UPON THE EASTERN DIVISION OF THE NEW YORK AND ERIE 
 RAILROAD, BETWEEN NEW YORK AND GOSHEN, FROM THE OPENING OF THE ROAD, ON THE 23D OF SEPTEMBER, TO 30TH 
 OF OCTOBER, 184I — 33 WORKING DAYS. 
 
 Oct. 30. 
 
 o" 
 
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 ^^~^^--~_^^^ 
 
 
 
 
 
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 li week of 6 d 
 
 total revenu 
 
 $2,426 46. 
 
 ^ V _ 
 
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 --^_ 
 
 
 00 
 
 kof 6 
 reven 
 74 90 
 
 
 0^ ^ -^ 
 
 d week of 6 
 days, total 
 
 revenue 
 $1,178 52. / 
 
 
 h wee 
 total 
 
 $2,2 
 
 V <U M 
 
 <u mT > f^ 
 
 week 
 ays, t 
 reven 
 1,300 
 
 week ol 
 lys, rev. 
 476 40. 
 
 4-> 
 
 4-) 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 V,-^^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 Horizontal scale, \}i days to i inch — vertical, J200 to an inch. 
 Note. — The receipts upon the 28th, 29th, and 30th of October average $409.06 per diem. 
 
 Sept. 23. 
 
 Railroad Company, and was read in the Senate at 
 Albany January 20, 1842. It was eloquent and 
 persuasive, but availed the Company nothing. 
 
 Particularly interesting in the literature of Erie at 
 this crisis in its affairs was the exhibit made public 
 by A. C. Morton, Resident Engineer of the Company 
 at Goshen, N. Y., early in 1842, showing how the 
 earnings of the railroad were increasing. This ex- 
 hibit accompanied a long presentation of argument 
 designed to induce investors and the State to come 
 to the aid of the Company, and the show of earnings 
 of the road was put forward as indubitable proof of 
 all he claimed. It is interesting now, and historically 
 valuable, as being the very first report of Erie earn- 
 ings ever made, and is reproduced above. 
 
 Schedule of the Receipts and Business of the Eastern 
 Division on the New York and Erie Railroad, from 
 September 23, 1841, to December 31, 1841, both in- 
 clusive. The Following General Summary is given 
 from the Abstracts : 
 
 freights for the month of september. 
 
 Pounds. Revenue. 
 
 Passing Westward 268,620 $34138 
 
 Passing Eastward 53.492 6'^ 31 
 
 322,112 $404 69 
 
 FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER. 
 
 Passing Westward 1,006,246 $1,51061 
 
 Passing Eastward 1,394,704 2,044 03 
 
 2,400,950 $3,554 64 
 
 for THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER. 
 
 Passing Westward 2,120,830 $2,550 61 
 
 Passing Eastward 2,693,815 3,446 01 
 
 ',814,645 $5,996 62 
 
62 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER. 
 
 Pounds. Revenue. 
 
 Passing Westward 2,287,735 $2,242 44 
 
 Passing Eastward 1,732,077 2,325 60 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 Total Westward 5,683,431 $6,645 04 
 
 Total Eastward 5,874,088 7,878 95' 
 
 11,557,519 $14,523 99 
 
 Of this amount the Steamboat portion is $2,813 99 
 
 Of this amount the Railroad portion for toll is 10,112 93 
 
 Loading 760 08 
 
 Unloading 836 99 
 
 $14,523 99 
 
 The Number of Passengers and Amount Collected 
 Therefrom : 
 
 FOR THE MONTH OF SEFTEMBER. 
 
 Passengers. Revenue. 
 
 First-class 566^ $671 59 
 
 Second-class 27 20 51 
 
 Add Steamboat revenue. 
 Total 
 
 $203 26 
 $895 36 
 
 FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER. 
 
 First-class Passengers 3,5oi $3,394 23 
 
 Second-class Passengers 2095^ 113 57 
 
 Add Steamboat 1,236 40 
 
 Total for October. 
 
 4,744 20 
 
 FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER. 
 
 First-class 4,106 $3,822 83 
 
 Second-class 67J4 52 33 
 
 Add Steamboat revenue i,374 38 
 
 Total for November. 
 
 $5,249 54 
 
 FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER. 
 
 First-class 3,I49J^ $3,032 62 
 
 Add Steamboat revenue 1,24372 
 
 Total for December. 
 
 $4,276 34 
 
 GENERAL SUMMARY. 
 
 Total First-class 11,627 $10,921 -yj 
 
 Total Second-class 314 186 31 
 
 Add Steamboat revenue 4,05776 
 
 Grand Total. 
 
 $15,165 44 
 
 The number of miles traveled by the first-class passengers 
 is 388,906, and the charge is 2.8 cents per mile. 
 
 The charge upon the steamboat is twenty-five cents, or 
 about one cent per mile. 
 
 The whole earnings of the road and steamboat for weight 
 and passengers is $29,689.43. 
 
 Edward Miller, Chief Engineer. 
 
 For the first time in the history of the Company 
 citizens of New York awoke to a lively interest in 
 the New York and Erie Railroad, but the fact that 
 most of the movers in its behalf were leading Whigs, 
 while those who charged that the Company's affairs 
 had been brought to their critical situation by gross 
 mismanagement of those in charge of them and dis- 
 couraged efforts toward aiding the undertaking were 
 Democrats, made it palpable that it was politics that 
 had aroused this sudden interest. An important 
 State election was to be held in the fall of 1842, and 
 the sympathies of the large constituency that was 
 anxious for the completion of the railroad might nat- 
 urally be supposed to lean toward that party which 
 championed the cause of the enterprise, and Demo- 
 cratic organs charged that this was the secret of the 
 Whig leaders of New York City coming so unani- 
 mously and early in the field as enthusiastic friends 
 of the Company. Early in January public meetings 
 began to be held in various parts of the city, the 
 following call for one being a fair sample of the calls 
 for ail : 
 
 RAILROAD MEETING. NEW YORKERS, AROUSE! 
 
 The citizens of the First Ward are invited to attend a pub- 
 lic meeting at the Broad St. House, on Thursday Evening, 
 the 6th instant, at 7>4 o'clock, for the purpose of adopting 
 the most effectual plan for the completion of the New York 
 and Erie Railroad. 
 
 Those citizens who are unwilling to be robbed of the trade 
 of the great West by the Bostonians will manifest it by at- 
 tending this meeting. 
 
 The meeting will be addressed by several able speakers who 
 will point out the importance of this Great Road to New York 
 and the absolute necessity of its early completion. 
 
 J. Phillips Phoenix. W. Waln Drinker. 
 
 D. C. Marsh. 
 W. E. Wilmerding. 
 J. D. Van Buren. 
 J. L. Gilbert. 
 Stephen Whitney. 
 Thomas Gale. 
 
 January 6, 1842. 
 
 Andrew H. Mickle. 
 John Hillyer. 
 W. A. F. Pentz. 
 Geo. V. Talman. 
 Am. Cozzens. 
 Stephen R. Harris. 
 
 Committee. 
 
 Calls for similar meetings were signed by such 
 names as William H. Aspinwall, Ogden Haggerty, 
 T. and A. S. Hope, S. T. Caswell, James Van Nos- 
 trand, Peter Cooper, Don Alonzo Cushman, Anson 
 G. Phelps, Zophar Mills, D. R. Doremus, Joseph 
 Karnochan, Alexander Hamilton, George Bruce, and 
 scores of other representative men of the day. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 63 
 
 i The feeling that the Erie question engendered was 
 expressed hotly in the columns of the opposition 
 press, chiefly by communications, but frequently edi- 
 torially. The following is from the Nezv York Even- 
 ing Post of January 13, 1842 : 
 
 It was my intention to have subscribed to some few shares 
 of the New York and Erie Railroad stock; but since discover- 
 ing it is managed by Bowen, Draper, and Blatchford, I am 
 fearful that " the times have been so itching that no account 
 has or will be kept of the expenditures," so that, at some 
 future day, it may turn out to be another Glenworth affair, 
 and become a road to nowhere. Before that road can suc- 
 ceed you must pay one man for his services no more than 
 $2,000 per annum, in lieu -of $6,000, and turn out all boys 
 employed at $1,500 to $3,000 per annum. 
 
 The road should be made, but let those wanting it pay for 
 it. The contractors, agents, office holders are now at work 
 like beavers — now, when they know the last dollar is nearly 
 gone, and no chance of getting more out of a Democratic 
 Legislature. The value of the lands on the route, and the 
 value of the produce, will be greatly enhanced, while we will 
 get a more abundant supply of country produce; but will not 
 the name of any pipe-layer injure the cause of anything In 
 which it appears? It does with me. 
 
 A Yorker. 
 
 The Draper referred to by the Post was Simeon 
 Draper, the famous New York auctioneer, and 
 Blatchford was Richard M. Blatchford — both social 
 cronies of James Bowen, and close in his counsels. 
 The "Glenworth affair" was a reference to the 
 notorious election frauds of 1838-9. The reference 
 in the call for the railroad meeting, reproduced 
 above, to the " robbing of the trade of the great 
 West by the Bostonians," was prompted by the rapid 
 progress of the Western Railroad, which was to 
 connect Boston with Albany and the Erie Canal, 
 and the chain of railroads then nearly completed be- 
 tween Albany and Buffalo. This threatened Boston 
 connection undoubtedly induced many New York- 
 ers to an interest in furthering the fortunes of the 
 New York and Erie Railroad that nothing else could 
 have done. 
 
 State Comptroller Azariah C. Flagg addressed the 
 following letter to President Bowen at this interest- 
 ing crisis in Erie affairs : 
 
 Comptroller's Office, 
 
 ALB.^NY, March 8, 1842. 
 
 Sir: I have been assured from a source entitled to con- 
 sideration, that means must be provided by the Comptroller 
 to meet the interest due in April on the State stock loaned 
 to the New York and Erie Railroad Company. Such a call 
 
 would add essentially to the embarrassment of the treasury; 
 but, if it must come, it is desirable that the worst should be 
 known immediately. 
 
 Although the law provides for a notice of five days only to 
 the Comptroller, in case of non-payment, yet in these times 
 a longer notice is indispensable; and if you cannot assure 
 me that the interest will be paid, I trust that you will give 
 me notice at once, that provision may be made by the State. 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 A. C. Flagg. 
 
 James Bowen, Esq. 
 
 There was no equivocation or hesitancy in Presi- 
 dent Bowen 's reply to the Comptroller : 
 
 Office of the N. Y. & E. R. R. Co., 
 
 New York, \ith March, 1842. 
 
 Sir: I have had the honor to receive your letter of the 8th 
 inst, stating that you had learned from a source entitled to 
 consideration that means must be provided by the Comp- 
 troller to meet the interest due on the ist of April on the 
 State stock loaned to the New York and Erie Railroad Com- 
 pany, and, as the requisition would add to the embarrassment 
 of the treasury if made only at the time designated by law, 
 you desire to know at as early a period as possible if this 
 information be correct. 
 
 It has been regarded by the Company as the settled policy 
 of the State to continue the same rates of aid in the construc- 
 tion of the road that has hitherto been afforded. The report 
 of the railroad committee of the Assembly of 1841 (Doc. No. 
 297), narrated the several acts of the Legislature in regard 
 to this road, and shows it to have been the intention of the 
 State to continue its aid till the road be completed. The 
 report sets forth that " by repeated acts of the Legislature, 
 passed on various occasions, the State has undertaken to 
 ensure the speedy and economical construction of this road. 
 It has to all intents and purposes made it a State work except 
 in name. The State executed the first survey of the route; 
 the State pays as the work advances nearly two-thirds of its 
 cost; the State issues for this purpose a stock which is sold 
 under the direction of the Comptroller; before the stock is 
 issued the certificate of the Attorney-General, another State 
 officer, is required; the money when realized from the State 
 stocks is then expended under the immediate inspection of 
 a State officer who is responsible to the people for the manner 
 in which he discharges his duty, as much so as a Canal Com- 
 missioner or any member of the Canal Board; the State has 
 a lien upon the road for the money expended and to be ex- 
 pended, and out of the revenues the interest and the principal 
 of the debt created is to be paid like debts created for the 
 Canals." 
 
 Relying upon the continuance of this policy, the Company 
 has made contracts for the construction of various sections 
 of the road within given periods of time; large bodies of men 
 have been and are employed; materials have been purchased, 
 lands obtained, and every arrangement made for the speedy 
 construction of the work, and it is upon the continuance of 
 State aid in some form that the Company relies for the pay- 
 ment of its liabilities, including the interest on the State loan. 
 
 I have the honor to be, sir. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 James Bowen, President. 
 Hon. A. C. Flagg, Comptroller. 
 
64 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Under the same date, President Bowen addressed 
 the following letter to Gov. Seward, who was a close 
 personal friend of the Erie President : 
 
 New York and Erie Railroad Company's Office, 
 New York, 12th March, 1842. 
 
 Sir: I deem it my duty to state to you that the means of 
 the Company in whose charge the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road has been placed are exhausted. 
 
 There has been derived from individual subscriptions to the 
 stock of the Company near two millions of dollars. A large 
 proportion of the subscribers are citizens living along the 
 line of the road, who have been induced, from considerations 
 for the public welfare, to contribute to the construction of 
 the road, and in the confident belief that the Legislature will 
 extend the same proportion of aid that it has hitherto done. 
 A suspension of the work and the discharge of the large 
 bodies of men now employed upon it will produce great indi- 
 vidual distress as well as serious loss to the Company and 
 the public, from the temporary abandonment of it while in 
 a state of partial completion. 
 
 Under the supposition that the Legislature would continue 
 the proprotion of aid that it has hitherto afforded, the Com- 
 pany made no provision for the interest on the State loan due 
 on the first of April, but extended all their means in the con- 
 struction of their road. They have so far progressed that 
 with the section already finished more than three hundred 
 miles may be put in use during the present year. 
 
 I respectfully pray you, therefore, if you deem it not im- 
 proper, that you will bring the subject again before the Legis- 
 lature, and represent the serious evils that must be created 
 by the suspension of the work, while, if aid be granted, a new 
 avenue extending through more than one-half the State will be 
 opened, affording facilities for the transportation of products to 
 market from which the citizens of that section are now debarred. 
 
 I find a sufficient justification for this application in the 
 large pecuniary interest the State has in this great work; in 
 the deep solicitude of a million of inhabitants for its comple- 
 tion, and in your own expressed opinions concerning the 
 importance of the enterprise. 
 
 With sentiments of the highest respect, 
 I have the honor to be. 
 
 Sir, your obedient servant, 
 James Bowen, 
 President of the New York & Erie R. R. Co. 
 
 To His Excellency, Wm. H. Seward. 
 
 The result of this letter was a message from the 
 
 Governor to the Legislature as follows : 
 
 Executive Chamber, 
 
 Albany, March 14, 1842. 
 To the Legislature: 
 
 The letter of the President of the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road Company herewith transmitted shows that if legislative 
 aid is longer withheld from the association it must desist 
 from prosecuting its great enterprise; the laborers employed 
 must be discharged; the interest on the three million State 
 loan, which will accrue on the first of April next, will remain 
 unpaid; the contingent debt will fall immediately upon the 
 treasury; the capital invested in the enterprise by our fellow- 
 citizens will be lost; the New York and Erie Railroad, in its 
 scarcely half completed condition, be exposed to auction at 
 
 the suit of the State; and the just expectation of immeasur- 
 able benefits to result from the enterprise will be suddenly 
 and popularly disappointed. 
 
 This information cannot excite surprise. No one could 
 have expected that the road in its unfinished state could pro- 
 duce capital or even revenues; and the association acted wisely 
 in devoting all their means to its prosecution, relying upon 
 the justice of the State and the liberality of their fellow-citizens 
 for such additional resources as would be necessary to secure 
 its completion. 
 
 Respectfully referring to the suggestion made in my annual 
 message in view of this crisis, I will only add that no measure 
 less favorable to the enterprise than the past policy of the 
 State could now be effectual, while none, in my judgment, that 
 would involve any sacrifice on the part of the State is neces- 
 sary. Nevertheless, the responsibility of conducting the enter- 
 prise to an early consummation seems to me to rest not with 
 the New York and Erie Railroad Company but upon this 
 State. The association can only be regarded by the people 
 as an agent of the Legislature; and while, like all other agents, 
 it ought to be held to a just accountability, the State cannot 
 discharge itself from responsibility by pleading the failure of 
 its agent, whether with or without excuse, to perform its 
 duties, or meet the expectations of the Legislature. 
 
 William H. Seward. 
 
 Comptroller Flagg placed before the Legislature, 
 March 21st, the correspondence between himself 
 and Bowen, and in his letter accompanying it said : 
 " This large amount of stock, for the payment of 
 which the faith of the State is pledged, has been 
 disposed of in market in a manner to the great 
 injury to the credit of the State, and yet the Direc- 
 tors of the Company have so utterly disregarded the 
 obligation they have entered into to protect the 
 faith of the State as not to reserve out of the $900,- 
 000 paid to them within the past five months a sum 
 sufficient to pay the interest on the stock which 
 becomes due the first of April." 
 
 Besides this correspondence with the Governor 
 and the Comptroller, President Bowen, at about the 
 same date, sent a petition to the Legislature, (which 
 was read in the Senate March i6th,) submitting the 
 report of Engineer Morton on the survey of the new 
 route for the railroad in the Delaware Valley and 
 between Deposit and Binghamton, in which he said 
 that " if the road were to be regarded only as a 
 means of revenue to the stockholders, the considera- 
 tion of these lines would not be pressed upon your 
 honorable bodies ; for it is believed that even if the 
 most expensive be adopted, the road will be largely 
 productive. But your petitioners are not permitted 
 to regard it as a private enterprise, or as a simple 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 6S 
 
 investment of capital for the purpose of revenue, but 
 as a great public work, in the proper construction of 
 which the interests of a million citizens are deeply 
 interested. Your petitioners are therefore unwilling 
 to assume the high responsibility of determining on 
 questions of so much importance ; and they respect- 
 fully pray your honorable bodies to consider and 
 decide in regard to them " — and yet the Company 
 had determined on the question more than a year 
 before by letting contracts for building the railroad 
 through the Delaware Valley, further progress being 
 checked by legal process, the Delaware and Hudson 
 Canal Company having appealed to the courts. The 
 petition did not refer to the straits the Company was 
 in. It set forth that " by the act of incorporation, 
 passed April 23, 1832, your petitioners are required 
 to construct one-fourth of their road with in ten years 
 from that date. Owing to the pecuniary embarrass- 
 ments of a large number of stockholders, it has been 
 only within the past two years that your petitioners 
 have been able to proceed with vigor in its construc- 
 tion. During that period 200 miles have been 
 graded, and twenty-five miles completed. The sum 
 estimated as sufficient to complete the whole road is 
 therefore more than one half expended ; and it is 
 believed that if aid will be afforded, that portion be- 
 tween Dunkirk and Binghamton, a distance of 250 
 miles, and between Goshen and Middletown, seven 
 miles, may be completed during the present year ; 
 making, of completed road, 303 miles, or nearly 
 three-fourths of the whole road ; whereupon your 
 petitioners pray that an extension of one year may be 
 granted, to fulfill the requirements of their charter." 
 
 Saturday, April 9, 1842, at a meeting of the Board, 
 at the office of the Company, No. 35 Wall Street, 
 New York, the Company took measures to place 
 itself in the hands of assignees by perhaps the most 
 extraordinary method of procedure ever adopted 
 before or since. President Bowen stated that the 
 Faulkner bill having been rejected, the only thing to 
 do was for the Company to make an assignment, 
 which, by resolution, was done. In fact, it made 
 two assignments. One was to cover all the property 
 and effects of the Company in the city of New York 
 and on the Eastern Division of the railroad, the 
 5 
 
 other to cover all the remaining effects and property 
 of the Company. President Bowen, Directors 
 Charles A. Davis and E. H. Blatchford, and Engi- 
 neers Edward Miller and Thompson S. Brown were 
 appointed assignees. April 12th, Hezekiah C. Sey- 
 mour was added to the list of assignees. On the 
 15th, Davis and Blatchford declined to serve. Major 
 Brown was not in the country. Freeman Campbell 
 was named in place of Brown, and the assignees set- 
 tled upon were Bowen, Miller, Seymour, and Camp- 
 bell. Under authority given by the documents in 
 the case, James Bowen, as President of the New 
 York and Erie Railroad Company, of the first part, 
 sold, assigned, conveyed, and set over to James 
 Bowen and his associate assignees all the property of 
 the Railroad Company, to sell and dispose of it at 
 such time or times, and in such manner, and to such 
 person or persons, or body or bodies corporate, as 
 the assignees deemed best for the interest of all con- 
 cerned, for cash, and settle the claims against the Com- 
 pany according to priority and character. There is no 
 record of any authority of court for any of these pro- 
 ceedings, and the fact that under the act granting aid 
 to the Company in 1838 the Comptroller was to take 
 charge of the property in case of default in the interest 
 on the State stock, and advertise the same for sale, 
 did not seem to cut any figure in the matter at all. 
 
 The news of this assignment seems to have been 
 slow in getting about, for there is no mention of it 
 in any of the newspapers until April 22d. The Whig 
 Commercial Advertiser of that date simply refers to it 
 thus : " The New York and Erie Railroad Company 
 have, as a prudential measure, made an assignment of 
 their property to James Bowen, Alderman Cooper (?) 
 and Alderman Campbell, and Messrs. Miller and 
 Seymour, engineers of the Company." The Even- 
 Post, a Democratic organ, discussed it as follows : 
 
 The New York and Erie Railroad Company has, it seems, 
 made an assignment. In other words, it has failed to pay its 
 debts, and gone into liquidation. So much for the advantages 
 of putting this work under the care of pipe layers. They have 
 had their " railroad parlors " at the Astor House — their splen- 
 did suite of rooms in the most expensive part of Wall Street, 
 and have allowed the very moderate salaries of $4,000, $S,ooo, 
 or $6,000 to themselves. They have taken $3,000,000 of our 
 stock, and have left the State to pay the interest on it, and 
 have run in debt to every one on the line of the road who 
 could be induced to trust them, and now, in the final winding 
 
66 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 up, seem to have taken good care that the same bUghting 
 influence shall be predominant with the assignees. It is mel- 
 ancholy enough to see a work of such great interest to this 
 city, and in which the State has so large an investment, so 
 horribly mismanaged and ruined. It is not too late yet to 
 redeem past errors, but the first step must be entire purifica- 
 tion. Nothing short of that can restore confidence. 
 
 Besides the default in interest due the State, the 
 Company owed $600,000 for work done and materials 
 furnished on the road west of Goshen, chiefly on the 
 Susquehanna Division, and for which there was no 
 provision. The Eastern Division (the only part of 
 the road completed) was kept in operation, but work 
 elsewhere on the line ceased. 
 
 By the act of 1836, granting the New York and 
 Erie Railroad State aid, the Comptroller was directed 
 to advertise the road and its franchise for sale on 
 default in principal or interest of the loan, and to 
 sell the same to the highest bidder, or buy them in 
 for the State. Acting on this provision, the Comp- 
 troller advertised the New York and Erie Railroad 
 for sale, the sale to take place on December 31, 1842. 
 The Company was in default to the amount of the 
 $3,000,000 loan, and interest to the amount of 
 $41,000, yet the Comptroller ordered the foreclosure 
 sale on the $41,000 defaulted interest alone. 
 
 Political purpose had many times used the New 
 York and Erie Railroad as a means to an end, but 
 the project and its affairs had never taken on the 
 dignity of a political issue until they came forward 
 as such in the State campaign of 1842. The ques- 
 tion of internal improvements was uppermost that 
 year, and the Whigs took high ground for State aid 
 for their construction, enlargement, or improvement. 
 A Governor was to be elected, and the Whig plat- 
 form came out squarely in favor of the State giving 
 more aid to the construction of the New York and 
 Erie Railroad. The Democratic party was opposed 
 to increasing the taxes in the interest of the Erie 
 Canal, or any other public work, but met the New 
 York and Erie Railroad question by declaring in 
 favor of the State (inasmuch as it had already in- 
 vested and lost $3,000,000 of the people's money in 
 the enterprise) taking possession of the railroad and 
 completing it. Any further appropriation of public 
 funds to a private corporation, however, the Demo- 
 
 crats emphatically opposed on constitutional grounds. 
 So the Erie question became the vital one in the 
 campaign in all the counties where the railroad was 
 located. The Whigs bid for votes therein by advo- 
 cating the lending of more State money to the New 
 York and Erie Railroad Company to save it and its 
 undertaking to the people they were designed to 
 benefit. The Democrats risked their chances in the 
 election by demanding the purchase of the railroad 
 and its completion by the State. Many and enthu- 
 siastic political meetings were held all through the 
 Southern Tier, and they became no longer Whig and 
 Democratic meetings, but Railroad and Anti-rail- 
 road. There had never been so exciting a State 
 campaign in that portion of the State. William H. 
 Seward had been elected Governor in 1840 on the 
 Whig ticket, and was supported to that result by the 
 vote of the Southern Tier, although the Democrats 
 had made the issue there against him the fact that 
 he had always opposed in the State Senate all State 
 aid for the New York and Erie Railroad Company, 
 even to speaking and voting against the small appro- 
 priation of $15,000 for making the survey, in 1834. 
 Seward defended his anti-Erie course on constitu- 
 tional grounds, believing, as he said, that the State 
 had no right to risk the people's money by loaning 
 it to private corporations. He believed in State con- 
 trol of all internal improvements, and declared that 
 he would have voted for an appropriation for build- 
 ing the New York and Erie Railroad by the State. 
 In the campaign of 1842 the Democrats used Sew- 
 ard's argument on the Erie question to influence the 
 Southern Tier against the Whigs, and Seward, then 
 Governor, in his special message to the Legislature, 
 quoted above, illustrated how one in politics must 
 trim his sail to every wind, in certain exigencies, for 
 the ground he took in that message was directly 
 opposed to all his past argument and action on the 
 Erie question. But the vote in 1842 demonstrated 
 emphatically that the Whigs did not have the popular 
 side of the Erie question that year, for the Demo- 
 crats carried every Southern Tier and Western 
 county, except Chautauqua and Cattaraugus. The 
 special session of the Legislature in August, however, 
 had come to the temporary rescue of the Company 
 by postponing the sale of the railroad six months. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OF WILLIAM MAXWELL AND HORATIO ALLEN— 1842 TO 1844. 
 
 The Southern Tier and Western Counties, Disheartened over the Situation, Demand the Company's Release from Alleged Wall Street Influ- 
 ences — A Strictly Rural Management is Chosen — William Maxwell of Elmira Succeeds James Bowen as President- — The New 
 York Legislature Passes a Law for the ReUef of Erie, and the First Foreshadowing of Erie's Fatal Bonded Debt is Seen — The 
 Railroad Completed to Middletown — Maxwell and the Rural Directors Retire and Horatio Allen takes Charge as President — His 
 Struggles with Many Plans to Help the Work Along End in Failure — In the Emergency, Eleazar Lord is Chosen a Third Time to 
 Conduct Erie's Affairs. 
 
 The people of the Southern Tier and Western 
 counties became indignant over the condition of the 
 Company's affairs and disheartened over the pros- 
 pects of the railroad, toward the building of which 
 they had so generously contributed of their means 
 and influence. They believed that this situation 
 was due to reckless management of the Company's 
 affairs, and charged that the management had been 
 for years controlled by influences of Wall Street and 
 by New York business men — men who had done 
 little and contributed less toward any measure that 
 had in view the welfare and interest of the undertak- 
 ing. These counties, therefore, demanded a change 
 in the management, and the cutting loose of New 
 York City control from it. The demand was heeded 
 at the annual election in October, 1842. A new 
 Board of Directors was chosen. A majority of the 
 members was from the rural counties. The new 
 Board was made up as follows : Samuel Barrett, 
 Chautauqua County ; Benjamin Chamberlain, Cat- 
 taraugus County ; Jesse Angel, Allegany County ; 
 Reuben Robie, Steuben County ; William Maxwell, 
 Chemung County ; Jonathan Piatt, Tioga County ; 
 Thomas G. Waterman, Broome County ; John B. 
 Booth, Orange County ; Thomas E. Blanch, Rock- 
 land County ; George Griswold, Henry L. Pierson, 
 Samuel Allen, Charles Augustus Davis, Shepherd 
 Knapp, Stephen Allen, James Brown, New York. 
 The first meeting of the new Board was held at 
 Elmira December 6, 1842, with no quorum present. 
 Another meeting was held on December 26th, when 
 James Brown was elected President. He declined 
 the office, and William Maxwell of Elmira was 
 
 elected to the place. Brown was elected Vice-Presi- 
 dent in the place of Henry L. Pierson. 
 
 The Maxwell administration distinguished itself 
 by securing the passage of an act by the New York 
 Legislature in April, 1843, which postponed the sale 
 of the railroad under the State's foreclosure until 
 July I, 1850, on condition that the Company should 
 actually resume work within two years from April 
 18, 1843. This act also purported to release the 
 Company from the State lien, and to authorize it to 
 issue bonds to the amount of $3,000,000, which 
 would be a first lien on the Company's property. 
 The railroad was finished to Middletown by funds 
 raised by private citizens organized under the name 
 of the Middletown Association, and was opened for 
 traffic June i, 1843. 
 
 Prominent among the constructing engineers and 
 practical railroad men of that day was Horatio Allen. 
 He had been the assistant of John B. Jervis in the 
 construction of that great work, the Delaware and 
 Hudson Canal, which was finished in 1829. He was 
 one of the earliest of America's railroad construc- 
 tors, and through his uncle, James Brown, then a 
 member of the Erie Directory, became deeply inter- 
 ested in the prospects and success of the project that 
 Company had in hand. His previous experience in 
 practical railroad construction had been attended with 
 such satisfactory results that, in the critical emer- 
 gency to which Erie affairs were brought in 1843, the 
 friends of the Company appealed to Horatio Allen 
 as one perhaps most capable of saving the work from 
 the fate that confronted it. Mr. Allen consented 
 to undertake the task, and at the annual election in 
 
68 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 October, 1843, President Maxwell and the rural Board 
 of Directors went out of ofifice, and a new Board was 
 elected as follows : Horatio Allen, James Brown, 
 Don Alonzo Cushman, Charles M. Leupp, Frank 
 W. Edmonds, Silas Brown, David Austin, Theodore 
 Dehon, Paul Spofford, George Griswold, Anson G. 
 Phelps, Matthew Morgan, John C. Green, A. S. 
 Diven, William Maxwell, Elijah Risley, Daniel S. 
 Dickinson. Horatio Allen was chosen President and 
 James Brown Vice-President. On taking control 
 the new management issued a statement as follows : 
 
 TO THE PUBLIC. 
 
 The undersigned, at the earnest solicitation of a portion of 
 their fellow citizens, having consented to be elected Directors 
 of the New York and Erie Railroad Company, feel it to be 
 their duty to the public distinctly to state the condition upon 
 which they have undertaken the trust. 
 
 They have been informed that the affairs of the Company 
 are in an embarrassed state, and unless a very great change 
 takes place its existence will in all probability terminate with 
 the present year. 
 
 The new Board of Directors intend immediately to examine 
 into its condition and report the result of their labors. Should 
 they find it impracticable to continue the work, they will make 
 known their views and retire from the direction. On the 
 other hand, should they find its embarrassments not so for- 
 midable but that with proper assistance they can be sur- 
 mounted, they will call upon the public to aid them in its 
 completion. If this call is responded to, the undersigned will 
 continue their connection with the Company. If not, the 
 responsibility will not rest with them. 
 
 David Austin, James Brown, D. A. Cushman, Charles M. 
 Leupp, F. W. Edmonds, Silas Brown, Anson G. Phelps, 
 Horatio Allen, Matt Morgan, Paul Spoflford, WilHam Max- 
 well. 
 
 (Several other members of the Board being absent from 
 the city their names could not be affixed to this document.) 
 
 New York, October 7, 1843. 
 
 This was not by any means an over-confident 
 spirit in which to start to the rescue of the Company 
 and the railroad from their precarious situation, but 
 the new management had good cause to be doubtful. 
 The property of the Company was in the hands of 
 assignees, and so entirely without resources did the 
 Directors find the Company, that the funds required 
 to meet the ordinary ofifice expenses, and to carry 
 into effect the measures proposed to remove the 
 embarrassment under which it was lying prostrate, 
 were only obtained through gratuitous subscriptions 
 of a few friends of the road. Alexander S. Diven, 
 
 who was a Director at that time, in recounting, years 
 afterward, the trials that beset them in Erie affairs 
 at that crisis, said : 
 
 " We were building a railroad that was to cost mil- 
 lions, and we hadn't money enough to buy candles. 
 There was positively not one cent in the treasury. 
 Every Director in the Board had endorsed for the 
 Company up to the last dollar he was worth. There 
 was no gas in those days, and we used to pass a hat 
 around among us to get money to pay for the can- 
 dles which lighted us at our work." 
 
 Mr. Diven, then a lawyer at Angelica, Allegany 
 County, N. Y., became actively interested in the 
 Erie project in 1843. I" response to the solicitation 
 of James Brown he had gone to New York and exam- 
 ined the Company's condition and prospects. The 
 Directors had lost all hope. Frank Edmonds, a 
 member of the Board, and cashier of Shepherd 
 Knapp's bank, had made an investigation of the 
 Company's affairs and reported that the enterprise 
 was ruined, and that it was useless to try and sustain 
 it any longer. General Diven looked over the papers 
 and books and took a different view of it. He sug- 
 gested the obtaining of legislation authorizing the 
 Company to issue bonds that would take precedence 
 as a lien on its property over that held by the State 
 against the Company, a plan which he believed 
 would soon provide funds sufificient to construct the 
 railroad, at any rate, as far as Binghamton. The 
 legislation was secured, as has been stated, but did 
 not have the immediate effect it was intended to 
 have, for reasons the details of which will appear 
 in the course of this narrative of the Allen adminis- 
 tration. 
 
 Notwithstanding the unpromising outlook that 
 met the new management, it went to work with a 
 will, and in February, 1844, made a report to the 
 Legislature. In November, 1 841, the report stated, 
 contracts on 270 miles of work were suspended. 
 They were still in force when the new management 
 came in, with large claims for damages likely to be 
 made. These contracts, however, it had succeeded 
 in having unconditionally surrendered to the Com- 
 pany, and all the possible damage claims relin- 
 quished. It had also lifted the assignment. The 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 69 
 
 railroad had cost $4,734,872.66. There were in oper- 
 ation fifty-three miles of road between Piermont and 
 Middletown, four miles west from Corning, and 
 seven miles east from Dunkirk, in all sixty-four 
 miles. The rest of the road was in different stages 
 of construction, but nothing had been done on the 
 work since the close of 1841, or more than two 
 years. There were scattered along the line nearly 
 $600,000 worth of timber the Company had pur- 
 chased, nearly half of which was worthless from long 
 exposure. According to the estimate of Major T. 
 S. Brown, who had succeeded H. C. Seymour as 
 Chief Engineer of the Company, to complete the 
 work would require a further outlay, in round num- 
 bers, of $7,000,000. President Allen issued a strong 
 appeal to the public, showing how important it was 
 to the commercial interests of New York City that 
 the New York and Erie Railroad should be completed 
 without delay, owing to the activity of rival cities in 
 adopting means to secure the growing trade of the 
 great West. 
 
 On April 2, 1844, the Board of Directors adopted a 
 resolution calling for an instalment to be paid, on or 
 before May 20, of five dollars a share on all stock 
 of the Company whereon payment already made did 
 not exceed fifteen dollars per share, under the penalty 
 of forfeiture of said stock and of all previous pay- 
 ments thereon, as provided in the charter of the 
 Company. In default of compliance with such call, 
 4,290 shares were forfeited, upon which payments 
 had been made of $48,296.90. 
 
 April 18, 1843, William Baker had been appointed 
 Railroad Commissioner under the act of the Legisla- 
 ture in relation to the New York and Erie Railroad, 
 with various powers and duties, and to report to 
 the Canal Board on the first Tuesday of January of 
 each year. No attention was paid to Mr. Baker by 
 the Company until May, 1843, when the Board of 
 Directors instructed the President to invite him to 
 examine all the books, vouchers, and papers in the 
 office of the Company, to enable him to ascertain all 
 the material transactions of the Company since its 
 first organization, and all its present condition and 
 prospects, so far as to enable him to report to the 
 Directors at their next meeting whether any funds 
 of the Company had been misapplied ; whether any 
 
 officer of the Company had abused his trust ; whether 
 any one was getting too much salary ; what the 
 amount of the indebtedness of the Company was ; 
 whether there were any unwarrantable claims against 
 it ; to examine the assignment and its terms ; how 
 the Eastern Division was being conducted, and 
 whether its officers and agents were receiving too 
 high salaries, and whether any could be dispensed 
 with ; and to make any and every investigation into 
 all the affairs of the Company and report fully and 
 impartially thereon, so that the public confidence 
 might be reassured. 
 
 Baker made a brief and cursory examination of 
 the Company's books, and then went over the route 
 in company with Chief Engineer Brown. In October, 
 
 1843, he wrote a report, which he sent to the Direc- 
 tors. He also submitted it to the Legislature of 1844, 
 something that was entirely voluntary on his part, 
 and not required of him, the Canal Board being the 
 head to which he was to report under the law cre- 
 ating his office. His report critcised the management 
 for certain transactions that had occurred in 1841-42, 
 they being matters entirely out of his province, 
 and with which the existing management had had 
 nothing to do. As the Allen management was to be 
 an applicant before the Legislature of 1844 for favors 
 for the Company, this uncalled-for and untimely 
 deliverance of Commissioner Baker added largely to 
 the already heavy load of trouble, and called forth 
 a strong official protest and disclaimer from President 
 Allen and the Board of Directors, addressed to the 
 President of the Senate and the Speaker of the As- 
 sembly, early in the session. (Assembly Document 
 No. 31, 1844.) 
 
 In behalf of a favorite plan of his. President Allen 
 had a bill drafted to present to the Legislature of 
 
 1844, authorizing the city of New York to submit 
 to popular vote the question of the appropriating 
 by that city of $3,000,000 toward the amount still 
 needed for the completion of the railroad. The 
 Common Council of the city declined to approve of 
 the plan, or to join with the Company in applica- 
 tion to the Legislature for the passage of the bill, 
 and the scheme was reluctantly abandoned. The 
 bill never came before the Legislature. It is a part 
 of the odd and curious in Erie history, and is repro- 
 
70 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 duced here entire, from the only copy of it known to 
 be in existence : 
 
 Proposed Form of an Act to Authorize the City of 
 New York to Subscribe to the Capital Stock of 
 THE New York and Erie Railroad Company. 
 
 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate 
 and Assembly, do enact: 
 
 1. The city of New York (if the electors thereof shall assent 
 thereto in the manner hereinafter provided) may subscribe to 
 the capital stock of the New York and Erie Railroad Com- 
 pany the sum of Three Millions of Dollars, to be exclusively 
 expended in the work hereafter done upon, and materials 
 hereafter furnished to, the said Railroad. 
 
 2. In order to ascertain the wishes of the said electors, in 
 reference to such subscription, the Common Council of said 
 city shall, at the next annual election therein of charter offices, 
 cause to be provided, in each of the election districts of the 
 said city, a ballot box, in which each elector, entitled to vote 
 in that district, may deposit one ballot having either the word 
 " Yes " or the word " No " thereon written or printed. 
 
 3. The ballots so deposited shall be canvassed by the in- 
 spectors of the election, and returned to the county canvassers 
 of said City, and the result by them declared, in the same 
 manner as is prescribed by law in regard to the canvass and 
 return of votes for charter offices. 
 
 4. If upon such canvass it shall appear that a majority of 
 the electors so voting shall have deposited ballots containing 
 the word " Yes," then the corporation of said City shall pro- 
 ceed to borrow Three Millions of Dollars, in twelve suc- 
 cessive sums of two hundred and fifty thousand each, and for 
 that purpose shall issue a public stock to be called the " Erie 
 Railroad Loan of the City of New York," bearing an interest 
 not exceeding six per cent, per annum, payable half yearly, 
 and redeemable at a period not exceeding twenty years from 
 the date of its issue. 
 
 5. Such stock shall be sold, for not less than its par value, 
 in such amounts, and manner, and at such times, as the said 
 Common Council shall prescribe; and all the provisions of 
 the act entitled " An act to regulate the Finances of the City 
 of New York," passed June 8, 1812, which are not inconsis- 
 tent with the provisions of this act, are hereby applied to the 
 said stock. 
 
 6. The said City shall subscribe the said sum of Three Mil- 
 lions of Dollars to the said capital stock, whenever, and as 
 soon as, the said Company shall have furnished evidence satis- 
 factory to the Comptroller of said City, or such other officer 
 as shall be by the said Common Council in that behalf ap- 
 pointed, that a like amount of Three jNIillions of Dollars, has 
 been subscribed, in good faith, by private individuals or bodies 
 corporate or politic. 
 
 7. The said City shall pay the amount of such subscription 
 in instalments of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars each; 
 and shall pay such an instalment of two hundred and fifty 
 thousand dollars, whenever, and as often as, the said Company 
 shall furnish evidence satisfactory to the said Comptroller or 
 other ofiicer in that behalf appointed as aforesaid, that the 
 said Company has received on account of subscription made 
 as aforesaid by private individuals and bodies corporate or 
 politic, and actually expended on the said road, a like amount 
 of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars; until the whole 
 
 of said amount of Three Millions of Dollars shall have been 
 paid. 
 
 8. Each of said instalments of two hundred and fifty thou- 
 sand dollars, shall, in the first instance, be deposited in the city 
 treasury; and shall remain there until drawn out in order to- 
 pay for work done, or materials furnished for the said Railroad;, 
 and before the same shall be drawn out, the said Company 
 shall furnish evidence satisfactory to the said Comptroller or 
 other officers in that behalf appointed as aforesaid, that such, 
 work has been done, and such materials furnished subse- 
 cuently to the passage of this act. 
 
 9. After the said City shall have made the said subscription^ 
 the Mayor, Recorder, and Comptroller, and the President of 
 the Boards of Aldermen and Assistant Aldermen of the said 
 City for the time being shall be ex-officio directors of the 
 said Company in addition to those elected by the stockholders 
 (other than the said City) as provided for in the act incor- 
 porating the said Company, and no vote shall be given to 
 any election of directors upon the stock so subscribed by the 
 said City. 
 
 10. In order to provide for the payment of the interest of 
 the said Erie Railroad Loan, and the redemption of the prin- 
 cipal thereof, the said Common Council shall levy by tax 
 upon the estates, real and personal, of the said City, liable to 
 taxation, one twelfth of one mill upon every dollar of the 
 assessed value of such estates, for every successive amount 
 of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, so to be issued,, 
 and after the interest on such loan shall have been paid out 
 of the proceeds of such tax, the commissioners of the sinking 
 fund of said City shall invest the residue in the purchase of 
 some portion of the stock so issued, or if enough of the same 
 cannot be obtained to absorb such residue then in the purchase 
 of any public stock issued by the said City, and shall keep the 
 same sacred and irrevocably appropriated to the payment of 
 the principal of the said Erie Railroad Loan. 
 
 11. Whenever any dividend shall be received by the said City 
 from the said Company, on the stock so to be subscribed for, 
 the said dividend shall be appropriated to the payment so far 
 as it will go, of the interest falling due in the ensuing year, on 
 the public stock, so to be issued by the said City, and the 
 tax to be levied in that year, in order to provide for the pay- 
 ment of such interest, shall be diminished by an amount equal 
 to such dividend and no more. And there shall be annually 
 provided for by the said City, and irrevocably appropriated 
 to the payment first of the interest, and ultimately of the 
 principal, of the said Erie Railroad Loan, either from divi- 
 dends received from the said Company or by taxation, for 
 every two hundred and fifty thousand dollars of such public 
 stock which shall be issued by the said City, an amount equal 
 to one-twelfth of one mill on the whole property, real and 
 personal, in the said City liable to taxation. 
 
 12. Such annual tax shall be continued until either the said 
 Railroad Loan shall have been paid in full; or the annual divi- 
 dends received by the said City, from the said Company on 
 the stock so to be subscribed for, shall be equal to ten per 
 cent, per annum on its par value; or the State shall elect to 
 purchase the said Railroad, under the provisions of the act 
 entitled: An act in relation to the construction of the New 
 York and Erie Railroad, passed April 18, 1843. 
 
 13. All dividends which the said City shall receive from 
 the said Company, and all proceeds received by the said City, 
 for its stock so to be subscribed for, should the said Railroad 
 be purchased by the People of this State, under the provisions 
 of the act above referred to, are hereby specifically pledged 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 71 
 
 and irrevocably appropriated to the payment of the interest 
 -and redemption on the principal of the said Erie Railroad 
 Loan, until the same shall have been paid in full. 
 
 14. The said City shall have no power to alienate or part 
 with any portion of the stock so to be subscribed for, unless 
 the said Railroad shall be sold to the people of this State, 
 under the provisions of the act above referred to, and then 
 said stock may be surrendered to the said Company, on the 
 receipt of a corresponding portion of the proceeds of such 
 sale, and after the said Erie Railroad Loan shall have been 
 paid, in full with all interest, that shall accrue thereon, then 
 all dividends which the said City shall receive from the said 
 Company, shall be appropriated to such purpose as the Com- 
 mon Council of said City shall from time to time direct. 
 
 15. This act shall take eflfect immediately. 
 
 The plan to have the city of New York take 
 $3,000,000 of the stock by popular loan thus having 
 failed, President Allen, in a long address made public 
 April II, 1844, and signed by the entire Board, sub- 
 mitted another plan for raising the required capital. 
 The subscription books were to be opened and sub- 
 scriptions received to the amount of $6,000,000, ten 
 per cent, to be paid within twenty days after the 
 books were closed, and subsequent instalments as 
 they might be called for. The conditions of the 
 plan were that the entire amount should be sub- 
 scribed between the first day of March and the first 
 day of August, 1844 ; that the instalments should 
 not exceed 33^^ per cent, per annum ; that when 
 dividends should be declared, payments of them 
 should be deferred on 75 per cent, of the stock held 
 prior to March i, 1844, until a dividend of 6 per 
 cent, had been declared on the stock subscribed for 
 subsequent to that date, and previous to August i ; 
 that when the net earnings should exceed the amount 
 necessary to pay such dividends on the new stock, 
 the excess should be appropriated to dividends on 
 the old stock ; and that when dividends on old stock 
 should amount to six per cent., the old and new 
 stock should be put on a par, and all distinction 
 between them thereafter to cease. 
 
 To awaken interest in this new effort to put Erie 
 on its feet, a call, signed by a hundred or more of the 
 representative business men of New York City of 
 that day, was issued for a meeting of citizens to be 
 held at that city, in the Tabernacle, on the evening 
 of October 18, 1844. The meeting is reported to 
 have been large and enthusiastic. George Griswold 
 presided, and there was a long list of distinguished 
 
 vice-presidents and secretaries, the former being 
 James Harper, John A. King, Thomas Suffern, C. 
 W. Lawrence, James Donaldson, William Tucker, 
 James Boorman, Robert Smith, Gardner G. How- 
 land, Samuel Allen, Moses Taylor, John H. Hicks, 
 J. De Peyster Ogden, P. S. Van Renssalaer, Jacob 
 Little, R. J. Carman, and William Burns, and the 
 latter being Charles McVean, James Kelley, Charles 
 Dennison, Isaac Townsend, and Charles P. Brown. 
 Thus was the best of the business and financial in- 
 terests of the metropolis represented at this meet- 
 ing. Addresses that seemed absolutely convincing 
 were made by Joseph Blunt, M. C. Patterson, and 
 others, among them William B. Ogden of Chicago, 
 and from the enthusiasm manifested the Erie man- 
 agers, if present, must have felt that the completion 
 of the railroad was certainly assured. A committee 
 was appointed to solicit subscriptions under the 
 Allen plan, but investors declined to respond to the 
 appeals of the committee, if any such appeals were 
 made. 
 
 It having thus become apparent that popular sub- 
 scription would not provide the funds for complet- 
 ing the railroad, the Allen management formulated 
 a plan, the main features of which were that 200 
 persons should undertake to furnish the required 
 capital of $6,000,000, on condition that priority of 
 dividend at 7 per cent, per annum be secured to the 
 holders of the new stock, and that fourteen per cent, 
 per annum should be the interest to be paid by 
 the State of New York in case it should elect to 
 purchase the railroad when it was completed. This 
 failed, also, although, on the authority of a state- 
 ment made by the Allen management on retiring 
 from the direction of Erie affairs, a larger amount 
 had been subscribed on that basis than on any other. 
 
 Disappointed in the result of their measures for 
 obtaining capital by private subscription to the stock 
 of the Company, the attention of the Board was 
 next directed to the resources supposed to be placed 
 at their command by the act of 1843, By that act 
 the right to issue bonds to the amount of $3,000,000 
 was granted, and the State lien against the Company 
 was to be waived for that object. By means of 
 the bonds so authorized it was proposed to raise 
 $500,000 for the purpose of extending the road to 
 
72 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Port Jervis, a distance of about twenty miles beyond 
 Middletovvn, where its termination then was. It 
 was ascertained that the money could probably be 
 raised In the manner proposed, if the act would 
 make good the security offered. That the character 
 of the security might be satisfactorily established the 
 question was submitted to legal counsel, from whom 
 the opinion was received that the waiver of the State 
 lien was made dependent on the completion of the 
 road in seven years from the date of the act, and 
 that so far as that event was uncertain, there would 
 be a corresponding risk to the bondholders. In view 
 of this opinion, it was evident to the management 
 that the bonds could not be sold, and the measure 
 was therefore abandoned. 
 
 Thus, all its efforts to raise money for the renewal 
 of the work having come to naught, it was evident 
 that the Allen management was powerless to lift the 
 Company out of its pressing difficulties, and at the 
 annual meeting of the stockholders at New York, 
 October 23, 1844, Allen and his Board resigned, a 
 new Board was elected, and Eleazar Lord was unan- 
 imously chosen to take the direction of Erie affairs 
 for the third time. The members of the new Board 
 were George Griswold, Jacob Little, John C. Green, 
 James Harper, Eleazar Lord, Paul Spofford, Stewart 
 C. Marsh, Henry L. Pierson, Henry Sheldon, C. M. 
 Leupp, J. W. Alsop, Silas Brown, Robert L. Crooke 
 (and Sidney Brooks, who declined), of New York 
 City, and Daniel S. Dickinson of Broome County, 
 A. S. Diven of Allegany County, and Elijah Risley 
 of Chautauqua County. 
 
 The retiring Board, in a pessimistic address to the 
 stockholders, said that it was aware that views were 
 entertained by some of the earnest friends of the 
 road that were entirely opposed to the position 
 taken by the Board, that the work should not be 
 resumed on private subscription, unless the means 
 of its completion were fully provided. " It may be 
 contended," the address declared, " that with a sub- 
 scription of one or two millions the road could have 
 been so far carried forward, that its completion 
 would have been secured almost as soon as by a full 
 subscription at this time. The Board believes that 
 a sum sufficiently large to make it judicious to com- 
 mence the work at all could not have been obtained 
 
 on the principle alluded to." The confidence that 
 the Board expressed, when it took charge of the 
 Company, that remunerating dividends would be 
 paid to persons subscribing to the stock (so this ad- 
 dress explained), rested solely on the completion of 
 the railroad to Lake Erie, and that therefore it could 
 not, consistently with its view of responsibility to 
 subscribers to the stock, ask for their subscriptions 
 on a principle that left that event in great uncer- 
 tainty. " The contingency may not be very great," 
 the address declared, " and by some may even be 
 considered small, but it has been deemed by the 
 Board of sufficient magnitude to involve a responsi- 
 bility which they do not feel themselves called on to 
 assume." Referring to the lien which the State had 
 on the entire property of the Company, the address 
 said that there was no resource which could be relied 
 upon as a means of insuring the construction of the 
 road, and comply with the stipulations of the act 
 to the completion of certain portions in assigned 
 periods. "Attention is called to this position, so 
 that if it be found to be correct, those who are here- 
 after intrusted with the management of the interests 
 of the Company may at an early day take the meas- 
 ures which it renders necessary. The Board are of 
 opinion that unless the State will agree so to amend 
 the act as to allow the property of the Company to 
 be pledged as security for the expenditure of new 
 capital on the extension of the road from place to 
 place as circumstances permit, there is little reason 
 to believe that any efficient measures can be taken 
 at present for the extension and ultimate completion 
 of the road." 
 
 The net earnings of the railroad for the three years 
 it had been in operation were reported as follows, 
 with the remark that they " presented a very en- 
 couraging rate of increase." For the year ending 
 September 30, 1842, $31,224; same period, 1843, 
 $43,815; same period, 1844, $58,673. 
 
 The following curious report was submitted dur- 
 ing the Maxwell administration. It is interesting as 
 showing that the Company was carrying the United 
 States mail at that early day, and was being paid for 
 it — how much the report does not show. The "Mid- 
 dletown Association" referred to was the associa- 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 72, 
 
 tion of citizens of Middletown, N. Y., that had 
 completed the railroad between Goshen and that 
 place, for which they were being reimbursed from 
 the earnings of the railroad between the two places: 
 
 Total Receipts and Disbursements from April i6, 1842, 
 Date of Assignment, to August 31, 1843. 
 
 RECEIPTS. 
 
 From freight $82,886 09 
 
 From passengers, including mail 64,446 52 
 
 $147,332 61 
 
 Transportation abstract complete.-. . . . : 
 
 Construction abstract complete 
 
 Charged to assignees 
 
 Paid I. Newton, for steamboat line (in 
 
 accruing abstracts) 
 
 Paid sundry vouchers, incomplete.... 
 
 Paid on July abstracts 
 
 Middletown Association: 
 On acct. labor pay roll.. $743 96 
 On acct. passenger earn- 
 ings 829 46 — 
 
 Balance per cash book 
 
 594,734 58 
 19,360 4S 
 16,898 00 
 
 6,591 40 
 1,026 66 
 5,853 92 
 
 1,573 42 
 1,294.38 
 
 Total amount receipts as above $147,332 61 
 
 Amount on hand $1,294 38 
 
 In addition, stage money 109 13 
 
 Cash items, and cash received, not entered until 
 
 September 318 46 
 
 Account, Dr., balance cash $1,721 97 
 
 Cash advanced account of services.... $780 69 
 
 Assets available on cash 265 84 
 
 Assets not available on cash 27083 
 
 Due from Middletown, cash 100 31 
 
 Specie and copper 97 30 
 
 Bank notes 20700— $1,72197 
 
 A. Main, Cashier. 
 Piermont, Sept. I, 1843. 
 
 With the year 1844 the Company began the mak- 
 ing of regular annual reports. Following was the 
 condition of the Company and its railroad according 
 to the report for that year, filed January 27, 1845: 
 
 REPORT FOR THE YEAR 1844. 
 
 Length of road in operation, 53 miles. 
 Expenditures upon the whole road, omitting loss 
 on State Stock, and including present indebt- 
 edness to contractors not fully settled $4,750,000 00 
 
 Income from passengers 46,178 84 
 
 Income from freight and other sources 79,841 60 
 
 No. of through passengers 11,976^^ 
 
 No. of way passengers 68,044 
 
 Receipts from through passengers 15,572 43 
 
 Receipts from way passengers 30,606 41 
 
 Expenses for repairing and running the road. . 66,945 0° 
 
 Expenses for construction 12,434 77 
 
 E. PiERSON, Secretary. 
 
 (The equipment of the railroad, and full statistics 
 of its physical condition, for this year and all subse- 
 quent years of the Company's history, will be found 
 in a tabulated exhibit on page 483). 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THIRD ADMINISTRATION OF ELEAZAR LORD— 1844 AND 1845. 
 
 Optimism Succeeds Pessimism — Mr. Lord Sees Nothing Discouraging in the Situation — He Tells the Public that it is only Necessary to 
 Raise Money, which will be Easy — Thinks the Act of 1843 does not Offer Doubtful Security for Erie Bonds, but is Rather an Eli- 
 gible Reliance — Probable Reason why New York had Always Disregarded Appeals for Aid to the Erie Project — The Public Share 
 the Late Management's Opinion of the Act of 1843, and Decline to Invest — Mr. Lord becomes of the Same Opinion, Resumes Work, 
 and Asks the Legislature to Modify the Bonding Act — Story of how the Needed Legislation was held up until the Company Agreed 
 to Build a Railroad to Newburgh — Trouble over the Change of Route through Sullivan County,-and Eleazar Lord Retires, to Interest 
 Himself no more in the Building of the Railroad. 
 
 The cheerful, confident, assuring words with which 
 Eleazar Lord greeted the situation were in marked 
 contrast to the hopeless, melancholy strain that 
 dominated the farewell address of the Allen man- 
 agement. Lord prepared an address intended par- 
 ticularly to appeal to the interests of New York City 
 in the Company's prospects, and it was made public 
 immediately on his taking charge of Erie affairs 
 again, and while people were still discussing the pes- 
 simistic deliverance of the late management. He 
 declared, in strong language, that it was the influ- 
 ence of those concerned in "the northern route" 
 that had defeated all the efforts the New York and 
 Erie Railroad Company had made toward complet- 
 ing its railroad — the "northern route" being the 
 chain of railroads then being constructed between 
 Albany and Buffalo, in conjunction with the pro- 
 posed railroad on the east side of the Hudson River, 
 all now included in the New York Central Railroad 
 system. The American Railroad Journal, which had 
 been a stanch supporter of the Erie project from the 
 start, took President Lord and the Directors severely 
 to task for this assertion. " What is the use," wrote 
 the editor, " of declaring war against ' the more 
 northern route to the lakes,' and exciting the hos- 
 tility of the Central counties from Albany to Buffalo, 
 and of the counties on the eastern bank of the Hud- 
 son? We have never heard it hinted that the appeal 
 of the late Board to the public last spring failed from 
 any opposition created by the friends of ' the more 
 northern route to the lakes,' and we doubt whether 
 any such influence will be exerted against the pres- 
 
 ent address, notwithstanding its — as we believe — 
 unfair, and certainly unfortunate, insinuations. It is 
 less wounding to our self-love to ascribe our failures 
 to the machinations of rivals, real or supposed, than 
 to our own incapacity. The present Board, that is, 
 the acting portion of the Directors, have long con- 
 trolled the management of the New York and Erie 
 Railroad, and we would venture to suggest the bare 
 possibility that some part of their present difficulties 
 may be owing to the circumstance that their past 
 course has not been quite as satisfactory to the pub- 
 lic, and especially to the stockholders, as it appears 
 to have been to themselves." 
 
 It is difificult for one at this day, contemplating 
 the situation of the Erie project at the period of its 
 existence now under review, to comprehend the con- 
 duct of its New York City sponsors toward it. The 
 railroad had been projected with the avowed purpose 
 of making it a means to the establishing of that city 
 for all time as the center of the trade of the entire 
 country, by giving it such communication with the 
 growing West and such superior means of transpor- 
 tation to and from the marts contiguous to and be- 
 yond the great lakes, and to and from the valleys of 
 the Ohio and Mississippi, as neither Boston, Phila- 
 delphia, or Baltimore, the active and progressive 
 rivals of New York in the struggle for commercial 
 supremacy, could hope to secure ; yet there is no 
 record, in all of the reports of the ostensibly earnest 
 endeavors of the conspicuous citizens of the metro- 
 polis who had charge of the affairs of Erie from the 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 75 
 
 start, of any effort or expressed desire on their part 
 to have the railroad begin at, or even near. New 
 York, so that the proposed chief object of the un- 
 dertaking could have some chance of being attained. 
 We have seen how this great point was overlooked 
 and unheeded when the magnificent opportunity of 
 the proposed Erie-Harlem alliance was presented to 
 the arbiters of Erie affairs in 1841, and no successor 
 of those men, while the opportunity still might have 
 been grasped, or some other starting place for the 
 railroad in better keeping with its avowed object 
 might have been secured, appeared to be capable of 
 discovering what the trouble was with the Erie that 
 it had not obtained the confidence and support of 
 the people of New York City. 
 
 It would seem, considered from the standpoint of 
 the present, that those people, judging of its im- 
 portance by the proceedings of the men at its head, 
 were unable to regard the undertaking seriously — 
 hence their indifference to appeals to them for aid 
 toward the work of building the railroad. In this 
 address of Mr. Lord, therefore, there was something 
 new for the New York public to consider. For the 
 first time reference was made to the railroad as 
 eventually to terminate at New York City. " It is 
 known and felt by the friends of this work in every 
 successive Legislature," said Mr. Lord in his ad- 
 dress, " that its benefits are to center and be real- 
 ized chiefly in this metropolis, the interests of which 
 in that behalf were so carefully guarded in the char- 
 ter, by the provisions which confine it within the 
 limits of the State, and contemplate its approaching 
 on the east side of the Hudson, and traversing the 
 whole length of the city." And yet, at that very 
 time, the projectors of a rival railroad, which Presi- 
 dent Lord so vigorously denounced, were preempt- 
 ing " the east side of the Hudson " for their rail- 
 road, and slowly but surely destroying the only 
 remaining opportunity the Erie had of getting into 
 N-ew York City, where " its benefits were to center 
 and be chiefly realized." 
 
 We may, therefore, undoubtedly be permitted to 
 assume that to this strange indisposition to the estab- 
 lishing of its terminus " at or near New York " was 
 due the fact that the people of that city had not 
 been enthusiastic in the support of the New York 
 
 and Erie Railroad. We have the authority of this 
 address of Mr. Lord that up to November i, 1844, 
 New York City had contributed less than $400,000 
 in aid of the construction of the road, while the 
 people of the interior counties had paid $1,200,000 
 toward it. President Lord, therefore, made a special 
 and strong appeal to the citizens of the metropolis 
 to come forward and help the Company out of its 
 difficulties. He presented a statement of the con- 
 dition of its affairs and of the road as an inducement 
 for people to seek the Company's securities as an 
 investment of rare value. 
 
 To complete the entire line of road six millions of 
 dollars was deemed necessary and sufficient. Mr. 
 Lord took a view entirely opposite to that of his 
 immediate predecessor, and held that " toward this 
 sum the bonds legally authorized are an eligible and 
 safe reliance for three millions." He believed it to 
 be quite safe to rely upon the interior counties for 
 further aid to the amount of one million, so that to 
 insure the immediate progress and early accomplish- 
 ment of the entire work a subscription of two mil- 
 lions of dollars only was required. With such a 
 subscription, the address declared that the Boara 
 would have no hesitation in proceeding with the 
 work, in the confidence that no further call upon the 
 citizens of the city would be necessary. 
 
 Believing this to be the smallest amount that 
 would give to the stockholders confidence of success 
 to render their subscriptions safe as an investment, 
 and that subscriptions to that amount would not be 
 deemed impracticable or out of proportion for New 
 York City, Mr. Lord proposed to " give notice in 
 due form within a few days comprising substantially 
 the following conditions: i. That books of sub- 
 scription to the capital stock will be opened for two 
 millions of dollars ; the option being reserved by 
 the Board of accepting such further subscriptions as 
 may be made prior to the first day of April, 1845. 
 2. That if two millions and no further sums should 
 be subscribed by that date, the Board will rely on 
 subscriptions for one million in the interior counties, 
 so as to make an aggregate of three millions, which, 
 with the like amount of bonds, as authorized by 
 the Legislature, is deemed sufficient to complete the 
 road from the Hudson to the lake in such time and 
 
76 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 manner as to secure all the benefits of the law of 
 April, 1843. 3- That an instalment of $5 per share 
 be called at the pleasure of the Board after the first 
 day of January, 1845, and that subsequent instal- 
 ments be restricted to $20 per share in 1845 ; $3° in 
 1846; and $45 in 1847. 4- That as an equitable, 
 and, under existing circumstances, an expedient 
 measure, interest at the rate of six per cent, per 
 annum be allowed on all the instalments on the 
 stock which shall be subscribed from the dates of 
 the respective payments until the whole line of the 
 road from the Hudson to Lake Erie shall be put 
 in operation ; and that the same be liquidated and 
 paid yearly on the first day of January." Mr. Lord 
 dwelt on the earning capacity of the railroad that 
 would follow its extension beyond Middletown, bas- 
 ing his calculation on what it was then earning — 
 $58,000 a year; called attention to the fact that the 
 two years which the bonding act of 1843 gave the 
 Company to resume work in order to save the road 
 from sale under the State lien would expire with the 
 coming April, then less than six months off; and re- 
 ferred to the advantages of the act of 1843, provided 
 the Company should not fail to avail itself of them 
 by obtaining funds and resuming work. 
 
 This appeal for funds, however, and the plan offered 
 by President Lord, did not have the desired effect. In 
 spite of his positive assurance that bonds issued un- 
 der the act of 1843 would be " an eligible and safe 
 reliance," investors chose to take the doubtful view 
 of the value of such a security that the Allen man- 
 agement had expressed, and declined to risk their 
 money. This led Mr. Lord, if not to change his 
 opinion about the sufficiency of the law, to adopt the 
 popular view of it and act accordingly. He raised 
 enough money among his personal friends to protect 
 certain of the old contracts made for work on the 
 railroad beyond Middletown, and in December, i8zt4, 
 contracted for the grading and masonry of fifteen 
 miles of the railroad between Middletown and Port 
 Jervis. This work was begun in time to save the 
 sale, and thus two years more of tenure, at any rate, 
 were insured to the New York and Erie Railroad 
 Company. Mr. Lord notified the Legislature for 
 1845 of this resumption of work, and asked that the 
 rehef act of 1843 be modified so that the Company 
 
 might make it available. Such a law was passed. 
 That it was passed, however, and impending disaster 
 to the New York and Erie Railroad averted, was 
 due to collateral issues entirely, which thus become 
 an important and interesting part of the Story of 
 Erie. 
 
 Up to the time of the completion of the Erie 
 Canal, in 1825, Newburgh, N. Y., by reason of her 
 boating facilities on the Hudson River, and through 
 a system of turnpike roads which brought her in 
 direct communic ,tion with New Jersey, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and New York State, and as far west as the 
 " Lake Country," was the most important commer- 
 cial center between New York and Albany, and had 
 been such for many years. The canal diverted much 
 of Newburgh's western trade, but the place still re- 
 tained its ascendancy as the distributing point of the 
 commerce of Northern New Jersey and Pennsylvania 
 and Southern New York until the Delaware and 
 Hudson Canal was opened in 1829. Although this 
 canal was constructed by a private corporation, pri- 
 marily for the purpose of transporting that corpora- 
 tion's own coal to market, its facilities made it to 
 such a great extent a common carrier that the trade 
 of a wide area of country that had long been con- 
 trolled by Newburgh soon discovered the advan- 
 tages of this canal as a means of transportation, and 
 its outlet to market and the inlet of its commercial 
 exchanges was removed from Newburgh to Ron- 
 dout. Although Newburgh still commanded the 
 trade of a community large enough to provide ample 
 business for several lines of sloops, that class of craft 
 being employed almost exclusively in transportation 
 on the Hudson River at that time, she was far from 
 content to occupy a place of importance secondary 
 to that of the tide-water terminus of the Delaware 
 and Hudson Canal, which the increasing favor with 
 which anthracite coal was being received in the 
 market was destined to carry to a position of great 
 prominence in the commercial world. To regain the 
 prestige she had lost, and to rise to new and greater 
 business eminence, Newburgh decided that there 
 could be no better means than the connecting of 
 herself with the Pennsylvania coal fields by a rail- 
 road. Acting on this decision, which was reached 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 n 
 
 jat a public meeting of citizens held in the fall of 
 
 1829, the Legislature was applied to for a charter 
 incorporating the Hudson and Delaware Railroad 
 Company. The charter was granted on April 30, 
 
 1830. Thomas Powell, whose son-in-law, Homer 
 Ramsdell, subsequently became a power in New 
 York and Erie affairs; Christopher Reeve, David 
 Crawford, Joshua Conger, John P. DeWint, Charles 
 Borland, John Forsyth, and William Walsh were 
 named as the incorporators of the company. The 
 capital of the company was placed at $500,000, 
 with power to increase it to $1,000,000, and it had 
 authority to construct a railroad from any point in 
 the village of Newburgh through the county of 
 Orange to the Delaware River, with three years in 
 which to begin work upon it. Just how a railroad 
 from Newburgh to the Delaware River was to con- 
 nect the former place with the coal regions does not 
 appear, for from the nearest point where it might 
 have reached the Delaware River in Orange County 
 the coal regions were sixty miles distant, with any 
 number of high and forbidding ranges of hills inter- 
 vening. But whatever might have been the supple- 
 mental intentions of the projectors of this railroad, 
 they were never made known, for, although sub- 
 scription books were opened to give Newburgh and 
 other Orange County citizens an opportunity to con- 
 tribute money toward building the Hudson and Dela- 
 ware Railroad, the three years' life of the charter 
 passed away before a beginning was made, and Ron- 
 dout remained the tide-water terminus of the anthra- 
 cite coal trade. 
 
 It was not until 1835, after the New York and 
 Erie Railroad project had been nearly four years in 
 getting any kind of a start, that Newburgh awoke 
 to the fact that the time was probably ripe for her to 
 become a railroad terminus. Differences had come 
 among the men who had been instrumental in carry- 
 ing the New York and Erie scheme to public notice. 
 Some of these were not in favor of having the East- 
 ern terminus of the railroad at Tappan Slote, among 
 them the President of the Company, James G. King, 
 and his friends in the Board of Directors. The New- 
 burgh people had received a hint from King or his 
 friends in the Board, it was alleged, that the situa- 
 tion was such that it might avail them much if they 
 
 should make an effort to have their village selected 
 as the Eastern terminus of the New York and Erie 
 Railroad. It was also alleged that to give New- 
 burgh a chance to obtain legislation that would 
 secure that end, contracts were let and work was 
 begun on the New York and Erie Railroad in the 
 Delaware Valley, in November, 1835, instead of at 
 some point on the Eastern section of the proposed 
 route. 
 
 Soon after work was begun on the Erie between 
 Deposit and Callicoon, the people of Newburgh, 
 moving, it was alleged, on the hint they had received, 
 took decisive action. At a public meeting held at the 
 Orange Hotel on the evening of November 30, 1835, 
 to discuss the course Newburgh ought properly to 
 take on the question of the proposed appeal of the 
 New York and Erie Railroad Company to the State 
 for aid, that course was clearly seen, and the meeting 
 unanimously resolved that the people of Newburgh 
 would unite in the petition that the State should 
 become a subscriber to the Company's stock. They 
 also united in a petition for a charter for a railroad 
 from Newburgh to the Delaware River, pledging 
 their liberal support to the building of such a road. 
 This railroad, according to a resolution under which 
 a committee was appointed to confer with the Direct- 
 ors of the New York and Erie Railroad Company, 
 was designed to be a portion of the railroad of that 
 Company, and was to be the means through which 
 the efforts of the people of that vicinity were " to 
 be united with that (the Erie) Company in the suc- 
 cessful prosecution of the project for constructing a 
 railroad from Lake Erie to the Hudson River." 
 
 The struggle for the Eastern terminus of the New 
 York and Erie Railroad that followed was not long, 
 but it was a fierce one. New York City opposed 
 the Newburgh terminus because it left the railroad 
 too far from the metropolis. The Newburgh route 
 would also have left Middletown, Goshen, and all 
 of Southern Orange County, and Rockland County, 
 without a railroad. The claims of Newburgh were 
 not sufficient to overcome the great opposition the 
 proposed change aroused, and Tappan Slote was 
 officially selected by the Board of Directors of the 
 Company as the Eastern terminus of the New York 
 and Erie Railroad. But the men who had taken up 
 
78 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 the cudgel for Newburgh in the matter of securing a 
 railroad for her did not surrender when defeated in 
 their efforts to get the Erie terminus on her docks. 
 If the New York and Erie Railroad would not come 
 to them, they would go to the New York and Erie 
 Railroad, and trust to future circumstances to adjust 
 matters advantageously. Consequently, on April 
 21, 1836, the charter of the Hudson and Delaware 
 Railroad Company was renewed by the Legislature, 
 with David Crawford, Thomas Powell, Christopher 
 Reeve, Oliver Davis, John Forsyth, Joshua Conger, 
 David Ruggles, and Benjamin Carpenter as incor- 
 porators of the company, which was organized June 
 15, 1836, by the election of the following Board of 
 Directors : Thomas Powell, John Forsyth, David 
 Crawford, Benjamin Carpenter, John P. DeWint, 
 John Ledyard, Christopher Reeve, Gilbert O. Fow- 
 ler, James G. Clinton, Nathaniel Dubois, Samuel G. 
 Sweden, David W. Bate, and Oliver Davis. Thomas 
 Powell was made President; David W. Bate, Vice- 
 President; John Ledyard, Treasurer; and James G. 
 Clinton, Secretary. A route for the proposed rail- 
 road was surveyed by John M. Sargeant. It ex- 
 tended from the Newburgh water front southwest 
 thirty-eight miles to the New Jersey State line. 
 Money sufificient being raised, a section of the road- 
 bed between Newburgh and Washingtonville was 
 put under contract, and ground was broken Novem- 
 ber 3, 1836, amid great public rejoicing. Newburgh 
 village, through its trustees, subscribed to $150,000 
 worth of the company's stock in 1838, and paid in 
 $10,000 of the amount. This amount and all the 
 rest of the funds the company had raised were ex- 
 hausted before the grading on the first contract was 
 completed, and work was discontinued. 
 
 In 1840, what might be called the anti-Newburgh 
 influence in the New York and Erie Railroad project 
 having come into entire control of that Company, 
 through the miscarriage of the efforts of those previ- 
 ously at the head of its affairs to make any material 
 progress with the work, the people of Newburgh 
 came forward again with an effort to save their 
 chances for connecti' n with that railroad. Con- 
 tracts had been let and work begun on the Eastern 
 section of the road between Piermont and Goshen, 
 but the financial management of the Company had 
 
 not served to inspire the investing public with a 
 degree of confidence sufificient to command further 
 contributions from it, and the State was to be again 
 asked to extend a helping hand. In this crisis New- 
 burgh thought she saw her opportunity. A public 
 meeting of her citizens was held on March 4, 1840, 
 and significant resolutions, to be presented to the 
 consideration of the Legislature, were adopted. In 
 substance, these resolutions declared that if any 
 further aid was to be extended to the New York 
 and Erie Railroad Company, the expenditure of the 
 money should be made under the more immediate 
 supervision of the State, and upon the Middle and 
 Western sections of the road, where connection could 
 be made with existing internal improvements and 
 yield immediate profit, which could not be effected 
 by constructing the Eastern end of the road first, as 
 was then being done; and, further, that no more aid 
 be given the Company by the State unless it be 
 accompanied by the legislative requirement that a 
 branch of the railroad, to terminate at Newburgh, 
 should be constructed as part of the work then in 
 hand. But this effort also failed of its purpose, and 
 Newburgh was obliged to see additional large and 
 profitable sources of her trade turned into another 
 direction by the opening of the railroad between 
 Piermont and Goshen in September, 1841. 
 
 Circumstances did not again offer opportunity for 
 Newburgh to move with any show of success toward 
 securing her coveted railroad connection until 1845, 
 when the New York and Erie Railroad Company 
 came forward again as a supplicant for State aid in 
 the Legislature, as we have seen. The Erie ques- 
 tion was complicated by the fact that, besides the 
 relief applied for, the matter of a change of the route 
 of the railroad in Sullivan County and between De- 
 posit and Binghamton was one to be considered and 
 acted upon by the Legislature at the same time. 
 The opposition to this in the localities to be affected 
 by the proposed change was led by influential men 
 in the politics of the State, and the manner and 
 methods of the representatives of the Company at 
 Albany in efforts to bring about favorable action 
 thereon by the Legislature had not popularized the 
 measure in that body. Then, again, a United States 
 Senator was to be chosen, and a leading candidate 
 
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THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 79 
 
 for the office was from a part of the State particu- 
 larly interested in the affairs of Erie then under dis- 
 cussion. This was Daniel S. Dickinson of Bingham- 
 ton. The interests of those demanding a change of 
 the Erie route were in the hands of Alexander S. 
 Diven and Maj. Thompson S. Brown, the latter the 
 Chief Engineer of the Company. The President of 
 the Company, Eleazar Lord, and his friends in the 
 Board, were not in favor of the change in route, but 
 were eager for some measure that would rescue Erie 
 from the difficulties that threatened to overwhelm 
 it. Taken all in all, the situation in the New York 
 Legislature for the session of 1845 was peculiarly 
 one for log-rolling and the making of combinations 
 dear to the heart of the legislator and the politician. 
 Robert Denniston of Salisbury Mills, Orange County, 
 on the line of the long-sought-for railroad from New- 
 burgh toward the Pennsylvania coal fields, repre- 
 sented that district in the State Senate. Thorn- 
 ton M. Niven of Newburgh was a member of the 
 Assembly. They were Democrats, and the Legis- 
 lature was Democratic. They were not only astute 
 and influential politicians, but they were alert, and 
 watchful of the interests of Newburgh. They were 
 not committed in favor of or against a change of 
 the Erie route, for or against measures for the Com- 
 pany's relief, nor to any particular candidate for 
 United States Senator. But they were solid and 
 determined in the matter of enhancing Newburgh's 
 welfare, and no opportunity escaped them. The 
 situation in the Legislature was their great oppor- 
 tunity. Assemblyman Niven was one of the ablest 
 and most popular men in the lower house, and he 
 wielded great influence there. He was able to either 
 hinder or forward the plans of the Erie in the matter 
 of a bill giving it its desired relief, for the feeling in 
 the Legislature toward the Erie was far from friendly. 
 The Company was not asking at Albany authority 
 to construct a branch railroad from its main line to 
 Newburgh, as it had more on its hands then than it 
 could see its way entirely clear to accomplish, even 
 if reenforced by the legislation it was seeking, but 
 the Newburgh legislators were resolved that the 
 Company should have such authority and agree to 
 build such a railroad or fail in its appeal for relief. 
 The result was that the Company was obliged to 
 
 enter into an agreement with them, or rather with 
 the Hudson and Delaware Railroad Company (the 
 Newburgh corporation whose charter had been so 
 often revived), by which the New York and Erie 
 Railroad Company bound itself to take a transfer 
 of all the rights, franchises, and possessions of the 
 Hudson and Delaware Railroad Company, to pay 
 " not less than $40,000 " for the same, and to build 
 a branch railroad, " the condition of the building of 
 the branch road being the passage in the Legislature 
 of the Erie relief bill and a bill incorporating the 
 Newburgh Branch Railroad, and the subscribing by 
 the Hudson and Delaware Railroad Company of 
 $140,000 to the capital stock of the New York and 
 Erie Railroad Company, the work on the branch to 
 progress as rapidly as, and simultaneously with, the 
 work on the main line, until $300,000 had been ex- 
 pended on the branch. If that sum was. not suffi- 
 cient to complete it, the Hudson and Delaware Com- 
 pany should provide the balance necessary to finish 
 the work." This agreement was prepared at the in- 
 stigation of Thomas Powell, Homer Ramsdell, and 
 others of Newburgh, and was signed March 19, 1845. 
 An act authorizing the Erie to construct the New- 
 burgh Branch became a law April 8, 1845, ^"d an act 
 granting relief to the Erie, so that work on the main 
 line might be carried forward, became a law May 
 14th. The Erie was reorganized, and the Newburgh 
 Branch was the first work put under contract under 
 the new order of things. But before this new order 
 of things came to pass, the Company was to experi- 
 ence much more of trial and tribulation. 
 
 This relief bill released the Company from all 
 liability to the State, provided it should construct a 
 railroad with a single track from the Hudson River 
 to Lake Erie, within six years from the date of the 
 act. It authorized the issue of $3,000,000 of bonds 
 in liquidation of the State lien, on condition that 
 a subscription to the Company's capital stock of 
 $3,000,000 should be obtained within a year and a 
 half, and twenty-five per cent, be collected thereon 
 and expended in construction of the railroad, and 
 the real estate of the Company be discharged from 
 all incumbrances, the bonds to have priority over all 
 other liens, and the annual interest upon them from 
 the date of their issue to the time fixed for the com- 
 
8o 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 pletion of the road to be deposited with the State 
 Comptroller. The act provided for an agent to be 
 nominated by the Railroad Company, with the 
 approval of the Governor, and to give a bond of 
 $50,000, and whose duty it would be to assure faith- 
 ful appropriation of the bonds. The State reserved 
 the privilege of purchasing the railroad within one 
 year after completion, on repayment of its cost and 
 fourteen per cent, additional. The existing stock- 
 holders were not to be subject to the law unless 
 they should within six months from its passage ex- 
 change two shares of old for one of new stock. The 
 Company was required to pay to the State dividends 
 that might accrue on any unexchanged stock, until 
 such dividends should be sufficient to pay off a pro- 
 portionate amount of the State lien, or the whole 
 amount of outstanding stock on that lien, which lien 
 was equal to about double the stock. The act also 
 provided for the examination into the merits of the 
 case regarding a change of route. This was really 
 the most consistent and business-like provision that 
 had been devised for the advancement of the New 
 York and Erie Railroad since the Company was 
 formed more than ten years before. 
 
 Hon. Ausburn Birdsall, in his " Reminiscences of 
 Binghamton," published in the Binghamton Demo- 
 crat, contributes an interesting chapter on the inside 
 history of the Erie Relief Bill: " On the first day of 
 March, 1845," he writes, " I received a letter from 
 Alexander S. Diven, from Albany, requesting me to 
 come to Albany, at once, to aid in securing favor- 
 able legislation in behalf of the Erie Railroad. Mr. 
 Diven, as the agent of the Company, and Major 
 Brown, its Chief Engineer, had been in Albany dur- 
 ing the session thus far, but had been unable to 
 make any progress in their efforts to secure the leg- 
 islation they desired. They knew I had spent the 
 earlier part of the session at Albany as the confiden- 
 tial friend of Mr. Dickinson, who had been elected 
 United States Senator, for the full term of six years 
 from the 4th of March, and they hoped that my 
 acquaintance and influence with members, obtained 
 during the Senatorial contest, would enable me to 
 render important aid in securing favorable legisla- 
 tion. * * * The State had loaned the Company 
 
 three millions of dollars, and taken a first mortgage 
 on the whole property of the Company. The relief 
 sought to be obtained, was the release and discharge 
 of this first mortgage, * * * and although the loan 
 was obtained on the report and assurance of the Com- 
 pany and its engineers, after a full and careful sur- 
 vey, that a practicable route was found through the 
 Southern Tier of counties, from the Hudson River 
 to Lake Erie, the Company now asked, not only a 
 release and cancelment of the three million mortgage, 
 but that it should be allowed to construct a portion 
 of the road in the State of Pennsylvania. As the 
 road and the loan of the three million was intended 
 to benefit the Southern Tier and the adjacent terri- 
 tory in New York, Mr. Diven and Major Brown 
 found their efforts blocked by those opposed to 
 allowing any portion of the road being taken out of 
 the State. 
 
 " When I reached Albany I soon ascertained the 
 exact situation. George Noble of Unadilla, a man 
 of uncommon intelligence and a wonderfully per- 
 suasive tongue and manner, with his wife, a daugh- 
 ter of the Hon. Sherman Page, had taken quarters 
 at the Bement Hotel on State Street, for the winter, 
 to fight against any legislation that should authorize 
 the road to leave the State. All the other counties 
 interested, besides their members of the Legislature, 
 were represented in force at Albany to oppose Diven 
 and Brown. This opposition extended from Orange 
 County to Binghamton. After a canvass of these 
 opposing forces I told Mr. Diven and Major Brown 
 that unless this local opposition along the line of the 
 road could be conciliated, there could be no hope of 
 obtaining the legislation they desired. They insisted 
 that the Company must have not only a release and 
 discharge of the three million mortgage, but also the 
 right to cross into Pennsylvania on certain portions 
 of the line, or the Company would not undertake 
 the further construction of the road. The great 
 question was, whether such legislation as they de- 
 sired could be obtained under such discouraging cir- 
 cumstances. All this local opposition to Diven and 
 Brown wanted the road built and they wanted it des- 
 perately, but they wanted it built within the State, 
 where it had been surveyed and declared feasible, 
 for the benefit of our own people for whom it was 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 8i 
 
 intended. They would have to be taxed to pay the 
 three million mortgage, if released, and they wanted 
 the pledge of the Company fulfilled. 
 
 " Diven and Brown were thoroughly aware of the 
 insurmountable difficulties that seemed to lay in the 
 way of obtaining the legislation they desired. Their 
 wheels had been completely blocked thus far, and 
 they asked me if I could not devise some plan that 
 would secure what they wanted. I told them I 
 would try, and they placed the matter entirely in 
 my hands. 
 
 " My first move was to see the members of the 
 Legislature from Orange County, for although a 
 single track of the road had been opened to Middle- 
 town, in that county, they were all, the members 
 and Senator, in open hostility to Diven and Brown. 
 Thornton N. Niven of Newburgh, one of the three 
 members, was one of the most prominent and influ- 
 ential members of the Assembly. He had been 
 among the most earnest supporters of Mr. Dickinson 
 for Senator, and in that fight I had won his devoted 
 friendship. In casting about in my mind by what 
 means I could quiet the hostility of Orange County, 
 I suggested to Mr. Niven a branch of the road to 
 Newburgh. He accepted the suggestion without a 
 moment's hesitation, and that was agreed upon as a 
 part of the programme of conciliation. A branch to 
 Newburgh would not only help Newburgh, but 
 would help the Erie as well. To this Diven and 
 Brown agreeed at once. And this not only more 
 than satisfied the delegation in both branches from 
 Orange County, but it gained their active support 
 in the eflort to conciliate the other hostile locali- 
 ties. All these hostile localities wanted the road 
 built. 
 
 " This opposition to the plan of Diven and Brown 
 of allowing the road to leave the State extended from 
 Middletown to Binghamton, and was resolute and 
 determined. Diven and Brown for the Company, 
 insisted that the Company must not only have a 
 release of the three million loan, but the right to 
 cross over into Pennsylvania on certain portions of 
 the line. The great point was to provide a solution 
 of this difficulty. This required careful labor, and 
 much friendly intercourse with these hostile ele- 
 ments. In my conference with them I suggested the 
 
 6 
 
 plan of a commission of eminent railroad engineers, 
 acquainted with the location and construction of rail- 
 roads, to be agreed upon and named in the bill, who 
 should examine the line as surveyed within the 
 State, and if upon such careful examination they 
 should decide that the line as already surveyed and 
 located was practicable, that the road should be kept 
 within the State — but if upon such careful examina- 
 tion the commissioners should decide, under oath, 
 that the location within the State at certain points 
 was not practicable, then the road might be laid in 
 Pennsylvania, where the line within the State was 
 decided to be impracticable. This proposal, after 
 full discussion and consideration by the hostile 
 forces, was finally accepted and agreed upon, and 
 met with no opposition from Diven and Brown, as 
 with them it was this or nothing. The names of the 
 commissioners were agreed upon to be inserted in 
 the bill, and the bill was to include a provision for 
 the release and discharge of the three million mort- 
 gage held by the State. 
 
 " By these arrangements all local opposition was 
 changed to active support, and the hope was re- 
 newed that the Erie road, which had lain dead for 
 years with a single track to Middletown, would be 
 brought to life and finally sent forward to completion 
 to Lake Erie. A programme of united effort had 
 been reached in which all the forces of the opposition 
 now united to make it successful in the Legislature, 
 if possible. I prepared a bill to carry out these pro- 
 visions, which met the approval of all the interests 
 involved, which was introduced in the Senate and 
 was there to be under my special care. A bill in- 
 volving such important interests could not be rushed 
 through the Legislature in a hurry. * * * A 
 feeling of indifference if not of hostility would be 
 encountered. A release of a three million oblisa- 
 tion would involve an increase of the State debt to 
 that extent, which the tax-payers of the whole State 
 would have to meet. And there was a general feel- 
 ing that the affairs of the Company had not been well 
 managed. It was thought that the three millions 
 loaned by the State had not been altogether carefully 
 and judiciously expended. The wooden piles driven 
 to build the road on stilts in certain sections were 
 rotten in the ground. But this did not lessen the 
 
82 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 desire of the people in the Southern Tier of State 
 for the construction of the road, which now depended 
 upon favorable legislation. The road lay dead at 
 Middletown, and the only hope of its resurrection 
 was involved in the issue at Albany. 
 
 " Our bill was introduced in the Senate, that being 
 the less numerous body, as a thorough canvass of 
 the Senate could be more easily and quickly made 
 than in the Assembly. Its progress in the Senate 
 was slow. It took a long while to get it acted on 
 favorably in committee and reported to the Senate, 
 and a long while as it seemed to advance it so as to 
 be placed on the calendar for final passage. But this 
 delay gave me time to thoroughly canvass the Sen- 
 ate. Mr. Diven and Major Brown became impatient 
 at this delay, but I assured them that the prospects 
 were good, and they found consolation and rest in 
 playing whist at their elegant quarters at the grand 
 old Eagle Hotel. 
 
 " I had thoroughly canvassed the Senate before 
 the bill was ready for its third and final reading. I 
 had received positive assurance that nineteen Sena- 
 tors would vote for the bill. It was a ' two-thirds ' 
 bill, requiring twenty-two votes for its passage. The 
 Senate consisted of thirty-two members. To make 
 the requisite number of twenty-two I looked to Sen- 
 ators John A. Lott of Brooklyn, Erastus Corning of 
 Albany, and Thomas B. Mitchell of Montgomery 
 County. From their location they were not favor- 
 ably inclined toward the legislation we desired. 
 They had actively supported Mr. Dickinson in the 
 Senatorial contest, and were his warm friends, and 
 I appealed to them to support our bill on personal 
 consideration. They would not promise positively 
 to vote for the bill. The most they would say 
 was that they might vote for it if their votes were 
 necessary for its passage, out of personal considera- 
 tions. 
 
 " When the bill came up on its final passage I 
 took care that every Senator upon whose vote I had 
 depended was in his seat. I placed myself behind 
 Judg2 Lott and Mr. Mitchell, as they occupied ad- 
 joining seats and stood where I could whisper in 
 their ears. I thought perhaps my presence might 
 have a favorable influence when the crisis came. 
 Thev could not help seeing my great anxiety and 
 
 they indulged in some pleasant badinage at my ex- 
 pense, which gave no assurance as to how they 
 would vote. 
 
 " On the first call of the roll, Mr. Corning, whose 
 name stood near the head of the list, did not vote. 
 This alarmed me, as his omission to vote would be 
 fatal. But I noticed that after his name was called 
 and he did not answer, that he left his seat and 
 walked up to the clerk's desk, and stood by the side 
 of the clerk who was calling the roll. When the 
 names of Judge Lott and Mr. Mitchell were called, 
 each looked smilingly at me, and voted ' Aye.' 
 When the roll call was finished, which Mr. Corning 
 had been watching by the side of the clerk, and before 
 the result of the vote was announced, Mr. Corning 
 stepped back toward his seat and requested that his 
 name be called. The clerk called ' Erastus Corn- 
 ing,' and Mr. Corning responded 'Aye!' That 
 settled the question, and the clerk announced the 
 vote, ' Ayes, twenty-two.' The ' Noes' I did not 
 listen to hear. 
 
 " Diven and Brown were so well pleased with the 
 passage of the bill through the Senate that they 
 offered me the enormous sum of one hundred dol- 
 lars if I would secure its passage by the Assembly 
 within a certain number of days — I do not remember 
 now how many days. I told them I thought they 
 ought to be quite satisfied if the bill became a law 
 at any time before the close of the session. So 
 they returned to their whist and euchre, at their 
 easy quarters at the Eagle Hotel, and I turned my 
 attention to the Assembly. 
 
 " The field of labor was largely extended when 
 the bill reached the Assembly. Instead of thirty- 
 two members as in the Senate, the Assembly con- 
 sisted of one hundred and twenty-eight members. 
 In this branch I had active and earnest co-laborers. 
 Thornton N. Niven, my friend from Newburgh, 
 took special charge of the bill in the Assembly. 
 George Noble of Unadilla became as earnest in his 
 support of the bill agreed upon as he had been in 
 opposition to the plans of Diven and Brown. Col- 
 onel Fellows, one of the three members of the 
 Assembly from Otsego County, the neighbor of 
 Mr. Noble, was active in support of the bill. Gen. 
 Frederick Mather, a member of the Assembly from 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 83 
 
 New York, was also an efficient worker in our 
 behalf. 
 
 Mr. Niven brought with him from Newburgh 
 Homer Ramsdell, a son-in-law and partner of John 
 Powell. Powell and Ramsdell were the great freight- 
 ers from Newburgh, owning many vessels. Mr. 
 Ramsdell's influence was felt at Albany, for he was 
 widely known, had a fine address, and was a good 
 talker. His presence was an inspiration. A New 
 York merchant by the name of Loder — Benjamin 
 Loder — was then President of the Erie Company. 
 I think he came to Albany once, but he could do 
 us no good. He was so conscious of being Presi- 
 dent of the Erie Company that his manners did not 
 attract country members. We did not care to have 
 him remain. 
 
 " The detail of the work in the Assembly I shall 
 not attempt to describe. It is enough to say that it 
 was thorough and exhaustive. No stone was left 
 unturned to secure success. The progress of the 
 bill was slow, as that gave us time to work, and it 
 was not ready for final passage until the very close 
 of the session. B)- that time we were quite ready 
 for the final vote. It required eighty-eight responses 
 in the affirmative to pass the bill. It received nearly 
 one hundred votes, the exact number I do not 
 remember. And in all this work, not a dollar was 
 spent to influence legislation. It was persistent 
 argument in behalf of the ' Southern Tier.' And in 
 this work, neither the Erie Railroad Company nor 
 any of its agents or employees, gave any assistance. 
 
 " The session closed on the 14th day of May, and 
 I think our bill passed on the very last day. I had 
 made only one visit to my home in Binghamton 
 during this time from the 1st of March to the 14th of 
 -May. I had paid my own expenses. Not a dollar 
 had been furnished me by Diven and Brown, or by 
 the Company. They said I would have to go to 
 New York, and I would be paid for my services. 
 So I followed them to New York. I did not stop 
 at the same hotel. They went to the Stephens 
 House, at lower Broadway. I put up at the City 
 Hotel. I waited patiently about a week, and Diven 
 finally appeared, bringing to me the enormous sum 
 of one hundred and forty dollars! He claimed that 
 that was all he could raise for me. This did not 
 
 fully pay my expenses — eleven weeks at Albany and 
 one in New York — besides trav>,I. I took the 
 money, with a feeling, ' What a poor, mean concern 
 you must represent ! ' From subsequent events, I 
 reached the conclusion, that Diven and Brown, who 
 had spent the entire session at Albany and returned 
 to the Company in New York with the bill as passed, 
 took the entire credit of its passage to themselves, 
 and failed to disclose the fact that they were indebted 
 to me for any material service. I did not go to the 
 Company at all. I found further on my return 
 home that they had been trying to steal into the 
 bill, without my knowledge, an amendment allow- 
 ing the Company to go through New Jersey to New 
 York. Judge Vincent Whitney afterward told me 
 that in a conversation with Diven, Diven complained 
 that Birdsall prevented their getting an amendment 
 to the bill allowing the Company to go to New York 
 through New Jersey. The truth was, that I was 
 not aware that Diven and Brown were proposing 
 any such amendment. If I had known of any such 
 purpose, I should have denounced it, not only as a 
 breach of faith with Orange and Rockland counties, 
 but as fatal to the passage of the bill." 
 
 It does not detract from the entertaining charac- 
 ter of Mr. Birdsall's narrative that his recollection 
 is at fault somewhat, but historical accuracy is 
 marred thereby. For instance. Homer Ramsdell's 
 father-in-law and partner was not John Powell, but 
 Thomas Powell. Eleazar Lord was President of 
 Erie while the relief bill was being discussed by the 
 New York Legislature, not Benjamin Loder, who 
 was not chosen to the office until midsummer, 1845. 
 Mr. Birdsall says that he was in ignorance of the fact 
 that Diven and Brown had attempted to secure an 
 amendment to the relief bill giving the Erie author- 
 ity to enter New Jersey. It is evident that he was 
 also ignorant of the agreement forced from Erie in 
 the matter of the Newburgh Branch by Messrs. 
 Niven, Ramsdell, Dennison, and Powell, before any 
 vote was taken on the bill in either the Senate or 
 Assembly, and without which all of Mr. Birdsall's 
 efforts in behalf of the bill would have been lost 
 on his Newburgh friends and those they might have 
 influenced. As will have been seen on preceding 
 pages, the matter, also, of a Newburgh branch rail- 
 
84 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 road and the idea of a change of the route of the 
 railroad into Pennsylvania were things years old in 
 discussion before this legislation came up. 
 
 But this bill did not settle the disturbing question 
 of the proposed change of the railroad route through 
 Sullivan County and elsewhere. It provided for a 
 resurvey and examination of those parts of the orig- 
 inal route, which was opposed to the policy of Pres- 
 ident Lord. Agitation of the subject increased, and 
 the differences of opinion upon it in the Board led to 
 serious disturbance of relations in that body, with 
 the result that no advantage could be taken of the 
 relief legislation until the question could be dis- 
 posed of. 
 
 The first suggestion of this change of the route 
 that attracted serious public attention, although 
 Engineer Johnson had referred to it that same year, 
 was made by Dr. John Conkling of Port Jervis, N. Y. 
 This was in September, 1836. The proposed build- 
 ing of a railroad from the Hudson to the lakes had 
 opened the eyes of the Eastern people in various 
 localities to the possibilities of such an undertaking; 
 and, although in those infant days of railroad build- 
 ing, ideas and plans as to such work were vague and 
 crude, there were projected not a few schemes that 
 had in view, if not a consummation similar to the 
 New York and Erie Railroad in its entirety, at least 
 the showing of a collateral importance of such weight 
 as to attract attention to them as factors worthy of 
 consideration as economic forces to quicken the life 
 and insure the better success of the original grand 
 enterprise. One of these was a railroad chartered by 
 the New Jersey Legislature at the session of 1836. 
 It was to extend from Morristown by the way of 
 Lake Hopatcong to Sparta, thence by the way of 
 Branchville, Sussex County, up the valley of the 
 Paulinskill, through Culver's Gap in the Blue Moun- 
 tains to the Delaware River, and up the valley of 
 the Delaware to Carpenter's Point, at the mouth of 
 the Neversihk River, now a suburb of Port Jervis, 
 on the border lines of New York, New Jersey, and 
 Pennsylvania. It is not likely that another railroad 
 was ever chartered to be built having as one of its 
 terminals a rope ferry. There was then, and for 
 many years afterward, a primitive ferry of this kind 
 
 that carried an equally primitive scow to and fro 
 across the Delaware River between Carpenter's 
 Point and the Pennsylvania side of the river; a 
 ferry that was in itself insignificant, but which was 
 a most important link in a chain of stage-coach 
 transportation between the Hudson River and the 
 West. Until the New York and Erie Railroad was 
 completed to Goshen in 1841, the main artery of 
 travel from New York to that then indefinite portion 
 of the State known as "the Lake Country" was 
 the coach road from Hoboken, by way of Paterson 
 and Pompton Plains, northwest through New Jersey 
 to the Delaware River, a mile below Milford, Pa., 
 thence by the Milford and Owego Turnpike, over 
 the hills and through the forests of Northeastern 
 Pennsylvania, to New York State again. From 
 Newburgh a great feeder of this route, (upon which 
 in those days it was no uncommon sight to see 
 six-horse coaches closely following one another, 
 laden with passengers, and immense cavalcades of 
 heavily-burdened freight wagons passing to and fro) 
 ran by the way of Montgomery on through Orange 
 County to Carpenter's Point, where the rope ferry 
 carried the coaches across the river, the road leading 
 thence to Milford, seven miles, where connection 
 was made with the through coaches on the Milford 
 and Owego Turnpike. 
 
 And that was why the proposed railroad was 
 directed toward that rope ferry as its northern ter- 
 minus. Independent of the regular commercial travel 
 on these coach roads, the tide of emigration west- 
 ward was then running strong, and this New Jersey 
 railroad was designed to divert it from a great por- 
 tion of the coach route and hasten it toward its des- 
 tination, the belief being that a road thus local in its 
 character could and would be completed long before 
 a section of similar length in a continuous trunk line 
 could be put in operation. This belief was shared 
 by many friends of the Erie project, and Dr. Conk- 
 ling, at that early day a leading man in the Dela- 
 ware Valley, a position he held for more than half a 
 century afterward, wrote as follows to a friend, after 
 his return from an extended trip through the West: 
 
 The New York and Erie Railroad Company is looked to 
 with a lively interest by all west of the lakes as the great 
 thoroughfare by which they are to get to New York City. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 85 
 
 The people of that vast region of country prefer doing busi- 
 ness in New York to any other city on the Atlantic coast, 
 and it is by means of this road that they expect to be enabled 
 to consummate their wishes. How very important it is, then, 
 that the best possible route be fixed on, that these just expec- 
 tations may be realized. I would say, therefore, that no time 
 should be lost in hastening it to its final completion, and that 
 instead of running over the mountains of Sullivan, Orange, 
 and Rockland, and landing at last on the Hudson River, which 
 is frequently obstructed by ice, I would suggest the considera- 
 tion of a change in the termination of the road by following 
 the Delaware River from the mouth of the Callicoon to Car- 
 penter's Point, in Orange county, and there connect with the 
 New Jersey railroad, from this point to Jersey City, opposite 
 New York City. When at Carpenter's Point we are nearer 
 New York City than the route the road now takes to the 
 Hudson River, and I am told that by the recent survey of 
 the New Jersey road there is no grade that will exceed 
 twenty feet to the mile, so that from Deposit to the city of 
 New York a locomotive could run the whole distance. 
 
 But the New Jersey railroad never got any further 
 on in its existence than the survey, and even if it 
 had been built, the New York and Erie Railroad 
 could not have made connection with it, because of 
 the provisions of its charter preventing junction with 
 any railroad out of New York State. It will be 
 remembered that when Dr. Conkling wrote as above, 
 work was progressing on the New York and Erie 
 Railroad in the Delaware Valley, eastward and 
 westward between the mouth of the Callicoon Creek 
 and Deposit, N. Y., under President King's admin- 
 istration. Whether or not serious thought was 
 engendered in the mind of the public interested by 
 Dr. Conkling's suggestion, such a change in route 
 began to be agitated four years later, and the ulti- 
 mate result of it was another deplorable upheaval in 
 Erie affairs, with sequences that agitated for a year 
 the Legislatures of New York and Pennsylvania, and 
 kept the people of a considerable portion of the 
 latter Commonwealth in a condition of long and 
 painful suspense. 
 
 Eleazar Lord, who had made pledges in 1840 to 
 Sullivan County citizens that the route of the road 
 should not be changed, stood up for his word. Mem- 
 bers of the Board published a statement that the 
 change was necessary, and the Legislature appointed 
 a Commission to examine the original route and the 
 one proposed, and report its views. The labors of 
 the Commission also included an examination of a 
 proposed change in the route from Deposit to the 
 Susquehanna Valley. The members of the Com- 
 mission as finally decided upon were Horatio 
 Allen, Chairman ; John B. Jervis, Orville W. 
 Childs, Jared Wilson, William Dewej-, and Job 
 Pierson. 
 
 The course President Lord took in the matter of 
 the proposed change of route, although it was the 
 only one, so he held, that he could honorably take, 
 made him exceedingly unpopular, in and out of the 
 management. The Treasurer of the Company 
 refused to pay interest on the Company's debts, 
 or to pay out money for any purpose. Capitalists 
 would not subscribe to the new Erie loan, they 
 declared, unless Lord's connection with the Com- 
 pany ceased. Mr. Lord at last said he would resign 
 as soon as $3,000,000 were subscribed to the Erie 
 fund as required by the act of 1845. A syndicate 
 of his opponents pledged themselves to raise that 
 amount at once if he would retire. He resigned in 
 July, 1845, ^nd never again took any directing 
 interest in the affairs of the Company, of which it 
 may be truly said he was one of the founders. James 
 Harper, of the publishing house of Harper Brothers, 
 and ex-Mayor of New York, was elected to succeed 
 him, but declined to serve. Benjamin Loder was 
 then chosen as President, and a new epoch in Erie 
 history began. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF BENJAMIN LODER— 1845 TO 1853. 
 
 I. The Advance : The Case Stated in an Address to the Public — $3,000,000 Loan Subscribed in a Few Weeks — Delay Caused by Tardi- 
 ness of the Route Commissioners — The Contracts from Port Jervis to Binghamton Re-let — The Road Opened to Port Jervis — The 
 Change of Route into Pennsylvania and Unforeseen Trouble that Came from it — The Matamoras Bridge and the Glass Factory Rocks, 
 and the Milford and Matamoras Railroad — The Scrantons and their T Rail. II. Through Darkness to Light — Again an 
 Empty Treasury — $8,000,000 Expended, and the Work One-half Done — Dark Prospects for the Railroad's Getting any Nearer 
 Lake Erie — A Ray of Light — Another Idea of Diven — It Works Well, but Starts the Erie on its Fatal Career of Bonded Indebt- 
 edness — But the Railroad is Completed to Dunkirk. III. The Triumph : Final Link in the Chain — The Last Spike Driven — 
 Opening of the Road from Piermont to Dunkirk, May, 1S51 — Celebration of the Greatest Commercial Event of the Day — The First 
 Through Excursion Train and its Distinguished Passengers — President Fillmore, Daniel Webster, William H. Seward, Stephen A. 
 Douglas, Governor Marcy, and many others — Ovations Along the Road — The Historic 15th of May at Dunkirk — The Ocean 
 United with the Lakes. IV. Rising Clouds : President Loder Tenders his Resignation, but is Induced to Withdraw it — A New York 
 Legislator's Prophecy, made in 1834, Comes True — InsufHciency of the Piermont Terminus Apparent — The Coming of the Ramapo 
 and Paterson Railroad into the Field — The Ultimate Terminus at Jersey City Inevitable — Piermont Opposes it Unsuccessfully — 
 The New Jersey Railroads Pass to the Control of the Erie — Events Immediately Following the Completion of the Road to Dunkirk 
 — The First Dividend — Piling up the Debt — The Railroad Becomes Unpopular. 
 
 1. THE ADVANCE. 
 
 Mr. Loder was a native of Westchester County, 
 N. Y. He had been for twenty years in the dry 
 goods trade in New York, and had accumulated a 
 fortune. It was said of him that he had never asked 
 for bank accommodation in all his business career. 
 According to a New York newspaper of that day, 
 " he now, while yet in the prime of life, comes into 
 the direction of the Erie Road with all the shrewd- 
 ness which characterized the architect of his own 
 fortunes, and the observation gained from his own 
 daily intercourse with all classes of men lead them 
 to believe that he is the Hercules, aided by a most 
 able Board, who will, if any man can, drain the pres- 
 ent miry slough." 
 
 If " all classes of men " held that belief, events 
 proved that they had held it wisely, for even the 
 metaphor of his newspaper friend did not daunt him. 
 The difficulties President Loder overcame during his 
 struggle to complete the work he had engaged to 
 complete were unprecedented in the history of the 
 road, shirking as he did no exercise of physical 
 endurance, shrinking from no encounter with phys- 
 ical hardships, nor leaving untried any effort of his 
 mind that might sustain and hasten to completion 
 the task he had in hand. The Board of Directors 
 
 that came in with Mr. Loder was composed, besides 
 himself, of the following individuals: 
 
 James Harper — Harper Brothers; Daniel S. Miller 
 — Dater, Miller & Co. ; Henry L. Pierson — Pierson 
 & Co. ; Stuart C. Marsh — Marsh & Compton ; Jacob 
 Little— J. Little & Co. ; Robt. L. Crooke— Crooke, 
 Fowkes & Co. ; Henry Sheldon — H. Sheldon & 
 Co. ; Henry Suydam, Jr. — Suydam, Reed & Co. ; A. 
 S. Diven, Elmira; John Wood — Wood & Merritt; 
 Wm. E. Dodge — Phelps, Dodge & Co. ■ Shepherd 
 Knapp — President Mechanics' Bank ; Samuel Marsh, 
 Homer Ramsdell, Cornehus Smith, Thomas Tiles- 
 ton. 
 
 President Loder's first act was to open books for 
 subscriptions to $3,000,000 of the capital stock of 
 the Company, September 2, 1845, at the office of 
 the Company, 50 Wall street. The plan of subscrip- 
 tion was the payment of $5 per share as soon as 
 required by the Company after the entire amount 
 had been subscribed, on condition that interest at 
 six per cent, per annum be paid semi-annually on all 
 the instalments from the date of the respective pay- 
 ments until a single track from the Hudson to Lake 
 Erie and the branch to Newburgh should be com- 
 pleted and in use; no instalment to be called in until 
 30,000 shares at $100 each were subscribed and 
 accepted, nor any instalment to be more than $25 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 87 
 
 per share within a year after the $3,000,000 had been 
 subscribed, nor more than $30 per share the second, 
 nor more than $45 the third year; every subscriber 
 to the stock, after paying $25 per share, and pur- 
 chasing any bond or bonds issued under the act of 
 May 14, 184S, to be entitled to exchange such bonds 
 into stock of the Company at par, to an amount 
 equal to his subscription. 
 
 President Loder issued an address to the public to 
 accompany the plan for raising the necessary money. 
 In this he made these interesting statements : 
 
 To complete a single track to Lake Erie, six millions of 
 dollars are required. The cost of the work to the stockhold- 
 ers will then be $7,350,000; and adding a liberal amount to 
 provide for cars and engines for the commencement of busi- 
 ness, the road, with a heavy (T) rail estimated at $65 per ton, 
 will be brought into use for less than $20,000 per mile. The 
 actual cost of the road will be over $28,000 per mile, but the 
 liberality of the State, and the surrender of half of the stock 
 by the present holders, reduces it to this very low rate. 
 
 In reference to the estimates, it may be proper to state, 
 that responsible contractors have oflfered to take the whole 
 work at prices nine per cent, less than those assumed in the 
 calculations on which they were based. If the road can be 
 completed it must pay large dividends. The results obtained 
 in the sections already in use prove this. The great length 
 of the work, the productiveness of the country through which 
 it passes and to which it leads, the absence of all danger 
 of injurious competition from rival routes, the numerous 
 branches already existing or in contemplation, exceeding in 
 the aggregate the length of the main trunk, the immense 
 market which this city (New York) will afiford for agricul- 
 tural products of every description, and the boundless country 
 whose inhabitants must be supplied with merchandise to be 
 sent in exchange, appear to leave no reasonable doubt on 
 this most important question. To these' considerations must 
 be added the great improvements in motive power which have 
 recently been made, and which have demonstrated fully that 
 railroads can, and do, compete successfully in the transporta- 
 tion of articles of heavy merchandise with any other mode of 
 conveyance. 
 
 With regard to the indebtedness of the company, the 
 amount of which is about $600,000, the board is happy to be 
 able to state that, owing to the liberality manifested by the 
 principal creditors, the time of payment for most of it has 
 been extended, on satisfactory terms, the sum of $486,839.37, 
 in the shape of six and seven per cent, certificates, payable on 
 the 1st of January, 1849. The holders of about one-half the 
 remainder have agreed to settle by taking certificates of the 
 same character, and the residue, including an amount due 
 for work recently done on the Shawangunk summit, is in 
 course of settlement, as the means of the company will permit. 
 
 Added to the other inducements are those of the release 
 by the State of the $3,000,000 loan, and the reduction of the 
 old stock from $1,500,000 to $750,000, making altogether a 
 bonus of $3,750,000 to the new stockholders. Thus the whole 
 work, on which about $5,000,000 has been expended, will be rep- 
 resented by stock and debts to the amount of only $1,350,000. 
 
 It may be proper here to state, that of the $3,000,000 re- 
 quired to be raised by subscription, more than one million 
 of dollars have been pledged in large sums by a very few 
 friends of the road, leaving less than two millions to be raised 
 by additional subscriptions, to secure the full benefit of the 
 recent act of the Legislature. 
 
 It will be doubtless refreshing to the reader of this 
 history, after he may have perused the record of 
 managements of the Erie that came into existence 
 something like a quarter of a century or more later, 
 to turn back and re-read the above statement : " The 
 whole work, on which about $5,000,000 has been 
 expended, will be represented by stock and debts 
 to the amount only of $1,350,000." In later days 
 of Erie management this could well have been read 
 thus: " The whole work, on which about $1,350,000 
 has been expended, will be represented by stocks 
 and debts to the amount of $5,000,000." 
 
 A genuine inclination on the part of capital to take 
 hold in earnest and push the New York and Erie 
 Railroad to completion, now manifested itself. In- 
 dividual members of the Board of Directors made 
 committees of themselves to solicit subscriptions, 
 and one of them, Director Sheldon, raised $100,000 
 among the grocers of New York in one day. By 
 the beginning of October, 1845, the entire loan of 
 $3,000,000 was subscribed, and Newburgb subscribed 
 $100,000 toward the building of the Newburgh 
 Branch. 
 
 The Commissioners appointed in 1845 to examine 
 the original route of the railroad, and report on the 
 advisability of changing from the Sullivan highlands 
 to the Delaware Valley, and from the circuitous 
 course from Deposit to Nineveh to one over the 
 Randolph Hills to Lanesboro (Susquehanna), did 
 not complete their work until the latter part of 
 1846, and made their report to the Legislature in 
 January, 1847. The Delaware and Hudson Canal 
 Company having obtained a perpetual injunction 
 against the Railroad Company securing a route along 
 the western border of Sullivan County, on the 
 ground that it would result in great damage to the 
 Canal Company, whose canal extended along the 
 east side of the river, the Commissioners were com- 
 pelled to adopt the only other way to get into the 
 valley, which was by crossing the Delaware River 
 
88 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 from Port Jervis into Pennsylvania, and running on 
 that side of the valley until the route could once 
 more cross into New York State. This required 
 enabling legislation from both New York State and 
 Pennsylvania. The Commission, or a majority of its 
 members, reported in favor of the change in the 
 route, a decision that results proved to be in every 
 way wise and proper. 
 
 While the Commissioners were in control of the 
 location of the road between the summit of the 
 Shawangunk Mountains, near Otisville, to Bingham- 
 ton, 130 miles, there was no work for the Company 
 to proceed with except the eight miles from Middle- 
 town to Otisville, then under contract. The deci- 
 sion of the Commissioners, therefore, having been so 
 long delayed (unavoidably, they averred), the prog- 
 ress of the railroad toward completion was necessarily 
 correspondingly suspended. In a call made by the 
 Directors, May 14, 1846, for a second instalment on 
 the stock, they made a statement to the stockholders 
 in which they said, referring to the delay caused by 
 waiting for the Commissioners to complete their 
 work : 
 
 Although the Directors have not been able to prosecute 
 the work of construction as rapidly as was desired, the time 
 has been very advantageously employed in adjusting the un- 
 settled business of the company, arising out of the embarrass- 
 ments of former years. All liens upon the property of the 
 company have been discharged, and all liabilities in the form 
 of 6 and 7 per cent, certificates, unsettled claims, etc., which 
 were stated by the Directors in their address to the public in 
 September last, to be about $600,000, are now less than $475,- 
 000. The old stock of the company, which at that time 
 amounted to more than $1,500,000, has all been surrendered 
 in compliance with the provision of the Act of May 14, 1845, 
 except 247 shares returned to the Comptroller, leaving the 
 present amount, made up from all sources, less than $840,000, 
 which, with the new subscription bearing interest, comprises 
 the whole stock account. The first and second instalments 
 have been paid on an amount considerably exceeding $3,000,- 
 000. A large number of stockholders have voluntarily paid 
 from 15 to 50 per cent., and others have paid in full. 
 
 The road from Piermont to Middletown, which, in conse- 
 quence of the embarrassments of the company, was brought 
 into use in an unfinished state, with miles of high trestle and 
 pile work, which, for safety, required to be filled up with 
 embankments, has been put in good condition. A difficult 
 and expensive portion of the road from Middletown to 
 Shawangunk Mountain will be completed and ready for use 
 early in the autumn. 
 
 The revenue of the road in operation is steadily increas- 
 ing, and every successive portion added to its length will in- 
 crease in much greater proportion the income. A fuller 
 
 acquaintance with its business, and the resources of the 
 country through which it passes and is intended to pass, con- 
 firms the Directors in the belief that the estimate heretofore 
 made of the profits and the advantages of the work fall short 
 of what will be realized when the whole line is completed. 
 
 It was deemed so certain, however, that the route 
 of the railroad would be changed from the hills of 
 Sullivan County to the Delaware Valley, that con- 
 tracts were let for the building of the road between 
 Port Jervis and Binghamton in October, 1846, the 
 work between Middletown and Port Jervis being 
 then under way. There were twenty-two contract- 
 ors, and each contractor accepted one-third of the 
 amount of his contract in stock of the Company. 
 The report of the Commission on changing the route 
 of the road, made to the Legislature in 1847, aroused 
 the people along the old route to great opposition, 
 and a bitter fight was made against the adoption of 
 the report. The probability that the Commissioners 
 would adopt a route that would necessitate the tak- 
 ing of the railroad out of the State into Pennsylvania 
 had alarmed certain commercial interests in that 
 State, and the Pennsylvania Legislature, as early 
 as 1845, was petitioned to refuse entrance or right 
 of way to the railroad. Philadelphia opposed the 
 granting of such permission, on the ground that the 
 railroad would divert the trade of the upper Dela- 
 ware Valley to New York, and Philadelphia would 
 lose it, although the only trade the valley had at 
 that time was trade in lumber, which could not very 
 well go elsewhere than to or toward Philadelphia, 
 for the reason that it was carried in the shape of 
 rafts on the Delaware River during times of freshet, 
 and the Delaware River ran direct to Philadelphia. 
 But strong petitions went to the Pennsylvania Leg- 
 islature from the northern part of the State asking 
 for the permission to be granted, and during the 
 session of 1846 an act was passed granting the New 
 York and Erie Railroad right of way into and through 
 Pike County, right of way through Susquehanna 
 County having been granted in 1841. The act of 
 1846 was passed on condition that the Delaware 
 River should be crossed by the railroad at a certain 
 point near Port Jervis; that it should not interfere 
 with or obstruct operations on the Delaware and 
 Hudson Canal; that it should permit connection 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 89 
 
 with any railroad chartered or to be chartered in 
 Pike County; and that the Company should pay 
 into the treasury of Pennsylvania forever an annual 
 bonus of $10,000. The act was not to take effect 
 until the New York Legislature should authorize the 
 Company, and the Company consent, to a connec- 
 tion with the Blossburg and Corning Railroad at or 
 near Corning, N. Y., and with the Elmira and Wil- 
 liamsport Railroad at or near the village of Elmira. 
 Another provision of the act was that the Com- 
 pany should so regulate its tolls that the charge on 
 anthracite and bituminous coal transportation should 
 not exceed one and one-half cents per mile. 
 
 Thus did Pennsylvania look well to the interests 
 of her own citizens and corporations, in granting this 
 right of way through a rocky and barren corner of 
 "her domain. 
 
 The people of the Pennsylvania counties immedi- 
 ately interested were many of them opposed to the 
 insertion of the $10,000 perpetual bonus clause in the 
 bill, because it seemed to them to be an ungenerous 
 requirement on the part of the State, and the impos- 
 ing of an unnecessary hardship on the Company, 
 straitened as it was financially. In after years, when 
 the people woke to the fact that the annual bonus 
 was a provision urged by the Company itself, to get 
 in return exemption from heavy taxation on the 
 road and property of the Company in Pennsylvania, 
 they found that instead of the Company having been 
 treated ungenerously, it had made a very shrewd and 
 most profitable bargain. 
 
 After a long and bitter fight in the New York 
 Legislature over the proposed change of the rail- 
 road's route, the Commission's report was adopted, 
 and after another contest over agreeing to the pro- 
 visions of the Pennsylvania legislation, authority was 
 at last given the Company to seek the Delaware 
 Valley by crossing the river into Pennsylvania at a 
 point situated near Port Jervis, opposite the village 
 of Matamoras, in Pike County. 
 
 The railroad was officially opened to Port Jervis 
 January 7, 1848. (Page — , " The Building of It.") 
 The engineers of the Company found that they were 
 confronted by a greater obstacle than they had cal- 
 culated on in the construction of the railroad up the 
 Delaware Valley, beyond that place, on the Penn- 
 
 sylvania side. Rising perpendicularly from the west 
 bank of the Delaware River, a mile north of Port 
 Jervis, was a wall of solid rock, in places nearly one 
 hundred feet high. This precipice was known as the 
 Glass Factory Rocks. It followed the river three 
 miles, and in its face a roadway would have to be 
 hewn before the rails could be put down that dis- 
 tance. This was a task sufficient even to dishearten 
 men hampered by no conditions as to time, and with 
 an unlimited treasury to draw upon ; and the men 
 then in control of the affairs of the Company saw 
 that unless they could obtain a further concession 
 from Pennsylvania, they must fail in their attempt to 
 finish the railroad in time to save the franchises from 
 forfeiture. To do this it was necessary that the 
 work should be completed as far as Binghamton by 
 December 31, 1848. 
 
 Even if the engineers had not been limited as to 
 time, the cost of cutting a roadbed in the face of 
 that forbidding precipice would have called a halt in 
 the work at once. They estimated that the three 
 miles of roadbed in the wall could not be made 
 ready for the rails for a less sum than $300,000, so 
 that with the time condition removed, the financial 
 resources of the Company would have been utterly 
 inadequate to the undertaking. Four miles above 
 Port Jervis, at what is known as Sawmill Rift, a 
 famous rapid in the Delaware River, the road might 
 be carried across the stream into Tennsylvania, and 
 the obstacle of Glass Factory Rocks avoided. To 
 change the place of entry, further consent and au- 
 thority of the Pennsylvania Legislature must be 
 obtained. This, it would seem, should have been 
 but a simple thing to accomplish, but the Company 
 discovered that there were other things to obstruct 
 its work besides rocky barriers and a scanty treasury. 
 
 Milford, the county seat of Pike County, Pa., lay 
 in charming seclusion eight miles south of Port 
 Jervis, in the Delaware Valley. When the route of 
 the New York and Erie Railroad was changed to 
 enter that county, certain enterprising citizens of 
 Milford bethought them that they were tired of the 
 seclusion of their village, charming as it was, and 
 that such seclusion should be broken. A connection 
 with the New York and Erie Railroad at Matamoras 
 
90 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 would bring Milford in touch with the great outside 
 world, and increase its importance and prosperity 
 accordingly, so these good people argued. To this 
 effect, they had the Milford and Matamoras Railroad 
 Company chartered, and preliminary preparations 
 were going forward for construction of a railroad from 
 Milford to Matamoras when the application was made 
 to the Pennsylvania Legislature by the New York and 
 Erie Railroad Company for permission to change its 
 point of entry into that State from Matamoras to 
 Sawmill Rift. The news of this came as a shock to 
 the Milford and Matamoras Railroad Company. If 
 the New York and Erie Railroad did not enter the 
 State at Matamoras, the Milford and Matamoras 
 Railroad would have no connection with the trunk 
 line, and Milford would still remain in seclusion. 
 The possibility of the change being made, therefore, 
 must be prevented in the interests of Milford, and 
 the influence of that local railroad company was 
 sufficient to defeat the efforts of the great New York 
 and Erie Railroad Company to obtain from the 
 Pennsylvania Legislature permission to change its 
 route, although the life of that Company and of its 
 railroad depended on such legislation. This was 
 during the session of 1848, but before the Legisla- 
 ture adjourned, the New York and Erie Railroad 
 Company, by agreeing to a compromise with the 
 little Pike County railroad company, was granted 
 the privilege it asked. The Milford and Matamoras 
 Railroad required a connection with the Erie. By 
 the change in route that connection could not be 
 obtained except by crossing the Delaware River at 
 Matamoras and tapping the Erie at Port Jervis. 
 That would compel the construction of a costly 
 bridge across the river, and the laying of an addi- 
 tional mile or more of track on the New York State 
 side and across the bridge. These things the Milford 
 and Matamoras Railroad Company could not afford 
 to do, but it had the New York and Erie Railroad 
 Company in such a position that the demand could 
 be made of that Company to do that necessary work, 
 as a condition of the withdrawal of opposition to the 
 change in the Erie route. The demand was made, 
 and the New York and Erie Railroad Company 
 agreed to construct a double bridge across the Del- 
 aware at Matamoras, arranged for both the passage 
 
 of wagons and for a railroad track, to maintain the 
 bridge forever, and to lay a track from the station at 
 Port Jervis to and across the bridge to Matamoras, 
 whenever the Milford and Matamoras Railroad Com- 
 pany might demand it for connection with the rail- 
 road from Milford. The condition was a severe one, 
 but the right of way it assured to the New York 
 and Erie Railroad was of inestimable value to that 
 Company. Without it the railroad could not have 
 been completed in time to saye the charter. 
 
 But even with change in the point of entrance for 
 its railroad into Pennsylvania, the Company would 
 have failed in its obligation to New York State had 
 it not been for a circumstance which the late William 
 E. Dodge declared was an intervention of Providence. 
 The English rails the Company had used as far as 
 Otisville were expensive, and their delivery to the 
 Company was subject to delay and uncertainty. 
 This endangered the rapid progress of the work. In 
 1841, George W. Scranton of Oxford, N. J., at- 
 tracted by the presence of coal and iron in the Lack- 
 awanna Valley in Luzerne County, Pa., purchased a 
 tract of land at Slocum Hollow, and established 
 there iron works on a small scale. The surround- 
 ings were then the wilderness. The large and grow- 
 ing city of Scranton now occupies the site, and the 
 Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company's great works 
 and possessions are the result of that pioneer iron 
 furnace. Subsequently, Selden T. Scranton, George 
 W.'s brother, joined him in the enterprise. The 
 Scrantons, owing to the isolation of their works and 
 the difficulties encountered in getting to and from a 
 market, had a severe struggle for existence during 
 the first years of their business career in the Lacka- 
 wanna Valley, and in 1846 they were in straits that 
 threatened them with ruin. William E. Dodge was 
 then a Director in the New York and Erie Railroad 
 Company, and greatly interested in its success. He 
 knew the Scrantons. The Scrantons knew the quan- 
 dary the Railroad Company was in as to the matter 
 of rails. They believed that if they could obtain 
 the necessary machinery they could manufacture T 
 rails at their Slocum Hollow works, and deliver them 
 at various points along the line of the New York and 
 Erie Railroad, so that the rails could be lain as 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 91 
 
 rapidly as the roadbed was prepared for them, thus 
 advancing the work weeks, if not months. The cost 
 of the rails, moreover, would not be much more 
 than half the cost of the English rails. The Scran- 
 tons placed the matter before the Company, and 
 asked for a loan of $100,000, in return for a mortgage 
 on the iron works, and for a contract for rails. The 
 Company was not in shape to make the loan, but Mr. 
 Dodge visited Slocum Hollow, with the result that 
 the Company made a contract with the Scrantons for 
 12,000 tons of rails, at $46 a ton. The money to 
 equip the iron works with the necessary machinery 
 for rolling the rails was advanced to the Scrantons 
 by Mr. Dodge and others, and the rails were ready 
 for delivery in the spring of 1847. The first of these 
 rails were used from Otisville down the Shawangunk 
 Mountains toward Port Jervis, the iron being trans- 
 ported by teams through the then almost unbroken 
 wilderness between the iron works and the Delaware 
 and Hudson Canal Company's railroad at Archbald, 
 ' Pa., whence it was taken to Carbondale, thence by 
 the gravity railroad to the canal at Honesdale, Pa., 
 and thence on canal boats to Cuddebackville, N. Y., 
 whence teams hauled it over the Shawangunk Moun- 
 tains to the railroad. For the laying of track west 
 of Lackawaxen, the rails were transported by teams, 
 as the following advertisement will show : 
 
 NOTICE TO TEAMSTERS. 
 
 The subscribers have several hundred tons of railroad iron 
 to deliver the present winter on the line of the New York and 
 Erie Railroad at Lanesboro, Stockport, Equinunk, Cochecton, 
 and Big Eddy (Narrowsburg). A part of the iron will be 
 taken from Honesdale and the balance from this place. Mr. 
 J. A. Patmor, at Honesdale, is authorized to contract for what 
 iron goes from Honesdale. Good prices in cash will be paid 
 for the work. 
 
 Scrantons & Pratt. 
 
 August 24, 1847. 
 
 (C. J. C. Pratt had become a member of the firm 
 since the contract was made.) 
 
 For months scores of four-horse and mule teams 
 were kept busy carrying the iron to the railroad as 
 the work advanced westward, some of it being hauled 
 more than sixty miles. The contract was fulfilled, 
 and the railroad was extended to Binghamton in 
 time. And on that contract the fortunes of the 
 Scranton family were builded. The prestige and 
 
 profit of it led to the formation of what is now 
 the gigantic Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company of 
 Scranton, with millions at its beck and call, and which 
 has taken millions of other capital for investment into 
 that part of the Lackawanna Valley, for the building 
 of railroads and the establishment of other indus- 
 tries, until the proud city of Scranton has risen 
 from the insignificant and struggling Slocum Hollow 
 iron works that the Erie saved, and that in turn did 
 so much toward saving Erie. 
 
 The story of the struggle with the work of build- 
 ing the railroad through the Delaware Valley and to 
 Binghamton, crowded with lively incident, is the 
 story of an epoch in the progress of Erie, and is 
 told in detail elsewhere in this history 
 
 II. THROUGQ DARKNESS TO LIGHT. 
 
 The railroad reached Binghamton December 27, 
 1848. (Page352," The Building of It.") The char- 
 ter of the Company was then sixteen years old. Ac- 
 cording to its provisions there were but three years 
 more left in which to complete the railroad, that it 
 and the Company's franchises might not revert to 
 the State. Since the railroad was opened to Mid- 
 dletown, in 1843, 1^^^ than 150 miles had been added 
 to the line. With the opening of the road to Bing- 
 hamton not yet half of it was completed between the 
 Hudson River and Lake Erie. The railroad had 
 cost thus far $8,000,000, and the Company's treasury 
 was again empty. That such was the fact is nothing 
 to be wondered at. That it stood the drain success- 
 fully until the railroad was finished from Port Jervis 
 to Binghamton is to the lasting credit and honor of 
 the men who had the management of the Company's 
 affairs. They had accomplished the most stupen- 
 dous undertaking in engineering and construction 
 that up to that time had ever been attempted in this 
 or any other country. They had carved and hewn 
 a place for a railroad in miles of the solidest of rock; 
 bridged many wide and rapid rivers, yawning chasms, 
 and deep defiles; surmounted obstructing and 
 frowning hills,, and, in spite of them all, carried the 
 greeting of the Hudson to the Susquehanna within 
 
92 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 the appointed time. That the treasury was empty of 
 its $3,000,000 after such an achievement was not 
 strange. But empty it was, and there seemed no 
 visible prospect of its replenisliment. There was no 
 promise that the railroad could get any farther on 
 its way toward Lake Erie. It was as if the limit of 
 all effort had been reached; as if the end had really 
 come at last. 
 
 Alexander S. Diven, then of Elmira, liad been for 
 years in close touch with matters pertaining to the 
 concerns of the Company. In this emergency his 
 genius came to the solution of the vexing and seri- 
 ous problem that confronted the undertaking. He 
 formed a company, which might in these days be 
 called a construction syndicate, consisting of John 
 Arnot of Elmira, John Magee and Constant Cook of 
 Bath, N. Y., Charles Cook of Havana, N. Y., and 
 himself. He afterward disposed of his interest in the 
 company to John H. Cheddell of Auburn, N. Y. 
 James S. T. Stranahan subsequently became inter- 
 ested in it. 
 
 The original contract with these men was for the 
 grading of the road and furnishing of all the material, 
 except the iron rails, and laying of the track from 
 Binghamton to Corning — seventy-seven miles — the 
 contractors agreeing to take their pay in an issue of 
 paper of the Railroad Company known as " income 
 certificates," payable solely from the net income of 
 the railroad east of Corning; the principal to be paid 
 in six, seven, eight, nine and ten years; the road to be 
 completed to Owego — twenty-two miles — by June i, 
 1849; to Elmira — fifty-eight miles — by October i, 
 1849; ^^^ t° Corning by December 31, 1849. Sub- 
 sequently, with a view to a further and more rapid 
 extension of the railroad west of Corning than was 
 contemplated at the time the contract was made, an 
 arrangement was perfected by which the contractors 
 agreed to a modification of the terms, by which 
 modification all the income certificates that had been 
 issued to them on account of the contract were re- 
 tired, and the entire series of such certificates can- 
 celled. In place of those certificates the Railroad 
 Company proposed a second issue of mortgage 
 bonds, to the amount of $4,000,000, to run ten years 
 at 7 per cent, interest per annum, and convertible 
 
 into stock of the Company at any time before matu- 
 rity, the issue to be secured by a mortgage upon the 
 entire property of the Company between Piermont 
 and Lake Erie, and subject only to the lien created 
 by the State mortgage bonds of $3,000,000. Out of 
 this issue of bonds the contractors were to receive 
 their pay for building the road from Binghamton to 
 Corning. 
 
 By this financing the Company's purpose was to 
 not only obtain the money to pay the contractors, but 
 to fund the floating debt, which was then $833,833, 
 and extend the railroad westward to Hornellsville, 
 to connect with the railroad then building between 
 that place and Buffalo, " by making as early connec- 
 tion as may be with which important branch road," 
 the Company's address to the public on this subject 
 said, " the very great advantages of a continuous line 
 to the lake are secured, and before the main line can 
 be extended to Dunkirk." It was estimated by the 
 Company's engineer that the work between Bing- 
 hamton and Hornellsville would cost $2,500,000, and 
 the Directors figured that with the proceeds of the 
 bonds the work could be done and the rolling stock 
 necessary to the increased mileage be amply pro- 
 vided. The total liabilities of the Company at this 
 time were $9,802,433. 
 
 The arrangement with the construction company 
 rescued the railroad from inevitable suspension of 
 further construction, awakened a new interest in it, 
 and insured its completion to tlie lake without fur- 
 ther interruption. But it tightened the grasp of 
 bonded debt on the Company. And it made the 
 fortunes of the men who took the bonds as the price 
 of their contract for carrying the railroad less than 
 eighty miles beyond Binghamton, the road having 
 been opened to Owego, Elmira and Corning on the 
 dates provided in the contract. 
 
 There had been an improvement in business affairs 
 throughout the country in the meantime, and con- 
 fidence in the prospects of Erie became stronger. 
 When the railroad was finished to Corning the Direct- 
 ors invited contracts for the remainder of the road 
 to Dunkirk, 169 miles, which the engineers estimated 
 could be built for $3,750,000. To raise a fund to 
 complete this work and meet other requirements for 
 proper operations on the railroad, the Directors 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 93 
 
 made another increase in the bonded debt of the By April, 185 1, the railroad was in sucli shape 
 Company by issuing $3,500,000 of income bonds, to that on the 22d of that month the Directors of the 
 bear interest .at 7 per cent., and redeemable at the Company made a tour of inspection over it to Dun- 
 pleasure of the Company within five years. To kirk, and about that time many more or less prom- 
 secure the payment of this loan the management inent people throughout the country received the 
 pledged the whole income of the railroad after July i, ofificial announcement that the New York and Erie 
 1851, until the net amount reached $1,200,000, " re- Railroad would be opened to Lake Erie on Wednes- 
 serving only a sum sufficient to pay the interest on day. May 14th, and an invitation to accompany the 
 the mortgage bonds." This the Directors prophe- Directors on an excursion to Dunkirk on the oc- 
 sied that they could do, and distribute an ample casion and participate in the celebration of the 
 dividend among the stockholders besides, within the great event. At the same time the Directors gave 
 first year after opening the railroad to Lake Erie, notice to the stockholders as follows in the public 
 These bonds were placed at a heavy discount, and prints: 
 
 the contracts were let for the final work on the rail- " It would have afforded the President and Di- 
 road. rectors great pleasure if they could have extended 
 In February, 1851, operations had progressed so their invitation to the stockholders and other friends 
 well that the railroad was as far as Cuba, Allegany of the road, but the disappointment in receiving 
 County, N. Y., within seventy-seven miles of Dun- their passenger cars, and the limited accommodations 
 kirk, having reached Hornellsville September i, 1850. at Dunkirk, rendered it impossible to do so. At an 
 The Directors made a statement to the stockholders early day arrangements will be made to furnish ex- 
 then in which they did some more calculating on the cursion tickets to stockholders, giving them an op- 
 future of the railroad. In the year 1851, they fig- portunity to examine the road at their leisure, and 
 ured, it would earn about 8 per cent, on its existing at a reduced price." 
 
 capital of $6,000,000; in 1852, 14^ per cent., and Even as long ago as 1851, stockholders in railroad 
 
 in 1853, 17 per cent. There were then outstanding companies might have begun to see that they had 
 
 and to be cared for when interest day came the invested their money largely for the pleasure of see- 
 
 $3,000,000 of mortgage bonds issued in 1845, the ing the managers of their property enjoy themselves 
 
 second mortgage of $4,000,000 issued in 1849, the at their expense, 
 issue of $3,500,000 of income bonds of 1850, cer- 
 
 ^ffirr sf t(ir }^n>-'|^ol'li ant UufHtail &ii.i1>.d)i) 
 Mill Ut, llMI. > 
 
 tificates of old indebtedness as a result of the 
 resuscitation of the road in 1845, ^"^ a floating 
 debt of $2,988,045, or a total indebtedness of 
 $13,988,045; yet the Directors came cheerfully 
 to the front in February, 1851, as a result of 
 the roseate future they saw for the railroad, 
 and announced that they needed $3,500,000 
 more, and that to raise it they intended to is- 
 sue twenty-year 7 per cent, convertible bonds 
 to that amount and place them on the market. 
 They did this, submitting to the "shave" de- 
 manded by Wall Street, and the fourth mort- 
 gage was piled on top of the now rapidly accu- 
 mulating mountain of Erie debt. This money 
 was required, the Directors said, to fund the 
 floating debt, and to provide necessary machin- 
 ery and rolling stock. 
 
 Sir) 
 
 The Board ol' Directors of th? Ne»-York and ErieEail Road Company conlenipTale 
 opt^Ding their road to Lake Erie, on thel4th inst.. 'They respectMIy invite you lo be 
 present on that occasion to accompany them in a tour over the Road, to examine this great 
 work, Jeaving this city, from the Pier foot of Duane Street, at six o'clock, on, the morning 
 t»f Wednesday, the* 14th, and retnniing on the morning of the 17th. 
 
 As the number of guests invited is necessarily limited, the favor of a reply to lliis 
 iitvitation is solicited. 
 
 Vou are partictilarly requested to preserve the euclosed ticket, and show it on goiuK 
 on board the boat, at Duane Street Pier. 
 
 CHAS. M. LEUPP, 
 SHEPHERD KNAPP, 
 JOHN J. PHELPS. 
 HOMER RAMSDELL, 
 THOMAS W. GALE, 
 
 Committee of Arraiiirenunls. 
 
 FAC-SIMILE OF THE OFFICIAL INVITATION. ORIGINAL FROM THE 
 PHILIP CHURCH COLLECTION. 
 
94 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 III. TRIUMPH. 
 
 At last, after almost a score of years of desperate 
 struggling with adverse circumstances, the last spike 
 had been driven, and the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road was completed from the Hudson River toLake 
 Erie. The personnel of the management in author- 
 ity when the great work was finished was as follows: 
 President, Benjamin Loder; Vice-President, Samuel 
 Marsh; Secretary, Nathaniel Marsh; Treasurer, 
 Thomas J. Townsend. Directors: William E. 
 Dodge, Shepherd Knapp, Marshall O. Roberts, John 
 J. Phelps, Homer Ramsdell, W. B. Skidmore, Dan- 
 iel Miller, Charles M. Leupp, Henry Suydam, jr., 
 Cornelius Smith, Thomas W. Gale, Norman White, 
 Theodore Dekon. General Superintendent, Charles 
 Minot; Chief Engineer, Horatio Allen. These were 
 all residents of New York City except Homer Rams- 
 dell, who was from Newburgh. 
 
 The completion of the railroad was at that time 
 the most important event in the history of railroad 
 building. This may be the better appreciated at 
 this day when it is known that but one other really 
 great railroad had been completed either in this 
 country or abroad, and that, singularly enough, was 
 in Russia — the line between St. Petersburg and 
 Moscow. The present stupendous Pennsylvania 
 Railroad was then but a local line owned by the 
 State of Pennsylvania, extending from Philadelphia 
 to Hollidaysburg, at the eastern base of the Alle- 
 ghany Mountains. New York was then connected 
 with Albany, Buffalo and Rochester merely by a 
 chain of ramshackle local roads of different gauges, 
 subsequently combined and fashioned into one uni- 
 form system, which is that of the New York Central 
 and Hudson River Railroad Company of to-day. 
 The Baltimore and Ohio, although the pioneer great 
 railroad line in America, had as yet no important 
 western connection, and was conspicuous only as 
 the protector of Baltimore's trade against the attrac- 
 tion of southern inarkets, which were convenient by 
 Mississippi River navigation. Hence the comple- 
 tion of the New York and Erie Railroad marked the 
 first epoch in rail transportation of really national 
 importance. It made possible the uniting of western 
 commercial centers with New York City by quick 
 
 communication that had long been the dream of far- 
 seeing minds, an event that speedily followed in the 
 completion of the Michigan Southern Railroad and 
 the lines that naturally and necessarily grew out 
 of its construction. It was the uniting of the Ocean 
 and the Lakes and the beginning of the present 
 great era of railroad supremacy in the financial and 
 commercial world. Consequently, it was justly con- 
 sidered to be worthy of national attention, and the 
 management of the Company arranged for giving 
 the very first long-distance railroad excursion party 
 ever known in this country, and made of it one 
 which has never been equalled in number of illustri- 
 ous and distinguished guests. 
 
 Invitations were sent to President Millard Fill- 
 more and his cabinet, and to numerous of the most 
 eminent statesmen and men of affairs. President 
 Fillmore accepted the invitation, as did Daniel 
 Webster, Secretary of State; John J. Crittenden, 
 Attorney-General; W. C. Graham, Secretary of the 
 Navy, and W. K. Hall, Postmaster-General. The 
 names of other notable men who accepted and were 
 present will appear in the course of this chronicle. 
 
 When it was announced that the President and 
 four of the most distinguished of his official family 
 were to participate in the celebration of the open- 
 ing of the New York and Erie Railroad, the mu- 
 nicipal authorities of New York City joined with 
 the ofificers of the Company to make their stay in 
 and start from New York a public affair, to be cele- 
 brated with appropriate honors and festivities. The 
 Presidential party were to be guests of the city, and 
 a committee of two — Alderman Robert J. Haws and 
 Assistant Alderman John B. Webb — were sent to 
 Vv''ashington to notify the President and to act as an 
 escort of the party from Washington to New Yc.k, 
 on behalf of the city government. The authorities 
 also arranged the following 
 
 PROGRAMME OF ARRANGEMENTS 
 
 On the occasion of the arrival in this city of the President 
 of the United States and the members of the Cabinet, en 
 route to participate in the Celebration of the Opening of 
 the New York and Erie Railroad. 
 
 Hospitalilies of the City to the President and Cabijtet. 
 
 The Special Committee appointed by the Common Council 
 of the City of New York to make the necessary arrangements 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 95 
 
 for the reception of the President of the United States and 
 Members of the Cabinet of the General Government, have 
 adopted the following programme of Arrangements for the 
 occasion, Tuesday, the 13th inst. : 
 
 The President is expected to arrive at Castle Garden be- 
 tween the hours of one and two o'clock p. m., where he will be 
 received and welcomed to the hospitalities of the city, by his 
 Honor the Mayor, after which the President will review troops 
 on the Battery. National salute to be fired on his arrival, 
 under the direction of Brigadier-General Morris. 
 
 ROUTE OF PROCESSION. 
 
 From the Battery up Broadway to Broome Street, through 
 Broome Street to the Bowery, down the Bowery to Chatham 
 Street, through Chatham Street to the East Gate of the Park, 
 through the Park in front of the City Hall, where the Presi- 
 dent and suite will receive a marching salute from the military 
 under command of Major-General Charles W. Sanford. After 
 the review on the Battery, the march will commence from the 
 right of the division under command of Major-General San- 
 ford, as follows: 
 
 A squadron of Horse forming the mounted escort. The 
 President of the United States and Suite. General Sanford 
 and the Staff of the First Division. 
 
 The First Brigade, commanded by Brigadier-General 
 Spicer, consisting of the First Regiment, Col. Ryer; Sec- 
 ond Regiment, Col. Bogart; Third Regiment, Col. Postley. 
 
 The Second Brigade, commanded by Brigadier-General 
 George P. Morris, consisting of Fourth Regiment, Col. 
 Yates; Fifth Regiment, Col. Warner; Sixth Regiment, Col. 
 Peers. 
 
 The Third Brigade, commanded by Brigadier-General Hall, 
 consisting of Seventh Regiment, Col. Duryea; Eighth Regi- 
 ment, Col. Devoe; Ninth Regiment, Col. Ferris. 
 - The Fourth Brigade, commanded by Brigadier-General 
 Ewen, consisting of Tenth Regiment, Col. Halsey; Eleventh 
 Regiment, Col. Morris; Twelfth Regiment, Col. Stebbins. 
 
 Senators and Representatives of the United States. Sen- 
 ators and Assemblymen of State of New York. Special Com- 
 mittee of Common Council. Army and Navy Officers of the 
 United States. Governor and Lieutenant-Governor of New 
 York State. Foreign Consuls and Ex-Mayors. Collector, 
 Postmaster, Surveyor, and United States Marshal. United 
 States District Attorney, United States Judges. Sub-Treas- 
 urer and Naval Officer. Members of Common Council in 
 Carriages. Register, Sheriff, County Clerk, and Surrogate. 
 Governor of Alms House, Commissioner of Emigration. 
 Resident Physician and City Inspector. President and Direct- 
 ors of Erie Railroad Company. Heads of Departments of 
 the City Government. Recorder and City Judge. General 
 Committees of the Whig and Democratic parties. Citizens 
 in Carriages and on Horseback. 
 
 The owners and masters of shipping in port and proprietors 
 of public buildings in the city are requested to display their 
 fiags from the same from sunrise to sunset during the day. 
 
 The owners and proprietors of all public and licensed car- 
 riages and vehicles are directed to withdraw them from the 
 streets through which the procession is to pass, after the hour 
 of eleven o'clock A. M. until the close thereof. 
 
 The Chief of Police is charged with the enforcement of the 
 above order. 
 
 The owners and proprietors of all public carriages and 
 
 vehicles are also respectfully requested to conform to the 
 wishes of the Committee in this respect. 
 
 No obstructions of any kind will be permitted in the streets 
 through which the procession is to pass. 
 
 A. C. KiNGSLAND, Mayor. 
 
 Special Committee. — Aldennen. — Oscar W. Sturtevant, 
 Robert T. Haws, Jonas F. Conklin, Daniel Dodge, James M. 
 Bard. Morgan Morgans, President. Assistant Aldermen. — 
 Daniel F. Tieman, Nathan C. Ely, John B. Webb, S. L. H. 
 Ward, Robert A. Sands. A, A. Alvord, Secretary. 
 
 Chamber of Commerce Committee of Cooperation. — 
 Moses H. Grinnell, President of the Chamber; Elias Hicks, 
 First Vice-President; James De Peyster Ogden, Edwin Bowen 
 Graves, Walter R. Jones, Charles H. Marshall, Matthew 
 Maury. 
 
 President Fillmore and members of his fs nily, 
 Daniel Webster and his son Fletcher, and the others 
 of the Presidential party, left Washington at 6 
 o'clock on the morning of May 12th. They arrived 
 at Baltimore for breakfast, which was eaten at Bar- 
 num's Hotel. Leaving Baltimore at 9 o'clock, they 
 arrived at Philadelphia at 12, where they were 
 guests of that city until the morning of the 13th. 
 Accompanied by Benjamin Mathias, Speaker of the 
 Pennsylvania Senate, John Price Wetherhill, Dr. J. 
 T. Wickersham, and a committee from the Philadel- 
 phia City Council, the President and his illustrious 
 fellow-tourists left Philadelphia that morning for 
 New York, via the Camden and Amboy Railroad. 
 
 Great preparations had been made for receiving 
 the party at New York and Amboy. The steam- 
 boat " Erie," gayly decorated with evergreens, 
 flowers, flags, and banners, departed from the foot of 
 Duane Street at 10 o'clock on the morning of the 
 13th to meet and welcome the President and the 
 other guests at Amboy. The boat was in charge of 
 Captain Maybee. Aboard the " Erie" were Presi- 
 dent Loder, his fellow-officers, and the Board of 
 Directors of the Erie Railroad Company, and repre- 
 sentatives of the city and county government as fol- 
 lows : Recorder Talmadge, Sheriff Carnley, County 
 Clerk G. W. Riblet, and District Attorney N. B. 
 Blunt. There was also a number of invited guests, 
 and a squad of police in charge of Captain Carpenter 
 of the Fifth Ward. The boat arrived at Amboy 
 dock at 12 o'clock, and one minute later the train 
 bearing the President and his party came in. The 
 distinguished guests were escorted aboard the boat. 
 
96 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Alderman Haws introduced the President and the 
 Members of the Cabinet to Secretary Marsh, who 
 introduced them to President Loder and the Direct- 
 ors. Charles M. Leupp, Chairman of the Commit- 
 tee of Arrangements for the Company, addressed 
 President Fillmore as follows: 
 
 Mr. President, it gives me great pleasure, in behalf of the 
 Board of Directors of the New York and Erie Railroad Com- 
 pany, to welcome you, and the distinguished statesmen by 
 whom you are accompanied, on board the steamer, and to 
 congratulate you and them on your safe arrival. The Direct- 
 ors are deeply sensible of the high honor you have conferred 
 by your acceptance of their invitation to accompany them in 
 a tour over the road. It will afiford them the highest satis- 
 faction to conduct yoii on this new highway, which connects 
 by an indissoluble link the great Ir-'-es with the ocean. And 
 were they wanting in proper appreciation of the magnitude 
 and importance of the task in which they have been engaged, 
 they would be reminded of it when the head of the Republic 
 and its chief officers of State honor them by making it a 
 special object of examination. They rejoice in the hope that 
 the New York and Erie Railroad, built not for a day, but 
 for all time, will realize the blessings expected from it, and 
 that while it serves to develop the resources of the country 
 through which it passes, it will contribute to bind still more 
 closely together the distant portions of our glorious Union. 
 I again, dear sir, bid you a cordial welcome. 
 
 To which President Fillmore responded: 
 
 I beg to return you, dear sir, and the Committee of Ar- 
 rangements, my thanks, and through you, the Directors of 
 the Erie Railroad Company, for the very cordial welcome you 
 have given me and my associates. I assure you that we fully 
 appreciate the great enterprise you have now so happily com- 
 pleted. I know full well the difficulties under which you have 
 labored in the accomplishment of this important work, and 
 it is due to you, as the representatives of the Board of Direct- 
 ors, that the chief officer of the nation should recognize it. 
 It is the most costly and greatest work of its kind on this 
 continent, and in the world, with one exception. You say 
 that it connects the great lakes with the ocean? Yes, sir; and 
 it connects the several States of this great Union. I need not 
 say that I feel proud of an achievement in my native State 
 which adds dignity and glory and strength to the whole 
 country. (Loud cheers.) 
 
 The steamboat " Erie" made its return trip on 
 the outside route. A banquet was spread in the 
 cabin by Steward Simmons, at which Mr. Loder, as 
 chief ofificer of the Railroad Company, presided. 
 On the way up the Bay the boat was saluted by the 
 guns of Fort Hamilton and Diamond (subsequently 
 Fort Lafayette), and of Governor's and Bedloe's 
 Islands. The shipping in the harbor was one great 
 glory of bunting. At the Battery 50,000 people 
 awaited the arrival of the President and his famed 
 
 associates, and 9,000 State militia, under Major- 
 General Charles Sanford, were drawn up in line to 
 receive them with military honors. The boat ar- 
 rived at the Battery at 2 P. M. A salute was fired 
 by veterans of the Revolutionary War, from a field 
 piece of the days of ' J^. The air was rent with the 
 shouts of the populace as the party landed. The 
 distinguished visitors were escorted to Castle Gar- 
 den, where they were welcomed to the city by 
 Mayor A. C. Kingsland. After speeches by Presi- 
 dent Fillmore, Daniel Webster, John J. Crittenden, 
 and General Sanford, the President and party, 
 with the exception of Webster, were escorted by a 
 formal parade to the Irving House, which was then 
 a famous hostelry at Broadway and Twelfth Street, 
 where quarters had been engaged for them. Web- 
 ster went to the Astor House, his habitual stopping 
 place when in New York, and occupied a suite of 
 rooms provided by the New York and Erie Railroad 
 Company — Rooms 39, 41, and 43. During the day 
 and evening the distinguished visitors were the 
 guests of the city, and most elaborate preparations 
 had been made to entertain them. There were many 
 festivities during the day and night, and the city was 
 in holiday array. 
 
 The hour fixed for departure from New York to 
 Piermont, as will be seen from the time-table, was 
 six o'clock on Wednesday morning, May 14th. A 
 heavy rain had begun falling during the night, and 
 it was raining when President Fillmore and his suite 
 took carriages at the Irving House to be driven to 
 the foot of Duane Street. The President was accom- 
 panied by Alderman Haws and Assistant Alderman 
 Tieman. Attorney-General Crittenden was taken 
 in charge by Alderman Franklin. Postmaster-Gen- 
 eral Hall and Secretary of the Navy Graham were 
 escorted by Assistant Alderman Ely. In spite of 
 the rain and the early hour, the streets were crowded 
 with people. By the time the President and his 
 party arrived at the dock and were formally delivered 
 to the care of the Company the rain had ceased. 
 Daniel Webster rode to the dock with his son. The 
 " Erie " was held at the dock until ten minutes past 
 six, owing to delay in the arrival of Mr. Webster's 
 baggage. When that arrived, the representatives of 
 the city surrendered their guests to the custody of 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 97 
 
 
 
 1 RAH -5041). 
 
 ^pw^ion.gwin?, ^-jj llt^, 15tfi, IGlfJ aJ 17(5, 1851. 
 
 
 vD^iMS" 
 
 f 
 
 ^.. I 
 
 On the Uthof May in^t.ytlie Steamboat ERIE will leave tl.cXewYorlcandKric JlaiMload Pier, foot of Diiatic Street, 
 atO A^-M. forTk;rmoiit,:wheuce two Trains of Cars will start for Dunkirk, and fun by the Time liable on tlio back 
 hereof ■■. • ■ "■ ^^-^ - | 
 
 These Trains shall haw the road against all other Trains, PassTmger, Treiijlit, (iravel &e., and all otlier occupants of 
 the Track, from their tinies at any Station, till their passage ; and no othcrlTRm, must leave any Station or Turnout, 
 unless It shall liave aiuph; time to arrive at tlie next Station or Turnout, at/least i vc minutes prior to the thae in this 
 Table for these Trains tiTlcave there. 
 
 If the forward extra Train shall be detained, so as to have to stop on" the road it the time for the rear extra Train 
 to come up, the Conductof^of the former must iminediately send a man baek to, wfcn the approaching Train ; and a 
 Flag-man must be kept^ tfie near end of the rear Car, for tliis purpose. | 
 
 The Trains will stop a^Statiocs the number of minutes indicated by the followig marks viz : *, 5 minutes ; f, 10 
 minutes ; {, 15 minutes ;;TI, 25 minutes, for dinner. f 
 
 i CHA'$. MINOT, SurERINTENDEXT. 
 ■,^-.-r: .- 1— -. . , I , ^^ 
 
 
 OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION OF THE OPENING OF THE RAILROAD TO DUNKIRK. 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAIL-ROAD— TIME TABLE. 
 
 "^l^T '23) cy ST a^, TXT tcZl 
 
 May 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th, 1851.^ 
 
 May 14, 
 
 May 16. | 
 
 I.*t 'I'min 
 
 H T.iiii. 
 
 2.1 Tram 
 
 l«t Train 
 
 11 51 A.M 
 
 12 40 [• .M 
 
 t>.:A VM 
 
 5 57 PM 
 
 12 01 P!r 
 
 12.50 
 
 6.23 
 
 5.52 
 
 12 14- 
 
 1.05 
 
 CIS 
 
 5 42 
 
 niH 
 
 *125 
 
 V'' 
 
 »030 
 
 1 OJ 
 
 130 
 
 lfs3 
 
 5.22 
 
 1 12 
 
 1. 45 
 
 ;..3S 
 
 5 03 
 
 l.Jl 
 
 1 .57 
 
 ■ 5 30 
 
 6.01 
 
 1 .";!> 
 
 2 14 
 
 JIS 
 
 440 
 
 ■i.ui 
 
 2 40 
 
 4-58 
 
 4.27 
 
 21.'. 
 
 2.54 
 
 •4..52 
 
 14.22 
 
 2 2.J 
 
 3 05 
 
 4 35 
 
 3.56 
 
 2 41 
 
 8.21 
 
 4.24 
 
 3.46 
 
 *2.Sfi 
 
 ♦3.37 
 
 •4.05 
 
 •325 
 
 3 11! 
 
 3 5f 
 
 ,3.45 
 
 3 00 
 
 •.i*l 
 
 •4 2:j 
 
 339 
 
 2 62 
 
 4 00 
 
 4 42 
 
 3.31 
 
 2 42 
 
 4 10 
 
 45a 
 
 3.25 
 
 2.35 
 
 4.17 
 
 5 02 
 
 *3.1» 
 
 •2 15 
 
 •4.2S 
 
 •5 12 
 
 2,58 
 
 2 05 
 
 4 43 
 
 5 27 
 
 2.42 
 
 1.49 
 
 4.0;t 
 
 5:j8 
 
 12.20 
 
 ■-,•134 
 
 'jM 
 
 •a 55 
 
 2 0.3 
 
 111 
 
 ■>1!1 
 
 07 
 
 136 
 
 12 38 
 
 52S 
 
 6 17.- 
 
 •I.J2 
 
 12.12 PR 
 
 ."iae 
 
 622 
 
 12.02 : 
 
 11 63 AX 
 
 5 41 
 
 6 31! 
 
 •li' 5? A 
 
 11 25 , 
 
 640 
 
 6 4.S 
 
 M0 51 
 
 r, M 
 
 7 00 
 
 11 JO /i. 
 
 10 ,30 AS 
 
 l^iia 
 
 7 11 
 
 -;-;-T- 
 
 
 STATIONS. 
 
 Ar. Elmira, Dep. 
 .luiiction, 
 
 - _ llij,'Flatfl, 
 
 - ^ C-'oniii^, 
 
 - PaijitC'irost, • 
 
 ■ - Adiluioii, 
 
 - RathlioneviHe, - 
 Cijj.'eioy, 
 
 ■ noriK-lhville, ■ 
 Almond, ' - 
 
 ■ Baker's Uridjc, - 
 
 - Au-iovor, 
 
 ■ Ph:ilj|.svillo/ • 
 Bflvidcro, - 
 
 FricmJsbip, 
 
 Cufift, 
 Ilin*iale, - 
 
 Oloan, . - 
 AlU'ftnnr, 
 
 - Great Vallor, ■ 
 
 - Little Valley, ■ 
 Arbjon, 
 Davton, 
 
 FtinjatvillG, . 
 Orj, Dunkirk, Ai: 
 
 TIME-TABLE PRINTED ON THE BACK OF THE OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION, (THE FIRST THROUGH ERIE TIME-TABLE.) 
 
 (The blurs and imperfections on these fac-simile reproductions of this historic document are due to the fact that 
 the original, which has been in the possession of the Curtis family, of Callicoon, N. Y., ever since it was used by the 
 late Judge Curtis, of that place, who was a guest on the occasion, was thus marred from frequent inspection of it by 
 curiosity seekers during the past forty-eight years. The original was kindly loaned the author by C. T. Curtis, Esq., 
 of Callicoon.) 
 7 
 
98 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 the Company's representatives, and to the strains of 
 the famous Dodworth's band the" Erie" steamed 
 up the Hudson, bearing its load of distinguished 
 passengers, the first persons to leave New York 
 City for a continuous journey by rail from tide- 
 water to the lakes. The steamer moved away, fol- 
 lowed by the tumultuous cheers of a witnessing mul- 
 titude. Chief among the excursionists, besides the 
 President and his suite and the railroad officials 
 and Directors, were ex-Governor and United States 
 Senator Hamilton Fish; ex-Governor Marcy, Com- 
 modore M. C. Perry, Joseph Hoxie, Christopher 
 Morgan, Secretary of State of New York ; State 
 Engineer Silas Seymour; Philip Church, Charles 
 O'Connor, Anson G. Phelps, Richard H. McCurdy, 
 C. W. Lawrence, Leonard Kirby, Don Alonzo Cush- 
 man, Comptroller Fuller, of the State of New York; 
 State Senators Crolius, Beekman, Morgan, Williams, 
 and Brandreth; Assemblymen Allen, Gregory, Var- 
 num, Dewey, Tuthill, Ryan, and Backhouse; W. C. 
 Hasbrouck, ex-Speaker of the Assembly; Mayor 
 Kingsland, and members of the municipal govern- 
 ment. There were 300 passengers in all, including 
 Chief of Police George W. Matsell and staff. An 
 important adjunct of the party was George Downing 
 and his corps of trained assistants. Downing was 
 the most famous New York caterer of that day, and 
 he was engaged by the Company to be the official 
 caterer to the great excursion. That he did his 
 duty well, both in the providing of solid and liquid 
 comfort, is one of the recollections of the occasion 
 that will never fade from the minds of any of those 
 who had evidence of it and are alive to-day. 
 
 On the steamboat were the head of the United 
 States government and his chief advisers; Govern- 
 ors; United States Senators; heads of great munici- 
 pal corporations; legislators; princes of trade and 
 commerce ; and the officers of the entire Board of 
 Management of the then greatest railroad in the 
 world. 
 
 " If by any accident," said Joseph Hoxie, the wit 
 of the excursion, ' ' this boat should go to the bottom, 
 what consternation there would be throughout the 
 United States and the habitable globe!" 
 
 The "Erie" arrived at Piermont at 7:45, amid 
 the ringing of bells, firing of cannon, and the cheering 
 
 of an immense assemblage from all the surrounding 
 country. President Fillmore made a brief speech to 
 the people. Everything on the mile-long pier was 
 decorated with flags. On one large banner was in- 
 scribed : "We know no secluded districts." On 
 another was: " Congratulations of Rockland County. 
 Hudson River and Lake Erie." 
 
 Two trains, decorated from locomotives to rear 
 cars, were in readiness for the guests. The first 
 one, carrying President Fillmore and the noted 
 guests, started at eight o'clock; the other one seven 
 minutes later. The conductor of the first train was 
 Henry Ayers; of the second, William H. Stewart. 
 The weather being fair and pleasant, Daniel Web- 
 
 j n .11 1 r 
 
 pleaSp: show Tf-iis ticket when requested. 
 
 Secy. 
 
 THIS 'IjCKET is MjT Tl.'AN- 
 
 FAC-SIMILE REPRODUCTION OF THE TICKET OF ADMISSION TO 
 THE EXCURSION TRAIN. ORIGINAL OWNED BY BENJAMIN 
 H. LODER, ESQ., BROOKLYN, N. Y. 
 
 ster rode on a flat car, at his own request, a big, 
 easy rocking chair being provided for him to sit in. 
 He chose this manner of riding so that he could 
 better view and enjoy the fine country through 
 which the railroad passed. It seemed as if all the 
 inhabitants of that portion of historic Rockland 
 County, N. Y., en one hand, and of Bergen County, 
 N. J., on the other, had flocked to the railroad to 
 raise their voices in rejoicing that the long-awaited 
 and momentous event was at last at hand. But 
 before the leading train had gone many miles the 
 annoying discovery was made that the engine was 
 not equal to the task, and the engine of the second 
 train was brought into service to push the head one 
 along, and thus help the leading locomotive out. 
 
 Locomotive building was but little more than in 
 its infancy in this country then, and Paterson, N. J., 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 99 
 
 was making the reputation which has made it a 
 center of that industry for almost the entire world. 
 Rogers and Swinburne were rivals in the business, 
 and both had turned out engines for the Erie. 
 Among the engineers running on the road were 
 Joshua R. Martin and Gad Lyman. The former 
 ran from Port Jervis to Susquehanna, the latter from 
 Piermont to Port Jervis. Martin had been running 
 a locomotive from the Rogers shop named " Onei- 
 da," which he called the " One Idea," because he 
 said it only seemed to have one idea, and that was 
 that it couldn't do the work he wanted it to do. In 
 December, 1850, Swinburne delivered to the Com- 
 pany a locomotive known as No. 71. Engineer 
 Martin set his heart on the engine, because he 
 believed it was a good one, and for the further reason 
 that he was a firm friend of Swinburne's, and wanted 
 to give the locomotive the best possible test for the 
 benefit of the builder. The locomotive, however, 
 was assigned to Gad Lyman, who was a strong advo- 
 cate of the Rogers locomotives. Lyman ran the en- 
 gine for some time, but complained constantly that 
 its construction was such that he could not make his 
 time with it. As he failed so frequently in making 
 his time, the locomotive was condemned. When 
 Martin heard of this he made application to Master 
 Mechanic John Brandt, who in those days ruled in 
 all such matters, to have charge of "71." The 
 Master Mechanic said that the machine wasn't worth 
 bothering with for regular business, and he assigned 
 it to duty on the gravel train. The failure of the 
 engine was a severe blow to Swinburne, who had 
 exercised his best skill and knowledge in the science 
 of locomotive construction to turn out a perfect 
 machine. Martin did not lose faith in the engine's 
 qualities and capacity, however, and continued so 
 persistently to solicit Master Mechanic Brandt for its 
 charge that the latter, who was very emphatic in the 
 use of language, told the engineer to " take the 
 damned old thing and go to hell with it." At 
 Martin's request, Swinburne took the locomotive to 
 his shop for the purpose of remedying whatever defect 
 he had made in its construction, but a careful exami- 
 nation of the parts failed to reveal anything wrong. 
 Martin then assumed control of the throttle on 
 " 71," and if he was ever late in making his time on 
 
 the crooked Delaware Division it was not the fault 
 of the engine. He made his runs on time easier 
 with " 71 " than he had ever done with previous 
 locomotives, and had run her but two weeks when 
 the ereat event of both his and Swinburne's lives 
 occurred. 
 
 After Gad Lyman had abandoned No. 71 as useless, 
 he was given an engine of the Rogers make — No. 100. 
 In May, 185 1, Lyman was notified that he was to 
 run the excursion train from Piermont with his 
 locomotive, and he was a proud man when he pulled 
 open its throttle and started on that historic day. 
 But before he had gone many miles Engineer Lyman 
 saw, much to his dismay and chagrin, that his engine 
 was with difficulty hauling the train, and that he 
 could not make time. Before he reached Suffern 
 the engine was " stuck," and the one on the rear 
 train was called to its aid, as noted above. This 
 engine was the Steuben, or No. 6, Onderdonk Meritt 
 engineer, James Gillin fireman. The train reached 
 Goshen in this way, much behind time. 
 
 At Chester, N. Y., where the Newburgh Branch 
 then had its terminus, a number of guests from 
 Newburgh had joined the party. They added a 
 splendid banner to the collection of such offerings 
 already aboard the excursion train. On one side 
 of it was a view of Newburgh Bay, looking toward 
 West Point, with a train of cars in the foreground 
 on the right, taken from the south end of the village 
 near the point where the branch railroad entered, 
 enclosed in a medallion or shield, surmounted by an 
 eagle holding in its beak a scroll, with the names of 
 the President and Vice-President of the Company 
 and the names of the other Directors tastefully 
 displayed on the leaves and scrolls which formed the 
 border of the shield. Over it was the motto: " This 
 peaceful victory more glorious in its triumph than 
 Austerlitz or Waterloo. ' ' And underneath : ' ' Neigh- 
 bors to-day, strangers yesterday. Newburgh, Dun- 
 kirk." On the reverse was a faithful representation 
 of Washington's Headquarters, over which was the 
 motto: " This day wanting, the world had not seen 
 the extent of human greatness." The banner was 
 painted by a Newburgh artist named Charles W. 
 Tice. 
 
 At Goshen ex-Governor W. H. Seward who had 
 
xoo 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 been visiting at the village of Florida, near by, his 
 native village, joined the party. At Middletown 
 Webster addressed the people. The trains were an 
 hour late there, with Gad Lyman's engine still incom- 
 petent. At Middletown General Superintendent 
 Charles Minot sent a telegram to " Josh " Martin at 
 Port Jervis over the first railroad telegraph line ever 
 constructed, and then but recently in operation, to 
 be ready with his engine " 71 " when the first ex- 
 cursion train reached Port Jervis, to take it on to 
 Susquehanna. 
 
 I was present when Josh received the dispatch," 
 says the Rev. H. Butcher, of Warwick, N. Y. " He 
 was in his glory. With an extra chew of tobacco, 
 and with his monkey wrench and oil can, he had the 
 ' 71 ' in order and blowing off at 140 pounds pressure 
 to the square inch long before the train came in 
 sight. When the train arrived, forty-seven minutes 
 late, Martin backed up ' 71 ' and coupled on. Swin- 
 burne, her builder, who was one of the excursionists, 
 stepped upon the engine to ride, and Martin slapped 
 him on the shoulder and said : 
 
 Swinburne, I am going to make you to-day, or 
 break my neck! 
 
 At Port Jervis a vast concourse of people, from 
 three States and numerous counties, had assembled 
 to welcome the train. The village fire department 
 was out in force and gala attire, and a local band 
 responded to the strains of the great Dodsworth's 
 band as the train steamed to the station. A scarlet 
 silk banner, beautifully trimmed, was presented to 
 the officers of the Company, bearing the inscription, 
 on one side: " The Banks of the Delaware Welcome 
 the Iron Horse from the Atlantic." On the reverse: 
 " Presented by Citizens of Port Jervis, May 14, 
 1 85 1." As, according to the official programme, the 
 first train had only five minutes to stop at Port Jervis, 
 or Delaware, as the station was then called, the train 
 was started on its way before the presentation address 
 was completed, and left a great many heart-burnings 
 among the good people of Port Jervis and vicinity 
 who had assembled to do honor to the distinguished 
 excursionists. 
 
 A notable incident — to many amusing and to 
 others not — occurred at the reception of the excursion 
 train at Port Jervis. Oliver Young, a leading lawyer 
 
 and citizen of the place, and a strong anti-slavery 
 man, had been one of Daniel Webster's most ardent 
 admirers for years, but when Webster supported the 
 measures that led to the passage of the Fugitive 
 Slave Law, Counsellor Young denounced him as 
 unfaithful to his trust. When the excursion train, 
 bearing Webster and the rest, stopped at Port Jervis, 
 Mr. Young had devised means to demonstrate the 
 indignation he felt toward his former hero. He did 
 this by moving up and down, presumbly in sight of 
 Webster, bearing a banner on one side of which, in 
 large letters, was the word, " TRAITOR ! " On the 
 other side was the inscription: " SLAVE-DRIVER ! " 
 What the effect of this was upon the distinguished 
 statesman it was intended to rebuke is not recorded; 
 but it gave Counsellor Young great satisfaction then 
 and during all his after life. 
 
 It is declared by old railroaders to this day that 
 a train has never run over the Delaware Division of 
 the Erie at greater speed since that memorable day. 
 The late Captain Ayers was the conductor. The 
 distance between Port Jervis and Narrowsburg is 
 thirty-four miles, and the run was made in thirty- 
 five minutes, according to the testimony of the 
 conductor, engineer, and several passengers. The 
 officers of the road with the party were astounded. 
 The passengers were alarmed, and some of them 
 wanted the train stopped so they could get off. 
 The party dined at Narrowsburg, at the hospitable 
 house of Major Fields. The train was late in leav- 
 ing Port Jervis, and it was necessary to make up 
 lost time. Whatever of this was really regained 
 between Port Jervis and Narrowsburg, it is a fact 
 that the trains were detained at the latter place half 
 an hour by hot journals. 
 
 During the repast at Narrowsburg a set of resolu- 
 tions was adopted by the Railroad Company's 
 guests, and presented to the President and Direct- 
 ors. Governor Marcy made the presentation speech, 
 in the course of which he said: 
 
 " Men of the highest genius and eloquence in 
 the land have bestowed the warmest eulogiums on 
 the energy and devotion of the Board of Directors 
 in the prosecution of their great work, but the 
 most elegant tribute of praise is the work itself." 
 
 The train sped on through the Delaware "Valley, 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 lOI 
 
 stopping at Cochecton, Callicoon, and other places 
 to take on invited guests and give the people an 
 opportunity to see and hear the great men who 
 were the orators of the occasion. At Callicoon a 
 banner which created much amusement to all was 
 presented to the officers of the Company. On one 
 side of it was this inscription : 
 
 DAMASCUS, WAYNE CO., PENN. 
 
 So long as Pennsylvania Taxes the New York and Erie 
 Railroad Company $10,000 a Year to Run Through 
 Pike County, We are Pennsylvanians — with a Proviso. 
 
 On the reverse side was thi.s : 
 
 BRING OUT THE BIG GUN, 
 
 LO-DER! 
 
 j.ne Mountains are Levelled, the Valleys are Filled, 
 
 and the Marsh is Dry. 
 
 The former was an expression in a jocose way of 
 the indignation the people along the railroad felt 
 because the Company was compelled by its grant 
 from Pennsylvania to pay a perpetual bonus of 
 $10,000 a year into the treasury of that State, as is 
 recorded in detail in a preceding chapter. The latter 
 inscription was a play on the names of the President 
 and Secretary of the Company, Benjamin Loder and 
 Nathaniel Marsh. 
 
 At Deposit, which station was made on time, a 
 stop of five minutes was made, amid the roar of 
 saluting cannon. Judge Knapp, Maurice R. Hulce, 
 Esq., and other prominent citizens were taken on 
 board. President Fillmore and Mr. Webster made 
 brief speeches. 
 
 When Starucca Viaduct came into view as the 
 train glided down the western slope of the mountain 
 between Deposit and Susquehanna, there was great 
 enthusiasm among the passengers, and the trains 
 were stopped for a few minutes at the viaduct. The 
 President's party and many others left their car to 
 inspect and admire this greatest and most beautiful 
 work of masonry then in this country, and enjoy the 
 landscape scene of which it was the center, then, 
 as now, one of the fairest on the continent. 
 
 A mile beyond was Susquehanna Depot, where 
 Josh Martin and "71" landed the excursionists only 
 eight minutes late, in spite of the thirteen minutes' 
 stop at Cascade and Starucca Viaduct. An enthusi- 
 
 astic, if not harmonious, reception awaited the 
 excursionists there. ■ Susquehanna had then the 
 most extensive railroad yard on the line. Sixteen 
 locomotives were on the switches, side-tracked with 
 their trains until the special trains had passed. As 
 the excursion train drew up to the station, the six- 
 teen locomotives blew their whistles and rang their 
 bells in chorus— and a deafening and discordant 
 chorus it was. Added to the din the locomotives 
 made, was the booming of a cannon on an adjacent 
 hill, the piece being kept in active operation by a 
 company of local militia. A broad scarlet banner, 
 stretched over the railroad at the station, bore 
 words of greeting and welcome to the visitors, who 
 were met at the station by the entire population of 
 the place. There was a procession of railroad em- 
 ployees, at their head Luther Coleman, one of the 
 pioneer locomotive engineers of the road, who 
 discoursed airs of welcome on what now would be 
 an old-fashioned copper-key bugle. " There has 
 been," says one who was present, " considerable 
 ' spiritualistic ' preparation for the reception, and, 
 after the departure of the train, the festivities were 
 prolonged the remainder of the day and evening." 
 The trains tarried at Susquehanna a few minutes, 
 and proceeded on their way, ushered out by the 
 same chorus of many-keyed whistles and loud boom- 
 ing of cannon. 
 
 The largest gathering of people that had greeted 
 the pioneer through-train anywhere along the route 
 was encountered at Binghamton, then a village. 
 More than 4,000 persons, a large proportion of 
 them young women, welcomed the excursionists. 
 A large white banner, bearing simply the word 
 "Welcome," was conspicuously displayed. Presi- 
 dent Fillmore appeared on the platform of his car, 
 his head bared, and spoke as follows: 
 
 The poet says, " Full many a flower is born to blush un- 
 seen, and waste its sweetness on the desert air," but this can 
 no longer be said of Binghamton, or of the other flashing 
 villages on the track of a railroad which connects the Atlantic 
 with Lake Erie. 
 
 The banner was then presented. Daniel Webster 
 addressed the multitude: 
 
 I can hardly say more than express the pleasure I have in 
 seeing you and the western end of this great work of art. I 
 
I02 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 have crossed the upper branches of the Delaware and the 
 Susquehanna, and I know something of these rivers at their 
 mouths; but never have I seen them as they issue from these 
 lofty, sublime, and picturesque hills. It is a beautiful and a 
 vigorous and a healthy country. May God bless you and 
 enable you to enjoy all its blessings. 
 
 Secretary of the Navy Graham also made a speech. 
 United States Senator Daniel S. Dickinson joined 
 the party at Binghamton and the train sped on. 
 
 The citizens of Owego had made preparations for 
 a fitting reception. The train arrived there about 5 
 o'clock P.M. While Webster, in response to per- 
 sistent calls, was speaking, the signal was given and 
 the train moved off. The crowd cheered, but there 
 was much disappointment. At Waverly a handsome 
 white satin banner, designed and made by the ladies 
 of the village, was presented as the train stopped. 
 It bore the simple inscription: " Westward, Ho! " 
 
 The hour scheduled for the arrival of the excursion 
 at Elmira, where it was to remain over night, was 6.40 
 P.M., but it did not reach there until 7 o'clock. A 
 grand dehaonstration in honor of the event was ready 
 for the ceremonies when the distinguished guests 
 arrived. The military, the firemen, the civic socie- 
 ties of the town awaited the train, with flags flying, 
 cannon booming, and the populace cheering. When 
 President Fillmore and his suite alighted at the 
 station a national salute was fired. The party was 
 received by a delegation, headed by Alexander S. 
 Diven, who spoke as follows : 
 
 I welcome, I greet you, in the name of Elmira. Though 
 we have long learned to appreciate the importance of this 
 road, we are receiving every day fresh evidence of its vast 
 advantages, until now at length the climax is capped by the 
 events of this glorious day. He who would tell us how much 
 it cost to bring this railroad to our doors, and narrate a his- 
 tory of the difficulties that have been overcome in accom- 
 plishing it, would have to write a book. I will not, therefore, 
 occupy your time in relating these matters, although I desire 
 to do you justice. This is no novel enterprise. A far-seeing 
 mind long since conceived the idea. In 1832 it was broached. 
 When the project was set on foot it was laughed at by many, 
 but you, the directors, had faith in it, and never for a moment 
 shrank from the enterprise. The cost was estimated at $6,- 
 000,000. When you discovered that it would cost $20,000,000, 
 you did not shrink even then. But had the public known that 
 it would have cost such a sum, the railroad would not have 
 been built this day, nor perhaps for many years to come. A 
 draft of yours was never dishonored, even when those ani- 
 mals, the bulls and bears of Wall Street, were alarming the 
 money interests. When there was not a dollar in the treas- 
 urer's hands, and those gentlemen used to coine to him with 
 
 demure faces that seemed to say all was lost, both your 
 treasurer and your president used to greet them with as 
 hearty a laugh as Napoleon gave before victory. This dis- 
 armed their suspicions, and when they saw your smiling faces 
 they went into Wall Street and said: "There is no danger. 
 Our apprehensions were unfounded." Then the enterprise 
 went on prospering, until now at length it is accomplished, 
 and everything looks bright and cheering. But there is bet- 
 ter cheer for you, gentlemen, than mere words. We will show 
 you a table spread with the products of our city market — you 
 city gentlemen. But for you, what would we know of fresh 
 shad and living lobsters? (Roars of laughter.) What is 
 better than all, you have brought us to-day a live President. 
 (Renewed laughter.) Who, a little while ago, would have 
 expected such an honor for this village? You have brought 
 us enlightened statesmen, renowned throughout the world. 
 You have brought us Governors, ex-Governors, and Com- 
 manders. Oh, little Elmira! how will you bear such honors? 
 Will they not spoil you, or will you receive them with meek 
 content, and improve them to your advantage and that of the 
 State? This is the greatest enterprise since the first cannon 
 was planted at Buffalo, and a line of guns extended thence to 
 Albany, which with one uninterrupted roar announced that 
 the waves of the Hudson were baptized with the blue waters 
 of Lake Erie. This is a new chain which binds those extremi- 
 ties and all the intermediate parts together with links of iron, 
 as indissoluble as the marriage tie. (Great cheering.) 
 
 President Fillmore and Secretaries Webster, Gra- 
 ham, Hall, and Crittenden made graceful speeches in 
 response to Mr. Diven's address of welcome. 
 
 The leading hotels in Elmira were then Haight's 
 and Brainard's. At the close of Mr. Diven's speech 
 the excursionists were separated into two divisions. 
 One, headed by President Fillmore, was marched to 
 Brainard's. The other, with Daniel Webster in 
 front, proceeded to Haight's. Magnificent enter- 
 tainment had been provided by the village. At 
 Brainard's George Gray presided, with the President 
 of the United States and the President of the New 
 York and Erie Railroad Company on his right, and 
 the Attorney-General and Postmaster-General on 
 his left. The banquet was served at four long 
 tables, and besides the feast of good things prepared 
 by the hotel, the excursion's ofificial caterer, Down- 
 ing, lent the aid of himself and waiters in enhanc- 
 ing the service and adding variety to the viands from 
 the store aboard the train. There were no speeches, 
 at President Fillmore's request. After the banquet 
 the President held a levee in the parlor of the hotel, 
 where he received the crowds of enthusiastic people 
 who jammed the halls and streets outside. 
 
 Similar scenes were enacted at Haight's Hotel, 
 where Webster, Dickinson, Seward, and others of the 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 103 
 
 distinguished party were entertained. Although 
 weary and hoarse from much speaking during the 
 day, Webster responded to calls for a speech by a 
 short but eloquent address. Seward also addressed 
 the immense crowd. Although the eminent visi- 
 tors retired early, the streets of Elmira were alive 
 all night long with curious and vociferous people. 
 
 The party left Elmira at half-past six o'clock next 
 morning. The cars had been further decorated by 
 the addition, during the night, by the trainmen, of 
 all the banners and offerings collected thus far on the 
 trip, and the gilded standards glittered in the morn- 
 ing sun as the train sped away again westward. Con- 
 ductors Ayers and Stewart had run their respective 
 trains to Elmira. Conductors C. L. Robinson and 
 W. C. Chapin were to take charge of the trains from 
 there to Dunkirk. It was an extraordinary occasion. 
 Great liberty and license were permitted to every 
 one. Hospitality was unbounded. Everybody was 
 celebrating and making merry. Men who were 
 known as staid and strict men unbent themselves 
 and dallied perhaps overmuch with the help to good 
 cheer that prevailed everywhere, without money 
 and without price. Hilarity ruled the night. At 
 six o'clock next morning Conductor Robinson was 
 willing to remain in Elmira, and W. H. Stewart 
 was placed in charge of Captain Ayers's section, and 
 Conductor Chapin ran the second section. Thus 
 Conductor Stewart became the first conductor who 
 ran a train the entire length of the New York and 
 Erie Railroad, from Piermont to Dunkirk. 
 
 At Corning, which, since the construction of the 
 New York and Erie Railroad was begun, had sprung 
 into being literally out of the wilderness. President 
 Fillmore, Senator Douglas, and William E. Dodge 
 addressed the few people who had assembled to greet 
 the historic train and its distinguished passengers. 
 There were few cheers or hearty greetings there, for 
 the reason, as a leading citizen of the place has in- 
 formed the author, that Corning was then a Demo- 
 cratic stronghold, and many of the great people 
 among the excursionists being Whig leaders, and 
 each one a candidate for the Presidency, Democratic 
 Corning did not propose compromising herself by 
 turning out and shouting for them. An enthusiastic 
 greeting met the train at Hornellsville, the growth 
 
 of which place even then was giving promise of the 
 position it was destined to fill as the metropolis of 
 Steuben County. Hornellsville being the terminus 
 of the Susquehanna and the beginning of the West- 
 ern Divisions, a change in engines was made there. 
 Charles H. Sherman, one of the pioneer engineers of 
 the Western Division, with, Samuel Tyler as his 
 fireman, attached his engine to the head train to 
 finish the run to Dunkirk. The second train's 
 engine was handled from Hornellsville to Dunkirk 
 by William D. Hall, another of the original engi- 
 neers on the Western Division ; and still another 
 one, William A. Kimball, brought up the rear with 
 his locomotive, to act as helper if help was required, 
 on any of the steep grades between Hornellsville 
 and Dunkirk. After speeches by all the dignitaries, 
 the train started on. At this place Superintendent 
 Charles Minot pulled off his coat and mounted the 
 locomotive of the leading train, and rode in the cab 
 all the rest of the way. 
 
 One of the excursionists, making notes of the 
 trip over the hills of the Western Division, gives 
 a vivid idea of the condition of that region at the 
 time the locomotive's whistle first awoke the echoes 
 there. " Now," he wrote, " comes a long tour 
 through vast lumber regions, showing no evidence 
 of cultivation, except this noble road, and now and 
 then a secluded log hut. We fly rapidly to places 
 called Almond, Baker's Bridge, Andover, Genesee, 
 Scio, Philipsburg, Belvidere, Friendship, Cuba, 
 Hinsdale, Olean, Allegany, Albion, Dayton, Perrys- 
 burg, and Forestville. Most of these places are in 
 the midst of the forests, with few or no houses vis- 
 ible, and wonder is often expressed as to where the 
 assembled crowds came from — but they are there, 
 and thriving settlements will soon begin to show 
 what they are doing." A prophecy that long ago 
 came true. 
 
 Among the numerous and appropriate banners 
 presented at the several stations on the route, one of 
 the happiest was the one from Belvidere, Allegany 
 County. The poetical inscription arrested attention : 
 
 Here the fierce red man trod his pathless way, 
 In search, precarious, daily food to slay, 
 Or, hid in ambush, sprang upon his foe, 
 Striking unseen the unsuspected blow; 
 
I04 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Now steam, resistless, spreads his fiery wings; 
 Where want depresses, wished-for plenty brings. 
 Or ponderous weapons to our borders draw. 
 Or writes on ocean wave Columbia's law. 
 Boast not, proud white man, arts of peace or war; 
 Look up to heaven, and see how small you are! 
 
 At Allegany, a large number of Indians of the 
 Cattaraugus Reservation had assembled to see their 
 White Father. They were dressed in their peculiar 
 costumes, and some of them were painted. Presi- 
 dent Fillmore addressed a few words to them, ex- 
 pressing pleasure at seeing them in such good 
 health, and some of the party purchased articles of 
 aboriginal fashioning. The excursionists began to 
 see the red men frequently mingled among the whites 
 at different stations through which the railroad 
 passed, as it ran for several miles through the re- 
 served Indian lands. 
 
 The route through Cattaraugus," wrote the ob- 
 servant excursionist quoted above, " affords a suc- 
 cession of views of the most stupendous scenery that 
 any railway ever passed through. As the road 
 winds among these titanic mountains, we are filled 
 with awe at the majestic sublimity of landscape. It 
 is a perfect wilderness ; but down in the deep val- 
 leys and up the mountain sides a patch of black 
 stumps may be seen, and now and then the smoke of 
 the destructive settler rises through the tops of the 
 tall pines he is leveling both with fire and axe." 
 
 At Dayton, Cattaraugus County, on the summit 
 from which the first glimpse of Lake Erie was had, 
 a glimpse which was greeted with glad huzzas from a 
 hundred throats, the people had assembled to wel- 
 come the distinguished party, and make memorable 
 the important event with a military salute from an 
 old field piece which had done duty in the War of 
 1812. The gunner was Ebenezer A. Henry. He 
 had fired one gun and had loaded the piece for an- 
 other, when it was prematurely discharged. Both 
 of Henry's arms were blown off, and one eye de- 
 stroyed. The unfortunate man was carried away, 
 his death being thought only a matter of a short 
 time. A collection in his behalf was taken up among 
 the excursionists, and a comfortable sum of money 
 raised. The Railroad Company subsequently con- 
 tributed $250 for his benefit. 
 
 At Dunkirk, naturally, the western terminus of 
 
 the road being there, most elaborate preparations 
 had been made for the fitting celebration of the 
 event that had called the modest little village on 
 the shores of Lake Erie suddenly into a world-wide 
 prominence, and for the suitable entertainment of 
 the illustrious and distinguished guests to whom it 
 was to be host on the momentous occasion. For 
 weeks the town and its surrounding country had 
 contributed freely of their resources, so that the 
 celebration might only not fail of success, but be of 
 everlasting honor to the village and its people. The 
 thousands who were sure to crowd the streets on 
 the day of days must be fed, though a famine result 
 to the outlying country. So favorable was the prog- 
 ress of the preparations, that when the morning of 
 the 15th of May broke, it shone on a village resplen- 
 dent in its holiday garb, and with a commissariat 
 worthy of the sustenance of an army on a long cam- 
 paign, as the ofificial programme for the occasion, 
 here reproduced, well indicated : 
 
 RAILROAD FESTIVAL 
 to be given to 
 
 THE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTORS OF THE NEW YORK 
 AND ERIE RAILROAD COMPANY 
 
 And their invited guests on the completion of and 
 opening of the New York and Erie 
 Railroad, connecting the Ocean 
 with the Great Lakes, at 
 Dunkirk, on Thurs- 
 day, May 15, 
 1851. 
 
 PROGRAMME. 
 
 The President of the United States, Secretary of State, and 
 Heads of Departments of the General Government. 
 
 The Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, and Heads of De- 
 partments of the State of New York. 
 
 The Mayor and Municipal Officers of the City, together 
 with other distinguished guests, escorted by the President and 
 Directors of the New York and Erie Railroad Company, will 
 leave New York at 6 A. M., M''ednesday, May 14, stopping at 
 Elmira one night, and will arrive at Dunkirk, May 15, at 4 
 p, M., when the Company will be received with appropriate 
 ceremonies. 
 
 After which a collation will be served up at the Station 
 House, to which all are freely invited. 
 
 BILL OF FARE. 
 
 Chowder, a yoke of oxen, barbecued whole, 10 sheep roasted 
 whole, beef a la mode, boiled ham, corned beef, buflfalo 
 tongues, bologna sausage, beef tongues (smoked and pickled), 
 100 roast fowls, hot coflfee, etc. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 105 
 
 In the evening a magnificent display of fireworks in com- 
 memoration of the great triumph of art over nature: 
 
 1. Plantain Tree. 
 
 2. Pride of America. 
 
 3. Egyptian Pyramid. 
 
 4. Palma Christi. 
 
 5. Star of Independence. 
 
 6. Chandelier Illuminated. 
 
 7. Passion Flower. 
 
 8. Triumphal Arch, with motto for 
 
 occasion. 
 
 George A. French, Chairman of Committee. 
 
 The whistle of the locomotive that signaled the 
 approach of the pioneer through-train was heard in 
 Dunkirk about half-past four in the afternoon. This 
 was the whistle of the first Western Division engine, 
 
 Dunkirk," sounded by the engineer who brought 
 it on the road, set it up, and ran it — Horatio G. 
 Brooks. He had gone out with his engine to meet 
 the train. Instantly church bells began pealing 
 forth a glad welcome, and cannon roared. The vast 
 throng went wild with excitement. When the train 
 came in sight, the two having been made into one 
 before entering Dunkirk — Brooks and his engine 
 leading the van — a salute of thirteen guns was fired 
 from the United States steamer " Michigan," lying 
 in the harbor, and by the artillery af the 65th Regi- 
 ment on the common near by, in honor of the Pres- 
 ident and his party. The train first ran beneath a 
 canopy formed by the union of the French, Ameri- 
 can, and British flags. Beyond this, approaching the 
 terminus of the tracks, a triumphal arch of ever- 
 greens and flowers had been erected. It was sur- 
 mounted by the American flag. Near by the arch, 
 on a substantial pedestal, and at the extreme end of 
 the railroad, was an old-fashioned plow, on which 
 was printed the word " Finis." This was the plow 
 used in breaking ground at Dunkirk in July, 1838, 
 for the historic ten-mile section. 
 
 At the platform erected for the reception of the 
 guests were two banners, which were afterward 
 presented to the President and Directors; one by 
 the ladies of Dunkirk and the other by citizens. On 
 the first was inscribed: "The ladies of Dunkirk 
 honor the perseverance of the officers of the New 
 York and Erie Railroad. May 15, 1851." Beneath 
 the inscription was a view of New York harbor. On 
 the other was inscribed: " The New York and Erie 
 
 Railroad and Erie Canal — Monuments to the Enter- 
 prise and Resources of the Empire State. 1824- 
 185 1." In the neighborhood of the terminus there 
 were other flags suspended from the houses and build- 
 ings. One was inscribed: " The New York and Erie 
 Railroad, the greatest achievement of human enter- 
 prise, unites forever the ocean and the lakes." In 
 the extensive shed erected for the purpose, a repast 
 was spread for the dense crowd. It extended along 
 Railroad Avenue from Deer Street to Lion Street. 
 The table was 300 feet long, the whole length of the 
 building. The barbecued oxen excited much curi- 
 osity. There was pork and beans in tin vessels 
 holding fifty gallons each. Bread had been baked 
 in loaves ten feet long by two in width, and their 
 weight was such that it took the strength of two 
 men to carry them. Ranged along the table were 
 barrels of cider to wash down the viands. The 
 author's home was in Dunkirk then. As a six- 
 year old boy he remembers that occasion chiefly 
 from the fact that the shanty in which an ox was 
 being barbecued caught fire and was burned, ox and 
 all. 
 
 When the officers of the Company alighted from 
 the train, near the triumphal arch, Mr. Loder was 
 introduced to the thousands of people by Chairman 
 Carpenter of the Reception Committee, in a brief 
 speech. William E. Dodge responded on behalf 
 of the officers and Directors of the Company, as 
 follows: 
 
 I am utterly at a loss to express my own feelings, much 
 less to give vent to the deep emotions of my associates, as we 
 begin to realize the fact that we are at the end of our long 
 and toilsome journey, that our eyes look out upon this mighty 
 lake and backward over a continuous line of rail to our city 
 homes. Oh, yes! it is no fiction. We have reached the goal 
 of our hopes. And now, as we look back on the days of 
 darkness, disappointment, and toil — and they were many — let 
 us to-day forget them all in our rejoicing that over all we 
 have triumphed, and that at last this arduous work has been 
 accomplished. The Empire City and the great West, the 
 Atlantic Ocean and the inland seas, are by this ligature of 
 iron made one. 
 
 Who will attempt to predict the future of this road? Al- 
 though ray friends have called me crazy in my estimates of its 
 growth, I feel to-day that if I am spared to make fresh esti- 
 mates ten years hence, I shall wonder at my present tame 
 views and stinted calculations. 
 
 What mind can keep pace with the progress of this 
 country? What was Buffalo, or Cleveland, Detroit, Cincin- 
 nati, or St. Louis in 1832, when this road was chartered? 
 
io6 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Where were Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota? Where Cali- 
 fornia and Oregon? Just in proportion as this country ex- 
 pands, and its foreign and domestic commerce develops, will 
 the business of this road increase. Who can compute its 
 income and importance as years go on? 
 
 We accept with deep emotion your cordial welcome, and 
 we say to the people of these counties and to the multitudes 
 in the West who have long watched for the completion of 
 the task: We have built this highway for you and your 
 posterity. 
 
 Mr. Dodge's speech was greeted with enthusiastic 
 cheering. The Dunkirk band played " Yankee 
 Doodle," after which the banners were presented to 
 the President and Directors of the Railroad Com- 
 pany — the banner prepared by the ladies of Dunkirk 
 and the one offered by the citizens. They were 
 accepted by Director Dodge, on behalf of Mr. Loder 
 and his fellow Directors. Three cheers were given 
 for the ladies of Dunkirk, after which the following 
 commemorative ode, written for the occasion, was 
 sung: 
 
 Ay, let the welkin ring 
 
 With cannon's roar. 
 Tune high each joyful string 
 
 In this glad hour. 
 
 Ring out a merry peal. 
 
 Fling banners high. 
 Throng round the festive board 
 
 With mirth enjoy. 
 
 Darkness and doubt have long 
 
 Over us hung; 
 Fitful and far the gleams 
 
 Hope o'er us flung. 
 
 But now her steady light 
 
 Shines o'er our way. 
 Sing with united voice 
 
 " This is our day." 
 
 And while our thanks arise 
 
 To that high power 
 Who from the gloom of night 
 
 Brings this fair hour, 
 
 We to our faithful friends 
 
 Thanks would offer too. 
 Who through perils past 
 
 Stood tried and true. 
 
 We joy with you o'er labor done. 
 
 Each honored guest we greet. 
 And to the Queen of Hudson's wave 
 
 Love and homage mete. 
 
 Swell high the festive strain, 
 
 Shout amid the cannon's roar, 
 Until old " Erie's " waves convey 
 
 The echo to each distant shore. 
 
 A procession was then formed under the direction 
 of the Marshal of the Day, Noah D. Snow. It was 
 led by President Fillmore, his Cabinet, and the 
 Erie officials, and paraded through the streets to the 
 strains of Dodsworth's band, and back to and around 
 the depot or shed, where the public refreshments 
 were spread, the procession entering it at the east 
 side. All were interested in the grand display. The 
 barbecued oxen, suspended from poles; the roasted 
 sheep, resting leisurely on immense dishes ; the ten- 
 foot loaves of bread, the tubs of pork and beans, 
 were examined and praised. President Fillmore was 
 attracted particularly by the pork and beans, and 
 would have been pleased to taste them had the 
 crowd permitted him to do so. Mr. Webster in- 
 spected the chowder, but did not taste it. He said 
 to Crittenden that it looked nice, and that he had no 
 ' doubt it was properly compounded. He said that 
 it was a dish of which he was particularly fond, and 
 that when he had the pleasure of meeting Critten- 
 den at Marshfield he would invite him to eat some 
 of his own making. He said he had the reputation 
 of making it well. 
 
 "A little port wine," he said," is a great improve- 
 ment in chowder, and if you ever undertake to make 
 any, I would recommend you, by all means, to put 
 a pint of old port into it. Then you will be as par- 
 tial to it as I am myself." 
 
 The barbecue was under the direction of Enoch 
 Carter, assisted by C. W. Tice, William Lisle, J. H. 
 H. Chapman, J. K. Lawson, William C. Lawson, 
 R. Sterling, W. C. Pennoyer, and W. Caulfield, of 
 Newburgh, N. Y., and W. Simonson, of Cold Spring, 
 N. Y. The table was decorated with four banners, 
 also the production of artist Tice. One was a view 
 of Dunkirk harbor, with the motto: "New York 
 welcome to Dunkirk." On the next was painted a 
 shield enclosing a view of a train of cars passing over 
 a viaduct, with the names of three engineers, Sey- 
 mour, Stancliff, and Swift, and the motto: " Science 
 and art have leveled the mountains, filled the val- 
 leys, bridged the rivers, and joined the lakes and 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 107 
 
 ocean with iron." On the third was a view of a 
 train of cars passing through a deep cut, with the 
 motto: " 'Tis done — 'tis done — the mighty chain 
 that binds bright Erie to the main." On the fourth 
 banner was a view of the depot at Dunkirk, with a 
 train of cars entering, together with the inscription : 
 " Completed May 15, 1851." 
 
 The banner first in the Dunkirk procession was 
 the one presented by the Waverly ladies, bearing 
 the significant inscription: " Westward, Ho! " 
 
 After inspecting the depot thoroughly, the pro- 
 cession reformed and marched to the Loder House, 
 where tables were spread for the guests. President 
 Fillmore and the other distinguished men were 
 introduced to the people by Lieutenant-Governor 
 George W. Patterson. Speeches were made by ex- 
 Governor Seward, Senators Stephen A. Douglas 
 and Daniel S. Dickinson, Secretary Crittenden, 
 Governor Hunt, Ely Parker, the eloquent Seneca 
 chief who became General Grant's chief of staff dur- 
 ing the civil war; Judge Jessup of Pennsylvania, 
 Benjamin Loder, Horatio Allen, and many others. 
 President Fillmore and others addressed the multi- 
 tude from the windows of the hotel. One of these 
 was the famous Joe Hoxie, whose wit and humor on 
 that occasion were a pleasant memory in Dunkirk, 
 and with all who heard him, for many a day. Wil- 
 liam B. Ogden made a speech at the Loder House 
 feast, in which he reflected savagely on the State of 
 Pennsylvania for charging the Erie Company $10,000 
 a year for the privilege of passing over a poor portion 
 of its territory. This aroused Gen. James Irwin, of 
 Pittsburg, who repelled the charge of meanness, and 
 made some uncomplimentary allusions to Mr. Odgen, 
 who defended his position. Angry words followed, 
 and a collision was feared, when Judge Jessup, of 
 Montrose, Pa., arose and poured oil on the troubled 
 waters by a timely explanation, saying that he had 
 been employed by the Company to obtain the law at 
 Harrisburg, and it was perfectly satisfactory. Mr. 
 Ogden apologized handsomely, saying that he had 
 been misinformed, and peace was restored. 
 
 One of the most interesting and valuable speeches 
 made on the occasion, because it was a contribution 
 to railroad history which should settle forever the dis- 
 putations on the subject that still prevail, was made 
 
 by Horatio Allen, ex-President of the New York 
 and Erie Railroad Company, and at that time its 
 Chief Engineer. His subject was the " Coming of 
 the Locomotive," and he spoke as follows about the 
 trial trip of the very first locomotive that ever turned 
 a wheel on the American continent : 
 
 When was it? Where was it? And who awakened its 
 energies and directed its movements? It was in the year 1829, 
 the month August, on the banks of the Lackawaxen, at the 
 commencement of the railroad connecting the canal of the 
 Delaware and Hudson Canal Company with their coal mines, 
 and he who addresses you was the only person on that loco- 
 motive. The circumstances which led to my being alone on 
 the engine were these: The road had been built in the sum- 
 mer; the structure was of hemlock timber, and rails of large 
 dimensions notched on caps placed far apart. The timber 
 had cracked and warped from exposure to the sun. After 
 about 300 feet of straight line, the road crossed the Lacka- 
 waxen Creek on trestle work about thirty feet high, and with 
 a curve of 350 to 400 feet radius. The impression was very 
 general that this iron monster would break down the road, 
 or that it would leave the track at the curve and plunge into 
 the creek. My reply to such apprehensions was that it was 
 too late to consider the probability of such occurrences; that 
 there was no other course but to have the trial made of the 
 strange animal which had been brought there at great ex- 
 pense; but that it was not necessary that more than one 
 should be involved in its fate; that I would like the first ride 
 alone, and the time would come when I should look back 
 to the incident with great interest. 
 
 As I placed my hand on the throttle valve handle I was 
 undecided whether I should move slowly or with a fair degree 
 of speed, but holding that the road would prove safe, and pre- 
 ferring, if we did go down, to go handsomely, and without 
 any evidence of timidity, I started with considerable velocity, 
 passed the curves over the creek safely, and was soon out of 
 hearing of the cheers of the vast assemblage present. At the 
 end of two or three miles I reversed the valve, and returned 
 without accident to the place of starting, having made the 
 first locomotive trip on the western hemisphere. 
 
 Dr. Wilson, a full-blooded Cayuga Indian, made 
 a speech at the Loder House banquet, which, for 
 true eloquence and poetic fire, was by far the ablest 
 speech of the occasion. It was as follows: 
 
 Fellow-Citizens: I am a Cayugan, and a regular descen- 
 dant from the pure stock of the native American. Gentlemen 
 here to-night have boasted about democracy; but democracy 
 was established here long before the pale face came upon 
 these shores. My ancestors were democrats long before the 
 arts of civilization drove them from their hunting grounds 
 and the quiet possession of their forest homes. The orator 
 from Kentucky (Crittenden) who addressed you to-night said 
 that the pale faces came here a mere handful, and had grown 
 to be a great nation; but he forgot to tell you that when they 
 landed upon these shores, helpless and in want, the red man 
 fed them with the milk of human kindness, that he took them 
 
io8 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 to his wigwam, spread before them his amplest hospitaHties, 
 and entertained them as brothers. 
 
 Fellow-citizens, I am " to the manner born." I have no 
 foreign prejudices to overcome. My nation can trace its his- 
 tory back to a period when the territory dotted by your grand 
 cities and villages was covered by a primitive forest. It has 
 not meddled with the politics of the pale face, and I think 
 that gentlemen who have talked here to-night about Whigs 
 and Democrats had better left their politics at home. ("Good. 
 That's right.") The pale face has completed a mighty work. 
 He has overcome the most imposing natural barriers; he has 
 pierced the valleys of the Delaware, Susquehanna, Chemung, 
 Alleghany, and levelled the hills which were roamed by my 
 ancestors centuries ago. Now their descendants marvel at 
 the doings of the mighty pale face. They cannot but be 
 pleased to see him accomplish his great destiny; to see him 
 fly from hill to valley, and ride upon the wings of the light- 
 ning. If the Nezv York Tribune is to be believed, he has car- 
 ried his enterprises beyond this world, and receives com- 
 munications from inhabitants of the other world. I tried a 
 short time since to get communication from my friends in 
 the land of the great spirit, but they had learned the language 
 of the pale face since they have arrived there and could 
 not understand the idioms of the Cayugan. (Uproarious 
 laughter.) 
 
 But, fellow-citizens, in behalf of my tribe, I come to con- 
 gratulate you upon the completion of your great work. Your 
 passage through our territory amazed my people; nature 
 seemed to shake as you thundered along, and the gigantic 
 oak and lofty pine bowed in token of your triumph. But 
 the heart of the Cayugan is warm, and he greets you and 
 welcomes you to his country. (Prolonged applause.) 
 
 Dr. Wilson then presented to President Loder 
 a banner from the Cayugan tribe, upon which was 
 inscribed the pipe of peace, their national emblem. 
 He accompanied the presentation with a few appro- 
 priate remarks, to which Mr. Loder responded. 
 
 Among the speeches made in Dunkirk was one by 
 Daniel Webster the evening after the celebration, he 
 being too ill to deliver an expected address at the 
 Loder House feast. The popular cry for him to 
 speak had been clamorous and constant at every 
 station. He was then in training for the Presidency, 
 and had so often responded to these calls that he 
 was nearly worn out, and his voice well-nigh spent. 
 He was quite an old man, and, indeed, died the fol- 
 lowing year, broken-hearted at the ingratitude of his 
 party. On this occasion, though giving evidence 
 that he was physically exhausted, the majesty of 
 the man's person, countenance, and mien was inde- 
 scribable. His great black eyes, gleaming out of 
 cavernous depths, under heavy brows dark almost 
 to a frown, but with a droop to the eyelids that 
 gave them a look of inconceivable gloom, smote 
 
 upon the senses of the spectators with a weird and 
 wondrous fascination. He appeared at a window of 
 the Loder House, in response to the vociferous 
 clamoring of the multitude, and made a few words 
 of apology in a voice so faint and hoarse that few in 
 the vast crowd could distinguish what he said. In 
 his address the next evening he spoke as follows 
 about the railroad : 
 
 Mr. Loder, who devotes so m.uch of his time and atten- 
 tion to the affairs of the Company, receives a small compen- 
 sation. The other sixteen Directors do not receive a cent. 
 Several of these gentlemen have for years given two hours 
 of their time to the prosecution of this work for one they 
 have devoted to their own private business. They derive no 
 benefit from it, except what they derive in common with the 
 rest of the community; and such has been sometimes the 
 state of the finances that the whole thing must have stopped 
 if they did not pledge their private fortunes and raise heavy 
 sums upon their individual security. I heard the Secretary 
 say, within the last two days, that there was a time when 
 there was not a dollar in the treasury, and not one could be 
 raised except at a ruinous sacrifice. But these men came 
 forward with $365,000 to save the enterprise. This I call 
 public spirit. 
 
 Webster's speech was made in the large dining 
 hall of the Loder House at 7 P.M. of May i6th. 
 
 President Fillmore and Mr. Webster were the 
 guests in Dunkirk of Hiram Risley, President of the 
 Buffalo and State Line Railroad Company. The 
 other of the invited guests slept on steamboats in 
 the harbor. Mr. Webster had intended to accom- 
 pany the President to Buffalo on the steamer" Mich- 
 igan," but was detained in Dunkirk until the next 
 day, owing to the illness of his son Fletcher. The 
 New York Herald, in commenting on the excursion 
 editorially, said: "The unreported speeches, say- 
 ings, talk, and incidents of the tour to Dunkirk 
 would reveal a drama of the deepest interest to the 
 benighted world around. One of the most impres- 
 sive facts which has struck us in reading the reports 
 was the presence of so many Presidential candidates 
 in the trains, at one time no less than six. Three 
 started from New York — Fillmore, Crittenden, 
 Webster. Three jumped up behind, like naughty 
 boys on the way — Douglas, Seward, and Marcy. 
 There were at least a dozen candidates for Vice- 
 President along." 
 
 President Fillmore and his party continued their 
 trip on the i6th to Buffalo by way of Lake Erie, 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 109 
 
 Daniel Webster excepted. President Loder and the 
 excursionists returned as they had come, and the 
 journey home was greeted with almost as much of 
 an ovation along the line as the journey out. At 
 Elmira the trains again remained over night, and 
 next morning were made into one for the rest of the 
 return trip. 
 
 The dream of nearly a score of years was realized 
 at last. The ocean was united with the lakes. 
 Could they who had brought about this consumma- 
 tion, through toil, tribulation, and sore trial, but 
 have gazed into the future of the railroad thus quick- 
 ened through them, and by them confidently to be 
 consigned to posterity as a gift to it to be cherished 
 and preserved, would they not have been moved 
 rather to lamentation than rejoicing? For would 
 not the vision have been that they had reared not a 
 proud and lasting monument to the honor of them- 
 selves and the confidence of the people, but rather 
 had builded only the foundation for a structure 
 where fraud, corruption, peculation, and robbery 
 were to dwell and riot for many a year ? 
 
 Immediately after the opening of the railroad to 
 Dunkirk, President Loder, broken in health, and 
 feeling that he had performed fully the duty he had 
 undertaken to perform, six years before, tendered 
 his resignation. He was in the western part of the 
 State when this communication was received by 
 the Directors. The result of his determination to 
 retire is better explained in the following extract 
 from a private letter of his, under date of June 24, 
 1851: 
 
 In relation to my resignation I would remark that, when 
 I returned from the West, I was met by a committee of seven 
 of the Directors, who urged, entreated, and pleaded with me to 
 withdraw my resignation, anticipating scarcely less than ruin 
 from my withdrawal at the present time — threatening to resign 
 themselves, etc. — ofifering to afford me any amount of help 
 that I wanted, allowing me to go away as long as I thought 
 best, etc., etc., and pressed the matter, until I was compelled 
 to withdraw my resignation to prevent a sort of break-up. 
 This unanimous burst of feeling in expression of confidence 
 is certainly gratifying, but brings with it a load of responsi- 
 bility and labor anything but agreeable. I am now engaged 
 in organizing the running and working of the road, and hope, 
 when that is accomplished, that it will move on without my 
 constant attention. 
 
 IV. RISING CLOUDS. 
 
 As early as 1834, during the debate in the New 
 York Assembly on the bill proposing to extend the 
 aid of the State to the New York and Erie Railroad 
 Company, Assemblyman Wilkinson, in his speech 
 on the subject, declared that the natural eastern 
 terminus of the railroad was at a point in New 
 Jersey, opposite New York City, instead of on the 
 bank of the Hudson, twenty-five miles north of 
 the metropolis, and that such would eventually 
 be its terminus. There were some long-headed 
 men in New Jersey who held to the same belief, 
 and who were not by any means timid in practi- 
 cally demonstrating the fact. There was but one 
 feasible way that the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road could get to a point in New Jersey, opposite 
 New York City. That was south from Suffern, 
 through the Paramus Valley to Paterson, and 
 thence to Jersey City, and that route was taken 
 in possession by certain shrewd and far-seeing Jer- 
 seymen by the obtaining of charters for two rail- 
 roads, one from Jersey City to Paterson, to be 
 known as the Paterson and Hudson River Railroad, 
 and one from Paterson to the State line at Suffern, 
 to be known as the Ramapo and Paterson Railroad. 
 The former was built and opened as early as 1836, but 
 the latter was left lying in embryo until the fact be- 
 came apparent that the New York and Erie Railroad 
 was in a fair way to be completed. The Ramapo 
 and Paterson Railroad was then built. It was put 
 in operation in 1848, its terminus being only a short 
 distance from the New York and Erie Railroad at 
 Suffern. 
 
 Owing to the provisions of the charter of the Erie, 
 the railroad was not permitted to connect with any 
 railroad running into another State. For more than 
 a year the Company ignored the existence of the 
 new railroad. It could not, however, prevent pas- 
 sengers from quitting its trains at Suffern and con- 
 tinuing their journey to New York by the Ramapo 
 and Paterson and the Paterson and Hudson River 
 Railroads, or from coming from New York by that 
 route and taking the Erie cars at Suffern. The new 
 route saved twenty miles of distance, and from 
 an hour to an hour and a half in time, and a 
 
I lO 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 majority of people traveling over the Erie patronized 
 it. The Erie not only ignored the New Jersey rail- 
 roads, but discriminated against them by making 
 the fare between Suffern and Geneva, both ways, 
 the same as the regular fare was between New York 
 and Geneva — this latter point being then the western 
 terminus of travel to Buffalo by the Erie, through 
 the connection at Elmira with the Chemung Rail- 
 road, which the New York and Erie Railroad Com- 
 pany had leased and was operating. But passengers 
 paid the extra fare between New York and Suffern 
 by way of the New Jersey lines to avoid the tardi- 
 ness and annoyances of the Piermont and Hudson 
 River route. 
 
 This discrimination against the New Jersey inde- 
 pendent railroads continued even after the passage 
 by the New York Legislature of the General Railroad 
 Bill, which became a law in 1850, and which com- 
 pelled all railroads of the State to provide connect- 
 ing railroads every facility for the proper interchange 
 of business. The Erie provided the facilities for the 
 New Jersey route, but did not change its rate of 
 fare. 
 
 Under this new law the Union Railroad Company 
 was formed, with authority to build and maintain 
 a railroad from the terminus of the Ramapo and 
 Paterson Railroad to the Erie depot at Suffern, thus 
 giving close connection between the two roads. Still 
 the New York and Erie Railroad Company strove to 
 compete with the new connection by increasing the 
 speed of its passenger trains and steamboats, but 
 all to no purpose. Passengers for New York got off 
 the Erie trains at Suffern, and those traveling west- 
 ward bought tickets at New York over the New 
 Jersey line to Suffern, instead of by the Erie steam- 
 boats to Piermont. The New York and Erie Rail- 
 road Company was at last forced to recognize the 
 decided preference of the public for a shorter and 
 more direct and certain route to New York than by 
 the way of Piermont, and to acknowledge the fact 
 that its railroad had become unpopular with the 
 traveling public through the Company's persistence 
 in trying to force patronage over a roundabout route, 
 and so, on February 10, 185 1, it obtained control of 
 the Paterson and Ramapo Railroad and the Paterson 
 and Hudson River Railroad by leasing each line dur- 
 
 ing the continuance of its charter, which was perpet- 
 ual, with the right to change the roads to the six- 
 foot gauge, or to make any other change that would 
 most benefit the New York and Erie Railroad. 
 
 This aroused the people along the line of the Erie 
 between Suffern and Piermont to a state of great 
 excitement — especially certain prominent citizens of 
 Piermont, who knew what a damaging effect the 
 diversion of the traffic of the railroad from Piermont 
 would have on the property interests of that place. 
 A meeting of citizens was called at Piermont, and 
 among others the following resolution was adopted : 
 
 Resolved, that this recent act of the New York and Erie 
 Railroad Company, in diverting the travel and business from 
 the County of Rockland, and in transferring the terminus of 
 their road from the State of New York to the State of New 
 Jersey, contrary to the spirit and intentions of their charter 
 and the laws of the State, merits and should receive the repro- 
 bation of all citizens of this State. 
 
 The movers in this effort to keep the business of 
 the railroad to the roundabout and inconvenient 
 route by the way of Piermont and the Hudson River 
 based their assertions of the wrong and injustice of 
 the change on the allegation that the people of 
 Rockland County had made large donations of land 
 for the terminal facilities of the road at Piermont, 
 and contributions of money toward the building of 
 the road. This was mainly land under water, the 
 right to improve which for commercial purposes was 
 granted by the State to Eleazar Lord and others, 
 without cost to them. Up to 1845 the Railroad 
 Company had expended $200,000 in making the sub- 
 merged lands available, and up to 185 1 had used 
 $100,000 more in completing the work. The mate- 
 rial used in the filling in of the necessary area, as the 
 management of the New York and Erie Railroad 
 Company charged in 185 1, had been purchased at a 
 large price from Eleazar Lord, who, with others, 
 owned all the abutting land, making the cost of the 
 land, it was claimed, more than its real value could 
 have been for any other purpose. A suit had been 
 brought by Eleazar Lord to recover a large portion 
 of the land thus made by the Company, and thirty 
 feet of the long pier. The Company was then en- 
 gaged in dredging in front of the pier to make it 
 better available for its business, and an injunction 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 1 1 1 
 
 was issued in that suit restraining it from further 
 work there, pending the result of the litigation. 
 
 The Piermont meeting resulted in the sending of 
 a petition to the Legislature praying for the passage 
 of an act prohibiting the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road Company from making any further arrangement 
 by which any of its trains should be discontinued 
 between Suffern and Piermont, the fact being ap- 
 parent that the New Jersey railroads would naturally 
 become, in the no distant future, virtually a part of 
 the New York and Erie Railroad. The Legislature 
 appointed a committee to investigate the merits of 
 the controversy, the result of which was a report 
 against approving of the petition of the Rockland 
 County people, but favoring a bill prohibiting the 
 New York and Erie Railroad Company from run- 
 ning any of its freight trains through New Jersey. 
 The management of the Company gave every assur- 
 ance that it was not its intention to disturb the ar- 
 rangement for the transportation of freight, with the 
 termini of that business at Piermont and Newburgh, 
 because it could be done cheaper in that way; but 
 the Secretary, Nathaniel Marsh, at the same time 
 announced that " there was no doubt that the time 
 would come when the traffic of the road would be so 
 great that it could not be accommodated either at 
 Newburgh or Piermont, and that when that time 
 came it would be in vain for directors or legislators 
 to attempt to withstand the demands of the public, 
 for the cheapest and most convenient route would be 
 found and adopted." The bill of prohibition was 
 not passed ; the Piermont litigation was decided in 
 favor of the Company; and the attempt to force it 
 to continue the running of its passenger trains over 
 a route, the delays and annoyances of which passen- 
 gers insisted on avoiding by leaving the Erie cars to 
 take those of another line, came to the only end that 
 common sense and the best interests of the Company 
 could have foreseen. 
 
 Although the railroad, after a long struggle, was 
 continuous at last between the Hudson River and 
 Lake Erie, so much haste had been made in doing 
 the work necessary to get the connection complete 
 within the legislative limit, that much of the road, 
 it may be said, was only technically a railroad. A 
 
 large sum of money and months of work were yet 
 necessary to put the track and roadbed in such shape 
 that traffic could be entrusted regularly upon the 
 line with safety and profit. This was particularly 
 the case on the Western Division. It must be borne 
 in mind that the railroad had been doing active busi- 
 ness on section after section of the line during all 
 the time the struggle to complete the road was 
 going on. The first section was put in operation 
 from New York to Goshen in September, 1841 (in- 
 cluding the ferry from New York to Piermont as 
 part of the system); to Middletown in June, 1843; 
 to Port Jervis in January, 1848; to Binghamton in 
 January, 1849; to Owego in June, 1849; to Elmira 
 in October, 1849; to Hornellsville in September, 
 1850. The Newburgh Branch was opened in 1850, 
 and the main line had connection with Buffalo by 
 way of the Chemung Railroad from Elmira to the 
 head of Seneca Lake, by steamboat on that lake to 
 Geneva, thence by the Canandaigua and Buffalo 
 Railroad. The earnings of the railroad, according 
 to the reports of the Company, were increasing 
 every year, and showed a promising excess over 
 expenses. They were absorbed, however, by road 
 repairs, interest payments, and other obligations. 
 
 The railroad, including sixty miles of double track, 
 wharves, turnouts, and sidings, locomotives, cars, 
 steamboats, and stations, had cost $23,500,000. Ex- 
 clusive of the rolling stock and other property, the 
 cost of the railroad was $43,333 per mile, or six 
 times the estimate that Judge Wright and his aids, 
 Seymour and Ellet, had decided, in 1834, was a 
 " liberal one " to place the cost at. But the actual 
 cost of the road was low, for no line of railroad ever 
 built up to that time had greater physical difficulties 
 to overcome than this one encountered. The cost 
 exceeded the estimate made by the Directors in their 
 report for the year 1850 by $3,080,000. 
 
 In the first place, the engineers' report to the 
 Company of the estimated cost of the railroad and 
 right of way between Hornellsville and Dunkirk was 
 $i;353.368 less than the actual cost was found to be. 
 The locomotives and cars exceeded their estimated 
 cost by half a million dollars; unexpected expense 
 in terminal buildings, wharves, fences (of which 
 latter 300 miles were built by the Company along its 
 
1 I 2 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 tracks in 185 1), and a subscription of $250,000 to the 
 Buffalo and State Line Railroad Company to secure 
 connection from Dunkirk to Erie, increased the 
 expenses. Added to these, the Company, in order 
 to get the road through in time, was obliged to 
 
 incur increased expenses in doing the work day and 
 night, amid frost and snow, and to assume work 
 contractors failed in performing, and in transporta- 
 tion of materials for the superstructure — doing in 
 one year an amount of work no other railroad com- 
 pany had ever accomplished in less than between 
 two and three years." Yet, large as the cost of the 
 railroad seemed, it was not above the average of that 
 of railroads that had been built in other States, and 
 less than the average cost of many of the important 
 railroads of New York State. All this the Directors 
 assured the stockholders in their annual report after 
 the railroad was in operation between the Hudson 
 and Lake Erie, and it was undoubtedly the truth. 
 If any interested parties to the matter had doubts 
 about the economy of the management and the gen- 
 uineness of their professions, a dividend of four per 
 cent, on the earnings of the road for the last six 
 months of 185 1, which was declared earned, and 
 payable January 13, 1852, more than likely changed 
 the minds of such doubters. The receipts for the 
 first six months of the railroad's through business 
 were $1,755,285, the earnings of the month of De- 
 cember being estimated at $300,000. The expenses 
 of operating the road were $738,656, and of the 
 Lake Erie steamers used in the Western trade, 
 $90,000. Other expenses were $9,600, making a 
 total of $926,629. This left a net revenue of $917,- 
 029, deducting from which the interest charges due 
 on the Company's debt, amounting to $604,722, the 
 Directors had $312,307 surplus, out of which they 
 paid the first actual dividend the stockholders of the 
 New York and Erie Railroad had received, previous 
 payments on earnings of the incomplete railroad 
 being classed as interest. 
 
 Since the opening of the railroad to Dunkirk there 
 had been added to it, as lateral roads or feeders, 
 the Canandaigua and Corning Railroad, from Elmira 
 to Geneva ; the Lackawanna and Western Rail- 
 road, connecting at Great Bend, and extending to 
 Scranton ; the Buffalo and State Line Railroad, 
 
 connecting at Dunkirk. There were then (Decem- 
 ber, 185 1) under way the Buffalo and New York 
 City Railroad, from Buffalo to Hornellsville, now 
 part of the Buffalo Division, and the Cohocton Val- 
 ley Railroad, now the Rochester Division. At the 
 beginning of 1852 the financial condition of the 
 Company was: Bonded debt, $14,000,000; stock, 
 $6,000,000; floating debt, $3,080,000 — a total of 
 $23,080,000. The Company's assets were 525 miles 
 of railroad, which had cost $20, 150, 163.56; 132 loco- 
 motives, $1,118,152.26; seventy-two passenger cars, 
 $178,290.84; 1,505 freight and emigrant cars, $864,- 
 986.44; four barges and two steamboats, $101,141; 
 two machine shops and contents, $195,381.01 ; the 
 Duane Street pier, $10,426.69; office building and 
 depot at Duane and Reade Streets, $80,677.37; 
 wood, $197,824; material on hand, telegraph line, 
 cash, and bills due, $170,000; water stations along 
 the line, $511,872.83; stock in the Buffalo and State 
 Line Railroad Company, $250,000 — total, $23,787,- 
 916.01. The circumstances that led to the subscrib- 
 ing for the stock in the Buffalo and State Line Rail- 
 road Company were as follows : At the beginning of 
 1851 measures were in progress by persons interested 
 in the New York and Erie Railroad to build an inde- 
 pendent line of railroad from Dunkirk to the line of 
 Pennsylvania, to prevent the diversion of the trade 
 of the West to the Central Railroad by way of the 
 Buffalo and State Line Railroad. This difficulty in 
 the way of rivalry was subsequently compromised, 
 and the Erie and the Central joined in building a 
 neutral railroad to subserve the interests of both, and 
 for that purpose the New York and Erie Railroad 
 Company subscribed and paid $250,000. 
 
 The double track was mainly on the Eastern end 
 of the road. In their annual report for 185 1 the 
 Directors announced that, for the purpose of paying 
 the floating debt, and to aid in building 100 miles of 
 double track from Great Bend westward, the Com- 
 pany proposed to issue $6,000,000 of bonds, payable 
 in ten years (the remaining unissued stock, $4,500,- 
 000, being as yet unavailable), convertible into 
 stock, and bearing seven per cent, interest. This 
 track, it was estimated, could be put down for $10,- 
 000 per mile, and the Directors declared it was im- 
 peratively required by the increasing business of the 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 1 1 
 
 railroad. "A sufficient amount of the capital stock," 
 they said, " can be made available for the immediate 
 completion of the double track. The security for 
 payment of all the Company's obligations, and all 
 the money they propose to borrow, is ample and 
 undisputable." 
 
 Investors must have been of the same mind, for 
 $3,000,000 of these convertible bonds were sold on 
 January 8, 1852, at prices ranging from eighty-five 
 to eighty-eight, and there were bids for $8,000,000. 
 Subsequently $3,000,000 more were sold. Of the 
 first issue Homer Ramsdell took $40,000, and Powell, 
 Ramsdell & Co., $100,000. Thus $6,000,000 more 
 was added to the already heavy bonded debt of the 
 Company. It was but the continuance of that policy 
 of impatience that could not wait for actual results in 
 the railroad's traffic, but must discount their future, 
 estimating their value without sufficient recognition 
 of the effects upon them of possible business depres- 
 sion, crop failures, unfavorable seasons, and the 
 competition of rival lines — a policy, added to that of 
 submitting to " shaves" of from ten to fifteen per 
 cent, on the par value of the securities placed on the 
 market, securities that quickly brought par and even 
 premium in the hands of the shrewd purchasers, that 
 led the Erie, step by step, into the disastrous entan- 
 glements that have harassed the misused property 
 for a generation and a half, and made it the football 
 in the most disreputable games Wall Street stock- 
 jobbers and wreckers have set going within that time. 
 
 The evils of this financial policy became more and 
 more apparent as time passed, and the policy of the 
 management in operating the railroad was far from 
 popularizing it with the traveling or shipping public. 
 Local freight rates were increased to such an extent, 
 and certain towns along the line were so palpably 
 discriminated against in the waj' of accommodations 
 for both passengers and freight, that indignation 
 meetings were called at various localities, protesting 
 
 against the methods of the Company, and advocating 
 appeals for legislative relief. Although thousands 
 and thousands of dollars had been raised every year 
 since 1849, to be used for the betterment of the road, 
 its condition steadily grew worse instead of better. 
 The roadbed and track were in such a deplorable 
 condition in 1852 that the railroad became notorious 
 for the insecurity of travel upon it, and that year 
 passed into Erie history as the year of many acci- 
 dents. There were no less than thirty serious acci- 
 dents on the road that year, sixteen of them within 
 two months, on the Delaware Division alone. Some 
 of these were due to carelessness in the running of 
 trains, but a majority of them was caused by the 
 breaking of rails, which were brittle cast iron, and 
 badly worn, especially on the Delaware Division. 
 These mishaps were attended not only with great 
 financial loss to the Company, but with sacrifice of 
 life. 
 
 In spite of all these obstacles to the winning of 
 business for the road, the earnings increased, show- 
 ing for 1852 the favorable amount of $3,340,150. In 
 that year the Erie was provided with a direct Buffalo 
 connection by the opening of the Buffalo and New 
 York City Railroad from the former place to Hor- 
 nellsville. The tracks of the Ramapo and Paterson 
 and Paterson and Hudson River Railroads were 
 changed to the six-foot gauge in the winter of 1852- 
 53, so that the connection between Jersey City and 
 Dunkirk became an unbroken line of railroad. But 
 while the earnings as reported showed a large excess 
 over expenses, for some reason the Company stood 
 in the anomalous position of making money and yet 
 steadily falling behind in its expense account. Wall 
 Street was playing with its shares, and it was not a 
 reassuring fact to the public that among those who 
 were speculators in the Erie stock was the Com- 
 pany's own Treasurer, who owned or controlled 
 25,000 of its shares. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF HOMER RAMSDELL— 1853 TO 1857. 
 
 Ramsdell Succeeds President Loder — Charles Minot Retires, and D. C. McCallum Comes in as General Superintendent and Precipitates a 
 Serious Strike on the Railroad — More Hard Lines for Erie — Bankruptcy Imminent, but Daniel Drew and Others Come to the Rescue 
 — An Investigation and the Sinking Fund — A Beautiful Erie Rainbow — Ramsdell's Master Stroke in the Matter of the Long Dock 
 Franchises and Land for Terminal Facilities — Father of the Bergen Tunnel — Another Strike, Disastrous in the Extreme — A Ruin- 
 ous Rate War, and the Erie in a Crisis — Ramsdell Retires and Charles Moran comes in. 
 
 The discontent among the stockholders, who saw 
 the earnings that they thought should be turned into 
 dividends for themselves absorbed by interest on 
 bonds or by maintaining and improving a far from 
 complete railroad, began to find such expression that 
 a change of management became inevitable, and at 
 the annual election of 1853 new men came into the 
 Directory, and Benjamin Loder, who had virtually 
 worn himself out in the service of the Company, 
 gladly retired as head of the enterprise he had done 
 so much for, and was succeeded by Homer Ramsdell, 
 of Newburgh. 
 
 The earnings of the railroad for 1853 were $4,318,- 
 762, an increase of $1,022,812 over those of the pre- 
 vious year. The stock ruled in the street at about 
 eighty, and the bonds were at and above par, the 
 long-time, or seventy-year 7 per cent, convertible 
 bonds, being especially strong and in demand. The 
 year 1853 was not distinguished for any exciting 
 episodes in the management of the Company or of 
 the railroad, and the condition of the latter was but 
 little bettered. Freight rates were made still higher, 
 and discrimination against various towns were per- 
 sisted in, so that the Company continued to be ex- 
 tremely unpopular along the line. 
 
 But while the year 1853 was not particularly 
 eventful in incidents due directly to the Erie man- 
 agement, the business and plans of the Company 
 were greatly disturbed and interfered with toward 
 the close of the year, and for months in 1854, by the 
 bitter, blood)', and prolonged strife known at the 
 time as the " War of the Gauges," which arose from 
 a determination of the people of Erie, Pa., to pre- 
 vent all communication by rail between the New 
 
 York and Erie Railroad, or the New York Central 
 Railroad, and the desired connection at the Ohio 
 line with the railroad there (now the Lake Shore), 
 unless all freight should break bulk at Erie and be 
 reloaded there, and all passengers change cars at that 
 place. In other words, the people of Erie refused 
 to permit the building of a railroad through the place 
 or near it that did not have a different gauge from 
 either the Erie track or the New York Central track, 
 thus forcing the breaking of bulk at Erie so that the 
 work would add to the resources of the place. This 
 war was accompanied by much discomfort and hard- 
 ship to travelers and great loss and damage to freight, 
 and consequent misfortune to the New York and 
 Erie Railroad Company. The full story of this most 
 extraordinary opposition to easy and quick commu- 
 nication between the East and West is told in detail 
 elsewhere in this volume. 
 
 The railroad business was also disorganized, and its 
 profits greatly reduced in 1854 by a war of rates 
 between the New York Central and the Erie. In 
 the winter of that year a convention of railroad man- 
 agers was held at Albany, at which it was agreed 
 between the Erie and the Central that their rates for 
 passenger and freight from Buffalo to New York, 
 and vice versa, should be uniform. In the following 
 May the Central, charging that the Erie had been 
 cutting passenger rates between those points, over 
 its Buffalo and New York City Railroad connection 
 (the present Buffalo Division of the Erie), made a 
 heavy reduction in rates over its own lines. The 
 rate that had been agreed upon was $9 for through 
 passengers. The Central made a rate of $7.50 from 
 Buffalo to New York, and put on a second class 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 115 
 
 train to connect with Hudson River boats at Albany, 
 for which the rate was $4. These reductions forced 
 the Erie to a similar cut, and the consequent loss 
 was great. In August, however, at a general rail- 
 road convention held at New York, a restoration of 
 the regular rate was effected. 
 
 Charles Minot, who had come in as General Super- 
 intendent of the railroad in 1850, was called upon by 
 the Directors in May, 1854, to put in force a code of 
 rules for the government of employees which had 
 been drafted by D. C. McCallum, then Superinten- 
 dent of the Susquehanna Division. Superintendent 
 Minot read the rules, and reported that he could not 
 approve of all of them, as they were not capable of 
 application to the successful operation of the railroad. 
 The Directors informed him that the rules must 
 be adopted and enforced. Superintendent Minot, at 
 any rate, was not in favor with the ruling influences 
 in the Board, Homer Ramsdell and Daniel Drew, 
 although he was exceedingly popular with the em- 
 ployees and along the line of the railroad, he having 
 more than once protested against the discriminations 
 of the Board against Goshen and other towns in the 
 running of trains and the arrangement of freight 
 charges. Minot refused to enforce the new rules 
 and resigned, and was succeeded by D. C. McCallum, 
 who inaugurated a system of management so strict, 
 and demanding such discipline among employees, 
 that it soon gave rise to discontent and open acts of 
 revolt, especially among engineers and firemen. The 
 first trouble with employees the Company had ever 
 had came about in June, 1854, only one month after 
 McCallum became Superintendent. The engineers 
 objected to two of his rules, went on strike, and 
 gained their point, after traffic had been practically 
 suspended for ten days. 
 
 The summer of 1854 was one of great business 
 depression. Banks were cautious in extending ac- 
 commodation, and individuals or corporations that 
 had obligations the maturity of which was imminent, 
 and which could not be met except by the obtain- 
 ing of temporary loans, had a dismal future. It was 
 known in August of 1854 that the New York and 
 Erie Railroad Company was in a situation such as' 
 that. The semi-annual interest on its $3,000,000 
 second mortgage bonds and on its $5,200,000 '83 
 
 bonds, amounting to $337,000, was to fall due on 
 September ist. The Company also had bills to the 
 amount of $600,000 due in that month, and $700,- 
 000 in October. More than that, the five-year 
 income bonds, issued in 1850 for $3,500,000, were 
 to mature in February, 1855. But this was a con- 
 tingency for future apprehension, and while its pos- 
 sibilities had a disheartening effect on Erie affairs, 
 it was the pressing immediate needs of the Com- 
 pany that threatened and harassed the manage- 
 ment. Nothing but a substantial temporary loan 
 could tide it over its difficulties. Then, in this emer- 
 gency, Henry Sheldon, one of the leading Direct- 
 ors, and a prominent commission merchant, was 
 forced to make an assignment by the stringency of 
 the times. Sheldon's failure was followed by that 
 of two other influential members of the Board, 
 Edward C. Weeks and Gouverneur Morris. 
 
 The Company succeeded in borrowing $350,000 
 on acceptances endorsed by various members of the 
 Board, and secured by hypothecation of bonds of 
 1883. Subsequently, on August 29, 1854, Corne- 
 lius Vanderbilt endorsed the Erie's paper for $400,- 
 000, to secure him in which a mortgage on the rail- 
 road and its franchises and on 180 locomotives, 2,975 
 cars, and upon other chattels of the Company, was 
 executed. August 31st Daniel Drew, then and for 
 years afterward a power in the financial world, and 
 who was a member of the Erie Board of Directors, 
 endorsed for the Company to the amount of over 
 $980,000, and took a mortgage on all the property 
 the Company had left that could be mortgaged, 
 which mortgage was to cover future endorsements, 
 the whole not to exceed $1,000,000. Thus while 
 the earnings of the railroad were largely above its 
 expenses, the Company was forced, by the crowd- 
 ing of such heavy payments at this time of taut 
 purse-strings and want of confidence, to pledge all 
 its available assets to meet its necessities, and its 
 stock and bonds were lamentably depressed in con- 
 sequence. Erie shares had fallen from eighty to 
 forty-three. The bonds had also declined ten to 
 fifteen per cent. On September 4, 1854, President 
 Ramsdell, in response to public demands, published 
 a statement. It simply expressed his regrets for the 
 situation, and announced that the surplus earnings 
 
I 1 o 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 of the road from October i, 1853, to June 30, 1854, 
 which were $616,521, had been used for the re- 
 quirements of the road, among which was the ex- 
 pense of laying second track. 
 
 Late in the summer of 1854 the fact became pub- 
 lic that there were discrepancies in the report made 
 in 1852 by the Treasurer of the Company of the 
 floating debt and the freight and passenger earnings. 
 This added to the depression in Erie affairs, and 
 September 14th the Directors ordered an investi- 
 gation of the matter to be made. James Brown, 
 Thomas Tileston, D. D. Williamson, John E. 
 Williams, Caleb O. Halsted, David Hoadley, John 
 H. Gourlie, and J. C. Bancroft Davis were selected 
 a committee to make the investigation. Their in- 
 structions were to examine into all the books, papers, 
 accounts, and transactions of the Company. It was 
 expected that the committee's report would be ren- 
 dered before the annual election in October, but it 
 was not. That election of Erie Directors caused 
 more than usual stir in Wall Street. 
 
 Two tickets were in the field, one made up by 
 the friends of the existing Board, and one by stock- 
 holders who thought that the policy of the Com- 
 pany required a change in management. The regu- 
 lar ticket contained the names of Homer Ramsdell, 
 Samuel Marsh, William E. Dodge, Shepherd Knapp, 
 Cornelius Smith, Marhall O. Roberts, Charles M. 
 Leupp, Nelson Robinson, Daniel Drew, John 
 Arnot, Ambrose S. Murray, George F. Tallman, 
 Don Alonzo Cushman, William B. Skidmore, Louis 
 Von Hoffman, Charles Moran, and Ralph Mead. 
 The independent ticket replaced the names of 
 Messrs. Roberts, Robinson, and Smith by those of 
 John Compton, James Van Nostrand, Samuel 
 Wiliets, and Uriah Hendricks. There were four 
 vacancies in the old Board caused by the resigna- 
 tion of Henry Sheldon, Gouverneur Morris, Alanson 
 Robinson, and Edward C. Weeks. The names of 
 Moran, Von Hoffman, Skidmore, and Cushman were 
 new on both tickets, all the rest on the regular ticket 
 being those of members of the existing Board. The 
 regular ticket was elected by 35, coo votes out of 
 44,000 cast. October 12th the Board elected the 
 old officers. The election of Charles Moran, who 
 was a broker, and Louis Von Hoffman as Directors 
 
 was in recognition of the interests of foreign cred- 
 itors of the Company, Moran having placed a large 
 amount of the Company's unsecured, or income, 
 bonds in Switzerland and other parts of Europe. 
 
 The report of the examining committee was not 
 made until October 21st, the election having been 
 held on the loth of that month. The report was a 
 voluminous and exhaustive analysis of the Com- 
 pany's financial and physical condition. The com- 
 mittee found that the floating debt as reported in 
 1852 was understated by more than $I, 000,000. 
 The actual amount was $2,384,406.83. The reported 
 amount was $1,323,053.55. The earnings had been 
 reported as $3,537,766.53, while they were in fact 
 but $3,319,906.14. "We leave your body," said 
 the committee in its report to the Board, " to deter- 
 mine the reasons for these erroneous statements, 
 and to whom they are to be charged. We can see 
 no justification for them. It appears in evidence 
 before us that the knowledge of them came to the 
 then Board of Directors a short time after the re- 
 port had been sent to Albany by the Treasurer, and 
 that the subject was investigated by their orders. 
 We think they erred in not frankly exposing them. 
 Since September, 1852, your Board has had to con- 
 tend against the effects of a dividend when not 
 fully earned and the representation of your floating 
 debt at far below its actual amount. A development 
 like this, at the outset, led us to regard all after 
 transactions with suspicion, and to scrutinize them 
 rigidly. The results have been highly favorable to 
 the Company. " While approving the existing con- 
 dition and methods of the management, the commit- 
 tee nevertheless chided it, and made suggestions as 
 follows: " The New York and Erie Railroad now 
 earns annually about as large a sum as was origi- 
 nally proposed to be expended in its construction. 
 * * * When we see what it has already done, 
 while new, incumbered, and without perfect connec- 
 tions, we have no difficulty in agreeing that it is 
 destined to do decidedly more with experience, 
 without incumbrance to the traffic, and with con- 
 nections established. At the same time we cannot 
 shut our eyes to the financial condition. We are 
 aware of the difficulties with which your Board has 
 had to contend, and bear willing testimony to your 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 117 
 
 arduous and untiring exertions to surmount them. 
 But we think you will agree with us that the recent 
 critical situation of the Company has demonstrated 
 the imprudence of anticipating earnings so largely, 
 and calls for frankness and judicious management on 
 the part of the Directors. If the public can be 
 assured that the construction account is closed, and 
 a scheme can be devised for retiring the floating 
 debt — making, at the same time, prospective pro- 
 visions for meeting the funded — we see nothing to 
 prevent this road from becoming one of the most 
 valuable railway projects in the world. To insure 
 these results we recommend: i. That the construc- 
 tion account be closed. 2. An increase in your 
 tariff price of freight and passengers, both way and 
 through. We believe that an immediate judicious ad- 
 dition to the present rate is not only due to the stock- 
 holders, but will essentially conduce to the welfare 
 of the Company. 3. That no dividends be paid until 
 the floating debt is disposed of. 4. That a sinking 
 fund be established, to be paid monthly into the 
 hands of trustees, independent of the Company. 
 5. That the President and Vice-President of the 
 Company be required to give their whole time and 
 undivided attention to the duties of their respective 
 offices. We think this is indispensable to the proper 
 management of so large a corporation. 
 
 Referring to the manner in which the Company 
 had raised money to tide itself over impending 
 trouble, the committee said that " the measures 
 adopted gave the necessary temporary relief, and it 
 is the opinion of your financial officers that such an 
 emergency cannot occur again. We understand 
 that the contracts for rolling stock which increased 
 the present heavy floating debt are either nearly 
 completed or are cancelled. No new contracts have 
 been made since March last. Of the seventy-five 
 engines contracted for to meet the necessities of the 
 road, the contracts for twenty-two have been can- 
 celled. Sixteen remain to be delivered. This wise 
 management has checked the increase in floating 
 debt, and if this policy is persisted in, the affairs of 
 the Company will soon be put on a sounder basis. 
 It is better to pause where you are until additions 
 can be made at a less sacrifice of the means and 
 credit of the Company. ' ' 
 
 The Board of Directors acted immediately on the 
 suggestion of the examining committee, and a spe- 
 cial finance committee, consisting of Charles Moran, 
 Shepherd Knapp, William E. Dodge, Nelson Rob- 
 inson, and George F. Tallman, was appointed to for- 
 mulate a plan to help the Company over its difficul- 
 ties. October 21st the committee reported a plan 
 for establishing a sinking fund by placing an issue of 
 $4,000,000 7 per cent, twenty-year bonds, pledging 
 the Company to pay monthly from March i, 1855, 
 $35,000 into hands of the trustees to be invested, as 
 well as the accruing interest on the instalments, in 
 the bonds of the new issue as long as they could be 
 purchased at or below par, whenever such purchases 
 could not be made at that rate the monthly pay- 
 ments and the accruing interest to be invested in 
 any bond of the Company that could be purchased 
 at or below par, and if such purchases could not be 
 made at or below par, the monthly payments and all 
 accruing interest to be invested in such bonds of 
 the Company as could be purchased at the lowest 
 rate. All bonds thus purchased were to be cancelled 
 and held by the sinking fund, the interest to be 
 collected, however, until the monthly payments 
 and interest and the conversion of convertible 
 bonds into stock should have reduced the entire debt 
 of the Company to $20,000,000, when the monthly 
 payments should cease and the trust be closed. The 
 declaration was made that this loan would pay the 
 income bonds redeemable on February i, 1855, 
 " and the entire present floating debt and the 
 monthly payment of the sinking fund." On the 
 recommendation of this special finance committee 
 the following were adopted by the Board of Di- 
 rectors : 
 
 Whereas, The period has arrived when it is expedient and 
 necessary to close the' Construction Account of this company, 
 to be re-opened only when the imperative necessity of the in- 
 creasing traffic on the Road, and the state of the finances of the 
 company will render it perfectly evident that it is proper and 
 justifiable to re-open it, so as to increase the present capacity 
 of the Road, therefore 
 
 Resolved, That any and all future expenditures beyond the 
 amount to be derived from the proceeds of the new loan, after 
 reimbursing the Income Bonds due ist February next, be 
 charged to Transportation Expenses. 
 
 Resolved, That as often as the Bonds purchased by the Sink- 
 ing Fund amount to ten per cent, on the Capital Stock, this 
 company will, upon receiving due authority from the Legis- 
 
ii8 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 lature of the State, declare at the next semi-annual dividend 
 day a Stock dividend of ten per cent. 
 
 Resolved, That these resolutions be published in the daily 
 papers, so that the public have cognizance of the future policy 
 of this company. 
 
 According to the statement of President Rams- 
 dell, announcing the approval of the Directors of the 
 sinking fund plan (October 23, 1854), the debt of 
 the Company was then $34,875,000; of the amount, 
 $10,024,000 being capital stock. The gross earnings 
 of the railroad for the coming year were estimated 
 at $6,000,000, and the expenses were estimated at 
 $S>459'570> of which $1,739,570 was interest on the 
 bonded debt, $3,300,000 operating expenses, and 
 $420,000 for the sinking fund, leaving " net revenue 
 equal to over five per cent, on stock applicable to 
 cash dividends and contingencies." The statement 
 declared that " in the opinion of the Superintend- 
 ent, Mr. McCallum, the road in its present posi- 
 tion and with its present equipment, can earn 
 $8,000,000." 
 
 The loan was placed, and in his report to the 
 stockholders for 1855, President Ramsdell declared 
 that " the sacrifices made by the Company to meet 
 promptly all its engagements have been wholly 
 repaid. The credit of the Company is entirely re- 
 established, all the endorsed acceptances have been 
 paid, whilst the new loan, negotiated by the unwea- 
 ried, gratuitous exertions of the Directors, and the 
 generous aid and confidence of our own and foreign 
 capitalists and merchants, enabled the Company to 
 pay at maturity the entire balance of the income 
 bonds, and to reduce the floating debt to an amount 
 so moderate that all further sacrifices have become 
 unnecessary." 
 
 The entire report was optimistic to a degree, and 
 the sinking fund established was confidently relied 
 upon to" enhance the value of the Company's stock 
 and favorably effect the future renewal of the loans 
 as they may mature," although it at present pre- 
 vented cash dividends, notwithstanding they were 
 earned. Amicable relations had been restored with 
 competing lines. In conformity with the terms of 
 the sinking fund bonds, the report said that the 
 Company would declare a dividend of ten per cent, 
 in stock (the law authorizing the same being first 
 
 obtained) in April, 1857 '■> ^"d the following was offered 
 as an approximate estimate of the amount which 
 would be accumulated in the sinking fund on the re- 
 spective dividend days, until the debt of the Com- 
 pany should be reduced to $20,000,000: 
 
 SINKING FUND. 
 
 1855. September 30 $ 322,000 
 
 1856. April I estimated 580,000 
 
 1856. October i " 834,000 
 
 1857. April I " 1,065,000— 1st Dividend. 
 
 1857. October i " 1,333,000 
 
 1858. April I " 1,609,000 
 
 1858. October i " 1,894,000 
 
 1859. April I " 2,188,000— 2d Dividend. 
 
 1859. October i " 2,491,000 
 
 i860. April I " 2,804,000 
 
 i860. October i " 3,127,000— 3d Dividend. 
 
 1861. April I " 3,470,000 
 
 1861. October i " 3,804,000 
 
 1862. April I " 4,159,000— 4th Dividend. 
 
 1862. October i " 4,525,000 
 
 1863. April I " 4,906,000— 5th Dividend. 
 
 Funded Debt, Feb. 29, 1856 $24,891,000 
 
 Sinking Fund, April i, 1863 4,906,000 
 
 Estimated Funded Debt, April i, 1863. $19,985,000 
 
 The stock and bondholders of Erie have been 
 started on the chase for radiant rainbows many a- 
 time in the career of the Company, but never have 
 they had so magnificent a bow of promise displayed 
 before them to follow and delight in as this one of 
 those buoyant days of 1856. How it paled and dis- 
 appeared and left the darkest of horizons where it had 
 been, will develop with this chronicle. The legisla- 
 tion required authorizing the declaring and distrib- 
 uting a stock dividend, as provided for in the plan of 
 the sinking fund, was obtained at the session of the 
 New York Legislature for 1857, and on April 8th of 
 that year the Directors met and declared a stock 
 dividend of ten per cent., payable April 27th, on 
 the accumulation of the sinking fund, which then 
 amounted to $1,300,000, or nearly $250,000 more 
 than President Ramsdell's estimate. The Directors 
 also resolved "to make the dividend on this fund 
 hereafter annually, when the amount divided will be 
 5 per cent." The renewal of cash dividends, how- 
 ever, was postponed for an indefinite period. And 
 with that one dividend the rainbow began to fade. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 119 
 
 With all the diawbacks the railroad had encoun- 
 tered, its business was steadily increasing. The ter- 
 minal facilities at Jersey City were, nevertheless, no 
 greater than they had been for the transaction of 
 the business of the Paterson and Hudson River Rail- 
 road before it was leased to the New York and Erie 
 Railroad Company, and it was a railroad but six- 
 teen miles long, with only the business of Paterson 
 and a few intermediate villages to handle. All of 
 the Erie's second class passengers and emigrants, 
 and a large portion of its fast freight and express 
 business, had to be handled by the way of Piermont 
 and Newburgh. Live stock trains, which were the 
 carriers of one of the chief sources of the railroad's 
 traffic, ran only to Bergen, three miles from the 
 Jersey City terminus. 
 
 Homer Ramsdell, being of large experience in 
 transportation affairs, had long foreseen the necessity 
 of more room at the eastern end of the road for 
 greater facility and economy in handling the New 
 York and Erie Railroad's business, not only for that 
 time but for future exigencies. In the winter of 
 1855, through his influence, two charters were ob- 
 tained from the New Jersey Legislature — one em- 
 powering the New York and Erie Railroad Com- 
 pany to purchase land in New Jersey and to complete 
 the Paterson and Hudson Rive'r Railroad, and the 
 other incorporating the Long Dock Company, with 
 the right to construct a railroad to connect with any 
 other railroad then constructed, or organized to be 
 constructed according to law, and granting it cer- 
 tain ferry privileges. Under this authority, Homer 
 Ramsdell quietly secured, at a low figure, 212 acres 
 of land, besides water frontage, and land underwater 
 half a mile out in the Hudson River. The 212 acres 
 were then unoccupied ground between Jersey City 
 and Hoboken, which is now the property covered 
 by the immense Erie Railroad yards, depots, ferry 
 buildings, coal docks, freight houses, cattle yards, 
 oil storage houses, etc., at Jersey City, that city 
 having grown up and around the property since the 
 purchase in 1855. No one in the Board of Di- 
 rectors knew that Mr. Ramsdell was acquiring this 
 immense property except Charles Moran, as it was 
 thought best for the interests of the Company that 
 the matter should not be talked about. The 
 
 property was purchased in the name of Mr. Rams- 
 dell. 
 
 The Long Dock Company was formed, and, 
 under an agreement with the New York and Erie 
 Railroad Company as to subsequent leases and ad- 
 vances, began the improvement of the property and 
 the construction of necessary buildings, docks, and 
 ferry facilities. The terminus of the Paterson and 
 Hudson River Railroad was where the Pennsylvania 
 Railroad's Jersey City depot is now, and a ferry 
 continued the route thence to Duane Street, New 
 York, where the Erie docks and depots were. To 
 reach this terminus the railroad ran to the western 
 extremity of the Bergen Hill, and through a deep 
 cut over the track of the New Jersey Railroad. The 
 proposed new terminus would take the Erie a mile 
 or more further up the North River front. This 
 was a long and roundabout way, and to shorten it 
 there was in the plan of the Erie's terminal facilities 
 the tunneling of Bergen Hill, an engineering exploit 
 of formidable proportions, and one to be attended 
 with great cost, but yet warranted by the consider- 
 able saving in time and distance, and thus in money, 
 which it promised to the Company on its future 
 business. 
 
 The year of 1855 was one of short crops through- 
 out the country, and one not of general activity in 
 commercial affairs, but the New York and Erie 
 Railroad earned $833,418.87 more than its working 
 expenses and interest on its funded and floating 
 debt, or 8^ per cent, on its capital stock. This 
 surplus was used for improvements. The notable 
 event in the history of the railroad during 1856 was 
 the great strike of the engineers, the second on the 
 road. Like its predecessor of 1854, it was caused by 
 opposition to the severe rules of General Superin- 
 tendent McCallum. This strike began in October, 
 after the end of the fiscal year, and the disastrous 
 effect it had on the railroad's business did not ap- 
 pear in the Directors' report for that year, which 
 showed net earnings to September 30th of $1,246,- 
 712. The sinking fund absorbed $420,000 of this, 
 and all except $120,000 of the balance was expended 
 for new railroads, improvements, and lake steam- 
 boats. Work on the terminal facilities at Jersey 
 
I20 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 City was begun in 1856. In June of that year the 
 contract was let to Stanton, Mallory & Co. of New- 
 burgh for putting the tunnel through Bergen Hill. 
 These stupendous operations required the use of 
 large sums of money, and early in 1857 the Erie 
 management was face to face again with financial 
 embarrassment. Erie stock had, in June of that 
 year, depreciated from sixty-three to thirty-three, 
 under the combination of a clique of brokers whose 
 operations were by no means a credit to the Board, 
 because Daniel Drew, an Erie Director, was one of 
 them. The stock reached so low a point that many 
 were afraid to sell it any further, more particularly 
 that as the price fell the stock was gradually bought 
 up by those who had confidence in its value, until 
 it became very scarce — so scarce, that on June 30th 
 the amount standing in the name of Wall Street brok- 
 ers was less than 7,000 shares out o' 110,000 shares 
 constituting the capital, the smallest amount known 
 for seven years. 
 
 Added to its other difficulties, the Erie tracks, on 
 the western end of the road and on the Delaware 
 Division, were so badly blockaded by heavy snow- 
 storms in January, 1857, that trafific was disastrously 
 suspended for days at a time during that month. 
 In January, 1857, great ice-floods in the Delaware 
 River destroyed or blockaded miles of track on the 
 Delaware Division, and swept away costly bridges, 
 again crippling the railroad severely, and draining 
 the Company's already scant treasury to repair the 
 disastrous breaks in its transportation line. The 
 same month, the Company being behind in its pay- 
 ments to contractors for work on the Bergen tun- 
 nel, the laborers to the number of 700 struck, the 
 strike culminating in a long and bloody riot. In 
 February, bridges that had been destroyed by the 
 January flood and rebuilt were swept away again by 
 another flood. A June flood carried off extensive 
 bridges along the Susquehanna and Western Divi- 
 sions, and washed away great sections of the track. 
 
 Early in June the Company's statement of the 
 business of the road for the six months ending March, 
 31, 1857, was made. It showed that the expenses, 
 not including the $210,000 paid into the sinking 
 fund during that period, had exceeded the earnings 
 by more than $72,000. The decreased business due 
 
 to the engineers' strike and the extraordinary cost 
 of that strike, and to the losses by snow blockades 
 and floods during the winter, was given in ex- 
 planation of this discouraging showing. The most 
 marked falling off in trafific reported was in freight, 
 and the chief increase of expenses declared to be in 
 repair of cars and engines. 
 
 Superintendent McCallum had been forced to 
 resign in March, 1857. The engineers' strike had 
 cost the Company upward of $500,000, and left the 
 road in wretched condition. After the resignation 
 of MfCallum the railroad, by order of the Board, 
 March 12, 1857, was reduced from four divisions to 
 two. One, from New York to Susquehanna, with 
 the branches, were placed in charge of Hugh Riddle. 
 Of the other, from Susquehanna to Dunkirk, J. A. 
 Hart was made Superintendent. President Rams- 
 dell acted also in the capacity of General Manager of 
 operations. 
 
 The New York Central Railroad Company, unhar- 
 assed by pressing debts or urgent need of money, 
 had early assumed an aggressive attitude against 
 the Erie, and lost no opportunity of asserting it, in 
 spite of the assurance of President Ramsdell to the 
 stockholders that amicable relations with its rival had 
 been restored to Erie. At a convention of railroad 
 managers held at Buffalo in May, 1857, the represent- 
 atives of the New York Central insisted that a fast 
 train should be run from Chicago to Dunkirk and 
 Buffalo over the Lake Shore Railroad, and that an 
 Erie express train should connect with it at Dun- 
 kirk, and another on the Central at Buffalo, to run 
 through to New York. The Erie people remon- 
 strated, but to no purpose. They were compelled 
 to put on the extra train, although it left Dunkirk 
 only a short time after their regular train from that 
 place. They soon found that the train was losing 
 money for them, and they withdrew it, giving notice 
 at the same time that any passengers bound for 
 New York from the Chicago train who would remain 
 over night at Dunkirk would be carried to New 
 York over the Erie at a reduced rate of fare. The 
 Buffalo and State Line Railroad Company, whose 
 road gave the sole connection the Erie had with 
 trains from the West, refused to honor tickets that 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 121 
 
 read by the way of the New York and Erie Railroad, 
 and charged double rates to passengers holding such 
 tickets, this in spite of the contract the Erie had 
 with that company to carry its passengers at the same 
 rate it carried the Central's. Besides these troubles, 
 the Erie engineers' strike of 1856 had not only 
 greatly crippled the railroad and interfered with its 
 traffic for many weeks, but a great number of its 
 engineers, the Company stubbornly resisting their 
 claims, had left the road and were scattered about 
 the country on various railroads, spreading unfavor- 
 able reports of the condition of the Erie, to its great 
 damage. 
 
 Much feeling was excited among the New York 
 and Erie stockholders by the arbitrary conduct of the 
 managers of the Buffalo and State Line Railroad 
 Company in breaking its contract arrangements in 
 regard to ticketing passengers and connecting pas- 
 senger and freight trains to and from the West, 
 over the Erie. The surprise was the greater from 
 the fact that Daniel Drew, the Treasurer of the New 
 York and Erie Railroad Company, was one of the 
 largest stockholders in the State Line Railroad. 
 The emphatic expression of this feeling impelled 
 Daniel Drew to write this letter: 
 
 New York, June 27, 1857. 
 To George Palmer, President B. & S. L. R. R. Co. 
 
 In consequence of having been informed to-day that the 
 Buflfalo and State Line Railroad Company have refused to 
 recognize through tickets sold by the New York and Erie 
 Railroad Company in New York, for places West via the 
 former road, and also tickets sold at places West for New 
 York via same road; and that said road exacts the payment 
 of fare from passengers holding such tickets, thereby showing 
 partiality towards certain roads and a hostility to others, which 
 I cannot but regard as being clearly in violation of obligations 
 on the part of the Buflfalo and State Line Road assumed by 
 express contract, as they are agamst sound policy and fair 
 business dealing. 
 
 I beg respectfully, as a stockholder in said road, to protest 
 against such policy, and to call on the Board of Directors 
 to conform to that sound and just policy in their official action 
 which those interested in the property they administer have a 
 right to demand at their hands. I will thank you to communi- 
 cate this letter to that Board. 
 
 I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 Daniel Drew. 
 
 This letter met with no response, and on July ist, 
 the position of the Buffalo and State Line Railroad 
 Company toward the New York and Erie remaining 
 unchanged, and the New York Central insisting on 
 
 its arbitrary demands, the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road Company placed the fare from Buffalo to New 
 York at $5, and to Boston at $9. The Erie's Boston 
 connections were the Boston and Bridgeport line of 
 steamboats, and the New York and New Haven 
 Railroad. Besides the reduction in fare, the Erie 
 advertised to transport passengers free from Duane 
 Street to the steamboat docks and the New Haven 
 depot. 
 
 In a statement to the stockholders, July 17th, 
 Nathaniel Marsh, Secretary of the Company, giving 
 the history of the difficulty, said: " The Directors 
 regret the necessity for such a measure (reducing 
 the fare). They are advocates of higher fare, fewer 
 trains, slower speed, the abolition of the whole 
 system of paying commissions for procuring passen- 
 gers and freight, and such other reductions of ex- 
 penses as will give to railroad property a permanent 
 value; but they cannot consent to transfer the man- 
 agement of your road to those who opposed its con- 
 struction, and now seek to embarrass its operations, 
 and render it unproductive to the stockholders. The 
 object of the present reduction is to secure the 
 travel that belongs to the road, and when that 
 object is accomplished, and fair treatment is accorded 
 by other roads, prices will at once be restored to the 
 former rate." 
 
 Before the New York and Erie Railroad Company 
 had made the reduction in rates, Chauncey Vibbard, 
 General Superintendent of the New York Central 
 Railroad, illustrated the methods of that railroad's 
 management at that day, and its application of 
 them to a rival in misfortune, by distributing broad- 
 cast through the country a handbill of which the 
 following is a copy: 
 
 NEW YORK CENTRAL RAILROAD. 
 
 Passengers taking this route can feel assured that they are 
 with careful, experienced engineers, the company, paying well 
 for such, never have been obliged to use firemen, with no 
 experience on account of strikes, endangering life, and never 
 making time, as is the case on the Great Broad Gauge Route. 
 
 Passengers should be particular and secure tickets by this 
 route, as it is the only one having a uniform gauge from 
 Cincinnati to Buflfalo, thence to New York and Boston, saving 
 several changes of cars and baggage, and the annoyance of 
 missing connections, which occur so often on the New York 
 and Erie route. 
 
 This is the only route that can land passengers by cars in 
 
122 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 New York City, within a short distance of their principal 
 hotels. All other routes land their passengers in Jersey City, 
 compelling them to secure the services of porters and hacks, 
 in crossing the river, making an additional and disagreeable 
 change incident to the New York and Erie Road. 
 
 " The only route that can land passengers by cars 
 in New York City. " True. The Erie was already 
 reaping a harvest of ills grown from the sowing of 
 the short-sighted management that, years before, 
 had refused to let Erie itself become " the only route 
 that could land passengers by cars in New York 
 City." 
 
 Misfortune, indeed, seemed to have marked Erie 
 for its own. It was evident that the Company's 
 affairs were once more approaching a crisis. This 
 was the situation that confronted the Erie when 
 Charles Moran returned from Europe in July, 1857, 
 whither he had gone the previous winter. Homer 
 Ramsdell had private enterprises of much magni- 
 tude, and the increasing depression in the business 
 affairs of the Company, he declared, required that 
 he should give them more of his personal attention, 
 and he announced his determination to resign the 
 Presidency of the Company. The Board of Direct- 
 ors had been led to believe that Charles Moran, 
 better than any other person available, could take 
 hold of the Company's critical affairs and straighten 
 them out. They notified him of their belief, and 
 solicited him to take charge of the management. 
 
 He replied that he would undertake the task, with 
 assurances that he could perform it if the Company 
 would pay him $25,000 a year for his services. This 
 was as much as the President of the United States 
 was paid, and an unheard-of salary for the executive 
 head of any corporation. The Board decided, how- 
 ever, that Moran was worth the outlay, and they 
 agreed to his terms. July 18, 1857, William E. 
 Dodge, who was outraged because the Company 
 persisted in permitting work to be done on the rail- 
 road on Sunday, resigned from the Board. Moran 
 was chosen in his place, and was unanimously 
 elected President, Mr. Ramsdell continuing as a 
 member of the Board. It was announced of Mr. 
 Moran in the public prints, upon his election as 
 President of the Erie, that he was a man of high 
 character and integrity, of vigorous mind, and de- 
 voted to the study of political economy, " which was 
 at the foundation of the success of any work of this 
 description; that he had superior administrative 
 ability, and that his election would give great satis- 
 faction to all true friends of the enterprise, both at 
 home and abroad." All this about Mr. Moran was 
 undoubtedly true, but within the next two years he 
 was to learn by bitter experience that it required 
 something more than devotion " to the study of 
 political economy " to be " at the foundation of the 
 success " of such a work as the New York and Erie 
 Railroad was. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF CHARLES MORAN-1857 TO 1859. 
 
 Clouds Still Thicken — The Services of an Over-confident President whose Salary was $25,000 a Year — Resignation of Daniel Drew as 
 Treasurer — He Raises $1,500,000 for the Company in an Emergency — End of the Rate War — The New Management's Earnest 
 and Persistent Cut — Fruitless Efforts to Sufficiently Float New Erie Mortgages — Moran Virtually Assumes the Duties of the Entire 
 Executive Force — Business Decreases — All Work on Improvements Suspended — In Debt to the Employees, in Arrears of Interest 
 and No Prospects of Relief, the Company Goes into the Hands of a Receiver. 
 
 The Company began the year 1857 with a floating 
 debt of $1,575,518.77, which was augmented every 
 month, after the first quarter, by a payment of $35,- 
 000 to the sinking fund, and another of about $20,- 
 000 a month on the Long Dock improvement. The 
 income of the road after the first quarter was insuffi- 
 cient for the payments, and in the spring a loan 
 became necessary, which was obtained from the banks 
 on an arrangement by which Daniel Drew endorsed 
 the notes of the Company, taking for his security a 
 mortgage on all the previously unmortgaged prop- 
 erty. The amount of this loan from Drew was 
 $1,500,000, and the Company paid him $25,000 for 
 his name. 
 
 Daniel Drew was one of the principal owners of 
 the People's Steamboat Line, between New York 
 and Albany, as well as a stockholder in the Buffalo 
 and State Line Railroad Company. In 1855, during 
 the war of rates between the New York Central and 
 the New York and Erie, the People's Line had 
 agreed with the former railroad company to carry 
 passengers from Albany to New York at a rate so 
 low that the Central could and did make its fare for 
 second class passengers between Buffalo and New 
 York $4. This was greatly to the damage of the 
 Erie, and Daniel Drew was then prominent in the 
 affairs of the steamboat company, as also Treasurer of 
 the New York and Erie Railroad Company. This 
 made serious trouble among Erie stockholders in 
 1855, and in this later war of rates (1856-57) between 
 the Central and the Erie, when the latter was handi- 
 capped more than it had been two years before, the 
 Buffalo and State Line Railroad and People's Line 
 
 of Steamboats were again being used to the detri- 
 ment of the Erie, of which Company Daniel Drew 
 was still Treasurer and a leading Director. His 
 equivocal position as financial officer of the one 
 Company, and sharer in the profits of the other 
 companies ; and, moreover, his partnership in a firm 
 of brokers whose manipulation of Erie stock to the 
 disadvantage of the Company was freely charged, 
 brought about such manifestations of displeasure 
 among the stockholders that, on July 20, 1857, 
 Drew made a statement to the Board in which he 
 said that he was not ignorant of the fact that a por- 
 tion of the stockholders regarded his various rela- 
 tions to the People's Line of Steamboats on the 
 Hudson River, and to the Buffalo and State Line 
 Railroad Company, that had attempted to annoy 
 and embarrass the western connection of the Erie, 
 and his participation, as a general partner, in a prom- 
 inent firm of Wall Street brokers, as inconsistent 
 with his position as Treasurer of the Erie, and so 
 he tendered his resignation from that ofifice. Drew's 
 resignation was accepted, and Herman Gelpcke, of 
 the banking house of Gelpcke, Keutgen & Reichelt, 
 and a member of the Finance Committee of the 
 Board, was elected to succeed him. Drew remained 
 in the Board. 
 
 The folly of the cut-throat rate-war policy that 
 had so long prevailed began to be appreciated by all 
 parties concerned in it before the end of July, 1857, 
 and the new Erie administration began efforts to 
 bring it to an end. A meeting between the Erie 
 and Michigan Southern and the New York Cen- 
 tral and Michigan Central Presidents was arranged. 
 
124 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 With the close of July an amicable and satisfactory 
 agreement was concluded, old rates were restored, 
 and the disastrous war came to an end — for the time. 
 
 Early in his incumbency President Moran demon- 
 strated that his policy was to be radically different 
 in the management of the Company's affairs from 
 that of any of his predecessors. It had been the 
 custom, as a bid for new business and an inducement 
 to retain old, to issue free passes to drovers who 
 accompanied their cattle to market on the stock 
 trains, and to " freighters," who controlled produce 
 shipments in those days. There were about i6o 
 persons receiving these free tickets, and the issuing 
 of them had been regarded as good business policy 
 by all managements up to the Moran control. Moran 
 did not believe it was a sound business principle, 
 and he abolished the free pass system at once. He 
 also dispensed with agencies, runners, advertise- 
 ments, and all such methods of increasing the Com- 
 pany's business. 
 
 Money was necessary to carry forward the improve- 
 ments the Company had then in hand, but which 
 were being delayed by lack of funds, so a scheme 
 for a fourth mortgage loan was announced early in 
 August, 1857. -ft was proposed to raise $3,000,000 
 by creating a stock for $6,000,000, half to be paid 
 in cash and half in the unsecured bonds of the Com- 
 pany. The object of the loan was to fund the debt 
 of the Company, and to obtain means to continue 
 the construction of the Bergen tunnel, the depots, 
 wharves and other improvements of the Long Dock 
 property. It was calculated that the debt of the 
 Company would be increased but about $1,000,000 
 by this plan. 
 
 It was a discouraging time for negotiating loans, 
 however, even on the most approved security, for it 
 was at the height of the panic of 1857, when banks 
 were failing by the score, and the oldest business 
 houses were trembling on the verge of bankruptcy; 
 but President Moran and his associates went to work 
 in earnest to place the new bonds. The unsecured 
 bonds of the Company were low in the market — 
 being then quoted at about thirty-five — and the 
 terms of the new issue were favorable, but investors 
 ignored it. They were shy of Erie once more. At 
 
 a meeting of the stock and bondholders held at No. 
 13 Broad Street, New York, September 23, 1857, ^or 
 the purpose of inducing them to subscribe for the 
 new loan. President Moran made an address which is 
 to-day a graphic — and in some respects an amusing 
 — exhibit of the Company's situation and tribula- 
 tions in that critical year. He began by presenting 
 a statement of the financial condition of the Com- 
 pany as follows : 
 
 Sept. 30, 1855. 
 
 Capital Stock $10,023,959 
 
 Funded Debt 24,891,000 
 
 Floating Debt 1,211,763 
 
 Interest Unpaid 
 
 Sept. 30, 1856. 
 
 $10,000,000 
 
 24,891,000 
 
 1,104,970 
 
 Sept. 30, 1857. 
 $11,000,000 
 
 24,891,000 
 
 2,437,209 
 
 69,000 
 
 Total Indebtedness, 
 
 Cash and Cash Items 
 
 Materials 
 
 Fuel 
 
 Steamers on Lake Erie... 
 
 Rolling Stock loaned to 
 Canandaigua and Niag- 
 ara Falls Railroad 
 
 Other Assets 
 
 Due by Agents 
 
 Advanced to Long Dock 
 Co 
 
 Bonds of 187s in Sinking 
 Fund 
 
 $26; 
 
 ,102,763 
 180,756 
 504,855 
 497,115 
 88,87s 
 
 100,000 
 10,456 
 
 $25,995,970 $27,397,209 
 
 300,656 84,551 
 
 502,541 550,000 
 
 726,723 610,000 
 
 218,931 231,229 
 
 100,000 100,000 
 
 46,234 50,000 
 
 250,000 
 
 322,000 
 
 684,254 
 
 794,000 1,386,000 
 
 Total 1,703,857 2,690,425 
 
 3,925,934 
 
 Liabilities over Assets. .. .$24,398,911 $23,305,545 $23,471,275 
 
 Sept. 30, 1855. Sept. 30, 1857. 
 
 Total Indebtedness $26,102,763 $27,397,209 
 
 Less Sinking Fund 322,000 1,386,000 
 
 Total $25,780,763 $26,011,209 
 
 Increase for two years $230,441 
 
 But on the 30th of September there had been advanced 
 
 to the Long Dock Company 684,254 
 
 Which shows an actual increase, over and above paying 
 
 interest on bonds, of 453,8i3 
 
 Mr. Moran did not think this was a good reason 
 why Erie bonds should be selling at thirty-five. He 
 then adverted to the earnings of the road since its 
 opening to Dunkirk, and made this statement: 
 
 Earnings of New York and Erie Railroad. 
 
 1852 $3,340,150 
 
 1853 4,318,962 
 
 i8S4 5,359,958 
 
 1855 — Short crop year and war in Europe 5,488,958 
 
 1856 6,349,050 
 
 1857 — Engineers' strike and short crop, (estimated 
 
 partly) 5,750,000 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 125 
 
 The most important difficulty the road had to 
 contend with, he said, was the engineers' strike of 
 the fall of 1856. " Owing to a policy which occupied 
 itself with minutiae to the exclusion of the main 
 chance, the best set of engineers ever gathered in 
 this country was dispersed. They spread reports all 
 over the country unfavorable to the Erie road ; they 
 said it was served by incompetent engineers, by mere 
 boys, and what they said was in part true. The 
 strike was followed by a December and a January 
 change in weather by which the road was blocked by 
 snows, and an inundation in February which de- 
 stroyed the most important bridges on the line. 
 Constant rains kept the road in a state of liquefaction 
 until July, and the result of all this was that during 
 the first six months of the present fiscal year there 
 had been a diminution of receipts of $534,000, and 
 an increase of expenditure of $482,000, leaving a 
 comparative balance against the Company of $1,016,- 
 000. Notwithstanding this loss," declared Mr. 
 Moran, " the road has gone ahead within the last 
 two years between four hundred and five hundred 
 thousand dollars. If, under such unfavorable cir- 
 cumstances as these, such results could be obtained, 
 what would they not be when the large crops of 
 this year came in, and when economical and active 
 management had made the road as productive as 
 possible? 
 
 " When I assumed the Presidency of the Company 
 its great difficulty was that out of the two millions 
 of floating debt $1,500,000 was to become due this 
 month, and we had nothing to rely upon but the 
 current receipts of the railroad. The former Treas- 
 urer, Daniel Drew, said he would carry the road 
 through August, and he did so ; but with the end of 
 August, and the failure of the Ohio Life and Trust 
 Company, began the present crisis. We then had 
 to meet this enormous payment of $1,500,000 with- 
 out knowing where we were to get the first cent. I 
 consulted James Brown. The Board of Directors 
 had created $6,000,000 of new mortgage bonds, 
 which were offered to the holders of unsecured 
 bonds, payable half in unsecured bonds and the other 
 half in instalments of ten per cent. We concluded 
 to call a meeting of the banks and propose that 
 if they would furnish $600,000, private individuals 
 
 would provide $250,000, which would enable the 
 Company to get through. In 1854 the Directors in 
 a similar crisis had paid $40,000 to Cornelius Van- 
 derbllt for indorsement on $400,000 for six months, 
 and created a chattel mortgage on the rolling stock 
 to secure him, and while I was in Europe this sum- 
 mer, they had unfortunately resorted to the same 
 means of raising money, paying Mr. Drew $25,000 
 for indorsing for $1,250,000, and securing him in the 
 same way. This, however, is destructive to the 
 credit of the Company. I do not think that in this 
 last case the remuneration was too large, but I would 
 not have agreed to it, even at the risk of the failure 
 of the Company. Only last Monday (September 
 2ist), when, at half-past two o'clock, our Treasurer, 
 Mr. Gelpcke, found it impossible to make the Com- 
 pany's account good in bank, he advanced on his 
 own responsibility $50,000 for that purpose. On 
 the same day we had to pay the coupons, and only 
 between eleven and twelve o'clock of that day, from 
 four or five banks, we got the required assistance — 
 $575,600 from them, and $10,000 from individuals. 
 This was almost entirely due to the efforts of Treas- 
 urer Gelpcke. We have found a reluctance on the 
 part of individuals to aid the Company that is very 
 discouraging. That the Company's notes have not 
 been protested we owe to Mr. Gelpcke. Daniel 
 Drew can take possession of us under his mortgage 
 at any time. Our Treasurer has been able to carry 
 the road through thus far ; whether he shall be able 
 to do so in future, some of those who have had to 
 raise money for themselves may conceive. 
 
 " The cost of the Erie now stands at $37,000,000. 
 Its only competitors are the New York Central, the 
 Pennsylvania and the Baltimore and Ohio railroads. 
 The New York Central has a very advantageous 
 route, but, in addition to the capital of $39,000,000, 
 a million will be required to build the Albany bridge, 
 and the $13,000,000 of the Hudson River Railroad 
 must be added to reach New York, a total of $53,- 
 000,000, exceeding Erie's capitalization by $14,000,- 
 000, before the Central can control the trade of New 
 York. I think the Erie need fear no competition 
 in any quarter. 
 
 " In a recent journey West I found that the Illi- 
 nois Central Railroad owed its large freight traffic to 
 
126 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 the fact that it had extensive water accommodation 
 at its termini, and upon my return I mentioned to 
 my co-directors in Erie that the only weak point in 
 our railroad was its lack of water front at Jersey 
 City. Shortly afterward the necessary land was ten- 
 dered to the Company at a low price, and the Presi- 
 dent took the responsibility of accepting it, as there 
 were other parties who would have taken it had they 
 known it was to be sold. We now hold there 775 
 feet of dock front where heavy produce can be rolled 
 directly from the cars into vessels for foreign ship- 
 ment. This will secure almost a monopoly of the 
 grain trade from the West to Europe, as that traffic 
 is called for mostly after the close and before the 
 opening of canal navigation. Soon the expenses of 
 the Jersey City and Piermont ferries, which are $75,- 
 000 a year, will be replaced by a revenue from the 
 ferries to Duane and Canal streets of nearly the 
 same amount. Then Western merchandise will be 
 delivered twelve hours earlier than now. But if 
 we cannot get assistance, we shall be compelled to 
 discontinue the work at Jersey City, and dismiss the 
 trained set of hands now at work there." 
 
 President Moran then presented the following 
 statement and estimates, as encouragement to falter- 
 ing investors: 
 
 New York and Erie Railroad Company. 
 
 Sept. 30, 1856. Sept. 30, 1857. Jan. i, 1858 
 
 Cest.). 
 
 Total Indebtedness $26,102,773 $27,397,209 $27,141,000 
 
 Less Sinking Fund 322,000 1,386,000 1,500,000 
 
 Real Indebtedness $25,780,773 $26,011,209 $25,641,000 
 
 Advances to Long Dock Company $684,254 $1,100,000 
 
 Estimated floating debt, Jan. I, l8^° including inter- 
 est due on that day, all payments to Sinking Fund, 
 and $258,000 for the advances to Long Dock Com- 
 pany 2,250,000 
 
 Sinking Fund will hold Dec. 31, 1857 1,500,000 
 
 Estimate for Fiscal Year, 1857-8. 
 
 Receipts, same as 1855-6 $6,350,000 
 
 Expenses $3,492,000 
 
 (The expenses of 1856 were $3,146,994.) 
 
 Interest, 7 per cent, on $28,000,000, 
 amount of debt after negotiating of 
 new loan 1,960,000 
 
 Interest on Long Dock Stock 50,500— 5,502,500 
 
 Net income, 7 70-100 per cent, on $11,000,000. . . . $847,500 
 
 Less payments on Sinking Fund 420,000 
 
 Net income applicable to cash dividends $427,500 
 
 " This," said President Moran, " is equal to three 
 and seven-eighths per cent, on $11,000,000, while on 
 the first of February next the sinking fund will have 
 already in hand bonds in excess of last stock dividend 
 of $1,000,000. The $400,000 yearly payments to 
 the sinking fund, joined to the interest on the bonds 
 already purchased, will purchase yearly more than 
 equal to five per cent, on the $11,000,000 of stock. 
 
 " When I took this position I found 158 persons 
 riding daily on free passes. I immediately cut them 
 off. (Cheers.) That example was followed by other 
 roads. I substituted an alliance for higher fares 
 instead of ruinous competition — an agreement in 
 which the four great roads all joined. We agreed 
 to discontinue the use of runners and solicitors. I 
 think my estimate of receipts is moderate, and of 
 expenses very liberal. Our difficulties are to con- 
 tinue to meet present expenses in case the loan is 
 not taken. I appeal to stock and bondholders of 
 Erie to take it. In July our bonds stood at seventy 
 to eighty per cent. They are now at thirty-five. 
 This loan will restore confidence and the bonds to 
 their old value, which will be an actual gain of prop- 
 erty more than the loan asked for. The moment it 
 is taken our stock will go up to the extent of two 
 or three millions. Since I have been in office I 
 have been over the road but once. These money 
 troubles have occupied me every day. I have been 
 forced to delay payment of the men, and have had 
 two difficulties with those employed at Long Dock. 
 On two occasions these men have left the shops at 
 Piermont, and the danger is that these men may re- 
 fuse to work at any moment, which will render all 
 our property useless. I have been unable to spend 
 enough money on the road to get it in proper condi- 
 tion for the immense traffic which will be offered 
 in a fortnight from now. Can money in any way 
 be used to better advantage than in helping this 
 road? " 
 
 Richard Lathers, a member of the Board, rein- 
 forced the appeal of President Moran. " You must 
 remember," said he, " that $21,000,000 of your 
 property may be wiped out any day. Up to a 
 recent period we have managed the road badly, but 
 we have begun to change, and if anybody here has 
 bonds or stock of this Company he had better come 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 127 
 
 ' forward and take of these new bonds. It is by no 
 means certain that we shall rub through. From day 
 to day it takes nearly all the time of the Directors 
 and the Treasurer to raise money to meet their 
 payments. Let no one express sympathy with this 
 Company unless he make it substantial. If this 
 Company goes to protest, you may just as well go 
 home and burn your bonds. We want but little 
 money. We want confidence, principally. Take 
 this into consideration. If you do not, and if in 
 three or four days the road goes to protest, you can- 
 not but feel that you have been duly warned by at 
 least one of the Directors." 
 
 A closing appeal was made by President Moran, 
 and the following subscriptions were received: 
 Brown Brothers & Co., $12,000; Sarazin & Dufais, 
 $6,000; George W. Van Stovorin, $2,000; Richard 
 K. Hoffman, $8,000; A. M. Cazzens, $10,000; W. 
 B. BoUes, $6,000 — a total of $44,000. Gelpcke, 
 Keutgen & Reichel had previously subscribed $100,- 
 OGO, making $144,000 thus far taken toward the 
 $6,000,000 loan. 
 
 Ex-President Benjamin Loder made a speech in 
 favor of an investigation of the Company's affairs, 
 and he, William Whitewright, jr., John H. Gourlie, 
 and John Stuart, jr., were appointed to confer with 
 the President and Directors. 
 
 The newspapers announced on September 25th 
 that President Moran's explanations at the meeting 
 " were favorably received in the street," but Erie 
 stock did not respond to the feeling. The com- 
 mittee appointed at the meeting to examine into 
 the Company's affairs and their prospects held its 
 conference with the President and Directors and 
 made a report to the security holders, the startling 
 declaration appearing in it that the unsecured bonds 
 for $10,500,000, and the $11,000,000 capital stock 
 of the Company — which had been sold down to 
 eight on the street — would cease to have any market 
 value whatever unless immediate relief was obtained. 
 jBy October ist the stock was down to ten, but the 
 subscriptions to the new loan had increased to $600,- 
 000. The crisis in financial affairs continued, and 
 October 10, 1857, President Moran issued the fol- 
 lowing notice to the stock and bondholders of the 
 Company: 
 
 The event we dreaded has at last occurred. This company 
 has been forced to allow its engagements falling due yesterday 
 to be protested, notwithstanding the strenuous efforts of its 
 officers, who, unaided by you, found it impossible to obtain 
 temporary loans, although they showed that they could be 
 reimbursed in a few days from the receipts of the company. 
 It now becomes imperatively necessary that you should come 
 forward to relieve the company so as to prevent your valuable 
 property from passing into other hands, at the risk of being 
 wasted by litigation between parties in interest. A prompt 
 and united effort on your part will yet avert any injurious 
 consequences from the present unfortunate embarrassment. 
 A very moderate amount received in cash will enable the com- 
 pany to resume its payments at once, and the balance of the 
 subscriptions could be made very gradual and easy, without 
 danger to the company. In view of the present state of things 
 we invite you to meet together on Wednesday evening next, 
 the 14th inst, at 7 o'clock, at the Mercantile Library, Astor 
 Place. 
 
 The meeting at the Mercantile Library was 
 largely attended. Strong appeals were made for 
 subscriptions to the new $6,000,000 issue of bonds, 
 but with no satisfactory result. The meeting ad- 
 journed to meet October 28th, at the same place. A 
 few days later the plan of the issue was changed so 
 that all coupons on bonds due within the year would 
 be taken as cash, as would any of the floating debt 
 of the Company. At the meeting on the even- 
 ing of the 28th Richard Lathers again explained 
 the situation of the Company, and endorsed the 
 payment of the $25,000 salary to President Moran, 
 that having been a cause of some complaint among 
 the stockholders. " It was true," he said, " that a 
 person might be found who would serve the Com- 
 pany as President for nothing, but I am afraid that 
 such a President could not be trusted very far. 
 These cheap Presidents, who can afford to build 
 splendid palaces out of the city, while the railroads 
 which they profess to manage are going the wrong 
 way, make one begin to suspect that there is a screw 
 loose somewhere. If the President is paid a liberal 
 salary he is under no necessity of dabbling in stock, 
 and can afford to devote his whole time and energy 
 to the best interests of the road." 
 
 It was announced at the meeting that instead of 
 Daniel Drew being determined to take advantage 
 of the Company's embarrassment, and foreclose his 
 mortgage as had been announced, he was willing, if 
 he could have $1,000,000 from the Company toward 
 cancelling his endorsements, to take the remaining 
 
128 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 $500,000 in the new bonds. For this, on motion of 
 O. S. Baker, resolutions expressing the full confi- 
 dence of the stock and bondholders in the Board 
 of Directors, " and especially in Mr. Drew," were 
 adopted. Hon. Erastus Brooks, Capt. Charles H. 
 Marshall, George Kenny, and William D. Murphy 
 were appointed a committee to call upon the stock- 
 holders and solicit subscriptions from them up to ten 
 per cent, of the amount of stock they respectively 
 held. These eager spurts of financiers toward aiding 
 Erie resulted in strengthening its shares in the street 
 and improving the price of the bonds. Confidence 
 seemed to be returning. 
 
 A meeting at Jersey City was held in Commercial 
 Hall, Montgomery Street, Thursday evening, No- 
 vember 5, 1857, and the benefits of the railroad, with 
 its terminals, after the Bergen tunnel should be com- 
 pleted, were placed eloquently before it. Much in- 
 terest and enthusiasm were aroused. This was the 
 first Erie meeting ever held in that city. A com- 
 mittee was appointed to solicit aid, and of that com- 
 mittee Dudley S. Gregory and Charles G. Sisson sub- 
 sequently became active Directors in the Company. 
 This committee had a conference with citizens of 
 Jersey City Monday evening, December 9th, at Mr. 
 Gregory's office. Hon. Samuel Westcott, Mayor 
 of the city, besought the people of the place to con- 
 tribute to the full extent of their means toward the 
 aid of the Company, " rather than let the work be 
 stopped at this time, the completion of which will 
 secure to us the greatest railroad terminus in the 
 United States." The result of the conference was 
 that Jersey City contributed $250,000 toward the 
 loan. 
 
 The modification of the terms of subscription so 
 that the debts and acceptances of the Company ma- 
 turing within a year were received as cash, helped 
 the loan. Subscriptions were received from Eng- 
 land, and President Moran suggested that it would 
 be a good thing for some one representing the Com- 
 pany to go abroad in the interest of the loan. 
 In December, 1857, the subscriptions had amounted 
 to $1,200,000, half of them from abroad, and Presi- 
 dent Moran declared that he was positive that if 
 he went to Europe he could obtain subscriptions 
 to at least one-half the loan. The Board resolved 
 
 to send him there, and at the same time unani- 
 mously agreed that the entire issue of the Com- 
 pany's unsecured bonds should be funded in a fifth 
 mortgage, so that the door might be shut against 
 any more loans. This measure was not adopted 
 formally, but was expressly left to be inaugurated 
 by the President in England, as being well calcu- 
 lated to help his negotiations. President Moran 
 sailed in January, 1858, S. T. Headley, of the 
 Morris and Essex Railroad Company, having been 
 elected Vice-President, December, 20, 1857, to fill 
 Moran's place during his absence. On the Presi- 
 dent's return from Europe at the end of three 
 months (April, 1858), he informed the Board that 
 he had agreed, in England, that the subscribers to 
 the fourth mortgage bonds should have, in addition 
 to the previously announced conditions, the right to 
 fund $3,000,000 of unsecured bonds in a fifth mort- 
 gage, which was for no reason to exceed $5,000,000, 
 thus excluding $4,000,000 from every protection. 
 This limitation was in express contravention of the 
 design of the Directors, yet they confirmed the Pres- 
 ident's agreement, one member of the Board only 
 (George Bruce) having his name recorded against the 
 measure, he holding that instead of expressing con- 
 fidence in the situation of the Company, it was an 
 evidence of distress unexpected by creditors and 
 impolitic from the debtor; nor does it appear that 
 any additional subscriptions were gained from the 
 concession, for so late as September 30, 1858, the 
 close of the fiscal year, the President's report showed 
 the aggregate subscriptions to be only $3,020,51 1. - 
 55, of which half was in the old- unsecured bonds, 
 being an increase in nine months of only $300,000 
 to the cash loan. 
 
 Soon after his return from Europe President 
 Moran, with astonishing self-conficence, he having 
 no experience or knowledge of the practical workings 
 of a railroad, assumed charge of the duties of Gen- 
 eral Superintendent. He abolished committees in 
 the Board of Directors, and took upon himself the 
 duties of Treasurer, Auditor, Chief Engineer, Pur- 
 chasing Agent, and other offices. He dominated 
 everything, and took advice from no one. He inau- 
 gurated the system of regular semi-annual meetings 
 of the stockholders, after the English custom. The 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 129 
 
 first one was held at Clinton Hall, Astor Place, New 
 York, the night of June 3, 1858. The hall was 
 crowded with stockholders and bondholders, and 
 people who were there merely out of curiosity. Pres- 
 ident Moran made a statement of the six months' 
 business of the Company from October i, 1857, to 
 April I, 1858, and it was by no means reassuring. 
 The Company had lost over $400,000 during the 
 time, although the expenses had been decreased by 
 $198,000. Most of the expenses had been for repair- 
 ing rolling stock and putting the property of the 
 Company in better shape for doing business. The 
 winter of 1857-58 had been .an unusually severe one, 
 and had interfered with trafific greatly. President 
 Moran said that owing to the panic of 1857 and its 
 results no railroad in the country was being operated 
 at a profit. He was sure that if the Company could 
 get out of its financial difificulties, and if the tunnel 
 and the Long Dock could go on, the revenue of the 
 railroad would not be less than $7,000,000 a year as 
 soon as trade revived. He said that owing to compe- 
 tition the Erie was transporting passengers at less than 
 two cents per mile per head, and that the carriage 
 of merchandise had not been remunerative for some 
 time. He trusted the unsecured bondholders would 
 look into the proposed mortgage bonds, for, even in 
 the case of the Company's bankruptcy, he said, they 
 would be a perfectly good investment. He referred 
 to the fact that the Company was severely criticised 
 for paying him the large salary of $25,000 a year as 
 President, and claimed that he was worth it, for he 
 was also filling the office of General Superintendent, 
 who had received $10,000 a year, and was conse- 
 quently drawing but $15,000 as President, which was 
 only $S,ooo more than Mr. Ramsdell had received. 
 
 that certain excavation was not called for in the con- 
 tract, although it was demonstrated that such exca- 
 vation had been made necessary through no fault 
 of the contractors. Work on the tunnel was not 
 resumed for a year and a half. 
 
 Up to August, 1859, of the loan only $1,253,500 
 had been taken. The hopeless state of entanglement 
 in the affairs of the Company culminated on the 
 4th of that month in the recovery of a judgment 
 against it for $35,000 default in sinking fund bonds, 
 and an execution was issued the same day. Other 
 suits were pending in which the same questions were 
 involved, and it became plain that if the bondholders 
 wished to protect the property of the corporation, 
 and hold it together against a reorganization, some 
 steps must be taken at once. Proceedings were 
 begun by the trustees of the fourth mortgage, default 
 having also been made on the first, second, third, and 
 fifth mortgages. On motion thus made, Nathaniel 
 Marsh, Secretary of the Company, was appointed 
 Receiver by Judge Mason of Chenango County. He 
 took possession of the road on August 16, 1859. On 
 the 19th the Directors made a large reduction in 
 President Moran's salary. On the 27th he resigned 
 as President, and retired from the Directory. Sam- 
 uel Marsh was elected President to succeed him. 
 The bonded debt and capital stock of the Company 
 when Moran left it were as follows : 
 
 Capital Stock $11,000,000 
 
 First Mortgage Bonds $3,000,000 
 
 Second Mortgage Bonds 4,000,000 
 
 Third Mortgage Bonds 6,000,000 
 
 Fourth Mortgage Bonds 3,705,000 
 
 Fifth Mortgage Bonds 1,253,500 — $17,958,500 
 
 Unsecured Bonds and interest due on them 7,825,150 
 
 Total Debt $36,783,650 
 
 Time went on, but with it did not pass the trying 
 and threatening situation of Erie. The new fifth 
 mortgage bonds were begging in the market. Busi- 
 ness on the railroad went from bad to worse. The 
 Company was falling into arrears in the pay of its 
 employees. Work on the tunnel and other improve- 
 ments was practically at a standstill. The tunnel 
 contractors had ceased operations in October, 1857, 
 President Moran having refused to pay the bills of 
 the contractors, Stanton & Mallory, on the ground 
 9 
 
 Erie stock in July, 1S57, when the Moran ad- 
 ministration began, was quoted at thirty-three and 
 one-third. In August, 1859, when the Moran ad- 
 ministration ended, the stock was wavering at eight. 
 That Charles Moran made earnest and conscientious 
 endeavor to extricate the Company from its troubles 
 and start it forward on a successful career it would 
 be unjust to doubt. His ability to do so had been 
 simply misjudged and overrated — and by nobody 
 more than by himself. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OF SAMUEL MARSH, PRESIDENT, AND NATHANIEL MARSH, 
 RECEIVER AND PRESIDENT— 1859 TO 1864. 
 
 The Discouraging Condition that Confronted the Receiver — Wages Months in Arrears, No Money in Sight, and More than a Million Dollars 
 in other Overdue Claims Clamoring for Payment — The Contract with Davis and Gregory — The Clouds Dispersed within Two 
 Years — Vanderbilt Appears in Erie — The New York and Erie Vanishes Forever, and the Erie Railway is Born — Bergen Tunnel 
 Finished — Pavonia Ferry EstabHshed, and Piermont Ceases to be the Terminus of the Erie Except in Legal Fiction. 
 
 Although Samuel Marsh was the official head of 
 the New York and Erie Railroad Company from 1859 
 to 1862 — being the last President of the old Com- 
 pany — the direction of its affairs was his merely in a 
 formal way, as the Company was in the custody of 
 the court, and Nathaniel Marsh, as Receiver, was 
 the officer and agent of the court to manage and 
 direct the business of the Company until the legal 
 requirements of the situation might be met, and the 
 property handed back to the possession of its own- 
 ers. President Marsh's office was simply an advi- 
 sory one, and while his ideas, and those of the 
 Board, might have been acted upon, and in many 
 instances were, by the Receiver, the latter was in no 
 way bound to follow any such instruction or advice. 
 A man of less experience in Erie matters, however, 
 might have been of much hindrance to the Receiver 
 in the management of the complicated business of 
 the Company. Samuel Marsh having been Vice- 
 President of the Company several years, had a knowl- 
 edge that was of much service to the Receiver, and 
 his application of it aided greatly in hastening the 
 development and success of the plans that were 
 devised for Erie's rehabilitation. 
 
 Receiver Marsh found a most discouraging outlook 
 when he took charge of the Company's property. 
 " The income of the road," he subsequently wrote, 
 " owing to the depressed state of business generally, 
 and to other causes (as the Receiver charitably put 
 it), was barely sufficient to defray the current ex- 
 penses," while claims for labor and supplies, and 
 judgments rendered before his appointment, and 
 rents and unpaid taxes, were pressing for immediate 
 
 payment. These claims amounted to more than 
 $700,000. The forbearance of the creditors, and 
 especially of the employees, whose pay was some 
 months in arrears, relieved the Receiver of much 
 embarrassment, and increased earnings enabled him, 
 in the course of four months after his appointment, 
 to discharge all these claims, and pay the current 
 expenses of the road. After that all payments for 
 labor were paid regularly as they became due, and 
 all supplies were purchased for cash. The Receiver 
 on taking office had confronting him the providing 
 for the payment of the following claims: 
 
 For supplies purchased and labor performed, pre- 
 vious to appointment of the Receiver, with rents 
 and unpaid taxes, and certain claims and judg- 
 ments $741,510 14 
 
 Interest on 4th Mortgage, due April, 1859 62,195 00 
 
 Interest on ist Mortgage, due May, 1859 102,270 00 
 
 Interest on 5th Mortgage, due June, 1859 31,027 50 
 
 Interest on 2d and 3d Mortgages, due Sept. i, 1859 350,000 00 
 
 Amounting in all to $1,287,002 64 
 
 The settlement of these claims, and providing for 
 payment of future interest on the mortgage debt 
 out of the earnings of the road, would have contin- 
 ued the road in the hands of a Receiver for years, 
 so an agreement was made between the stockholders 
 and the creditors of the Company, by which the con- 
 flicting interests among the latter should be sub- 
 mitted to the adjudication of Trustees. October 22, 
 1859, ^ contract was made by the Company with J. 
 C. Bancroft Davis and Dudley S. Gregory, who, 
 under its provisions, undertook the task. The plan 
 they proposed was that the unsecured bondholders 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 131 
 
 should exchange their bonds, with four years' ac- 
 crued interest, for seven per cent, preferred stock, 
 and that the common stockholders should stand, as 
 they then were, subsequent in interest to the creditors 
 of the Company. Under the contract the Trustees 
 were called upon to execute the following trusts: 
 
 I. To receive and hold said mortgage coupons of 
 each class, and issue scrip therefor. 
 
 II. To receive and hold such fourth and fifth 
 mortgage bonds, in case of foreclosure, and exchange 
 them as herein provided. 
 
 III. To receive and hold such unsecured bonds 
 and coupons, and exchange them for such preferred 
 stock, and issue receipts therefor. 
 
 IV. To receive and hold such shares as the capital 
 stock of the New York and Erie Railroad Company, 
 for the purpose above named, and issue receipts 
 therefor. 
 
 V. To cause proper agreements to be drawn in 
 order to carry out the purposes of this agreement, 
 and they or either of them, as the attorney in fact of 
 the subscribers hereto, to sign the same. 
 
 VI. In case a sale of the road under foreclosure 
 is necessary to carry out this agreement, to buy the 
 same in on our account, assessing us as hereinafter 
 provided, said Trustees being under no liability to 
 furnish money for that purpose. 
 
 VII. After said railroad passes out of the hands of 
 the Receiver, to receive the net earnings thereof from 
 the new management, and apply them to the pay- 
 ment of, 1st, such of the present floating debt of said 
 New York and Erie Railroad Company, not exceed- 
 ing $320,000 principal sum, interest to be added to 
 date of payment, as shall be contained in a schedule 
 thereof to be furnished to the said Trustees by the 
 Board of Directors, and for which fourth mortgage 
 bonds are pledged as collateral; 2d, to the expendi- 
 tures upon the Long Dock property, estnnated to 
 amount to $500,000; 3d, to the liquidation of said 
 delayed mortgage coupons, in the order of their pri- 
 ority, which shall terminate said trust. 
 
 VIII. To retain from said net earnings, as a com- 
 pensation for their own services, a sum to be fixed by 
 the Board of Directors. 
 
 The story of the result of the plan for caring for 
 the affairs of the Company under the Receiver and 
 
 Trustees is interestingly told in "A Statement of 
 the Operation of the New York and Erie Railroad, 
 Under the Receivership," from which the following 
 extracts are taken. The statement was made by 
 the Trustees to the stockholders in surrendering the 
 property to the new Company in 1862, and is a val- 
 uable chapter in Erie history: 
 
 " When we entered upon this trust we found the 
 road in the hands of a Receiver, with one coupon 
 matured and another about to mature upon the first 
 mortgage; with the principal of the second mortgage 
 matured, and one coupon also due upon the same; 
 with one coupon matured upon the third mortgage; 
 with two coupons matured upon the fourth mortgage; 
 with one coupon matured and one about to mature 
 upon the fifth mortgage; with several suits pending 
 upon the sinking fund bonds, on which they were 
 claimed or established to be matured ; with $750,000 
 of liabilites for labor and supplies, and taxes in 
 arrear, charged as a preference claim upon net earn- 
 ings, by order of the Supreme Court; and with a 
 floating debt estimated at $320,000, for which fourth 
 mortgage bonds were pledged to the amount of 
 $2,300,000; or, to state it in a tabular form, the lia- 
 bilities of the Company then matured, or soon to 
 mature, were: 
 
 Two coupons, first mortgage $210,000 
 
 One coupon, second mortgage 140,000 
 
 One coupon, third mortgage 2[0,ooo 
 
 Two coupons, fourth mortgage (not including hy- 
 pothecated bonds) 2 io,ooo 
 
 Two coupons, fifth mortgage 125,000 
 
 Preference debt, due operatives, etc 750,000 
 
 Total mortgage, interest and preference debt. .. .$1,675,000 
 
 Principal of second mortgage 4,000,000 
 
 Sinking fund bonds 2,200,000 
 
 Two years' interest on same 308,000 
 
 Floating debt, secured by fourth mortgage collateral, 
 at an average of about 1254 per cent 320,000 
 
 Total matured liabilities $8,503,000 
 
 Our first object was to protect the collaterals 
 pledged for the floating debt. The contract allowed 
 this debt to be paid from the net earnings, if the 
 assent of the mortgage bondholders could be secured. 
 This could not be obtained, and, under the order of 
 the Supreme Court (which we found it useless to 
 attempt to resist), the net revenues of the road were 
 
132 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 ordered to be applied to the payment of the interest 
 upon the first and second mortgages. The holders 
 of the floating debt then gave notice that they should 
 sell the fourth mortgage bonds held as collateral to 
 their debts, and as the whole collateral would prob- 
 ably have been sacrificed by such a course, we were 
 obliged to refer the settlement of that debt to the 
 Directors of the New York and Erie Railroad Com- 
 pany. They authorized the execution of a contract, 
 eminently wise and judicious, in our opinion, under 
 which it was retired. 
 
 " Our next dififlculty was with the holders of the 
 second mortgage bonds. Finding it impossible to 
 secure an exchange of those bonds into the third 
 mortgage bonds on the terms authorized by the con- 
 tract (by giving a bonus of ten per cent, in preferred 
 stock), we again referred the question to the Com- 
 pany, under whose authority a contract was made 
 which secured the entire extension of the second 
 mortgage bonds for twenty years, and the absolute 
 retirement of i,ioo outstanding hypothecated fourth 
 mortgage bonds, and a favorable contract for the 
 retirement of i,ooo more of such bonds ($1,000,000) 
 if the Company desire. As a part of this arrange- 
 ment, we also secured the entry of a judgment in the 
 pending suit for the foreclosure of the fifth mort- 
 gage, afTirming the validity of the mortgage debt of 
 the old Company, and providing for the purchase 
 of the property at the sale by ourselves as your 
 Trustees, and securing your interest in the prop- 
 erty. 
 
 " Before obtaining this judgment we had, with 
 great difificulty, and in the face of a determined and 
 organized opposition, obtained from the Legislature 
 of New York a recognition of your organization for 
 your protection, and an authority to ourselves, as 
 Trustees, to purchase the road, and to organize the 
 Erie Railway Company for your benefit. We had 
 also obtained from the States of Pennsylvania and 
 New Jersey authority to sell so much of the prop- 
 erty, franchises, and estate of the old Company as was 
 in those States respectively, at any sale that might 
 be ordered by the Supreme Court of New York, and 
 an authority for the purchasers to convey it to any 
 corporation that might be formed to receive it. The 
 Legislature of New York, in granting us the neces- 
 
 sary powers to secure this property for you, enlarged 
 the provisions of the original contract. That con- 
 tract contemplated that the bonded unsecured debt 
 only should receive preferred stock in the new Com- 
 pany. But the Legislature, on the representations 
 of sundry contractors and others holding claims 
 against the Company which were not secured by 
 mortgage, directed us to take into the trust, and 
 grant certificates for preferred stock for all such 
 unsecured and judgment debts and claims as should 
 be presented within the time specified in the 
 act. 
 
 " While the proceedings to which we have referred 
 were going on, we opened ofifices in New York and 
 London to receive assents to the plan for reorgani- 
 zation. The London office was under the charge of 
 Mr. Evans, one of your Directors, and the New 
 York office was managed bj'' Mr. Otis, your Secre- 
 tary, under our own supervision. Few creditors 
 under the first and second mortgages made the con- 
 cessions required of them. They claimed the reve- 
 nues of the road, which were of necessity conceded 
 to them for the payment of their interest. A larger 
 proportionate amount of the third mortgage coupon 
 holders made the proposed concessions; but in the 
 execution of the trust this became practically unim- 
 portant, as we were not able to divert the revenues 
 of the road from the payment of the current interest 
 on that mortgage. 
 
 " The payment of the coupons in arrear, and of 
 the accruing coupons on these mortgages, left us at 
 the sale to provide only for the fourth and fifth mort- 
 gage coupons in arrear. We were allowed, by the 
 terms of the judgment, to offset against our bid all 
 such coupons held by us as Trustees, and we were 
 required by the terms of the sale to pay, in cash, 
 the amount of all such coupons not held by us. On 
 these terms we bought the road on your account, at 
 the sale on the 28th of January last. We proceeded 
 at once to organize the Erie Railway Company, 
 pursuant to the terms of the acts of the Legislature 
 of New York. We provided, in the articles of asso- 
 ciation, that no new mortgage should be created on 
 the property covered by the existing mortgages, un- 
 less the intention to create the same should be pub- 
 lished in some newspaper in the City of New York, 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 133 
 
 once a week, for ten weeks next before the annual 
 election of Directors; and also, that no floating debt 
 should be created, except for the ordinary supplies, 
 materials and expenses of operating the road, and 
 for the payment of our bid, unless authorized by a 
 vote of three-fourths of the Board of Directors, at a 
 meeting called for that purpose. We also, with the 
 assent of your Directors, levied an assessment of 
 two and one-half per cent, upon the par value of 
 both classes of the new stock, and caused the offices 
 to be opened for the collection of assessments and 
 the issue of certificates. 
 
 " While this was going on, we devoted ourselves 
 to the adjustment of the many outstanding claims 
 against the Company, which were entitled to share 
 in the new organization, and we succeeded in ad- 
 justing every claim presented to us. As the result 
 of our labors, the whole amount of the unsecured 
 and judgment debts of the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road Company is $8,542,184, of which amount cer- 
 tificates for preferred stock, and fractional certificates 
 for such stock, and Trustees' certificates have been 
 issued to the amount of $8,423,675.50, leaving still 
 outstanding unsecured claims to the amount of $118,- 
 508.50. This latter sum is entirely in the form of 
 unsecured bonds and matured coupons on the same; 
 and as it is small in amount, we advise that author- 
 ity be obtained from the Legislature of New York 
 to admit it to participate in the new organization, so 
 that it may be said that no one has suffered by the 
 proceedings which have been taken. 
 
 " Of the total capital stock of the New Y^^rk and 
 Erie Railroad Company, there have been already 
 surrendered for certificates of common stock in the 
 Erie Railway Company, or for Trustees' certificates 
 not yet redeemed, 112,565 shares, of the par value 
 of $100 each, leaving still outstanding 2,935 shares. 
 The holders of these shares should, we think, still 
 be allowed to exchange them for common stock in 
 the Erie Railway Company, on the same terms as 
 the other stockholders. 
 
 " In collecting assessments, we authorized Mr. 
 Otis and Mr. Evans to receive the outstanding fourth 
 and fifth mortgage coupons as cash. By doing so 
 the operations of the trust were greatly facilitated. 
 We have to report to you that we have issued 
 
 assessment receipts for $462,402.50, on which has 
 been received : 
 
 In fourth and fifth mortgage coupons $214,375 00 
 
 In cash 248,027 50 
 
 Making a total of $462,402 50 
 
 " The sums in cash, as received, were deposited in 
 the United States Trust Company, by order of the 
 Supreme Court of the State of New York. 
 
 " Before paying our bid, we secured orders from 
 the Supreme Court directing the Receiver to pay 
 the October (1861) coupons on the fourth mortgage, 
 and the December (1861) coupons on the fifth mort- 
 gage, thus relieving us from the necessity of provid- 
 ing for the payment of those coupons from the as- 
 sessments, and also carrying out the spirit of the 
 contract. The road has now, as contemplated by 
 the contract, resumed the regular payment of its 
 current accruing mortgage interest. 
 
 " At the time of the payment of the bid, we were 
 the holders of fourth and fifth mortgage coupons to 
 the aggregate amount of $704,042, which had been 
 surrendered under the contract. The outstanding 
 amounts on the fourth mortgage were $80,570, and 
 the outstanding amounts upon the fifth mortgage 
 were $24,885.50. These amounts we paid in cash 
 to the Referee (Hon. Samuel A. Foote), and he is 
 now distributing them to the holders of the mort- 
 gage coupons entitled to receive them. By a res- 
 olution of your Board of Directors, passed in May 
 last, the holders of the Trustees' certificates for 
 mortgage coupons are entitled to receive interest on 
 such coupons from the ist day of May, 1861. 
 
 " We have distributed the balance of the cash 
 received from the assessments among the holders 
 of the Trustees' certificates for the fourth mortgage 
 coupons of April and October, 1859, P^yi"g interest 
 on their coupons for that time, and that the Re- 
 ceiver, under orders of the Supreme Court, has con- 
 tributed from the net earnings of the road the bal- 
 ance necessary to complete the entire payment of 
 those coupons and interest. In handing over the 
 property to you, and terminating our trust so far as 
 you are concerned, we have therefore to report, as 
 the existing liabilities under the trust, the following, 
 
134 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 of which the coupon certificates bear interest from 
 May I, 1861, and the assessment receipts bear inter- 
 est from their respective dates : 
 
 Fourth mortgage coupons of April, i860 $126,700 00 
 
 of October, i860 125,335 00 
 
 of April, 1861 125,125 00 
 
 Fifth mortgage coupons of June, 1859 19,197 50 
 
 of December, 1859 27,877 50 
 
 of June, 1C60 39,357 50 
 
 " of December, i860 39,637 50 
 
 " " of June, 1861 39,60250 
 
 Assessment receipts given in London 155,425 00 
 
 " " " New York 306,97750 
 
 Total $1,005,235 00 
 
 " As Trustees for the holders of the mortgage 
 liabiHties, we advise that your Company pursue 
 such a poHcy as will ensure the speedy retirement of 
 those obligations. It is but an act of justice to 
 those mortgage creditors who have made valuable 
 concessions to you for your benefit. 
 
 " In surrendering to you your property, we give 
 you much more than existed when the trust was 
 created. Then your road was without a proper 
 terminus at New York. The old Company had in- 
 vested, directly and indirectly, nearly $2,000,000 in 
 the Long Dock property, which was intended to be 
 the permanent terminus of your line, at deep water, 
 opposite the City of New York; but the work was 
 far from being finished; there was no apparent 
 means for completing it so as to make it available; 
 the contractors had failed, and the ignorant work- 
 men had struck, and, in a riot, had interfered with 
 the passage of your trains to Jersey City. Now the 
 expensive tunnel on the Long Dock property is com- 
 pleted ; your ferries are regularly established, with 
 connections in the lower part of New York superior 
 to those of any other ferry ; your passenger trafific 
 is removed from Jersey City to your own ferries; 
 and your freight traffic is transferred from Pier- 
 mont to your own docks opposite the City of New 
 York. Those docks, when completed, will be ample 
 for any probable future trafific of the road, and will 
 afford terminal facilities for railway traffic unequalled 
 in the world, so far as our observation goes. You 
 receive this property through us from the hands of 
 those who have had the financial charge of it for the 
 
 past two years and a half, with no liability in the 
 form of a floating debt against it. 
 
 " We also transfer to you a perpetual lease of 
 sixty miles of railway from Hornellsville, on your 
 line, to Attica, within thirty miles of Buffalo. Per- 
 ceiving an opportunity to secure this property for 
 the Erie Railway Company, on terms favorable be- 
 yond precedent in the history of railways, we made 
 the purchase, with the assent of the Executive Com- 
 mittee. In order to carry out our contracts with 
 the sellers (which were assumed by the Erie Railway 
 Company), and to put the road in repair (for which 
 a large amount was necessary), a bonded debt of 
 $200,000, having thirty years to run, was created by 
 the Erie Railway Company, and secured by a mort- 
 gage of the road purchased. A Company, made up 
 from your Directors, was organized under the Gen- 
 eral Railroad Act, to receive this property from us. 
 We conveyed it to them, and they have leased it to 
 you in perpetuity. Thus, without the payment of 
 commissions, or of any intervening profit, you have 
 acquired, with the creation of a moderate debt, sixty 
 miles of new railway, in perfect order, with gradients 
 as favorable as any on the main line, and bringing 
 you within thirty miles of Buffalo." ^ 
 
 This condition of the affairs of the Company was 
 led up to by the sale of the property of the old Com- 
 pany, which was ordered at the suit of " James 
 Brown and J. C. Bancroft Davis, Trustees, and 
 another plaintiff, against the New York and Erie 
 Railroad Company and Joseph Walker, Uriah J. 
 Smith, and William T. Hooker, Trustees, defend- 
 ants," under the fifth mortgage, final judgment 
 having been entered in the Supreme Court of New 
 York, June 9, i860, and in the Supreme Court of 
 Pennsylvania, September 15, i860. The sale took 
 place at public auction on the date mentioned by the 
 Trustees, at the Merchants' Exchange, New York, 
 through A. J. Bleecker, auctioneer. It included all 
 " the real and personal property, rights, and fran- 
 chises directed by the said judgments to be sold," 
 and that included pretty much everything in the 
 possession of the New York and Erie Railroad Com- 
 pany. The sale was closed at the nominal sum of 
 $220,000, being the accrued interest on the fifth 
 mortgage, over and above the whole of the mortgage 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 135 
 
 liens upon the railroad and franchises of the old 
 corporation, principal and interest of which were : 
 
 First mortgage, 1868 $3,000,000 
 
 Second mortgage, 1859, extended to 1880 4,000,000 
 
 Third mortgage, 1883 6,000,000 
 
 Fourth mortgage, 1880 4,900,000 
 
 Fifth mortgage, 1888 1,792,000 
 
 Total mortgage lien .$19,692,000 
 
 The purchasers, who were the unsecured bond- 
 holders of the old Company (to become preference 
 shareholders in the new one), and the common share- 
 holders of the old Company assenting within six 
 months to the arrangement for reorganization, took 
 the property subject to that lien, and to $796,400 
 (including the $220,000 bid at the sale) overdue and 
 unpaid interest on the fourth and fifth mortgages. 
 They had until December 31, 1861, to make payment 
 of the overdue interest, or such part of it as might 
 then remain unpaid from the earnings of the railroad. 
 The further privilege inured to the new corporation 
 of paying the arrears of interest, and otherwise com- 
 pleting their obligations to the mortgage bondhold- 
 ers in advance of the time named, and to take the 
 railroad out of the hands of the Receiver. How this 
 was consummated is told in the above statement of 
 the Trustees. 
 
 According to the report of the Receiver, made in 
 March, 1862, the expenditures for repairs of the road 
 and machinery had been large, though somewhat less 
 than the average of the three years preceding. Dur- 
 ing the term of the Receivership, 23,514 tons of new 
 rails, equal to more than 230 miles, were laid, and 
 956,000 new cross-ties placed in the track. The ma- 
 chinery and cars had been fully kept up. The effi- 
 ciency of the motive power was considerably increased 
 by the rebuilding of the older locomotives, and ex- 
 tensively repairing others. Twenty were adapted to 
 coal burning, with a large saving in the cost of fuel. 
 (This was the beginning of the change in locomo- 
 tive fuel from wood to coal, although several years 
 elapsed before it was completed, that result not 
 having been attained until the time of Jay Gould, 
 1868-72. — Author.") Four new locomotives were 
 added to the equipment. Nearly 700 freight cars 
 were rebuilt, " and are now worth more than when 
 
 originally put on the road." Disastrous floods in 
 September, 1861, on the Western Division, and in 
 November, 1861, on the Eastern Division, had in- 
 creased the expenses. The work of effecting the 
 change from the Cascade Bridge, east of Susque- 
 hanna, to solid roadbed, which was begun in 1855, 
 was completed. A very considerable portion of the 
 track, particularly on the Delaware Division, had 
 never been ballasted, mainly on account of the want 
 of proper material. During the receivership much 
 of the unfinished portions of the track on that divi- 
 sion was ballasted with broken stone and gravel. 
 
 " Any doubts that may have existed as to the wis- 
 dom of the purchase of the Long Dock property," 
 said the Receiver, " and as to the expediency of the 
 large expenditure required to bring it into use, the 
 experience of the last few months has completely 
 dispelled. In May last the works had so far pro- 
 gressed that some of the passenger trains were run 
 through the tunnel to the new ferry, and in October 
 all the passenger trains commenced running there. 
 A portion of the freight which had heretofore gone 
 to Jersey City was transferred to the Long Dock, 
 and as facilities were furnished, the quantity of freight 
 sent there was increased till, about the last of Decem- 
 ber, the whole business, freight and passenger, was 
 concentrated there, and no trains, except a local pas- 
 senger train, have since been run to Piermont. 
 
 " The charter of the Long Dock Company author- 
 ized, so far as the laws of New Jersey could do so, 
 the establishment of a ferry from their property to 
 New York, and a lease having been procured from 
 the City of New York, the Receiver established, 
 about the first of May last, a regular ferry between 
 the Long Dock property, at the foot of Pavonia 
 Avenue, and the Erie Railway Depot in New York, 
 at the foot of Chambers Street, immediately opposite 
 the General Offices of the Company. At first the 
 service was performed by one boat, making trips 
 each half hour, but soon after another boat was 
 added, and the trips are now made regularly every 
 fifteen minutes. The expenses of the ferry have 
 been comparatively large, on account of the service 
 being performed for the first four months by char- 
 tered boats. Two boats have since been purchased, 
 and a new and very superior boat has been built, and 
 
130 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 will soon be placed on the ferry. The convenience 
 and comfort of passengers, and greater regularity in 
 running the trains, have been secured by the estab- 
 lishment of the ferry, and the want of suitable sta- 
 tion accommodation in New York has been supplied 
 by spacious and well-arranged ticket offices, passen- 
 ger and baggage rooms." 
 
 The last payment of the Receiver was made in 
 December, 1861, and he was ordered to turn the 
 property over to the Erie Railway Company. The 
 New York and Erie Railroad Company had passed 
 out of existence, after nearly thirty years of struggle 
 and vicissitude. The expenses of the foreclosure 
 had been $64,753.17, and of the three years' receiver- 
 ship $55,150.22. A few years later a Receiver of 
 the Erie Railway Company, who was in office but a 
 month with nothing to receive, was paid $150,000 as 
 his reward. Receiver Marsh turned over the property 
 of the Erie Railway Company with every claim paid, 
 and a balance of $181,451 in the treasury. 
 
 The total cost of construction and equipment of the 
 
 New York and Erie Railroad had been $35,320,907 
 
 Its capital stock paid in was 11,000,000 
 
 Its bonded debt was 26,351,000 
 
 Its existing floating debt, i860, was 2,725,620 
 
 It ha^ earned during the 19 years of its operative 
 
 existence 51,098,106 
 
 At a total operating expense of. 32,346,029 
 
 Leaving its net earnings for the 19 years 18,752,077 
 
 And dividends had been paid to the amount of 3,481,405 
 
 While interest on bonds, and other drafts on the 
 
 treasury, had absorbed 15,270,672 
 
 The Articles of Association by which the Erie 
 Railway Company was formed were entered into 
 April 30, 1 861, pursuant to the Legislature in New 
 York State of April 4, i860, and of April 2, 1861, 
 both relating to the foreclosure and sale of the New 
 York and Erie Railroad. The associates were 
 Dudley S. Gregory, J. C. Bancroft Davis, Nathaniel 
 Marsh, Samuel Marsh, Daniel Drew, Robert H. 
 Berdell, William B. Skidmore, Don Alonzo Cushman, 
 Henry L. Pierson, Ralph Mead, Cornelius Vander- 
 bilt, and Henry A. Tailer of New York; Ambrose S. 
 Murray of Goshen ; Thomas D. Wright of Bingham- 
 ton; John Arnot and Alexander S. Diven of Elmira; 
 Horatio N. Otis of Westchester County, N. Y. 
 May I, 1 861, these associates organized as a Board 
 
 of Directors, and elected Nathaniel Marsh as Preai- 
 dent, Samuel Marsh Vice-President, Horatio ff. 
 Otis Secretary, and Talman J. Waters Treasurer. 
 
 Thus the Erie Railway Company came into exist- 
 ence on the eve of the great civil war, when the 
 country was rent by the uncertainties and fears and 
 forebodings that preceded the awful clash of arms. 
 But for that the career of Erie during the exciting 
 period of the national struggle might have been at- 
 tended by other than commonplace incidents. As 
 it was, the affairs of the Company, now that they 
 had been freed from embarrassing entanglements, 
 and were placed in condition that practically gave 
 the Company a new start in life, attracted no more 
 attention, and deserved no more, than those of 
 any other corporation that was attending quietly to 
 its business. The war brought an increase in traffic 
 that taxed the capacity of the railroad to care 
 for, and that this business was handled successfully, 
 with the equipment and facilities the Company then 
 had, is something to be wondered at to this day. 
 Erie stock and bonds steadily advanced in the market. 
 The earnings warranted the payment of eight per 
 cent, dividends on the common, and seven per cent, 
 on the preferred stock. January, 1861, Erie stock 
 was quoted at thirty-eight and a half. January, 1862, 
 it was strong at fifty-five and a half, and the year 
 1862 closed with common stock at sixty-five, and the 
 preferred at ninety-six and three-quarters. Erie first 
 mortgage bonds were 116; second, 116; third, 109^; 
 fourth, 102^ ; and fifth, ninety-seven and a half. 
 The construction account, for some reason, was of not 
 much significance during these years, and there was 
 undoubtedly much cause for the management that 
 came in toward the close of the civil war to declare 
 that the road and its equipment were entirely inade- 
 quate and deplorably out of repair. The years of the 
 Marsh management were certainly the most barren 
 of exciting incident of any previous period in the 
 history of Erie ; yet the important record is, that 
 that administration saw the dawn of many interests 
 that are among the vital ones of Erie to-day, and 
 the beginning of conditions that predominated all 
 Erie's subsequent history. 
 
 The development of the coal trade on the road 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 ^Z7 
 
 began to occupy the attention of the Erie managers 
 in 1861-62, " not only as an item of trafific, but to 
 provide a supply of coal for the Company's own 
 consumption, which had become large and was in- 
 creasing, as well as to encourage the establishment 
 of manufactories by ensuring to them at low prices 
 a constant supply of the best fuel." At that time 
 anthracite coal was brought to the road by the 
 Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad at 
 Great Bend, Pa., and by the Delaware and Hudson 
 Canal at Port Jervis. Bituminous coal was received 
 from the Fall Brook Railroad at Corning, from that 
 company's mines at Blossburg, Pa., and anthracite 
 and bituminous at Elmira, by way of the Elmira and 
 Williamsport Railroad (now the Northern Central) 
 and the North Branch Canal, anthracite coal being 
 transported down that canal from Luzerne and 
 Columbia counties to Northumberland, Pa., and 
 there transferred to the railroads connecting at 
 Williamsport with the railroad to Elmira. The 
 coal carried over the Erie was in the cars of other 
 companies, hauled also by their locomotives, the 
 Erie merely receiving a fixed sum for trackage. 
 Thus the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western car- 
 ried anthracite coal to Erie points west of Great 
 Bend to Owego, and the Fall Brook Company trans- 
 ported bituminous coal from Corning to Elmira, 
 and over part of what was then called the Canan- 
 daigua Branch of the Erie to Seneca Lake. Arrange- 
 ments were in prospect for supplying points on the 
 Western Division with coal " from the mines lying 
 south of Olean," and from the Atlantic and Great 
 Western Railway. Early in 1862 the Erie made a 
 contract with the Pennsylvania Coal Company to 
 transport its coal from the termination of that com- 
 pany's gravity railroad at Hawley, Pa., to Newburgh, 
 Piermont, and Jersey City, and to carry out that con- 
 tract a railroad was being constructed, under the 
 direction of the Erie, from Lackawaxen, on the 
 main line, to Hawley. This railroad was completed 
 in December, 1863, and is the present Hawley 
 Branch of the Erie. The prospective coming of 
 the Atlantic and Great Western Railway into con- 
 nection with the Erie was looked forward to with 
 joyful expressions by the Erie management, as be- 
 ing an event that would lift Erie into unassailable 
 
 stability as an avenue of communication between the 
 East and West. If they could have looked forward 
 a few years and seen what the coming of that rail- 
 road into the field had actually in store for Erie, per- 
 haps the Erie managers of 1862 and 1863 would not 
 have awaited it with such pleasurable expectation. 
 
 At the beginning of 1861 the Company sold all of 
 its steamboats on Lake Erie, and invested the pro- 
 ceeds in rolling stock and other machinery, " much 
 needed for the increasing business of the road." 
 The boats were sold to the Erie Railway Steamboat 
 Company, under an agreement to run its boats in 
 exclusive connection with the Erie trains, and to fur- 
 nish new boats if required. The Erie Railway 
 Steamboat Company was another name for Daniel 
 Drew, who was again a power in Erie. Four new 
 boats were built, and in 1862 the line consisted of 
 " ten first-class propellers, running between Dunkirk 
 and Cleveland, Sandusky and Toledo. Connection 
 with Chicago and other points on Lake Michigan 
 was maintained by propellers owned by other parties, 
 running to Buffalo." 
 
 In 1862, for the first time in the history of the 
 road, its capacity for receiving and discharging freight 
 began to exceed its carrying capacity. This was due 
 to the terminals at Jersey City, made possible by the 
 Long Dock. 
 
 From May i, 1862, the Erie leased the Buffalo, 
 New York and Erie Railroad, with its rolling stock, 
 depots, and docks. This railroad began at Painted 
 Post, N. Y., west of Corning, and extended to 
 Attica, where it formed a junction with the Buffalo 
 Division of the Erie, from Hornellsville (acquired 
 in 1 861), the two running thence to Buffalo. The 
 new leased line also had a branch from Avon to 
 Rochester, and is now the Rochester Division of the 
 Erie. " Satisfactory arrangements " were also made 
 in 1862 to run direct lines for passengers and freight 
 between Buffalo and Philadelphia, by way of the lines 
 running south through Pennsylvania from Elmira, 
 " with a change of cars at Elmira only." The ex- 
 pectations of the Company from this arrangement 
 were not realized. The almost constant employ- 
 ment by the United States Government of the roll- 
 ing stock of the Elmira and Williamsport Railroad 
 and its connections to Baltimore and Philadelphia, in 
 
138 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 the transportation of soldiers and military supplies 
 and equipments required by the civil war, prevented 
 its use during the war for but little other business. 
 " Better results were anticipated in the future," Pres- 
 ident Marsh said, but that day in the future when 
 those better results were expected from that connec- 
 tion never came to Erie. 
 
 As early as 1 862 the Erie began to show that it 
 preferred Buffalo as its western terminus, although 
 it had long been evident that the Company had handi- 
 capped itself by having that terminus at Dunkirk. 
 There could be no escape from that place as the 
 perpetual legal western terminus of the line, how- 
 ever, for it was so fixed in the charter of the New 
 York and Erie Railroad Company, as amended in 
 1838 ; but there was nothing to prevent the Company 
 from regarding BufTalo as that terminus in fact. It 
 was with that in view that the line from Hornellsville 
 to Attica was secured and made a part of the Erie 
 in 1 861, and from that time the hopes of Dunkirk in 
 the Erie began to fade, and since 1863 that place has 
 been nothing more, in fact, than the terminus of a 
 rather insignificant branch of the Erie, although it is 
 really the termination on Lake Erie of the main line. 
 The number of trains, either passenger or freight, 
 running out of Dunkirk on the Erie is just the same 
 to-day as it was forty years ago, and none of the 
 palatial through drawing-room or sleeping coaches of 
 the Erie run to or from Dunkirk. As long ago as 
 1863 "palace-like" sleeping cars were running to 
 Buffalo, however, and the new situation of the Com- 
 pany's affairs at that end of the line was referred to 
 thus in the Hornellsville Tribune of September 17, 
 1863: "The Company have made Buffalo the per- 
 manent terminus of the Erie Railway, the passenger 
 and freight business having increased from that point 
 over the road. It is gratifying evidence of the grow- 
 ing prosperity of the Erie Railway to witness, as we 
 frequently do, six or seven well-filled cars, with 
 mostly through passengers, on the express trains. 
 These palace-like sleeping cars on this road afford 
 the night traveler a good opportunity to enjoy a 
 comfortable lullaby repose while traveling at the rate 
 of thirty miles an hour — finding himself at the end 
 of his journey rested and fresh for business." 
 
 In October, 1863, it was announced that " the Erie 
 
 expects to be able to run broad-gauge cars through 
 from the Long Dock, opposite New York, to Cleve- 
 land, in a week or two, and to St. Louis by the first 
 of March next." 
 
 The Erie was doing so well in 1863, and its pros- 
 pects were regarded as being so cloudless, that a 
 leading Wall Street writer of that day declared of it 
 all as follows: " Among the steadiest of the railway 
 shares are * * * and Erie; this last wonderfully 
 strengthened by the connection with the Atlantic 
 and Great Western, the marvel of the day, for the 
 rapidity, quiet, and success attending its construc- 
 tion. The Erie, at first the child of disaster, is now 
 enjoying the most vigorous manhood, and it is gath- 
 ering strength with every day's existence, and will 
 become the giant of the railway system." 
 
 In May, 1864, the Company fixed Rochester as 
 the northern terminus of the line from Corning in- 
 stead of Buffalo, the route from Avon to Buffalo 
 being made a branch, the branch having theretofore 
 been from Avon to Rochester. Accommodation 
 trains were run between Avon and Buffalo, and 
 through trains between New York and Rochester, a 
 complete reversal of the order of operations on that 
 division. In rejoicing over this change, the Roches- 
 ter Union was moved to remark: " The Erie Com- 
 pany has resolved to make Rochester an important 
 point for business, and will enter into the work of 
 getting a share of the through travel by rendering 
 the road and cars inviting to the public." But the 
 Erie did not carry out that alluring programme. 
 " The road and cars " were never made " inviting to 
 the public," even to a small degree, until the Dela- 
 ware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company 
 paralleled the Erie's Rochester Division with r nval 
 line, almost a score of years later. 
 
 Nathaniel Marsh died July 18, 1864. His death 
 came suddenly, although he had been long in failing 
 health. He had been a plodding, faithful servant of 
 the Company for many years. His death was widely 
 regretted. It is beyond question that President 
 Marsh had stood in the way of the development of 
 ambitious schemes in Erie that lay in the minds of 
 certain speculative members of the Board, and with 
 his death a new era in the history of Erie began. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF ROBERT H. BERDELL— 1864 TO 1867. 
 
 Cornelius Vanderbilt's Hand in Erie — His Ambition to Control it in 1864 — Tlie Beginning of Erie's Costly Complications with the Boston, 
 Hartford and Erie Railroad Company — Vanderbilt's Corner in Harlem, and How it Cost Daniel Drew a Million — Drew Bides His 
 Time and Strips the Commodore of a Goodly Share of His Millions by Manipulating; Erie to Erie's Great Damage — Aided and 
 Abetted in it by His Fellow Directors in Erie who Need Money — Drew and Vanderbilt Reconciled, and Vanderbilt Makes 
 Another Attempt to Add Erie to His Possessions — Breaks with Berdell and Takes up Eldridge — The Historic Erie Board Elected 
 October S, 1867. 
 
 Following the death of President Nathaniel 
 Marsh, his uncle, Samuel Marsh, then Vice-Presi- 
 dent of the Company, was chosen President /ri? tern. 
 Samuel Marsh was the head of the New York 
 Dyeing and Bleaching Company, and had been for 
 sixteen years a member of the Erie Directory, during 
 which time he had been Vice-President, and Presi- 
 dent through the Receivership of Nathaniel Marsh. 
 He was the logical successor to the Presidency, and if 
 he had insisted on being chosen, the honor would 
 undoubtedly have been bestowed upon him for the 
 term ; but there were influences coming to the fore 
 in Erie affairs just then that preferred another head 
 to the Company, and Samuel Marsh declined to be 
 a candidate for the office. There was a strong 
 sentiment in the Board in favor of the election of 
 Alexander S. Diven as President. He had been 
 prominently concerned in the affairs of the Com- 
 pany since 1843. Conspicuous in the Board also 
 was Robert H. Berdell. He had come into the 
 Erie Directory in 1857, having won a reputation as 
 a wise and prudent business man that was merited 
 by the great success that had followed his manage- 
 ment of his extensive private commercial interests. 
 He at once took a leading and active part in the 
 Erie Board, being made a member of the Execu- 
 tive and Finance Committees. He had been instru- 
 mental in organizing the Long Dock Company, 
 upon which the future of Erie so largely depended, 
 and had active charge of completing the Long Dock 
 property in 1859-60. He was President of that 
 company when he came into the Erie Directory. 
 He was a friend of Cornelius Vanderbilt, who was, 
 
 in 1864, an influential member of the Erie Board, 
 and with an ambition eager to the control of the 
 Company. Vanderbilt desired Berdell's selection as 
 the successor of Nathaniel Marsh. The friends of 
 Vice-President Diven, however, were not inclined to 
 ignore the claims of one who had given more than a 
 score of years of his time to Erie's service; and thus 
 Berdell and Diven were opposed to each other as 
 candidates for President at the election in 1864. The 
 result of each ballot was a tie. The contest con- 
 tinued day after day, without any change in the vote. 
 At last Vanderbilt held a consultation with Diven. 
 
 " Diven," said he, " I want Berdell to be Presi- 
 dent of the Erie Company. I'm bound to have him, 
 some way, and that's all there is to it. You can be 
 Vice-President, have the general management of the 
 railroad, and the salary of President, if you like. 
 Will that satisfy you ? " 
 
 Diven replied that such an arrangement would be 
 satisfactory. He withdrew his name, and Berdell 
 was chosen President of the Board, which composed 
 the following persons : Samuel Marsh, Daniel Drew, 
 John Arnot, William B. Skidmore, Cornelius Vander- 
 bilt, Robert H. Berdell, Dudley S. Gregory, Ralph 
 Mead, Ambrose S. Murray, William Evans, J. C. 
 Bancroft Davis, Henry S. Pierson, Don Alonzo Cush- 
 man, Alexander S. Diven, Thomas W. Gale, Isaac 
 W. Phelps, Horatio N. Otis. 
 
 Cornelius Vanderbilt was in 1864 only at the be- 
 ginning of the career which was, in a very few years, 
 to revolutionize the railroad systems of New York 
 and adjacent States, and mark a new era in railroad 
 
140 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 management. He had not yet made himself master 
 of the great Hudson River and New York Central 
 Railroads, and was famous simply as a feared and 
 successful Wall Street speculator. It is undoubt- 
 edly true that in 1864 (as well as later) his ambition 
 was to obtain control of the Erie Railway. Judging 
 from the results that followed his subsequent owner- 
 ship and control of the Harlem, Hudson River, and 
 New York Central Railroads, it more than likely has 
 been many times since then a matter of great regret 
 to the holders of Erie securities that he had not fol- 
 lowed to success the promptings of his early am- 
 bition and his later efforts toward the control of 
 Erie. When Vanderbilt came into possession of the 
 Harlem Railroad in 1863, that company's stock was 
 a drug in the market at 30. Under his manipulation 
 it advanced steadily, and at last he had cornered 
 Harlem stock against the Street, and run the market 
 on it up to 285 by the middle of 1864. Daniel Drew 
 was caught in the Commodore's Harlem corner, and 
 plucked to the amount of nearly a million. It 
 rankled in his breast. He resolved on revenge. He 
 bided his time, and it came — and Erie suffered, as a 
 matter of course. 
 
 In 1866 Cornelius Vanderbilt had become the 
 greatest power in the land in railroad control and 
 management. He had practically secured, although 
 all the details were not yet definitely arranged, abso- 
 lute title to the New York Central system (having 
 already secured the Harlem and Hudson River Rail- 
 roads), and control of the Lake Shore Railroad from 
 Buffalo, N. Y., to Toledo, O. He had retired from 
 the Erie Directory in that year. His ambition and 
 interest were to possess a through line between New 
 York and Chicago by obtaining control of the Michi- 
 gan Southern Railroad from Toledo to the latter 
 city. This line was then the only one by which 
 either the Erie or the New York Central might hope 
 to secure a through route to Chicago, and the man- 
 agement of the Erie professed to be as eager for 
 such a connection as Vanderbilt was. Whatever 
 might have been the true motives of Drew and his 
 associates in the matter, a desperate struggle for the 
 winning of the intermediate thoroughfare began 
 between the Erie and the Vanderbilt interests, with 
 the Michigan Southern management inclined favor- 
 
 ably toward the Erie. The Erie stood at a disad- 
 vantage with Vanderbilt in the matter of obtaining 
 the Chicago connection, because the New York Cen- 
 tral system carried the Vanderbilt line direct to 
 Toledo, while there was a necessary link of about 
 ninety miles of railroad to be built from Akron, the 
 nearest point on the Atlantic and Great Western 
 Railroad, the new line that gave the Erie its only 
 direct connection toward the West, before the Erie 
 could touch Toledo. The Atlantic and Great West- 
 ern was of the same gauge as the Erie, the six-foot 
 or. broad gauge. The Michigan Southern Railroad 
 was of the standard gauge; but the management of 
 the latter company was willing to enter into an agree- 
 ment to lay a third rail on its route from Toledo to 
 Chicago, whenever the necessary broad-gauge con- 
 nection should be made between Akron and Toledo. 
 
 Erie stock began to show weakness early in 1866. 
 The business of the road, although greatly de- 
 creased, owing to the falling off of traffic which the 
 Civil War had created, was good. It could not be 
 concealed that a speculative spirit was influencing 
 the management. It was an open secret, in the 
 Street, at least, that the brokerage house of Daniel 
 Drew was constantly using Erie stock in Wall Street 
 operations, and always to Drew's advantage, although 
 the securities of the Company had to sufTer discredit 
 thereby. Drew became known as the " Speculative 
 Director," and his associates in the Board must have 
 known — for it was of common fame in financial circles 
 — that depreciation of Erie stock meant individual 
 gain to him, and that appreciation of the stock, in 
 the line in which he was speculating, would be to 
 him personal loss. The New York Times money 
 article of April 6, 1866, referring to Drew in this 
 respect, said that " as his influence now stands, and 
 with the prevailing feeling against his conduct in 
 Wall Street, it seems doubtful whether he will be 
 suffered to have things his own way much longer, 
 even in the Erie direction, blind and devoted as the 
 majority of that Board have been to his financial lead 
 and arbitrary control for years. The question is one 
 of self-respect for their own determination." 
 
 It is one of the mo.st unaccountable and lament- 
 able facts in Erie history that there were men asso- 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 141 
 
 ' ciated with Daniel Drew in the Directory of the 
 Company who made boast then, as they make boast 
 to-day, such of them who live, of their personal 
 probity and business integrity, yet who looked on in 
 unprotesting acquiescence at his raids on the credit 
 of the Company, the honor and good name of which 
 he as well as they were bound as sworn trustees to 
 protect. 
 
 The act of the New York Legislature authorizing 
 the Erie reorganization in 1861 expressly provided 
 that the issue of the Company's stock should not 
 exceed the amount of the outstanding stock of the 
 original Company and the then existing unsecured 
 obligations of the Company, which were represented 
 by the preferred stock, a result of that reorganiza- 
 tion. The General Railroad Act of 1850 prohibited 
 railroad companies from increasing their capitals by 
 a direct issue of stock, but provided that a company 
 could issue its bonds for the purpose of borrowing 
 money to complete, equip, and operate its road. 
 That provision of the law gave to railroad companies, 
 however, a privilege which, intended for the benefit 
 of corporations in that respect, led to the develop- 
 ment of some of the most exciting incidents that 
 furnish material for exceedingly enthralling chapters 
 in Erie's history. This was the provision empower- 
 ing any company issuing its bonds for the purpose 
 prescribed, to insert in the bond a clause authorizing 
 the holder of it to convert it into stock of the cor- 
 poration, dollar for dollar. The idea and intent of 
 this clause were that it would be an inducement to 
 investors to pay a higher price for such company's 
 bonds because of the possibility of its stock rising 
 above par, in which case the bonds could be con- 
 verted into stock at greater profit ; but, according to 
 acknowledged authorities on railroad law, the con- 
 vertible privilege was made only to apply when 
 money was actually borrowed on a bond issue. But 
 such was not the construction that Daniel Drew, nor 
 Jay Gould after him, put upon the law. 
 
 Early in 1866 Erie was quoted on 'change at 97. 
 The Company was in need of money. That per- 
 sistent bite noir of Erie, the floating debt, was lifting 
 its head to plague the fated corporation. Daniel 
 Drew had money to lend, thanks, in a great measure. 
 
 to his manipulations of Erie stock. There was also 
 much speculation in his eye just then, and he had 
 contracted for delivery at a certain future day, to 
 various persons in Wall Street, many thousands of 
 shares of Erie stock at the existing quotation, 97. 
 Vanderbilt was then endeavoring to get possession 
 of Erie by buying its stock, and also had in his mind 
 the plucking of Drew by a persistent bull campaign 
 in Erie. This was Drew's opportunity. The Com- 
 pany wanted money to pay the floating debt. Drew 
 had money to lend. He made a proposition to the 
 Company. This proposition does not seem to have 
 met with the approval of every member of the Exec- 
 utive Committee, for it was discussed at their meet- 
 ings from May 16, 1866, until June 26th following, 
 before the potency of Drew's influence overcame 
 opposition, and the Committee approved of it. 
 June 9, 1866, the Railroad Journal, which had been 
 the firmest of supporters and friends of the Erie for 
 many years, published editorially and conspicuously 
 this significant paragraph: " It cannot be disguised 
 that very great uneasiness prevails in interested cir- 
 cles with regard to the condition of this road. We 
 do not believe the road, with every advantage as to 
 route and business, is doing as well as it might, that 
 it is not earning any dividends, and is in a bad con- 
 dition, track and rolling stock. But, on the other 
 hand, if it wants money, and the relief it seeks can- 
 not be had except by placing itself in the hands of a 
 wealthy Director, we do not see how this can be 
 avoided. The Directors are in possession of all the 
 facts in the case, and cannot be supposed to be indif- 
 ferent to their true interests. If anything is wrong 
 about it they themselves are to blame. The public 
 look to them for a proper guardianship of the vast 
 and valuable property placed in their hands. If 
 there is anything wrong in their management they 
 will be held to a strict account." 
 
 Daniel Drew's proposition was that he would lend 
 the Company $3,480,000 for two years at 7 per cent., 
 on 28,000 shares of stock, or $3,000,000 convertible 
 bonds at 60 per cent, as collateral, without margin 
 for depreciation, payable as wanted for that amount, 
 or any part thereof, at any time within four months, 
 the Company to have the option of paying off the 
 loan or any portion thereof on ten days' notice, and 
 
142 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 retain all dividends. Drew's terms were agreed to 
 by the Company on the above date, President Ber- 
 dell being authorized to make the loan on his state- 
 ment that " the floating debt of the Company 
 amounted to about $3,500,000, and that the material 
 on hand amounted to more than that sum ; that this 
 accumulation of materials had been made necessary 
 by new construction, which had ceased; that in 
 his judgment the amount could be diminished by 
 $2,000,000, and the revenues, which would other- 
 wise be applied to the purchase of new material, 
 could be applied to the reduction of the floating 
 debt, which, from time to time, as it matured, could 
 be provided for by temporary loans on the bonds 
 and stock of the Company, a plan which he thought 
 practicable for relieving the Company of its floating 
 liabilities." 
 
 Besides being thus equipped by that Erie loan for 
 his raid on Wall Street, Drew had also at his dis- 
 posal 10,000 shares of stock which the Company had 
 obtained by taking advantage of the law authorizing 
 any company to create and issue its own stock in 
 exchange for the stock of another company whose 
 property was under lease to it. The Buffalo, Brad- 
 ford and Pittsburg Railroad was leased by the Erie 
 Railway Company January 5, 1866, for a term of 
 four hundred and ninety-nine years from January 1st 
 of that year. The terms were a guarantee by the 
 Erie of the interest on the bonds of the lessor com- 
 pany at 7 per cent., and all the taxes, charges, and 
 operating expenses. The lease was signed by Presi- 
 dent Berdell of the Erie Railway Company and John 
 Arnot, Vice-President of the Buffalo, Bradford and 
 Pittsburg Railroad Company, Horatio N. Otis being 
 Secretary of both companies, and all were Directors 
 in Erie. When the convenience of Drew called for 
 help, the stock of this leased company was changed 
 into Erie stock and held for the emergency. 
 
 Upon receiving the $3,000,000 issue of Erie con- 
 vertible bonds, Drew immediately converted them 
 into stock of the Company. With this great hold- 
 ing of stock he filled his contracts on the Street, but 
 the sudden throwing of so large a block of Erie on 
 the market forced the price below 70. In this oper- 
 ation Cornelius Vanderbilt was caught by his wily 
 antagonist in a corner from which it cost him more 
 
 than one round fortune to extricate himself. This 
 aid the Company gave to Drew in his stock-jobbing 
 schemes opened the door of Erie to the entrance of 
 scandal and other questionable transactions, the pen- 
 alty for which the Company is to this day paying. 
 
 As early as the fall of 1865 Richard Schell, repre- 
 senting the Vanderbilt interest in Wall Street, sug- 
 gested to members of the Board of Directors of the 
 Erie Railway Company that the Boston, Hartford 
 and Erie Railroad was sure to be a valuable prop- 
 erty, and would become still more so by a connec- 
 tion with the Erie, a connection which would be of 
 great future importance and profit to the latter. He 
 said that it would be a wise stroke of business on the 
 part of the Erie to secure a representation in the 
 Board of Directors of the Boston, Hartford and Erie 
 Railroad Company. A committee from the Erie 
 Directory, acting on this suggestion, went over the 
 line of the proposed Eastern railroad, and the result 
 was that on December 8th Daniel Drew, Henry L. 
 Pierson, Ambrose S. Murray, Robert H. Berdell, 
 Dudley S. Gregory, Alexander S. Diven, and Will- 
 iam Evans, of the Erie Board of Directors, were 
 elected to the Boston, Hartford and Erie Board. 
 
 John S. Eldridge was President of the Boston, 
 Hartford and Erie. He was a financier bred in the 
 school of State Street, Boston, and his subsequent 
 career in Erie affairs proved that the State Street 
 school of finance was one not far behind that of Wall 
 Street in the teachings of methods that kept always 
 in view the best way of caring for No. I, no matter 
 what the consequence might be to the other person. 
 The Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad Company 
 was organized under charters from Massachusetts, 
 Rhode Island, and Connecticut, for the purpose of 
 building a railroad from Boston to Fishkill, N. Y., 
 a distance of 300 miles, with branches that would 
 increase its length to 400 miles. The Company was 
 capitalized at $20,000,000. 
 
 March 28, 1866, President Berdell appointed J. C. 
 Bancroft Davis, Daniel Drew, and Dudley S. Gregory 
 a committee to confer with the Boston, Hartford and 
 Erie Railroad Company in regard to the arranging 
 of trafific relations between the two railroads. The 
 Eastern company was particularly anxious to make 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 143 
 
 such an arrangement, although it had no railroad 
 connection whatever with the Erie, and the pros- 
 pects of having one were by no means bright. It 
 was not so much the railroad connection that the com- 
 pany desired as it was a guarantee of a large amount of 
 its bonds, which were by no means a very desirable 
 investment just then. At last, on June 3, 1867, a 
 meeting of the Executive Committee of the Erie 
 Railway Company was called to consider an applica- 
 tion from the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad 
 Company that the Erie guarantee the payment of 
 interest on $6,000,000 of the Boston, Hartford and 
 Erie bonds, on the promise of the Eastern company 
 to set aside a certain amount of the receipts from its 
 coal trafific to secure the Erie in its guarantee; in 
 other words, giving a mortgage on receipts that could 
 not materialize until the railroad was built, and which 
 then depended entirely on the amount of the Erie's 
 coal traffic itself, from which the business of the 
 proposed Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad was 
 to be obtained. On that date A. S. Diven offered 
 a resolution that such an arrangement be agreed 
 to, guaranteeing the interest on $4,000,000 of the 
 Boston, Hartford and Erie bonds, on the security 
 of future traffic, the receipts from which were to be 
 set aside for repaying the Erie guarantee, and the 
 resolution, with some amendments, was adopted 
 June 5th. Directors Cushman, Davis, Diven, 
 Drew, Gale, Gregory, Lane, Marsh, and Skidmore 
 voted for it, and Berdell, Arnot, Pierson, Lanier, 
 Murray, and Phelps against it. A contract em- 
 bodying the arrangement was made and signed 
 October 8, 1867, by the representatives of the two 
 companies. 
 
 The report of the Boston, Hartford and Erie Rail- 
 road Compi "<y for 1867 stated that 245 miles of the 
 road were ironed and in operation, with twelve loco- 
 motives, twelve passenger cars, and sixty inercantile 
 cars as its rolling stock. There were ten mortgages 
 on the road and its franchises, and the funded and 
 floating debt was $10,326,406. The road had cost 
 nearly $20,000,000. The total income of the com- 
 pany in 1867 was $369,577. It was a well-known 
 fact that the stock and bonds of the company had 
 been sold and hypothecated far below lOO cents 
 on the dollar. The guaranteeing of these bonds by 
 
 the Erie Railway Company secured also to the 
 manipulators of the Boston, Hartford and Erie Rail- 
 road Company a loan of $3,000,000 from the State 
 of Massachusetts. The comforting announcement 
 was also made in the public prints that" the Boston, 
 Hartford and Erie has only to build a little more 
 than 100 miles of railroad between Hartford and 
 Fishkill, when a broad gauge will be in operation 
 from Boston to St. Louis." If there ever was a 
 pig-in-a-poke transaction this of Erie's with that 
 Boston clique was certainly the one. 
 
 Cornelius Vanderbilt added the New Tork Central 
 Railroad to his possessions in 1867, and he then 
 turned his eyes again on Erie. He resolved to get 
 control of that Company also. He counted on the 
 aid of the Boston, Hartford and Erie people in this 
 project, and favored the election of John S. Eldridge 
 to the Presidency of Erie. This was objected to by 
 President Berdell, and resulted in a break in the rela- 
 tions between him and Vanderbilt. Berdell opposed 
 strenuously all of the action of the Company in the 
 matter of the Boston, Hartford and Erie bond guar- 
 antee, and warned the Company of its consequences 
 — a warning that if heeded would have saved the 
 Erie millions of dollars. Vanderbilt was still venge- 
 ful toward Daniel Drew for cornering him in Erie in 
 1866 and stripping him of a good share of his mil- 
 lions, but as the Erie election for 1867 approached. 
 Drew made his peace with Vanderbilt by promising 
 to let up on his opposition to the Commodore's get- 
 ting control of the Erie, and to aid him toward that 
 consummation. Rumors reached the Street that a 
 compromise, if not an alliance, had been made 
 between the two arch speculators. This was sufifi- 
 cient to disquiet the Street, for, with Drew and 
 Vanderbilt working together, no one could foresee 
 what might happen. When the Erie election came, 
 however, and (October 8, 1867) the influence and 
 strength of Vanderbilt in Erie affairs were mani- 
 fested by the defeat of Daniel Drew as Director, and 
 the election of Frank Work, a well-known Vander- 
 bilt lieutenant, to a seat in the Board, and the subse- 
 quent choice of John S. Eldridge as President of the 
 Company, any apprehension that might have existed 
 of a Drew-Vanderbilt alliance was dispelled, and it 
 
144 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 s-emed that the downfall of the great Erie speculator 
 was complete. 
 
 At this surprising election, Jay Gould and James 
 Fisk, Jr., were made members of the Board. They 
 were practically unknown outside of Wall Street, 
 where, as a member of the firm of Smith, Gould, 
 Martin & Co., Jay Gould had attracted attention as 
 a shrewd and long-headed operator. Fisk was famil- 
 iar as the blustering, dashing, over-dressed head of 
 the house of Fisk & Belden, brokers. It is not 
 recalled that there had been more than a passing 
 acquaintance between Gould and Fisk until their 
 election as Erie Directors. This remarkable Board 
 of Directors was made up in full as follows : John S. 
 Eldridge, Eben D. Jordan, Josiah Bardwell, James 
 S. Whitney, of Boston; J. C. Bancroft Davis, Alex- 
 ander S. Diven, William Evans, James Fisk, Jr., Jay 
 Gould, Dudley S. Gregory, George M. Graves, Fred- 
 erick A. Lane, Homer Ramsdell, William B. Skid- 
 more, Henry Thompson, Frank Work, Levi Under- 
 wood. 
 
 The Boston interests were strongly represented in 
 the Board, and Homer Ramsdell was the conserver 
 of Newburgh's interests. The new Directors Henry 
 Thompson (who was a brother-in-law of Eldridge) 
 and Frederick A. Lane became conspicuous figures 
 in events that were soon to make the name of Erie 
 familiar in the most remote corners of this and other 
 lands, and not to its honor or credit. Levi Under- 
 wood was an ex-Lieut. Gov, of Vermont. He was a 
 friend of Vanderbilt. Jay Gould was so little known 
 then that the newspapers, in printing the names of 
 the new Erie Directors, printed his as " J. Gould," 
 whether the J. stood for John, James, Joseph, or 
 Jeremiah few of them could have told ; and some of 
 the papers printed Fisk's name with a final " e," 
 and two recorded the future" Prince of Erie " under 
 the cold and irresponsive name of " Fish." But 
 plain J. Gould and unfamiliar Fiske or Fish found 
 their names in the papers, correctly and in full, 
 before many weeks had passed away from the elec- 
 tion of that historic Erie Board. 
 
 The administration of President Berdell may be 
 said to have marked a period of transition in meth- 
 ods of operation and equipment of the railroad — the 
 
 beginning and progress in improvements then radical 
 in their changes from old to new systems of railroad- 
 ing, such as the use of coal instead of wood as fuel 
 for locomotives, steel instead of iron in the mechan- 
 ism of rolling stock, and the introduction of auto- 
 matic couplers on passenger trains, and safety and 
 labor-saving attachments of various kinds. The 
 dawn of greater expansion of the Erie system also 
 came with the Berdell management. The official 
 records of this administration for the years 1864, 
 1865, and 1866 are therefore of more than ordinary 
 historical value in the story of Erie's career, as the 
 following extracts from them will show : 
 
 1864. 
 
 In 1863 the Directors had called the attention of 
 the stockholders to the fact that increased motive 
 power and rolling stock were necessary. There was 
 still existing this same necessity. The road was 
 comparatively well supplied with cars, except pas- 
 senger and coal cars, but there was a great deficiency 
 in locomotives. Extra service was required of them, 
 and the shops were inadequate to keep them in 
 repair, even when any could be spared for that pur- 
 pose, and more shops had to be provided. The 
 room did not anticipate so large an increase in the 
 rolling stock as had been found necessary for the 
 increased and constantly increasing business offered. 
 To meet this want the Company began the erection 
 of new shops at Susquehanna, Pa. Lack of motive 
 power had made the running of the railroad more 
 expensive than it otherwise would have been. Con- 
 tracts were made in 1864 for sixty-seven engines of 
 the most approved pattern, to burn coal. The Com- 
 pany was building coal cars in its own shops at the 
 rate of three a day. Passenger cars were also being 
 built in the Company's shops upon " the most 
 approved plans, in a manner that is confidently 
 believed," said the report, " will compare in the 
 most favorable manner with any similar kinds of cars 
 on any road. It is expected that the requirements 
 of the travelling public will be fully met in the 
 increased comfort of these truly complete coaches." 
 
 With less provision for increased capacity than 
 was being made, the large amount of business thrown 
 upon the road by the opening of the Atlantic and 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 145 
 
 Great Western Railway would become a source of 
 embarrassment instead of profit. The managers of 
 that road had already complained of the Erie's 
 inability to do the business resulting from the con- 
 nection, although the Atlantic and Great Western 
 had not yet been operated as a through line to Cin- 
 cinnati or St. Louis. " We are assured by the man- 
 agers of the roads forming the broad gauge connec- 
 tion to the Ohio and Mississippi rivers that by May 
 or June (1865) their roads will be fully equipped. 
 And with this assurance the managers of this Com- 
 pany would hardly be held excusable for failure to 
 prepare for so important an accession to its perma- 
 nent business." 
 
 The report announced that "tha Buffalo, Bradford 
 and Pittsburgh Railroad, connecting with the Erie 
 Railway at Carrollton Station, 405 miles from New 
 York and 54 miles from Dunkirk, will be open for 
 use during the coming summer. This road from its 
 connection with the Erie to Lafayette is about 24 
 miles in length, and will ultimately, and at no dis- 
 tant period, be carried into the very heart of the 
 great bituminous coal region of the State of Penn- 
 sylvania. When opened to Lafayette, it will reach a 
 point where coal, iron, and lumber can be obtained 
 in almost inexhaustible quantities. It will become 
 the natural outlet for the coal and iron from that 
 great mineral region to New York, Canada, and the 
 Western States, and will be a source of largely in- 
 creased business to the Erie Railway. The growing 
 scarcity of wood for locomotives has been a source 
 of much anxiety, but with the opening of the Buffalo, 
 Bradford and Pittsburgh Railroad, and the supply of 
 coal from other tributaries of the Erie, a source of 
 much disquietude will be removed, as the supply of 
 coal will be ample for fuel, and the cost between the 
 supply of wood and coal for locomotive use will be 
 at least one-third in favor of the latter article." 
 
 Increase in expenses was explained by a great ad- 
 vance in the price of coal, " of which a large amount 
 is now used in the engines " ; by increase in the cost 
 of repairs, due to " the large amount of new iron 
 laid down in 1864," 20,480 tons having been put 
 down at a cost of $2,132,725.01, while in 1863, 
 13,967 tons cost but $817,609.67, a difference of only 
 6,513 tons, but a difference in cost of $1,315,115.34. 
 
 The average cost of railroad iron in 1863 was $58.66 
 a ton; in 1864 it was $105. The amount of new 
 iron estimated to be required for 1865 was 10,000 
 tons, at the existing price, $105 a ton. 
 
 1865. 
 
 Increase in freight trafific, particularly through 
 West and waj'- East, and in passenger trafific of all 
 classes, but particularly way, was noted. Increased 
 expenses were due to enhanced cost of fuel; substi- 
 tution of steel for iron in renewal of axles and tires; 
 and general improvement of bridges, ties, and bal- 
 lasting. There had been a great decrease in the cost 
 of railroad iron, it having fallen to $90 a ton. Thus 
 20,170 tons were laid in 1865 at a cost of $1,815,300, 
 against 20,480 tons in 1864 that cost $2,132,725.01. 
 During the winter and spring of the year there had 
 been severe floods, more destructive in their effects 
 than any that had ever occurred along the line. The 
 new shops at Susquehanna were progressing, and 
 $379,056.13 had been expended on them during 
 the year. Depot, engine-houses, and shops were 
 building at Salamanca, and had thus far cost %'jy,- 
 145.72. The ferry-boat " Pavonia " was built and 
 cost $121,216. 
 
 The branch roads leased and operated were the 
 Buffalo Division, Corning to Buffalo, 140 miles; 
 Rochester Division, 18 miles; Canandaigua and 
 Elmira, 66 miles; Hawley Branch, 16 miles; total, 
 240 miles, which, with main line, Jersey City to Dun- 
 kirk, 460 miles; Piermont Branch, 18 miles; New- 
 burgh Branch, 19 miles; Northwestern Division, 
 Hornellsville to Attica, 60 miles, gave 797 miles of 
 track in the Erie system. The Wallkill Valley Rail- 
 road was operated, but not leased. 
 
 " Negotiations are now in progress for the transfer 
 of 'freight at New York and Jersey City by contract, 
 based on the actual tonnage. It is expected that 
 this will result in large reduction of expenses at these 
 points. If so, similar contracts will be made at other 
 large stations.' 
 
 1866. 
 
 " The $3,000,000 first mortgage bonds mature 
 and become payable July, 1867. Previous to their 
 maturity it is the intention of the Company to invite 
 
146 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 proposals for their extension for thirty years at 7 per 
 cent, under authority given by the State of New 
 York." Such notice was given April i, 1867. 
 
 " The road was never in a better condition to 
 transact business with economy and dispatch, and 
 although the net results of last year have fallen short 
 of expectation of the Board, yet that result is mainly 
 attributable to causes which will be inoperative in 
 the future, prominent among these the fact of the 
 suspension of the transportation of coal for the Penn- 
 sylvania Coal Company for a period of three months 
 and a half, resulting not only in loss of profits due 
 to that business, but also involving this Company in 
 a penalty of upward of $98,000, the liquidated dam- 
 ages for non-compliance with the contract between 
 the two companies. This contract has since been 
 modified and arranged to the mutual satisfaction of 
 both parties. 
 
 " Ruinous competition between competing lines 
 during the first six months of the year also seriously 
 lessened the profits of the year. The heavy govern- 
 ment and local taxes have been a serious drain on 
 the revenues of the Company. The dilapidated con- 
 dition of the Buffalo Branch and its equipment at 
 the time they came into the possession of the Com- 
 pany, have cost upward of $1,000,000 to put in good 
 condition." 
 
 Hugh Riddle, General Superintendent of the rail- 
 road, reported December 31, 1866, that " the condi- 
 tion of the motive power and equipment of the road 
 will, I am confident, compare favorably with any 
 
 road in the country, and reflect credit on the officers 
 in charge of that department. The track, roadway, 
 and bridges throughout the whole extent of your 
 road have very perceptibly improved during the past 
 year, until I feel warranted in saying that the Erie 
 Railway is in better condition and better equipped 
 than at any period during the past ten years. Trains 
 have run with great regularity and exemption from 
 accidents, with the exception of a few casualties 
 attending the movement of oil in bulk." (This 
 report of the condition of the railroad and its equip- 
 ment is interesting in view of the report made on the 
 same subject a few months later, as will appear. 
 — Author.) 
 
 Miller's car platform, coupler, and buffer was 
 adopted on passenger trains, and was described as 
 " a movement in the right direction, and has already 
 in several instances averted serious damage and per- 
 haps loss of life." (Miller's platform, coupler, and 
 buffer, the invention of Dr. Ezra Miller, of Mahwah, 
 N. J., will be remembered as the first great improve- 
 ment in that class of railroad equipment. By it the 
 platforms were brought close together, easing the 
 jolting and jerking in starting and stopping of trains, 
 and forming a perfectly smooth and safe passageway 
 from one coach to another. As it was a continua- 
 tion of, and on a direct line with, the sills of the 
 coaches, the danger of telescoping of trains in case 
 of collision was greatly lessened. This attachment 
 was not superseded by anything better for a score of 
 years. — Author.) 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN S. ELDRIDGE— 1867 AND 1868. 
 
 Drew's Defeat Only Apparent — A Truce Between Him and Vanderbilt Broken, and Drew Resumes His Former Status in Erie — Vanderbilt 
 Undertakes to Capture Erie by Buying Up its Stock, and Runs Against Drew and the Erie Printing Press — The Famous Conversion 
 of Millions of Bonds into Stock that Drew Delivered to Vanderbilt Greatly to the Latter's Loss and Chagrin — Then the Long Series 
 of Suits, Cross-suits, Injunctions, and Counter-injunctions — Judge George G. Barnard and Erie — Flight of President Eldridge, 
 Drew, Gould, Fisk, and the Erie Treasury to New Jersey — The Erie Scandal Reaches the Legislature, and Breeds New Scandal 
 There — The Surrender of Drew, and the $5,000,000 Settlement with Vanderbilt — Official Story of it All. 
 
 While Daniel Drew's apparent fall was by no to get absolute control of the Erie Railway Compan\r 
 means a cause for regret to the true friends of the 
 
 Erie Railway Company, it had to them a dreadful 
 significance as the beginning of that ascendancy of 
 the Vanderbilt interest in the Company that they had 
 long feared. Vanderbilt domination meant entire 
 subordination of the Erie and its interests to the 
 New York Central. It was not long, however, before 
 the outside friends of Erie were still further mystified 
 by the resignation of one of Vanderbilt's partisans in 
 the Directory (Underwood), and the election of the 
 deposed Drew to the vacancy, a move that was 
 promptly followed by the great speculator's appoint- 
 ment to his old place as Treasurer. It is held to-day 
 by many who say they have good reason to know, 
 that the rumored alliance of Drew and Vanderbilt 
 was not merely a rumor, and that the deposing of 
 Drew by Vanderbilt at the October election was 
 simply a collusive trick to deceive the public. As 
 proof of this they point to the quick restoration of 
 Drew to place and power in the new Erie manage- 
 ment. Others who claim to know as much about 
 the truth of the situation as any one else declare 
 that the overthrow of Drew by Vanderbilt was bona 
 fide, and that Drew, ever wily, diplomatic, and 
 plausible, had secured his own restoration to power. 
 The weight of evidence is in favor of the ante-elec- 
 tion compact; but no matter which was the fact, the 
 result could be but the same to Erie — misfortune, 
 shame, pillage. Vanderbilt and Drew operated in 
 the Street together — or, at least, not in opposition 
 — for nearly half a year. Then suddenly it became 
 known on the Street that Vanderbilt had resolved 
 
 as the best means to carry out his private ends as 
 well as to control matters in relation to the New 
 York and Chicago connection. This determination, 
 it was further asserted, had been brought about by 
 the fact that the new President of the Erie Railway 
 Company had not carried out his part of the pro- 
 gramme agreed upon between him and Vanderbilt. 
 It seems that as time passed the new President had 
 become greatly impressed with the genius of Daniel 
 Drew, and as the Vanderbilt succession to Erie had 
 not assumed a condition of certainty that warranted 
 longer alliance with the Vanderbilt interest, the 
 manipulator of the Boston, Hartford and Erie 
 scheme transferred his allegiance to the sa^gacious 
 Drew. 
 
 General Diven brought before the Board of Direct- 
 ors, December 4, 1867, the question of the broad- 
 gauge connection with Chicago, and offered a reso- 
 lution authorizing the President, Vice-President, and 
 Treasurer of the Erie Railway Company be a com- 
 mittee to act on such recommendations as the com- 
 mittee might make in the matter. The resolution 
 was adopted. This committee made its report Feb- 
 ruary 18, 1868, which was an agreement with the 
 Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad 
 Company for the laying of a third rail from the 
 Atlantic and Great Western Railroad from Cleveland 
 to Toledo and westward, thus forming a broad-gauge 
 route to Chicago, and for operating the line. The 
 agreement was approved and signed by President 
 Edridge, of the Erie, and E. B. Phillips, President 
 
148 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 of the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana 
 Railroad Company. 
 
 All these things set Cornelius Vanderbilt to think- 
 ing. The more he thought, the more the transgres- 
 sions of Daniel Drew and the deviousness of his 
 ways as between man and man appeared to him in 
 all their enormity. Something must be done to stop 
 Daniel Drew in his career, and, incidentally, to open 
 an easier way to proprietorship in Erie. February 
 17, 1868, something was done. On that day Frank 
 Work, the member of the Board of Erie Directors 
 elected in the Vanderbilt interest, applied through 
 his attorneys, Rapallo & Spencer, to Judge George 
 G. Barnard, of the Supreme Court of New York, for 
 an injunction against the Board of Directors of the 
 Erie Railway Company, to restrain them from the 
 settlement of certain outstanding accounts between 
 Daniel Drew, Treasurer of the Company, and the 
 Company itself. These accounts were the ones re- 
 sulting from the transaction between Drew and the 
 Board in 1866, and which had not yet come to settle- 
 ment. This action was begun in the interest of 
 Vanderbilt as incidental and auxiliary to his efforts 
 to buy a majority of Erie stock, as it might guard 
 him, as he said, " against any increase of the gross 
 amount of that stock through a repetition on the 
 part of Mr. Drew of his former ingenious expedient," 
 meaning the conversion of bonds into stock. The 
 injunction was granted, and, two days later, Vander- 
 bilt made another assault on Drew and the Erie, 
 under the statute authorizing the removal of officers 
 or directors guilty of misconduct, and petitioned 
 before Judge Barnard, through Attorney-General 
 Marshall B. Champlain, in the name of the people, 
 for the removal of Daniel Drew as Treasurer of the 
 Erie Railway Company. 
 
 The grievance that prompted this move on the 
 part of the Vanderbilt interest was, that although 
 they had been buying Erie stock right and left for 
 weeks, they found the market still flooded with it, 
 and there seemed to be as much of it for sale as if 
 never a single share of Erie had been sold. Vander- 
 bilt traced the responsibility for this prodigality in 
 Erie shares to the resourceful Drew, and found that 
 something had to be done at once to block the game 
 
 of that wily speculator. On the very day this last 
 Vanderbilt move was made, February 19, 1868, the 
 Erie Board of Directors passed this resolution: 
 
 It being necessar}' for the completing, finishing, and oper- 
 ating the road of the Company, to borrow money, Resolved, 
 That under the provisions of the statute authorizing the loan 
 of money for such purposes, the Executive Committee be 
 authorized to borrow such sum as may be necessary, and to 
 issue therefor such security as is provided for in such cases by 
 the laws of this State; and that the President and Secretary be 
 authorized under the seal of the Company to execute all needful 
 and proper agreements and undertakings for such purposes. 
 
 This was immediately followed by the issuing of 
 $5,000,000 in convertible bonds, which were at once 
 converted into stock, and this was fed to the Street 
 through the brokerage houses of Smith, Gould, 
 Martin & Co., Robinson, Cox & Co., and William 
 Heath. 
 
 In the petition for the removal of Drew as Treas- 
 urer of the Erie Railway Company, the main charge 
 of misconduct against him was that he and other 
 Directors " had induced the Erie Board to lease and 
 contract to complete a certain worthless connecting 
 road, mainly owned by them, and known as the 
 Buffalo, Bradford and Pittsburg Railroad. Having 
 done this, they had then, since January 1st, pro- 
 cured the issue of a large amount of Erie stock in 
 exchange for the stock of this road." 
 
 The Buffalo, Bradford and Pittsburg Railroad was 
 a road extending from the main line of the Erie at 
 CarroUton, N. Y., 60 miles east of Dunkirk, the 
 building of which the Erie Railway Company had 
 insured by endorsing its bonds. This agreement 
 was made January i, 1866. In the time when 
 Charles Minot was General Superintendent of the 
 Erie, certain persons not entirely disinterested in 
 the same Company, purchased large tracts of land 
 in McKean and other counties in Pennsylvania, 
 which were alleged to be valuable coal lands. To 
 develop the territory a railroad was necessary. The 
 Buffalo, Bradford and Pittsburg Railroad Company 
 was formed, but very little was ever done toward 
 completing it until the Erie Railway Company leased 
 it and practically assumed all its responsibilities by 
 agreeing to buy its 7 per cent, construction bonds, 
 which were convertible into stock. This was done, 
 and the stock exchanged at 80 for Erie stock at par. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 149 
 
 Vanderbilt's allegation was that " the Buffalo, Brad- 
 ford and Pittsburg Railroad was not properly under 
 lease to the Erie Railway Company, and that Daniel 
 Drew had obtained the issue of the Erie stock simply 
 to throw it on the market." 
 
 Judge Barnard, on this petition, issued an order 
 suspending Drew from his office of Treasurer of the 
 Erie Railway Company, and ordered him to appear 
 on February 21st and show cause why the prayer of 
 the petitioner should not be granted, the same day 
 having been fixed by Judge Barnard for further hear- 
 ing in the proceedings begun by Director Frank 
 Work. Drew appeared, with David Dudley Field, 
 John E. Burrell, Dorman B. Eaton, Clarkson N. 
 Potter, and others as his counsel. A motion to dis- 
 miss the writ for want of jurisdiction was denied by 
 Judge Barnard. Both hearings were postponed, and 
 on March 3d Judge Barnard granted an injunction 
 restraining the defendants from any further conver- 
 sion of bonds into stock, or from issuing any capital 
 stock in addition to the 241,058 shares appearing 
 in previous reports of the Company, and from 
 issuing or hypothecating any of the Boston, Hart- 
 ford and Erie bonds that the Erie Railway Company 
 had endorsed and guaranteed, and from proceeding 
 toward carrying out the agreement with the Michi- 
 gan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad Com- 
 pany in respect to the construction of the broad- 
 gauge railroad from Akron to Toledo. The writ 
 also ordered Daniel Drew to restore to the Erie Rail- 
 way Company the 58,000 shares of stock delivered 
 to him in May, 1866, and the 10,000 shares received 
 in exchange for the Buffalo, Bradford and Pittsburg 
 bonds. March loth was named as the day for a hear- 
 ing on this and all the previous proceedings in the 
 Vanderbilt-Drew embroglio. 
 
 But injunctions did not worry Daniel Drew. In 
 spite of this one, he converted $5,000,000 of bonds 
 into Erie stock, and put the proceeds on the Street. 
 In less than two weeks the Street had taken 100,000 
 shares of Erie, for which $7,000,000 had been paid, 
 and Vanderbilt and his friends got the most of it, 
 besides the 58,000 shares issued by Drew in 1866. 
 If they had not made their contracts good, which 
 they did at great loss, a wild panic would have 
 resulted. As it was, the excitement and demorali- 
 
 zation made by this continuous flow of Erie stock 
 caused both Exchanges to take action against it. 
 They ordered officially that no certificates of Erie 
 stock bearing date after March 7th should be a good 
 delivery, or recognized in any way. This had an 
 effect that the solemn orders of the court had failed 
 to produce. 
 
 Before March loth, the day set for a further hear- 
 ing in the Vanderbilt suit, came round, Daniel Drew 
 had prepared a surprise for his antagonists. On 
 March 5th his counsel obtained from Judge Ransom 
 Balcom of Broome County, N. Y., an order suspend- 
 ing Frank Work from the Directory of the Erie Rail- 
 way Company, on allegation that he was acting in 
 the Board against the interests of the Company, and 
 in the interest of the New York Central Railroad 
 Company, to the great injury of the former. Judge 
 Balcom also issued a writ ordering all the parties in 
 the proceedings already begun to appear before him 
 at Cortlandville, N. Y., on March 7th, and staying 
 all further proceedings meantime. 
 
 March 7th there appeared in the public prints a 
 report by the Executive Committee of the Board of 
 Directors of the Erie Railway Company to the stock- 
 holders, in which all the allegations made against 
 the management of the Company in the Vanderbilt 
 suits were denied, and which declared that the 
 Directors had moved in entire good faith in all they 
 had done in raising money, and for a purpose single 
 to the interests and demands of the road. New rails 
 were badly needed, a double track was rapidly becom- 
 ing a necessity, better terminal facilities must be 
 secured, new rolling stock must be purchased, ele- 
 vators, ferry-boats, depots, etc., must be built. The 
 Company had made a contract with the Michigan 
 Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad Company, 
 according to this statement, by which the latter was 
 to put down a third rail on its road as soon as other 
 parties had completed a third rail to Toledo, thus 
 giving the Erie a through Chicago connection. To 
 accomplish this the Board of Directors of the Erie 
 Railway Company consented to deposit bonds of the 
 Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad Company, issued 
 under agreement between that company and the 
 Erie Railway Company, as collateral with the parties 
 who were to lay that third rail. The committee did 
 
ISO 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 not state, though, that those Boston, Hartford and 
 Erie bonds had no value until they were endorsed 
 by the Erie Railway Company to the amount of 
 $5,000,000. The contention of the Executive Com- 
 mittee that by these charges the Erie Railway 
 Company was suffering deep and unjust injury was 
 apparently strengthened by two letters of General 
 Superintendent Hugh Riddle, which were incorpor- 
 ated in the report, and which made a most deplor- 
 able showing for the condition and equipment of the 
 road. He estimated that the property could not be 
 sufficiently repaired and renewed for a less amount 
 than $8,787,000; but, at the same time, the fact that 
 the property of the Company should be in such a 
 dilapidated state, with all the money the manage- 
 ment had raised during the past two years for the 
 ostensible and declared purpose of improving it, was 
 a fact to weaken and discredit the Committee's state- 
 ment. There can be no doubt of their further state- 
 ment, however, that if they had consented to carry 
 out the plans Vanderbilt had made for the future of 
 Erie, the discreditable situation would not have been 
 taken into the courts. 
 
 The proceedings before Judge Balcom brought 
 about another complication in this rapidly entan- 
 gling state of affairs. When his writ was served on 
 the plaintiffs, they, through Richard Schell, obtained 
 from Judge Ingraham, of the New York Supreme 
 Court in New York City, an order enjoining the 
 Board of Directors of the Erie Railway Company 
 from meeting, or transacting any business whatever, 
 without the presence of Frank Work in the Board. 
 Then the Drew forces made a new move. Dudley 
 Field, on the morning of March loth, went before 
 Judge Gilbert, in Brooklyn, N. Y., with a petition 
 made by William Belden, of the Wall Street firm 
 of Fisk & Belden, alleging that a combination to 
 ruin the Erie Railway Company had been formed 
 by Cornelius Vanderbilt, Richard Schell, Augustus 
 Schell, William H. Vanderbilt, and others, among 
 them the Hon. George G. Barnard, Justice of the 
 Supreme Court of New York, and asking for a writ 
 restraining all the parties in the previous suits from 
 proceeding further, ordering the Erie Directors, with 
 the exception of Frank Work, to discharge the 
 duties of their places, and directing the fuithcr issue 
 
 of convertible bonds. Judge Gilbert granted the 
 injunction, and fixed March iSth as the day for fur- 
 ther hearing before him in Brooklyn. " Here was 
 the turning point in the struggle," said Charles 
 Francis Adams, Jr., in his scathing review of this 
 chapter in Erie, which he tersely called " The Erie 
 Railroad Row," somewhat incorrectly, as it was 
 the Erie Railze/ay row. " The wily Drew had again, 
 in face of the courts and the Exchange, regardless no 
 less of the processes of law than of the elements of 
 morality, repeated the strategy of two years before. 
 The stock of the road, of which he was Treasurer, 
 fell fifteen per cent, in about as many minutes, and 
 Vanderbilt and Wall Street realized that in selling 
 ' short ' so boldly, this ' Speculative Director ' had 
 not reckoned without his host." 
 
 The Vanderbilt-Drew litigation had now become 
 so confused and entangled, with writs and motions 
 and counter-motions, that when, on March loth, the 
 parties to the litigation came before Judge Barnard, 
 counsel for both sides were bewildered as to what 
 move to make next, and Judge Barnard adjourned 
 the proceedings until March 14th. A bold and 
 entirely unexpected coup was made by the Erie party 
 on the 12th, which changed the whole course of 
 these litigious events, the news of which fell into 
 the Vanderbilt camp like a bomb. Probably restful 
 under the uncertainty of judicial procedure, and 
 believing that the situation had assumed a degree of 
 complication that demanded heroic treatment, Dan- 
 iel Drew, accompanied by President Eldridge, Jay 
 Gould, James Fisk, Jr., and all the other members 
 of the Board of Directors except Alexander S. 
 Diven, Frederick A. Lane, William B. Skidmore, 
 and J. C. Bancroft Davis, fled from New York in 
 the night, and took up his quarters in Jersey City, 
 not forgetting to carry with him all the Company's 
 books, papers, funds, etc. Directors Diven, Davis, 
 and Skidmore were arrested and arraigned before 
 Judge Barnard on charge of contempt of court. 
 
 Drew, his fellow-Directors, and all the books and 
 papers of the Company now being out of the juris- 
 diction of the New York courts and of legal reach 
 of the Vanderbilt people, the proceedings in this 
 remarkable litigation took a new turn. At the hear- 
 ing before Judge Barnard in the matter of Directors 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 151 
 
 Diven and Skidmore, Judge Barnard held the ac- 
 cused in nominal bail, and issued an alias for the 
 missing Directors, announcing that he would hold 
 them in $500,000 bail each should they be brought 
 before him. Horace F. Clark, of counsel for the 
 Vanderbilt interests, asked for an order of court 
 appointing a Receiver into whose hands the " seven 
 to ten millions of dollars which had been realized 
 from sales of Erie stock," in violation of an injunc- 
 tion, should be placed, and the matter sent to a 
 referee for a hearing. Against the protests of the 
 Drew counsel, Judge Barnard issued the order re- 
 quested, and appointed George A. Osgood Receiver. 
 As Osgood was a son-in-law of Cornelius Vanderbilt, 
 and a close personal friend of Judge Barnard, who 
 stood charged in the affidavit made before Judge 
 Gilbert with being an accomplice of his and Vander- 
 bilt in the alleged Erie conspiracy, the appointment 
 naturally prompted much suggestive criticism. 
 
 The ink was scarcely dry on the order appointing 
 the Receiver before counsel for the Erie Directors 
 had obtained from Supreme Court Judge Gierke of 
 Ulster County, on petition of George M. Diven of 
 Elmira, an injunction staying all proceedings in the 
 Receivership matter until the first Monday in April, 
 1868. The venue in this proceeding was placed in 
 Steuben County. Proceedings in the matter of the 
 injunction obtained from Judge Gilbert by the Drew 
 party on the Belden affidavit came up before that 
 judge on March iSth, as appointed, and he dis- 
 missed the writ, declaring indignantly from the 
 bench that he had been deceived into issuing it. 
 Thus relieved from that injunction, the Vanderbilt 
 contingent resumed operations on the old line, and 
 filed a motion before Judge Barnard, on March 19th, 
 for the purpose of having the question of the Re- 
 ceivership settled. Judge Barnard issued an order 
 citing the Drew party to appear before him and 
 show cause why Judge Gierke's restraining order 
 should not be vacated. The defendants answered 
 this through counsel with another injunction, issued 
 by Judge Gierke, which was so sweeping that it 
 enjoined all further proceedings on the part of the 
 plaintiffs in any of the actions already begun, and 
 forbade the beginning of new ones, and restrained 
 all actions in the appointment of a Receiver by the 
 
 court, and enjoined all clerks of the Supreme Court 
 of New York from entering any order for such 
 appointment. In defiance of this writ, however. 
 Judge Barnard proceeded in the Receivership mat- 
 ter, and a clerk of the Supreme Court was found 
 possessing sufficient temerity to enter on record this 
 order for Osgood's appointment. But even if no 
 further move had been made to interfere with his 
 Receivership, Osgood would have had some diffi- 
 culty in performing the duties of a Receiver, for the 
 millions he was appointed to receive and adjudicate 
 upon were safe in the watchful custody of the Erie 
 fugitives across the Hudson, in an alien State, and 
 it is not likely that they would have gathered them 
 together, hurried with them to the Receiver, and 
 poured them into his lap. 
 
 Osgood was not permitted, however, to enjoy even 
 the empty honor of the place. An appeal from 
 Judge Barnard's order was taken to the General 
 Term. This was not argued until April 8th, but in 
 the meantime, on March 27th, Judge Ingraham had 
 granted an injunction, the tenth in this remarkable 
 and by no means laudable litigation, by which 
 Osgood was enjoined from acting as Receiver, pend- 
 ing the appeal. The decision was handed down on 
 June 30th. Judges Barnard and Cardozo sustained 
 the appeal (Barnard having issued the original order 
 of Receivership), and Judge Ingraham dissented. 
 Pending this appeal, Peter B. Sweeny, of the Tam- 
 many Ring, had been appointed by Judge Barnard 
 Receiver of the Erie Railway Company in place of 
 Osgood, for what reason was not plain to the com- 
 mon people. 
 
 The popular excitement over the " Erie War," as 
 these scandalous proceedings were called, was in- 
 tense. The questionable operations of the principals 
 in the litigation were supplemented by open insinu- 
 ations that judges concerned in the matter were 
 guilty of bribery and corruption. The subsequent 
 fate of at least two of the judges (Barnard and Car- 
 dozo) went a great way toward substantiating these 
 allegations, for they were removed in disgrace from 
 their high office, on impeachment proceedings taken 
 on charges among which these Erie scandals were 
 much in evidence. 
 
^52 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 The anti-Erie party held that their cause was the 
 holy one, and that it was the duty of the newspapers 
 and the public to sustain it. The Erie party de- 
 clared that theirs was the righteous cause, and that 
 they were doing battle against monopoly, and en- 
 deavoring to avert the evil consequences to the 
 public which would result from the success of their 
 adversaries. The Chamber of Commerce favored 
 the Erie side, on the ground that the success of 
 Vanderbilt would result in the consolidation of the 
 Erie and New York Central Companies, and in the 
 placing of New York- at the mercy of a gigantic rail- 
 road monopoly. 
 
 The flight of Drew and the rest did not strengthen 
 the Erie cause in popular estimation. It was an 
 admission that their contention was an untenable 
 one. They had failed to justify the over-issue of 
 stock, and to extricate themselves from the dilemma 
 they made petition to the New York Legislature to 
 legalize their acts, they having in the meantime 
 obtained from the New Jersey Legislature an act 
 legalizing domicile of the Company in that State. 
 The Erie petition was referred to the Railroad Com- 
 mittee of the New York Assembly, which held it in 
 consideration three weeks, and then reported ad- 
 versely upon it, which report was concurred in, 
 March 27th. 
 
 In the meantime, the Erie muddle and its scandals 
 having become of common notoriety, the New York 
 Senate had taken the matter up, and a special com- 
 mittee, consisting of Senators Pierce, Bradley, Mat- 
 toon, Chapman, and Humphrey, was appointed to 
 examine into the condition of the Company and the 
 charges of corruption made against its managers. 
 (Page 445, " Under the Legislative Probe.") A 
 majority and a minority report were the result of 
 this investigation, the minority report sustaining the 
 Erie management, and recommending the passage 
 of the legalizing bill asked for. Senator Mattoon at 
 first agreed to sign this report, with Senators Chap- 
 man and Humphrey. The day before the committee 
 reported, however, he called on the fugitive Erie 
 officials at Jersey City, and submitted the report to 
 them. This was on March 30th. According to 
 testimony given before the Investigating Committee, 
 he told the Erie people that " the majority of the 
 
 committee had found the thing all right, and thought 
 it was an act of justice to the committee that some 
 representative of the road should go to Albany and 
 explain away the prejudices against the Erie bill." 
 
 The Erie exiles in Jersey City had been hiding 
 there under protection of the police, to be guarded 
 against the possibility of being kidnapped by emis- 
 saries of their opponents, and of being carried by 
 force back to New York State. Fear of arrest had 
 also prevented them from being properly represented 
 at Albany, although Charles O'Connor, of Vander- 
 bilt's counsel, guaranteed Daniel Drew immunity 
 from arrest and safe return to Jersey City if he would 
 simply appear for examination before the Investi- 
 gating Committee, which he did not seem inclined 
 to do. When Senator Mattoon submitted the re- 
 port to them at the Taylor House, the Erie people 
 decided that it would be well for some one of them 
 to go to Albany and give attention to important 
 business there. It was accordingly resolved that an 
 attachment which had been issued against Jay Gould 
 by Judge Barnard on Monday, March 30th, and 
 which was returnable on Saturday, April 4th, should 
 be submitted to, and the Messrs. Field, it was 
 claimed, made an agreement with Sheriff James 
 O'Brien that Mr. Gould should be present then, and 
 that he should not be arrested before that time. 
 Thereupon, on March 30th, Mr. Gould left Jersey 
 City. It was given out at the headquarters of the 
 Erie party in that city that he was on his way West 
 to complete the arrangement with the Michigan 
 Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad Company 
 for the laying of the 87 miles of broad-gauge track 
 from Akron to Toledo. On the morning of March 
 31st, however, the following despatch, received by 
 David Dudley Field, threw the Drew faction into 
 great trepidation, and confused the public as to the 
 westward journey of Mr. Gould: 
 
 Albany, March 31, 1868. 
 David Dudley Field, New York: 
 
 I am just arrested by the Sheriff, returnable Saturday. This. 
 is in violation of your agreement with the Sheriff. Bail, 
 $500,000. Jay Gould. 
 
 It seems that Mr. Gould had arrived at Albany 
 on Monday and taken rooms at the Delavan House. 
 This fact was telegraphed to New York by emissaries 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 'bj 
 
 of the other side, and counsel for that side appHed 
 to Judge Barnard for the issuance of a writ to Sheriff 
 Parr, of Albany, commanding him to arrest Jay 
 Gould at once. The instructions to the Sheriff 
 reached him at I o'clock Tuesday morning, and he 
 took Mr. Gould into immediate custody at his rooms 
 at the hotel. Erastus Corning, on notification from 
 Gould, immediately became bail for Gould's appear- 
 ance before Judge Barnard on Saturday, April 4th. 
 
 On April 1st the Senate Committee made its re- 
 port on the Erie bill, and Jay Gould's surprise may 
 be imagined when he found that Senator Mattoon 
 had changed his mind, and signed a report strongly 
 censuring Drew, Eldridge, Gould, Fisk, and the rest, 
 and approving of the charges made against them, 
 the other signers being Senators Pierce and Bradley. 
 Senators Chapman and Humphrey were left alone 
 on the report recommending the legislation asked 
 for by the Erie management — the very report Sena- 
 tor Mattoon had exhibited at Jersey City, and which 
 the Erie Railway Company had had printed at its 
 own expense, as was sworn to before the committee. 
 The popular explanation for this sudden change on 
 the part of Senator Mattoon was that he had met 
 with more encouragement from the Vanderbilt side 
 than he had received from the Erie. The N'ew York 
 Tribune flatly charged that he had been paid $20,000 
 for changing his mind. 
 
 This presentation of two reports by the Senate 
 Committee on the subject, however, showed a feel- 
 ing so different from that which had been a few days 
 before expressed so emphatically in the Assembly, 
 that the future of the legislation became of intense 
 interest. Up to the making of the report by the 
 Railroad Committee of the Assembly, the Erie inter- 
 ests in this legislation had no apparent head or effect- 
 ive direction, while the opposite side was ably 
 represented in the lobby. So conspicuous had been 
 the pressure of anti-Erie influence at Albany that 
 on the day the Senate Committee made its two 
 reports, and, after long discussion, decided by an 
 impressive majority to refer both reports to the Com- 
 mittee of the Whole for future action, E. M. K. 
 Glenn, Member of Assembly from Wayne County, 
 rose in his place and charged that " the Assembly 
 report on the Erie Railroad bill was bought, and 
 
 that a portion of the vote on this floor, in adopting 
 said report, was bought." He declared that a mem- 
 ber had offered him $500 if he would vote against 
 the Erie bill; that another member had been offered 
 $500 for a similar vote, and that still another had 
 been offered $1,200. The New York Herald ?,-Aid in 
 its money article of April ist: 
 
 The scene in the Assembly to-day when the pot called the 
 kettle black on the subject of bribery and corruption in con- 
 nection with the recent adverse report of the Railway Com- 
 mittee on the bill legalizing the acts of the Erie Company, 
 excited much amusement in the Street, and it goes to show, if 
 the assertions of Mr. Glenn are true, that the " unanimous 
 vote " of the Committee against the bill, and the vote of the 
 Assembly accepting the Committee's report, were paid for 
 in the Central interest. 
 
 Mr. Gould was taken from Albany to New York in 
 the custody of Sheriff James O'Brien, and arraigned 
 before Judge Barnard on April 4th, for a hearing on 
 a charge of contempt of court. Although Judge 
 Barnard and Vanderbilt's counsel were inclined to 
 proceed summarily in the case, David Dudley Field, 
 ex-Judge Pierrepont, James T. Brady, and others of 
 Gould's counsel showed that the court was taking a 
 course not strictly according to law or practice, and 
 one that was likely to make future difficulty for 
 itself, and the Judge decided that there appeared to 
 have been a mistake, and he adjourned the proceed- 
 ings until April 8th, but insisted that Jay Gould 
 must execute a further bail bond, with two sureties 
 who could qualify in $50,000 each, and volunteered 
 the declaration that if Mr. Gould were convicted on 
 the charge, the court would order him to refund the 
 whole of the $10,000,000 worth of Erie stock which 
 had been issued in violation of the order of the 
 court. Immediately after the adjournment of this 
 action, the Sheriff was served with a writ of habeas 
 corpus, commanding him to forthwith produce the 
 body of Jay Gould before Judge Barrett of the Com- 
 mon Pleas. All the eminent counsel on both sides 
 were present at the hearing, and the arguments took 
 up the time of the court until 6 o'clock, when Judge 
 Barrett transferred the custody of Jay Gould from 
 the Sheriff to an officer of the Court of Common 
 Pleas, and appointed James A. Oliver as such officer, 
 to have charge of Gould until he should appear at 
 the adjourned hearing before Judge Barnard on 
 
'54 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 April 8th, and proceedings in the habeas corpus case 
 were put over until the morning of April 7th. Im- 
 mediately after this result, Mr. Gould, being anxious 
 to return to Albany, was advised by counsel that he 
 might do so. 
 
 " No," said Oliver, the officer in charge of Gould. 
 " You are in my custody." 
 
 " But," replied Gould, " you may go with me. I 
 will still be in your custod)'. " 
 
 That seemed to be satisfactory to the officer, and 
 the two took a night train on the New York Central 
 Railroad for Albany. On the way, Mr. Gould com- 
 plained of illness, and his illness became more seri- 
 ous as the journey continued. When they arrived 
 at Albany, Gould immediately sought his room and 
 sent for a physician. Dr. Julian T. Williams, a former 
 Assemblyman from Chautauqua County. Gould's 
 condition remained such that on the nirht before he 
 
 O 
 
 was to appear before Judge Barrett, Court Officer 
 Oliver telegraphed to Judge Barrett that his charge 
 was ill in bed, with phjsicians attending him, and 
 that it was impossible to get him away. This was 
 the first intimation Judge Barrett had that Gould 
 was out of his jurisdiction. He expressed in indig- 
 nant language his opinion of the situation, and ad- 
 journed the case until Saturday, April loth. 
 
 April loth came, but Jay Gould did not appear 
 before Judge Barrett. Oliver was present, though, 
 and made affidavit that he had accompanied Jay 
 Gould to Albany, and, on arriving there, Mr. Gould 
 had said that he was ill, and retired to his room. A 
 physician was summoned, who reported that Mr. 
 Gould could not return to New York, without grave 
 risk to his health, in time for the hearing on April 
 lOth; " but," the affidavit said, " Gould was able to 
 attend sessions of the Legislature, and do business 
 in his room with numerous men." When Oliver 
 insisted (as the affidavit declared) that Mr. Gould 
 should return with him to New York, Gould, on the 
 advice of Hamilton Harris, his counsel, locked him- 
 self in his room and refused to hold any further com- 
 munication with Oliver, and therefore the discom- 
 fited officer was compelled to return to New York 
 and face Judge Barrett alone. The indignation of 
 the Judge was great, and, ignoring the pleas of emi- 
 nent counsel for Gould, he issued an order directing 
 
 Jay Gould and Hamilton Harris to appear before 
 him on April 14th, to show cause why they should 
 not be punished for their alleged misconduct. 
 
 On April 14th the proceedings before Judge Bar- 
 rett were resumed. Jay Gould was not there, but 
 he sent an affidavit denying Oliver's allegations, and 
 insisting that he was too ill to leave Albany. He 
 said he had kept Oliver out of his room because 
 Oliver spent his time in the apartments of Senators 
 William M. Tweed and Thomas J. Creamer, who 
 were antagonistic to Erie interests, and to whom 
 he believed Oliver reported what occurred in his 
 (Gould's) room. Hamilton Harris made an affidavit 
 which was satisfactory to Judge Barrett, but the 
 Judge was not so considerate in Gould's case, and 
 postponed action on his order until Saturday, April 
 i8th. 
 
 In the meantime, a committee had been appointed 
 by the Speaker of the Assembly to investigate the 
 charges made by Assemblyman Glenn. The Com- 
 mittee held one session. Mr. Glenn gave his sworn 
 testimony substantially as he had charged in the 
 Assembly, and another witness corroborated him. 
 Mark Lewis, a notorious lobbyist, and Assembly- 
 man Frear, whom Glenn mentioned as one that had 
 accepted a bribe, swore that Glenn's testimony was 
 false. The committee reported that the charges 
 were not sustained, and Mr. Glenn resigned his seat 
 in the Assembly. 
 
 The action of the Senate on the Erie matter left 
 the question in abeyance in the Legislature. Jay 
 Gould, as will have been seen, remained in Albany. 
 The bill as recommended in the minority report of 
 the Senate Committee was introduced in the Senate. 
 Before a vote upon it was reached the Vanderbilt 
 opposition to it began to grow lukewarm, and finally 
 disappeared entirely, much to the expressed indig- 
 nation of many legislators. The bill having passed 
 the Senate (Senator Mattoon being one of its sup- 
 porters, he having had another sudden change of 
 faith), when it came up for final action in the Assem- 
 bly on April 29th the sentiment that had caused an 
 almost unanimous rejection of it there only a month 
 before had undergone such a radical change that it 
 received the emphatic sanction of that body, and 
 became a law. The acts of the Erie Directory were 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 155 
 
 legalized. The Erie War was, for a time, ended, 
 and the Erie exiles returned to New York. 
 
 The sudden withdrawal of the Vanderbilt opposi- 
 tion to the Erie bill was a mystery to many. One 
 reason, which found much credence, was said to be 
 that Vanderbilt had suddenly discovered that he 
 himself held several millions of the stock he was 
 seeking to prevent being made a legal issue, and 
 that if he succeeded in his fight he would be a loser 
 to just that amount, so he withdrew his forces that 
 he might protect himself. This reason for the with- 
 drawal of the Vanderbilt opposition is believed to 
 be the true one by many persons to this day, but 
 the absurdity of it should be obvious. The fact is, 
 negotiations for a settlement between Vanderbilt 
 and, ostensibly, the Erie Railway Company, but in 
 reality Daniel Drew, had been begun, with a good 
 show of success, and the terms of the proposed set- 
 tlement were so advantageous to the Vanderbilt 
 party that they were content to let the Erie people 
 secure the legislation they were seeking. 
 
 While Gould was at Albany engineering Erie's 
 affairs there. Drew was making stealthy visits to New 
 York and consulting with Vanderbilt. The result of 
 these clandestine meetings he reported to Eldridge, 
 and by the time matters were settled at Albany a 
 plan of compromise with Vanderbilt had been out- 
 lined. Gould had his reasons for not wanting to 
 compromise with Vanderbilt, and, of course, Fisk 
 agreed with Gould ; consequently it was attempted 
 to be made without the knowledge of those two 
 Directors, and a meeting was secretly arranged to be 
 held at the residence of ex-Judge Pierrepont on an 
 evening in the early part of June, 1868, no record 
 being available now to fix it exactly. President 
 Eldridge had made an appointment to meet Gould 
 and Fisk at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, the very night 
 that meeting of the Directors was to be held. The 
 two men called at the hotel according to appoint- 
 ment, but Eldridge was not there. Then Gould 
 suspected that rumors he had heard might have 
 some foundation, and he and Fisk went to the 
 Pierrepont residence. There they surprised the 
 Erie Board and counsel in conference with Vander- 
 bilt and his counsel, and after making, as they 
 declared, vain protest against the transaction and 
 
 the mystery of it, they acquiesced in the settlement, 
 although, according to the sworn testimony of Fisk, 
 they protested to the last that it was illegal and 
 would breed further trouble — which it most surely 
 did. 
 
 On the I2th of June, 1868, on motion of Charles 
 
 A. Rapello, of the Vanderbilt counsel, the various 
 charges against the Erie party — all of which had been 
 decided against them on appeal — were dismissed, 
 and on July 2d the settlement with Vanderbilt was 
 made final. By this settlement Vanderbilt was paid 
 a subsidy of $1,000,000 in cash and guaranteed 
 Boston, Hartford and Erie bonds, and $5,000,000 of 
 the Erie shares he held were bought back from him 
 at 70, the cash equivalent being $3,500,000. Van- 
 derbilt was also allowed to have two seats in the 
 Erie Board, and Drew was to retire. Richard Schell 
 and Frank Work were paid $429,250 in cash, to 
 recompense them for the losses they alleged they 
 had sustained in speculating in Erie through Daniel 
 Drew's manipulations against them. There had 
 been nothing for a Receiver to receive, and as a 
 balm for his not having had a chance at the Erie 
 treasury, Peter B. Sweeny, who had been appointed 
 to an impossible task, was paid $150,000. These 
 difficulties and scandals had primarily been inflicted 
 on the Erie Railway Company by Daniel Drew in 
 his individual capacity, working for his own inter- 
 ests, but their enormous cost was paid from Erie's 
 beleaguered treasury. The cost in lawyers' fees to 
 the Erie of this " War" also ran up into the hun- 
 dreds of thousands, as may well be imagined from 
 the calibre of counsel engaged in the Company's 
 behalf — David Dudley Field, Thomas G. Shearman, 
 Dudley Field, ex-Judge James K. Porter, Dorman 
 
 B. Eaton, A. F. Smith, and a host of other legal 
 lights. What the legislation this disgraceful " Erie 
 War" made necessary cost the Company is known 
 only to those now living who were in the secrets of 
 that shady chapter in Erie history. 
 
 The last act in all the blustering, opera-bouffe in- 
 cidents of the Erie litigation of 1868 occurred on 
 June 30th of that year, when Judge Barnard, whose 
 feelings had been so frequently lacerated by insinua- 
 tions, if not positive charges, of counsel that he was 
 by no means a party entirely disinterested in the 
 
156 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 success of the anti-Erie litigants, fined Directors 
 Diven, Lane, Eldridge, Davis, Tliompson, and Sl^id- 
 more $iO each for technical contempt. The punish- 
 ment to be inflicted on those larger defiers of the 
 dignity of the court, Messrs. Drew, Gould, and Fisk, 
 Judge Barnard took further time to consider. What 
 penalty he decided upon was never known, for he 
 never announced it, and with the confirmation, on 
 the same day, by Judges Barnard and Cardozo, 
 sitting with Judge Ingraham in General Term of the 
 Supreme Court, of the action of Judge Barnard in 
 the appointment of Charles A. Osgood as Receiver 
 of the Erie Railway Company, the curtain fell on 
 the costly and malodorous farce. 
 
 The documents of the Company bearing on this 
 almost incredible chapter of Erie history tell the 
 story in cold detail and sequence, but establish its 
 facts by the incontrovertible seal of official authority. 
 
 GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT RIDDLE TO PRESIDENT 
 ELDRIDGE. 
 
 Office of General Superintendent, 
 
 New York, March 3, 1868. 
 Hon. John S. Eldridge, President Erie Railway : 
 
 Sir: — On the 3d of December I addressed a communication 
 to the Vice-President recommending the purchase of 5,000 
 tons of steel rails, and at an interview with you, I expressed 
 the opinion that 15,000 to 18,000 tons of rails would be re- 
 quired for the repairs of track during the year 1868. Since 
 that opinion was given, we have passed through three months 
 of unusually severe winter weather and moved more than an 
 average winter tonnage, with the road bed frozen solid as a 
 rock, the rails encased in snow and ice, so that it has been 
 impossible to do much in the way of repairs; the iron rails have 
 broken, laminated and worn out beyond all precedent, until 
 there is scarce a mile of your road, except that laid with steel 
 rails, between Jersey City and Salamanca or Buffalo, where 
 it is safe to run a train at the ordinary passenger train speed, 
 and many portions of the road can only be traversed safely by 
 reducing the speed of all trains to twelve or fifteen miles per 
 hour, solely on account of the worn out and rotten condition 
 of the rails. Broken wheels, axles, engines, and trains run off 
 the track have been of daily, almost hourly, occurrence for the 
 last two months, caused mostly by defective rails. Fully one 
 thousand broken rails were taken from the track in the month 
 of January, while the number removed on account of lamina- 
 tions, crushing or wearing out was much greater. February 
 will show a still worse record than January. 
 
 The failure of rails is confined to no particular make, al- 
 though there is a difference, csily observed, between those 
 made at Scranton and those re-rolled at Elmira. The former 
 break readily into many pieces, and by so doing are pretty 
 sure to throw a train from the track; a large number of these 
 
 rails have broken with less than six months' service, some with 
 scarce one month's wear. 
 
 The Elmira re-rolled iron seldom breaks until very much 
 worn, but it does not possess the hardness and durability found 
 in the Scranton iron, when the latter has strength to resist 
 breaking strains. 
 
 With the ten miles of track laid with the John Brown Besse- 
 mer steel, no fault need be found. But one rail has broken 
 during the winter, and no lamination, and very little wear is 
 perceptible. Twenty steel rails were laid in Jersey Lity yard 
 last March; the iron rails adjoining, subject to the same wear, 
 have been renewed four times since the steel was put down, 
 and I have no doubt the steel rails will outlast three times as 
 many more iron rails. 
 
 This winter's experience has satisfied me that the quality 
 and weight of the iron rails in use cannot be depended upon 
 to sustain the traffic of the Erie Railway. Forty-two ton loco- 
 motives, hauling trains of fifty and sixty loaded cars, and 
 passenger engines weighing thiity-seven tons, running at a 
 speed of thirty to forty miles per hour, literally crush and grind 
 out the iron rails beneath them. Instances have been reported 
 to me of rails removed from track too much worn for safety, 
 where the first imperfection was visible the day before. 
 
 In view of this state of things what is the remedy? Mani- 
 festly the adoption of steel rails as far as practicable, and iron 
 rails of superior quality and heavier section, to be followed 
 by the gradual reduction of the weight of engines and cars, 
 as new equipment becomes necessary. The tendency of late 
 years has been to larger and more powerful locomotives, and 
 heavier, stronger cars, and this has been carried to such an 
 extent as to render them out of all proportion to the strength 
 and durability of the track. Especially has this been the fact 
 upon the Erie Railway. 
 
 The condition of the iron at the present date is such as to 
 give me much anxiety and apprehension for the safety of trains. 
 We cannot and do not attempt to make the schedule time with 
 our trains; nearly all lose from two to five hours in passing 
 over the road, and it has been only by the exercise of extreme 
 caution we have been able thus far to escape serious accident. 
 
 A very large quantity of rails must be laid as soon as the 
 weather will permit and they can be furnished. 
 
 In conclusion, I desire to modify my estimate of the quantity 
 of rails required for the current year. After a careful observa- 
 tion of the whole road, assisted by information obtained from 
 Division Superintendents and Track Master, I have come to 
 the conclusion that twenty-five thousand tons of rails will be 
 needed to keep up your track in 1868, and I would earnestly 
 recommend that as large a proportion as possible shall be of 
 steel. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 H. Riddle, General Supt. 
 
 Office of General Superintendent, 
 
 New York, March 3, 1868. 
 Hon. John S. Eldridge, President Erie Railway : 
 
 Sir: — A careful review of the present condition of the 
 Motive Power of the Erie Railway Company enables me to 
 present the following statement for your consideration: 
 
 The company own 371 locomotives — of this number about 
 thirty are condemned as entirely useless, and some forty more 
 are of but little value, owing to their long service and general 
 infirmity being considered unsafe to carry even moderate steam 
 pressure, and sure to break down if run long distances. Two 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 157 
 
 hundred and twenty engines have performed over ten years' 
 service, and 143 of that number over fifteen years' service. The 
 master mechanics report 128 of these locomotives as requiring 
 new boilers, and recommend the complete reconstruction of 
 107 of the number, whenever the boilers shall be renewed, or 
 in other words, instead of giving the old engine a new boiler, 
 it is deemed more to the interest of the company to construct 
 a complete new engine, for the following reasons: Most of 
 these engines are of the kind known as half crank engines, 
 an expensive and troublesome class to keep in repair. The 
 engines having been so long in service, no dependence can be 
 placed upon the strength and durability of any of their parts — 
 they are of a great variety of patterns, and make it necessary 
 to keep a very large stock of materials on hand to provide 
 against breakages, there being something over sixty different 
 kinds of engines on the Erie road. It will be seen by the 
 foregoing that the company have only 300 serviceable engines, 
 considerably less than that of really efficient ones. From 15 
 to 25 per cent, are in shops undergoing repairs, ordinarily, 
 at this season often a large proportion. Our mechanics 
 estimate the life of an engine Jit fifteen years. Assuming that 
 to be true, we should build twenty every year to keep our 300 
 good, to say nothing of the seventy now idle and worthless; 
 but as we have added by purchase and construction only twelve 
 new engines to our stock during the last two years, we are at 
 the present moment some twenty-eight engines short of what 
 we should have to make good the depreciation. In view, 
 therefore, of the certain increase of the coal tonnage, and prob- 
 able increase of both through and way traffic, I feel justified 
 in saying that there should be fifty new locomotives added to 
 the equipment of the road during the next twelve months. In 
 the company's shops at Susquehanna and Dunkirk, if worked 
 to their capacity, with slight increase of machiner}', it is esti- 
 mated thirty engines per annum can be built — at present we 
 are working only force sufficient to build about one-third of 
 that number. The engines built in the company's shops, in 
 point of strength, durability, and perfection of workmanship 
 far excel those procured from locomotive builders, and while 
 their cost may fully equal, perhaps exceed, the price for which 
 similar engines may be contracted for, I yet deem it good 
 policy to fully employ our own facilities for the construction of 
 engines. 
 
 To fill out the number I have ventured to suggest as needed, 
 twenty will be required outside of the company's ability to 
 construct. These I would contract for to be built after speci- 
 fications and plans, to be furnished by the company's officers 
 and under the inspection of a good mechanic to be selected 
 and paid by the Railway Company. In this way I think we 
 could obtain satisfactory machines. 
 
 I also deem it necessary to recommend an increase of freight 
 and coal cars. Say 300 box freight cars and 100 coal cars in 
 addition to those heretofore ordered. 
 
 The coal cars are sure to be needed, and the box freight 
 cars, unless the freight traffic should fall ofif contrary to all 
 expectations. 
 
 Respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 H. Riddle, General Supt. 
 
 P. S. — Since writing the foregoing report, I have learned 
 from General Potter that he is desirous of establishing stock 
 yards at Urbana and Cincinnati, on the line of the Atlantic 
 and Great Western Railway, and taking stock for the New York 
 market, that has hitherto gone via Pittsburgh, provided the 
 Erie will furnish her full proportion of stock cars. This we 
 
 cannot do without adding, say, 200 stock cars to our present 
 number, and to meet this and other demands, I would respect- 
 fully submit the following estimate for new cars: 
 
 300 box cars, at $800 $240,000 
 
 200 box cattle cars, at $900 180,000 
 
 100 coal dumps, at $625 62,500 
 
 82,500 
 
 THE WAIL OF DREW. 
 
 [Report of the Executive Committee, made to the Board 
 March 9, 1868.) 
 
 The Executive Committee beg to submit to the Board of 
 Directors a separate report of their doings under the powers 
 conferred upon them by the Board, on the 19th day of Feb- 
 ruary last, by the following: 
 
 It being necessary for the finishing, completing, and operat- 
 ing the road of the company, to borrow money — 
 
 Resolved, That under the provisions of the statute author- 
 izing the loan of money for such purposes, the Executive Com- 
 mittee be authorized to borrow such sum as may be necessary, 
 and to issue therefor such security as is provided for in such 
 cases by the laws of this State, and that the President and 
 Secretary be authorized, under the seal of the company, to 
 execute all needful and proper agreements and undertakings 
 for such purposes. 
 
 Early in the winter the President called the attention of the 
 Committee to the condition of the road, and to the probable 
 wants of the company during the coming summer. At several 
 sessions of the Committee the subject was informally consid- 
 ered, and it was discussed, as well between the members of the 
 Committee as with Mr. Riddle and the Vice-President, and it 
 was substantially agreed to by all, that the best interest of 
 the company called upon us, so far as we might be able to do 
 so, to replace iron with steel rails whenever removals were 
 made, and to double track the Delaware .Division also with 
 steel rails. It was also supposed that the new storehouses 
 now being constructed for the Central and Hudson River 
 Railroad, in St. John's Park, would give them such an ad- 
 vantage over us in the transportation from storehouses of 
 heavy freight destined for competing points in the West, that 
 we should be forced to construct equally good accommoda- 
 tions at Long Dock. Several private parties were in negotia- 
 tion with us for the privilege of erecting such storehouses, as 
 well as of erecting grain storehouses and elevators, but we 
 thought it the best policy for the company to own the build- 
 ings if possible. The Superintendent had also informed us 
 that the new equipment was needed for increasing business of 
 the company, and we had informally determined that when 
 these things should so take shape that we could make a definite 
 report thereon to the Board, we would advise that the neces- 
 sary capital be raised by the sale of the convertible bonds of 
 the company, under the powers conferred upon the company 
 by the General Railroad Law. Of the power to issue such 
 bonds, and of the right to comply with the terms of such a 
 contract by authorizing the conversion of such a bond into 
 stock, we did not entertain a doubt. Our predecessors had 
 claimed and exercised the right of increasing the capital stock 
 of the company by conversion of bonds as early as 1863, and 
 had reported the same to the Legislature, and had continued 
 to exercise the right and to report their action to the Legis- 
 lature without criticism. The New York Central Company 
 
158 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 had exercised the same right also to the amount of over 
 $3,000,000, and had from time to time reported their doings 
 to the Legislature without criticism, and the holders of the 
 stock created by such conversions in each company had exer- 
 cised their right of voting, as stockholders, without challenge. 
 The same may be said of the Hudson River Railroad Com- 
 pany, and of most of the railroad companies in this State. 
 
 The construction of the law was universal in favor of the 
 right to issue convertible bonds, and to convert those bonds 
 into stock if called upon, even though the amount of capital 
 stock should be increased thereby beyond the amount named 
 in the charter, and it never entered into our heads to doubt a 
 right so universally claimed and exercised. 
 
 While we were maturing these schemes for increasing the 
 efficiency of your road and its equipment, we were also, under 
 the authority conferred upon us by you, negotiating for the 
 extension of its business connections, so as to reap the full 
 advantage of the new capital to put in the property. We con- 
 tracted with the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana 
 Railroad Company to have them put a third rail on their road 
 so soon as other parties should take the broad gauge to 
 Toledo. It is needless for us to point out to you the immense 
 value of this connection to the Erie Railway Company. We 
 also consented to the deposit of the bonds of the Boston, Hart- 
 ford, and Erie Railroad Company, issued under the agree- 
 ment between that company and this company, as collateral 
 with several parties who loaned their property to aid in the 
 construction of that valuable connection. And just as we had 
 so far completed these several important matters as to be ready 
 to report them to you, we received reliable information that an 
 attack in the courts was immediately to be made upon the Erie 
 Railway Company, in the interests of the New York Central 
 Railroad Company, to restrain us from extending our con- 
 nections and to localize our road — in fact, to destroy its value 
 as a competitor with that powerful company. The first blow 
 struck was a suit discrediting this company, by charging a 
 former board as having been in collusion with Mr. Drew in 
 certain alleged frauds in his contracts with the company, and 
 the present board as guilty in permitting the conversion of the 
 stock of the Buffalo, Bradford and Pittsburgh Railroad Com- 
 pany. The second blow followed soon after in the summary 
 removal of Mr. Drew from his office as Director, and a prayer 
 for his removal from his office as Treasurer. One of these 
 suits was in the name of Mr. Frank Work, then a Director in 
 this Board, and the other was instigated by him, notwith- 
 standing the fact that he voted to make Mr. Drew a Director 
 and the Treasurer of this company, with a full knowledge of all 
 the facts which he charges to be fraudulent and the further 
 fact that he voted for the conversion of all the leases of the 
 company, including the Buffalo, Bradford and Pittsburgh 
 Road. The motive for this otherwise unaccountable change 
 of front on Mr. Work's part is to be found in the well-known 
 fact that he was put into this Board in the interest of the 
 Hudson River and Central Railroad, and that when he refused 
 to become a party to the schemes of Mr. Vanderbilt and his 
 friends to create a gigantic monopoly for the benefit of the 
 Central line, Mr. Work's interest was exposed. 
 
 It was under these circumstances that you gave us authority 
 to issue and sell convertible bonds for the purpose of com- 
 pleting, finishing, and operating our road; and although, ow- 
 ing to the hostile presence of Mr. Work, we could not discuss 
 this matter as freely as we could have wished, yet you reposed 
 a generous confidence in us, and, we believe, anticipated in 
 advance what our course would be. 
 
 There was but one course open to us as prudent men, 
 charged with the protection of the interests of the Erie Rail- 
 way Company, as distinguished from those of rival lines, 
 namely, to secure, before it was too late, the means to meet 
 the necessary expenditures we have alluded to. and, after full 
 discussion of the matter, we authorized the creation, issue, and 
 sale of ten millions of dollars of convertible bonds, the entire 
 proceeds of which would not be more than enough for the 
 contemplated improvements. 
 
 Notwithstanding the unwarrantable attacks upon us, we took 
 no steps to defend ourselves. We continued our negotiations 
 with the New York Central, Hudson River and Harlem Com- 
 panies for the consolidation of rates. Some of us were slow to 
 believe that they could be implicated in such proceedings, and 
 all of us thought that we ought to continue to maintain 
 amicable relations with them so long as we could do so without 
 a sacrifice of our self-respect. The next of these suits, how- 
 ever, made it our imperative duty to take steps to protect the 
 Erie Railway Company, for we were enjoined — and still 
 at the suit of Mr. Work — from carrying out our agreement 
 to convert our convertible bonds into stock. When you re- 
 member that independently of the ten millions of bonds which 
 we authorized as above to be issued and sold, there are, not- 
 withstanding, some nine millions more of bonds which are 
 convertible into the common stock of the company, you will 
 see how disastrous it may be to our credit to have a court as- 
 sume to compel us repudiate our contracts. We were further 
 enjoined from making certain transfers of stock, from carry- 
 ing out our contracts with the Michigan Southern Company, 
 and with the Boston, Hartford and Erie Company, and the 
 injunction further contained the usual shots against Mr. Drew. 
 There was no mistaking the purpose of this suit. It meant 
 destruction to the credit of the Erie Railway Company, the 
 localization of its traffic, the severance of its terminal con- 
 nections, denial of the means necessary to give it a proper, 
 suitable, or safe equipment, its prostration to the interests of 
 the New York Central Railroad Company and its final ad- 
 ministration in their interest, and all this was done at the 
 instigation of one of our own Directors. We accepted the 
 issue and authorized the commencement of a suit, in which 
 Mr. Work is enjoined as serving as a Director in this Board, 
 and from proceeding with his suits. Copies of these proceed- 
 ings will be furnished to each Director, and we hope you will 
 carefully read them. 
 
 The Senate has taken this matter up, and a committee has 
 been appointed to examine into the condition of the company, 
 and into the charges made against it in the newspapers and 
 in the Supreme Court, and the hearing is to commence on the 
 loth inst. To this tribunal we confidently appeal. If it be true 
 that in converting three millions of dollars of bonded debt, 
 and in contracting to convert nine millions more (irrespective 
 of our late proceedings), the Erie Railway Company has ex- 
 ceeded its corporate powers, it is equally true that the New 
 York Central Railroad Company has exceeded its powers in 
 converting $3,200,000 of its bonded debt. And it is in the 
 power of the Legislature to afford both companies, by ratifying 
 acts, the fullest protection. And, on the other hand, if it be 
 true, as we believe it to be, that the Legislature intended to 
 confer upon railroad companies the wise, just, and most 
 reasonable power of shifting its debt into capital stock when 
 it can be done, and if, in consequence of the exercise of that 
 power, in good faith and the best interests of this company, 
 speculators and rival lines have assailed us and cast a cloud 
 upon our issues of stock, we feel ourselves equally justified in 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 159 
 
 asking the Legislature to remove that cloud, and the summons 
 to go to Albany has only anticipated by a few days our re- 
 quest for a hearing and for a remedy to allay the doubts and 
 disquietudes of those who hold the stock of this company. 
 
 It only remains to state the wants of the company, to meet 
 which the late issue of bonds was made. More detailed state- 
 ments thereof are to be found in the report of the General 
 Superintendent herewith submitted: 
 
 STATEMENT. 
 
 17,000 tons of new iron, at $75 $1,275,000 
 
 8,000 tons of steel rails, at $145 1,160,000 
 
 50 locomotives, at $15,000 750,000 
 
 300 box cars, at $800 240,000 
 
 200 box cattle cars, at $900 180,000 
 
 100 coal dumps, at $625 62,500 
 
 200 coal dumps for bituminous coal 125,000 
 
 Double track on Delaware Division 2,790,000 
 
 Passenger stations at Long Dock, Buffalo, 
 
 and Rochester 400,000 
 
 Storehouses for teas, sugar, grain, cotton, 
 
 etc., at Long Dock 1,000,000 
 
 Elevator at Long Dock 300,000 
 
 Elevator at Buffalo 150,000 
 
 New depot lands and river front at New- 
 burgh 225,000 
 
 Ferry slips at 23d Street 25,000 
 
 New ferryboat for 23d Street service 75,000 
 
 $8,757,500 
 All of which is respectfully submitted, 
 
 John S. Eldridge, President. 
 New York, March 9, 1868. 
 
 OPENING THE WAY FOR DREW. 
 {Resoluiio7is of the Board at the Meeting above held.) 
 
 Resolved, That the Report of the Executive Committee just 
 read be approved, and their acts therein set forth be confirmed, 
 so far as they need confirmation, and so far as this Board may 
 legally and lawfully confirm them. 
 
 Resolved, That the President be instructed to carry out on 
 behalf of this Board the policy which the Executive Committee 
 have inaugurated, to wit: that he be directed to purchase 17,- 
 000 tons of iron rails (or contract for re-rolling a part of the 
 same), and 8,000 tons of steel rails; that he be directed to cause 
 to be constructed for the road the number of locomotives and 
 cars recommended by the General Superintendent and the 
 Committee; that he be directed to proceed at once with the 
 double tracking of the Delaware Division; that he cause plans 
 to be made and submitted to this Board for a new passenger 
 station and for storehouses and elevators at Jersey City; 
 also plans for new depots at Buffalo and Rochester; that he 
 take steps for the construction of a new ferryboat and for slips 
 at the foot of 23d Street, and for the opening of the 23d Street 
 ferry as soon as the river is free from ice, and that he report 
 to this Board the cost of the proposed new accommodations 
 at Newburgh, with a plan of the same. 
 
 Resolved, That it is and always has been, and as long as the 
 present administrption remains in power it will continue to be, 
 the policy of the Erie Railway Company to afford to the public 
 on the line of our road and at its termini, ample accommo- 
 
 dations for the transportation of passengers and freight, at the 
 lowest rates that are consistent with the return of a proper 
 remuneration upon the capital invested in the Erie Railway, 
 its branches and ferries, and that we are opposed to any 
 monopoly; that it is the true interest of the sterling bond- 
 holders, of the preferred stockholders and of the common 
 stockholders, to join in resisting the suits referred to in the 
 report of the Executive Committee. 
 
 Resolved, That the President be fully authorized to carry out 
 the views of the Board, as expressed in these resolutions. 
 
 THE APPEASING OF VANDERBILT. 
 
 {Abstract from the Minutes of the Board of Directors, July 
 10, 1868.) 
 
 John S. Eldridge, President, submitted the following report: 
 
 To the Board of Directors of the Erie Railway Company : 
 
 On the thirteenth day of June last, the Executive Committee 
 passed the following resolution: 
 
 " Whereas, there are now pending legal proceedings and suits 
 against the Erie Railway Company and various of its officers, 
 in which orders have been made restraining the actions of 
 such officers and company, by means of which said company 
 has suffered great loss and injury, and which suits and pro- 
 ceedings, and the questions therein involved, now threaten, if 
 not com.promised and discontinued, to be the cause of yet 
 greater loss and injury to said company and its shareholders; 
 and this company seeing no means of securing the necessary 
 exercise of its authority and franchise, and of preventing pro- 
 tracted and ruinous litigation, but through some arrange- 
 ments to be promptly made by which all said suits and pro- 
 ceedings may be discontinued, and the subjects of controversy 
 therein may be adjusted and settled; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the President of the company is hereby 
 authorized to negotiate, conclude, and execute all such ar- 
 rangements, contracts, and compromises, and such acts in the 
 name and behalf of the Erie Railway Company, as in his 
 opinion may be necessary and proper, to secure the discon- 
 tinuance of all said suits and proceedings, to compromise and 
 adjust all matters therein involved, or referred to, including 
 all matters and questions between said company and Daniel 
 Drew, and to fully protect this company from further litigation 
 and embarrassment in connection with any of the bodies, per- 
 sons, or matters in said suits or proceedings named or referred 
 to, and that the Secretary, by the use of the seal of the company 
 and otherwise, as made needful by the acts of the President, 
 under the general power, join in the execution of any contract 
 and arrangement that may be made by the President in the 
 name or behalf of the Erie Railway Company," 
 
 I have now to report to the Board, that under the authority 
 conferred upon me, by said resolution, I have done as follows: 
 
 1st. I have secured a settlement and withdrawal of all suits, 
 and all the interlocutory orders therein, including the decree 
 for the Receiver of the special fund by the payment, under order 
 of court, of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to the Re- 
 ceiver, and four hundred and eighty-four thousand two hundred 
 and fifty dollars to sundry other parties, the vouchers for which 
 are on file in the Treasurer's office. 
 
 2d. That as part of the settlement, it has been arranged to 
 relieve Cornelius Vanderbilt and other parties of five millions 
 of their stock, and to give them two seats in the Board; also, 
 that the Erie Company shall purchase of the Boston, Hartford 
 and Erie Company five millions of dollars of their bonds, the 
 
i6o 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 interest of which is to be protected by the Erie Railway Com- 
 pany under the contract, and that the contesting parties are to 
 take of the Erie Company, in the settlement, twelve hundred 
 and fifty thousand dollars of such bonds, at the price paid for 
 them. 
 
 3d. That as part of the settlement, it was further arranged 
 that Mr. Drew should retire from the Board and the Treasurer- 
 ship, and should pay the company for a discharge and release 
 under his contract, the sum of five hundred and fifty thousand 
 dollars, with interest adjusted to date of settlement. 
 
 4th. That in order to raise means to take stock from Mr. 
 Vanderbilt and other parties, arrangements have been made 
 for temporary loans on the stock, with the usual margin of 
 ten per cent. 
 
 5th. I also report a form of contract agreed upon with the 
 Vice-President of the Boston, Hartford and Erie Company, 
 to carry out the above arrangement, which I ask authority to 
 have executed and delivered as follows: 
 
 Memorandum of an agreement made the ninth day of July, 
 A.D., 1868, by and between the Erie Railway Company, 
 party of the first part, and the Boston, Hartford &= Erie 
 Railroad, party of the second part. 
 
 Whereas, in and by an agreement between the parties hereto, 
 and Dudley S. Gregory and J. C. Bancroft Davis, Trustees, 
 dated October 8, 1867, it was agreed, among other things, by 
 the party of the first part hereto, that the interest upon said 
 bonds should be paid, as will more particularly appear by refer- 
 ence to said last named agreement. And, whereas, afterward a 
 certain other agreement supplementary thereto was entered into 
 between the parties hereto, dated the i8th day of December last, 
 whereby, among other things, it was agreed that certain of 
 the said mortgage bonds should be deposited with certain 
 parties loaning their property to John S. Eldridge, to aid in the 
 construction of the road of the party of the second part, as col- 
 lateral security for the repayment of the said loans, and such 
 bonds have been deposited as collateral to the amount of five 
 hundred and thirty-seven bonds, each for the amount of one 
 thousand dollars, as will more fully appear by reference to the 
 said supplemental agreement, and the several agreements with 
 the parties so loaning their property. And, whereas, the said 
 several agreements having been made the subject of litigation, 
 the writs concerning the same have been settled and adjusted 
 upon terms, part of which are hereinafter expressed. 
 
 Now, therefore, it is agreed between the parties as follows: 
 
 1st. That the ninth clause of the said agreement, dated 
 October 8, 1867, is to be, and hereby is, so modified and 
 changed, that the party of the first part hereto shall agree in 
 manner and form as therein provided, with the several holders 
 of such bonds, to the amount of five millions of dollars, in lieu 
 of four millions, as therein stated, that the interest on their 
 respective bonds shall be paid according to the terms of the 
 coupons thereon. 
 
 2d. That the party of the first part shall, and hereby doth, 
 purchase of the party of the second part, who doth sell the 
 same to the party of the first part, the entire issue of the said 
 five thousand bonds, for one thousand dollars each, upon 
 which the said agreement with the holders thereof is indorsed, 
 including the bonds so deposited as collateral, and doth agree 
 to pay for the same at the rate of eight hundred dollars for 
 each bond of one thousand dollars, payable one million of 
 dollars on demand, and the balance in sums of one hundred 
 and fifty thousand dollars cash each month, commencing on 
 the first day of January next, and continuing until the full 
 
 sum of five millions of dollars is paid. Coupons maturing after 
 the time of each payment, belong to the party of the first part. 
 3d. Except as herein modified, said original agreements, 
 and said agreements supplementary thereto, shall stand in full 
 force. 
 
 SADDLING THE B., H. & E. BONDS ON ERIE. 
 
 {From General Diven's Testimony before the Hepburn In- 
 vestigating Committee, 1879.) 
 
 During Mr. Berdell's administration, the Erie was always 
 embarrassed in its New England trade for want of communi- 
 cation. They had only a water communication, while the New 
 York Central had a railroad communication. The Boston, 
 Hartford and Erie Railroad Company contemplated a con- 
 nection of this road with the Erie at Newburgh — with the 
 Newburgh Branch. A good deal of their railroad had been 
 constructed by different companies. These companies had 
 been consolidated, and they had a completed road to Willi- 
 mantic, but lacked a link from there to Danbury, upon which a 
 good deal of work was done, and they wanted to finish it from 
 Danbury to Newburgh. They presented the condition of their 
 road to the Erie Directors, and askfd us to aid them to com- 
 plete that road. Myself and Mr. Gregory were appointed a 
 committee to go to Boston and examine the line of road and 
 ascertain by estimates the probable cost of completing it to 
 Newburgh. We satisfied ourselves of the value of the line. 
 They had a great deal of excellent work — an excellent road, 
 and some of it in operation. Our estimate of the amount 
 necessary to complete it was $4,000,000 of the bonds of the 
 Boston, Hartford and Erie Company, conditioned that the 
 company would give the Erie Railway Company the right to 
 fix the rates upon freight going from the Erie to their road, 
 which should be a fund going into the hands of the Trustees 
 to meet the interest upon those bonds. It was only the in- 
 terest on the bonds that was to be guaranteed. The report 
 further recommended that these bonds should remain in the 
 hands of the Trustees, Mr. Bancroft Davis and Mr. Gregory, 
 to be sold by them not below par, the proceeds to be kept 
 by them and annually paid out upon vouchers for work done. 
 That was the character of the report made, and a vote of the 
 Berdell board was passed approving of it, and directing a 
 contract to be drawn in accordance with that report. This was 
 near the close of Mr. Berdell's administration. Soon after the 
 close of that administration and the inauguration of the Eld- 
 ridge administration, I was told by Mr. Fisk to look out. 
 Some difficulty had arisen between Fisk and Gould and Eld- 
 ridge. I was told by Fisk to look out for Eldridge; that he 
 was going to get all of those bonds. I told Fisk that he could 
 not; that the Trustees A"ould not let him have them; that they 
 could not let him have them. He said I was mistaken. What 
 he said to me led me to examine the contract, which I found 
 to be a contract for the guarantee of five millions instead of 
 four millions, and for the delivery to the Boston, Hartford and 
 Erie of the whole of the bonds when a contract should be 
 made for the construction of the road that was satisfactory 
 to the Trustees — different entirely from the original agreement. 
 I made some muss about it, but I was assured that the bonds 
 were all there and would not be delivered except for work. 
 The next I knew about them was t" at they had all been bought 
 by the Erie Railway Company from the Boston, Hartford and 
 Erie Railroad Company, and cash paid for them. That is the 
 way the Erie came' to have those bonds as their own property. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF JAY GOULD— 1868 TO 1872. 
 
 I. A Battle of Giants : Eldridge Satisfied, Retires — Jay Gould Becomes President of Erie — Franl^ly Declaring His Policy — Daniel 
 Drew Consents to a Combination with the New Erie Managers and Deserts Them — A Wild Wall Street Time, and Drew Gets on 
 His Knees to Gould and Kisk — They Spurn Him — The Story of Two Erie Receivers. II. Gould Supreme: His Great Plans 
 for Erie — They Amaze the Managers of Rival Railroads, and Force Them to Action — The Story of the Famous Classification Act — 
 A Rosy Report and a Rising Cloud. Ill, Breakers Ahead: An Inquiry for Dividends — The Experience of Foreign Stock- 
 holders with Gould Methods — Gould's Plan to Reform Erie, and Why it Failed — The Shadow of the Fisk Tragedy. IV. The 
 Ship on the Rocks : The Influence of McHenry — He Yearns for Gould's Downfall, and Employs Gen. Daniel E. Sickles to 
 Bring it About — The Incident of Lord Gordon Gordon — ^ Betrayed by His Friends, Jay Gould is Overthrown. V. The Docu- 
 ments IN the Case : Statement of Frederick A. Lane — O'Doherty's Cablegrams — Crouch's Letters — The Stories of Barlow, 
 Gould, and the Rest. 
 
 L A BATTLE OF GIANTS. 
 
 It was plain, even to those uninitiated in the 
 manners and methods of Wall Street, that the with- 
 drawal of the Vanderbilt opposition to the legislation 
 sought by the Erie management, and the passage of 
 the bill legalizing conditionally the over-issue of the 
 stock of that Company, indicated that a settlement 
 or compromise of some kind between the warring fac- 
 tions was in progress of negotiation, if its details had 
 not already been agreed upon. The subsequent pro- 
 ceedings in the courts were so palpably a mere mat- 
 ter of cold formality, enlivened although they were 
 by startling verbal encounters between counsel, who 
 gave them a showing of sincerity by elaborate argu- 
 ments on the legal and moral aspects of acts that had 
 for weeks (as the public innocently believed) aroused 
 the indignation of the bar and outraged the dignity 
 of the bench, that the press gave only dry reports of 
 them, which the public read with but passing inter- 
 est. It was known early in July, 1868, that the 
 settlement between Drew and Vanderbilt had been 
 made, but beyond the fact that Drew had retired 
 from the Erie management, and that John S. Eldridge 
 had resigned as President and returned to Boston, 
 his place being filled by the appointment of Jay 
 Gould as President pro tern., which incidents were 
 followed by various rumors as to the terms upon 
 which they had been brought about, nothing was 
 known to those outside the circles immediately in- 
 
 volved, and it is doubtful if the public would ever 
 have been put into full knowledge of the extent of 
 the outrage that prostrate Erie was forced to submit 
 to in the squaring of the personal differences of con- 
 scienceless speculators, if one of them had not, in his 
 retirement, conspired with later custodians of the 
 Erie treasury to once more manipulate the Com- 
 pany's stock in such a way that he and they might 
 fatten on it to its further demoralization and the 
 possible ruin of the many investors ignorant of the 
 trap thus being spread for them. It was not the 
 conspiracy, either, that brought about the exposure. 
 It was the treachery of Daniel Drew to his co-con- 
 spirators, by which he sought to gain still greater 
 profit for himself at their great loss (as he believed), 
 that bared to the public the transaction by which 
 the Erie treasury had been looted to purchase his 
 immunity from the vengeance of Cornelius Vander- 
 bilt. But in this new operation in Erie he had 
 reckoned without his host. Pitted against him 
 now were men schooled in his own methods. They 
 were resourceful, merciless, and bold to a degree. 
 The wily old speculator had overreached himself at 
 last. 
 
 Soon after Drew had retired from the Erie man- 
 agement, he remarked, in his quaint way, to Com- 
 modore Vanderbilt one day : 
 
 " There ain't nothin' in Ary no more, C'neel." 
 " Don't you believe it!" replied the long-headed 
 New York Central magnate. 
 
l62 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 But Daniel Drew was correct — in one respect. 
 There was nothing more in Erie for him. Nothing 
 but personal humiliation, broken prestige, financial 
 disaster. 
 
 All through the summer of 1868 the feeling in 
 financial circles in regard to Erie was ominous. Dis- 
 quieting rumors were constantly afloat. The Street 
 seemed flooded with Erie stock, and it was declared 
 that the new management had no need for it, as they 
 already held more than three-quarters of the entire 
 capital, thus insuring their control of the Company 
 at the annual October election. The closing of the 
 transfer books of the Company on August 19th, sixty 
 days before the election, instead of on September 
 19th, thirty days before, as the by-laws of the Com- 
 pany had always prescribed, and the continual influx 
 of Erie stock on the market, carried much alarm to 
 financial circles, and Wall Street was in a continuous 
 fever of excitement. The election was held October 
 13, 1868, and the following Board of Directors was 
 chosen ; Jay Gould, Alexander S. Diven, James Fisk, 
 Jr., Fredericlc A. Lane, J. C. Bancroft Davis, William 
 M. Tweed, Peter B. Sweeny, Daniel S. Miller, Jr., 
 Homer Ramsdell, John Hilton, George M. Graves, 
 John Ganson, Charles G. Sisson, O. W. Chapman, 
 Henry Thompson, William B. Skidmore, George M. 
 Diven. This Board at once elected Jay Gould Presi- 
 dent. 
 
 Looking at events of a generation ago, as they 
 stand revealed in the light of the present day, many 
 may wonder at the temerity of any influence that 
 could call into the Board of Directors of a great 
 railroad company William M. Tweed and Peter 
 B. Sweeny, now remembered only as the head and 
 front of the notorious Tammany Ring. But in 1868 
 William M. Tweed was a man of superior conse- 
 quence. He and his confreres not only held abso- 
 lute power over the political destinies of New York 
 City and New York State, but their influence was 
 potent in national affairs. To them the highest and 
 best in the land paid homage. Judges were made at 
 their beck, and Governors came at their nod. At a 
 word from William M. Tweed the National Conven- 
 tion of a great political party had, in July, 1868, 
 been held in Tammany Hall, and its proceedings 
 
 were dictated by him and his associates in the leader- 
 ship of that Society. When Tweed and Sweeny 
 were elected Directors of the Erie Railway Company 
 they were as uncrowned kings. That it was in the 
 power of any human being to topple them from their 
 high estate and reveal to the world the almost in- 
 credible corruption of the Ring they had ruled, no one 
 could have then for a moment even dreamed. The 
 day came for all that, though, in good time; but 
 when Tweed and Sweeny were called to the Erie 
 Board their outward fame was good, and great weight 
 went with their names. There were some, affecting 
 wisdom, who, when they read the names of Tweed 
 and Sweeny among those who were to manage 
 Erie's affairs the coming year, were moved to say: 
 
 "Ah! it would seem that there is to be some- 
 what of politics, and perhaps of legislation, in the 
 plans of the new management of Erie! " 
 
 Of the truth or falsity of which, time was to be the 
 witness. 
 
 Less than a week after the Erie election, on Octo- 
 ber 2 1st, the first disturbing rumor of a lock-up of 
 money by the banks, in the interest of a speculative 
 clique — of which the Erie managers and Daniel Drew 
 were the moving spirits, formed for a bear movement 
 in stocks, and especially in Erie — was afloat in the 
 Street. This rumor would not down, and it was 
 declared that $10,000,000 had already been taken 
 out of the Street and held from circulation by the 
 banks in the interests of this clique. Erie stock 
 continued to pour upon the market, and rumors of 
 another large over-issue of that stock were so strong 
 that they were accepted as facts. The excitement 
 on the Exchange became so intense day by day that 
 on October 26th a committee from the New York 
 Stock Exchange, consisting of Christian A. Sloan, 
 Augustus C. Brown, and J. M. Hartshorne, was ap- 
 pointed and instructed to wait upon Jay Gould and 
 demand that he should ofificially deny or admit the 
 over-issue, and give other information concerning the 
 condition of the Erie Railway Company, doubt upon 
 which was working such disturbance and threatening 
 such disaster in financial circles. The President of 
 Erie's reply to the committee was frank, but by no 
 means assuring. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 163 
 
 " Gentlemen," said he, with the greatest calmness, 
 " since the settlement of the Vanderbilt litigation 
 in July last, we have issued $10,000,000 in Erie 
 convertible bonds. Of these, $5,000,000 have been 
 recently converted into common stock, and the re- 
 mainder is likely to be converted at any time. The 
 amount of common stock of this Company now out- 
 standing is $39,500,000. We are thinking of laying 
 a third rail. If we resolve to proceed with the work 
 we shall be obliged to raise $3,000,000 more by the 
 conversion of more bonds into stock." 
 
 The committee made its report, which was fol- 
 lowed by the wildest excitement on the Exchange. 
 So much real alarm had seldom been witnessed in 
 that great financial centre. Stocks were tumbling, in 
 spite of the most desperate efforts of the bull side of 
 the market, and Erie was leading the downfall. 
 
 That last week of October, 1868, was the most 
 critical time in Wall Street then on record. The 
 chief cause was the great decline in Erie, by which 
 scores of people who had carried the stock from the 
 time it was 70 were ruined. The knowledge that 
 there were $40,000,000 of the common stock out- 
 standing caused banks and money lenders to reject 
 it as collateral. The reported financial condition 
 of the Company was so bad that its acceptances of 
 $2,000,000, due January i, 1869, could not find a 
 market in the Street, the apprehension being that 
 they would come to default. Operators clamored 
 for an order from the Exchange prohibiting the 
 delivery of Erie stock, and to remove it from the 
 list. The President of the Exchange was inclined 
 to do this, but the Erie holding was so widespread 
 that he dared not assume the responsibility. In 
 July Erie had stood strong at 70, in spite of all that 
 had conspired to discredit it. October 26th it was 
 down to 385^, the lowest point it had been quoted 
 at for years. By October 30th it had been forced 
 down to 35. The bear clique seemed to have Erie 
 at their mercy. But the stock did not go any lower. 
 On the contrary, it stood firm, and presently began 
 to advance. It went up steadily, until, on Novem- 
 ber 14th, it sold at 5214, and speculators were crazed. 
 There were evidently master hands sustaining the 
 bull movement. 
 
 But even the upward tendency of Erie did not re- 
 
 store confidence. Some mysterious motive, it was 
 felt, was prompting the movements of the bull 
 leaders. On Monday, November i6th, Erie opened 
 at 53, and amid one of the wildest scenes ever wit- 
 nessed on the Stock Exchange, was run up to 61 in 
 half an hour. After an all day's struggle, the bear 
 side of the market was forced to succumb, and Erie 
 closed at 61. 
 
 That important events were bound to follow from 
 this desperate battle seemed inevitable. They began 
 on Tuesday, November 17th, when the courts were 
 appealed to on behalf of the interests (at least osten- 
 sibly) of the Erie stockholders. The standing of 
 the parties who thus began a new Erie War lent no 
 little strength to the belief that the action was what 
 it professed to be. Suit was brought on that day 
 before Judge Josiah S. Sutherland, of the New York 
 Supreme Court, by August Belmont and Erastus B. 
 Lucke, as bona fide holders of Erie stock, through 
 Rapallo & Spencer, their attorneys, against the Erie 
 Railway Company, Jay Gould, James Fisk, Jr., and 
 the entire Board of Directors, recounting all the 
 charges that had been brought against Daniel Drew 
 and his associates in the Vanderbilt litigation, and 
 making the new charge that the defendants had made 
 a further illegal issue of stock to the amount of many 
 millions of dollars, and that they had appropriated 
 without legal right $7,000,000 belonging to the Erie 
 Railway Company in settling the Vanderbilt-Drew 
 litigation. The petitioners asked for an injunction 
 restraining the defendants from performing any fur- 
 ther acts in their capacity as Directors of the Erie 
 Railway Company, and for the appointment of a 
 Receiver for the Company. 
 
 The Belmont petition was accompanied by an 
 affidavit made by Daniel Drew, in which he swore 
 that he was guilty of the acts which had been 
 charged against him in the Vanderbilt suits, and 
 which he had then either denied or claimed had been 
 performed under authority of law. He admitted 
 the taking of 28,000 shares of stock in May, 1866, 
 the issuing of $5,000,000 convertible bonds on Feb- 
 ruary 19, 1868, and an equal amount on March 3d 
 following, in which he affirmed he was aided and 
 abetted by Jay Gould and James Fisk, Jr., with 
 whom he had signed an agreement to pay to them 
 
164 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 one-half of the profits that might result from any- 
 excess over 72 cents on the dollar for which the 
 bonds were sold. The bonds were disposed of 
 through the houses of Fisk & Belden, and Smith, 
 Gould, Martin & Co., at 79 and 80. Drew swore 
 further in his afifidavit that the defendants, Gould, 
 Fisk, and Lane, had compromised the claim the Erie 
 Railway Company had against him for the 28,000 
 shares of stock by the payment by him of $1,000,000 
 and the further consideration of his resigning from 
 the management. He charged them with having 
 bought the resignation of President Eldridge in favor 
 of Gould by taking from him $5,000,000 of Boston, 
 Hartford and Erie bonds at 80 ; that Gould was 
 Treasurer as well as President of the Company; that 
 they had abolished the Board of Audit and placed 
 Fisk in entire charge of that Department as Con- 
 troller of Accounts ; that they had received $40,000,- 
 000 by over-issue of stock; that they had paid 
 $850,000 for the Grand Opera House; $1,500,000 
 for nine houses adjoining it in Twenty-third Street; 
 $300,000 for Lake Erie steamboats; $300,000 for 
 Buffalo real estate, which was mostly in the names 
 of Directors; and that Gould, Fisk, and Lane had 
 received bonuses on these purchases amounting to 
 $1,500,000. Drew also aiifirmed that he had con- 
 spired with Gould, Fisk, Lane, and others of the 
 Erie Board to lock up money to make it scarce on 
 the Street, so that they might reap a great profit 
 from speculation in Erie, and that he had put 
 $1,000,000 in the pool, which he subsequently drew 
 out, and then severed his connection with the clique. 
 
 These developments intensified the panicky con- 
 dition of Wall Street. The lock-up of money had 
 been the one great disturbing and threatening ele- 
 ment since the unsettled state of affairs began months 
 before. With an easy money market the dangers of 
 the formidable onslaught on values and contracts 
 could have been guarded against to a great extent, 
 and operators would not have stood for months as if 
 in momentary expectation of a financial earthquake; 
 so, for Daniel Drew to deliberately and shamefully 
 declare, under oath, that he had been a willing party 
 to a conspiracy which had for its ends the damming 
 of the natural monetary current of Wall Street — a 
 
 proceeding which, if carried to its projected length, 
 would have scattered widespread ruin and disaster 
 among hundreds — was sufficient to bring down upon 
 his head an avalanche of indignation which would 
 have driven a more sensitive man into hiding. His 
 confession of past misdeeds that he might drag his 
 former Erie co-workers into the mire also reacted 
 against him, although he had told nothing which 
 common rumor had not long before settled upon as 
 the probable truth of the Vanderbilt-Drew contest 
 and its settlement. Every one knew that these things 
 had not thus been put in the form of sworn testi- 
 mony by Drew for the purpose of relieving his con- 
 science or to disinterestedly aid the ends of justice. 
 This tardy coming forward to lend a helping hand to 
 the end that suffering Erie might be rescued from 
 her alleged despoilers, now that he was no longer 
 one of them, was proof positive that something had 
 gone wrong in Daniel Drew's speculative calcula- 
 tions, and that he was playing a bold and desperate 
 game to extricate himself from a precarious situation. 
 There were rumors a-many as to what his situation 
 was, and when the facts came out later, the rumors 
 were found to have been not far from the truth. 
 
 Judge Sutherland, on the strength of the strong 
 petition of Belmont and Lucke, and the affidavit of 
 Daniel Drew, issued an injunction against Jay Gould 
 as President, and all of his associates in the Erie 
 management, restraining them from exercising any 
 authority in the management of the Erie Railway 
 Company until further order of the court, and 
 directed them to appear before him on November 
 20th, to show cause why a Receiver should not 
 be appointed to take charge of the Erie Railway 
 Company. 
 
 Now it was that not only Wall Street but the 
 world at large began to recognize the amazing genius 
 of Jay Gould. He had embarked in an undertaking 
 of the greatest magnitude. At the start he had 
 adopted heroic measures. He had at one stroke 
 added millions to the capital stock of the Erie Rail- 
 way Company beyond the amount fixed by law. He 
 had converted bonds into stock through the firm of 
 brokers of which he was the head, and as President 
 and Treasurer of the Company, and Chairman of its 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 165 
 
 Executive Committee, held the proceeds of these 
 bonds at his own pleasure. He had started out to 
 do certain things^with the Erie Railway, and he was 
 not to be balked by such a simple thing as an order 
 of court. In fact, he had anticipated such an order 
 and had provided against it. 
 
 On Sunday, November 15, 1868, Daniel Drew 
 called on James Fisk, Jr., at his ofifice in the Grand 
 Opera House. " He said," so Fisk's statement 
 went, " that he had come to make a clean breast of 
 it, and to throw himself upon our mercy. He was 
 short of Erie stock 30,000 shares, he said. I told 
 him I knew that, and that that was not half of it, 
 for he was short in addition 40,000 calls. He com- 
 plained bitterly of his position. He then entered 
 into an explanation as to certain proceedings that 
 he said were being got up by parties who were to 
 attack us in the courts. He said he had been in the 
 enemy's camp, and that all he cared about was to 
 look out for number one. If we were willing to help 
 him he said he would make a clean breast of it. I 
 told him that his disposition and his nature were so 
 vacillating that I should not trust him unless he 
 made a clean breast to begin with. He finally, after 
 much hesitation, said he would tell me. He said 
 that Work, Schell, Lane, and Thompson were em- 
 barked in a scheme with him. He refused to tell 
 me in whose name the proceedings were to be insti- 
 tuted. Upon inquiring closely of him whether the 
 case was taken up on its merits or as a mere stock 
 operation, he admitted to me that it was to relieve 
 those who were short of this stock. I presented the 
 idea to him as to what the others would do, and he 
 said he could take the ringleaders with him if they 
 were also provided for, and he would break up the 
 whole scheme. 
 
 " He begged and entreated that I should go and 
 bring Mr. Gould, saying that he knew if he could see 
 Mr. Gould he could benefit his position, and would 
 tell us who were to be the plaintiffs in the suit. I 
 tried to convince him that it was one of his old tricks, 
 and that he was the last man who should whine at 
 any position he had put himself in with regard to 
 Erie. Finally I consented to go and get Mr. Gould, 
 and did so. I was not present at the entire inter- 
 view between Mr. Gould and Mr Drew, but portions 
 
 of the conversation that I heard were of the same 
 nature as the one that Mr. Drew had held with me. 
 He also urged many arguments upon Mr. Gould and 
 myself to induce us to help him with regard to the 
 stock. He stated to us that it was within our power 
 to protect ourselves, but urged us to issue more con- 
 vertible bonds, saying no one would know anything 
 about it. 
 
 " At this time he told us that a suit was to be 
 brought in the name of August Belmont; that he 
 was present at a meeting they had held the night 
 previous, and heard the paper read. We told him 
 over and over again that we could not help him. 
 He would not leave us, but insisted on remaining. 
 Mr. Gould and myself, unable to get rid of him in 
 any other way, told him that we would meet 
 him again at 10 o'clock that evening. We then 
 parted. 
 
 "Consequently, about 11 o'clock, I found Mr. 
 Drew waiting for us. At that time Mr. Gould was 
 not present. I again told Mr. Drew that nothing 
 could be done for him. He said: 
 
 " ' Then, if you put up this stock, I am a ruined 
 man ! ' 
 
 " He harped upon the fact that he was willing to 
 pay a large amount of money for the use of 30,000 
 or 40,000 shares of stock for fifteen days, and offered 
 me as high as 3 per cent., which would amount to 
 nearly $100,000, for the use of it for fifteen days. 
 Finding he could not induce us to accede to his 
 wishes, he tried another tack, saying there was a 
 conspiracy against us; that they would ruin us if 
 they could; that they would put the stock down at 
 all hazards, and that if I would not agree to any- 
 thing with him he would give his afifidavit to the 
 other side, having before this said he would not give 
 his affidavit if I came to his rescue. He said : 
 
 You know during the whole of our fight I ob- 
 jected to ever giving my afifidavit, but I swear I will 
 do you all the harm I can do if you do not help me 
 in this time of my great need ! ' 
 He also said : 
 
 " ' You can loan me the stock. I will give you 
 3 per cent, for it. You have the power to issue 
 more convertible bonds. I will buy the bonds from 
 you if you are caught, or I will buy the bonds of 
 
1 66 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 you with the understanding that I shall not pay for 
 them unless you are caught.' 
 
 " I positively and unequivocally declined his prop- 
 osition, as I had on each occasion. After talking in 
 this strain for more than an hour, I adhering to my 
 decision that nothing could be done, he, at about 
 I o'clock Monday morning, said: 
 
 " ' I will bid you good-night! ' 
 
 " Then he went away." 
 
 Whether or not it was through this pitiful self- 
 humiliation of Daniel Drew that Jay Gould obtained 
 the information about the coming Belmont suit, he 
 certainly was forewarned of it, for when the order of 
 Judge Sutherland to show cause why a Receiver 
 should not be appointed for the Erie Railway Com- 
 pany was issued, Tuesday, November 17, 1868, a 
 Receiver had already been appointed! Monday, 
 November i6th, hours before the Belmont proceed- 
 ings had come up before Judge Sutherland, Charles 
 Mcintosh (who was Superintendent of the Erie 
 Ferry between New York and Jersey City) brought 
 suit through Brown, Hall & Vanderpoel, his attor- 
 neys, against the Erie Railway Company, Jay Gould, 
 and all his associates in the Erie Directory, and 
 against August Belmont, Richard Schell, and others, 
 " to have the law defined in reference to the legal 
 powers of the Erie Railway Company in reference to 
 the issuing of stock; to restrain the com nencement 
 of actions against the Company founded upon the 
 issuing of stock; and for the appointment of a 
 Receiver of the Company's property," the plaintiff 
 having been informed, so his complaint averred, that 
 various persons had threatened to commence suits 
 against the Company, under color of calling in ques- 
 tion the right or power of the Erie Railway Com- 
 pany to create and issue the stock as had been done, 
 but in reality to destroy the value of Erie securities 
 for stock-jobbing purposes. The plaintiff declared 
 that he brought the action on behalf of himself and 
 all other stockholders of the Erie Railway Company 
 who might join in the action. The allegations of 
 Mcintosh were supported by an affidavit of James 
 Fisk, Jr., who swore that he was conversant with 
 the business and affairs of the Erie Railway Com- 
 pany, and had no doubt of the legal authority of the 
 
 Company to issue all the shares of capital stock now 
 outstanding. He charged that speculators in Wall 
 Street had been for days active in efforts to depress 
 the stock of the Erie Railway Company, and as a 
 means to aid them had threatened to institute legal 
 proceedings calling in question the acts of the ofificers 
 of the Company in issuing shares of stock, which 
 suits would greatly hinder the ofificers in the due and 
 proper discharge of their duties. 
 
 These proceedings were brought before Judge 
 George G. Barnard — the same Judge Barnard who 
 had indignantly fixed Jay Gould's bail at $500,000 
 in the Erie War of then recent date, and who had 
 declared that if Gould were brought before him he 
 would not only impose condign punishment upon 
 him, but would compel him to refund the entire 
 $10,000,000 alleged over-issue of stock, so horrified 
 was he at the enormity of that ojlence ! And Judge 
 Barnard, the affidavits of Charles Mcintosh and 
 James Fisk, Jr., appearing satisfactory to him, issued 
 an order directing all the parties who were alleged 
 to be on the point of bringing suit against the Erie 
 managers to refrain from such action, and to refrain 
 from obtaining orders from any court, judge, or jus- 
 tice that would hinder, embarrass, or delay the 
 ofificers of the Erie Railway Company in the man- 
 agement of its affairs, and from applying for the 
 appointment of a Receiver for the Erie Railway 
 Company. After which deliverance. Judge Barnard 
 ordered that Jay Gould be appointed Receiver of 
 the Erie Railway Company, with full charge and 
 custody of all its moneys, upon his giving bonds in 
 $2,000,000 for the faithful discharge of the duties of 
 his trust. 
 
 This surprise for the anti-Gould faction was quickly 
 followed by another, the result of which was the 
 utter and disastrous rout of the hard-fighting clique 
 that had struggled for a week to force Erie stock 
 back to its October quotation, in order that they 
 might escape without loss from the predicament they 
 had brought themselves face to face with by offend- 
 ing their late Erie coadjutors. November 18th, 
 another petition of Jay Gould came before Judge 
 Barnard. It referred to the charge made in the Bel- 
 mont suit that 200,000 shares of Erie stock had been 
 issued in excess of the amount authorized by law. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 167 
 
 and to the fact that the stock of the Company was 
 then selling at about $54 per share ; that there were 
 only 200,000 shares in the New York market, the 
 balance being in Europe, so that if it should be 
 decided judicially that this stock was illegally issued 
 and must be withdrawn from the market, such with- 
 drawal would in all probability carry the remaining 
 shares to par and above. In view of such an event, 
 Gould in his petition declared that the interests of 
 the Erie Railway Company would be promoted by 
 the purchase and withdrawal of such 200,000 shares, 
 if they could be purchased at reasonable prices below 
 par. He asked, therefore, that the order appointing 
 him Receiver be so extended as to authorize him 
 to apply so much of the Erie Railway Company's 
 money as might be necessary for him to use in with- 
 drawing for the benefit of the Company 200,000 
 shares of the stock at prices not above par. This 
 extension of the order was at once granted by Judge 
 Barnard, and Jay Gould had the authority of the 
 Supreme Court to use $20,000,000 of the Erie Rail- 
 way Company's money, if necessary, to repurchase 
 the Company's own stock at par which had been 
 issued and sold at about 40! This at once insured 
 the bull side of Erie. Yet the bears fought with the 
 fierceness of gladiators to prevent the catastrophe. 
 All in vain. November 24th the end came. Daniel 
 Drew was forced to settle his contracts in Erie at 57, 
 at a direct financial loss of $1,500,000, and an irrepar- 
 able loss of prestige. The conflict cost the Erie 
 clique a much greater sum than that, but they had 
 won the battle and avenged themselves on Daniel 
 Drew, in spite of his abasing, humiliating, pathetic 
 appeal to them on that fatal Sunday to pity and save 
 him. 
 
 November 24th proceedings came before Judge 
 Sutherland, upon motion on behalf of August Bel- 
 mont, for an order to vacate all the Barnard injunc- 
 tions, and the orders of the same judge appointing 
 Jay Gould Receiver and authorizing him to purchase 
 the 200,000 shares of Erie stock. Charles A. Rapallo, 
 Dorman B. Eaton (late prominent among the Erie 
 counsel), and ex-Judge Pierrepont appeared for the 
 motions, and A. J. Vanderpoel, John E. Burrill, 
 Clarence A. Seward, ex-Judge John K. Porter, and 
 
 ex-Judge William Fullerton appeared in opposition. 
 Jay Gould's afifidavit, denying all the charges made 
 in the Belmont affidavit of November i6th, was read. 
 The argument continued all day and far into the 
 night. It was plain that Judge Sutherland regarded 
 the Barnard proceedings and the authority they im- 
 posed on Jay Gould as anything but commendable. 
 He granted the motion to vacate the Barnard injunc- 
 tion and the order appointing Gould Receiver, and 
 appointed Hon. Henry E. Davies, ex-Chief Justice 
 of the Court of Appeals of New York, Receiver of 
 the Erie Railway Company. 
 
 When the news of the vacation of the Barnard 
 orders by Judge Sutherland was carried to the Erie 
 officers their discomfiture was unmistakable, but 
 they immediately prepared to bring into use other 
 weapons they had at hand. Judge Barnard was first 
 appealed to. The ink was not dry on Judge Suther- 
 land's preliminary order in the Receivership matter 
 when Barnard, ex-parte and out of Court, issued an 
 order staying all proceedings under Judge Suther- 
 land's order pending an appeal, this stay not to 
 exceed twenty days. Before midnight of that day, 
 at a suit brought against the Erie Railway Company 
 by Henry B. Whelpley, who, in his bill, described 
 himself as a stockholder of the Erie Railway Com- 
 pany, Judge Samuel Blatchford, sitting in the United 
 States Circuit Court for the Southern District of 
 New York, had appointed Jay Gould Receiver of the 
 Erie Railway Company. Under this appointment 
 Gould was to give bonds in $1,000,000, and the Erie 
 Railway Company was ordered to transfer to him 
 and place in his name $8,000,000 with which to pro- 
 tect the rights of the plaintilT Whelpley and other 
 stockholders. Gould's securities were Henry N. 
 Smith, James Fisk, Jr., William M. Tweed, and 
 Hugh Smith. The plaintiff's attorney in the suit 
 was Clarence A. Seward. 
 
 November 24th Field & Shearman, in the name of 
 the Erie Railway Company, entered one suit against 
 August Belmont, Ernest B. Lucke, Richard Schell, 
 Daniel Drew, and Frank Work, and one against 
 Daniel Drew, Richard Schell, and Frank Work. 
 The first was on the affidavit of Jay Gould that the 
 suit brought by Belmont and Lucke, ostensibly in 
 the interest of Erie stockholders, was really to force 
 
1 68 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 the Erie Railway Company to pay them a large sum 
 of money to make good their losses in a stock-job- 
 bing speculation in Erie in October and November, 
 1868. In this suit the Erie Railway Company de- 
 manded $1,000,000 damages. The second suit was 
 brought with the avowed intention of compelling 
 the defendants to repay to the Erie Railway Com- 
 pany $429,210, which, it was alleged, had been ex- 
 acted from the Company in the settlement of the 
 Drew-Vanderbilt suits, to make good their losses in 
 the speculation that led to the first Erie War. 
 
 On this same day, on application of Clarence A. 
 Seward, Judge Barnard, in the suit of Belmont and 
 others vs. The Erie Railway Company, in which 
 Judge Sutherland had appointed ex- Judge Davies 
 Receiver, granted an order removing the cause, so 
 far as it aiTected James Fisk, Jr., from the State 
 courts to the United States Circuit Court, and stay- 
 ing all proceedings in the action in the State courts 
 against Fisk. The effect of this was to leave Fisk 
 in possession of the railroad as a Director, free from 
 the control of Receiver Davies, provided that Re- 
 ceiver Davies should ever get an opportunity for 
 exercising any control by virtue of his appointment. 
 This new move on the part of the Erie party was 
 promptly met by their opponents. Judge Suther- 
 land, on application of Charles A. Rapallo, granted 
 an order on the defendants to show cause, Novem- 
 ber 25th, why Judge Barnard's order should not be 
 vacated. 
 
 November 25th Judge Sutherland, ignoring the 
 stay which Judge Barnard had granted in the case, 
 settled the order of his appointment of Judge Davies 
 as Receiver, making it absolute. This disposed of. 
 Judge Sutherland vacated Judge Barnard's order 
 granting the stay. 
 
 Soon after these proceedings were settled, or, as 
 it was charged, before they were entirely a complete 
 part of the court records, a further stay was obtained 
 by. counsel on behalf of the Erie party, this time 
 from Judge Cardozo, who made his order returnable 
 November 30th. Not to lose any time. Receiver 
 Davies, accompanied by his counsel, ex-Judge Noah 
 Davis and Dorman B. Eaton, went at once, after 
 the settlement of Judge Sutherland's order, to the 
 Grand Opera House at Twenty-third Street and 
 
 Eighth Avenue, where the offices of the Erie Rail- 
 way Company had been established in resplendent 
 quarters. If the Receiver had had visions of march- 
 ing triumphantly through the portals of the Opera 
 House, serving his papers on a defeated and humili- 
 ated President of the Company, and a despondent 
 and unresisting staff of aids, and receiving from them 
 the keys and combinations of the strong boxes, with 
 every token of submission to his authority, these 
 visions must have vanished quickly when he arrived 
 at the outer gate, for the gates were not only locked, 
 but there was a body of men outside to guard them, 
 and the countenances of those men were not gentle. 
 In fact, they were of the class known in the parlance 
 of the sporting gentry as " toughs." They were 
 commanded by one "Tommy" Lynch, who knew 
 a thing or two. When entrance was demanded by 
 Receiver Davies, he was ordered to take himself 
 off, and if an Erie Railway employee, who had known 
 Dorman B. Eaton when he was one of the Erie 
 counsel, and who had not heard that Mr. Eaton was 
 now particularly under the ban of his recent em- 
 ployers, had not from that recognition supposed the 
 delegation was all right and proper, it is not at all 
 likely that Receiver Davies would ever have had 
 even a brief sight of the interior of the offices where 
 he supposed he was soon to be himself enthroned. 
 The employee passed the word to the guard, and the 
 iron gate was opened. It was then an easy matter 
 to get to the apartments of Gould and Fisk, who 
 were in council with their advisers. The presence 
 of Judge Sutherland's Receiver and his counsel in 
 the office of Judge Barnard's and Judge Blatchford's 
 Receiver was not at all expected by the latter or his 
 friends, and it was followed by momentary suspense 
 and embarrassment. This over, the visitors were 
 received with some show of politeness, especially by 
 Comptroller Fisk, who soon withdrew. The matters 
 moving the visitors had not yet been more than 
 referred to, when Erie's Comptroller returned. 
 He at once ordered the visitors to leave the build- 
 ing. They refused. He summoned a number of 
 " Tommy " Lynch's guard, and gave orders to them 
 to forcibly eject the strangers from the place. The 
 consummation of this act of violence was prevented 
 by the prompt interference of ex-Judge Fullerton, 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 169 
 
 Thomas G. Shearman, and others of the counsel. 
 Quiet having been restored, Receiver Davies served 
 his papers on Receiver Gould and the others, and 
 gave notice that he had taken possession of the Erie 
 Railway Company's property. Receiver Davies was 
 then served with Judge Cardozo's order staying the 
 proceedings pending a hearing on November 30th. 
 This order Judge Davies disregarded, and, satisfied 
 with having taken legal possession, he retired with 
 his counsel, prepared to return on Friday and assume 
 charge of afTairs. Judge Davies must either have 
 been of child-like simplicity or had learned nothing 
 by experience with the managers of Erie ; otherwise, 
 he would have remained in possession while he 
 had it. When he returned on Friday he could not 
 regain it. The guards knew not his authority, and 
 he never saw, in an ofificial capacity, the inside of 
 Erie's splendid halls again. 
 
 The news of the action of Judge Blatchford in 
 appointing Jay Gould Receiver of the Erie Railway 
 Company had fallen like a bombshell in the camp of 
 the Belmont party. Judge Blatchford's character 
 and ability were of such a high order that his de- 
 cision and prompt movement in the Whelpley case — 
 Whelpley being an employee of the house of Smith, 
 Gould & Martin — came with stunning force to those 
 who had started in on their campaign against the 
 new Erie managers with the apparent idea that the 
 law would quickly and easily overthrow them, and 
 rescue Erie from the alleged disaster toward which 
 they were wildly rushing her. This sagacious move 
 of Gould in taking the contest into the United States 
 Court, and the gaining of the instant indorsement of 
 his cause in that court through the medium of one 
 of its most discreet and impartial justices, opened 
 the eyes of his assailants to the fact that they had 
 thrown down the gauntlet to one who had new and 
 original ideas about such warfare, and who had no 
 use for old weapons that had proved valueless, but 
 forged new ones as he fought, and used them in un- 
 expected and unprecedented ways. The advantage 
 gained by Gould in Judge Blatchford's court being 
 followed so quickly by his virtual turning out of 
 doors of Judge Sutherland's Receiver, in defiance of 
 all the writs and orders with which he was fortified, 
 
 forced the further discovery upon the champions of 
 the anti-Gould party that the genius of Gould held 
 itself as something above even the law and its 
 machinery, and that unless they quickly showed him 
 how fatal his error was in this respect, he might so 
 change the aspect of the contest that they them- 
 selves would appear to the public as the real male- 
 factors in the case, against whom and their wicked 
 designs Gould was defending the rights, franchises, 
 and treasury of the Erie Railway Company. 
 
 As soon as they could collect themselves, after the 
 Blatchford proceedings and the cool ignoring and 
 repudiation of ex-Judge Davies's claims as Receiver, 
 Belmont's counsel made a countermove, November 
 28th, before Judge Nelson, in the United States 
 Court. Two petitions were presented to him, one 
 from August Belmont, citing the various alleged 
 acts of Jay Gould against the true interests of the 
 Erie Railway Company, and asking for the vacation 
 of Judge Blatchford's order appointing him Receiver, 
 and for his removal as such. The other petition 
 was from ex-Judge Henry E. Davies, who related 
 in detail his appointment as Receiver of the Erie 
 Railway Company, his vain efforts to obtain pos- 
 session of the property, and his prevention by force 
 from the performance of his duties as Receiver, and 
 prayed that he might be put in possession of the 
 property by the action of the United States Court. 
 Judge Nelson issued an order on all parties inter- 
 ested to show cause on Monday, November 30th, 
 1868, why these petitions should not be granted. 
 
 There had been great commotion in and about 
 the Erie quarters at the Grand Opera House ever 
 since the new war began, but on Saturday, Novem- 
 ber 28th, the excitement, although under a state of 
 repression, seemed to be more intense than ever. 
 Jay Gould, his lieutenants, and the great army of 
 eminent counsel had been in almost constant con- 
 sultation for • wenty-four hours. That some impor- 
 tant, or at least sensational, move was being planned 
 was evident. The guards at the iron gates were 
 especially vigilant. A strong force of the city police 
 was also on duty, as if it might be that some breach 
 of the peace was not improbable. Process-servers 
 were hanging about, watchful, and ready to thrust 
 
170 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 their papers upon the persons named in them at the 
 first opportunity. Reporters by the score were busy 
 at the no-easy task of learning something of what 
 was going on within the mysterious portals, and fill- 
 ing their note-books with guesses. Politicians of 
 note, and some of notoriety, flocked around the 
 building, and seemed to be the only ones whose 
 cards could cause the iron gates to open. 
 
 At midnight on the 28th the Erie magnates were 
 busy within the locked and guarded privacy of the 
 President's room, but soon afterward James Fisk, 
 Jr., carrying a satchel, and accompanied by two of 
 the Erie counsel, left the building, entered a car- 
 riage, and drove to the Twenty-third Street Ferry. 
 The carriage was followed by a patient process- 
 server, who had for hours longed for such an appear- 
 ance. He succeeded at the ferry in serving Fisk 
 with the papers in the proceedings of that day before 
 Judge Nelson. Fisk and his party crossed the ferry. 
 In the Erie yards at Jersey City a locomotive and a 
 special car, plainly on previous order, were awaiting 
 the party. Fisk and his companions entered the car, 
 and were instantly whirled westward over the Erie. 
 On Monday morning the New York newspapers and 
 the press throughout the land startled the world with 
 the announcement that James Fisk, Jr., Comptroller 
 of the Erie Railway Company, had fled to Canada, 
 bearing with him the funds and books of the Com- 
 pany, to escape the inevitable punishment that was 
 awaiting him and his associates in the Erie manage- 
 ment. Fisk got no nearer Canada than Binghamton, 
 Broome County, N. Y. He telegraphed from there 
 a denial of his reported flight, and explained his hur- 
 ried trip from New York by the statement that he 
 was on business connected with a rolling mill which 
 was making rails for the Erie Railway Company. 
 He was so much outraged by the published reports 
 that he ordered the bringing of libel suits against 
 several newspapers, claiming damages far up in the 
 hundreds of thousands of dollars. So far as the rec- 
 ord shows, none of these newspapers was ever called 
 upon to pay any of the damages claimed. 
 
 Whatever business Fisk might have had with the 
 rolling mill, it was not that business entirely that 
 called him to Binghamton. Judge Ransom Balcom, 
 of the Supreme Court, lived there, and on Novem- 
 
 ber 30th, in proceedings brought in the name of 
 the Erie Railway Company against its officers and 
 Directors and the plaintiffs in the Belmont suits, he 
 issued an order appointing Giles W. Hotchkiss Ref- 
 eree to examine into all the proceedings already in- 
 stituted in the Erie litigation, and make report. 
 
 The hearing under the order of Judge Nelson, of 
 the United States Court, came up before him Mon- 
 day, November 30th. Voluminous affidavits, offered 
 by all the parties concerned, were read, among them 
 a long one by Jay Gould, in which he denied all the 
 allegations made by the plaintiffs; declared that the 
 settlement in the Drew-Vanderbilt litigation had 
 been against his protest and in spite of his opposi- 
 tion ; that the treasury of the Erie Railway Com- 
 pany had been left practically empty, and was in 
 that condition when he and his associates came into 
 control of the Company; that no new Erie stock 
 had been issued by him or the management since 
 the annual election, October 13th, and that the 
 alleged over-issue had been necessary to meet per- 
 emptory obligations of the Company, among them 
 the acceptances for $3,500,000 given in payment of 
 the Boston, Hartford and Erie bonds, by the terms 
 of the Drew settlement with Vanderbilt. The argu- 
 ment in the hearing was adjourned from day to day. 
 
 While counsel were arguing the merits of the com- 
 plicated issues of the new Erie War before Judge 
 Nelson on November 30th, counsel for Gould and 
 his associates applied to Judge Cardozo, a judge 
 coordinate with Judges Sutherland and Barnard in 
 the Supreme Court, for an order granting a stay in 
 the matter of the Receivership of Judge Davies, and 
 he issued a writ staying all proceedings thus far had 
 before Judge Sutherland, and ordering the parties 
 interested to show cause on Monday, December 7th, 
 why they should not be vacated. Judge Sutherland 
 promptly granted an order, in counter-proceedings, 
 for cause to be shown on Wednesday, December 2d, 
 at II A.M., why Judge Cardozo's order should not 
 be vacated. Judge Cardozo issued an order early 
 Wednesday morning changing the hour to 10 A.M. 
 This led to such complications that Judge Suther- 
 land, disgusted with the entire proceedings, refused 
 to have anything further to do with them, and 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 171 
 
 handed the case over to the tender mercies of Judge 
 Cardozo. 
 
 Pending the weary dragging along of the argu- 
 ments before Judge Nelson to settle the case of Erie, 
 James Fisk, Jr., by way of giving variety to the war, 
 and to show that the Erie management was deter- 
 mined to exact justice though the heavens fall, began 
 proceedings, December 10, 1868, against Cornelius 
 Vanderbilt to compel him to take back the 50,000 
 shares of Erie he had surrendered in the Drew set- 
 tlement, to repay the $3,500,000 paid him by the 
 Company for the stock, and to refund the $1,000,- 
 000 he received on the same compromise, all of 
 which, the complainant alleged, Vanderbilt had 
 wrongfully received from the Erie treasury at the 
 hands of the men who had settled their individual 
 embarrassments at the expense of the Erie Railway 
 Company in July, 1868. 
 
 Previous to commencing this suit," said James 
 Fisk, Jr., in explaining matters to the court in one 
 of the many hearings it had, " I made a tender of 
 50,000 shares of Erie stock to Vanderbilt. I went 
 up to his house, in company with Thomas G. Shear- 
 man. I received the certificates of shares from 
 Gould, and put them in a black satchel. It was a 
 bad, stormy day, so we got into a carriage, and I 
 held the satchel tight between my legs, knowing 
 it was valuable. I told Shearman not much reli- 
 ance could be placed on him in case we were attacked, 
 he was such a little fellow. We concurred in the 
 opinion that it was dangerous property to travel 
 with; it might blow up. We rang the bell and went 
 in. The gentleman came down, and I said: 
 
 " ' Good morning. Commodore. I have come to 
 tender you 50,000 shares of Erie stock, and demand 
 back the securities and money.' 
 
 " He said he had had no transactions with the 
 Erie Railway Company, and would have to consult 
 his counsel. I told him I also demanded $1,000,000 
 paid him for losses he purported to have sustained. 
 He said he had nothing to do with it, and I bade 
 him good morning." 
 
 December 15th Judge Nelson made his decision 
 in the Gould Receivership case. He vacated the 
 
 order of Judge Blatchford appointing Gould as Re- 
 ceiver, set the Gould Receivership aside, and sent 
 the whole case back to the State courts for adjudi- 
 cation. While this decision was a defeat for Gould 
 in one aspect of the case, it was, in fact, a victory. 
 He had demonstrated from the start and all through 
 the proceedings such a capacity for meeting emer- 
 gencies and turning them to his account when they 
 seemed most harassing to him, that he had strength- 
 ened his footing at every step. 
 
 The handing over of the Erie case to the State 
 courts necessarily placed it before Judge Cardozo, 
 whose injunction in the Sutherland proceedings, by 
 the way, had been dissolved by Judge Boardman of 
 Chemung County on December 8th. Judge Cardozo 
 immediately issued an order staying all other pro- 
 ceedings in the case, and held it for reargument 
 before him. This practically brought this Erie War 
 to an end. Jay Gould and his party were more 
 firmly established in their control of Erie than ever. 
 There were now no injunctions to give them trouble, 
 and they had put all their assailants virtually on the 
 defensive. The Belmont-Gould litigation passed 
 entirely from the public mind. Although he had 
 been appointed Receiver by two different judges, 
 and the decision as to whether he was Receiver or 
 not was still pending; and although ex- Judge Davies 
 had also been appointed Receiver of Erie, and was 
 also waiting to know whether he was Receiver or 
 not, Jay Gould had transacted the business of thfe 
 Company right along as President and Treasurer. 
 Then, on February 10, 1869, Judge Cardozo made 
 deliverance of the result of his long pondering over 
 the points of the Belmont case, which had been 
 handed over to him in bulk first by Judge Suther- 
 land and later by Judge Nelson. His opinion was 
 as long, almost, as the arguments had been, but 
 resolved itself into the simple fact that there had 
 been no ground for the appointing of a Receiver by 
 any one, and that railroad directors had a right to 
 issue convertible bonds and turn them into stock 
 whenever they were so inclined. This was the last 
 the public ever heard of the litigation. 
 
 The public had also forgotten that there were 
 pending somewhere in the courts the suit of the Erie 
 Railway against Cornelius Vanderbilt, which had 
 
172 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 been begun in December, 1868. Suddenly, Novem- 
 ber 20, 1869, it was called before Judge Barnard, 
 in the Supreme Court. The great defendant was 
 put on the witness stand. Although he had a few 
 months before denied publicly over his own signa- 
 ture that he had ever received any money from the 
 Erie Railway Company, or had anything to do with 
 it in the settlement of 1868, he admitted, on his 
 examination in this Erie case, November 20, 1869, 
 that he had received from Jay Gould, as Treasurer of 
 the Erie Railway Company, in July, 1868, a check 
 for $1,000,000, and the bonds, for carrying out a 
 contract he had made a few days before with Daniel 
 Drew to sell Drew 50,000 shares of Erie stock at 80, 
 to be paid for in cash, $4,000,000. He accepted 625 
 one-thousand-dollar bonds of the Boston, Hartford 
 and Erie Railroad, however, in payment for 5,000 
 shares of the stock, leaving only $3,500,000 to be 
 paid in cash. Mr. Vanderbilt denied that it was 
 part of the agreement in the settlement that he was 
 to give the Erie Railway Company the privilege of 
 buying 50,000 more shares of him, but David Dudley 
 Field, of the Erie counsel, produced the agreement, 
 duly signed by Vanderbilt. It turned out also, that 
 he had not received a check for $1,000,000 from Jay 
 Gould, but two checks the sums of which made that 
 amount. The defendant denied, in all the trans- 
 action, that it was anything to do with the Erie 
 Railway Company. It was a personal deal between 
 Daniel Drew and himself. This Daniel Drew swore 
 was the case as he understood it. He said he had 
 bought 50,000 shares of Erie from Vanderbilt and 
 paid him $4,000,000. He had agreed to hold his 
 stock, and Vanderbilt had agreed to hold 50,000 
 shares of Erie, neither one to sell without the knowl- 
 edge of the other. 
 
 " I had an idee," said Drew, " that I might want 
 to git control of Ary ag'in, and if I had 50,000 shares 
 o' stock, Vanderbilt's 50,000 might come in handy." 
 
 The suit was becoming interesting, when Mr. 
 Field asked for an adjournment on the ground that 
 the suit of Ramsey against the Erie Railway Com- 
 pany had been called at Rochester, and his presence 
 was imperative there. This suit was one of the 
 manifold actions and cross-actions that had grown 
 out of an attempt of the management of the Erie 
 
 Railway Company to obtain possession of the Albany 
 and Susquehanna Railroad. The adjournment of 
 the suit in the midst of its hearing was vigorously 
 opposed by Vanderbilt's counsel, but Judge Barnard 
 was on the bench. He adjourned the case until the 
 first Monday in January, 1870. At that hearing he 
 decided that he could entertain the action only so 
 far as it sought to recover the $1,000,000. The case 
 was again adjourned. The telling of its progress 
 and termination belongs to later chapters in this 
 History of Erie. 
 
 II. GOULD SUPREME. 
 
 In the midst of the whirl and excitement of the 
 desperate struggle in Wall Street that had shaken 
 the financial foundation of the country as with omi- 
 nous preliminary rumblings of a mighty earthquake, 
 and from which trouble he had not come himself 
 unscathed, and in spite of the savage and persistent 
 assaults of powerful rivals who attacked him on 
 every side to encompass his downfall. Jay Gould 
 found time to formulate plans not only for the mak- 
 ing of himself more secure in his position, but for 
 the extending of his influence and power from the 
 vantage ground of his control of Erie, and to find 
 the means to keep in motion the machinery neces- 
 sary to the pushing forward of such plans to the 
 desired issue. The friends of the new control of 
 Erie by courtesy called it the " Erie Management " ; 
 but, although personally he was least in public evi- 
 dence of any of his associates. Jay Gould's genius 
 dominated the rule of Erie as indisputably as if Jay 
 Gould alone had the right to plan and act. Fisk, 
 Lane, Thompson, Davis, Tweed, Sweeny, and 
 others in the Board were automatons, moving only 
 at the will of Gould, so closely had he allied their 
 interests with his and such was the fascination of 
 his audacity, his daring, his originality, and his fine 
 contempt for harassing conventionalities — although 
 he never acted without the advice 6i the best coun- 
 sel that money could procure, advice that perhaps 
 not infrequently came as t"he wish that was father 
 to the thought. 
 
 The men who had entered the lists against Jay 
 Gould with the determination to end his career at its 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 1 73 
 
 very outset, soon discovered that they had much mis- 
 taken the quality of the man. They knew him only 
 as a Wall Street broker and speculator, presumably 
 learned only in the ways and means of the Street, 
 although perhaps past master in their mysteries. 
 That he had any thought or idea in connection with 
 the Erie Railway that did not centre in the most 
 profitable use he could make of its property, as a 
 tender to his Wall Street schemes, never occurred to 
 them. As a matter of fact, although his practical 
 experience in railroad management had been slight, 
 and such as to attract no attention outside of the 
 local circle directly interested in the outcome of his 
 management, the problems of transportation, the 
 great possibilities of railroads in the future develop- 
 ment of the resources of the country, and the dom- 
 inating influence and power they were destined to 
 bring to men who could grasp such control of them, 
 as well as concentrate certain existing lines and pro- 
 jected lines into a uniform system under one mana- 
 gerial head, had long been a subject of profound 
 study and thought with him. Whether or not the 
 promptings of ambition led him, through Daniel 
 Drew, into the Erie Directory in 1867, and to the 
 manipulation by which he obtained subsequent con- 
 trol of the Erie and the power to raise millions on 
 its credit at will, it is certain that no sooner was he 
 in sure control of the Company than he made it 
 apparent that possession of Erie was not the sole 
 end he was battling for, but only the means to a 
 greater end. 
 
 In 1868 the Erie Railway was still practically only 
 a local line. It had a terminus at Buffalo and one 
 at Dunkirk. Its cars could run no farther. They 
 were of the six-foot gauge. The connecting lines 
 were of the standard gauge. At Salamanca the 
 Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, the broad- 
 gauge line that was to have revolutionized the 
 through transportation business of the country, but 
 which had as yet failed in its purpose to such a de- 
 gree that it was having a desperate struggle to keep 
 its own wheels revolving, made connection with the 
 Erie, but not a satisfactory one. This road ex- 
 tended to Dayton, O., by its own line, and had 
 entry to Cincinnati over the tracks of the Cincinnati, 
 
 Hamilton and Dayton Railroad. The Ohio and 
 Mississippi Railroad gave it a further convenient 
 route to St. Louis. At Dunkirk and Buffalo, pas- 
 sengers and freight over the Erie between New 
 York and Chicago were transferred to or from the 
 Lake Shore Railroad or Lake Erie steamboats. 
 Consequently, the Erie Railway was at the mercy 
 of its Western connections. True, neither the New 
 York Central nor the Pennsylvania Central had its 
 own through Western connection as yet, but each 
 had an advantage over the Erie in its arrangements 
 for Western trafific. 
 
 Jay Gould soon formed plans to get control of cer- 
 tain railroad lines the possession of which would 
 make him master of the interstate transportation 
 situation. His first move was to effect a lease of 
 the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company, 
 which was practically owned by James McHenry, of 
 London. This gave the Erie an unbroken route 
 between New York and Cincinnati and St. Louis. 
 It was also the beginning of the entanglement of the 
 McHenry interests with those of the Erie Railway 
 Company, the complications growing out of which 
 assailed the peace and drained the treasury of the 
 Company for many years, forced the Company into 
 a Receiver's hands, and entailed upon it a heritage 
 of lasting misfortune. 
 
 This acquisition opened the eyes of the other great 
 railroad managers of the East, and especially those 
 of the Pennsylvania Central magnates. The Atlantic 
 and Great Western Railroad had a branch into the 
 Pennsylvania oil regions, and one to Cleveland, where 
 there were large oil refineries. The petroleum field 
 was still confined to the Oil Creek and Alleghany 
 valleys in Pennsylvania. Owing to its location, the 
 Atlantic and Great Western Railroad commanded a 
 large share of the oil traf^c, this being long before 
 the system of pipe-line transportation to the sea- 
 board was introduced. The Pennsylvania Central 
 Railroad enjoyed a monopoly of the oil transporta- 
 tion from Pittsburg, and the managers of that com- 
 pany had resolved to get control of the Atlantic and 
 Great Western, change it to the standard gauge, and 
 make it a feeder of the Pennsylvania line. The leas- 
 ing of the property, therefore, by the Erie Railway 
 Company not only surprised but alarmed the Penn- 
 
174 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 sylvania Railroad managers. Before they had recov- 
 ered from their surprise, in January, 1869, they 
 learned that Jay Gould had made an agreement with 
 the Columbus, Chicago and Indiana Central Railroad 
 Company for a lease of its railroad to the Erie and 
 the putting down of a third rail on the road to meet 
 the Erie broad gauge, and that he was further nego- 
 tiating with the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad 
 Company for a lease of its railroad. The railroad 
 magnates of the country suddenly awoke to the fact 
 that a giant had come among them. Such aggres- 
 sive audacity was something hitherto unheard of in 
 railroad management. If the lease of the Columbus, 
 Chicago and Indiana Central Railroad to the Erie 
 were consummated, it would not only give that road 
 a through Chicago connection, but would rob the 
 Pennsylvania Central of one of its most important 
 and necessary Western connections; and if Jay 
 Gould succeeded in his stupendous scheme of add- 
 ing the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad to the 
 Erie system, he would be practically master of the 
 transcontinental trade, for the Rock Island route 
 would be the eastern extension from Omaha of 
 the Union Pacific Railroad, then approaching com- 
 pletion. This was a generation ago. The great 
 New York Central king had not yet obtained his 
 own line to Chicago, but was quietly awaiting his 
 chance. The Pennsylvania Central managers were 
 as yet only turning over in their minds the possibili- 
 ties of the system which they now control. Yet Jay 
 Gould, only a few months fledged into a railroad 
 manager, and manager of only a ridiculed and dis- 
 credited railroad at that, had lain his plans to make 
 that railroad the centre of a system that would 
 virtually extend from the Atlantic to the Pa- 
 cific. 
 
 The Pennsylvania Central Railroad Company met 
 Gould's negotiation for the Columbus, Chicago and 
 Indiana Central Railroad by arguments with that 
 Company so well backed by the Pennsylvania's treas- 
 ury that it broke its agreement with Gould and 
 signed a ninety-nine-year lease in favor of the Penn- 
 sylvania corporation. But Jay Gould was not yet 
 driven from the field. He purchased a majority of 
 the stock of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago 
 Railroad Company, and at the next election would 
 
 have gained control of that important line, and had 
 a still more favorable Chicago connection than by 
 the Columbus route. If the Pennsylvania Railroad 
 had not been potent in the Legislature of that State, 
 Gould would have gained his end. The famous 
 Classification Act, passed at Albany in April, 1869, 
 and which prevented the election of a Board of Erie 
 Directors antagonistic to Gould, is popularly sup- 
 posed to have been a shrewd and smooth bit of work 
 originating with Jay Gould to sustain him in his 
 manipulation of the Erie management to his own 
 ends. This is not true. Jay Gould did not origi- 
 nate that effective method of defying the opposition 
 of rival interests, although such rival interest might 
 hold a majority of stock. He came in contact with 
 it himself, and to his discomfiture, in his efforts to 
 secure control of the Fort Wayne route. He held a 
 majority of the stock in that company. An election 
 for directors was to be held in March, 1869. The 
 Pennsylvania Railroad Company, seeing another 
 railroad that was necessary to its peace, comfort, and 
 profit likely to pass into the hand of this new and 
 energetic rival, notified its legislative agent at Har- 
 risburg that the danger must be prevented. In just 
 thirty-four minutes, on February 3, 1869, a bill was 
 passed by both houses and signed by the Governor, 
 providing that the Board of Directors of the Pitts- 
 burg, Fort Wayne, and Chicago Railroad Company 
 should be classified in five classes, so that only those 
 in one class or group should be elected at the next 
 election, another at the next annual election after 
 that, and so on for three years, thus preventing a 
 majority of stock from obtaining a majority of the 
 Directors in less than that time. Jay Gould was 
 beaten. The Board of Directors then in office was 
 not in favor of the Gould possession, and he could 
 only hope to elect three new members in his inter- 
 est. To wait three years to accomplish his purpose 
 was out of the question. He sold his Fort Wayne 
 stock to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and 
 retired from the field. It is an interesting incident- 
 in Erie history, therefore, that the Pennsylvania 
 Railroad Company was forced into the securing of 
 its present great system out of its own State to save 
 it from becoming a part of the Erie system that Jay 
 Gould had so boldly planned to establish. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 17; 
 
 With these efforts Jay Gould had for the time to 
 rest content in the matter of a Chicago Hne. 
 
 According to his report for the year ending Sep- 
 tember 30, 1869, Jay Gould had not been idle or 
 negligent in looking after the local interests of the 
 Erie. He had purchased for the Company a half 
 interest in Abram S. Hewitt's Trenton Rolling Mills, 
 where steel-capped rails were being rolled by the 
 thousands of tons, and which were to be put down 
 on the road in place of the rotten iron rails. He 
 had begun to do away with the old bridges along 
 the line, all of which were of wood, and replace them 
 with iron bridges. The worthless old locomotives 
 of the Company were being consigned to the scrap 
 pile, and new ones of improved make provided. Pal- 
 ace or drawing-room coaches were being added to 
 the day trains. A perpetual lease was made of the 
 Jefferson Railroad, between Hawley and Honesdale, 
 Pa., which brought the Erie system into direct con- 
 nection with the Delaware and Hudson Canal Com- 
 pany's coal road, insuring to the Erie a new coal 
 traffic of about 2,000,000 tons a year. The Dela- 
 ware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company 
 having defaulted in an agreement by which the Erie 
 was to transport from Great Bend, Pa., to Buffalo, 
 N. Y., large quantities of coal from the mines of that 
 company, Gould had entered into an agreement with 
 the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company by which 
 the Erie was to construct a railroad from Carbondale 
 to Susquehanna, over which and thence over the 
 Erie main line to Buffalo the Canal Company was to 
 ship a large amount of coal at profitable rates to the 
 Erie. Another coal connection had been made at 
 Waverly with the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, 
 by which seventy-five cars of coal were being shipped 
 over the Erie daily to Buffalo. The Pavonia Ferry 
 had been doubled in capacity by the opening of its 
 route between Twenty-third Street, New York, and 
 the Jersey City terminus. River frontage of 2,000 
 feet and an area of 60 acres had been purchased at 
 Weehawken, at a cost of $1,600,000, for convenience 
 in handling and storing coal and petroleum, and for 
 elevator purposes. In the same vicinity 80 acres had 
 been purchased, and a live-stock depot reestablished. 
 Extensive machine shops were building at Jersey 
 
 City, and large tracts of real estate had been pur- 
 chased west of the Bergen tunnel, for the handling 
 of crude oil in bulk. The Paterson and Newark 
 Railroad, which was begun in the interest of the 
 Pennsylvania Railroad, had been secured to the Erie, 
 and it was to be extended from Newark to the main 
 line of the Erie at the tunnel. The Newburgh and 
 New York Railroad, from near Turner's to Vail's 
 Gate, where it joined the Newburgh Branch, was 
 completed, giving the Erie direct and short connec- 
 tion between New York and Newburgh. Thirty 
 miles of new double track were completed and 
 opened. Large car shops were erected at Buffalo. 
 Wood had been discarded for coal as fuel, and the 
 Company had an arrangement by which its coal was 
 delivered at Waverly at cost. " The dilapidated, 
 unwholesome, insufificient quarters of the Company 
 in the Erie building in West Street had been for- 
 saken for the commodious and magnificent offices 
 fitted up in the Company's Grand Opera House at 
 Twenty-third Street and Eighth Avenue." The 
 Atlantic and Great Western Railroad had been 
 leased, and profitable traffic arrangements made with 
 the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton and the Ohio 
 and Mississippi Railroads, which gave the Erie direct 
 and unbroken connection between New York and 
 Cincinnati, Cleveland, and St. Louis. All the east- 
 bound business of the Union Steamboat Company's 
 fleet of twenty-two steamboats had been secured by 
 connection at Buffalo. 
 
 " Prior to my becoming executive officer," said 
 President Gould in his report, " the Board voted to 
 give the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad Com- 
 pany substantial aid in the shape of a purchase of 
 $5,000,000 of their first mortgage bonds. Since I 
 became President we have paid for and taken up the 
 bonds. This road is a very important connection, 
 as it will open to us the heart of the manufacturing 
 district of New England." 
 
 (But now, after a generation of patient waiting, 
 the jilted Erie has yet to receive even one respon- 
 sive throb from that $5,000,000 heart. — Author.') 
 
 " In the interests of the cotton traffic of the lower 
 Mississippi," the report declared, " the Erie has 
 made a close alliance with the Narragansett Steam- 
 ship Company, whose fine steamships connect the 
 
1/6 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Erie with Fall River, the city of spindles, enabling 
 the cotton from the South to be taken direct to 
 the mills, an arrangement by which the Erie's cot- 
 ton business is being largely and rapidly increased." 
 It was also incidentally and calmly stated in this 
 reassuring report that the outstanding stock of the 
 Company was $78,536,910, being an increase since 
 September 30, 1867 (one year), of nearly $53,- 
 500,000 ! 
 
 But in spite of the rosj'- reports the Erie manage- 
 ment made of its doings, of the increase in the Erie's 
 business, of the surplus of receipts over expenses, 
 and of the constant extending of the Company's 
 field of operations, its stock was ridiculously low in 
 the market, and its bonds of but little value. Stock- 
 holders wanted to know why some of the surplus 
 earnings were not turned into dividends. Between 
 $50,000,000 and $60,000,000 had been added to the 
 capital stock in less than two years. It was itemized 
 in the Company's reports as " paid up." Where 
 was the money that had been paid for it ? It had 
 been used in betterments of Company's property, 
 leasing new railroads, buying coal mines, rolling 
 mills, etc., was the reply of the management, and 
 the earnings of the Company were also invested in 
 that way. This naturally set the dissatisfied to in- 
 quiring and investigating, and brought forward the 
 English stockholders with disturbing questions. 
 
 Early in the Gould control, millions of the over- 
 issued stock were purchased by English investors, 
 the low price tempting them. But the price not 
 only remained low, but became still lower, and the 
 great foreign holdings that the management had wel- 
 comed now returned to plague the Erie management. 
 Foreseeing the possibilities of danger that lurked in 
 a combination of the English stockholders and the 
 dissatisfied ones at home. Jay Gould took advantage 
 •of the lesson he had been taught by the Pennsyl- 
 'vania Railroad Company in the Fort Wayne trans- 
 iaction, and, Vanderbilt agreeing, secured the passage 
 "i^y the Legislature, at the session of 1869, of the 
 memorable Classification Act. This act authorized 
 the Directors of the Erie Railway Company (and of 
 the Vanderbilt companies) to so classify themselves 
 
 that one-fifth of their number should go out of ofifice 
 in each year. The Erie Railway Company had sev- 
 enteen Directors, and they were classified under this 
 law into five divisions, in groups of three or four 
 directors each. These divisions were to go out of 
 ofifice at the end of one, two, three, four, and five 
 years, successors to the retiring three or four mem- 
 bers being elected immediately, instead of the entire 
 Board eoingf out of ofifice at once and an entire new 
 one being elected. The object of this plan was to 
 prevent the possible election of a hostile majority to 
 the existing management, something that could not 
 well be done by the election of only three or four 
 successors to a retiring group. It had the desired 
 result, but aroused a feeling in the Gould opposition 
 that started the bitter two years' fight, in the Courts 
 and the Legislatures, which was still of doubtful 
 issue in 1872, when treachery in the house of his 
 friends accomplished in an hour what his enemies 
 had striven for years to secure by open warfare — 
 the downfall of Jay Gould as the Dictator of 
 Erie. 
 
 The first Board of Directors under the Classifica- 
 tion Act was elected in October, 1869, as follows: 
 
 Term to expire in October, 1870: Homer Ramsdell, Charles 
 G. Sisson, Justin D. White. 
 
 Term to expire in October, 1871: John Hilton, M. R. 
 Simons, George C. Hall. 
 
 Term to expire in October, 1872: John Ganson, O. W. 
 Chapman, Henry Thompson. 
 
 Term to expire in October, 1873: Alexander S. Diven, 
 Henry N. Smith, Abram Gould, Horatio N. Otis. 
 
 Term, to expire in October, 1874: Jay Gould, James Fisk, 
 Jr., William M. Tweed, Frederick A. Lane. 
 
 The ofificers elected and appointed were Jay 
 Gould, President and Treasurer; James Fisk, Jr., 
 Vice-President and Comptroller; Horatio N. Otis, 
 Secretary; Mortimer Smith, Assistant Secretary; 
 Justin D. White, Acting Assistant Treasurer ; Fred- 
 erick A. Lane, Counsellor; Thomas G. Shearman, 
 Associate Counsel ; L. D. Rucker, General Super- 
 intendent ; J. W. Guppy, Assistant General Super- 
 intendent ; B. W. Blanchard, General Freight Agent ; 
 W. R. Barr, General Passenger Agent; J. N. 
 Abbott, Assistant General Passenger Agent; J. C. 
 Calhoun, Auditor; G. Morosini, C. W. Winslow, 
 Assistant Auditors. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 177 
 
 III. BREAKERS AHEAD. 
 
 It must be remembered that these events were 
 occurring at a time when the condition of the coun- 
 try was still to a great extent subject to the effects 
 of many of those extraordinary measures which the 
 Civil War had made necessary. The war had ended 
 but four years before. Specie payments had not 
 been resumed. Gold was still a speculative com- 
 modity in the exchanges of the land, and was sub- 
 ject to such fluctuations in premium as suited the 
 manipulations of Wall Street. A certain moral lax- 
 ity in the conduct of business affairs, which the in- 
 fluence of the war seemed to have induced, still 
 balefully pervaded commercial and financial trans- 
 actions. The moral wholesomeness of those walks 
 in life is not to-day beyond suspicion, but it is safe 
 to say that in these times quick destruction would 
 follow any combination that sought to secure pos- 
 session and control of a railroad or any other prop- 
 erty by the methods that threw the Erie Railway 
 into the hands of its new management in 1868. 
 
 It was a matter of much wonder at the time, and 
 it is no nearer an explanation to-day, why a man 
 so reserved, and one whose private life was blame- 
 less, should have remained passive in the matter of 
 the grotesque, scandalous, mountebank-like doings 
 of James Fisk, Jr., which kept the name of Erie 
 unduly and in a questionable light before the pub- 
 lic. The methods that had been thought necessary 
 to gain control of the Erie were notorious enough, 
 but they were of a matter which only enemies of the 
 management had sought to keep in the public eye 
 (and they were tiring of the task) ; but Fisk's theatric 
 antics, his ridiculous masquerading, his pompous 
 assumption of the title of Admiral, because of his 
 connection with the Narragansett Steamboat Line, 
 his naming of himself the Prince of Erie, his dis- 
 graceful orgies under the very roof of the Company's 
 office building, his wild extravagancies, by all of 
 which the name of Erie was dragged in the mire — 
 these were inexcusable flauntings in the face of pub- 
 lic decency and opinion of the power and license that 
 control of Erie and its treasury had conferred. Un- 
 doubtedly it would have been well for Jay Gould if 
 he had stopped all this. It would not have pre- 
 
 vented the ultimate wresting of Erie from his posses- 
 sion, but it might have prolonged his tenure. 
 
 Jay Gould's arrangements for connections that 
 would lift the Erie from the position of a railroad 
 that was practically merely local in influence to one 
 commanding a place of general importance were so 
 perfected by April, 1869, that the following official 
 announcement, in bold display lines, appeared in 
 the newspapers of the East and West : 
 
 " Erie Railway — One Thousand, Four Hundred 
 Miles Under One Management — Eight Hundred and 
 Sixty Miles without Change of Cars. The Broad- 
 Gauge, Double- Track Route Between New York, Bos- 
 ton, and New England Cities and the West." 
 
 This meant that the Erie Railway Company con- 
 trolled its own line between New York and Cincin- 
 nati, via the Atlantic and Great Western and the 
 Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroads. It was 
 a big step forward in railroad management, for, as 
 we have seen, the New York Central was not yet in 
 control of the system that gave it absolutely its own 
 connection with Chicago, and the Pennsylvania Cen- 
 tral had been forced into acquisition of its Western 
 lines by Jay Gould himself. This virtual extension 
 of the Erie Railway had great effect on the travel- 
 ling public. The people along the line of the rail- 
 road felt that their deliverers had come. But Erie 
 stock did not show any inclination to rise. People 
 who travelled over the Erie, and people who dwelt 
 within its province, were loud in their praise of 
 Gould and Fisk, but there were stockholders who 
 were disagreeable in their persistence in wanting to 
 know why there were no dividends. As the man- 
 agement of Erie had expected, foreign stockholders 
 combined with dissatisfied American stockholders 
 and sent formidable agents to this country to force 
 the control of Erie out of the hands of Jay Gould. 
 The first step they made looking to that end was the 
 attacking of the Classification Act, and demanding 
 its repeal by the New York Legislature, at the ses- 
 sion of 1870. A great deal of the time of the Legis- 
 lature was occupied, during that session, listening to 
 the reasons of one party why the salvation of Erie 
 
178 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 depended on the repeal of the act, and to the reasons 
 of the other party why absolute ruin awaited Erie 
 if the act was repealed. There had been politics, 
 indeed, in the election of the fall of 1869. There 
 were some able political managers in the Directory 
 of Erie. It became evident that the interests of the 
 Erie management had suffered nothing in that elec- 
 tion. At any rate, after long and patient consider- 
 ation of the merits of the question of repealing the 
 Classification Act, the law-makers decided that it 
 would not be well to repeal that act, and it remained 
 on the statute books. 
 
 The defeat of the opposition to Gould in their 
 attempt to secure the repeal of the Classification Act 
 did not discourage them. The Englishmen had 
 organized as the Erie Stockholders' Protective Asso- 
 ciation, and were well reinforced by their American 
 coadjutors. The combination was by no means a 
 popular one here, as there was a strong feeling, even 
 among people who did not approve of the Gould 
 treatment of Erie, against the Company and its prop- 
 erty passing into the hands of foreign owners. 
 
 Snon after the immense holding of the stock was 
 pun based in England, the new owners discovered 
 that, it was registered on the books of the Company 
 in the names of the original holders, who, under the 
 law, had the right to vote it until it might be trans- 
 ferred on the books to some other name. The Eng- 
 lish stockholders thereupon chose Robert A. Heath 
 and Henry A. Raphael, two London bankers, a com- 
 mittee to represent them, and gave them power of 
 attorney to have stock transferred on the Company's 
 books in New York in their names, the committee 
 then to take out new certificates and send them back 
 to England. In the spring of 1870 the New York 
 agents of the London Committee took 16,000 shares 
 of this stock to the Erie Railway Company's office in 
 the former city, and left it there for transfer. Later, 
 60,000 shares were left. Before it was transferred, 
 John Nyce, a rural lawyer, living at Milford, Pike 
 County, Pa., 100 miles from New York and eight 
 miles from the Erie Railway, achieved a sudden but 
 transient fame by appearing as a complainant in a 
 suit against James Fisk, Jr., Comptroller, and Justin 
 D. White, Treasurer, of the Erie Railway Company. 
 
 He had by some occult means discovered that these 
 trusted custodians of Erie's finances had conspired 
 to transfer the 60,000 shares of stock according to 
 the request of the parties presenting it, against the 
 true interests of the Companj^! This suit was 
 brought by Mr. Nyce to prevent such a heinous 
 breach of trust. With strange coincidence, the suit 
 was brought before Judge Barnard, who issued an 
 order directing the 60,000 shares to be placed in the 
 hands of one James H. Coleman, as Receiver, and 
 enjoined the committee of English shareholders from 
 undertaking to get the stock transferred. The Re- 
 ceiver was authorized to employ counsel and pay 
 him for his services out of the stock, which was 
 ordered transferred in the name of the Receiver. 
 The stock was worth $6,000,000 at par. The Re- 
 ceiver's bonds for the safe custody of it were fixed 
 at $100,000. This stock was voted on at the next 
 election, but not against the Gould regime. The 
 strange part of this suit, to the innocent and unin- 
 itiated, was that Fisk and White, the alleged con- 
 spirators against the well-being of Erie, remained as 
 ever in the close counsels of the Erie management. 
 
 This case, in the course of time, got into the 
 United States Court, and March 11, 1871, a year 
 after it was begun. Judge Blatchford ordered that 
 the stock be restored to its owners. Before this 
 was done Judge Barnard was called into action 
 again. Judge Barnard was always loaded with in- 
 junctions or orders, and he was ready for this emer- 
 gency. He ordered that the stock should be placed 
 in the hands of a new Receiver, Charles Robinson 
 by name, who was authorized to take in possession 
 all other stocks that might come forward for transfer 
 in the name of Heath and Raphael. Judge Barnard 
 overestimated even his power in this case, and found 
 that he could not, legally, appoint a Receiver for 
 property that was in the custody of another court. 
 Consequently, the stock was restored to the agent 
 of the London Committee, and, under absolute order 
 of the United States Court, was transferred on the 
 Company's books, a year and a half after it had been 
 presented, and at a cost of $25,000 to its owners. 
 This contact with the Erie management in that line 
 of procedure satisfied the English committee that it 
 was perhaps a trifle presumptuous for them to have 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 1/9 
 
 thought to smash down at one assault the ramparts 
 against which a Vanderbilt and a Behnont had battered 
 and battered in vain, and they took their stock and 
 went back home, where they sat down and pondered. 
 
 The results of these efforts on the part of the 
 Gould opposition was to strengthen for a time the 
 management and increase its prestige. The Legis- 
 lature of 1 87 1 was kind and complacent. The Erie 
 management passed through not only unscathed, but 
 with a clean bill of health. But influences unseen 
 and unknown were even then at work that boded it 
 no good. First came the shock of the Tweed Ring 
 exposures like a thunderbolt from a clear sky. 
 Tweed and Sween\- were leading and influential 
 Directors in the Erie Board. Tweed was one of the 
 trusted majorit\'of the Gould Executive Committee. 
 Even the name of Erie could not help but be be- 
 smirched by having such advisers in her councils. 
 
 The annual election of 1871 resulted in the choice 
 of a Board of Erie Directors substantially the same 
 in their relations to Jay Gould as the previous 
 Boards had been, with the exception, of course, of 
 William M. Tweed and Peter B. Sweeny, who were 
 then fallen and broken idols. To all outward ap- 
 pearances, the j-ear 1872 opened auspiciously for the 
 management. It was well known that a new and 
 stronger effort was to be made to secure the repeal 
 of the Classification Act, but there was no reason 
 to fear that the Legislature would so far forget it- 
 self as to repeal it. But there M'ere shadows falling. 
 There had been much of comedy in the Erie drama. 
 Now the brutal form of tragedy appeared. Fisk was 
 assassinated. The " Prince of Erie " — the gay, deb- 
 onair, grotesque, unscrupulous first-lieutenant of the 
 Gould command — was dead at the hand of an as- 
 sassin, victim of a wanton's smiles and treachery. 
 After all else, now murder must come to further 
 befoul the name of Erie. 
 
 There are those living who are strong in the belief 
 that but for Fisk's untimely taking off the events of 
 the next three months would have been entirely dif- 
 ferent, and that Jay Gould would have laughed at 
 the conspiracy that sought his downfall. But that 
 is folly. Even if Jay Gould had been ignorant, 
 almost up to the very moment that they struck, of 
 
 the treachery of those who had been his staunchest 
 friends, certainly James Fisk would not have been 
 astute enough to discover it; and, when it was dis- 
 covered, there was not time for even Fisk to have 
 carried out any plan of his chief that might have 
 prevented the result. But, as a matter of fact. Jay 
 Gould was not ignorant of the conspiracy. He sim- 
 ply misjudged it. 
 
 The credit for the overthrow of Jay Gould as 
 President of the Erie Railway Company, and the 
 consequent radical revolution in the management of 
 the Company and change in its policy (certainly not 
 to its betterment), is popularly believed to belong 
 to Gen. Daniel E. Sickles. That he figured more 
 prominently than any other one person in the public 
 eye during the exciting proceedings that precipitated 
 the result, and that he was the recognized and ac- 
 credited leader employed by the parties most in- 
 terested in bringing the affair to successful issue, is a 
 fact beyond dispute. But he had nothing to do with 
 originating the plan of the campaign that overthrew 
 the Gould management. If the methods he had set 
 out to employ in ousting Gould had been alone re- 
 lied upon by him to accomplish the purpose, the 
 overthrow would have occurred, and a new manage- 
 ment been installed, before his scheme had got fairly 
 under way. Jay Gould himself became concerned 
 in a movement to entirely change the personnel and 
 character of the Erie management weeks before Gen- 
 eral Sickles took his first regular step toward carry- 
 ing out the programme he had decided upon. While 
 Sickles's proceedings were yet without positive 
 coherence, other forces were at work undermining 
 the Gould stronghold, and were well on toward suc- 
 cess. It was these forces that General Sickles was 
 enabled to avail himself of and carry forward to cul- 
 mination the plans that gained for him the credit 
 that attached to the " Sickles Coup." 
 
 In 1871 William Butler Duncan, of the house of 
 Duncan, Sherman & Co., was actively identified with 
 the affairs of the Atlantic and Great Western Rail- 
 road Company, and striving to effect some arrange- 
 ment by which it could be relieved of its unfortunate 
 complications and embarrassments. This brought 
 
i8o 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 him more or less into communication with the man- 
 agers of the Erie Railway Company. While in con- 
 sultation with Jay Gould, one day in the latter part 
 of November, 1871, Erie's by no means promising 
 situation came up as a subject of conversation, dur- 
 ing which Mr. Duncan remarked, with much posi- 
 tiveness : 
 
 Gould, there is but one thing that can help Erie 
 out of its troubles, give it credit, and enable you to 
 sell your bonds abroad, and get money." 
 
 There had been an issue of $30,000,000 consoli- 
 dated Erie bonds by the Company some months 
 before, but, with the exception of $3,000,000 pur- 
 chased by Jay Gould and others, at 60, no market 
 had been found for them, as investors would not 
 touch Erie securities while the Company's affairs 
 were in the condition that public rumor insisted they 
 were in. Gould was extremely anxious to have this 
 loan placed. Therefore, William Butler Duncan's 
 remark as to the only way it might be done instantly 
 interested him. 
 
 "What is it that can be done?" was Gould's 
 eager response to the remark. 
 
 " Change the Board of Directors, and put in some 
 strong names that people have confidence in ! " re- 
 plied Duncan. 
 
 Gould agreed with Duncan that such a proceeding 
 might have the desired effect. He thought so well 
 of it, in fact, that he at once wrote to J. S. Morgan 
 & Co., of London, commending the suggestion. 
 J. S. Morgan & Co. were the financial agents of the 
 Erie Railway Company in London, and greatly inter- 
 ested in its welfare. Gould also called at the ofifice 
 of Levi P. Morton in Broad Street to consult with 
 him about the Duncan idea. Mr. Morton was promi- 
 nent as a financier, but had not entered upon the 
 successful political career that subsequently won him 
 high and honorable place and distinction. The sug- 
 gestion of William Butler Duncan met with his ap- 
 proval, and he mentioned the names of different men 
 as desirable ones in any new Board of Directors. 
 
 Soon afterward Gould met Duncan at the latter's 
 house, by appointment, to further discuss the sub- 
 ject, and they outlined a programme for a reorgani- 
 zation of the Company, and decided to submit it to 
 the consideration of Levi P. Morton and S. L. M. 
 
 Barlow. In this programme Gould insisted that in 
 forming a new Board all the large railway interests 
 which fed the Erie Railway should be represented, 
 and that especially the Lake Shore and Michigan 
 Southern, the Lehigh Valley, the Delaware and 
 Hudson Canal Company, the Pennsylvania Coal 
 Company, and all the large coal interests, should 
 have equal representation with the Atlantic and 
 Great Western Railroad Company. This suggestion 
 was agreed to at the subsequent meeting of Gould 
 and Duncan, with others. No written agreement 
 was made, but it resulted in the following communi- 
 cation : 
 
 Messrs. L. P. Morton and JV. Butler Duncan. 
 
 Gentlemen: — Acquiescing in the importance of a reorgan- 
 ization of the Board of Directors of the Erie Railway by asso- 
 ciating the best railway and financial talent in the country in 
 its management, I propose as follows: 
 
 First. — To procure the resignation of the present Board, and 
 substitute the following-named gentlemen: Jay Gould, August 
 Belmont, J. S. Morgan, Erastus Corning, representing the New 
 York Central; James F. Joy, representing the Michigan Central 
 Railroad; Horace F. Clark, representing the Lake Shore Rail- 
 road; William Butler Duncan, representing the Atlantic and 
 Great Western Railroad; Levi P. Morton, Moses Taylor, 
 Edwin Eldridge, John A. Stewart, Thomas A. Scott, John 
 Jacob Astor, L. M. Von Hoffman, E. D. Morgan; George 
 Talbott Olyphant, representing the Delaware and Hudson 
 Canal Company; John Ewen, representing the Pennsylvania 
 Coal Company; Asa Packer, representing the Lehigh Valley 
 Railroad Company. 
 
 In order to secure permanency to this Board, and to avoid 
 merely speculative control, I would further propose that 
 Messrs. Bischoffscheim, J. S. Morgan, and Sir John Rose be 
 a committee to procure irrevocable proxies from the owners 
 of a majority of stock; or, if deemed advisable, said committee 
 to receive deposit of the stock and issue receipts, to be bought 
 and sold in the market instead of the stock, said Trustees 
 agreeing to vote at each election for such new Board, and any 
 vacancies in the Board to be filled by the Board. The per- 
 manent organization of the company to be selected by Messrs. 
 William Butler Duncan, Levi P. Morton, and myself. 
 
 Yours respectfully. 
 
 New York, Dec. 11, 1871. Jay Gould. 
 
 The idea of reorganization embodied in this Gould 
 letter met with the approval of all concerned. It 
 was agreed that Duncan should go to Europe to urge 
 the plan to the representatives of the English stock- 
 holders, who were Heath and Raphael, and Bischoff- 
 scheim & Goldschmidt, the latter being in the Atlan- 
 tic and Great Western interest also. Gould had in 
 his name and controlled stock to the amount of 
 $24,000,000, all of which he gave Duncan irrevoca- 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 i8i 
 
 ble power to act upon to consummate the agree- 
 ment. He assumed that the existing Board would 
 not offer any objection to resigning in the interest of 
 this plan to help the Company out of its difficulties. 
 
 " If there should be any trouble of that kind, how- 
 ever," said Mr. Gould, significantly, " I will facili- 
 tate an act of the Legislature repealing the Classifi- 
 cation Act, and order an immediate election." 
 
 Of none of these transactions James Fisk, Jr., 
 Vice-President of Erie, was cognizant, and it was 
 not until Duncan sailed for Europe on his mission to 
 obtain the approval of the reorganization scheme 
 that Gould informed Fisk of what was going on. 
 Gould always declared that Fisk approved of the 
 plan and promised to aid in carrying it out. Friends 
 of Fisk were equally as positive that he never knew 
 of the agreement for reorganization, or, that if he 
 did know it, his death alone prevented him from 
 taking action that would have shown how little he 
 approved of it. If his friends were right, they might 
 have reflected more credit on the memory of the 
 unfortunate Fisk by remaining silent, and assuming 
 that he had knowledge of the entirely creditable and 
 honorable transaction, and heartily approved of it. 
 
 IV. THE SHIP ON THE ROCKS. 
 
 Gould and James McHenry, of the Atlantic and 
 Great Western Railroad Company, had quarrelled in 
 1871, and McHenry joined his forces in London with 
 the organized English stockholders, who were biding 
 their time to " pounce upon Gould and to throw him 
 out of Erie." McHenry was not entirely disinter- 
 ested in his desire. He had certain plans for com- 
 bining the interests of the Erie with those of his 
 bankrupt Atlantic and Great Western which were 
 not satisfactory to Gould, and McHenry longed to 
 have a management in Erie that might see things 
 as he saw them. 
 
 The Atlantic and Great Western had been built by 
 McHenry, who received all its stocks and bonds 
 in payment for the work. The proceeds of the 
 bonds were not sufificient to complete the road, and 
 McHenry hypothecated stock to a large amount, 
 borrowing from individuals as well as from com- 
 panies whenever he could. The stock of the com- 
 
 pany was taken largely by small foreign investors, 
 who believed it would give most profitable return. 
 When the railroad was completed McHenry was 
 practically its owner, but it was subject to the bond 
 and stock debts of the company. His expectations 
 were not realized, and in 1866 he could no longer 
 sustain the burden he had taken. He defaulted on 
 the interest due on the company's obligations, and 
 on April i, 1867, the Atlantic and Great Western 
 Railroad passed into the hands of a Receiver. To 
 add to McHenry's embarrassment, the Board of 
 Directors he had created betrayed him and took from 
 him all control over his own property. He suc- 
 ceeded, however, in regaining partial control in Jan- 
 uary, 1868. W. Archdall O'Doherty having been 
 of great assistance in bringing about this result, he 
 was made Secretary of the company, and subse- 
 quently Vice-President. 
 
 The Receiver still had possession, and McHenry 
 was anxious to overthrow him. To do this, it was 
 necessary to provide funds to the amount of $1,200,- 
 000 to pay debts the Receiver had incurred. In 
 December, 1868, McHenry succeeded in making an 
 arrangement with Jay Gould, by which the latter 
 agreed to advance $1,500,000 to McHenry, or the 
 Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company, and 
 take a lease and mortgage on the railroad of that 
 company to secure the amount. The Receiver was 
 discharged, and the road passed again into the con- 
 trol of McHenry. 
 
 Jay Gould, becoming satisfied that he had made 
 a bad bargain in his arrangement with McHenry, 
 threw up the agreement. Litigation followed, but 
 it was finally compromised by the Atlantic and 
 Great Western Railroad being placed in charge of a 
 joint Receivership, the Receiver being Jay Gould in 
 the interest of the Erie, and W. Archdall O'Doherty 
 representing the Atlantic and Great Western inter- 
 ests. Subsequently S. L. M. Barlow was employed 
 as counsel by McHenry, and in the course of the 
 putting in shape of the Atlantic and Great Western 
 Railroad Company's affairs according to the ideas of 
 Barlow, both Gould and O'Doherty were ousted 
 from the Receivership, and the road was leased to 
 the Erie in December, 1869. Jay Gould subse- 
 quently discontinued this lease, and cut loose from 
 
l82 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 AIcHeniy. This caused a relationship so strained 
 between the two that McHenry joined eagerly and 
 earnestly in the warfare against the Gould manage- 
 ment of Erie. 
 
 In the fall of 1871 Gen. Daniel E. Sickles, who 
 was then United States Minister to Spain, was in 
 London, and met at a public dinner one day James 
 McHenry and a number of distinguished foreigners. 
 General Sickles was no stranger to McHenry. Some 
 years before he had been associated with McHenry 
 in the affairs of the Atlantic and Great Western 
 Railroad Company, and in 1869 was McHenry's 
 choice for President of that company. This was 
 opposed so strongly by W. Archdall O'Doherty, 
 \\'ho then had much influence in the management, 
 that McHenry withdrew Sickles's name. At the 
 dinner referred to above, McHenry and others, smart- 
 ing under defeats in the courts of this country, were 
 led to give utterance to their opinions. 
 
 General Sickles found these gentlemen so offen- 
 sive by reason of their abuse of the judicial system 
 and code of procedure in the United States, having 
 for their text certain Erie Railway litigation, that he 
 remonstrated with them, and told them flatly that 
 any man who went to work with honesty and vigor 
 could be sure of having every wrong righted in the 
 United States. Impressed with this declaration, 
 AIcHenry assured General Sickles that if he could in 
 that way secure the ousting of Jay Gould from the 
 Erie management, the interests desirous of such a 
 consummation would pay him $100,000. General 
 Sickles thought so well of this that he applied to his 
 Government for release from his post of duty for 
 three months, which request being granted, he made 
 an engagement with McHenry and his associates to 
 go about the task that had been suggested. General 
 Sickles arrived in this country about the time that 
 Jay Gould and William Butler Duncan were busy at 
 their plan for a reorganized Erie, with full author- 
 ity from Henri L. Bischoffscheim to act. General 
 Sickles began his campaign by recourse to the legal 
 procedure which he had so warmly defended against 
 its critics in London. That he did not have the 
 opportunity to endeavor to make good his indignant 
 declaration to McHenry that " any man who went 
 
 to work with honesty and vigor could be sure of hav- 
 ing every wrong righted in the United States" was 
 the fault of others, not his. He began with the law. 
 The Heath and Raphael party had already in con- 
 templation proceedings against Gould and others, 
 with the same purpose in view. This suit was in 
 charge of the Attorney-General of New York, as 
 was necessary under the act of 1870 governing such 
 cases. The object of this suit was to remove the 
 officers of the Company then in power, and to call 
 them to account for alleged misuse and application 
 of the property of the corporation. General Sickles 
 wrote to Attorney-General Barlow December 30, 
 
 1 87 1, that he was authorized to proceed with similar 
 legal measures, and at his request that the Attor- 
 ney-General should name associate counsel to con- 
 duct such proceedings, the Attorney-General named 
 Messrs. Lyman Tremain, Matthew Hale, and Henry 
 Smith, of Albany, and William Wallace MacFar- 
 land, and James C. Carter, of New York, as such 
 associates. These legal gentlemen were paid retain- 
 ing fees out of a fund of $12,000 placed in the 
 Attorney-General's hands by General Sickles for 
 that purpose, to which fund was subsequently added 
 $1,500, contributed by the Heath and Raphael 
 party, who had joined the Sickles movement. 
 
 It being deemed advisable to obtain an act of the 
 Legislature authorizing the suspension from office 
 of the officers of the Company while the suit was in 
 progress, the proceedings were delayed, pending such 
 hoped-for legislation. A bill to repeal that long- 
 standing obstruction to the plans of the anti-Gould 
 element in Erie, the Classification Act, was also 
 introduced as an important aid in the campaign 
 against the Gould regime. Matters were in such 
 situation when, toward the middle of February, 
 
 1872, General Sickles became interested to such an 
 extent in affairs about the Erie Railway Company's 
 offices in New York, that on February 27th or 28th 
 Homer Ramsdell of Nevi'burgh, an ex-President of 
 Erie, and at that time a prominent member of the 
 Board, received a telegram from George Crouch, 
 requesting his presence in New York on very im- 
 portant business. 
 
 George Crouch, in 1869, was a journalist in New 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 183 
 
 York City, and through his duties in Wall Street 
 work he became interested in the Erie problem, and 
 resolved to make its solution a study. To have 
 more time and better opportunity to do this he 
 abandoned journalism. By close observation, and 
 being a shrewd and talented observer, he in a few 
 months mastered the Erie situation. He made him- 
 self not only familiar with its financial condition and 
 the methods of its managers, but obtained accurate 
 knowledge of its operative departments, its railroad, 
 and the condition it was in, its rolling stock, shops, 
 machinery, and every detail of its practical opera- 
 tion, everywhere along the line. He also made him- 
 self master of the affairs of the Atlantic and Great 
 Western Railroad in the same way. 
 
 Acting upon the information he obtained, he made 
 a report on the condition of the Erie, its prospects 
 and its management, and the report was a showing 
 so favorable to the popularly-discredited Gould and 
 Fisk control, and presented those individuals and 
 their methods in a light so new and different from 
 the accepted one in which they had been revealed to 
 the public gaze, that people wondered how they had 
 been led into the holding of such erroneous beliefs 
 regarding the Erie rulers and their railroad. The 
 result of this work was the calling of Crouch by 
 Gould into the service of the Company; or, rather,, 
 to a highly confidential place in the personal service 
 of Gould and Fisk. 
 
 The ambition of Crouch seems to have been the 
 settlement of the long-standing difficulty between 
 the English stockholders and the Company. A plan 
 with the accomplishment of that end in view was 
 formed early in 1870, and Crouch was on the point 
 of sailing for England to endeavor to carry it out, 
 when the war against the Gould management was 
 begun by the English stockholders, under the lead 
 of James Burt, of London. Crouch took a promi- 
 nent part in defeating that effort, but subsequently 
 turned against Gould and Fisk. He resigned from 
 their service, and went to England to help the for- 
 eign shareholders formulate a plan to oust the Gould 
 management. He returned to this country early in 
 1872, and, as General Sickles subsequently gave it 
 out, was here to act as a " go-between " for Sickles 
 in his campaign against the Erie management. That 
 
 Crouch claimed, with apparent good cause, to be 
 something more than a subordinate in the fight will 
 appear in its proper place in this narrative. 
 
 In response to the Crouch telegram. Director 
 Ramsdell went to New York on March i, 1872. 
 Crouch informed him that at the next meeting of the 
 Board of Directors several members of the Board had 
 agreed to resign, the object being to have their places 
 filled with new men, antagonistic to Gould, who was 
 then to be deposed. In this work the aid of Mr. 
 Ramsdell was necessary. Crouch said, and he placed 
 Ramsdell in communication with General Sickles. 
 
 ' ' The general idea entertained by General Sickles, 
 said Mr. Ramsdell, in giving his account of the in- 
 terview, " was that the Erie Railway was a very 
 corrupt affair, and that everybody connected with it 
 was as corrupt as the institution. But he was very 
 desirous of giving absolution to everybody, and in- 
 demnity as well, and it was a little difficult to resist 
 his overtures. I told him that I neither asked abso- 
 lution nor indemnity, and so far as compensation 
 was concerned, I calculated to have my full satis- 
 faction in doing my duty. It was hard to make 
 him believe this, but he acknowledged my position 
 finally." 
 
 The result of the interview between Director 
 Ramsdell and General Sickles was that the latter 
 consented to undertake to further the change in Erie 
 management. Gould's long-time and trusted friends 
 and supporters in the Board were Frederick A. Lane, 
 Henry Thompson, John Hilton, M. R. Simons, 
 Justin D. White, and Horatio N. Otis. White was 
 Treasurer of the Company, having succeeded Gould 
 himself. Otis was the Secretary of the Company. 
 The Vice-President was Oliver H. Perry Archer, who 
 had long held a profitable contract with the Com- 
 pany for transferring and delivering its freight from 
 Jersey City to New York, and vice versa. He had 
 succeeded Fisk in the office of Vice-President. 
 
 Late in February, 1872, Jay Gould had occasion 
 to meet by appointment Col. Thomas A. Scott, 
 Vice-President of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- 
 pany, at the Brevoort House, New York City. This 
 interview was on the subject of the importance of a 
 meeting between Gould and a person who repre- 
 sented himself to be Lord Gordon, Earl of Aber- 
 
i84 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 deen, and who, as the reputed owner and controller 
 of $60,000,000 in Erie stock, was a man of impor- 
 tance to Gould just then. 
 
 The story of Lord Gordon Gordon, bearing as it 
 does directly on affairs pertaining to the Erie Rail- 
 way at that time, may well be told here, although 
 the relation requires a divergence for a time from 
 the regular thread of the Erie narrative. 
 
 In the fall of 1 871 Mrs. Belden, of New York, 
 being on a pleasure trip, spent some time at Minne- 
 apolis, Minn. Mrs. Belden was the wife of William 
 Belden, then of the Wall Street house of Fisk, Bel- 
 den & Co., the senior partner of which was James 
 Fisk, Jr., then Vice-President of the Erie Railway 
 Company. About that time social and business cir- 
 cles of Minneapolis were somewhat moved over hav- 
 ing made the discovery that they had among them a 
 member of the British aristocracy in no less a person 
 than Lord Gordon Gordon, of the almost royal blood 
 of the Gordons of Scotland, if he were not, indeed, 
 the Earl of Aberdeen himself, of that ancient line- 
 age. Gordon Gordon had not made personal procla- 
 mation of his nobility. He had come quietly to 
 Minneapolis and registered at the hotel simply as 
 G. Gordon. His manner was unostentatious, but 
 his distinguished bearing and evident superior birth 
 and breeding soon drew attention to him as some 
 one not of the ordinary. In his quiet way he, after 
 a time, talked of his purpose of purchasing 50,000 
 acres or so of land in Minnesota, or along the North- 
 ern Pacific Railroad, for the colonizing of English 
 and Scottish tenants of his. Then a letter with a 
 coronet on the envelope, and addressed, " Lord 
 Gordon Gordon," came with his other mail one day. 
 After that he was no longer incognito. He was 
 charged with his nobility. He did not deny that he 
 was a person of title, neither did he admit it. The 
 Northern Pacific Railroad Company took charge of 
 him, and sent him in grand style all along its line 
 and its proposed line, that he might see the land the 
 company possessed, from which to select the terri- 
 tory for his colony. The excursion occupied two 
 months, and cost the railroad company $15,000. 
 Lord Gordon selected his land, but, for reasons that 
 will appear, he never perfected title to it. 
 
 Mrs. Belden met Lord Gordon in a social way, and 
 he showed her many courtesies. He was pleased to 
 learn that she was the wife of a gentleman so closely 
 allied with a high ofificer of the Erie Railway Com- 
 pany, he said, as he himself was a large stockholder in 
 that Company, and part of his business in the United 
 States was in connection with Erie affairs. Whether 
 he had before that thought of the scheme which he 
 subsequently engaged in, or whether his meeting 
 with Mrs. Belden and incidentally learning the rela- 
 tion her husband bore to the Erie through Fisk, 
 suggested it to him, is not known; but in January, 
 1872, he left Minneapolis and went to New York. 
 There he engaged fine apartments at the Westmin- 
 ster Hotel, at Sixteenth Street and Irving Place, but 
 subsequently removed to the Metropolitan Hotel, 
 on Broadway, the proprietor of which at that time 
 was William M. Tweed's son Richard. In the mean- 
 time Mrs. Belden had returned home, and informed 
 her husband, as a pleasant incident of her trip, of 
 her meeting with Lord Gordon, and incidentally 
 spoke of his large holding of Erie shares. Belden 
 called on Gordon at his hotel, introduced himself, 
 and the two became well acquainted. This was at 
 the critical time of the existence of the Gould con- 
 trol of Erie. Gordon told Belden that he owned 
 and controlled 60,000 shares of the Erie stock held 
 in England. Gordon had also made the acquaint- 
 ance of Col. Thomas A. Scott, Vice-President of the 
 Pennsylvania Railroad Company; Horace Greeley, 
 Horace F. Clark, financier, and son-in-law of Com- 
 modore Vanderbilt, and other prominent men, all of 
 whom became on terms of close intimacy with him. 
 Belden, seeing the importance of having in the Gould 
 interest the holder of so much Erie stock, reported 
 to Jay Gould the presence of Lord Gordon in New 
 York, and was anxious to bring the two men to- 
 gether. Gordon haughtily declared that he did not 
 care to meet Mr. Gould; but on March 8, 1872, Col. 
 Scott, not long after his Brevoort House interview 
 with him on the subject, telegraphed Gould that he 
 thought it would be greatly to the benefit of his 
 interests to call on Gordon. With that telegram as 
 his introduction, Gould went to the Metropolitan 
 Hotel next day and met Gordon. According to the 
 story of the latter, he told Gould plainly that he 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 185 
 
 controlled 60,000 shares of Erie, which were not on 
 the books in his name, and that he had made a com- 
 bination with other stockholders by which the man- 
 agement of Erie must be changed. He had no 
 objection to retaining Gould in the management, but 
 only on condition that all opposition to the repeal of 
 the Erie Classification Bill by the Legislature should 
 cease; all the entangling Erie litigation be brought 
 to settlement and discontinued; and that Gould 
 should renounce his Wall Street connections and 
 operations. Gould agreed to all these conditions, 
 and, as an evidence of his good faith, wrote and gave 
 Gordon the following: 
 
 I hereby resign my position as President and Director of 
 the Erie Railway Company, to take effect on the appointment 
 of my successor. Yours, etc., 
 
 New York, March 9, 1872. Jay Gould. 
 
 Horace Greeley was present during the interview, 
 and, in a subsequent affidavit, corroborated Gordon's 
 statement. Jay Gould's account of the interview 
 was that he had been told in February by William 
 Belden that Lord Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen, was in 
 New York, claiming to be in this country in the 
 interest of the English stockholders of Erie. He 
 subsequently met Gordon at the Metropolitan Hotel, 
 Horace Greeley being present. Gordon assured him 
 that he owned $30,000,000 of Erie stock, and con- 
 trolled $20,000,000 more. He had been investigat- 
 ing the condition of the Company and its property, 
 and had originated the legislation then pending in 
 the New York Legislature (for the repeal of the 
 Classification Act), and of the Heath and Raphael 
 litigation, in the interest of the English stockholders. 
 He was satisfied that Gould's management was all 
 right, but the existing Board of Directors must go. 
 Gordon said he had already arranged with the Direct- 
 ors that they should resign. He and his friends 
 controlled a majority of the stock, and they would 
 elect a new Board made up of men approved of by 
 himself, Horace Greeley, and Gould. He said 
 $30,000,000 in certificates were then on their way 
 from London which he had the power of attorney to 
 transfer. His investigations, he said, had cost him 
 $1,000,000, and he thought the Company should 
 reimburse him to the amount of at least half that 
 sum. 
 
 Gould, taking all the circumstances together, with 
 Gordon's intimate knowledge of the Erie situation, 
 and having no doubt that he was in reality Lord 
 Gordon Gordon, agreed to the plans he proposed, 
 and deposited with him $500,000 in money and secu- 
 rities as an evidence of good faith. Three days later 
 the " Sickles Coup " revolutionized Erie affairs as in 
 a trice, and the Gordon plan of procedure came to 
 nothing — as it would have done in any event. 
 
 From March 9th until March 23d Gordon had in 
 his possession the $500,000 Gould had delivered to 
 him, nearly $200,000 of which was in greenbacks. 
 During that time, had he so chosen, he could have 
 taken himself off to the other side of the world with 
 the wealth thus almost thrust into his hands, and 
 that he did not do so was then, and will be as long 
 as any of them may live, a wonder of wonders to all 
 who were conversant with the Gordon-Gould affair. 
 But he made no move to abscond. He did not even 
 remove the money or securities from his apartments 
 at the hotel, with the exception of some shares of 
 stock in the Alleghany and Oil Creek Railroad Com- 
 pany, which he sent to his broker in Philadelphia. 
 
 In the forenoon of March 23d, Jay Gould stepped 
 into the office of William M. Tweed, at 85 Duane 
 Street. 
 
 " Tweed," said he, " I've made up my mind that 
 Gordon is a scoundrel, and I think I'll make him 
 give back the money and securities I gave him, or 
 have him arrested." 
 
 " You had better see Judge Shandley about it," 
 replied Tweed. " He's in the next room." 
 
 The result of the conference with Judge Shandley 
 was that about half-past one in the afternoon Gould, 
 Judge Shandley, William Belden, and John J. Kel- 
 soe. Superintendent of Police, were in parlor 112 at 
 the Metropolitan Hotel. A few minutes later Belden 
 sent his card in to " Lord" Gordon, and was ad- 
 mitted. Gordon's subsequent story was that Belden 
 said to him: 
 
 " Jay Gould, with Judge Shandley and Chief of 
 Police Kelsoe, are in Tweed's room. Unless you 
 return at once the money and the securities that 
 Gould left with you, they will railroad you to prison 
 before any one knows where you are! " 
 
 Fearful of what might happen to him, Gordon gave 
 
i86 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Belden the $200,000 in cash, 200 shares of National 
 Stock Yard stock, 100 shares of Brooks Locomotive 
 Works stock, and 20 Northern Railroad of New 
 Jersey bonds. Belden took it all and went away. 
 Presently he returned and said Jay Gould demanded 
 the Alleghany and Oil Creek shares. Gordon wrote 
 an order on his brokers for the shares and delivered 
 it to Belden. An hour later Belden called on Gor- 
 don again and said that Gould was surprised that 
 " he had given up so easily." 
 
 He didn't expect to get more than $100,000," 
 said Belden, " and would have been glad to settle 
 for that!" 
 
 " Then I sent a messenger to Philadelphia and 
 notified my brokers," so Gordon's story ran, " not 
 to honor the order I had given for the Alleghany 
 and Oil Creek stock." 
 
 April 9, 1872, Gordon was arrested on complaint 
 of Jay Gould, charged with misappropriating securi- 
 ties in his possession. A. F. Roberts and Horace F. 
 Clark became bondsmen for Gordon, Clark getting 
 out of bed at midnight to qualify, so great was his 
 confidence in " Lord " Gordon. Following this pro- 
 ceeding, Gordon brought suit against Gould to re- 
 cover the money and securities he had got back from 
 him. Such lawyers as ex-Judge James K. Porter, 
 John Graham, and James H. Strahan had confidence 
 enough in Gordon to defend him in the criminal suit, 
 and to conduct his case against Gould. After vari- 
 ous adjournments, the case of Gould vs. Gordon was 
 set by Judge Joseph F. Brady for final hearing on 
 September 20, 1872. A day or so before the trial 
 came on "Lord" Gordon Gordon disappeared, 
 leaving his bondsmen in the lurch to the amount of 
 $37,000, and his lawyers humiliated and discomfited. 
 No trace of Gordon was discovered until early in the 
 summer of 1873, when word was received in New 
 York that he was in Manitoba. Two Minneapolis 
 detectives were employed by his New York bonds- 
 men to capture him. Armed with papers supposed 
 to be sufficient, they went to Manitoba and attempted 
 to fetch Gordon back to the States. They were 
 themselves arrested on a charge of kidnapping, and 
 were thrown into jail without bail, to await trial. 
 Governor Ramsey, of Minnesota, endeavored to 
 make an international affair of it, and requested the 
 
 United States Government to interfere, but without 
 success. The detectives lay in jail three or four 
 months, when they were tried, found guilty, and 
 sentenced to twenty-four hours' imprisonment. 
 
 After this episode Gordon retired to Headingly, 
 an isolated place in Manitoba, where, on the evening 
 of August I, 1874, two officers arrested him on war- 
 rants purporting to be issued at Toronto, charging 
 him with larceny and forgery committed in England 
 and Scotland. 
 
 " You won't take me through the States, will 
 you ? " Gordon asked the officer. 
 
 They assured him that they would, not. 
 
 " Then I'll go," said he. 
 
 Gordon stepped over the threshold of a door lead- 
 ing to another room, and drawing a revolver, blew 
 his brains out before an officer could reach him. 
 
 After his death it was learned that the warrants 
 on which he was arrested were bogus. They were 
 part of a scheme of his bondsmen in New York to 
 get him back to that city. He had swindled con- 
 fiding Englishmen and Scotchmen out of $50,000 
 before coming to this country, and he evidently 
 believed they had sent for him at last. In Great 
 Britain he had passed as Lord Glencairn. He was 
 actually the son of poor Scotch people, although in 
 one of his affidavits in the Gould suit he declared he 
 was " the son of his mother and a Scotch Duke." 
 Whatever and whoever he was, he had genius enough 
 to deceive the shrewdest financiers, the greatest 
 editor, and the most brilliant lawyers of this coun- 
 try, and must, forsooth, drag poor Erie into contact 
 with his rascality. Gould recovered the value of the 
 Alleghany and Oil Creek Railroad bonds, they hav- 
 ing been placed in the custody of the Court pending 
 the litigation against the fraudulent Lord Gordon. 
 
 Before Jay Gould had left the Brevoort House 
 from his interview with Colonel Scott that evening 
 in February, 1872, Erie Director Frederick A. Lane 
 called on him. 
 
 " There is a great conspiracy against you," said 
 Lane to Gould, " and you are being sold out of the 
 Erie management." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " asked Gould. 
 
 " General Sickles has been ordered home from 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 187 
 
 Europe," replied Lane, " and is in New York ampl)' 
 supplied with money and official backing, including 
 a force of United States Marshals, to unseat you. 
 A majority of your Directors has been purchased." 
 
 Then, in response to questions from Gould, accord- 
 ing to the subsequent story from the latter's own 
 lips. Lane exposed the whole plan of the conspiracy. 
 
 " The road is to be handed over to the Atlantic 
 and Great Western," said he. " A meeting of the 
 Erie Board is to be called ostensibly to fix up some 
 Atlantic and Great Western matters. Everything is 
 to be kept secret until the meeting. Then a motion 
 is to be made to fill the two vacancies in the Board, 
 and the men selected will be representatives of the 
 Atlantic and Great Western interests. That will 
 give a working majority in the Board in the interest 
 of the new party. Then the retiring Directors will 
 resign one by one, and their places be filled by names 
 designated by the Atlantic and Great Western. 
 Simons, Hall, White, Hilton, Thompson, Otis, and 
 Ramsdell are to receive a price for resigning." 
 
 "Ramsdell!" exclaimed Gould. "I don't be- 
 lieve Ramsdell will take money! " 
 
 "He is the very hardest one they have had to 
 bargain with," replied Lane, which surprised Gould 
 exceedingly. " The money is to be paid by Bischofl- 
 scheim and McHenry, in the interest of the Atlantic 
 and Great Western. They are counting on me, but 
 I shall remain true to you, and they have not money 
 enough to change me." 
 
 "All of which," remarked Mr. Gould dryly, in 
 giving this narrative, " I took with a slight discount, 
 knowing Lane very well." 
 
 The pretext for calling the meeting. Lane said, 
 was to be an alleged necessity of the acquiescence 
 of the Erie Board in the consummation of a general 
 settlement that had been agreed upon between the 
 Erie and the Atlantic and Great Western. The 
 " conspirators" were to claim that the Ohio courts 
 required the seal of the Erie Railway Company upon 
 one of the articles of this agreement, to be placed 
 there by order of the Board of Directors. 
 
 "And," said Gould, "they were going to make 
 that the pretext for my calling the meeting and step- 
 ping into the little trap." 
 
 Some time after this information was given Gould 
 
 by Lane, the former was visited by E. K. Wiilard, 
 a broker, who said he had autlrority to say that if 
 Gould would pass the control of the Erie Railway 
 Company over to the parties Wiilard represented, 
 a credit for $500,000 would be placed to his name in 
 any bank or trust company he might designate. 
 
 " I don't care to sell out," said Gould, and he 
 declined the offer. 
 
 True to the declaration of Lane, a request was 
 made for a meeting of the Executive Committee to 
 dispose of the Atlantic and Great Western matter. 
 Gould called the meeting early in March. Rams- 
 dell, Lane, Archer, and Gould were the Executive 
 Committee. 
 
 " The programme was," said Gould, " as soon as 
 this meeting was called to order, at which I would 
 preside, to bring up a resolution calling a meeting of 
 the Board. I had the resolution confirming the 
 Atlantic and Great Western settlement ready, called 
 the meeting to order, put the resolution, passed it, 
 and adjourned the meeting so quickly that before 
 they could get their resolution ready the meeting 
 was over and I was off; so the effort failed. I don't 
 know who made the motion to adjourn. I thought 
 I heard it. Then I thought I heard a good many 
 ' ayes,' and declared it carried." 
 
 Gould always insisted that he was not requested 
 to call the meeting of the Board in question, although 
 it is in evidence that a letter, signed by nine of the 
 Directors, was sent to him for that purpose, March 
 8, 1872. If he did receive the letter its contents 
 could not have been — as all published accounts of 
 the Erie revolution record that it was — in any way a 
 surprise to him, for he was in daily expectation of 
 it. The probable truth is that the letter was placed 
 upon his desk, but, divining what it was, he did not 
 open it. But whether he received it or not, there 
 was no response to or recognition of it. Then the 
 signers of the letter communicated formally with 
 Vice-President Archer on March 9th, requesting him 
 to call a meeting of the Board for Monday, March 
 II, 1872, and he instructed Secretary Otis to make 
 such a call, which was done. 
 
 That President Gould was not taken by surprise 
 by all this is plainly shown by the fact that he had 
 already at hand his former reliable and willing old 
 
1 88 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 friend, an injunction. This had been obtained by his 
 attorneys, Field & Shearman, from Judge Ingraham 
 of the New York Supreme Court, on the complaint 
 of Jay Gould that the move on the part of Vice- 
 President Archer and the others was in pursuance of 
 a conspiracy with agents of the English stockholders 
 to get possession of the Erie property through brib- 
 ery, and that White, Simons, Otis, Hilton, and 
 Thompson had been, or were to be, paid a large sum 
 of money to resign one by one from the Board, so 
 that their places might be filled with men elected by 
 the conspirators. The injunction was granted, but 
 the Archer meeting was held in spite of it. Jay 
 Gould was not in his place in the President's chair. 
 Great excitement prevailed. Superintendent of Po- 
 lice Kelsoe, who was friendly to Gould, was present 
 with a large force of police, under command of Cap- 
 tain Petty. There was also present a posse of Erie 
 Deputy Sheriffs, in charge of the redoubtable Tommy 
 Lynch. Thomas G. Shearman, of Erie counsel, 
 made excited protests against the legality of the 
 meeting, and for a time it seemed as if it would ter- 
 minate in violence. Through the efforts of General 
 Sickles and others the police were induced to leave 
 the room, and the business of the meeting proceeded. 
 The vacancy in the Board caused by the death of 
 Fisk had not been filled. On motion of Director 
 Lane, seconded by Director Ramsdell, this vacancy 
 was filled by the election of Gen. John A. Dix. 
 Then Director Sisson resigned. Gen. George B. 
 McClellan was chosen in his place. There was a 
 long existing vacancy in the Board, which was filled 
 by the election of William Watts Sherman, of the 
 house of Duncan, Sherman & Co. Director Hilton 
 resigned, and S. L. M. Barlow was elected to his 
 place. Thus, at the same time. Directors Simons, 
 Otis, Thompson, White, and Lane resigned. Will- 
 iam R. Travers, Col. Henry G. Stebbins, Charles 
 Day, Gen. A. S. Diven, and Charles Drake suc- 
 ceeded them. The new Board then organized by 
 electing General Dix President in place of Jay 
 Gould, and William Watts Sherman, Treasurer. 
 The rest of the Board remained unchanged — Direc- 
 tors Ramsdell, Dr. Edwin S. Eldridge of Elmira, 
 John Gansen of Buffalo, Jay Gould, Henry N. 
 Smith, Henry Sherwood of Steuben County, and 
 
 Charles Drake. Of all the old Directors only two, 
 Eldridge and Sherwood, remained true to Gould. 
 
 Jay Gould had locked and entrenched himself in 
 his stronghold, the President's room. When the 
 new Board of Directors had finished its business and 
 started to take a look about the premises they had 
 been chosen to have control of, they found that they 
 were locked in, and that the doors were guarded by 
 a strong force of Erie Deputy Sheriffs. General 
 Sickles — who had left the building after the election 
 — says that he was sent for in this emergency, and 
 that he went back and, with the aid of United States 
 Marshal Kennedy, overawed the Erie guard, forced 
 the door with a crow-bar, and freed the imprisoned 
 Directors and ofificers. Then the Marshal took the 
 papers notifying Jay Gould of his removal as Presi- 
 dent, and the election of General Dix as his succes- 
 sor, and demanding surrender of the building and all 
 papers and documents, and started to serve them. 
 He was accompanied by General Sickles and the new 
 Board of Directors. The door of the President's 
 room being locked and barricaded, it was necessary 
 to force it down. Gould was in the room, but by 
 agile leaping over chairs and tables and other furni- 
 ture, and the aid of his bodyguard of Erie police, he 
 avoided the service of the papers, and escaped to the 
 room occupied by his counsel. Field & Shearman, 
 his bodyguard following him. The door of this room 
 was locked behind him. Then the Marshal's mes- 
 senger, a boy named Thomas Crowley, was hoisted 
 over the transom of the door with the papers, and 
 Gould accepted their service. Field & Shearman 
 excitedly advised the forcible ejection of the new 
 ofificers and Board and all who were with them. 
 Gould, who seemed to be the only calm man in the 
 group, said: 
 
 " No! Nothing of the sort! This must be done 
 legally or not at all." 
 
 Gould had caused during the day notices to be 
 posted about the building declaring that he still 
 retained his place as head of the Compan)', and 
 ordered all clerks and employees to receive no in- 
 structions from any one but him or persons holding 
 his written authority, and forbade them to interfere 
 with any of the business of the Erie Railway Com- 
 pany except under his authority and direction. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 189 
 
 Vice-President Archer ordered that these notices, 
 and all others similar to them that might be posted, 
 be torn down, and the nature of the feeling among 
 the employees as to how the contest would end 
 was quickly demonstrated by the Vice-President's 
 order being promptly obeyed. 
 
 The excitement among the numerous employees 
 of various departments of the Company was intense. 
 The corridors of the great building were crowded 
 with policemen and Deputy Sheriffs, and Twenty- 
 third Street and Eighth Avenue were thronged with 
 excited people, awaiting the bloody contest they 
 believed was preparing within those marble walls. 
 The police force and its officers were plainly favor- 
 able to the Gould side of the controversy, and at a 
 word from him would undoubtedly have cleared the 
 building of all who opposed him. 
 
 Gould remained entrenched in the law room until 
 the morning of March 12th. All ofificials of the Com- 
 pany, with the exception of General Superintendent 
 Rucker, had transferred their allegiance to General 
 Dix. Superintendent Rucker soon reconsidered his 
 action and went over to the enemy. Diplomacy was 
 now brought to the settlement of the difficulty, and 
 by it Gould plucked victory from the very jaws of 
 defeat. The Dix party could not claim that the law 
 was with them, but they loudly assured the public 
 that they had justice on their side. They had routed 
 Gould, horse, foot, and dragoon. He had positively 
 no foothold in the Company, except that he was still 
 a member of the Board of Directors. If the charges 
 these men had so freely made against him as to the 
 way he had dealt with and used the property of the 
 Erie Railway Company were true, he was not a man 
 to be among honorable trustees of a great corpo- 
 ration. His place was among malefactors, or his 
 accusers were false accusers and slanderers. This 
 man that the newspapers and rival stock speculators 
 and railroad managers had so long hounded as a 
 criminal was brought to bay at last. Surely his pun- 
 ishment would be the severest ever known. Just 
 men had to deal with him now. His transgression 
 had come to plague him. Did the men who had run 
 him down hurl him out of all connection and associ- 
 ation with the corporation he was charged with de- 
 spoiling, and hold him to answer for his crimes ? 
 
 There is no record that they did so. With all the 
 power they had so suddenly acquired, these bold 
 men were afraid of the man they had stripped of all 
 his consequence in the Erie Railway Company — he, 
 with but a handful of friends and supporters left, 
 amone the hosts that had been wont to do him 
 homage. They dared not remove him from his 
 place as Director, for they feared him yet, and knew 
 he could make them trouble. General Sickles being 
 a diplomat, he was deputized to confer with Mr. 
 Gould and his counsel. Field & Shearman. The 
 result of this conference was that General Sickles 
 agreed to the proposition that Jay Gould should 
 hold a formal meeting with the Directors, and that at 
 this meeting the new Directors should be reelected. 
 Then Gould was to resign as President, and General 
 Dix was to be elected to succeed him. This childish 
 and farcical proceeding was carried out, thus destroy- 
 ing the moral force of the deposing of Gould, and 
 leaving him, in reality, victor over his conquerors. 
 He remained in the Board with as much voice in the 
 management of Erie affairs as any other member 
 had. His counsel, Field & Shearman, were retained 
 as counsel by the new Board in cases then on hand 
 — a rich legacy from this Gould whom the reformers 
 had set out to punish so terribly. 
 
 The Legislature was heard from on March 13th. 
 The Classification Act was repealed on that day in 
 the Senate, and on the 14th in the Assembly; but 
 Jay Gould was not worrying about classification acts 
 any more. On March 15, 1872, he resigned from 
 the Erie Directory without giving any explanation 
 for his act. General Sickles, being a diplomatist, 
 counselled Gould to this course. 
 
 " If you resign," the General suggested to Mr. 
 Gould, " it will send the price of Erie up fifteen 
 points. You can make a million dollars." 
 
 Gould, acting on this counsel, quickly purchased 
 all the Erie stock he could get for the next two or 
 three days, and then resigned. The stock advanced 
 twenty points instead of fifteen, and the deposed 
 Erie magnate presumably made more than the 
 $1,000,000 that General Sickles had so kindly shown 
 him the way to make. 
 
 Such was the beginning, the course, and the end 
 
I go 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 of Erie's career under the management of Jay Gould. 
 Jay Gould, even, did not know then the extent of 
 the duplicity and treachery of those he had trusted, 
 and how deep-laid the plot for his dethronement was 
 among them, in complicity with his enemies. He 
 perhaps never would have known it but for the 
 exposures made long afterward by persons who were 
 still smarting from pique and disappointment over 
 what small recompense the manipulation of the cam- 
 paign against him had brought them from men who 
 had climbed to power through his defeat. And her« 
 is the almost incredible story of it all : 
 
 V. THE DOCUMENTS IN THE CASE. 
 
 Frederick A. Lane was in London in September, 
 1872. While there (according to his own statement) 
 he found that a large number of claims had been 
 presented to the representatives of the English stock- 
 ' holders for services rendered in the overthrow of the 
 Gould management of the Erie Railway Company. 
 " A number of my friends in London " (these are 
 his own words), " aware of the prominent part I had 
 played, urged me to make a statement of the ser- 
 vices I rendered. It was proposed that a select din- 
 ner should be given, to which I would be invited, 
 and that I should deliver an address on the occasion. 
 I did not like this method of making an exposition, 
 being averse to after-dinner speeches. Desirous, 
 however, of acquainting those who were the most 
 concerned with the facts of the transaction, and of 
 defeating the bogus claimants in their unjust de- 
 mands, I ventured to make a statement that would 
 cover the ground fully." 
 
 This seemed to have been satisfactory to those 
 concerned, and Mr. Lane wrote his narrative, and had 
 it printed for exclusively small circulation. Only 
 five copies were given out in London of the edition 
 of fifty printed. All except three of the remainder 
 were destroyed by Mr. Lane himself. When he 
 returned to New York he brought these three with 
 him, and confided them to the reading of close 
 friends, one of whom was W. Archdall O'Doherty. 
 Of the three copies, two were returned to Lane. 
 The third and last cop}- of this Edition de luxe of 
 Erie secrets never came back to him. This one was 
 
 the O'Doherty copy, and this is it verbatim, as 
 O'Doherty furnished it for publication : 
 
 THE STATEMENT. 
 
 London, Sept. 22, 1872. 
 
 Gentlemen:— It has been suggested to me that a narration 
 of the different steps which brought about the Erie coup d'Hai 
 last Spring would be beneficial to the interests of the stock- 
 holders, and, at the same time, would place my connection with 
 that event before the public in a proper light. As you are 
 aware, various persons have laid claim to producing the result 
 which placed Gen. Dix at the head of the Erie Railway Com- 
 pany, and large sums of money have been paid to those who 
 were not in the smallest degree entitled to remuneration for 
 any services performed in this matter. Whatever steps may 
 have been taken by them in the way of procuring legislative 
 interference or action by the courts, these had resulted prac- 
 tically in nothing, until I myself originated and carried out the 
 plan which resulted in success. I should not at this late hour 
 put my name to paper to claim this, unless I had found certain 
 parties absolutely ignoring me and putting themselves forward 
 as the originators, promoters, or chief generals of the attack. 
 
 I had for a long time contemplated resigning my position as 
 a Director of the company, believing that the interests of the 
 stockholders would be best served by an entire change in the 
 Board, and I so advised, repeatedly, the late President, Mr. 
 Gould. The idea finally struck me that the majority of the 
 Board might, for a small consideration, be induced to resign, 
 and with this view I casually mentioned the matter one morn- 
 ing to a member of the Board, Henry Thompson, feeling sure 
 that with his known resolution and active cooperation I should 
 succeed. The amount we fixed upon was $500,000, and imme- 
 diately after I commenced the negotiation. I proposed the 
 plan to Mr. Olyphant, of the Delaware and Hudson Canal 
 Company. He thought that he could arrange it, and con- 
 sulted with some members of his Board in reference to it. 
 However, I opened my plan to Mr. W. A. O'Doherty, a par- 
 ticular friend of Mr. James McHenry, and after a brief inter- 
 view it was considered that the Atlantic and Great Western 
 Railway parties could aflford to pay more for the position than 
 any one else. A cablegram was, therefore, forwarded to Mr. 
 McHenry, and thus the negotiation commenced. Copies of all 
 this cable correspondence were retained by Mr. O'Doherty, 
 and can be furnished by him. After a little while the negotia- 
 tion with Mr. McHenry seemed to halt, and I was about to 
 carry it through with other parties. But Mr. O'Doherty was 
 so anxious that Mr. McHenry should not let slip this oppor- 
 tunity of controlling the road that, at this juncture, he urged 
 me to see Mr. Barlow. This I was exceedingly loth to do, 
 as I felt confident that Mr. Barlow would wish to get a large 
 fee for himself, and that he would not let me have the credit 
 of the transaction. Finally, I consented to see Mr. Barlow 
 with Mr. O'Doherty, and then followed several cables from 
 Mr. Barlow to M^r. McHenry, in which I myself inserted the 
 amount to be paid. In my preliminary conversation with Mr. 
 Barlow, I had made it a sine qua non that Mr. O'Doherty and 
 Mr. F. Graham Gardiner, both friends of mine, should have 
 seats in the new Board, which was agreed to. Let me say here, 
 to show how perfectly the whole thing was in my hands, that 
 when it was subsequently found that there were objections to 
 these gentlemen, I dictated a settlement with them by which 
 each of them received $25,000 for allowing their names to be 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 191 
 
 taken off the new list; so much for my power in that respect. 
 But to return to my narrative. 
 
 Mr. Barlow urged the importance of a communication with 
 Gen. Sickles, and I finally assented to a meeting between Mr. 
 Henry Thompson (late Erie Director), Gen. Sickles, Mr. 
 Barlow, and myself, at Mr. Barlow's house. Here the amounts 
 to be paid were talked over. After this time we had various 
 interviews, and we endeavored to have a meeting of the 
 Executive Committee of the Erie Company, for the purpose of 
 calling a special meeting of the Board, at which the overturn 
 was to take place. This was found to be impracticable, as Mr. 
 Gould was a member of that committee. The first letter sent 
 to Mr. Gould was on the Friday before the meeting, as 
 follows: 
 
 Erie Railway Company, 
 
 New York, March 8, a.d. 1872. 
 Mr. Jay Gould, President Eric Railway Company .• 
 
 Sir: — The undersigned, Directors of this company, having 
 witnessed with deep regret the growing distrust which per- 
 vades the community in regard to its management, deem it 
 their duty to request you to call a meeting of the Board, with a 
 view to the consideration of such measures and to the trans- 
 action of such business as may be deemed necessary. Promi- 
 nent among the embarrassments are its finances and a general 
 want of confidence in the credit of the company. Impressed 
 with the responsibility which rests upon us, we regard this call 
 for a meeting as an imperative duty, and therefore respectfully 
 request that, in compliance with our by-laws, you convene the 
 Board at a meeting to be held on Monday, the nth day of 
 March, at 12 o'clock. 
 
 Respectfully yours. 
 
 Frederick A. Lane. 
 O. H. P. Archer. 
 M. R. Simons. 
 John Hilton. 
 
 Henry Thompson. 
 H. N. Otis. 
 George C. Hall. 
 Homer Ramsdell. 
 
 Justin D. White. 
 
 Finding that no notice was. taken of this request, on Satur- 
 day, the gth of March, I proposed to throw off all reserve, and 
 have the meeting called for the Monday following, at all 
 hazards. I therefore drafted this letter, to which the assenting 
 members signed their names, my own being signed first on the 
 list, as on the other. 
 
 Erie Railway Office, 
 
 March 9, 1872. 
 Mr. O. H. P. Archer, Vice-President Erie Railway Company : 
 
 Dear Sir: — The President of this company having been 
 requested to call a meeting of the Board of Directors of the 
 company at an early day, and not being able to communicate 
 with him — though we have endeavored to do so — we hereby 
 request you to issue a call for a meeting of the Directors of this 
 company for Monday, the nth day of March, at noon, at the 
 office of the company in Twenty-third Street, New York. 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 Frederick A. Lane. Henry Thompson. 
 O. H. p. Archer. H. N. Otis. 
 
 M. R. Simons. George C. Hall. 
 
 John Hilton. Homer Ramsdell. 
 
 Justin D. White. 
 
 Mr. Vice-President Archer then directed the Secretary to 
 issue a call for a meeting, which was accordingly done as 
 follows: 
 
 Office Erie Railway Company, 
 
 New York, March 9, 1872. 
 H. N. Otis, Esq., Secretary: 
 
 Dear Sir: — Having been requested by several of the Direct- 
 ors to call a meeting of the Board in the absence of the Pres- 
 ident, it becomes my duty to request and instruct you to that 
 efifect. You will, therefore, immediately send proper notice to 
 the several Directors, requesting them to attend a meeting to 
 be held on Monday next, the nth inst., at 12 o'clock, at the 
 office of the company. Twenty-third Street and Eighth Avenue. 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 O. H. P. Archer, Vice-President. 
 
 This, of course, allowed Mr. Gould in a measure to know 
 our plans, and I immediately took myself off to a neighboring 
 city, lest some legal papers might be served on me, and re- 
 turned to town early on Monday morning. I then went to Mr. 
 Barlow's house to meet the incoming members of the pro- 
 posed new Board, and remained there (with the exception of 
 a short walk with JMr. O'Doherty) until a few moments before 
 the time fixed for the meeting of the Board, when we all 
 started for the Erie building. I arranged that I should keep 
 a little ahead of the new members, who foIloAved in a body, so 
 as to be ready to take their seats as fast as they were chosen. 
 On arriving at the Erie offices, Mr. Thompson met me and 
 said that the building was in charge of the police, and that 
 orders had been given to admit no one except the members 
 of the Board and officials. I saw that prompt action was 
 necessary, and I immediately gave orders to the ushers as 
 follows: 
 
 " Mr. Hicks, you will go to the entrance and ask Gen. Dix 
 to send me his card." 
 
 On the coming up of his card I said, " Say to Gen. Dix that 
 the counsellor of the company will be glad to see him in the 
 Directors' room." 
 
 I knew that an official order like this would be obeyed, and 
 so it was, for in a few moments Gen. Dix made his appearance. 
 I pursued the same course with the others, one after another, 
 until all had been admitted except Mr. Chas. Day and Mr. 
 Henry G. Stebbins, when the usher returned and said that Mr. 
 Rucker, the General Superintendent, had given orders that no 
 more should be admitted. I then turned to another usher and 
 told him to obey my orders at all hazards. In a few moments 
 both of these gentlemen came in, and I felt that the battle was 
 won. Immediately the meeting was called to order by the 
 Vice-President, and after the reading of the minutes of the last 
 meeting had been dispensed with, I moved a resolution that all 
 the attorneys and counsel of the company should be dismissed, 
 and Messrs. Barlow, Larocque, and MacFarland be the only 
 authorized counsel to appear for the corporation. I did this 
 to prevent any action being brought by Messrs. Field & Shear- 
 man in the name of the company, by direction of Mr. Gould. 
 I then moved that Gen. Dix should be elected a director in 
 place of the deceased Col. Fisk, which was carried unani- 
 mously. Then Gen. McClellan was elected to fill another 
 vacancy. About this time a messenger appeared with a bundle 
 of papers, and was directed to serve one of them on me. He 
 handed me a copy of an injunction, when I demanded to see 
 the original signature of the judge who had issued it, other- 
 wise it would not be a legal service. The instant he opened 
 the original to show it to me I seized that with most of the 
 copies he had to serve on the other members and put them in 
 my pocket. In the ;«///^ which ensued, the original injunction 
 was torn. After I had put the papers in my pocket, we went 
 
192 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 on with the election of the new members. The " conspira- 
 tors " resigned in turn, and the new members were chosen, 
 one after another, in their places. " Last, though not least," 
 the author of this tendered his resignation. 
 
 Almost as soon as the meeting had been organized, as be- 
 fore stated, I was informed by Mr. Barlow that Mr. Gould had 
 given orders that himself and his friends should be put out 
 of the building. I invited them all into the Directors' room and 
 closed the doors. In a moment we heard the advancing steps 
 of a police captain, with about five hundred of the worst 
 specimens of New York rowdies and vagabonds at his back. 
 But I was not to be intimidated even by these, and told Captain 
 Petty, the police officer, that I would hold him strictly ac- 
 countable for any harm that might come, and before he could 
 tell who had been and who had not been chosen Directors, we 
 had all the new members elected, and he did not dare to lay 
 hands upon them. Many of those rowdies were thoroughly 
 armed, and if there had been any melee, I should have been 
 singled out as being evidently the leader in the matter, and my 
 life would, no doubt, been endangered. So great was the 
 feeling against me that night that, by urgent solicitation of 
 my fricn Is, I kept away, and put myself in charge of a marshal. 
 
 After I had tendered my resignation, the Board, as reor- 
 ganized, proceeded to pass a resolution removing j\lr. Gould 
 and placing Gen. Dix at the head of the company as its Presi- 
 dent. I leave it to others to tell what took place afterward. 
 I assert deliberately, and without fear of contradiction, that 
 I originated the plan which was so successfully carried out, 
 and that without my assistance it would not have been car- 
 ried out at all. 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 Frederick A. Lane, 
 Late Cotmsellor of the Erie Railway Company. 
 
 Mr. O'Doherty made this circular public in Feb- 
 ruary, 1873, and it caused such excitement not only 
 in New York City and along the line of the Erie, 
 but throughout the entire country, as no event in the 
 history of the railroad or Compan)' had yet created. 
 Not even the tumultuous and well-nigh bloody days 
 of the Gould revolution, a year before, had been so 
 fraught with material for public perusal as came on 
 the heels of this astounding revelation. That money 
 had been used to turn Gould out of the Erie man- 
 agement had always been believed, especially by 
 men in the circles of finance everywhere, but up to 
 this time there had been no positive evidence that 
 such was the fact. Many found it almost impos- 
 sible to believe the damaging statements made in 
 the circular. But they were true. And they were 
 the means of bringing from their long hiding place 
 much more of strange conduct on the part of custo- 
 dians of Erie, past and present, such as dwarfed 
 every other subject then uppermost in the public 
 mind as enthralling topics of the day. Mr. Lane 
 
 professed surprise and indignation that the circular 
 should have been made public, and charged O'Do- 
 herty with a breach of confidence in having brought 
 the exposition about. O'Doherty, on the contrary, 
 declared that it had been given out not only with 
 the full knowledge of Lane, but at his persistent 
 solicitation. 
 
 O'Doherty had been associated with Jay Gould as 
 Receiver of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad 
 Company, and had been removed as such, with 
 Gould, through the instrumentality of S. L. M. Bar- 
 low. He retained no warm personal feeling for Bar- 
 low, but still had the confidence and esteem of James 
 McHenry. To substantiate the statements made in 
 Lane's circular that he " had copies of all the cable 
 correspondence and could furnish it," O'Doherty 
 followed the making public of the circular, and added 
 interest and importance to this latest sensational 
 chapter in Erie, by furnishing that correspondence. 
 He and Lane, it seems, had agreed upon their pro- 
 gramme February 10, 1872, and on the evening of 
 that day the first dispatch was cabled to London. 
 
 THE STORY THE CABLE TOLD., 
 
 New York, Saturday, 10th February, 1872, 
 
 10 o'clock P.M. 
 
 fames McHenry, Oak Lodge, Kensington, London . 
 
 Will you lodge one and a half 'million dollars in a trust com- 
 pany here or in Philadelphia, payable only on condition that 
 you shall nominate a majority of Erie Board, and have them 
 elected within a week of deposit? I guarantee success, and 
 know that your present plans will fail. Inform no one but 
 Bischoffscheim. Answer me immediately to No. TJ Clinton 
 Place (Eighth Street), but communicate with no one else here. 
 If you say " Yes,'' a special messenger shall leave here by 
 steamer on Wednesday. O'Doherty. 
 
 General Sickles being then in this country, engaged 
 in his quiet and entirely conventional campaign to 
 accomplish the same end, as the duly authorized 
 agent of James McHenry and Bischoffscheim & 
 Goldschmidt, and George Crouch having but re- 
 cently landed here on a similar errand, O'Doherty's 
 dispatch was not only a surprise but a mystery to 
 McHenry. He consulted with his associates in the 
 anti-Gould movement, and it was decided that it 
 would be well to learn more of the O'Doherty plan. 
 Early on Monday morning, February 12th, this dis- 
 patch came from McHenry: 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 193 
 
 London, Monday, 12th February, 1872. 
 
 IV. Archdall O'Doherty, jy Clinton Place (Eighth Street), 
 New York : 
 
 Do you propose Gould and friends shall remain in Board? 
 Reply. McHenry. 
 
 The meaning of this was plain. Upon a satisfac- 
 tory reply to it depended all hope of future nego- 
 tiation. McHenry was answered the same day as 
 follows : 
 
 No compromises to be made with any one. With majority 
 of Board your first act may be to remove, or force, resignations 
 of all opponents. You will find four millions in bonds, etc., 
 in treasury, and stock will jump up. Your final decision must 
 be made at once. Information to any one here will ruin all. 
 Gould and friends powerless. If action is immediate, success 
 is certain. Can you suggest cipher? O'Doherty. 
 
 This was an apparent deliberate throwing out of 
 the Erie treasury as a bait. Fears that " others" 
 might become aware of the scheme and thwart it, or 
 come in for a division of the prospective spoils, were 
 plainly agitating the schemers, and the answer to 
 this last dispatch was by no means reassuring. It 
 came on the 13th: 
 
 We require to know purpose of deposit, and how amount 
 is to be reimbursed. Agent should come here with serious 
 plans, and able to give explanations, and business may be done. 
 
 McHenry. 
 
 This was alarming. The sending of an agent 
 abroad meant the using up of a month of time and 
 the absence of O'Doherty from the scene of action, 
 for Lane was persona non grata with McHenry and 
 Bischoffscheim, and it would not do to entrust the 
 delicate mission to a third party. Hence O'Doherty 
 became positive and decisive in his tone. He re- 
 plied to McHenry as follows, on even date : 
 
 You mistake plans and position of affairs. The $1,500,000 
 bonus to be paid for control, and can only be got back by profit 
 on stock. No explanations of mode of proceedings shall be 
 asked, or will be given, as you are asked to pay nothing until 
 you get what you want. You must decide at once, or control 
 will pass from you forever. Others would grasp eagerly at 
 your chance. Even if proceedings at Albany succeed, they 
 might serve Heath and Raphael, but will ruin you. The 
 deeper you and Bischoffscheim are committed in Atlantic, 
 and the blacker things look, the more vital to you is the con- 
 trol of Erie. If you cannot trust my judgment and sincerity 
 you had better give up negotiations. You owe it to me to 
 be frank. Unless you answer explicitly and immediately I 
 cannot keep offer open. I have seen Crouch. 
 
 O'Doherty. 
 
 13 
 
 He had "seen Crouch." The seeing of Crouch 
 did not tend toward strengthening the hopes of the 
 O'Doherty-Lane combination. Crouch had just 
 arrived in New York from London. There was no 
 doubt in the minds of the dickerers for the sale of 
 Erie that he was in New York either charged with 
 a mission of some kind by the English stockholders 
 or with a scheme of his own for changing the control 
 of Erie. The reply sent by McHenry to O'Do- 
 herty's long and warning dispatch was brief and bore 
 no burden of encouragement. It also came on the 
 13th, and read: 
 
 Your dispatch under consideration for definite reply. 
 
 McHenry. 
 
 Three days passed without the definite reply from 
 McHenry, a'nd th^y were days of painful suspense to 
 Lane and O'Doherty, and at last, when the reply 
 came, on the evening of the i6th, its definiteness was 
 by no means agreeable to them. It brought one of 
 their worst fears to realization. A third party must 
 be taken into their confidence, and that third party 
 must be one whom they least desired to share their 
 secret — S. L. M. Barlow. This was the reply from 
 McHenry: 
 
 I have complete confidence in your loyalty to my interests, 
 but my friends decline association with Gould on any terms. 
 But for the lease of the railroad and resignation of the whole 
 Board, or for placing property in the hands of Receiver, ar- 
 ranged with my agents in New York, will pay amount required. 
 
 McHenry. 
 
 The " lease of the railroad" meant the securing 
 and insuring the lease of the Atlantic and Great 
 Western Railroad to the Erie Railway Company. 
 S. L. M. Barlow, counsel of the latter Company, was 
 the only agent of the English syndicate with whom 
 Lane and O'Doherty could consult in this matter, 
 and they sought him with anything but sanguine 
 expectations for the future of their negotiations in 
 regard to profit. At the interview with Barlow on 
 the 17th, before exposing their plan to him, O'Do- 
 herty, according to his own subsequent statement, 
 but Lane, according to Barlow's declaration, said: 
 
 I shall insist on three preliminaries from you. 
 First, that you will not speak of the matter to any- 
 body; second, that you will not ask any part of the 
 
194 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 money to be made out of it; and, third, that you 
 will not seek to reduce the amount of my compensa- 
 tion and that of my associates." 
 
 Barlow demurred to the second preliminary, " jok- 
 ingly," he said (which was not the opinion of 
 O'Doherty), but finally agreed to all three. Then 
 the plan they had formed of inducing the resignation 
 of certain Directors, as stated in Lane's circular, was 
 revealed to Barlow. He pondered over it a day or 
 so, and on the 19th concluded to take a hand in the 
 negotiations. He answered McHenry's last dis- 
 patch to O'Doherty as follows: 
 
 Have seen O'Doherty. Receivership, through action of the 
 Board, impoHtic, useless. Lease now equally so. In future 
 this may be arranged. What is offered is ten members of 
 the present Board named by you. Immediate withdrawal 
 of Gould's power. His resignation to be forced afterward. 
 Lane's resignation given. Vastly importapt if rtoney can be 
 raised. No payment until majority of Board elected by you. 
 
 Barlow. 
 
 To this McHenry responded next day, the 20th : 
 
 If McCIellan is made President we may arrange it. Im- 
 possible to negotiate, leaving Gould in. McHenry. 
 
 The cable was kept hot all the rest of the day as 
 follows : 
 
 Scheme entirely without knowledge of Gould. If McCIellan 
 is put in his place, with Treasurer and majority of Board, can 
 money be put up at once, subject to payment when accom- 
 plished? Barlow. 
 
 Addendum — Your last chance. 
 
 To this the response came: 
 
 O'Doherty. 
 
 Translate your telegram to mean Gould resign with nine 
 directors, and that we nominate ten, including President. On 
 this basis we are ready to act, but if not inconsistent with 
 your negotiations, would like to have Sickles's opinion. 
 
 McHenry. 
 
 The above message was addressed to Barlow, but 
 it aroused O'Doherty, who answered it thus: 
 
 I will not communicate, or allow of communication, with 
 Sickles. Day knows all. O'Doherty. 
 
 Day, who " knew all," was Charles Day, who 
 expected to be in the new Erie Directory. This 
 utterance from O'Doherty called for conciliation on 
 the part of McHenry, and he hastened to cable it in 
 these agreeable words: 
 
 I have too much regard for you to communicate directly, or 
 indirectly, with any one against your opinion. McHenry. 
 
 During this time, and up to the 22d of February, 
 Barlow must have been corresponding with London 
 on his own responsibility, for he telegraphed O'Do- 
 herty from Washington, D. C, on the latter day as 
 follows: 
 
 London entirely confident of success. I am perfectly satis- 
 fied we can arrange to your satisfaction. Will be home to- 
 morrow night. Barlow. 
 
 Then O'Doherty heard no more from London for 
 several days. He discovered, in the meantime, that 
 General Sickles had transferred his attention from 
 Alban)' to New York, and that Crouch was sus- 
 piciously active in Erie affairs. Both were evidently 
 on the ground by authority, and on March 3d, 
 O'Doherty cabled these ominous words to McHenry: 
 
 Beware. Present plans will result in loss of money and 
 disgraceful failure. Save yourself. O'Doherty. 
 
 It did not seem to be exactly clear to the London 
 negotiator as to what O'Doherty meant, and he 
 cabled on the 4th as follows : 
 
 Further suggestions will be gladh' received. McHenry. 
 
 In his response to this O'Doherty was firm, but 
 cautious : 
 
 Opinion unchanged. Choice of agent and present pro- 
 gramme ruinous. Cannot cable particulars. O'Doherty. 
 
 McHenry pondered on this for three days, and 
 then cabled on the 8th : 
 
 Your advice much appreciated, but depend on you aiding 
 Sickles's campaign, for whose success I am responsible. I 
 arranged programme after serious survey of the whole field, 
 and will take care of your interests. McHenry. 
 
 This seemed to be satisfactory to O'Doherty, and 
 the events of the approaching crisis and its brilliant 
 climax were tersely recorded in the appended cable 
 bulletins of March 9th, loth, nth, and 12th: 
 
 Board meeting is arranged for next Monday. By i o'clock 
 on that day you shall have your wish. All now depends on 
 how wisely you use your victory. O'Doherty. 
 
 Thanks for your dispatch. You may depend on our appre- 
 ciation of such momentous events. McHenry. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 195 
 
 Complete victory. Nine of your men elected: Dix, Mc- 
 Clellan, Stebbins, Barlow, Diven, Day, Sherman, Travers, and 
 another. Gould removed. Dix, President. Sherman, Treas- 
 urer. Barlow, Counsel. Gould shows fight. Office full of 
 police, but Gould utterly routed. Lane, before resigning, be- 
 haved splendidly. I congratulate you. O'Doheety. 
 
 Thanks for brilliant victory. 
 
 McHenry. 
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF THE SPOILS. 
 
 Yet for all this" brilliant victory," thus gracefully 
 acknowledged by McHenry, when the distribution 
 of the reward for it came O'Doherty found that the 
 price of it all had been cut down to $300,000 by 
 Barlow, and that he himself had not come in for one 
 penny of the recompense. According to a state- 
 ment of Lane, O'Doherty would not have received 
 anything at all but for his (Lane's) intervention with 
 Barlow, who consented to a payment of $25,000 to 
 him, a sum no more than Lane's friend, J. Graham 
 Gardiner, who had not appeared anywhere in the 
 proceedings, received. This $50,000 was paid by 
 McHenry on the request of Barlow. The $300,000 
 was distributed as follows: Frederick A. Lane and 
 Henry Thompson, $67,500 each; M. H. Simons, 
 $40,000; O. H. P. Archer, Vice-President, $40,000; 
 H. N. Otis, the Secretary, John Hilton, and Treas- 
 urer Justin D. White, $25,000 each; George Crouch, 
 $50,000. General Sickles was paid his price out of 
 another fund furnished by the Englishmen. Be- 
 sides that payment, General Sickles put in the fol- 
 lowing bill, which was paid from the Erie Railway 
 Company's treasury: 
 
 The Erie Railway Company, 
 
 Dr. to Daniel E. Sickles. 
 
 April, 1872. — For disbursements to the several individuals 
 named below, for their services and expenses 
 in the contest to wrest from the recent man- 
 agers the control in the interest of the stock- 
 holders of the road, as follows (by resolution 
 of the Board) : 
 
 No. I. Francis Barlow, Attorney-General, services. $10,000 00 
 No. 3. Gen. George H. Sharpe, services and ex- 
 penses 1,250 00 
 
 No. 4. Silas Seymour, services and expenses 1,000 00 
 
 No. 5. James Thompson, services and expenses... S,ooo 00 
 
 No. 7. John H. Parker, services and expenses 2,000 00 
 
 No. 8. T. L. Nichols & Seymour, petitions 1,627 00 
 
 No. 9. Messrs. Barlow, MacFarland & Larocque, 
 
 services S.ooo 00 
 
 No. 10. Simon Stevens, services $2,500 00 
 
 No. II. Benjamin Field, services 1,00000 
 
 No. 12. C. P. Shaw, services and expenses 1,250 00 
 
 No. 13. Thomas E. Stuart 500 00 
 
 No. 14. J. H. Ramsey, for sending retainers 1,800 00 
 
 No. 15. George Crouch, services 1,29500 
 
 No. 16. Hale & Hand, fees and disbursements 11,500 00 
 
 No. 17. P. Willard Bullard, services 1,50000 
 
 No. 18. Wheeler H. Peckham 1,000 00 
 
 No. 20. C. Day, cablegrams and expenses 1,215 27 
 
 No. 21. Western Union Telegraph Co. Acct. and 
 
 Sundries 280 86 
 
 No. 22. United States Marshal's services 350 00 
 
 No. 23. Incidentals, such as board bills 3S53 96 
 
 No. 24. W. E. Chandler 50000 
 
 No. 25. C. Day, services 5,0°° 00 
 
 No. 26. W. H. Morgan, services 250 00 
 
 No. 28. John E. Kennedy, services 250 00 
 
 Total $59,632 19 
 
 THE DRAMATIC STORY OF CROUCH'S LETTERS. 
 
 The revelations made uy Lane and O'Doherty 
 brought out another claimant for the "honor" of 
 having originated the plan of campaign that resulted 
 in the revolution of 1872. This was George Crouch. 
 The following, which are copies of letters written 
 and cablegrams sent by him to James McHenry 
 during the anti-Gould campaign, tell his significant 
 story, and reveal, more than any other record of the 
 event, the true inwardness of the motives actuating 
 the prime movers in the revolution. These docu- 
 ments are by far the most instructive and entertain- 
 ing of all the literature of that stirring epoch in the 
 history of Erie. 
 
 Hoffman House, New York, February 20, 1872. 
 
 yames McHenry, Esq., Westminster Chambers, Victoria St- 
 London : 
 
 Dear Sir: — A few hours after landing, Lane was at me, 
 offering me " any terms " if I v>'ould work with him. He 
 " pumped " me desperately but I tired him out. Before apply- 
 ing to you for $1,500,000, he sounded some of my men in the 
 Directory, but they knew he is not to be trusted. He finally 
 declared himself altogether hostile to Gould, and I am inclined 
 to believe that he is willing to turn against him if satisfied 
 that there is a good prospect of success. I hear that Gould is 
 very anxious to see me, but I am not quite ready for him. 
 Gen. Diven is now out of the Directory, but he is bitterly 
 opposed to Gould. Henry Thompson and Hilton can be de- 
 pended upon. Fisk's friends, Simons and Hall, would gladly 
 see Gould overthrown. Ramsdell is firm. Sisson is danger- 
 ously ill; not expected to recover. White will obey the 
 " powers that be." The new men, Drake and Sherwood, are 
 under the control of Eldridge, of Elmira. 
 
 The most important man just now is Otis, the Secretary. 
 
196 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 As I told you, his record is clean. He has protested against 
 Gould's " irregularities " all along, and would have resigned, 
 but his position is bread and butter to him, and he has been 
 living in the hope of seeing the end of Gould's management. 
 
 These men are ripe for revolt, but want to be pretty certain 
 of success before they strike. It's no use letting Barlow and 
 Sickles waste money on the law and the Legislature. 
 
 Sickles has been absent since my return, but I learn that he 
 has done nothing. He is taking a holiday at Niagara during 
 the recess of the Legislature, but I have asked Day to telegraph 
 him, and he will be here to-morrow. 
 Truly yours, 
 
 George Crouch. 
 
 Hoffman House, New York, February 23, 1872. 
 James McHenry, Esq.: 
 
 Dear Sir: — I told you when I was in London that Sickles 
 was, in many respects, an unhappy selection as leader of your 
 movement to obtain legislative support against Gould. Here, 
 on the ground, my impressions are confirmed, but after seeing 
 the General, and finding that no one was more aware of this 
 than himself, and that consequently he has been politic enough 
 to deny being in any way concerned in Erie matters, and, 
 further, finding that he acknowledged that he can do little or 
 nothing in Albany, I decided to let him into my scheme. At 
 first he considered the thing utterly impossible, but when I 
 named the men I had secured he was astonished and delighted. 
 
 The Legislature has adjourned until the 26th. The fate of 
 the classification bill will be decided soon after they reassemble, 
 but if everything works well I think Gould will be abolished 
 first. 
 
 I have now discovered beyond doubt that Lane came to me 
 in Gould's interest. The fact is. Lane is smart enough to real- 
 ize that he has been too badly tarred by contact with Gould 
 to expect anything from a new management, and consequently 
 he is now making a desperate attempt to get something out of 
 him before he is ousted. Finding Lane could not get into my 
 confidence, Gould set other agents to work. Would like to see 
 me at his house in the evening. I refused to put my head in 
 his noose, however. No further evidence is needed to show 
 that he is feeling decidedly uncomfortable. The handwriting 
 is on the wall. 
 
 The work of undermining the Erie citadel is going on 
 rapidly, and I am confident of bringing Gould down with a 
 crash before long. Some of the Directors I have mentioned 
 will be worth retaining, and Gould once gone, it will be an 
 easy matter to weed the others out, one by one. At present 
 it will not do to talk of making a " clean sweep," as that will 
 free some to stand by him. 
 
 Hoffman House, New York, February 28, 1872. 
 James MeHenry, Esq. : 
 
 Dear Sir: — Since writing you last, much has been accom- 
 plished, and I am now confident of success. I am in hopes 
 that before reading this you will have been advised by cable of 
 Gould's removal. 
 
 Regretting that I have not time to give you details of oper- 
 ations, I hasten to report results. Notwithstanding the vigi- 
 lance of the detectives Gould has put on my track, I have 
 succeeded in keeping open communication with my friends in 
 the Directory. At my last interview with Otis, he gave me the 
 inclosed statement of the finances of the company and you may 
 
 rely on its accuracy. All information obtained which might 
 be useful to you I have immediately communicated to Mr. 
 Day, in order that he might cable you in cipher. Otis is now 
 in constant communication with me, and posts me as to Gould's 
 every move. Introduced Thompson to Sickles on Monday last, 
 as the man selected to lead the revolt in the Board. I know 
 Thompson thoroughly. His record in Erie is clear, and all 
 the good men will stand by him. The General at once ap- 
 proved of the selection, and a satisfactory arrangement was 
 made as to funds. Since writing last I have had an interview 
 with Hilton. A thorough understanding resulted. I told you 
 I could answer for him. He gave me his views of Gould 
 twelve months ago. George C. Hall was the next to sign 
 articles, and we now count on Simons, Ramsdell, Sisson, and 
 White besides, making eight out of fourteen. We now cal- 
 culate on electing three good men to fill existing vacancies, 
 thus getting eleven out of seventeen. The rest will be easy. 
 As it is, Gould dare not call a meeting. He " smells a mice," 
 but can't ferret it out yet. As to Lane, I need say nothing. 
 You know him as well as I do. He is of no further use to 
 Gould, and we can use him if necessary. Consider him 
 muzzled. 
 
 March lof/i. 
 James McHenry, Esq.: 
 
 Dear Sir: — Just a few hurried lines on the eve of battle. 
 Up to this time my labors have been entirely successful, and 
 to-morrow I am confident we shall put Gould's forces to rout. 
 We have moved against the enemy in three columns. One, 
 headed by Sickles, has been diverting him in the Legislature; 
 another, under the Attorney-General, has been threatening a 
 flank movement in the courts: and the third, under yours truly 
 (composed principally of sappers and miners), has succeeded 
 in undermining the very citadel of Erie. In order to cover 
 my mining operations, I kept up an incessant bombardment 
 through the press, as you will see by papers forwarded. To- 
 morrow the mine will be fired, and the forlorn hope will 
 mount the breach. 
 
 I worked night and day until I had secured a majority Direct- 
 ory. We now have under our flag, Hilton, Simons, Hall, 
 Thompson, Otis, Archer, Ramsdell, Sisson, White, and Lane, 
 making ten. On the other side are Gould, Sherwood, and 
 Eldridge. Lane has, of course, tried to be tricky again, but 
 Thompson is holding him by the nape of the neck and he can't 
 wriggle away. 
 
 Yesterday our men met, headed by Ramsdell, Thompson, 
 and Archer, and called a meeting in spite of Gould's opposi- 
 tion. To-morrow the first thing will be to fifl the existing 
 vacancies. That done, Hilton, Simons, Thompson, Otis, 
 Sisson, White, and Lane will resign in turn in favor of the new 
 men, and the first act of the new Board will be to depose Gould. 
 
 We have calculated that Gould will not stick at anything 
 to-morrow when he finds himself doomed, but have taken 
 all possible precautions against any mischief. 
 
 Erie Building, President's Office, 
 
 March 11, 1872 — iij^ p.m. 
 James McHenry, Esq.: 
 
 Dear Sir: — I telegraphed you on the eve of the battle that 
 success was certain. To-night I sit at Gould's desk, and have 
 the pleasure of penning this brief dispatch on official paper. 
 I am too tired to give you an account of to-day's fighting. 
 You will see it in the papers. Archer and myself volunteered 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 197 
 
 to bivouac on the field, knowing that Gould would invent 
 some new deviltry as soon as it became dark. We are hold- 
 ing the Eighth Avenue line from the President's office to the 
 dining room. 
 
 The enemy holds the Twenty-third Street line. We also 
 hold the safes and the treasury down stairs. Gould has his 
 headquarters in the counsellor's room with Field, Shearman, 
 Tweed, and other " glorious remnants " of the ring. About 
 two hundred of the worst desperadoes in New York are 
 massed against the doors we have barricaded. 
 
 Since writing the above, the enemy has attempted to break 
 into the safes. By making a bold front with our small force 
 we drove them off. Have sent for Sickles and Barlow for 
 reinforcements, but two hours have elapsed since the mes- 
 senger started, and we have now abandoned all hopes of aid 
 from the outside. Gould's fellows hold all the outside doors, 
 and we are completely isolated. Unless we hold out, Gould 
 will sack the safes and the treasury and clear out for Jersey. 
 Our people almost deserve to lose the fruits of the victory 
 for their folly in not helping us to get a sufficient force to keep 
 the field. 
 
 The new policemen have been won over by Gould, and our 
 position is extremely unpleasant. If Gould lets his gang loose 
 there won't be much left of us in the morning. 
 
 3 a.m. — The enemy have just crashed through Rucker's door 
 into the President's room. We only snapped the sliding doors 
 together and fastened them in time to prevent their sweeping 
 clean through on us. Situation desperate, but at critical mo- 
 ment managed to get a parley with Gould's lawyer. Shearman 
 finally convinced that game was up. Hostilities suspended. 
 Shearman goes back, and Gould breaks at last — is completely 
 unmanned, breaks into tears, and sends out to ask terms of 
 surrender. 
 
 Daybreak.— Al\ settled. Ofl to bed. " Good night." 
 
 CROUCH'S CABLEGRAMS. 
 
 Feb. 15. — Progressing well. Buy all you want and hold 
 confidently. 
 
 Feb. 24. — Gould's removal inevitable. 
 
 Feb. 27. — Majority of Erie Directory with us. Gould power- 
 less. Have loaded up in this market at thirty. 
 
 Feb. 29. — Gould completely tied. Keep secret. Every pre- 
 caution taken. Failure impossible. Have you bought all you 
 want? 
 
 March 8. — We are ready to fire the mine. Keep cool and 
 confident. 
 
 March 10. — All satisfactorily settled. Shall get control at 
 meeting to-morrow. 
 
 March 10. — Eve of battle. Victory certain. 
 
 March II. — Complete victory. We are in possession. Hold 
 for further rise. 
 
 March 18. — Situation satisfactory. Don't sell a share. 
 
 March 23. — Leaving by steamer Italy, to-day. Hold on to 
 Erie on your side, but keep fingers on trigger. Have left 
 orders to sell here at sixty. Gould trying to make a deal with 
 Barlow. Barlow will bear watching. 
 
 Crouch also made an explanatory statement before 
 the Legislative Investigating Committee of 1873, 
 from which the following is extracted as appropriate 
 to the story of Gould's overthrow: 
 
 I was detailed to investigate the affairs of the Gould ring, 
 and thus made the acquaintance of Fisk and Gould. While 
 thus engaged, I was asked by friends in England to report 
 the state of the road, and went over both the Erie and Atlantic 
 and Great Western roads to make an examination. I drew up 
 a report and sent it to the stockholders in London, showing 
 that the Gould management had greatly improved the road. 
 Gould was much pleased with the report. Subsequently I 
 made the acquaintance of other Directors. These Directors 
 greatly condemned Gould, but felt bound to remain at their 
 posts, hoping one day for a change. Fisk found out that 
 Gould intended to get rid of him and the Directors who were 
 in his confidence, and he was desirous of coming to terms 
 with the English stockholders, in order to protect himself. 
 Fisk told me that if I could come back from England with 
 sufficient English proxies, he would cut loose from Gould. 
 I went to London and, while there, learned of Fisk's death. 
 The majority of the Erie Board were favorable to Fisk and 
 against Gould, and I, therefore, consulted with the English 
 stockholders for a change in the Directors. While I was so 
 engaged, a modest proposition came to England from Lane 
 and O'Doherty, the proposition being that $1,500,000 should 
 be placed in their hands, and the English stockholders should 
 shut their eyes and ask no questions. The proposition was 
 shown to me, and although the amount was absurd, I advised 
 McHenry to keep Lane in play, or he certainly would turn 
 over to Gould. I then started for New York. Bischofifscheim 
 had engaged General Sickles, who said that as Tammany was 
 overthrown, he could accomplish a great deal in Albany by 
 his influence. I knew nothing of Sickles, and did not at first 
 feel inclined to open my plans to him. When I arrived in 
 New York, General Sickles was at Niagara. Some of the old 
 Directors, who opposed Gould, agreed to resign without 
 remuneration. Others, however, wanted recompense for the 
 loss of contracts and positions, among whom was Simons, the 
 manager of the Narragansett Steamship Company. Having 
 obtained a majority of the Board for my project, I telegraphed 
 Sickles, and met him in Mr. Day's office. Sickles said he had 
 not communicated with England, as he had accomplished 
 nothing, but he had been to Albany and laid his pipes. After 
 conversing with him, I thought he would make a good figure- 
 head to impress the doubtful Directors, and I told him that I 
 had a mine that would upset Gould's citadel. Sickles thought 
 the plan too good to live. Sickles made the arrangement to 
 pay the retiring Directors, and assisted to put in the temporary 
 Board nominated by Bischoffscheim & Co., who had furnished 
 the money, which was distributed by Sickles and S. L. M. 
 Barlow. The $50,000 paid me was a bonus from the English 
 stockholders for services rendered. 
 
 According to the tale which Crouch's oudetins to 
 McHenry so graphically and dramatically tell, and 
 to his statement before the Investigating Committee, 
 Crouch would appear to be really the one who was 
 the originator of the movement that led to the un- 
 seating of Gould and the turning over of the Erie to 
 the new management, and that all others were sim- 
 ply insignificant accessories before and after the fact. 
 But O'Doherty's explanation of the presence of 
 Crouch would seem to warrant the inference that 
 
198 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Crouch was only in the affair by O'Doherty's suffer- 
 ance. O'Doherty's statement, also, relegates Gen- 
 eral Sickles and S. L. M. Barlow to a position of 
 eleventh-hour abettors, jealous of the prominence 
 and importance of O'Doherty in the movement, 
 thus: 
 
 THE NARRATIVE OF O'DOHERTY. 
 {Told to the Legislative Investigating Coinmittee 0/1873.) 
 
 Mr. McHenry had sent out a man of the name of Crouch, 
 with a letter of introduction to me. Crouch was placed at my 
 disposal for any operation I might recommend against Gould. 
 Not thinking that this man was of any use to me, I introduced 
 him to Charles Day and S. L. M. Barlow, recommending them 
 to use him in connection with General Sickles in the lobbyist 
 operations at Albany, which were at that time being carried on. 
 Crouch was so employed, but having been at one time in the 
 service of the Erie Railway Company as a sort of newspaper 
 clerk, and having appeared at Albany in the capacity of a great 
 Anglo-American stockholder, supporting Gould's administra- 
 tion, he put himself in communication with the old Directors, 
 all of whom he knew, and through the blabbing of some of 
 these Directors he discovered Lane's plans and heard of the 
 intended coup d'etat. He communicated this information to 
 General Sickles, from whose knowledge I had carefully ex- 
 cluded our plans. General Sickles, naturally nettled at being 
 kept out of our confidence, set Crouch to work to make ar- 
 rangements with our Directors to give their resignations in 
 consideration of sums to be paid by him instead of Lane. 
 Sickles proposed the same arrangement to them that Lane 
 had originally made. Of course it didn't matter to the Di- 
 rectors from whom they received the money. 
 
 The funds were in the hands of Bischofifscheim & Co. of 
 London. We only had the promise of them. Lane was carry- 
 ing the arrangement on. Sickles was carrying on the same 
 thing, without Lane's knowledge at this time, although Sickles 
 knew Lane's plan. On his own account, Sickles set the same 
 negotiations afloat through Crouch. Sickles then communi- 
 cated with McHenry, and after figuring up how little he could 
 do it for, offered to accomplish the same result that I had pro- 
 posed, for $300,000 instead of $1,500,000, which I had asked. 
 McHenry and Bischoffscheim failed to keep their agreement 
 with me. Sickles made known to Lane what he had heard, 
 and told him that unless he consented to accept the smaller 
 amount, his services would be entirely dispensed with, and the 
 resignations would be obtained without his intervention. By 
 these and other representations. Lane was so frightened that 
 he agreed to accept the $300,000, and himself put that amount 
 in one of Barlow's telegrams. 
 
 Barlow joined McHenry and Bischoffscheim in breaking the 
 agreement made with us. Everything was now fixed except 
 the receipt of the money. Barlow telegraphed to have it sent 
 on at once. The reply was an enclosure of a credit to Barlow 
 in favor of Daniel E. Sickles. This, naturally, exasperated 
 Barlow very much, and annoyed me so greatly, for I was then 
 on friendly terms with Barlow, that on Sunday, March 3d, I 
 telegraphed McHenry: "Beware! Present plans will result 
 in loss of money and disgraceful failure! Save yourself! " 
 
 I had made up my mind to go to Jay Gould and disclose the 
 plot to him. I was indignant at the way Bischofifscheim had 
 treated Barlow. McHenry then telegraphed for further sug- 
 
 gestions, and on March sth, I replied: " Opinion unchanged. 
 Choice of agent and present plan ruinous. Cannot cable par- 
 ticulars.'' Barlow, having his own plans for revenge, took 
 great pains to soothe my irritability, and I got Lane to go on 
 with the plot. 
 
 After reading O'Doherty's own narrative of the 
 part he and others played in the Erie drama of the 
 winter of 1872, it would be difificult for any one to 
 draw any other conclusion than that to O'Doherty 
 belonged all the credit of its production. But Bar- 
 low contributes a chapter of personal reminiscence 
 of the affair, and in it the name of O'Doherty does 
 not appear at all as having been in any way con- 
 cerned in its inception, progress, or consummation. 
 
 BARLOW'S STORY. 
 [Told to the Legislative Investigating Committee of 1873.) 
 
 Some time in February, 1872, Mr. Lane came to me and said 
 it would not be difficult to secure the resignation of a majority 
 of the Directors of the Erie road and the election of proper 
 men in their places. He showed me a series of cablegrams 
 which had passed between himself and McHenry on that sub- 
 ject. Before doing so he had insisted on three preliminaries 
 — that I would not speak of the matter to anybody; that I 
 would not ask any part of the money for myself; and that 
 I would not seek to reduce the amount of his and his asso- 
 ciates' compensation. I assented to the first preliminary, and 
 the second, with a joke that I thought it was hardly fair I 
 should engage in a thing and not have any chance to make 
 money. But to the third I said: 
 
 " I cannot assist you in obtaining a isarticular sum of money 
 in a matter of which I know nothing, and about which my 
 opinion or judgment may be asked by mj' friends on the other 
 side. I will not go out of my way, though, unless my opinion 
 is asked, to cut your compensation down." 
 
 To this he assented, and then told me that his plan proposed 
 the sum of $1,500,000. 
 
 After this had been all done, and the Board had been agreed 
 upon, and all the preliminaries to the proposed changes had 
 been assented to, I told Mr. Lane that as General Sickles was 
 here seeking legislation at Albany for a repeal of the Classi- 
 fication Act, and as I was holding relations with him as joint 
 counsel for the foreign stockholders, I must be permitted to 
 tell him. Lane refused to assent to this. Three or four days 
 afterward, when General Sickles came to consult with me 
 about the preliminary litigation, I told J\Ir. Lane again that 
 unless he gave me permission to explain to General Sickles 
 the nature of his combination, I could go no further in it. I 
 corresponded with my friends on the other side and obtained 
 their assent to the proposed bargain. Even the large amount 
 demanded by Mr. Lane was not specially objected to by the 
 stockholders on the other side, provided that we could secure 
 the result sought. Without admitting to Mr. Lane that I 
 could pay this large amount, I finally prepared a statement 
 to be sent to the other side, naming the proposed new Board 
 substantially, and leaving the amount of compensation to be 
 put in, and that blank Mr. Lane filled up himself at $300,000 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 199 
 
 instead of his, as I told him that unless he made this pro- 
 posed change I would refuse to have anything to do with him, 
 as it was placing me in a false position with my associate 
 counsel. Then he authorized a statement of the facts to be 
 made to General Sickles. This statement I made to General 
 Sickles in the presence of iMr. Day. This was the first intima- 
 tion the General had of it, and he opposed it on the ground 
 that the legislation at Albany was certain, and that the stock- 
 holders would have, within three months, an oppoi"tunity of 
 voting, and he preferred that means. Upon the consideration 
 and assumption, however, that he should have the management 
 of the movement from that time forward, and not only have the 
 charge of it, but, I assumed, the credit of it, he consented to 
 forego his plan in favor of this one. From that time General 
 Sickles took an active part, in conjunction with myself, in 
 consummating the plan. When the $300,000 that had been 
 agreed to be paid for the change was about to be forwarded in 
 answer to my cable. General Sickles, as I have been informed, 
 cabled to Mr. McHenry and asked that the money should be 
 sent to him and not to me. INIcHenry cabled me to know if 
 there was any disagreement between me and General Sickles, 
 and I replied that there was none. Very much to my satis- 
 faction, the final credit came to General Sickles and not to 
 myself. It was claimed by Mr. Lane that this money was not 
 a payment for resigning and putting others in their places, 
 but that they having, as Directors, incurred personal responsi- 
 bilities by becoming sureties on bonds, and that they antici- 
 pated serious litigation on the part of Gould, they looked upon 
 this as rather an indemnity than a payment for resigning. 
 Without assenting to that, and discussing it, it was agreed that 
 the total sum of $300,000 should be paid whenever a majority 
 of the existing Board should resign and the nominees named 
 by myself should be legally appointed. 
 
 The agreement was not in writing. General Sickles told me 
 who were to receive the money and the amount to each. I 
 agreed that I would see that the money would be paid. They 
 preferred this rather than the assurance of General Sickles on 
 the subject, as he was not likely to remain here a great while, 
 or for some other reason. General Sickles transferred the 
 credit at Duncan, Sherman & Co.'s for the $300,000 from his 
 name to mine. When the change was made in the Board, and 
 Gould's resignation obtained, I disbursed the whole amount, 
 paying $67,500 each to Lane and Thompson; $50,000 to Simons: 
 $40,000 to Archer, and $25,000 each to Otis, White, and Hilton. 
 Just before this consummation, on the Saturday before, I 
 think. Lane informed me that the agreed sum of $300,000 was 
 not large enough to divide with all the people he wished to 
 indemnify, and that the whole plan would fail unless I paid 
 O'Doherty $50,000 and another $50,000 to J. Graham Gardiner. 
 I objected, but finally, to save the plan, agreed to see that these 
 men received $25,000 each. Gardiner had been very useful as 
 a go-between for Lane, myself, and others. These sums were 
 subsequently paid by Mr. McHenry on draft made by me upon 
 him, making the total cost of the matter $350,000— salvage, in 
 the estimation of everybody concerned, paid by the owners of 
 the property to secure control of it themselves, and a much 
 cheaper way than litigation. The only other sum I ever knew 
 to be expended by the stockholders was the amount disbursed 
 by General Sickles, or paid him for services during the three 
 or four months previous to the nth of March, 1872, and $50,- 
 000 to George Crouch. 
 
 At the election in July, 1872, it was represented on behalf of 
 the London stockholders by Mr. McHenry, who was here, and 
 by Mr. Roman, a large stockholder and Director, who came 
 
 from London to attend this meeting, that the total expendi- 
 tures incurred by the stockholders amounted to between $700,- 
 000 and $800,000. This embraced a very large compensation 
 paid to General Sickles, $50,000 to George Crouch, and, of 
 course, this $350,000. The aggregate was claimed to be $750,- 
 000, or thereabouts. 
 
 It was due to these exposures that it is possible at 
 this late day to narrate the inner history of the 
 " rescuing of Erie." But for them, Jay Gould 
 would never have told of the part that was really 
 played by the reform management with him in 
 making it sure that their loudly proclaimed victory 
 would not, after all, end in defeat. This is Jay 
 Gould's story of the events succeeding the coup of 
 March 11, 1872, and from it a person might not nec- 
 essarily need to strain a point much to gather that 
 the credit of unseating Gould belonged really to 
 himself: 
 
 JAY GOULD'S STORY OF HIS DETHRONEMENT. 
 
 {Told to the Legislative Investigating Committee of 1873.) 
 
 I called a meeting of the Board for the next day, Tuesday, 
 March 12th, inviting the members who were then legal Di- 
 rectors of the company. At that meeting we should have filled 
 up all the vacancies, for I had control of the company and of 
 the Board just as perfectly as I ever had, as they conceded 
 themselves. After I had made this call, and that evening 
 (nth), while the whole affairs of the company were derang"ed 
 and demoralized, and when we held one side of the building 
 by force, and they the other. Dr. Eldridge, who was a Director 
 of the company, and a large stockholder, came to me and urged 
 a settlement, and said, I think, that he had had a conversation 
 with Mr. Barlow, who proposed that some of the other Di- 
 rectors meet with Mr. Barlow, and that he had no doubt an 
 arrangement could be made that would be satisfactory to all 
 sides, and he explained to me the terms, and I acquiesced in 
 it immediately. He went back to Mr. Barlow with power from 
 me to close the arrangement. He had a second interview with 
 him, and then returned to me and said the matter was closed. 
 
 This " arrangement " made with Gould to effect 
 his surrender, and place the then entirely untenable 
 footing of the " revolutionists " on a safe ground, is 
 shown by the following: 
 
 New York, March 14, 1872. 
 Jay Gould, Esq. : 
 
 Dear Sir: — Referring to the conversation with you of this 
 date in relation to the affairs of the Erie Company and your- 
 self personally, I agree, on behalf of the present Board, that the 
 following verbal agreements shall be carried out as soon as 
 they can be done with discretion: 
 
 The proceedings of the Board and stockholders, and the 
 release thereunder to yourself, Fisk, and Lane, shall be con- 
 
200 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 firmed and acquiesced in by the present Board, who shall give 
 you an additional release down to the period of your closing 
 your connection with the company. 
 
 The advances made by you, the details of which were shown 
 me this morning, amounting to $94,000, shall be paid for. The 
 joint release of the Chemung Railroad to the Northern Central 
 Railroad Company, January i, 1872, shall be carried out with 
 the understanding that if the Erie Company shall elect to pay 
 the Chemung Company the pro rata trackage instead of the 
 amount of $, o,coo, fixed in the lease or rent, it shall have the 
 right to do so. 
 
 The lease and agreements with the Delaware and Hudson 
 Canal Company, the Jefferson Railroad Company, and the Erie 
 Company, for iise of the Jefferson Railroad Company, etc., to 
 be carried out. 
 
 You are to be protected in all bonds you have signed on 
 appeal or for custom purposes for the company, and also as 
 indorser for the company. The loans you are carrying for the 
 company will be promptly paid. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 D. E. Sickles. 
 
 The release mentioned in the above is as follows: 
 
 To all whom these presents shall cojne or may concern, 
 Greeting : 
 
 Know all men that the Erie Railway Company, a corpora- 
 tion of the State of New York, for and in consideration of the 
 sum of one dollar, lawful money of the United States of 
 America, to it in hand paid by Jay Gould, James Fisk, Jr., and 
 Frederick A. Lane, hath remised, released, and forever dis- 
 charged, and by these presents doth, for itself, its successors 
 and assigns, remise, release, and forever discharge the said 
 Jay Gould, James Fisk, Jr., and Frederick A. Lane, and each 
 of them, their and each of their heirs, executors, and adminis- 
 trators, of and from all manner of action and actions, cause 
 and causes of action, suits, debts, dues, sums of money, ac- 
 counts, reckonings, bonds, bills, specialties, covenants, con- 
 
 tracts, controversies, agreements, promises, variances, tres- 
 passes, damages, judgments, extents, executions, claims and 
 demands whatsoever, in law or in equity, which against the 
 said Jay Gould, James Fisk, Jr., and Frederick A. Lane, or any 
 one or more of them, it ever had, now has, or which its succes- 
 sors or assigns hereafter can, shall, or may have, for, upon, or 
 by reason of any matter, cause or thing whatsoever, from the 
 beginning of the world to the thirty-first day of October, 1871. 
 In witness whereof, the said company hath caused these 
 presents to be signed by a committee appointed by the Board 
 of Directors of said company, and by the authority and order 
 of the Directors and stockholders thereof, and its corporate 
 seal to be herewith affixed, this thirtieth day of December, 1871. 
 The Erie R.'^ilway Company, 
 
 By John Hilton, ) ^ 
 
 Henry Thompson, j 
 
 Sealed and delivered in presence of — 
 
 Geo. W. Parcher, 
 
 jNIortimer Smith, Assistant Secretary. 
 [L. s.] 
 
 The loans Gould claimed to be due him from the 
 Erie amounted to between $1,500,000 and $2,000,000. 
 The release was given, as above, at a time when 
 Gould, Fisk, and Lane were expecting to be held 
 responsible, both at civil and criminal action, for 
 acts done in the name 01 the Company, and the fact 
 that it was subsequently of no legal force or value 
 did not speak much for the stamina or courage of 
 the new " Reform " management in hastily recog- 
 nizing and acknowledging it at the demand of the 
 man whom they had gone to so much trouble and 
 expense to unhorse, showing that he had virtually 
 to unhorse himself, after all. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN A. DIX— MARCH TO JULY, 1872. 
 
 McHenry, Barlow, and the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company the Power Behind the Throne — The Erie's Floating Debt 
 $5,000,000, and No Money in the Treasury — Barlow Appeals to Bischoffscheim for Aid and Gets It — The Extraordinary Contract 
 with the London Bankers to Place the $30,000,000 Loan — Peter H. Watson, ex-Assistant Secretary of War, Succeeds General 
 Dix. 
 
 It was many weeks after the so-called Sickles coup 
 had brought into existence the " Reform " manage- 
 ment of Erie that Wall Street was willing to accept 
 it as anything more than the result of a collusive 
 scheme to which even Jay Gould himself was a party. 
 Time and circumstances entirely disproved this 
 suspected collusion of Gould with the revolution. 
 There was no room for any doubt, however, as to 
 the tangible presence of a powerful Atlantic and 
 Great Western element in the atmosphere surround- 
 ing the new order of things in Erie. The controlling 
 influence of the management was James McHenry, in 
 connection with Bischoffscheim & Goldschmidt, the 
 London bankers, and representatives of the English 
 Shareholders' Association. His ambition was to 
 effect a combination of the interests of the Erie 
 Railway Company with those of the Atlantic and 
 Great Western Railroad Company, the vicissitudes 
 of which latter had led him into serious financial 
 entanglement. By such a combination he hoped to 
 use the Erie as a means of relieving himself of his 
 burden of Atlantic and Great Western responsibili- 
 ties, by passing it over to the broader shoulders of 
 the Company he had seized from Jay Gould, although 
 those shoulders were already so overladen with other 
 burdens that this one would have been as the last 
 straw that broke the patient camel's back. The 
 Atlantic and Great Western influence had a power- 
 ful representative in S. L. M. Barlow, of the new 
 Erie Directory. He was counsel to the Atlantic 
 and Great Western, as well as to the Erie. General 
 McClellan, of the Directory, was President of the 
 Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company. 
 'General Dix had been elected President of the Erie 
 
 Railway Company for the prestige of his name, and 
 as an earnest of the lofty intentions that were to 
 move the new management in restoring and rehabili- 
 tating Erie. He had been but a short time Presi- 
 dent, though, when he manifested a disposition 
 incompatible with that of a figurehead, and insisted 
 that he had some ideas of his own as to the future 
 of the Company. This caused friction in the Board., 
 Early in the term of the new administration rumor 
 began to busy itself with coming changes in the 
 management. It declared that General Dix was to 
 be removed and General McClellan made President 
 in his place. At all events, it proclaimed with 
 firmness, " Dix must go." 
 
 September i, 1870, the Gould management had 
 authorized an issue of $30,000,000 in consolidated 
 bonds, to bear interest at 7 per cent., payable in 
 gold, and to mature in forty years. These bonds 
 were intended for the conversion and extinguish- 
 ment of the then existing mortgage bonds and other 
 debts of the Company. Of this loan $18,000,000 
 were deposited with the Farmers' Loan and Trust 
 Company to take up the outstanding old bonds, and, 
 by an arrangement with J. S. Morgan & Co., of 
 London, $5,000,000 were deposited with that house 
 to take up the old English or sterling loan. None 
 of these bonds had been placed. On May 8, 1872, 
 two months after the Dix management came in. 
 Bischoffscheim & Goldschmidt were appointed sole 
 financial agents of the Erie Railway Company in 
 Europe, and a contract was made with them by the 
 Company under which they were to place the $30,- 
 000,000 loan. By the terms of this contract the 
 
202 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Company bound itself to pay these bankers a commis- 
 sion of I per cent, on tlie total amount of the semi- 
 annual interest upon such bonds as they might 
 countersign and issue; a commission of one-half of 
 I percent, on the principal of such bonds; a com- 
 mission of 2^ per cent, on the nominal amount of 
 the loan to the full extent issued to the public and 
 paid for, or exchanged for bonds of previous issue, 
 and a further commission of one-quarter of i per 
 cent., in the same manner and times, as brokerage. 
 The agents were also authorized to deduct from the 
 money they might receive for the sale of bonds the 
 amount that might be due them from the Company, 
 principal and interest, for advances made by them. 
 In addition to this, the Company agreed to pay such 
 of the liens and commissions as the Farmers' Loan 
 and Trust Company or the firm of J. S. Morgan & Co. 
 of London might have against it, the former com- 
 pany having $18,000,000 and the latter $5,000,000 
 of the bonds in custody. This was the issue of 
 bonds of which Jay Gould had purchased $3,000,000 
 at 60 while he was President of the Company. After 
 the Dix management came into power, S. L. M. 
 Barlow took preliminary measures to recover these 
 bonds from Gould by legal proceedings, on the 
 ground that he had purchased them, owing to his 
 official connection with the Company, at a figure 
 below their market value. Discovering, on investi- 
 gating the matter, that the contention would not 
 stand, as the price paid for the bonds by Gould was 
 as high as could have been obtained from any other 
 purchaser at the time, and that his being President 
 of the Company was no bar to his holding securities 
 of the Company if properly obtained, the proceed- 
 ings were discontinued. 
 
 The day the Erie was turned over to the Dix 
 management, Justin D. White, then Treasurer of 
 the Company, reported officially to the Board that 
 the Company was, in round numbers, $5,000,000 in 
 arrears, with no money in the treasury. Of this 
 sum, it was claimed, over $2,000,000 were demand 
 claims held by friends of the old Board, and money 
 to pay them had to be raised forthwith to save the 
 Company from bankruptcy, and the only security 
 available was $3,336,000 of the $30,000,000 consoli- 
 
 dated bonds. Following is the official showing of 
 the Company's condition: 
 
 Floating Debt of the Erie Railway Compatiy, March 11. 
 1872, as reported by the Treasurer, Justin D. White : 
 
 Bills payable, maturing at ah average of over 
 
 $700,000 per month $1,846,000 00 
 
 Loans, viz. : 
 
 Willard, Martin & Co $619,674 56 
 
 O. PI. P. Archer 50,000 00 
 
 W. J. O'Beirne 300,000 00 
 
 W. J. O'Beirne 125,000 00 
 
 Daniel Drew 300,000 00 
 
 Edwin Eldridge 125,000 00 
 
 Marine Bank 70,000 00 
 
 Pennsylvania Coal Company 105,00000 
 
 Tenth National Bank 190,000 00 
 
 Union Steamboat Company 100,000 00 
 
 Duncan, Sherman & Co 100,000 00 — 2,084,674 56 
 
 $3,930,674 56 
 
 Unpaid Labor for January 80,000 00 
 
 Unpaid Labor for February 550,000 00 
 
 Supplies 285,000 00 
 
 Line Vouchers 100,000 00 
 
 Miscellaneous Vouchers 30,00000 
 
 Total , $4,975,674 56 
 
 Securities of the Erie Railway Coinpany 
 Hypothecated. 
 
 Jefferson Railroad Bonds $645,000 00 
 
 National Stock Yard Co. Bonds 410,000 00 
 
 Newburgh and New York Railroad Co. Bonds. 150,000 00 
 
 Glenwood Coal Co. Bonds 50,000 00 
 
 Boston, Hartford and Erie Bonds 678,000 00 
 
 Consohdated Mortgage Bonds 3,336,00000 
 
 Capital, March, 1872. 
 
 Stock $78,000,000 00 
 
 Preferred Stock 8,536,910 OO 
 
 First Mortgage Bonds $3,000,000 
 
 Second Mortgage Bonds 4,000,000 
 
 Third Mortgage Bonds 6,000,000 
 
 Fourth Mortgage Bonds 4,441,000 
 
 Fifth Mortgage Bonds 926,500 
 
 Buffalo Branch Bonds 186,400 
 
 Sterling Bonds 5,000,000 
 
 Consolidated Mortgage Bonds 3,000,000 
 
 Long Dock Bonds 3,000,000 — 29,553,90000 
 
 $116,290,810 00 
 
 Leased Roads, Capitalized 17,000,00000 
 
 Floating Debt 4,975,67400 
 
 Total $138,266,484 00 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 203 
 
 Whether or not the list of personal creditors in 
 this statement showed that they were" friends of the 
 old Board " must be a matter of opinion. At any rate, 
 it is reasonable to suppose they wanted their money. 
 The value of the consolidated mortgage bonds, as a 
 means of meeting these claims, was attested by the 
 fact that they could not be hypothecated in New 
 York for more than fiftj'^ cents on the dollar. Bar- 
 low cabled Bischoffscheim a statement of the des- 
 perate situation the Company was face to face with, 
 and asked for a credit of $2,000,000 on the security 
 of $3,500,000 of the consolidated mortgage bonds. 
 Bischoffscheim responded by cabling the desired 
 credit, and the diflficulty was tided over for a short 
 time. Then a similar crisis confronted the Com- 
 pany, and Bischoffscheim was asked for another loan 
 of $2,000,000, which he cabled to the rescue of the 
 Company. 
 
 It was for this service, which the Erie manage- 
 ment (or rather Mr. Barlow) declared that no other 
 house in the world would have taken the risk of 
 doing, that the contract for placing the consolidated 
 bonds was made with Bischoffscheim & Goldschmidt 
 on such extremely liberal terms. The correctness of 
 this Barlow opinion was called into serious question 
 by others, and it became the subject of unpleasant 
 ofificial query a few months later. 
 
 Under the act of the New York Legislature repeal- 
 ing the Classification Act, which was signed by Gov- 
 ernor John T. Hoffman April 20, 1872, an election 
 for a new Board of Erie Directors must be held July 
 10, 1872. A great deal depended on the result of 
 that election. Heath and Raphael and the Ameri- 
 can Committee of Erie stockholders held about three- 
 eighths of the capital stock, and Bischoffscheim & 
 Goldschmidt controlled another three-eighths. The 
 remainder was held in Wall Street. A fierce strug- 
 gle to gain possession of a majority of the outstand- 
 ing two-eighths of the stock, to insure control of the 
 coming election, began between the rival interests, 
 and Erie once more became the all-exciting feature 
 of the Street. This met with the pleasant approval 
 of the bull element in Wall Street, for the scramble 
 of the English schemers for stock had the effect of 
 putting the price of Erie steadily higher. The indi- 
 
 vidual interests and future prospects of neither of 
 the rival prime movers in this struggle were enhanced 
 by this situation in Wall Street at that time, and the 
 result was that on April 8th, Heath and Raphael, of 
 the London Protective Association, drew out of the 
 fight and surrendered their holding of Erie stock 
 to Bischoffscheim & Goldschmidt. This practically 
 destroyed all hope the opponents of the plan of 
 reorganization and future management of the Com- 
 pany and road had of gaining ascendency in the 
 Company, and substituting their ideas of the proper 
 way Erie affairs should be conducted. It also re- 
 sulted in a significant victory for Jay Gould. 
 
 April 4, 1872, John Swan, representing the Heath 
 and Raphael interests, had instituted proceedings, 
 through Attorney-General Francis C. Barlow, against 
 Jay Gould and Frederick A. Lane to recover such 
 sums of money as they might have obtained by 
 alleged irregular methods during their management 
 of the Erie Railway Company. General Dix, as 
 President of the Company, was made a party to this 
 htigation as a matter of form. May 13th following, 
 on motion of John Swan, this suit was discontinued 
 by the Hon. William L. Learned, Judge of the New 
 York Supreme Court, on payment to such defend- 
 ants as had appeared the costs and disbursements 
 in the proceedings. Jay Gould had appeared, but 
 Lane had not. The reason assigned by Swan to the 
 Attorney-General for discontinuing the proceeding 
 was that his clients had made such arrangements 
 with other stockholders as to insure proper protec- 
 tion of their interests in Erie, and consequently did 
 not desire any further aid of the people of the State 
 in the action. 
 
 As the time approached for the election it became 
 an open secret that the Dix management was not 
 the one that the new masters of Erie desired, and 
 that the influences at work were not to the liking of 
 General Dix. A section of the act repealing the 
 Classification Act prohibited any officer or director 
 of any other railroad company from holding a place 
 in the Erie Direction. This prohibition stood in the 
 way of a purpose the English controllers of the situ- 
 ation had in view, which was the placing of Cornelius 
 Vanderbilt at the head of the Erie 'Railway Com- 
 
204 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 pany as the successor of General Dix. They made 
 an effort to have the objectionable section of the act 
 repealed almost before the ink with which Governor 
 Hoffman had signed the bill was dry. They failed 
 in this, and sought elsewhere for a new President for 
 Erie. General McCIellan, who, being President of 
 the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company, 
 had resigned from the Erie Board, was suggested, 
 but he seemed to prefer the place he had. The then 
 President of the Chicago and Alton Railroad Com- 
 pany, T. B. Blackstone, was importuned to take the 
 place, but he declined. Then the perennial Gen. 
 A. S. Diven, of Elmira, was mentioned prominently, 
 but no agreement could be reached that warranted 
 his call to the place. As a matter to be of pleasing 
 recollection to General Dix, James' McHenry and 
 Gilson Holman, of the Bischoffscheim & Goldschmidt 
 combination, and S. L. M. Barlow, their leading 
 representative in the Erie Board, requested him, by 
 a pressing communication, to remain at the head of 
 the Company. He replied to them that his private 
 affairs were such that it would be impossible for him 
 to remain. 
 
 No one seemed to care to be President of the Erie 
 Railway Company at that time. As late as July 8th, 
 two days before the date fixed for the election, no 
 future President was yet in sight. At a meeting of 
 the leaders in Erie, held on the evening of that day, 
 the name of Peter H. Watson was suggested. The 
 suggestion came from Commodore Vanderbilt. Mr. 
 Watson had been Assistant Secretary of War under 
 Secretary Stanton during the Civil War, and since 
 then had had no little experience in the affairs of 
 railroads. It was agreed that he would make a sat- 
 isfactory President of the Erie Railway Company. 
 He was communicated with on the subject, and con- 
 sented to take the place. 
 
 One of the resolutions passed by the Board of 
 Directors July 8, 1872, the last meeting of the Dix 
 Board, was the following: 
 
 Resolved, That the Treasurer be authorized to pay $30,000 as 
 this company's proportion of the legal expenses of the New 
 York Central Company at Albany, last winter, to prevent legis- 
 lation aflfecting prejudicially the interests of this company. 
 
 The resolution was adopted unanimously, and was 
 referred to the Executive Committee. That Com- 
 
 mittee held it for further action, and it subsequently 
 came forward to plague the Watson administration, 
 although it had had nothing to do with any of that 
 administration's affairs, and, in fact, belonged to the 
 transactions of the Gould rigime. 
 
 The lOth of July, 1872, was an exciting and stirring 
 day at and about Erie headquarters in the Grand 
 Opera House. It was almost a counterpart of one of 
 the characteristic Gould and Fisk days. Detectives, 
 policemen, and deputy sheriffs were there by the 
 dozen, but "Tommy" Lynch and his merry men 
 were not among them. The rumor had gone abroad 
 that the opposition to the new order of things in 
 Erie was determined to make trouble of some kind 
 at the election, and hundreds of people with recol- 
 lections of entertainment they had been provided 
 with on previous occasions of this sort at the corner 
 of Eighth Avenue and Twenty-third Street, were 
 there in force on that hot July day, to enjoy this 
 expected later exhibition. But they were disap- 
 pointed. The proceedings inside the Opera House 
 were peaceful and smooth. Not one opposing voice 
 was raised in protest against them. 
 
 At the meeting of the Board held previous to 
 the election, resolutions of thanks to General Dix, 
 General Diven, and others in the Board ; to James 
 McHenry for the part he took in overthrowing Jay 
 Gould and his management ; to BischolTscheim & 
 Goldschmidt for coming to the aid of the new man- 
 agement, and placing much needed funds at its dis- 
 posal at a critical time; and to Edward T. Green, 
 Gilson Holman, and W. Wetmore Cryder, Ameri- 
 can representatives of Erie in Europe, were passed, 
 but none to Gen. Daniel E. Sickles for his part in 
 the anti-Gould movement. Henry G. Stebbins re- 
 signed from the Board. At the ensuing election 
 the following Board of Directors was chosen : Peter 
 H. Watson, Gen. A. S. Diven, W. R. Travers, Will- 
 iam Butler Duncan, Charles Day, S. L. M. Barlow, 
 Gen. John A. Dix, J. V. L. Pruyn, Henry L. Lan- 
 sing, Homer Ramsdell, William W, Shippen, E. D. 
 Morgan, Frederick Schuchardt, S. D. Babcock, John 
 J. Cisco, George Talbott Olyphant, John Taylor 
 Johnston. 
 
 The new Board organized by electing Peter H. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 205 
 
 Watson, President; Gen. A. S. Diven, Vice-Presi- 
 dent; Horatio N. Otis, Secretary, and William 
 Watts Sherman, Treasurer. 
 
 At the election, James McHenry and other for- 
 eign parties representing stock of the Company were 
 present, and claimed that $750,000 in all had been 
 expended in the ousting of Jay Gould, and that the 
 entire amount ought to be a charge upon the Com- 
 pany. After the election, at a stockholders' meet- 
 ing at which $50,000,000 of stock was represented, 
 four-fifths of it English holdings, it was voted unan- 
 imously that the Directors of the Erie Railway 
 Company should take an early method of reimburs- 
 ing all the actual expenditures incurred by the few 
 stockholders who had brought about the change. A 
 resolution was also passed instructing the Board of 
 Directors to audit the account for expenditures and' 
 then pay it. The account was referred to the Exec- 
 utive Committee, but it was not felt by that Com- 
 mittee that it would be well just then to act upon 
 it. This matter was also made subject to annoying 
 search for more light upon it later on. 
 
 The first and only report to the stockholders made 
 by the Dix management (July i, 1872) was a history 
 of but seven months of operation (from October 1st 
 to May 1st), the act repealing the Classification Act 
 having ordered a new election for Directors to be 
 held on the second Tuesday of July instead of the 
 second Tuesday of October, as theretofore. " It 
 may be proper to remark," said the report, in some 
 preliminary explanation, " that whatever credit or 
 discredit may appear from the statements must 
 attach not to the present managers, but to their 
 predecessors in office." The earnings of the Com- 
 pany for the nine months, the return for June 
 and July being partially estimated, were $10,374,- 
 599.50, including $295,092.66 reported earnings of the 
 leased lines. The expenses, including $316,530.57 
 for the leased lines, were $9,801,980.93, leaving a 
 surplus of $572,618.57. This showed an increase 
 in earnings over the corresponding seven months 
 of the previous fiscal year of $1,335, 197, and a de- 
 crease in expense of $160,593.35. There had been 
 expended for construction $2,189,276.40. The dis- 
 bursements for interest, construction, etc., added to 
 
 the operating expenses, brought the outlay for the 
 seven months up to $1 1,991,257.35, showing a deficit 
 of $1,616,657.83. 
 
 " The Railroad of the Barclay Coal Company, with 
 its furniture and equipment," the report continued, 
 " is leased for twenty years by the Towanda Coal 
 Company, which is operated by the Erie, this Com- 
 pany paying for the same an annual rental of $30,000, 
 and a royalty of twenty-five cents per ton for the 
 coal. This arrangement is an advantageous one for 
 the Company, securing as it does a supply of coal 
 at cheap rates for the use of the locomotives. The 
 broad-gauge track of the Cincinnati, Hamilton and 
 Dayton Railroad Company was leased perpetually 
 by this Company at a yearly rental of $180,000, but 
 this arrangement, like many others of a similar char- 
 acter made by the late management, entails an un- 
 necessary and improper loss to this Company, and 
 it can probably be terminated, the same not being 
 valid as against this Company. 
 
 " The contracts between this Company and the 
 Sleeping Coach Company provides that the latter 
 shall furnish sleeping and drawing-room coaches 
 complete, with the furniture and fixtures properly 
 adapted to their use, and necessary attendants, and 
 shall receive for their use four cents for each mile 
 run, and the additional amount paid by passenger 
 occupying the same, over and above the rates of fare 
 charged on the regular passenger coaches of the Rail- 
 way Company. The Union Car Company furnish 
 500 box freight cars, suitable for transportation of 
 grain in bulk, at one cent per car per mile run, the 
 Railway Company to keep the same in repair and 
 guarantee a minimum monthly service of 2,500 miles 
 per car. The Jefferson Car Company furnish the 
 Railway Company with 1,500 four-wheeled ' dump ' 
 or coal cars, at half a cent a car per mile for carrying 
 coal, the Railway Company to keep the same in re- 
 pair and guarantee a minimum monthly service of 
 1,400 miles per car. 
 
 " Although something has been done in the way 
 of reform, and measures are in progress which, if 
 carried out, will do much more toward placing the 
 affairs of the Company on a firmer basis, yet the ex- 
 istence of many contracts which involve loss to the 
 Company is a subject of regret; some of these in all 
 
2o6 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 probability can be abrogated, and others modified so 
 as not to be so onerous in their requirements. But 
 it is in the matter of additional facilities for increas- 
 ing business, securing remunerative rates and eco- 
 nomical operations, that the Company must more 
 particularly look to secure satisfactory returns on 
 their investment. The double tracking of portions 
 of the road, the introduction of the third rail to 
 secure narrow-gauge connections, and steel rails in 
 place of iron for renewals, stand prominently among 
 the needed requirements." 
 
 In the construction account of this report, signed 
 by G. P. Morosini, Auditor, was a charge of $842,- 
 737.72 for " legal expenses," but the Auditor added 
 this explanatory but significant foot-note: "The 
 propriety of putting this item in the construction ac- 
 count is questionable, but it was so arranged by the 
 former administration." 
 
 The question of completing the double track and 
 of adding a third rail to the broad-gauge track over 
 the entire line, which was first advocated by Vice- 
 President Diven, received serious attention in this 
 report. April 24, 1872, the Vice-President had 
 ordered, by direction of the Executive Committee, 
 the making of surveys and estimates of the cost of 
 this improvement, the necessity of which the unfor- 
 tunate original adoption of the broad or six-foot 
 gauge was then making most apparent. Vice-Presi- 
 dent Diven's plan also included the reduction of ex- 
 cessive grades where practicable, the substitution of 
 iron bridges for wood, the completion of the neces- 
 sary depots, increased machine shops, erection of 
 grain elevators, and such narrow-gauge rolling stock 
 as would be necessary for the economical transaction 
 of the business of the road. He submitted the fol- 
 lowing as the result of the surveys and estimates: 
 
 The cost and expense of laying a " third rail," 
 on double track and sidings between Jersey 
 City and Buflfalo will be, if of steel rails $5,551,800 00 
 
 Cost of above, if of iron rails 4,890,150 00 
 
 The cost and expense of laying " third rail," on 
 double track and sidings between Hornells- 
 ville and Salamanca will be, if of steel rails. . 1,161,000 CO 
 
 Cost of above, if of iron rails 1,025,700 00 
 
 Cost and expense of laying " third rail," on 
 single track and sidings between Salamanca 
 and Dunkirk will be, if of steel rails 332,150 00 
 
 Cost of above, if of iron rails 294,200 00 
 
 The cost of completing double track on Dela- 
 ware Division, including grading and ma- 
 sonry, superstructure, laying and ballasting, 
 and iron bridges, with steel rails, will be 
 
 Cost of above, if of iron rails, will be 
 
 The cost of completing double track on Sus- 
 quehanna Division, as above, if of steel rails. 
 
 If of iron rails 
 
 The cost of completing double track on West- 
 ern Division, Hornellsville to Salamanca, 
 steel rails 
 
 Iron rails 
 
 The cost of completing double track on Buf- 
 falo Division, Hornellsville to Buffalo, if of 
 steel rails 
 
 Iron rails 
 
 $2,297,225 00 
 2,201,015 00 
 
 654,025 00 
 602,050 00 
 
 1,837,914 00 
 1,702,614 00 
 
 1,998,540 00 
 1,824,300 00 
 
 Steel rails $13,832,654 00 
 
 Iron rails 12,540,029 00 
 
 Additional buildings required... $1,149,000 00 
 Additional equipment, engines 
 
 and cars 5,700,000 00 — $6,849,000 06 
 
 Steel rails $20,681,65400 
 
 Iron rails 19,389,029 00 
 
 In recommending these improvements General 
 Diven reported as follows, which is important now 
 as showing the system under which the railroad's 
 operation was conducted twenty-five years ago: 
 
 It will be seen from the foregoing report that 
 to complete the double track on the Delaware Di- 
 vision, without the third rail, will cost, if of steel, 
 $2,297,225 ; if of iron, $2,201,015. This I regard 
 indispensable to any increase of the business of the 
 road. The delays incident to throwing so large a 
 business upon a single track renders anything like 
 regular time impossible. The freight trains are 
 obliged constantly to take the sidings for the fast 
 trains to make their time. No time should be lost 
 in completing the double track. 
 
 " To complete the double track on the Susque- 
 hanna Division, without third rail, will cost, if of 
 steel rails, $654,025 ; if of iron rails, $602,050, mak- 
 ing the cost to complete the double track from New 
 York to Hornellsville, if of steel rails, $2,951,250; if 
 of iron, $2,803,065. As the cost of completing this 
 double track to Hornellsville is so small, after the 
 completion of the Delaware Division, I recommend 
 this as very desirable. This done, and with two 
 routes to Buffalo from Corning, and with the Sala- 
 manca and Buffalo business divided at Hornellsville, 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 207 
 
 the road could be very well worked without double 
 tracking the rest of the road. Though I regard the 
 double tracking from Hornellsville to Buffalo and 
 from Hornellsville to Salamanca as important, I do 
 not regard it as indispensable. 
 
 " To lay third rail from Jersey City to Buffalo — on 
 double track to Hornellsville — and track as now laid 
 from Hornellsville, including completion of double 
 track on Delaware and Susquehanna Divisions, will 
 cost, if of steel, $7,965,865; if of iron, $7,232,865. 
 Add to this, third rail on track as now from Hornells- 
 ville to Salamanca will make, if of steel, $8,653,315 ; 
 
 if of iron, $7,852,665. Unless the Atlantic and 
 Great Western narrow their gauge, the third rail to 
 Salamanca is not recommended. The double track 
 to Hornellsville, and the third rail to Buffalo, as soon 
 as practicable, is of unquestionable importance. As 
 it will take about one year to do this work, no time 
 should be lost in its prosecution." 
 
 This was the beginning of the great change in the 
 gauge of the railroad, a change that was not finally 
 accomplished until years afterward. The survey and 
 estimates for these proposed improvements were 
 made under the direction of R. N. Brown. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF PETER H. WATSON— 1872 TO 1874. 
 
 I. Dark Clouds with Silver Limng ; An Eminently Respectable Board, but No Money — The New Management's Policy one of 
 Dividends — A Dividend Declared, which Amazes Some People — The Gould " Restitution " — How Gould Brought it About and 
 Won Another Victory from Defeat — Details of the "Restitution." II. The Silver Lining Growing Less: Clamor that 
 Dividend Payments were Fraudulent — Erie in the Legislature Again — President Watson Declares that the Only Thing to be Done 
 to Save Erie is to Spend $40,000,000 in Improvements — An Issue of Consolidated Bonds in that Amount Ordered — President 
 Watson Goes Abroad to Borrow Money on the Bonds — Falling on Wretched Times in London. III. The Silver Lini.xg Dis- 
 appears ; Watson a Supplicant for Aid Abroad, Barlow a Dictator of Erie Affairs at Home — Dunan, the Erie Auditor, Resigns, 
 and Declares Publicly that the Watson Dividends were False — Dunan Denounced by the Board — Report of President Watson — 
 He Denies the Charge — McHenry Secures a Lease of the Atlantic and Great Western on His Own Terms — Melancholy Ending of 
 the Watson Administration. 
 
 I. DARK CLOUDS WITH SILVER LINING. 
 
 There had never been a more eminently respect- 
 able and reputable Board of Directors than the one 
 that started in to pilot the battered bark of Erie out 
 of troubled waters, and bring it safely into the har- 
 bor of peace and prosperity. Yet there was no indi- 
 cation that confidence in Erie was restored by this 
 showing of great names. According to the statement 
 made by the Directors on July 10, 1872, the earnings 
 had for months exceeded the expenses more than 
 half a million of dollars, but the disbursements were 
 more than a million and a half in excess of the re- 
 ceipts. The inheritance of liabilities from the pre- 
 ceding management was a funded debt of more than 
 $30,000,000, and a stock debt of over $86,000,000. 
 It was well known that the treasury was empty. 
 Something besides names representing all that was 
 substantial and potent in the financial world was 
 necessary to improve the condition and repute of 
 Erie. Wall Street had ruled the Company and its 
 affairs long and disastrously. Public confidence 
 awaited the disclosure of what the policy of the 
 Company was to be under its new guidance. The 
 disclosure came in good time, and the policy was 
 unpopular from the start. It was one of dividends 
 — the English policy of dividing among the stock- 
 holders, annually or semi-annually, the net earnings 
 of the road, and the pledge that whatever amounts 
 might be required for construction or equipment 
 
 should be provided by the stockholders. A few of 
 the Directors expressed grave doubts as to the wis- 
 dom of this policy, and apprehension that the result 
 of it would be far from beneficial to the future of the 
 Company; but the stockholders, a majority of whom 
 were foreign, insisted upon it. As the management 
 was duty-bound to coincide with the wishes of the 
 foreign influence, the policy was adopted, and, as 
 subsequent developments made manifest, the neces- 
 sary figuring to bring to bear such a relation of 
 charges to earnings as would leave a balance to be 
 divided among the stockholders began. 
 
 A radical change in the administration of the oper- 
 ating departments of the railroad was made by 
 President Watson's " General Order, No. I," on 
 September 18, 1872. A Department of Transporta- 
 tion, a Department of Road, and a Department of 
 Rolling Stock were created, over which Vice-Presi- 
 dent Diven had direct authority, with power to ap- 
 point superintendents and make rules and regulations 
 for the operation and maintenance of the road, sub- 
 ject to the approval of the President. Harden D. V. 
 Pratt was appointed Superintendent of Transporta- 
 tion ; Robert M. Brown Superintendent of Road, and 
 Myron T. Brown Superintendent of Rolling Stock. 
 Robert Berdell Cable was subsequently appointed 
 General Superintendent of Transportation, and the 
 Superintendents of Divisions were changed as to 
 title, and became Assistant Superintendents of 
 Transportation. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 209 
 
 The Atlantic and Great Western influence in the 
 new Erie management was not calculated to inspire 
 a hopeful feeling for the future of Erie, and the 
 knowledge that James McHenry was a much-list- 
 ened-to adviser in Erie affairs gave much strength to 
 the belief that the Erie Railroad Company might 
 eventually become the burden-bearer for the Atlan- 
 tic and Great Western Railroad Company. Toward 
 the end of the year 1872, evidences of a determina- 
 tion of that influence to at last connect the Erie and 
 the Atlantic and Great Western by closer ties were 
 plain to all observers of the tend of Erie affairs. 
 Rumors that a dividend was soon to be declared on 
 Erie preferred stock had long prevailed, and when 
 one was actually declared and paid, 3^ per cent, for 
 the six months ending June 30th, Erie became an 
 object of renewed public interest. Was the dividend 
 earned ? That was the question. 
 
 The year 1872 closed, however, with a transaction 
 by the Watson management which it proclaimed to 
 be a demonstration of its remarkable shrewdness and 
 far-seeing business wisdom. A great many people 
 regarded the transaction in the same light, and were 
 loud in their expressions of admiration of the won- 
 derful perspicuity of men who were capable of 
 bringing to quick and successful culmination so 
 momentous an issue. There were those who recog- 
 nized at once the farcical character of this affair, 
 although it is but fair to assume that President 
 Watson arid some of his Directors believed in the 
 solemn importance of it, and that the Erie Railway 
 Company had made a great bargain. In fact, dur- 
 ing the part of his administration following it, the 
 " Gould Reclamation" was ever his favorite sub- 
 ject of reference, as it was that of his advisers, when- 
 ever unpleasant persons wanted to know what the 
 management had done or was doing for Erie. If 
 ever a debt was paid with " cats and dogs," the 
 " restitution" by Jay Gould was an instance of it. 
 
 Jay Gould's victorious downfall from the dictator- 
 ship of Erie, and his nonchalant retirement from his 
 seat in the Directory, were to be followed by still 
 greater triumphs of his peculiar genius. After he 
 had ceased to be the dictator of Erie, and was shorn 
 of the great prestige he enjoyed and the wide influ- 
 14 
 
 ence he wielded as such dictator, and especially as 
 there were ominous rumors of the appalling fate 
 that awaited him at such time as the new Erie man- 
 agers were ready to call him to account for his short- 
 comings, there were men who made the mistake of 
 judging him as one who would hesitate to call atten- 
 tion to himself by resorting to any bold or aggressive 
 methods in any operation he might undertake in 
 Wall Street, and that, consequently, he would be a 
 proper target for shrewd speculators to hurl their 
 shafts at and relentlessly impale. Even the wily 
 Daniel Drew had not learned enough from his past 
 experience with Gould to know better, and it turned 
 out that Henry N. Smith, long time Gould's partner 
 in the firm of Smith, Gould, Martin & Co., was led 
 to seek profit at Gould's expense and as a matter of 
 private vengeance. Smith had been worsted previ- 
 ously in a speculative bout with Daniel Drew, a little 
 operation in which Gould was concerned with him. 
 He was moved to blame Gould for the loss he sus- 
 tained, and demanded that Gould should make it 
 good. This was not according to the rules of 
 Gould's procedure, and he refused to comply with 
 Smith's demand. 
 
 " Then I'll get good and even with you before 
 another year! " exclaimed the angry broker. 
 
 Jay Gould smiled and went his way, and the long 
 and close friendship that had existed between him 
 and Smith was broken there and then. Gould had 
 then recently formed an alliance with his former foes, 
 Augustus Schell and Horace F. Clark and others, in 
 a bull movement in Chicago and Northwestern, al- 
 though he was not at first known to be interested. 
 Smith learned that Gould was in the movement, and 
 he conceived the idea of operating heavily on the 
 short side of the same stock, believing that he could 
 catch Gould unaware, get him in a tight place, and 
 make a million or so out of him. Smith had plenty 
 of money and credit, and had always been a remark- 
 ably successful manipulator of the stock market. 
 But he had reckoned without his host this time. 
 When he thought the time had come to drive Gould 
 into the hole he supposed had been dug for him, he 
 found that all the Chicago and Northwestern stock 
 in the Street had been bought up by the Gould 
 party, and that they had a tight and impregnable 
 
2IO 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 corner on it. Smith was short 40,000 shares, and 
 Daniel Drew and William R. Travers (an Erie Di- 
 rector of the new school), who had also taken that 
 side of the market, with Gould in their eyes as their 
 victim, each found himself short 10,000 shares. 
 Smith, as well as Drew and Travers, stood to make 
 their contracts good at 75, and when they sought to 
 make the turn, on the afternoon of November 20th, 
 the stock had advanced to 100, and not a share was 
 to be had anywhere. Even at that price, a loss of 
 $700,000 stared Smith in the face; but Northwest- 
 ern was still booming upward. 
 
 According to all the protestations of the new Erie 
 management since it came into power, it had been 
 leaving no stone unturned that it could find to turn 
 which would expose to it evidence upon which it 
 could bring Jay Gould to justice for the wrong-doing 
 he was charged with being guilty of while he was in 
 control of the Company. A suit to recover from 
 him $10,000,000 had been entered against him, but 
 it was discontinued for lack of evidence to sustain 
 it. This evidence, it was believed, was contained 
 in the books of the firm of Smith, Gould, Martin & 
 Co., but these the Erie management had no power 
 to examine. Well pleased and greatly exultant 
 were the Erie people, then, as they declared, when 
 Henry N. Smith called on President Watson and 
 Counsel Barlow, December 21, 1872, and informed 
 them that he would open to them the books of 
 Smith, Gould, Martin & Co. containing true ac- 
 counts of Jay Gould's Erie transactions, which would 
 supply the missing evidence necessary to convict 
 him of the long-pending charges. This delivery of 
 Smith to the Erie management followed closely on 
 an interview he had had with Gould. When he 
 found that instead of having forced his former part- 
 ner into a corner, the latter had outwitted him and 
 held him at his mercy. Smith lost no time in seeking 
 Gould, believing that he possessed the weapons by 
 which he could compel Gould to release him from 
 his desperate dilemma. 
 
 " Vou must let me have Northwestern," he said 
 to Gould, " and let me have it so I can get out of 
 this fix whole." 
 
 Gould declined to make any such arrangement, 
 and at last Smith brought his weapons into use. 
 
 " If you don't help me out of this," said he, " I 
 will turn over the Smith, Gould & Martin books to 
 Barlow — and you know what that means! " 
 
 In his cool, imperturbable manner Gould repHed: 
 
 " Very well. Turn them over. I have no objec- 
 tion." 
 
 Then it was, foiled, on the brink of financial dis- 
 aster, and hot with rage, that Smith became the ally 
 of the Erie management in its warfare against Gould. 
 The management was quick to move on the infor- 
 mation thus obtained. 
 
 On Friday, November 22d, the counsel for the 
 Erie Railway Company, Messrs. Barlow, Larocque & 
 MacFarland, obtained from Judge Fancher of the 
 Supreme Court an order of arrest for Jay Gould, 
 alleging a claim against him of the Erie Railway 
 Company of $9,726,541.26, " for moneys fraudu- 
 lently appropriated by him, belonging to the Com- 
 pany, while acting in the joint capacity of its Presi- 
 dent and Treasurer." The complaint was sworn to 
 by President Watson. It alleged that while acting 
 as President of the Company Gould formed a copart- 
 nership with Henry N. Smith, Henry H. Martin, 
 and James B. Bache, under the firm name of Smith, 
 Gould, Martin & Co., and that through the agency 
 of the firm he embezzled and misapplied moneys of 
 the Company to the gross amount of $9,726,541.26, 
 made up as follows: " He caused to be issued and 
 put upon the market 407,347 shares of the capital 
 stock of the Company at the par value of $40,734,700. 
 In the issue of this stock Gould acted as Director. 
 It was issued to him directly, and he converted it 
 into cash, amounting to $12,803,590.23, of which 
 he received personally $4,499, 132.23. Subsequently 
 his firm sold other Erie stock, netting the sum of 
 $3,061,700.15, which sum was paid to Gould, but- 
 never accounted for by him to the Company, he 
 claiming that the Company was indebted to him, 
 while the contrary was the fact, and that the money 
 was applied by him to cover his losses in specula- 
 tion. In November, 1868, he operated in shares of 
 the Erie Railway Company, through his firm, and 
 incurred a loss by decrease in market value of the 
 shares, to relieve himself from which and put it upon 
 the Company. He, in July, 1869, by fraud prac- 
 tised on the court, procured an order allowing the 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 211 
 
 Company to repurchase shares of the Company 
 which were of doubtful validity. Under this order 
 he purchased 121,400 shares at the average rate of 
 61.47 per share, amounting in all to $7,462,458, 
 such assumed cost being charged to the Company, 
 and paid for out of moneys of the Company in the 
 hands of Smith, Gould, Martin & Co., while at the 
 time the market value of the stock was only about 
 $29 per share, thus causing a loss to the company of 
 $3,941,858. In 1869 he speculated in Reading stock 
 to the extent of $359,312, and lost $168,803.69, 
 which he fraudulently charged against the Erie Rail- 
 way Company. In January, 1869, he speculated in 
 New York Central stock and lost $13,580.51, which 
 he fraudulently charged to the Company. In Au- 
 gust, 1869, he drew out of the Erie Railway Com- 
 pany's funds $60,000, which he paid over to James 
 Fisk, Jr., well knowing Fisk had no right to receive 
 it. In October, 1868, he paid $23,554.75 to secure 
 his election as President, which sum he charged to 
 the account of the Erie Railway Company. In 
 December, 1870, he had fraudulently increased the 
 capital stock of the Company to the extent of 
 $20,000,000. On January 13, 1871, a further in- 
 crease of the capital stock of $1,000,000 was made 
 in like manner, and the stock, when issued, was taken 
 by Jay Gould to be sold by him for the use and 
 benefit of the Company. The market value of the 
 stock was at that time at the rate of $22, or there- 
 about, per share, and was sold by Gould for $660,000, 
 which he embezzled or misapplied, and did not 
 account for." 
 
 This complaint, and the affidavit accompanying it, 
 made by Henry N. Smith, that the accounts from 
 the Smith, Gould & Martin books were correct, were 
 sworn to before William A. Dunphy, Notary Public, 
 November 22, 1872. 
 
 On these papers Judge Fancher issued the order 
 of arrest, and Deputy Sheriff John McLaughlin, 
 between 3 and 4 o'clock in the afternoon of Friday, 
 November 22d, traced Gould to the office of Osborne 
 & Chapin, at 34 Broad Street. It was denied there 
 that Gould was in the office. The officer tried the 
 door to the inner office and found it locked. Ad- 
 mission was refused him, and he was about to break 
 down the door, when it was unlocked and Gould 
 
 came out of the room and surrendered himself. He 
 was taken to the Sheriff's office, where Augustus 
 Schell and Horace F. Clark qualified as his bonds- 
 men in the amount of $1,000,000 bail demanded by 
 Judge Fancher, and he was immediately released. 
 
 In the meantime, Gould and his associates had 
 maintained the corner in Northwestern. On Decem- 
 ber 2 1 St the stock jumped by rapid stages to 200. 
 Gould's arrest greatly excited the Street and public. 
 Smith declared that he would never settle his con- 
 tracts, but after some days he effected a compromise 
 with his creditors by which he was relieved of his 
 squeeze at the cost of about $1,000,000. Drew paid 
 $250,000 for his last experience in trying to worst 
 Jay Gould. Travers got out with a loss of $300,000. 
 Gould and his friends claimed that the Erie suit and 
 his arrest were simply to affect stocks so that his 
 antagonists might escape from the losses that threat- 
 ened them, and manifested no uneasiness as to its 
 outcome. 
 
 Pending further proceedings in the Erie suit 
 against him, Gould brought about several confer- 
 ences between himself and S. L. M. Barlow and 
 President Watson. The result of these conferences 
 was that he succeeded in convincing them that they 
 might do a great deal better by Erie than to enter 
 into expensive litigation with him, " of the ultimate 
 result of which," he said, " I stand in no fear." He 
 assured them, that he and his friends controlled lines 
 that, brought into connection with the Erie, would 
 form a grand continuous system between New York 
 and San Francisco, and raise the Erie Railway to 
 the position of being without a rival in Western and 
 transcontinental traffic. The combination, he said, 
 consisted of the Lake Shore and Michigan South- 
 ern, the Chicago and Northwestern — the gaining of 
 control of which had led to his arrest — the Hannibal 
 and St. Joseph, the Chicago and Rock Island, and 
 the Union Pacific Railroads. The only link needed 
 was the Erie to complete the grandest scheme in the 
 history of railroad transportation. To consummate 
 it, and dispose of and settle the differences between 
 him and the Erie Railway Company, he said he was 
 willing to turn over to that Company certain prop- 
 erties in his possession, the further condition being 
 that he should be permitted to purchase 200,000 
 
212 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 shares of the Company's common stock at the new 
 market quotation, which was about 50. These con- 
 ferences resulted in the following correspondence: 
 
 New York, December 17, 1872. 
 
 Dear Sir: — Referring to my recent conversation with you 
 on the subject of the claims of the Erie Railway upon me, 1 
 assume that there is no longer any sufficient reason why an 
 adjustment of all open questions, satisfactory and honorable 
 to all parties, should not now be made. I have at all times, 
 since my resignation as President of the Erie Company, been 
 prepared to make conveyances to it of properties belonging 
 to the company, to which I never made any claim, f n addition 
 to these I have held in my name both real and personal proper- 
 ties, which I intended for the use of the Erie Company, some 
 of which were forced upon me to meet real exigencies in the 
 affairs of the Erie Company during my administration, and 
 others of which I purchased rather with the expectation of 
 benefiting the company through business to accrue to the 
 road than from any other motive. Upon your construction 
 of my accounts with the company I am charged with all the 
 moneys there expended, and the properties in Cjuestion there- 
 fore belong to me. My idea is, rather, that they should go 
 to the company, and that I should be credited with their value. 
 
 Another question, of even more importance, grows out of 
 the state in which I am compelled to leave my account with 
 the company. At the time of my withdrawal from the presi- 
 dency I could then have explained many matters which now 
 are involved in doubt. One account book, belonging to the 
 company, has been mislaid since I left the Presidency. 
 Through entries in it I could readily account for all the dis- 
 crepancies which you have pointed out to me. It was kept 
 for this purpose, and its loss is a serious embarrassment. But 
 I am willing and prefer to meet you in a spirit that shall leave 
 no question as to my motives and intentions. 
 
 Take your own statement and you claim $9,086,000. The 
 various pieces of real estate in New York, New Jersey, Penn- 
 sylvania, and Ohio, and the stocks and bonds which I men- 
 tioned in my last conversation with you, I believe you will 
 consider worth more to the Erie Company than the total sum 
 claimed. Some of these properties were purchased with my 
 own means, and the company has no claim upon them, but 
 they are necessary for its use. I now propose to convey all 
 these properties previously mentioned, and will, in addition, 
 convey the Grand Opera House and all adjacent properties, 
 owned by Mr. Fisk and myself, the same to be freed by me 
 from all mortgages, to you, on receiving a full discharge from 
 the company. 
 
 I do this for the sake of peace, because any litigation of such 
 questions is more annoying to me than the loss of the money 
 involved, and because I am sincerely anxious for the success 
 of the Erie Company, in which I have a large pecuniary 
 interest. 
 
 Please let me know as speedily as possible whether this 
 proposition is favorably entertained by you. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Jay Gould. 
 
 To Peter H. Watson, Esq., President Erie Railway. 
 
 President Watson named a special committee of 
 the Board, consisting of himself, ex-Governor E. D. 
 
 Morgan, William Butler Duncan, William R. Travers, 
 and Samuel D. Babcock, to examine the various 
 securities and properties included in Gould's offer, 
 and to take his proposition into consideration. 
 Pending the decision of this committee, he sent the 
 following reply to Jay Gould's letter: 
 
 Office of the Erie Railway Company, 
 
 New York, December 17, 1872. 
 lay Gould, Esq.: 
 
 Dear Sir: — I have your favor of this date, the substance 
 of which I will at once submit to the special committee of our 
 Board having the claim against you in charge. 
 
 I cannot say what their action will be, but I am satisfied 
 with the explanations you have made, and will cheerfully rec- 
 ommend a settlement on the general terms suggested by you, 
 as I believe the best interests of the Erie Company will be 
 thereby served, and that the properties in question are fully 
 equivalent in value to the Erie Company to its claim against 
 you of every character. 
 
 I will call our committee together to-morrow, and com- 
 municate their action to you, not doubting that they will con- 
 sider your offer, as I do, a fair one under the circumstances, 
 and one which, from a business point of view, should be ac- 
 cepted in the interests of the stockholders of the Erie Company. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 P. H. Watson, President. 
 
 At a special meeting of the Board of Directors 
 held at 10 o'clock on the morning of December 19th, 
 the committee reported that the property might be 
 accepted by the Company with the assurance that it- 
 was worth $9,000,000, and that at a forced sale it 
 would command $6,000,000. The report was ac- 
 cepted by a unanimous vote of the Board, and the 
 President was authorized to effect a settlement with 
 Gould on his terms. That same day, and on the 
 following day, at the office of Barlow, Larocque & 
 MacFarland, counsel for the Erie Railway Company, 
 Gould transferred to the Company the property 
 referred to in his letter to President Watson of the 
 17th of December, and received a full discharge and 
 release from any claim the Erie Railway Company 
 had or might have had upon him. 
 
 The news of this event took Wall Street by sur- 
 prise. On the strength of it Erie stock rose from 
 52^ to S7/^ on the 19th, and the market closed 
 strong. Wall Street had its own private opinion as 
 to what had prompted Gould to make " restitution," 
 the term by which the Erie management dignified 
 the transaction. On the score of credit and power 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 213 
 
 as a great stock operator, so Wall Street argued, 
 Gould had recently made close alliance with such 
 men as Horace F. Clark, Augustus Schell, and 
 others who were, or had been, closely allied with 
 the Vanderbilt interests (although the old Commo- 
 dore publicly denied that he had any interests in 
 Wall Street), and had made a great deal of money 
 in a short time out of this alliance. But his con- 
 tinued standing with that desirable combination, as 
 well as with the Stock Exchange, depended upon 
 his ability to satisfy and thereby silence the pending 
 and threatened legal proceedings against him. It 
 was not a pleasant thing to contemplate such pro- 
 ceedings, said Wall Street, especially to one who 
 was perhaps at that time more ambitious of the 
 prestige of success in the Street than of increasing 
 his personal wealth. 
 
 " It beats all I ever heerd ! " said old Daniel Drew, 
 in the vernacular peculiar to him. " Jest mind what 
 I tell ye. He'll make up the best part o' them nine 
 million they say he's turned over to the Ary by 
 bullin' its sheers! But nine millions ? Pooh!" 
 
 In conversation, after settling with the Erie, Gould 
 said: "The settlement was made in cash, stocks, 
 and real estate, and the proceeds will go far toward 
 putting down a third rail, replenishing the rolling 
 stock, and paying dividends, and will greatly sustain 
 the credit of the road. The 200,000 shares which I 
 purchased as the condition of this settlement will be 
 of great value, and will at least reimburse me for the 
 money I have paid to the Erie corporation. I also 
 stipulated that I should have a voice in matters per- 
 taining to the road and be consulted in regard to its 
 workings. 
 
 This was made publicly, and, so far as there is any 
 record, was never denied. As to reimbursing him- 
 self by the effect the" restitution " had on the stock 
 and his subsequent operations, even if the settlement 
 had really cost him $9,000,000, which it had not, nor 
 anything like it, he could not have made a better 
 investment. 
 
 What a spectacle, then, was that ! This man, 
 lately reviled by his successors in control of Erie, 
 and standing charged by them, under oath and in 
 sickening detail, before a solemn court, with rob- 
 bery, embezzlement, and gross violation of a sacred 
 
 trust, and held in bonds of fabulous amount to 
 answer the charges, which, if proved, would place 
 him in a felon's cell, boldly and confidently dictating 
 terms upon which he would release them from the 
 annoyance of litigation ! Terms that included vir- 
 tually his rehabilitation in the good graces of the 
 Company whose treasury he was charged with loot- 
 ing, and whose name and fame they affirmed he had 
 besmirched. Was ever triumph in defeat greater 
 than this ? 
 
 The details of this settlement and the " restitu- 
 tion " are as follows, from the official records: 
 
 THE AGREEMENT WITH JAY GOULD. 
 
 Agreement made this eighteenth day of December, in the 
 year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, be- 
 tween the Erie Railway Company, party of the first 
 part, and Jay Gould, party of the second part : 
 
 Whereas, The said company has large claims against the 
 said Jay Gould, some of which are now in suit, and some of 
 which have been presented to him, but which are not in suit. 
 And, 
 
 Whereas, It is proposed that a full settlement and com- 
 promise shall be made of said claims. 
 
 Now, therefore, it has been and is hereby mutually cove- 
 nanted and agreed, by and between the said parties, in con- 
 sideration of the premises and the sum of one dollar by each 
 of said parties to the other duly paid, as follows: 
 
 First. — The complaint in the main suit against said Gould 
 shall be amended so as to cover all the various items of claims 
 of every nature to this date, alleged to be due to the Erie Com- 
 pany from said Gould, as well as all existing claims for prop- 
 erty or stocks, and for all items appearing to be due to the 
 Erie Company by said Gould or his co-partners hereinafter 
 mentioned, other than James Fisk, junior, on the books of the 
 Erie Company, or on those of Smith, Gould, Martin & Com- 
 pany, or of the other firms in which said Gould was or is a 
 partner, all of which last-mentioned books are now freely open 
 to the examination of said Company; and such complaint shall 
 be so framed as to embrace all other accounts, claims, causes 
 of action and demands of every nature against said Jay Gould 
 or his said co-partners, other than the said James Fisk, junior, 
 whether the same be or not specifically set forth, the intention 
 of the parties being to compromise everything to this date; 
 and said Gould, in making this present agreement, being in- 
 duced thereto by the agreement that he shall be released from 
 all such specific claims, many of which he does not admit to 
 be just; and that he shall also be released from other large 
 claims, which the said Company alleges may exist and may 
 be lawfully due by him to said Company, and are not known 
 in detail, but which by the compromise are released and aban- 
 doned by said Company. 
 
 Second. — Now, therefore, the said Erie Railway Company in 
 execution of this agreement and for the consideration herein- 
 after mentioned and of the sum of one dollar to it in hand 
 
214 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 paid by the said Gould, and for other good and valuable con- 
 siderations, doth hereby release and forever discharge the said 
 Jay Gould and all his co-partners in the various firms of Smith, 
 Gould, Martin & Company, and Osborn & Chapin, Williard, 
 Martin & Beach, Joslyn, Bach & Co., other than the said 
 James Fisk, junior, from all accounts, claims, causes of action 
 and demands of every nature by reason of any matter, cause 
 or thing to the day of the date thereof, excepting, nevertheless, 
 from the operation of this release the covenants and agree- 
 ments on the part of said Gould to be kept and performed as 
 the same is hereinafter set forth. 
 
 Third. — And the said Gould, in consideration as aforesaid, 
 covenants, and agrees for himself, and his heirs, executors and 
 administrators, to and with the said Erie Railway Company, 
 that he will pay, assign, transfer and set over to the said Com- 
 pany to be held by it, as its own absolute property, on the 
 execution hereof, the following securities and property, viz. : 
 
 Shares in the Brooks Locomotive Works, of the 
 
 par value of $99,000 00 
 
 Shares of the National Stock Yard Co., of the par 
 
 value of 186,000 00 
 
 Shares of the Erie Emigrant Company, of the par 
 
 value of 65,000 00 
 
 Shares of the Jefferson Railroad Company, of the 
 
 par value of 950,000 00 
 
 Shares of the New York and Pennsylvania Blue- 
 stone Co., of the par value of 86,000 00 
 
 Bluestone Company Bonds 12,000 00 
 
 Shares Glenwood Coal Company, of the par value 
 
 of 1,000 00 
 
 Glenwood Coal Co., First Mortgage Bonds 124,000 00 
 
 ■ Glenwood Coal Co., Second Mortgage Bonds 500,000 00 
 
 Shares Suspension Bridge Company, of the par 
 
 value of 80,000 00 
 
 Shares Lackawanna & Susquehanna Co., of the 
 
 par value of 40,000 00 
 
 Shares Alleghany Transportation Co., of the par 
 
 value of 450,000 00 
 
 Shares New York & Hackensack R. R. Co., of the 
 
 par value of 179,000 00 
 
 Shares Hackensack Extension R. R. Co., of the 
 
 par value of 50,000 00 
 
 Shares Nyack & Northern R. R. Co., of the par 
 
 value of 16,000 00 
 
 Shares Northern R. R. Co., of the par value of. .. . 900 00 
 
 Shares Erie Railway preferred stock scrip 34,ooo 00 
 
 Shares Jefferson Car Company 178,000 00 
 
 Fourth — And the said Jay Gould, in like manner, covenants 
 and agrees to and with said Company that he will convey or 
 cause to be conveyed to said Company, simultaneously with the 
 delivery hereof of good and absolute conveyances in fee simple, 
 absolute, or by assignment of leases where the title is leasehold, 
 with proper releases of dower, and with full covenants of war- 
 ranty against all heirs and incumbrances except as below, the 
 consideration of such conveyances to be the sum of one million 
 five hvmdred thousand dollars, to be credited on such claims 
 against said Gould, all the following property in the city of 
 New York, viz. : The Opera House and its appurtenances at 
 the corner of Eighth Avenue and Twenty-third Street in said 
 city, and all the houses and lots on Twenty-third and Twenty- 
 fourth Streets adjoining or near to the same, being all the 
 properties and real estate standing in the name of said Gould, 
 
 or of said Gould and James Fisk, junior, at the time of his 
 decease, and including certain lots and their appurtenances 
 near to the Hudson River on said Twenty-third Street, and 
 including the properties in which said Gould has any right, 
 title or interest by way of lease, contract, or otherwise. All 
 of said estates and properties which were purchased from one 
 
 Pike, are to be conveyed free and cleared from 
 
 mortgage, liens and incumbrances. Such of said properties as 
 are leasehold to be transferred free from all claims and liens, 
 including mortgages, if the same were originally purchased 
 
 from said Pike, but any other of said properties to 
 
 be transferred, or the contracts therefor to be assigned and 
 transferred subject to the mortgages existing thereon at the 
 time when said Gould or said Gould and Fisk acquired title 
 thereto, or to such portion of the original purchase money 
 as has not been paid, but to no other liens, charges or 
 incumbrances. 
 
 Fifth. — And the said Gould, in like manner for himself, his 
 heirs, executors, and administrators, further covenants and 
 agrees with the said the Erie Railway Company that he and 
 they will also forthwith execute and deliver, in further con- 
 sideration of said release, full and absolute conveyances; in 
 which conveyances his wife will join releasing her dower, if 
 any, to the said Company for all and singular his right, title 
 and interest in and to the various properties for which a suit 
 is now pending against him, in the name and on behalf of the 
 Erie Railway Company, or which he owns, or which stands 
 in his name in the States of New York, Pennsylvania and 
 Ohio, or on or near the line of the Erie Railway or its branches 
 in the State of New Jersey, all such properties, rights or in- 
 terests to be conveyed or transferred from time to time on 
 demand on the presentation of proper transfers and conveyance 
 to him for execution, taxes and assessments on the properties, 
 not in the city of New York, not to be paid by the said Gould, 
 except on the Glenwood properties which he agrees to dis- 
 charge; provided, however, that this covenant to convey shall 
 not embrace the house and its appurtenances on the Fifth 
 Avenue now occupied by said Gould, nor the stables also 
 occupied by him. 
 
 Sixth. — The interest of said Gould in the New Lisbon Coat 
 Company and in the Ohio Coal and Mining Company, if the 
 same was paid for out of the moneys of the Erie Railway, is 
 herebj' transferred to it, but if the same was paid out of said 
 Gould's individual property, then the same shall be held by 
 Samuel L. M. Barlow, to whom the same was transferred con- 
 ditionally, a few months ago, the said Gould being at this time 
 unable to determine whether the same is his own property or 
 is held by him in trust for the Erie Company. 
 
 Seventh. — And the said Gould in like manner covenants to 
 and with the Erie Railway Company that he will, as soon as 
 practicable, cause or procure all pending suits or proceedings 
 in bankruptcy against the Glenwood Coal Company to be dis- 
 continued, and that he will pay and cancel all the existing 
 floating debts of the said Company, or will otherwise procure 
 or perfect title to the Erie Railway of all its property real and 
 personal, free from all liens or claims other than those of said 
 Erie Railway Company, and will convey and transfer to said 
 Glenwood Coal Company all the real estate, personal property 
 and leases purchased for, belonging to or connected with said 
 Glenwood Coal Company, free from all liens and claims, ex- 
 cept as aforesaid. And the said Erie Company will consent 
 to the discontinuance of the said bankruptcy proceedings. 
 
 Eighth. — The existing lease of the Opera House to the Erie 
 Railway the said Gould agrees to cancel and procure to be can- 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 215 
 
 celled, and all other leases of the New York property herein 
 mentioned he likewise agrees to transfer and to procure to be 
 transferred as of this date to the Erie Railway Company. 
 
 Ninth. — And the said Gould further covenants and agrees, 
 in consideration as aforesaid, with the Erie Railway Company 
 in further consideration of said release, that he will deliver and 
 cause to be transferred to the said Company or its assigns, one 
 million of dollars in capital stock of the United States Express 
 Company, at its par value, and this transfer and delivery of 
 said stock the said Gould agrees to complete as speedily as 
 may be practicable, and in any case within six months from 
 the date thereof. And said Gould having made a contract by 
 which said Express Company agreed to deliver to him an 
 equal amount of said stock, the said Erie Railway Company 
 agrees to render any proper assistance when and as requested, 
 intended to facilitate the said Gould in obtaining the same, 
 and hereafter to do no act that will prevent him from obtain- 
 ing the same, and also agrees that the said Gould may, if an 
 action for the same becomes necessary, sue the said Express 
 Company to recover the said stock in his own name and at his 
 own cost and charge, or may use the name of the Erie Railway, 
 also at his own cost, for that purpose, if he be so advised. 
 
 Tenth. — And the said Gould hereby, in like manner, sells, 
 assigns and transfers to the said Erie Railway Company all of 
 his interest in the United States Towboat Company, and agrees 
 forthwith to deliver the evidence of such interest to the said 
 Company. 
 
 Eleventh. — The said Gould, by a certain contract with the 
 Erie Railway Company, for the sale to it of three million dol- 
 lars of its consolidated bonds, was to receive a credit of the 
 actual profit realized by the Erie Railway Company on the re- 
 sale of the said bonds, which profit now amounts to the sum 
 of six hundred and fifty thousand dollars or thereabouts. Now, 
 it is hereby agreed that such profits, whatever they may be, 
 shall be retained by the said Erie Railway Company as its 
 own, and without accountability therefor to said Gould, whose 
 <;laims thereto, or under such contract, are hereby released. 
 
 Twelfth. — And the said Gould hereby releases the said Erie 
 Railway Company from the obligation to repay certain ex- 
 penditures by him heretofore made for account of said Com- 
 pany, and from all other claims, demands and causes of action 
 against the said Company of every nature to this date, and 
 hereby absolves and releases the said Company from all obli- 
 _gations, if any, to pay any other or further sums to him. 
 
 Thirteenth. — The said Gould hereby agrees to pay, on the 
 execution hereof, the reasonable cost and counsel fees of the 
 plaintiflf's attorneys, Messrs. Barlow, Larocque and MacFar- 
 land, connected with this settlement, or growing out of 
 pending suits. 
 
 Fourteenth. — The said Gould hereby agrees to pay, on the 
 ■execution hereof, the claims against the Narragansett Steam 
 Company, now in suit, hereby compromised at the sum of fifty 
 thousand dollars; and all claims by either of said companies 
 against the other, or growing out of the occupation of a pier 
 by the Narragansett Company, or otherwise, arising to this 
 date, or hereby released. 
 
 Fifteenth. — The aforesaid payments by said Gould of the 
 moneys and transfers of the real and personal property above- 
 mentioned made, and to be made, to the Erie Railway Com- 
 pany, in accordance with the covenants and agreements herein 
 above set forth, and in consideration of which the Eric Railway 
 Company executes the foregoing release, are intended to be 
 in compromise of its claims against said Gould, as recited in 
 the previous portions of this agreement; but in thus com- 
 
 promising and settling with said Company it is understood 
 and agreed that nothing herein contained shall be construed as 
 an admission by said Gould of any wrong to the said Company 
 by him done or suffered; but on the contrary he claims that 
 he has always been prepared and willing to make conveyances 
 to the said Company of the principal part of the properties 
 herein agreed to be conveyed, whenever the necessary dis- 
 charges to him were properly executed. And it is understood 
 that the remainder of said payments he now makes for the sake 
 of peace, and to terminate annoying litigation; and it is ad- 
 mitted by said Company that the said Gould has offered to 
 make conveyance to it of a considerable part of the premises 
 now agreed to be conveyed. 
 
 In witness whereof, the said the Erie Railway Company has 
 caused its corporate seal to be hereto affixed, and the same to 
 be attested by its President, by order of its Board of Directors, 
 and the said Jay Gould has hereunto set his hand and seal the 
 day and year first above written. 
 
 Seal of 
 Erie Railwav Co. 
 
 Attest : Erie Railway Company, 
 H. N. Otis, By P. H. Watson, 
 Secretary. President. 
 
 Jay Gould. 
 
 An analysis of the details of this contract of the 
 Company with Jay Gould was presented before the 
 Investigating Committee of the New York Legisla- 
 ture in 1879, clause by clause, as follows: 
 
 First (This clause was intended to cover the transaction in 
 the matter of the Chemung Railroad. — Author). — The Che- 
 mung Railroad extends from a point on the Erie Railway, 
 about four miles west of Elmira, to Watkins, 1754 miles. The 
 Elmira and Canandaigua Railroad extends from Watkins to 
 Canandaigua 4654 miles — a total distance of 64 miles. Capital 
 stock Chemung Railroad, $380,000; capital stock Elmira and 
 Canandaigua Railroad, $500,000 — a total of $880,000. The Erie 
 acquired a lease of both roads, under date of January i, 1859, 
 at a rental of $30,000 per year for the Chemung Railroad, 
 and $25,000 per year for the Elmira and Canandaigua Road, 
 and it was stipulated in the contract for each road that, 
 in case of failure to pay the rent of either, as provided, then 
 the lease of both should be forfeited, the object being to enable 
 both of the small roads to keep together, and work as a 
 through line. February 27, 1863, the Erie Company leased the 
 Buffalo, New York, and Erie Railroad, and transferred an 
 interest in the lease to the Northern Central Railway Company, 
 April 15, 1863. This partnership business in the operations of 
 the Buffalo, New York, and Erie Railroad not working to the 
 satisfaction of either, it was dissolved January 19, 1866, when 
 the Erie assigned the lease of the Elmira and Canandaigua 
 Road to the Northern Central Railway, and contracted to 
 allow their trains to run over the Chemung Railroad. The 
 contracts and leases were profitable to the Erie Railway Com- 
 pany. In 1871, Jay Gould, President of the Erie, purchased 
 the control of the capital stock of the Chemung and Canan- 
 daigua companies, and put in his own Board of Directors. 
 Soon afterward the Erie defaulted in the rent of the Chemung 
 Railroad. This, of course, forfeited the lease of both roads, 
 and placed the Northern Central Railway at the mercy of 
 Gould for a connection as an outlet for their western business. 
 
2l6 
 
 BETWEEJ^ THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Gould then sold them the capital stock of both companies for 
 $3,000,000. The Erie Company lost control of those two roads, 
 lost their business, and suffered large pecuniary loss, while 
 Gould individually made more than $2,000,000 by the trans- 
 action. 
 
 Third.— As regards the cost and value of the securities 
 transferred by Gould: 
 
 Brooks Locomotive Works, $99,000 — In December, 1869, 
 Horatio G. Brooks leased from the Erie Company the repair 
 shops at Dunkirk, and purchased all the tools and machinery 
 in them, the tools and machinery to be paid for by credits 
 on bills for engines, the Erie Company agreeing to purchase 
 from him twenty-five new locomotives per annum. Brooks 
 then formed a joint stock company, to which he sold and trans- 
 ferred his contracts and leases with the Erie, and received pay 
 in the capital stock of his company — the Brooks Locomotive 
 Works. Thus his company was floated without any cash basis, 
 no money having been paid in. Brooks divided the capital 
 stock around, according to previous understanding, and the 
 $99,000 was Gould's portion. 
 
 Erie Emigrant Company, $65,000. — The Erie Land and Ln- 
 provement Company was a joint stock company, formed to 
 act as emigrant agent for the Erie Railway Company. Its 
 capital stock was issued in payment for a contract between the 
 Erie Company and a third party, under which the Erie Com- 
 pany paid large commissions for all emigrant passengers. 
 This $65,000 represented Gould's interest in the division of 
 stock. It cost nothing, and had no cash basis. 
 
 National Stock Yard Company, $186,000. — The National Stock 
 Yard Company is a New Jersey corporation. Gould purchased 
 the land for the stock yard at Weehawken (the farm formerly 
 owned by Dudley S. Gregory) and paid for it with Erie funds. 
 ThCiErie Company made the improvements in the shape of 
 barns and pens, and then the whole was transferred to the 
 Stock Yard Company at cost. The Erie Company was repaid 
 in bonds of the Stock Yard Company. The capital stock of 
 $1,000,000, on which no payments whatever were made, was 
 divided, and the $186,000 was Gould's portion. 
 
 Jefferson Railroad Company, $1,950,000. — The Jefferson Rail- 
 road Company, a Pennsylvania corporation, was organized in 
 the interest of the Erie road, to construct a branch railroad 
 from Lanesboro to Carbondale. Henry A. Fonda & Co. con- 
 tracted to build the road for $2,000,000 mortgage bonds, and 
 $2,000,000 capital stock, the Erie Company guaranteeing in- 
 terest on the bonds. During the progress of the work (when 
 the road was about half completed), the contractors having 
 some difficulty in procuring funds, Gould, acting for the Erie 
 Company, proposed to take from the contractors the remainder 
 of their Jefferson bonds at 80 per cent., and the contractors 
 to transfer back the capital stock (it was understood from the 
 first that the stock had no real value). The money for the 
 contractors was procured by the sale of Boston, Hartford, and 
 Erie bonds to the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company. 
 The stock was transferred to Justin D. White, and by him 
 handed over to Gould and Fisk. The road was constructed 
 on the proceeds of the sale of the $2,000,000 bonds, and the 
 contractors got rich at that. No money was ev6r paid on the 
 stock. 
 
 Bluestone Company: Stock, $86,000; bonds, $12,000. — The 
 Bluestone Company was organized without any cash capital. 
 Its stock was issued in payment for contracts for privileges of 
 quarrying stone in Pike County, Pennsylvania. Fifty cents 
 per share was borrowed from the stockholders on the Com- 
 pany's notes for money to start with, and just prior to maturity 
 of the notes the bonds were issued at twelve per cent, of their 
 
 par value. Gould therefore paid but $1,144 for his $98,000. At 
 the time of this transfer the Bluestone Company was prac- 
 tically insolvent, if not already in the hands of a receiver. 
 William M. Tweed and Hugh Smith were each given $100,000 
 of the capital stock, but the city did not purchase any of their 
 stone. The Department of Public Works wanted too large a 
 slice from the bills of purchase, which the Bluestone Com- 
 pany would not agree to, considering Tweed and Smith would 
 get enough in dividends on their stock. 
 
 Following is the story of the Bluestone Company. 
 It is not from the records of the Investigating 
 Committee, but from authoritative information with 
 which the author was furnished: 
 
 Soon after the Civil War John F. Kilgour, a blue- 
 stone quarryman of Ulster County, N. Y., in com- 
 pany with George W. Waters, another operator in 
 Hudson River bluestone, purchased a quarry tract 
 in Sullivan County, near Westbrookville, in the 
 Neversink Valley. The firm of Kilgour & Waters 
 made money in their quarries, but in 1868 rumors 
 that a great bluestone deposit had been discovered 
 on the line of the Erie Railway, in Pike County, Pa., 
 reached them, and Kilgour made a prospecting tour 
 to the region, and finding that the rumors were more 
 than true, he and his partner sold out their West- 
 brookville property to W. B. Fitch, of Kingston, 
 and purchased 3,000 acres of land in Pike County,, 
 paying $8,000 for the tract. 
 
 The region in which this entirely undeveloped 
 quarry property was situated was known as the Pond 
 Eddy country. It was wild and mountainous. The 
 Erie Railway ran on one side of it and the Delaware 
 and Hudson Canal on the other, a quarter of a mile 
 distant. The rude station building of the Erie Rail- 
 way at Pond Eddy, and a little hamlet in Sullivan 
 County, across the river, were the only signs of civ- 
 ilization for miles around. It needed only a few 
 days' work to demonstrate the fact that the Pond 
 Eddy quarries were bound to be a success beyond 
 all expectation, and in the following June Waters & 
 Kilgour had 100 men at work. That summer the 
 Pennsylvania Bluestone Company was organized 
 with a large capital, and 400 men were put to work 
 in the Pond Eddy quarries. Waters subsequently 
 sold his interest in the tract that had cost $8,000 for 
 $75,000. The new company and the large business 
 it rapidly built up soon attracted the attention of 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 217 
 
 outside persons, among them James Fisk, Jr. Early 
 in 1870 Fisk sent word to Kilgour that he would hke 
 to see him at the Erie offices in New York. Kil- 
 gour called, and Fisk went straight to business. 
 
 " I want an interest in those bluestone quarries," 
 said Fisk. 
 
 Kilgour told Fisk that there was no possible way 
 for him to obtain an interest in the business. 
 
 "Then we must freeze somebody out!" said 
 Fisk. 
 
 Kilgour replied that such a thing was out of the 
 question. 
 
 " You can't get in the business any way that I can 
 see," said Kilgour. 
 
 ' ■" Then you can have no further switch or track 
 privileges on the Erie!" exclaimed Fisk. "I'll 
 tear your sidings out to-morrow! " 
 
 Without switching privileges at Pond Eddy the 
 bluestone quarries would be practically worthless, 
 but Kilgour, who was a bluff and emphatic individ- 
 ual, put on his hat, and shaking his fist at the Prince 
 of Erie, thundered : 
 
 " You and your railroad can both go to hell, Mr. 
 Fisk! You can't get your finger in my business! " 
 
 Kilgour strode out of Fisk's office, and went 
 straight to his home in Passaic. He told his wife 
 that Fisk had ruined him. Kilgour's manner had 
 pleased Fisk. He sent one of his henchmen, a man 
 named George E. Rust, to follow the irate quarry 
 owner, and to beg of him to return and have further 
 talk with Fisk. The bluestone operator refused to 
 listen to any overtures, until his wife begged him to 
 do so, and not be ruined without a struggle. He 
 went to Fisk's office again next day, and the result 
 of the interview was that the Pennsylvania Blue- 
 stone Company ceased to exist, and a new company 
 under the name of the New York and Pennsylvania 
 Bluestone Company was formed, with a capital of 
 $1,000,000. John F. Kilgour was made President, 
 and miles of switches were built along the railroad 
 at the Erie Company's expense, to accommodate 
 the business of the new concern. 
 
 Gould, Fisk, and William M. Tweed, with Kilgour, 
 were the principal stockholders in the company. 
 Individual operators in bluestone had gone into the 
 business by the score along the Erie, as it had been 
 
 discovered that the country on both sides of the 
 river for miles was one vast bluestone quarry. These 
 small operators were " frozen out," for no railroad 
 privileges were given to them. The big company 
 got control of the whole region. Soon after the 
 new company began operations, contracts of the kind 
 so plentiful in the days of Tweed were made with the 
 bluestone company by Tweed, in his official capac- 
 ity, for supplying New York City with stone from 
 the Fisk-Tweed-Kilgour quarries. 
 
 Before the schemes of the combination were well 
 afoot, however, the downfall of the Tweed Ring 
 came. That was the first great blow to the Blue- 
 stone Company, for its contracts would have resulted 
 in the payment of millions to it by the city. Quickly 
 following the fall of Tweed and the Ring, came the 
 death of Fisk. With this came the end of the New 
 York and Pennsylvania Bluestone Company. At 
 the time of the Gould-Watson agreement the Blue- 
 stone Company was practically insolvent, if not 
 already in the hands of a receiver, which could 
 readily have been ascertained by the Committee of 
 Directors making inquiry at Port Jervis, N. Y. , 
 on the line of the railroad, where the facts were 
 notorious. 
 
 Glenwood Coal Company: Shares, $1,000,000; bonds, $624,000. 
 — Gould bought the coal lands with Erie funds, then organized 
 the company, to whom he transferred the lands, receivinf 
 payment the capital stock. The Erie Treasury was reimbursed 
 with Glenwood Coal Company's bonds, so- that no money was 
 ever paid for the stock. The $624,000 in bonds which Gould 
 turned over at this time were bonds which Gould had in his 
 possession as an officer of the Coal Company. They were not 
 in his individual possession, as they had never been issued by 
 the Coal Company. 
 
 Suspension Bridge Company: Stock, $80,000. — The Suspension 
 Bridge and Erie Junction Railroad Company was organized 
 to construct a road between the points indicated by its title. 
 Mortimer Smith contracted to build the road for $1,000,000 in 
 bonds, and $500,000 in stock. Smith was merely the agent of 
 Erie officials, who purchased the bonds at 65 per cent, of par 
 value, and divided the stock around pro rata. The road was 
 built on the proceeds of the bonds. Gould undoubtedly sold 
 his bonds, which were guaranteed by the Erie Company, at a 
 large advance. 
 
 Allegany Transportation Company: Stock, $450,000. — This was 
 a pipe line company in the Pennsylvania oil regions. Henry 
 Harley first sold Gould an interest in his pipe line in 1868 for 
 $100,000. On the purchase of another line, Gould paid as his 
 share $12,500, and then he afterward purchased the interest of 
 Gen. Robert B. Potter, Receiver of the Atlantic and Great 
 Western Railroad, in the same lines for $40,000 — total payment 
 by Gould $152,500. On the formation of the Allegany Trans- 
 portation Company, which was the corporate life of Harley's 
 
2l8 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 pipe lines, on a capital stock of $1,700,000, Gould's share of 
 stock was $150,000. From the contracts with the Atlantic and 
 Great Western Railroad Company and the Erie Company, the 
 Allegany Transportation Company was enabled to make large 
 and frequent dividends. At the time of this transfer to the 
 Erie Company, the stock was worth absolutely nothing. 
 
 New York and Hackensack Railroad Company: Stock, $179,400. 
 — Gould bought this stock through Robert Rannie, of Lodi, 
 N. J. After this purchase the Erie Company purchased all the 
 rolling stock and tools of the Hackensack Company, paying 
 $93,000, and Gould's dividends from it paid for this stock. The 
 Erie then leased the Hackensack Road and furnished the roll- 
 ing stock. 
 
 Hackensack Extension Railroad Company: Stock, $50,000. — 
 This railroad was built on the proceeds of the sale of bonds and 
 then leased to the Erie Company. The stock was issued with- 
 out any cash payments, and this $50,000 was given to Gould 
 at the time of the execution of the lease. 
 
 Nyack and Northern Railroad: Stock, $16,000. — This road is 
 an extension of the Northern Railroad of New Jersey from 
 Piermont to Nyack, and leased to the Erie. It was built on 
 proceeds of sale cf bonds, and the stock was a gratuity, and 
 this much was Gould's share. 
 
 Northern Railroad Company: Stock, $900. — The Northern 
 Railroad Company of New Jersey, in 1868, had an issue of capi- 
 tal stock of $250,000 and mortgage bonds of $350,000. At this 
 time Gould and Fisk purchased a one-fourth interest in the 
 road, and General Diven purchased a one-sixth interest. Up 
 to this time the road had never paid a dividend. The author- 
 ized issue of stock was $1,000,000, and the mortgage under 
 which the bonds were issued was for $500,000. After Gould, 
 Fisk, and Diven acquired their interest, the Erie Company 
 purchased all the rolling stock and machinery and tools of 
 every kind from the Northern Railroad Company, and paid 
 something like $230,000 in cash. The dividends from this 
 paid for the capital stock purchased by them. They then 
 divided the $150,000 of mortgage bonds and $750,000 of capi- 
 tal stock, and made a contract for the Erie to furnish the 
 rolling stock and operate the road. Under this contract they 
 were able to pay interest on the whole $500,000 of bonds, and 
 a dividend of from '3 to 5 per cent, on the whole $1,000,000 of 
 capital stock. This paltry $900 of stock turned over by Gould 
 must have been intended as a blind, or it slipped in by mistake. 
 
 Erie Railway Preferred Scrip. $34,000.— This scrip was 
 Gould's proceeds from the scrip dividend declared in the winter 
 of 1869-70. 
 
 Jefferson Car Company: Stock, $178,000. — Alexander C. Rad- 
 cliffe contracted with the Erie Railway Company to furnish 
 cars for the transportation of coal for the Delaware and Hud- 
 son Canal Company from Carbondale to Buffalo and Roches- 
 ter. The Jefferson Car Company was organized with a capital 
 of one million dollars— $200,000 of the stock to be issued for 
 cash, and $800,000 for the purchase of the Radcliffe contract. 
 A subscriber to the cash stock was to receive for each share 
 a stock paid for at par, two shares of the contract stock addi- 
 tional — so that he paid really but 33 per cent, for his stock. 
 Thus $600,000 was disposed of. One hundred thousand dollars 
 of the contract was originally given to Gould. He afterward 
 purchased five hundred shares ($50,000) from one of the cash 
 subscribers at the original cost of $16,667, and subsequently 
 they gave him $28,000 more stock on the execution of another 
 contract. 
 
 Fourth. — The Opera House and adjoining properties were 
 purchased with Erie funds, but not from these funds traced 
 to Gould through Smith, Gould & Martin's books. 
 
 Fifth. — No transfer of property was made under this clause, 
 except such property as the Erie Company was in possession 
 of. The deeds were taken in the name of Jay Gould, but he 
 had executed trust deeds in each case, which has been deposited 
 in the Erie safe. 
 
 Sixth. — There is no doubt this interest was purchased with 
 Erie moneys, but it would be a natural inquiry now to ascer- 
 tain whether the Erie Company or Barlow has it. 
 
 Eighth. — Gould was willing to cancel the lease of the Opera 
 House after the title in the property had been transferred to 
 the Erie Company, but he did not refund any rents which the 
 Erie had paid. 
 
 Ninth. — This one million dollars of United States Express 
 stock never has been transferred or delivered to the Erie 
 Company. 
 
 (Under the Presidency of H. J. Jewett, in 1874, 
 suit was brought against Gould to compel a settle- 
 ment of the claim, but it was compromised [the 
 stock of the Express Company having declined to 
 45], by Gould paying the Erie the equivalent of 
 10,000 shares of the Express Company's stock at 
 that price. — AutJior.^ 
 
 Tenth. — Gould had $7,500 of the stock of the Towboat Com- 
 pany given to him by O. H. P. Archer. This company was 
 for the purpose of towing the freight barges between New 
 York and Long Dock. 
 
 Eleventh. — Gould, Tweed, Palmer, and others took these 
 $3,000,000 bonds from the Erie Company at 60 per cent. On 
 May 2, 1872, Barlow telegraphed McHenry, asking if he should 
 purchase those bonds back again at 75, so as to have them in- 
 cluded in a negotiation for the sale of others then going on in 
 London. On June 4, he wrote to Homan, Green, and Cryder 
 that they had bought the bonds. Now, why should they re- 
 purchase these bonds at a profit to Gould of 15 per cent, and 
 agree to do all the work and take all the risk and give him 
 all the profits on a resale? Investigation will undoubtedly 
 show there was no such agreement, but that the bonds were 
 bought outright at 75, and the clause was put in to apparently 
 swell up the credits of Gould's account. It cannot be shown 
 that he divided this $650,000 with Palmer, Tweed, or other 
 members of the syndicate who held the bonds, as he would 
 have done had there been any such agreement. 
 
 Fourteenth. — The Narragansett Steamship Company owed 
 the Erie Company a large amount of money — at this time 
 Gould was President and principal owner of the Narragansett 
 Company. He agrees to pay the claim which is compromised. 
 Of course the amount paid is credited to the Narragansett 
 Company to balance the account. Now, why should the same 
 amount be again credited to Gould's individual account except 
 to throw dust in the eyes of stupid Directors and make the 
 alleged amount recovered from Gould appear so much larger? 
 The whole Narragansett Steamship stock held by Gould at 
 that time in law and equity belonged to the Erie Company. 
 
 Such was the great Gould " restitution," by which 
 Jay Gould once more manifested his superior genius 
 in dealing with Erie affairs ! 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 2TQ 
 
 By the withdrawal of the legal proceedings against 
 Gould, the books of the firm of Gould, Smith, Mar- 
 tin & Co., that were to be used as the vital evidence 
 that could win against Gould, of course were of no 
 more service, and Henry N. Smith's vengeance was 
 not accomplished. The books were returned to his 
 custody. The cry that the Erie managers had com- 
 pounded a felony in settling with Gould was raised, 
 and alarming talk of criminal prosecution and legis- 
 lative investigation prevailed after the nature of 
 the" restitution" had been publicly discussed and 
 weighed, and the importance of the books as evi- 
 dence was declared. The books would also be of 
 great value to others who might want to proceed 
 against Gould for alleged irregular transactions, it was 
 said. At any rate, in the early spring of 1874, when 
 Erie affairs were getting seriously entangled, and 
 certain suits against Erie and Gould were threatened, 
 a number of mysterious and unknown men called at 
 Smith's farm in New Jerse}', when no one but a 
 hired man was at the place, and where the books 
 had been stared, and forcibly took possession of 
 them and disappeared. It has never been made 
 public in whose interest the raid on the books was 
 made, but they have never been seen or heard from 
 since. 
 
 II. THE SILVER LINING GROWING LESS. 
 
 At a meeting of the Board of Directors on the 14th 
 of January, 1873, the long-expected and rumored 
 new issue of convertible bonds was ordered unan- 
 imously. The issue was for $10,000,000 7 per cent, 
 (gold) bonds. At this same meeting a special com- 
 mittee was appointed to consider the question of 
 declaring a dividend on the preferred stock. William 
 Pitt Shearman was appointed Treasurer of the Com- 
 pany. A contract was made with Bischoffscheim &. 
 Goldschmidt to place this loan, and by the nth of 
 February, $8,000,000 of it was sold in European 
 markets. On the same day a half yearly dividend 
 of 31^ per cent, was declared on the preferred stock 
 of the Company to January i, 1873, and a dividend 
 of i^ per cent, on the common stock. At the 
 meeting which declared the dividend, four of the 
 Directors — Messrs. Olyphant, Johnston, Pruyn, and 
 
 Babcock^ — voted against it, mainly on the ground that 
 the act was inexpedient while the Company was bor- 
 rowing money to increase its facilities and to pay 
 interest on its debt. The other Directors, thirteen 
 in all, based their action upon the statements of 
 President Watson and Auditor Dunan, without any 
 personal knowledge of their own in relation to the 
 profits of the Company. President Watson declared 
 that these dividends were due to the stockholders 
 out of the net earnings of 1872. The incredulity 
 with which this statement was received in financial 
 circles, and, to a large extent, by the public, was by 
 no means flattering to the management. The posi- 
 tive charge was made that the profits of the Com- 
 pany for that year could not have equalled that sum ; 
 that the dividends were paid out of borrowed money 
 for the purpose of strengthening the credit of the 
 Company in Europe, to aid in the negotiation of its 
 bonds, and in the interest of speculators in Erie 
 stock, as well as to satisfy the clamor of small 
 holders abroad, who had been promised dividends 
 upon the coming into power of the new manage- 
 ment. 
 
 The opinion that the dividends had been fraudu- 
 lently declared and paid was so persistently and 
 aggressively kept before the public that an investi- 
 gation was demanded at the session of the New 
 York Legislature of 1873, not only to ascertain the 
 methods by which the new management had manipu- 
 lated the Company's transactions to warrant the 
 dividends, but to obtain information as to whether it 
 was true that large and improper payments of money 
 had been made by the foreign stockholders and 
 ofiScers of the Erie Railway Company in effecting 
 the transfer of the Gould management to its suc- 
 cessor, the leaders in the making of such transfer 
 being the controlling influence in the Watson 
 rdgime, the charge being that such payments had 
 been made, and that the agents of the foreign 
 stockholders had, through a corrupt contract for 
 the negotiation of its bonds, indirectly reimbursed 
 themselves from the Company's treasury for such 
 expenditure. On March 11, 1873, the first anni- 
 versary of Gould's dethroning, an investigation 
 was ordered. (Page 452, " Under the Legislative 
 Probe.") 
 
2 30 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 The Committee made its report on May i6, 1873. 
 It declared that " it is thought but just to state that 
 the Committee do not believe that the present 
 officers of the Erie Railway Company have know- 
 ingly falsified statements made as taken from the 
 books of the Company. The new Auditor claims to 
 have found the books in a disorderly condition, and 
 to have introduced a new system of accounts. These 
 causes may and probably have led to the confusion 
 and discrepancy stated." 
 
 The Committee's report declared further: " In 
 order to fully understand the nature of the trans- 
 action, which, without authority of law, in a single 
 day revolutionized the management of one of the 
 leading railroad lines of this country, running the 
 entire length of the State of New York, it will be 
 necessary to analyze briefly the motives of some of 
 the actors. McHenry, and Bischoffscheim & Co. of 
 London appear most prominent as the persons claim- 
 ing to represent the great body of English stock- 
 holders. There is no evidence to show that the 
 latter permanently owned or controlled any consid- 
 erable amount of stock previous to the election in 
 July. It is in evidence that McHenry, who ad- 
 vanced more than one-half the sum used to buy out 
 the Directors and for other purposes, was not a per- 
 manent holder of Erie stock and had no direct inter- 
 est in the welfare of the Erie Road. So much 
 disinterestedness is not commonly found among 
 managers of great corporations, and the secret 
 springs of Mr. McHenry's actions must be sought 
 in his ownership or interest in the Atlantic and 
 Great Western Road, a corporation representing 
 $109,000,000 of stock and bonded debt, and whose 
 affairs are currently believed to be insolvent. This 
 road has its principal connections with the Erie Rail- 
 way, and is mainly dependent upon it for the through 
 traffic passing over its track. It is fair to conclude 
 from the testimony that McHenry's object in con- 
 trolling the Erie Board was for the purpose of inti- 
 mate relation between the two roads, and thus to 
 benefit the property owned by him, viz., the Atlan- 
 tic and Great Western. The present Board was 
 approved by him, McHenry himself being present 
 at the election. The counsellor of the Erie is also 
 counsellor for the Atlantic and Great Western, and 
 
 has been for a number of years. However bold and 
 ingenious the plan, or however well skilled and tal- 
 ented the actors, it is safe to say that but for the 
 gold of the English stockholders the whole scheme 
 would have met an ignominious failure, proving 
 again the efficiency of a well-filled camp-chest in a 
 campaign against an enemy fertile in resources and 
 ever on the alert. Aside from the motives which 
 inspired the policy and the actions which resulted in 
 the overthrow of the Gould direction, the manner 
 and the means cannot but be regarded with the 
 severest disapprobation. And the fact that the 
 movement was inspired, and large amounts of money 
 were advanced by foreigners having no other than 
 a selfish interest, and in contempt of the laws and 
 tribunals of the State, renders this proceeding pecu- 
 liarly offensive. 
 
 " In a statement of account from Bischoffscheim & 
 Co. to the Erie Railway Company, made in January, 
 1 873; was an item of ;^8o,ooo for expenses, as per 
 McHenry's instructions. President Watson said 
 that payment of this item is not yet acknowledged. 
 The balance of the account, however, amounting to 
 £2^,16^.12, was drawn for by the Treasurer of the 
 Erie Railway Company, and no protest was made 
 against the charge of ;^8o,ooo. No demand for a 
 statement of items was made on Bischoffscheim 
 until after the investigation was begun." 
 
 The Committee did not think the rate of commis- 
 sion allowed by the Bischoffscheim contract (the one 
 made under the Dix administration for placing the 
 $30,000,000 loan) was " too large, under the circum- 
 stances, upon the amount of the bonds actually nego- 
 tiated, about $7,000,000. But upon the $23,000,000 
 which were to be exchanged for the same amount 
 held by the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company, 
 and by J. S. Morgan & Co., the rate seemed to be 
 too high, and may have been influenced by past ser- 
 vices rendered by Bischoffscheim & Co. in effecting 
 the revolution. The advances made by Bischoff- 
 scheim & Co. of $4,000,000, upon the bonds soon 
 after the Dix Directors came in, no doubt relieved 
 the Company from embarrassment, but they received 
 the usual rates of interest on these advances, in 
 addition to the commission upon the bonds as soon 
 as sold. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 221 
 
 " The right to reimburse the extravagant amounts 
 corruptly employed in overthrowing the Gould direc- 
 tion from the treasury of the Erie Railway Company 
 is not, in the minds of your Committee, in any way 
 defensible except upon the principle that ' to the 
 victors belong the spoils.' The interest of McHenry 
 was with the Atlantic and Great Western. Bischoff- 
 scheim & Co. were large dealers in railroad securi- 
 ties, particularly in Erie stocks, and their principal 
 object in the movement was to speculate upon the 
 rise which they believed would ensue, and which did 
 ensue, upon the change in management. It is well 
 known that the latter, at least, made large sums in 
 the advance which followed upon the stock of the 
 Erie Company from about thirty to sixty-five 
 cents on the dollar. These parties then should 
 have looked for reimbursement out of the re- 
 sults which followed and which were anticipated 
 by them. 
 
 "But by the change of administration, together 
 with the contract with Bischoffscheim & Co., and the 
 advances made by them, the credit of the Company 
 was greatly improved, and, perhaps, the danger of 
 insolvency averted. Its stock was doubled in value 
 within a brief period, and the value of its securities 
 increased and made available. But these were for- 
 tunate incidents following the overthrow, produced, 
 in fact, by a belief in the integrity of the ' reform ' 
 direction, and of which fortunate results Bischoff- 
 scheim & Co. availed themselves to a large extent 
 by previous purchase of Erie stock. The witness 
 Horace F. Clark and others gave evidence that the 
 expenses had of late largely increased. Auditor 
 Dunan's statement showed a large decrease of ex- 
 penses, which could hardly have been unless an 
 undue amount had been carried to constructive 
 account, and too little allowed for depreciation of 
 track and equipment. Your Committee here take 
 occasion to say that they have the fullest confidence 
 in the ability and integrity of President Watson, 
 and believe that he is earnestly endeavoring to 
 promote the welfare of the great Company of which 
 he is the head, and that the affairs of that road 
 are being conducted by him with the sole purpose 
 of reestablishing its credit and of economizing its 
 revenues." 
 
 In consequence of the exposures that the investi- 
 gation brought about as to their participation in what 
 President Watson called the " pecuniary stimulus " of 
 the Gould conspiracy, Secretary H. N. Otis, Assist- 
 ant Treasurer Justin D. White, and Auditor John 
 Hilton were suspended without pay from the service 
 of the Company March 17, 1873, and they were never 
 reinstated. Secretary Otis resigned April 8th fol- 
 lowing, and never recovered from the blow. He had 
 been many years a Director and Secretary of the 
 Company, and up to the time of the Gould over- 
 throw, his record was above reproach. It is believed 
 by his friends to this day that he was deceived as 
 to the character of the plans of those who were en- 
 gineering the campaign against Gould, and as to 
 what its result was to be, and was an inconsiderate 
 victim of that questionable transaction, rather than 
 a willing sharer in its fruits. 
 
 The report of the Committee, while regarded by 
 the public as an ambiguous and insufificient deliver- 
 ance, was accepted and proclaimed as a vindication 
 by the Watson management as to the matter of its 
 honesty and fair-dealing in the matter of the divi- 
 dend. The unsavory and scandalous revelations of 
 the investigation, the management congratulated 
 itself, were none of its affairs. They related to a 
 previous administration, and the existing manage- 
 ment was in no way responsible for them. The fact 
 remained, however, that the predominant influences 
 of the Watson management had been the prime 
 movers in the affair, the methods of which had 
 received the most positive condemnation of the 
 Committee. This, to however much of probity and 
 straightforwardness the same influences were inclined 
 in directing the future of the Company, did not tend 
 to strengthen confidence in the new management. 
 
 Peter H. Watson, undoubtedly, had burdened 
 himself with the responsibilities of the Presidency 
 of the Erie Railway Company with the fond hope 
 that he might succeed in rehabilitating it to the proud 
 position which was the great property's right due. 
 In the spring of 1873 he said: " The Erie Railway 
 is a partially complete machine. It will require over 
 $40,000,000 to make it complete, or $30,000,000 in 
 
222 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 addition to the $10,000,000 that has recently been 
 borrowed. And when completed, by reason of its 
 augmented receipts, it will be able to earn dividends 
 on the entire cost. One thing required is a double 
 track; Another is to have the equipment doubled. 
 The Company has 10,000 available cars, less than 
 half enough. It needs 1,200 locomotives, and has 
 less than one-half that number. We want 100 more 
 sidings. There is a deficiency in stations, a defi- 
 ciency in shops. We have not house-room enough 
 to cover more than one-quarter of the locomotives. 
 They have been standing out all winter, with watch- 
 men employed, at large expense, to keep up fires in 
 them to prevent them from freezing." 
 
 Early in the summer, rumors of another dividend 
 began to circulate, and the same clamor that it could 
 not be honestly declared arose. September 2, 1873, 
 a meeting of the Board of Directors was held, and 
 the creation of a $40,000,000 second consolidated 
 mortgage, and the negotiating of $10,000,000 of the 
 bonds to issue under that mortgage, were agreed 
 upon. At this meeting Lucius Robinson, subse- 
 quently Governor of New York State, was elected 
 Vice-President to succeed Gen. A. S. Diven, who 
 had resigned the previous March. President Wat- 
 son was granted leave of absence to go to Europe 
 on official business of the Company, which was to 
 impress the stockholders and investors there with 
 the importance of his views on the necessity of large 
 expenditure in bringing the railroad to a proper con- 
 dition to do the traffic it was entitled to and would 
 obtain with sufficient facilities, and to negotiate the 
 loan for that purpose. 
 
 In a report made by President Watson to the 
 Board at this meeting he strongly commended the 
 policy which had been adopted with a view rather to 
 future than to present dividends. This was to ex- 
 pend upward of $40,000,000 of additional capital in 
 double-tracking the road and supplying it with steel 
 rails, narrowing its gauge, perfecting its road-bed, 
 providing it with sufficient rolling stock and motive 
 power, with grain elevators, coal chutes, and other 
 depot and terminal facilities, and extending its 
 branches into the anthracite and bituminous coal 
 fields; "purchasing sufificient coal lands to prevent 
 
 any hostile combination from diverting the coal trade 
 from the Erie; establishing its connection through 
 the New York, Boston and Montreal, and the New 
 York and New England railroads, with the great 
 manufacturing districts of New England and their 
 chief seaport, Boston, and with the Eastern railway 
 lines which connect with those of the Maritime 
 British Provinces of New Brunswick and Nova 
 Scotia, which terminate eastward of Halifax, the 
 nearest seaport of this continent to Europe, and the 
 point at which multitudes of passengers for Europe, 
 who desire to make their ocean voyage the shortest 
 possible, will, at no distant day, embark and dis- 
 embark. While establishing these connections east- 
 ward, its alliances westward would be perfected so 
 as to carry it practically to Cincinnati, St. Louis, and 
 Chicago, the three great gateways and depots of the 
 Southwest, the West, and the Northwest." 
 
 The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad 
 had recently been leased by the New York Central, 
 thus giving one of the theretofore most important 
 and valuable Erie connections to the absolute con- 
 trol of the Erie's great and progressive rival. This 
 was the more disappointing to President Watson as, 
 in association with his proposed narrow-gauging of 
 the Erie, he had fondly hoped to secure for his Com- 
 pany the same control of the Lake Shore that the 
 Central obtained. There was nothing left, there- 
 fore, but to use every means to make satisfactory 
 and mutually profitable arrangements with the Atlan- 
 tic and Great Western Railroad Company for inter- 
 change of traffic, and securing the Cleveland, Colum- 
 bus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railroad and its 
 branches and connecting lines as part of the Erie 
 and Atlantic and Great Western system. How this 
 might best be accomplished President Watson left 
 until his return from Europe for further considera- 
 tion. When he returned from Europe, however, he 
 found his hands and head full of other things affect- 
 ing so closely his immediate management of Erie 
 that the further development of his plans of exten- 
 sion could find no room there, and found room there 
 never again. 
 
 " In accordance with the reports of the General 
 Auditor herewith submitted," said Mr. Watson in 
 his report, " I recommend the declaration of a divi- 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 223 
 
 f dend of 3^^ per cent, upon the par value of the pre- 
 ferred stock, and i per cent, upon the common stock 
 of the Company, to be paid out of the net earnings. 
 The amount suggested as a dividend upon the com- 
 mon stock might perhaps be a little increased, but I 
 prefer to keep clearly within th^ limits of the present 
 actual earnings, trusting soon to show an increase 
 that will warrant a larger distribution among the 
 stockholders. The net earnings since June 30, 1873, 
 are more than sufficient to pay this and the dividend 
 of 2,/4 per cent, on the preferred stock." 
 
 President Watson sailed for Europe. He had 
 scarcely landed in London before the news of the 
 great crisis that had suddenly confronted the finan- 
 cial situation in the United States reached there. 
 Banks, trust companies, commercial houses, and 
 brokers were failing almost hourly. Business in the 
 stock exchanges was suspended. General financial 
 and business paralysis seemed to have stricken the 
 country. Erie shares, and all American securities, 
 declined disastrously in the London market. Presi- 
 dent Watson had chosen an unfortunate time to 
 place an American security among English investors, 
 especially an obligation of Erie, which corporation 
 time and circumstance had not exalted in the esti- 
 mation of capitalists either at home or abroad. The 
 Erie President went boldly and confidently to work, 
 however, biding his time and improving his oppor- 
 tunity. The end of the year came. He had not yet 
 reestablished London confidence in the prospects of 
 Erie. 
 
 III. 
 
 THE SILVER LINING DISAPPEARS. 
 
 The year 1874 opened with no very encouraging 
 outlook for the Erie, if the signs of the time could 
 be rightly read, and before many weeks passed it 
 was plain that the signs had not failed. President 
 Watson was still in Europe pleading for money. 
 Although the second dividend had been declared and 
 paid, and the report of the Company's condition and 
 prospects at the end of the fiscal year of 1873 was 
 encouraging in the extreme, many employees of the 
 Company at the end of March, 1874, had but re- 
 cently received their pay for January, and were anx- 
 iously awaiting their February dues, not taking into 
 
 account the wages for March already earned; and 
 the month closed with a strike of employees that 
 greatly interfered with the business of the road for a 
 fortnight or more, and at last had to be suppressed 
 by the aid of the military. The belief that the divi- 
 dends had not been earned by the Company gained 
 strength daily. It was openly declared that the 
 money President Watson had gone to Europe to 
 borrow was necessary to keep the Company out of 
 bankruptcy. The predominance of S. L. M. Barlow 
 in the direction of Erie affairs had made many ene- 
 mies. At the last election he had voted on $40,000,- 
 000 worth of stock — 400,000 shares, or more than 
 half of the common capital stock. This demon- 
 strated that he was entirely in the confidence of the 
 English syndicate or combination, and enabled him 
 to become as dictatorial in the management as he 
 might please, and he was a man well constructed to 
 enjoy being a dictator. 
 
 Unfortunately for the future of the Watson man- 
 agement, Director Barlow — who was also the head 
 of the Company's legal department — in the course 
 of the enforcement of his views as to the policy of 
 the Company, made an enemy of Col. S. H. Dunan, 
 the General Auditor. Colonel Dunan had come 
 into the service of the Erie from the Baltimore and 
 Ohio Railroad Company. He had been for several 
 years the head of the accounting department of that 
 company, and was acknowledged to be foremost 
 among expert and conscientious railway accountants. 
 He was permitted to leave the service of the Balti- 
 more company by President Garrett and accept the 
 offer made him by the Erie Railway Company, at 
 the personal request and urgent appeal of President 
 Watson himself, who vouched for his strictest integ- 
 rity and unimpeachable character. Auditor Dunan 
 was himself a stern man, stubborn in the discharge 
 of his duty as he saw it, and impatient of dictation. 
 Between two such positive characters as Barlow and 
 Dunan friction was inevitable. It came at last, and 
 the result was the uncovering of still another un- 
 pleasant chapter in the secret history of Erie, from 
 the effects of which the Watson management never 
 recovered. This uncovering began with the resig- 
 nation, on March 11, 1874, of Auditor Dunan from 
 the service of the Company. This was followed by 
 
224 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 his publication of a report made by him to the Board 
 of Directors, which, in circumstantial detail, declared 
 that the annual report of the Company to the State 
 Engineer for the fiscal year of 1873 was a false state- 
 ment, and was known to be so by President Watson 
 when it was made; that the floating debt, instead of 
 being less than $3,000,000, as according to the sworn 
 report, was really $7,000,000; that the accounts had 
 been manipulated to make the necessary showing 
 that the dividends had been paid out of earnings, 
 when in fact they had been borrowed from the cap- 
 ital; that there was scarcely a dollar in the treasury, 
 and that the Company was actually bankrupt. 
 
 That the Erie dividends had not been earned had 
 long been general belief, but such confirmation of it 
 as this positive declaration, made by one than whom 
 no man living should know more of the financial 
 condition of the Company, was not to have been 
 expected. 
 
 President Watson was still in Europe, and had not 
 been successful yet in securing the money he had 
 gone thither to borrow. Lucius Robinson was act- 
 ing President. The Erie management and its friends 
 charged that Dunan had formed a coalition with Jay 
 Gould and olhers inimical to Erie in a bear raid on 
 the stock, and had resigned his office and made the 
 damaging declaration of the dishonesty of the Erie 
 annual report to aid in carrying the stock-jobbing 
 scheme to success. Dunan's statement was de- 
 nounced as false. The report had been completed 
 on March 3d, while he was yet Auditor, and was 
 made, he said, to set himself right, before resigning, 
 for having consented to the signing of the misleading 
 report that had gone forth as the Company's ofificial 
 statement the previous January. 
 
 On March 12th the Board of Erie Directors held 
 a meeting, denounced Dunan by official resolution 
 as a stock-jobber, falsifier, and traitor; declared its 
 entire and continued confidence in President Watson, 
 and appointed a Committee consisting of John Tay- 
 lor Johnston, Cortlandt Parker, Frederick Schuch- 
 ardt, George H. Brown, and Herman R. Baltzer, to 
 examine and report forthwith the floating debt of 
 the Company, and all the accounts of the Company 
 from the date of its reorganization under General 
 Dix. The Committee made its report March 20th. 
 
 It stated that the floating debt on March 13th, for 
 which money was really necessary to be provided, 
 was $2,858,539.37, although there were items that 
 might be construed as obligations, not properly so, 
 which would increase the amount to $5,352,375.02, 
 instead of $7,000,000; and said it had found the 
 ex-Auditor's statements of entries to be correct, 
 but that the conclusions drawn from them were 
 erroneous. 
 
 In replying to the Committee, Colonel Dunan 
 made the statement that they " had only included 
 in their report that which was either audited or in 
 process of being audited and passed upon, excluding 
 all the numerous claims which had not at the date 
 been presented to the Company, and those which 
 were presented, and upon which there are some dis- 
 puted points — nevertheless, they be debts. For 
 instance, the accounts of the Union and Jefferson 
 Car Companies, and the balance due for the rental of 
 the Erie and Suspension Bridge Railroad, payment 
 upon which has been deferred for a year and a half; 
 the balances due upon the purchase of coal lands; 
 the amount due upon the guarantee of the Boston, 
 Hartford and Erie Railroad bonds; the numerous 
 cases in litigation in New York and other States, 
 many of which will inevitably be decided against the 
 Company; the unadjusted claims for drawbacks and 
 overcharges in freight and passengers, the revenue 
 on which has been earned and paid in, and which has 
 for some months amounted to an average of $go,000 
 per month ; the accrued accounts for the purchase of 
 supplies and for labor to the 13th inst., all these and 
 many not enumerated, amounting to as they do sev- 
 eral millions of dollars, have evidently been omitted 
 from the Committee's statement." 
 
 As the Committee had reported that it had de- 
 cided to postpone a full report on Dunan's state- 
 ments until the return of President Watson, no reply 
 was made to his comments on their statements, and 
 it is well to say that no reply was ever made by the 
 Committee. 
 
 The denunciation of and charges made against 
 ex-Auditor Dunan by the Erie management and its 
 friends, no matter what of justice or truth might 
 have attended them, simply served to lead the way 
 for further and more damaging revelations than those 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 225 
 
 made in Dunan's official report of March. Under 
 date of April 7, 1874, in an open letter to President 
 Watson — who was then on his way home from Eng- 
 land, he having at last succeeded in securing a loan 
 — Colonel Dunan told the story of ho\\' the funds 
 were got by which the dividends of 1873 were paid. 
 On July I, 1873," he charged, '■' President Watson 
 knew there was a large deficiency in the earnings of 
 the Company, as compared with the expenses. That 
 fact must either be suppressed or the President must 
 admit his management to be a disastrous failure. In 
 no way could the knowledge be kept secret except 
 by a falsification of the accounts." Auditor Dunan 
 was willing to consent to "modifications" being 
 made in the profit and loss account sufficient to give 
 the earnings the appearance of equalling the expen- 
 ditures for operations, provided that no dividend 
 should be declared, none having been earned. Presi- 
 dent Watson assured him that no dividend would 
 be declared, " and the modifications in the profit 
 and loss account were made. This resulted in the 
 showing of a balance to credit of income account of 
 $1,700,000, leaving the Company about square in 
 its operations from October i, 1872, to June 30, 
 
 1873." 
 
 " You will remember that on the morning of 
 August 27th, the day before the Board meeting," 
 Dunan wrote to Watson, " I met you with Mr. Bar- 
 low, at your rooms by appointment. Mr. Barlow 
 was decided in his opinion of the policy of declaring 
 a dividend, and that the accounts should be made to 
 show that one had been declared. You will do me 
 the justice to say how strenuously I opposed any 
 further tampering with the accounts, and how ear- 
 nestly I urged that if a dividend must be made, that 
 it be made out of the surplus which remained over 
 in the previous years. The question of extra repa- 
 ration which had been advanced as a plea for the 
 extravagant expenditures in working the road, was 
 taken into consideration. I suggested that if there 
 was anything in it, it was just as well to declare the 
 dividend out of the old surplus as it was to alter the 
 accounts, and that I had no accounts to show for 
 any extra reparation. You will recall what followed. 
 I was sent from your room to await a conference 
 between yourself and Mr. Barlow. The conference 
 15 
 
 ended ; you sent for Mr. Clarke, the Third Vice- 
 President, and Mr. Tyson, the Fourth Vice-Presi- 
 dent. I left for my office. Their visit resulted in 
 the production of the letters on which you formed 
 the basis of the entries which took from the expenses 
 $1,123,000. This gave the amount desired for the 
 dividend of $780,000 on the common stock, and 
 $300,000 on the preferred. You approved their 
 reports, and I was directed to see that the accounts 
 were made to conform. This act was committed on 
 the 28th day of August, 1873, and its consequences 
 were made to appear in the accounts for June 30, 
 1873, long after the accounts for that period were 
 closed and balanced off." 
 
 In his further reorganization of the operating de- 
 partments of the railroad service. President Watson 
 had created early in 1873 the offices of Second, 
 Third, and Fourth Vice-Presidents. James C. 
 Clarke, who had been in the service of the Baltimore 
 and Ohio, the Illinois Central, and other railroads, 
 was appointed Third Vice-President, in the charge of 
 the Departments of Road and Transportation, on 
 May I, 1873. Henry Tyson was made Fourth Vice- 
 President, in charge of the Department of Motive 
 Power and Machinery, in August. The reports ex- 
 Auditor Dunan referred to as having been made to 
 President Watson were in the form of letters ad- 
 dressed to the President that, as to Clarke's Depart- 
 ment, " the expenditure for repairs and renewals 
 during the nine months ending June 30, 1873, was 
 $719,600 more than would have been needed to pre- 
 vent deterioration, if the property had been fully 
 maintained during former years " ; and as to Tyson's 
 Department, that " the expenditure due to reinstat- 
 ing motive power and rolling stock for the same 
 period was in excess of the amount justly chargeable 
 to repairs and renewals for maintenance," the excess 
 being placed at $404,304.23. These reports were ap- 
 proved by President Watson, and the two amounts, 
 making a total of $1,123,904, were transferred from 
 the expense account to the capital account, and 
 became the fund from which the 1873 dividends 
 were paid on the common and preferred stock. 
 
 In dealing with these letters Dunan, writing later, 
 in answer to President Watson's report to the 
 Directors in reply to his statements, said: 
 
226 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 This large sum of $1,000,000 was transferred from the cur- 
 rent expense account upon no better authority than the mere 
 opinions of two officers who were not in a position which en- 
 abled them to form any intelligent opinion on the subject. 
 Mr. Clarke had been in the employment of the company but 
 a few months, and had never gone over the road before the 
 month of March, 1873, while ISlr. Tyson did not enter its ser- 
 vice until after the period referred to in his letter. Neither of 
 them called upon any of their subordinates or associates for 
 information upon the subject of these repairs, nor prepared, nor 
 was furnished with, any statement showing the actual amount 
 of work done in detail, so that neither of them, when he made 
 up his estimate, knew, or had means of knowing, the circum- 
 stances leading to the alleged increase in expenditure, nor 
 could either of them have given any satisfactory explanation, 
 on the next day after writing these two letters, of the reasons 
 which led him to set down the precise figures given in these 
 letters. Indeed, their original letters did not pretend to give 
 the figures in the detail presented by the letters as given to the 
 public. Mr. Clarke wrote that he estimated the proportion of 
 increased expenditure, which should not be charged to the 
 current expenses of the year, at 28 per cent, of the whole ex- 
 penditure, and Mr. Tyson stated that he estimated the like 
 amount in his department at 26 per cent, of the whole. 
 
 Neither of them stated, either in writing or verbally, any 
 reason which had led them to form this estimate of percentage; 
 but the fact was that they were informed by Mr. Watson that 
 between them they must take off the sum of $r, 100,000 from the 
 expenses of their departments, and provide an excuse for 
 charging that amount to capital, this being the amount of two 
 dividends which it was desired to pay, being 26 and 28 per cent, 
 of the whole amount of expenditure in their departments. But 
 the letters in this shape were not satisfactory to Mr. Watson, 
 who, in his own handwriting, altered them by striking out the 
 statement of a percentage and putting in the account and fig- 
 ures which he desired to take from the several departments. 
 The letters were then completed on this basis, and the estimate 
 of amounts properly chargeable to capital, which was taken by 
 IMessrs. Clarke and Tyson, who knew very little about the 
 affairs of their departments in the past, to which they referred, 
 was completed by Mr. Watson, who knew still less of these 
 details. 
 
 Proceeding with his open letter to President Wat- 
 son, Dunan wrote as follows about this transaction: 
 
 What followed the falsification done in August was neces- 
 sary to be consistent with that act. The accounts had been 
 made to show a surplus of earnings over expenses; it was 
 requisite, therefore, that in all future statements and accounts 
 which were made up, the fact should nowhere appear that we 
 had drawn upon our capital accounts for the means of running 
 the road. Every successive statement must of necessity con- 
 tain a reiteration of the lie. Over $3,300,000 were used of the 
 proceeds of convertible bonds to pay dividends and work the 
 road in one year. But as we had stated that these amounts 
 had been paid from the surplus earnings, a falsehood had to 
 be again uttered when we came to make up the statement show- 
 ing the disposition of this fund. You (Watson) had been at 
 the head of the management over a year, and had been but 
 recently elected. Before you were the accounts which showed 
 most disastrous and deplorable results in the operation of the 
 road. While the earnings had largely increased, the working 
 expenses had disproportionately swollen to an amount unpre- 
 
 cedented in the affairs of any road. You were on the eve of 
 sailing for Europe. To publish to the world the result before 
 you was simply to abandon the contemplated trip, admit the 
 failure of your administration, and disappoint the hopeful an- 
 ticipations of the public and the proprietors of the railway. 
 I saw that you hesitated which horn to accept. There were the 
 facts and the figures before you, and there seemed no way out 
 of the difficulty but a frank acknowledgment that it was a bad 
 job. Behind you, as it were, appeared the great dictator (Bar- 
 low) in attitudes of authority, intimidation, and threat. No 
 failure must be acknowledged. Not only must success be pub- 
 lished to the world, but it must be a grand success, and the 
 accounts must be made to show it. The alternative was, " No 
 dividends — no money." Fulsome dispatches had been sent to 
 London during the year indicative of the grandest success that 
 had ever attended the labors of any administration of any cor- 
 poration, and the stockholders expected a dividend. He whom 
 I call the great dictator * 1< * * h^jj decided that a divi- 
 dend must be made and that was sufficient. It was nothing to 
 him that in order to do so the accounts must be tampered with, 
 so long as some one else did it. His will was law. Up to this 
 hour you had not written one line of your report. The con- 
 sciousness that in that report you must commit yourself to 
 an erroneous statement of facts concerning the operation of 
 the road I confidently believe was the most distasteful cup 
 ever presented to your lips. I expected, even till the last 
 moment, to see you reject the dose and decide again to stand 
 firmly by the truth, be the consequences what they might, 
 and I think, left to yourself, a report on the basis of the altered 
 accounts never would have been written. 
 
 I have shown in my report to the Board of March 3, 1874, 
 that there was a deficiency in the capital account for the fiscal 
 year 1873 of $3,677,911.16. The facts and figures therein given 
 arc incontrovertible. The books and accounts prove them 
 conclusively. No mere assertion can alter or change them. 
 The entries which have been made to change the true accounts 
 into the false throw the books out of balance, and stand on 
 their pages as a blot upon your name and mine. Erase them, 
 and correct the gravest error of your administration. 
 
 Mr. Watson returned to New York about the 
 middle of April, 1874. Dunan's scathing open letter 
 to him was still a thing of lively public interest. No 
 satisfactory response had been made by any of the 
 officers or Directors to a single one of the damaging 
 allegations Dunan had put forth. It was given out 
 from time to time that President Watson would 
 make a statement immediately after his return which 
 would show the falsity of Dunan's charges and de- 
 molish them. The President returned, but a week 
 or more passed without a word having been uttered 
 by him in refutation of Dunan's damaging allega- 
 tions. April 20th another sensational incident in 
 this latest Erie imbroglio occurred. President Wat- 
 son, having requested J. S. Hunichen, General 
 Accountant of the Erie Railway Company, to fur- 
 nish him with abstracts and statements from the 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 227 
 
 Company's books " as they exist," the Accountant 
 replied by a note in which he declared that he was 
 convinced of the correctness of Mr. Dunan's state- 
 ment as to the condition of the accounts of the Com- 
 pany, and that in fact he had strenuously opposed 
 the alterations at the time they were made, and 
 had not since changed his opinion regarding them. 
 " Therefore," he wrote, "as I do not care to act 
 contrary to my convictions, I respectfully tender 
 you my resignation as General Accountant of the 
 Company, to take effect at your earliest conven- 
 ience." The resignation was accepted at once by 
 the President. 
 
 This incident led a leading New York newspaper, 
 which had been a strong supporter of the Watson 
 administration, to comment as follows: " We have 
 refused to pass any judgment on Mr. Dunan's state- 
 ments until President Watson should be heard, but 
 we assure Mr. Watson that he is wearing out the 
 patience not merely of the great public, but even of 
 those who have most implicitly believed in him. If 
 the book-keeper tells the truth, Mr. Dunan's charges 
 are sustained. If he does not tell the truth he ought 
 to be in State's prison. The matter cannot be ig- 
 nored, and if Mr. Watson has any explanation to 
 make he should not lose an hour in making it." 
 
 But Mr. Watson had been preparing his report, 
 and April 22d he submitted it to the Board of Direct- 
 ors. He denied none of the charges made by Mr. 
 Dunan, and, in fact, did not refer to the most seri- 
 ous ones. He explained and justified the transfers 
 made from the expense accounts of the two oper- 
 ating departments to the capital stock, defended his 
 policy, and concluded with the declaration: " Our 
 business continues good, our road is in better condi- 
 tion than ever before, and I believe that when the 
 contemplated report shall be made by those whose 
 competency for the task and complete integrity and 
 impartiality are assured, the recent attempt to injure 
 the credit of the Company will result only in placing 
 the great property before the public in a better posi- 
 tion than it has ever before occupied." 
 
 The statement was not satisfactory even to the 
 friends of the management, as the succeeding events 
 painfully made apparent. The persons to whom 
 President Watson referred as contemplating an ex- 
 
 amination of the affairs of the Company were expert 
 accountants selected in this country and in England. 
 The American experts were Stephen Little and 
 Theodore Houston. James McHenry selected James 
 Glegg, partner in the London banking house of 
 Quilter, Ball & Co., and Henry Bishop of the Lon- 
 don firm of Turquand, Youngs & Co. As repre- 
 sentative of another party of English shareholders, 
 Capt. H. W. Tyler was also selected to make a 
 report, differences among the English proprietors 
 having again occurred. The English accountants 
 arrived in New York earl}^ in May, 1874. Glegg 
 and Bishop were accompanied by James McHenry, 
 who soon afterward returned to London, having 
 quarrelled with President Watson and the Erie man- 
 agement over the details of a plan for leasing the 
 Atlantic and Great Western Railroad to the Erie, 
 which plan had been agreed upon by the Erie Direct- 
 ors, but was not satisfactory to McHenry. The 
 lease was ratified by the stockholders of the Atlan- 
 tic and Great Western Railroad Company June 25, 
 1874. It was for a term of ninety-nine years. Its 
 terms bound the Erie Railway Company to pay the 
 lessor 38 per cent, of the net earnings of the first 
 year, 29 per cent, the second year, and 30 per cent, 
 the third year. If, at the expiration of five years it 
 was found that the proportion had exceeded that 
 figure, the Erie was to divide the excess with the 
 Atlantic and Great Western equally. The aggre- 
 gate stock of the two companies amounted to $130,- 
 000,000. The Erie Directors met the same day and 
 accepted the lease. At this meeting Accountants 
 Little and Houston made a preliminary report of the 
 result of their examination of the books as they 
 stood at the time of the retirement of Auditor 
 Dunan. They announced that an error of $3,000,000 
 had been made in the latter's report of the floating 
 debt of the Company on February 28th, and that 
 the report of the Committee of the Board of Direct- 
 ors had overestimated by more than $500,000 the 
 floating debt at that time. 
 
 But still the feeling increased that the Watson 
 management was doomed. The English stock- 
 holders were clamorous again for a change. Erie 
 stock fell to 26^, lower than it had been since the 
 dark days of Gould's control. McHenry had formed 
 
228 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 a new Erie Protective Committee in London. From 
 its quarters he issued a letter June 30th, which was 
 sent to the London Directors of the Erie Railway 
 Company, and to the foreign exchanges, declaring 
 that the management of the Company had adopted 
 and was then engaged in following the Gould and 
 Fisk method of issuing new stock which was to be 
 sent to Europe for sale. This caused great depres- 
 sion in Erie stocks abroad, and hastened the decline 
 of confidence in the management. To overcome 
 this assault, Frederick William Smith, Secretary of 
 the London Directory, acting on instructions, caused 
 the arrest of one Wortner, an associate of McHenry, 
 on July 17th, and began proceedings against him 
 before the Lord Mayor on charge of libel of the Com- 
 pany. Wortner said he was prepared to prove every 
 charge he had made. Nothing ever came of the 
 prosecution. 
 
 The lease of the Atlantic and Great Western Rail- 
 road had scarcely been signed and come into force, 
 when it was announced that that company, on July 
 1st, had defaulted in London in the payment of the 
 interest on its first consolidated mortgage bonds. 
 Following this discouraging news the situation of 
 Erie was further disturbed by the instituting of pro- 
 ceedings against the Company, before Attorney-Gen- 
 eral Pratt, by John C. Angel), claiming to be a stock 
 and bondholder of the Company, praying for the 
 intervention of the State, for the benefit of the 
 stockholders and bona-fide creditors, in procuring a 
 dissolution of the Company, and the organization of 
 a new corporation, free from its existing embarrass- 
 ments. 
 
 At the hearing at Albany July 7th, Angell was 
 represented by John M. Hill as counsel. Ex-Judge 
 William Fullerton appeared as the legal represent- 
 ative of the Erie Protective Committee of London, 
 the head and adviser of which was James McHenry. 
 The Erie Railway Company's counsel were Hon. 
 William M. Evarts and ex-Judge W. D. Shipman. 
 The proceedings were founded on the afKidavit of 
 ex-Auditor Dunan, wherein the charges he had made 
 in his exposures of March, 1874, were reiterated. 
 Angell declared in his deposition, besides recounting 
 the story of the alleged false dividends, that the 
 floating debt of the Company was in excess of 
 
 $7,000,000, and that the salable value of property 
 that could be made available to pay that debt was 
 not more than $3,000,000, all the remainder of the 
 Company's property having been mortgaged to its 
 full market value; that the promissory notes of the 
 Company could not be negotiated for less than a dis- 
 count of from 30 to 40 per cent, per annum ; that the 
 Company had created a new mortgage in violation 
 of the charter; that the Atlantic and Great Western 
 Railroad, which the Directors had leased, was an in- 
 solvent concern, not producing enough net earnings 
 to pay the amount of the annual interest required by 
 the existing mortgages upon its property, and the 
 terms of the lease were such as would involve the 
 Erie Railway Company in further financial compli- 
 cations, one of which was in the Atlantic and Great 
 Western's purchase of a large amount of stocks and 
 bonds of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and 
 Indianapolis Railroad Company, in the raising of the 
 money for which purpose the Erie Railway Company 
 had endorsed the Atlantic and Great Western Rail- 
 road Company's obligations. 
 
 Dunan, in his afifidavit in support of the charges, 
 deposed that the current expenses for 1872 should 
 have been further reduced $400,000, the value of 
 equipment destroyed during that year, no portion of 
 which was ever made good in the equipment account; 
 that Duncan, Sherman & Co. were charged with 
 $750,000 in notes of the Erie Railway Company 
 given to that firm, which were ultimately paid in 
 cash, and the charge stood unexplained on the books 
 of the Company nearly twelve months, when Dunan 
 was instructed to credit Duncan, Sherman & Co. 
 against said charge by the purchase of 5,000 shares 
 of Buffalo, New York and Erie Railroad stock, at 
 $150 per share. The stock of this Company was 
 selling during 1873, when the Erie purchase was 
 made, at 90, and Dunan declared that the shares 
 were purchased by the Directors of the Erie Rail- 
 way Company for $450,000, or $300,000 less than the 
 amount charged the Company, which " was divided 
 between some persons to the deponent unknown "; 
 that Mr. Watson bought coal lands in his own name 
 and sold them to the Pennsylvania companies leased 
 by the Erie, the Company having no legal right to 
 make such purchases; that the purchases were made 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 229 
 
 in 1873 out of convertible bonds, and the purchase 
 money, amounting to $1,000,000, was charged upon 
 the books to the " Purchase of Coal Lands " account, 
 and that he refused to obey President Watson's 
 order to transfer the account to the President's indi- 
 vidual account. 
 
 These allegations were all denied by affidavits of 
 President Watson, Director Barlow, and others; not 
 specifically, but under the general declaration that 
 they were malignant falsehoods. 
 
 The Attorney-General took the papers and re- 
 served his decision. 
 
 It had long ceased to be a mere rumor that Mr. 
 Watson was to retire from the management of the 
 Erie Railway Company in July, 1874. It was an 
 assured event. The names of men from whom his 
 successor might be chosen had been a month or more 
 on the public tongue. The last act of the Board of 
 Directors, at its last meeting, July 15, 1874, was to 
 unanimously adopt the following: 
 
 Resolved, That the Board regrets exceedingly the necessity 
 of parting with their valuable and estimable associate, with 
 -whom their intercourse had always been so agreeable, and for 
 whom they have learned to entertain the most sincere friend- 
 ship and respect. 
 
 Resolved, That few men could have brought to the position 
 Mr. Watson leaves, so much integrity, resolution to contest 
 wrong, to expose and guard against carelessness in duty, 
 watchfulness against waste and extravagance in administration, 
 or capacity to wield the great powers of the presidency as 
 "belong to and have been shown by him; and that our regret 
 in parting with him is increased by the conviction that his 
 impaired health is the undoubtable result of a faithfulness to 
 "the trust confided to him, which had led him to forget himself 
 in his regard for duty and the interests of others. 
 
 Resolved, That in view of the attacks on the interests of the 
 Erie Company and the integrity of its management, which 
 malevolence, selfishness, and ingratitude have lately made, we 
 congratulate our President that investigation only brings out 
 more clearly the correctness and fidelity of his management, 
 and increases and extends a reputation as an honest man, 
 which belongs to his country, and of which she must ever be 
 proud. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be attested, and 
 delivered to IVlr. Watson. 
 
 The election of a new Board by the stockholders 
 followed the adjournment of the old Board, and 
 Peter H. Watson's name was added to the long list 
 of those of his predecessors who had come to the 
 head of Erie affairs with their own ambitions, and 
 their various plans for the management of the great 
 property, so few of which had tended to its advance- 
 ment or its welfare. It may at least be said for 
 President Watson that he stood as an obstacle to 
 the machinations of the McHenry influences that 
 sought absolute control of Erie, by no means insig- 
 nificant among his services in that respect being his 
 refusal to approve the paying from the Erie treasury 
 of the $750,000 alleged to have been used by McHenry 
 and others in bringing about the overthrow of Jay 
 Gould. The Watson administration was brief, but 
 of duration sufficient to demonstrate that its policy 
 was not one by which the Erie Railway Company 
 could be grounded in public confidence and restored 
 to such place among contemporary corporations as 
 its property and capabilities entitled it. The policy 
 of expansion was but the revival of Jay Gould's idea 
 of 1868-69, and was undoubtedly correct in princi- 
 ple. The policy of dividend-declaring was simply 
 one of robbing Peter to pay Paul, and could not 
 obtain among wise business men. The ending of 
 the Watson management came a long way from ful- 
 filling its promise, and President Watson, disap- 
 pointed, chagrined, broken in health, handed the 
 Company, with all its inherited and acquired en- 
 tanglements and misfortunes, over to other hands, 
 which for the next ten years were kept in constant 
 and active use in efforts to straighten out the com- 
 phcated affairs of Erie. How well or how ill they 
 succeeded the progress of this narrative will reveal. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF HUGH J. JEWETT— 1874 TO 1884. 
 
 I. An Entangled Inheritance : Mr. Jewett Takes Hold to Rescue Erie — His $40,000 Salary, and Why the Company Agreed to Pay It — 
 Troublesome Sequences of the Watson and Previous Managements — First Pooling Arrangement — Dissatisfied P'oreign Holders of 
 Erie Securities — The Unfortunate Atlantic and Great Western Entailment. II. Telling the Truth: A Rugged Path, with. 
 Obstacles that Will Not Down — President Jewett Uncovers the True Situation — The Company Bankrupt — The Management Saved 
 by a Lawsuit that was Begun to Destroy It — Jewett Made Receiver of the Company. III. Career of a Bankrupt : Conciliating 
 the English Shareholders — The Opposition of McHenry — The Reorganization Plan, the Foreclosure, and the Decree of Sale — 
 General Sickles Plans Another " Raid" — Harassing Struggle of McHenry in the Courts to Block the Reorganization Plans —The 
 Receiver Successful at Last — The Bankrupt Erie Railway Company Dies — Succeeded by the New York, Lake Erie and Westerrt 
 Railroad Company. IV. The Burden Too Heavy; President Jewett Again Hopeful — A Question of Dividends — Disastrous 
 Rate Wars — Disquieting Rumor as to the Company's Stability — Failure of the Marine Bank and of Grant & Ward Embarrasses the 
 Erie Management — Passing of the June Interest, 1884 — President Jewett Announces that He is Anxious to Retire — John King 
 Made Assistant President — Mr. Jewett Retires, and King is Elected President — A Question of Service and of Justice. 
 
 I. AN ENTANGLED INHERITANCE. 
 
 I have accepted the Presidency of the Erie Railway Com- 
 pany with the determination, if possible, to place the road on 
 such a basis as will enable it to compete successfully with the 
 other great trunk lines. I am fully aware of the great difficul- 
 ties that I shall have to contend with, but I am resolved to do 
 my best to overcome them. I have prepared myself for the 
 worst, and cling to the hope that, by energy and organization, 
 the fortunes of the road can be retrieved. What directions 
 the changes and reforms I contemplate will take I am not 
 prepared to say. That a reform, a very thorough reform, is 
 needed cannot be denied. I have not taken charge of the road 
 for the purpose of losing my reputation as a railroad man. 
 The first thing I purpose doing is to examine for myself into 
 the condition of the road, and upon the result of that will 
 depend my future course and conduct. — Hugh J. Jewett, 
 July 15, 1874, after his electio7i as President. 
 
 Besides the more remote items in the Erie legacy 
 which the coming management was to fall heir to 
 from its predecessors, not a few of which were des- 
 tined to be a plague to it, there were others, created 
 at the very close of the Watson management, that 
 promised more or less of tribulation, and which called 
 for decisive action on the part of the retiring man- 
 agement to make its worriment less as part of the 
 inheritance of the succeeding regime. These were 
 the Angell suits, then pending, one in the courts and 
 one before the Attorney-General. 
 
 At a meeting of the stockholders held previous to 
 the July election, the following resolutions were 
 unanimously adopted: 
 
 Resolved, That the stockholders of the Erie Railway Com- 
 pany now assembled, representing in person or by proxy more 
 than one-half of the total stock capital, both common and 
 preferred, of this company, do hereby express their grateful 
 thanks to the officers and directors of the company for their 
 careful and patient labor for the past year, and for the fidelity 
 with which they have administered the affairs and business of 
 the company. 
 
 Resolved, That the action of the Directors of this company 
 in creating the so-called second consolidated mortgage to 
 secure the amount of $40,000,000 of bonds ($10,000,000 being 
 reserved to cover the existing convertible bonds) and in issu- 
 ing a portion of said bonds for the general uses and purposes, 
 of this company, be and the same is hereby ratified, approved,, 
 and confirmed; and that, in the opinion of the stockholders,, 
 the said issue was necessary and proper, and that the proceeds 
 .shall be used and disposed of in paying and discharging the 
 indebtedness and liabilities of the company, and for such other 
 purposes as may, in the opinion of the Board, be considered 
 necessary, proper, and expedient. 
 
 Resolved, That the stockholders do fully ratify, approve, and 
 confirm the recent lease of the Atlantic and Great Western 
 Railroad by the Erie Railway Company, on the terms set forth 
 in the lease dated May 6, 1874, and in the contemporaneous- 
 agreements, and do likewise approve, ratify, and confirm the 
 purchase heretofore made of the stock of the Buffalo, New 
 York and Erie Railroad, and. in the purchase of interests in 
 coal lands, and in the stocks of various coal companies organ- 
 ized under the laws of Pennsylvania, such purchases being, 
 in the opinion of the stockholders, wise and necessary for the 
 requirements of the company, and for the true interests of the 
 stockholders. 
 
 Resolved, That the stockholders of this company have as- 
 sembled to now formally accept, adopt, and confirm all the 
 acts, arrangements, purchases, and contracts aforesaid, the 
 same, in the judgment of this meeting, having been wisely 
 made and entered into for the best requirements of the com- 
 pany, and for the true interests of the stockholders of said 
 company. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 231 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be duly certified 
 to the Attorney- General of the State of New York. 
 
 All this was of course to strengthen the position 
 of the Company in its defence in the Angell suits if 
 they were pressed to final action, and to bind up 
 such loose ends of management as might have re- 
 sulted from the course of President Watson and the 
 Directors in bringing to bear the things complained 
 of in the suits, although they affected to believe that 
 the suits were designed as stock-jobbing or black- 
 mailing raids by their authors. 
 
 At the election for Directors which followed the 
 adoption of these resolutions, the following gentle- 
 men were chosen as the Board for the ensuing year: 
 Hugh J. Jewett, S. L. M. Barlow, John A. C. Gray, 
 W. Butler Duncan, Marshall O. Roberts, Frederick 
 Schuchardt, Edwin D. Morgan, John Taylor John- 
 ston, Henry G. Stebbins, Herman R. Baltzer, Louis 
 H. Meyer, New York; Cortlandt Parker, Newark; 
 Lucius Robinson, Elmira; Homer Ramsdell, New- 
 burgh ; Thomas A. Scott, Philadelphia. 
 
 The Board organized and elected Hugh J. Jewett, 
 President ; William P. Shearman, Treasurer ; and 
 Augustus R. Macdonough, Secretary. 
 
 It may be well at the start of this narrative of the 
 events that marked the Jewett administration to cor- 
 rect an impression that prevails widely in railroad 
 circles, even to this day, that the amount of the sal- 
 ary which it was soon known Mr. Jewett was to 
 receive as President of the Company, and the terms 
 of the contract which secured its payment, were the 
 result of undue influences brought to bear by him 
 by which he was able to dictate his emolument. Mr. 
 Jewett did not seek the Presidency. As a matter of 
 fact, his name had not been mentioned in connection 
 with the place until after the death of J. Edgar 
 Thompson, President of the Pennsylvania Central 
 Railroad Company, in May, 1874. It had been de- 
 cided by the controlling influences of the Erie Rail- 
 way Company that Col. Thomas A. Scott, First 
 Vice-President of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- 
 pany, should succeed Mr. Watson, and he had 
 accepted the offer. The death of President Thomp- 
 son, however, left the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- 
 
 pany without a directing head, and Colonel Scott 
 was called to succeed Thompson. The Erie people 
 were then all at sea for a successor to President 
 Watson, and applications were made to a score or 
 more of prominent railroad managers in different 
 parts of the country to take the place before Mr. 
 Jewett was approached on the subject. He was 
 then a Representative in Congress from Ohio, prom- 
 inent in national affairs, and with a fair promise of 
 still greater distinction. He was largely interested 
 in the control of railroad properties in Ohio and else- 
 where, the remuneration from which was large and 
 of prospective increase. His success in past rail- 
 road management had gained him a reputation for 
 much sagacity and business foresight. Moreover, it 
 was believed by the controlling influences then in 
 Erie that his ambition and personal interests would 
 be in common with certain views which that control 
 had in mind as to the future policy of the Company. 
 Mr. Jewett was offered and solicited to take the 
 place to be vacated by Mr. Watson. He was not 
 inclined at first to consider the offer, to the sacrifice 
 of his position and other prospects, but at last con- 
 sented, on condition that he should be paid a salary 
 of $40,000 a year ; be secured in the place and salary 
 for ten years, and receive during the first year of his 
 incumbency $150,000, or an advance of $15,000 a 
 year for the ten years, $25,000, the difference be- 
 tween $15,000 and $40,000, to be paid annually there- 
 after. Those were the only conditions upon which 
 Mr. Jewett would consent to abandon his existing 
 engagements and take charge of the affairs of the 
 Erie Railway Company. It rested with those in 
 power to say whether they would be justified in 
 agreeing to the conditions. They decided that they 
 would be, and they agreed to Mr. Jewett's condi- 
 tions. No railroad president had at that day re- 
 ceived as large a salary as Jewett's. Years before, 
 Charles Moran had been secured by the New York 
 and Erie Railroad Compan)^ as President, under cir- 
 cumstances somewhat similar to Mr. Jewett's, at a 
 salary of $25,000. President Watson had received 
 $20,000 a year. Mr. Jewett placed the value of his 
 services at $40,000 a year, with a large advance as 
 indemnity. The Company decided that he was 
 worth it, and employed him at his own terms. 
 
BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Whether they made a good or a bad bargain, or in renewed bitter strife in the Legislature of New- 
 York and other States, and at last in Congress, 
 between the railroads and the shipping interests, and 
 culminated in much restrictive and prohibitive legis- 
 lation in the conduct of railroad management. The 
 far-reaching effect of that compact, which was signed 
 
 whether their action was legal, is another question, 
 let the settlement of which depend on the showing 
 of the stor)/ of the Jewett administration. 
 
 President Jewett was not long in making the dis- 
 covery, in "examining for himself," that he had at a meeting of railroad magnates at Saratoga August 
 come into possession of a charge the condition of 5, 1874, may be imagined from the number of rail- 
 which revealed to him that when he uttered the con- roads that became party to it with the three great 
 viction, on taking of^ce at the head of Erie, that trunk lines. They were the Atlantic and Great 
 " he had prepared himself for the worst," the worst Western; Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and In- 
 had not stood uncovered before him. He found that dianapolis; Lake Shore and Michigan Southern; 
 on the $25,000,000 of bonds which had been author- Great Western of Canada; Michigan Central; De- 
 ized for issue at different times during the Watson 
 administration, the Company had realized only some- 
 thing like $14,000,000. The $15,000,000 of second 
 consolidated bonds that President Watson had gone 
 to London to negotiate, and which he had hawked 
 about among the monej'-changers of Europe for 
 eight months, were not placed as a loan at all, but 
 had been hypothecated from time to time, through 
 James McHenry, at a ruinous discount. Of the 
 $10,000,000 issue of convertible bonds, $8,000,000 
 were negotiated through Bischoffscheim & Gold- 
 schmidt, netting $7,827,677.58. Of this amount 
 only $4,249,989 were remitted to the Company's 
 treasury, the balance of $3,577,688 being retained in 
 London, and used in interest payments on other 
 debts. The $2,000,000 balance of the $10,000,000 
 issued had been intrusted to the care of James 
 McHenry, and the Erie treasury was still yearning 
 for it when Jewett assumed control. The $4,249,989 
 had been charged to the construction account cover- 
 ing the period between January i and September 30, 
 1873. What it was actually used for does not ap- 
 pear. There was literally nothing in the Erie treas- 
 ury to even make a pretense of beginning " to place 
 the road on such a basis as will enable it to compete 
 successfully with the other great trunk lines." In 
 fact, the Erie was so ill-provided for competing with 
 such lines that one of President Jewett's first acts 
 was to enter into a non-competitive or pooling com- 
 pact with the Pennsylvania Central and the New 
 York Central Railroad Companies, which was the 
 beginning of that trouble with the merchants and 
 commercial corporations of New York that resulted 
 
 troit and Milwaukee; Canada Southern; Toledo, 
 Wabash and Western ; Indianapolis, Bloomington, 
 and Western Indianapolis and St. Louis; Terre 
 Haute and Indianapolis; Ohio and Mississippi; 
 Illinois Central; Pennsylvania Company; Pittsburg, 
 Cincinnati and St. Louis; Jeffersonville, Medina and 
 Indianapolis ; Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton ; 
 Chicago, Burlington and Quincy; Chicago, Rock 
 Island and Pacific; Chicago and Northwestern; 
 Evansville and Crawfordsville ; Evansville and Terre 
 Haute; Indianapolis, Peru and Chicago Railway 
 Companies, and others. 
 
 The compact provided for the formation of a 
 Bureau of Commissioners, and whose duties included 
 the establishment of through rates for the transpor- 
 tation of passengers and freight over the several lines 
 between competitive points East and West, in con- 
 junction with the Eastern Bureau of Commissioners, 
 who represented the trunk lines of the country, lying 
 east of Buffalo, Pittsburg, and Ohio River. To 
 insure the united support of the Commissioners' 
 actions, the companies pledged themselves to require 
 and exact from all their connecting lines the rates 
 established from time to time by the Commissioners, 
 and in no event to accept from any connecting line, 
 agency, or other party, any lower rates than might be 
 established by said Commissioners, and upon notice 
 of such failures from the Commissioners, no through 
 tickets or bills of lading would be received or deliv- 
 ered to any line so failing to conform to the require- 
 ments of the compact. 
 
 The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company and 
 the Grand Trunk Railway Company of Canada 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 233 
 
 refused to enter into the pooling agreement. This 
 excited the merchants of New York, who declared 
 that the compact was a discriminative one against 
 New York by the Erie Railway and the New York 
 Central Railroad Companies in favor of Philadelphia 
 and Baltimore, and that it would ruin the grain trade 
 of New York. The Chamber of Commerce held a 
 meeting denouncing the Erie and Central managers, 
 and appointed committees of influential citizens to 
 take measures to break the railroad combination in 
 the interest of the trade of New York City. Their 
 efforts, and the result of them, will occupy their 
 proper places in this narrative. 
 
 The long-expected report of the London account- 
 ants of their investigation into the Erie Railway 
 affairs was made public in London, October 9, 1874. 
 In substance its statements were as follows: In the 
 three years ending September, 1873, the profits of 
 the road were $1,108,775, instead of $5,352,673 as 
 stated in the Company's accounts. This amount 
 was subject to a further deduction in respect to the 
 various items charged to capital, and not then 
 audited. The report showed a loss on the working 
 of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad up to 
 September 30, 1871, and stated that $3,240,167 were 
 paid for it by the Erie Railway Company in 1871, 1872, 
 and 1873. The accountants considered that, under 
 the circumstances, the dividends on the preferred 
 stock were fairly earned. The report said that but 
 for the deficit of $456,444, shown by the corrected 
 profit and loss account, as existing September 30, 
 1 87 1, $270,000 would have been available, subject to 
 the adjustment of outside matters, for a dividend on 
 the common stock for the two years ending June 30, 
 1873. The accountants anticipated that the value 
 of the recoveries from Jay Gould would fall very far 
 short of their nominal amount. An abstract of the 
 statement of assets and liabilities of the Company up 
 to September 30, 1872, showed the liabilities to be 
 $115,449,211, and the assets $118,265,979. " An au- 
 thoritative examination and determination of many 
 questions of law and fact, affecting the nature of 
 multifarious liabilities and assets, must be accom- 
 plished before a complete elucidation of the present 
 financial position of the Company could be arrived 
 
 at." The profits of the Company for the three 
 years ending September, 1873, were subjected to 
 the deduction of the Bischoffscheim disputed claim 
 of $400,000, for aid given in the expulsion of Jay 
 Gould. The balance sheet to September 30, 1873, 
 showed a net deficit of $2,331,392. The report cov- 
 ered the period from September 30, 1871, to March 
 
 31, 1874- 
 
 The report was so unassuring and showed, although 
 with much ambiguity, how the confiding English 
 stock and bondholders had been hoodwinked, that it 
 was followed by a disastrous reaction in the value of 
 Erie stock, and an almost entire loss of confidence 
 abroad in the future of the Cojnpany. The report 
 was far from responding to the wishes or interests 
 of the bona-fide shareholders. It only enlightened 
 them with regard to the disorder and mismanage- 
 ment in the years 1872 and 1873, much of which was 
 a remnant of the years of the Gould and Fisk de- 
 moralization. Regarding the actual financial con- 
 dition of the Company, the application of the loans 
 and the probable effect of the promised or suggested 
 reforms of Mr. Jewett on the remunerative working 
 of the line, it left them entirely in the dark. A 
 leading London newspaper, commenting on the re- 
 port, was moved to declare that on reading it 
 " every Erie shareholder's first impression must be 
 to sincerely regret the day when the so-called ' Res- 
 cue ' was brought about, for while Jay Gould reigned 
 supreme no Englishman parted with a dollar to 
 the insatiable Erie Company. We will not speak 
 of the little bill presented by Messrs. Bischoffscheim 
 & Goldschmidt for the ' Rescue.' That claim is a 
 mere trifle, compared with the other financial results 
 of the overthrow of Jay Gould. That worthy's exit 
 was followed by the advent of Mr. Watson, heralded 
 as the honest Under-Secretary of War during the 
 great struggle between North and South, and as a 
 man of as great capacity as integrity. Mr. Watson 
 lost no time in coming to London to carry out his 
 great policy, which was to bring a golden harvest to 
 the long-suffering Erie shareholders. All that he 
 wanted was money — money for improvements, ex- 
 tensions, and payment of the floating debt — and 
 money was furnished by the English public, with its 
 usual sanguine liberality — a total of, say, £a„ i 50,000 of 
 
234 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 hard cash extracted by Mr. Watson from the British 
 public, not to speak of the large amounts which the 
 Atlantic and Great Western Company managed to 
 raise by the cry of an intimate alliance with the Erie. 
 And now the accountants tell us that, under Mr. 
 Watson, not only was there no more a dividend 
 earned than under Jay Gould, but that it is doubtful 
 whether the Company will be able to pay the inter- 
 est on its recent issues of bonds. The report refers 
 to a period anticipatory to that at which the whole 
 of the proceeds of the issues of convertible and 
 second mortgage bonds reached the Company, but 
 it does not require much reading between the lines 
 to see that the accguntants found no income to pay 
 the full interest on the entire bonded debt to-day. 
 Such a state of things would stamp the Watson ad- 
 ministration as a far more fatal one than that of Fisk 
 and Gould. Prospectuses for the two issues of bonds 
 stated that ' the proceeds will be devoted to doubling 
 the track, narrowing the gauge, or placing a third 
 rail on the present broad gauge, the increase of roll- 
 ing stock, and generally to the improvement of the 
 property,' and we cannot believe that, notwithstand- 
 ing these declarations, the money has been simply 
 squandered and not left a mark. If that money has 
 been judiciously laid out, the least that it must pro- 
 duce forthwith is its own interest. If after a few 
 years it does no more than that, the shareholder has 
 not been benefited in any manner, but only exposed 
 to a greater danger of foreclosure. It is quite pos- 
 sible that when Captain Tyler made his inspection, 
 all the improvements were not completed ; that, for 
 instance, the new rails and the new rolling stock had 
 not yet arrived on the ground, and on this account 
 it is the more urgent that this Board should give 
 complete details as to the disposal of the vast 
 amount of money. Mr. Watson has gone and Mr. 
 Jewett is now President. He bears a very high 
 reputation, and will doubtless be anxious, if possi- 
 ble, to reassure his constituents. While the anomaly 
 must exist by the law of the United States that a 
 railway almost entirely owned by Englishmen is 
 managed exclusively by a Board of Americans, the 
 English proprietors must, in our opinion, insist on a 
 machinery which will afford them an efificient con- 
 trol over their property." 
 
 October 27, 1874, Captain Tyler, who was sent to 
 this country as a railway expert to examine and 
 report on the condition and prospects of the Erie 
 Railway property, made public the result of his 
 observations. The road, he said, undoubtedly pos- 
 sessed natural advantages, but in order that its 
 resources might be properly developed, he specified 
 several objects necessary to be obtained as follows: 
 Double track, with steel rails and durable sleepers 
 (ties) on the whole main line and some other sec- 
 tions; some improvements in the gradients of the 
 road; fresh extensions and connections; change of 
 gauge indispensable; improved terminal arrange- 
 ments to provide sufficient storage for increased 
 traffic; iron bridges to be substituted for wooden, 
 when the latter required renewal; speculation in coal 
 fields and all other objects to be avoided ; no out- 
 side rings should be permitted to carry out any of 
 the improvements mentioned; liberal expenditure, 
 but the precise amount to be expended from time 
 to time could only be settled after most careful 
 deliberation. 
 
 Captain Tyler said there was probably no railway 
 in the world which would better repay such large 
 expenditure than the Erie Railway, if a really good 
 management, supported by a stable constituency of 
 proprietors, could be permanently secured. He rec- 
 ommended the organization of a strong committee 
 in England to control arrangements with regard to 
 fresh capital and expenditure generally. He con- 
 demned railway competition as ^ruinous, and told 
 investors to make allowance for the depressing ef- 
 fects of the panic of the previous autumn, and not 
 consider as normal the current year's traffic. Cap- 
 tain Tyler particularly recommended a Canadian con- 
 nection by way of the International Bridge. He 
 assured the shareholders that there was no cause for 
 despair, but every reason to hope for the future of 
 Erie, if only undue competition was avoided and 
 good management secured. He estimated the cost 
 of a change of gauge at $8,500,000; improvement of 
 gradients, $3,000,000; iron bridges, $1,500,000; and 
 new depots, $700,000. He thought the most of that 
 total might be expended wisely in about three years, 
 and he advised the laying of 20,000 tons of steel rails 
 within the same period. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 235 
 
 " As regards freight," Captain Tyler said, " Erie 
 is exceptionally well situated for coal traffic; its 
 traffic in milk, butter, eggs, and cheese also increases 
 rapidly; it conveyed in 1873 about one-sixth part of 
 the through grain traffic from the West, and with 
 an alteration of grade the traffic could be largely 
 increased. The line is in some parts in excellent 
 running order, in other parts in fair running order, 
 and in other parts, again, including some of its 
 branches, and portions not fresh jointed, in a less 
 efficient condition. Very much might be done in 
 economy of maintenance by the employment of more 
 durable materials. Of 505 engines on tlie books, 33 
 have nothing to represent them. From a careful 
 survey which has been made of the whole of this 
 stock, it would appear that the depreciation of it 
 may be expressed at 47 per cent, below what it 
 would be if the engines were all in thorough good 
 working order, and they would probably compare 
 not unfavorably with the engines of other American 
 lines. Of the 13,716 cars owned or leased by the 
 Company, 8,005 ^^e in good condition, 4,840 in fair 
 working order, and 871 require to be repaired or re- 
 built. The relations of the Atlantic and Great 
 Western Railroad with the United States Roll- 
 ing Stock Company are most onerous, and means 
 should be found for terminating them. Grain ships 
 should be loaded by an elevator, as oil is at Wee- 
 hawken. 
 
 This report was received with more expressions of 
 disappointment and discouragement by the stock- 
 holders than the report of the accountants had been. 
 The showing it made of the condition of the prop- 
 erty and of what was required in the way of labor 
 and expenditure to place it in shape for economical 
 and efficient service, after all the money that had 
 been supplied to be used ostensibly for the establish- 
 ing of the property on such a basis, was not in the 
 least calculated to inspire hope for return in divi- 
 dends or even interest on bonds. It revealed, also, 
 if the report might be accepted as trustworthy, and 
 of its trustworthiness there seemed to be no ques- 
 tion, the difficult task and by no means pleasant 
 prospects confronting the new management. On 
 the making public of Captain Tyler's conclusions 
 Erie stock declined rapidly from 36 to 27, and it 
 
 was many a day before the unfortunate stock reached 
 the former figure again. 
 
 The disturbing Angell suits were persisted in by 
 their promoters. The author of these suits was Jay 
 Gould, who, knowing the by no means stable condi- 
 tion of the Company whose affairs he had once him- 
 self so memorably manipulated, had laid plans to 
 get control of them again. His mediums in this pro- 
 cedure were J. C. Angell, H. D. V. Pratt, and 
 Joseph W. Guppy, the latter being the man through 
 whom ex-Auditor Dunan was induced to reiterate 
 his damaging charges against Watson, by affidavits in 
 support of this complaint. Angell was an obscure 
 person whom no one knew. Pratt had been a short 
 time Superintendent of Transportation during the 
 Watson administration. Guppy had entered the 
 service of the old New York and Erie Railroad Com- 
 pany with Charles Minot, one of whose numerous 
 protege's he was, when Minot came from the Boston 
 and Maine Railroad in May, 1850, to become Gen- 
 eral Superintendent of the New "York and Erie Rail- 
 road. Guppy had been telegraph operator. Chief 
 Clerk, Assistant General Superintendent, and a valu- 
 able adjunct of the Operating Departments of the 
 Company from that time until 1872, with the excep- 
 tion of a lapse of a few years when he was Minot's 
 assistant as Manager of the Michigan Southern Rail- 
 road. He had been a confidential attache of both 
 Gould and Fisk, and was a friend of Dunan. In the 
 event of the success of Gould's new attempt against 
 the Erie, it was understood that Pratt and Guppy 
 were to be the Receivers of the Company. 
 
 Coupons on the second consolidated bonds being 
 due in December, 1874, Barrett, Redfield & Plill, 
 Angell's counsel, made a motion before Judge T. E. 
 Westbrook, of the New York Supreme Court, asking 
 for an injunction restraining the Erie Railway Com- 
 pany from paying the interest on those bonds, and for 
 the appointment of a Receiver for the bonds and 
 the stock of the coal companies. Judge Westbrook 
 issued an order on the defendants to show cause on 
 December 2, 1874, why these motions should not 
 be granted, enjoining the Company meanwhile from 
 paying the coupons. Upon affidavit made by Presi- 
 dent Jewett on that day, Judge Westbrook modified 
 
236 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 his order as to the payment of interest and other 
 pecuniary obligations of the Company. On a hear- 
 ing to continue the modified injunction, argued'on 
 the 3d by William Wallace MacFarland for the Com- 
 pany, ex-Judge William Fullerton for the London 
 Protective Committee, and W. C. Barrett for Angell, 
 John L. Lawrence was appointed Referee to hear 
 the testimony on which the continuance of the 
 injunction was sought, and report to the court. A 
 similar injunction was issued from the London Chan- 
 cery Court on December 2d, on the complaint of 
 one McKenna, a stockholder, but it was dissolved 
 on the 7th. 
 
 The months of October, November, and Decem- 
 ber, 1874, were very trying months for the Company, 
 on account of the low rates of fare and dull traffic 
 generally, but especially in east-bound business, 
 which was very irregular. Mr. Jewett, however, 
 reported that the earning for those months were 
 equal to the expenses, and on December loth, in 
 the face of the by no means encouraging situation, 
 he made public a report for the year ending Sep- 
 tember 30th, upon which he felt satisfied to venture 
 some very sanguine calculations. He showed that 
 while the Company had earned $18,500,000 during 
 the year, its working expenses had been $13,500,000, 
 leaving $5,000,000 of net revenue. Four millions of 
 that was to be applied to the payment of rentals, 
 interest on mortgages, taxes, etc., leaving about 
 $1,000,000 surplus, the most of which was to be em- 
 ployed toward the reduction of the floating debt. 
 The flexibility and possibilities of railroad account- 
 ing, and the mystery of that science, was startlingly 
 demonstrated in Mr. Jewett's statement of the 
 amount of the Erie floating debt at the end of Sep- 
 tember, 1874, which was reported at about $1,500,- 
 000. At the end of September, 1873, according to 
 the English expert accountants, the floating debt of 
 the Company was $5,500,000. Here was a reduc- 
 tion of $4,000,000 during the year, a progress of the 
 railroad toward prosperity which was not shown by 
 any of the returns in Mr. Jewett's reports. This 
 wide discrepancy in accounting proved again what it 
 is possible for diverging theories as to the proper 
 construction of liabilities and their relation to assets 
 
 to accomplish in showing the condition of a railroad 
 company's finances. 
 
 One of Mr. Jewett's sanguine expectations, more 
 than a score of years ago, was that the time would 
 come in his administration when the Erie would be 
 earning $22,000,000 a year, and its net revenue over 
 $8,000,000. He did not mention that there was any 
 probability of a dividend in the very near future, 
 but even with the road earning a net revenue of 
 $8,000,000 annually, the person who took the trouble 
 to figure a little found that, after providing for the 
 possible floating debt and the interest on the bonded 
 indebtedness, there would not be more than $2,500,- 
 000 to be divided among the holders of $86,000,000 
 of stock, common and preferred. 
 
 Director John A. C. Gray was sent to London in 
 the fall of 1875, with instructions to unravel and 
 adjust the complications into which the affairs of the 
 Company had fallen there, to recover the undis- 
 posed-of bonds, take the Company's interests away 
 from the hands they were in, and extinguish all out- 
 standing liabilities, except shareholders' and bond- 
 holders' obligations. Mr. Gray returned in Novem- 
 ber and made his report. This the Company declined 
 to give to the public, but the statement was made 
 by President Jewett, officially, that Mr. Gray had 
 successfully accomplished his mission, and the stock- 
 holders were to be congratulated upon his success. 
 Subsequent events, including years of expensive and 
 annoying litigation at home and abroad, proved that 
 some one had been in error as to the result of the 
 Gray mission. 
 
 In the month of December, 1875, the headquarters 
 of the Erie Railway Company were removed from 
 their elegant housing in the Grand Opera House to 
 the original Erie building at West, Duane, and 
 Reade streets, from which they had been taken to 
 the Opera House in the luxurious days of Gould and 
 Fisk. The Opera House and the twenty-two lots 
 and buildings that composed the Gould purchase, 
 and which were part of his "restitution" to the 
 Watson administration, were advertised for sale by the 
 Company, but as the sale was conditional on the prop- 
 erty going in one parcel, no transfer was consummated. 
 
 Peter H. Watson had scarcely taken his place as 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 237 
 
 President of the Erie Railway Company in July, 
 1872, when James IVIcHenry, on the 12th of that 
 month, placed before him a proposition urging the 
 lease of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad by 
 the Erie. President Watson said he was in favor of 
 bringing about some such arrangement, but when 
 McHenry fixed the rental on the basis of a guarantee 
 of the interest on the first and second consolidated 
 mortgage bonds of the Atlantic and Great Western 
 Company, which would have called for a payment of 
 about $2,000,000 a year, Watson declined to enter- 
 tain the proposition, saying that the sum was en- 
 tirely too much for a railroad that " began at no 
 place and ended nowhere." 
 
 If you are anxious to lease your road, get con- 
 nections that will make it valuable," said President 
 Watson. 
 
 Then Watson told McHenry that the Cleveland, 
 Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railroad and 
 its ramifying lines would be an acquisition to the 
 Atlantic and Great Western Railroad that would 
 give the latter great importance as a connecting link 
 in an Erie through system. It happened that Presi- 
 dent Hurlburt of that company, and the Vanderbilt, 
 Clarke, and Schell interests in Lake Shore had 
 clashed, and Watson informed McHenry that the 
 latter might get control of the stock of the Cleve- 
 land, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Com- 
 pany on verj' favorable terms. Watson succeeded in 
 negotiating a deal of the kind between McHenry and 
 Hurlburt. McHenry got control of $7,500,000 of 
 the stock. This was carried for him on margin by 
 William R. Travers & Co., of Wall Street, for more 
 than two years, eighteen months of which time the 
 Erie Railway Company had advanced money from 
 time to time to keep the stock from being sold, the 
 amount thus advanced, through S. L. M. Barlow, 
 being in September, 1874, $115,000. The control of 
 this stock was the only thing that made the lease of 
 the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad to the Erie 
 of any value, in the estimation of the Erie manage- 
 ment. In September, 1874, Travers & Co. notified 
 McHenry that the stock must be cared for or they 
 would sell it for his account. Director John A. C. 
 Gray was in London then. McHenry induced Gray 
 to recommend the Erie to advance the money neces- 
 
 sary to save this stock. Through S. L. M. Barlow, 
 who made the request as a personal one to Col. 
 H. G. Stebbins of the Finance Committee, the ad- 
 vance was made, and approved by President Jewett. 
 The amount necessary was $681,000, making nearly 
 $800,000 the Erie had paid, through Barlow, to 
 keep McHenry's stock. McHenry, who then owed 
 the Erie at least $1,000,000 besides, promised Gray 
 he would settle the stock advances within a few 
 days, but he never settled ; and thus railroad man- 
 agers, who were not altogether certain whether they 
 would be able to meet obligations of their Company 
 that were to fall due within a few weeks, did not 
 hesitate to take the chances of furnishing from its 
 treasury almost a million dollars to do a personal 
 favor for one of their number. 
 
 The lease of the Atlantic and Great Western Rail- 
 road to the Erie, to which the Watson administra- 
 tion, as one of its last acts, had agreed, was based 
 on the terms that President Watson had refused in 
 1872, but was predicated on the clause that a con- 
 trolling interest in the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincin- 
 nati and Indianapolis Railroad should be purchased 
 by the Atlantic and .Great Western Railroad Com- 
 pany and delivered to the Erie. This the lessor 
 company did not do. President Jewett subsequently 
 discovered, further, that the Erie Railway Company, 
 as lessee, was compelled to deposit in the State 
 of Ohio securities to such amount as the Directors 
 of the Atlantic and Great Western might require. 
 Consequently, although the retiring Board of Direct- 
 ors had by their resolution approved and ratified the 
 lease. President Jewett wisely refused to recognize 
 it as binding, and this complication was left to the 
 future to disentangle. 
 
 II. TELLING THE TRUTH. 
 
 Mr. Jewett had not long been at the head of Erie 
 affairs before it became manifest that the Company 
 was to have at last a management that could make a 
 show of business methods. He went at once thor- 
 oughly into details, and the loose and draggling ends 
 of unfinished or neglected operations were gathered 
 up and knitted together. When he had time to look 
 about him, according to a declaration subsequently 
 
238 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 made, he found the Erie rolling stock insufficient 
 and defective, because of neglect in replacement and 
 repairs by former managements; a railroad almost 
 entirely made of iron rails, upon a roadway largely of 
 single track; locomotives and cars of a variegated 
 sort as to pattern, size, and date of build, there 
 being no less than 85 different patterns in use; 
 roundhouses inadequate for the accommodation of 
 the locomotives; passenger and freight buildings 
 insufficient in number, convenience, capacity, and 
 condition ; docks and other terminal facilities entirely 
 inadequate for the traffic of the road ; many of the 
 bridges of antiquated wooden structure, and even 
 the culverts, in some instances, made of wood ; the 
 roadway in deplorable condition, out of repair and 
 deficient in ballasting, and cross-ties decaying; sid- 
 ings and yards insufficient, and things generally 
 down at heel, in the face of all the alleged millions 
 that had been spent on the "betterment" of 
 the road. 
 
 There is no doubt, either, that it did not require 
 more than the first six months of his administration, 
 during which time he had made himself well ac- 
 quainted with the financial condition and necessities 
 of the Company and the urgent requirements of its 
 railroad, to convince President Jewett that, while it 
 was well to hope for the best and trust to the favor 
 of events, the prospects for disentangling, in the 
 regular order of business and management, the com- 
 plications that confronted him were by no means 
 bright, and that even at that early day the prob- 
 ability of having to resort to extraordinary and per- 
 haps drastic measures found place in his mind. His 
 earlier calculations for the future, however, revealed 
 nothing of this, and he sustained the possibility of 
 affairs righting themselves, or tending toward such a 
 consummation, by the ever-consoling " If." " If 
 we can keep the expenses down to," etc. ; " if we 
 can maintain our operating expenses at a certain 
 percentage of the earnings;" "if" this, that, and 
 the other fortuitous circumstance might prevail, he 
 " could see no reason," etc.. President Jewett was 
 wont to tell the stockholders, and the public, why 
 the Erie Railway Company, within a reasonable time, 
 would have not only overcome its difficulties, but 
 would be earning dividends. There can be no doubt 
 
 that Mr. Jewett's wish'was father to the thought. It 
 is of no small belief, to this day, that if any adept in 
 railroad management could at that time have piloted 
 the Company through the threatening breakers of 
 bankruptcy and out into safe waters once more. Presi- 
 dent Jewett was the one. But no man living could 
 have saved it from foundering. It was as a vessel 
 captured, ransacked, and scuttled by pirates. Its 
 doom was sealed. 
 
 In 187s something almost unheard-of in the his- 
 tory of the Erie occurred. The truth about the 
 affairs of the Company was told by its officers. This 
 unique and astounding event might have been a 
 startling object-lesson in the teaching of the public 
 the difference between the conditions of a railroad 
 company's affairs as revealed by the annual official 
 statements, and their condition when shown in the 
 light of facts, if the public had not long ceased to 
 credit the yearly reports of the Erie Railway Com- 
 pany as to anything they might contain. It was 
 only one year since the report of the preceding year's 
 business of the road was promulgated, and attested 
 as to its reliability by a Directory in which men of 
 the highest standing held seats, to the effect that 
 the earnings were so much in excess of expenses 
 that dividends both of the common and preferred 
 shares were warranted; and in the last month of the 
 year 1874 the official statement was made public that 
 the earnings for the year ending September 30th were 
 $5,000,000 in excess of the expenditures; and in the 
 report for the same year, made to the State Engi- 
 neer, January 25, 1875, the funded debt of the Com- 
 pany was stated to be less than $46,000,000, and 
 the floating debt something like $2,500,000. A few 
 weeks later the startling telling of the truth as to 
 Erie affairs came about, and how entirely railroad 
 accounting seemed to be but a mere matter of form 
 and a creature of circumstances, was shown when 
 placed in comparison with this revelation. 
 
 In spite of the fact that the railroad was solemnly 
 reported to have earned $5,000,000, net, at the end 
 of the fiscal year of 1874, the annual rumor was 
 abroad before midwinter that the Company would 
 not have money enough to meet the interest that 
 would become due on its bonds in June. The Sara- 
 toga rate compact had been broken before the end 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 239 
 
 of 1874, and the Pennsylvania Central had joined 
 with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company in a 
 war on the Erie and New York Central companies 
 by a heavy cut in rates. The Grand Trunk Railroad 
 Company, which had a New York connection by the 
 Vermont Central Railroad to New London, Conn., 
 thence by line of steamboats on Long Island Sound, 
 also reduced both freight and passenger rates be- 
 tween New York and Chicago. Both New York 
 trunk lines were forced to meet these cuts, and, of 
 course, the reduction was particularly disastrous to 
 the Erie. This war was at its height in March, 
 1875, when the great ice flood in the Delaware 
 River carried away the Erie's iron bridge across that 
 stream, four miles above Port Jervis, and trafific on 
 the railroad for 125 miles west of Port Jervis was 
 suspended for a fortnight. Besides the loss this 
 caused, the replacing of the bridge cost the Com- 
 pany $75,000. Yet President Jewett returned cheer- 
 ful and confident words to anxious inquirers under 
 all these and many other discouraging circumstances 
 that attended the affairs of the Company, until at 
 last certain stockholders became over-anxious and 
 annoyingly persistent in their seeking after light on 
 Erie's prospects. Then President Jewett rose and 
 laid bare poor Erie's true condition. This was in 
 May, 1875, and the tenor of his revelations was sub- 
 stantially this: 
 
 The funded debt outstanding at the beginning of 
 May, 1875, was $54,394,100 (reported at $45,596,814 
 in January), on which the annual interest then accru- 
 iiig was $4,073,106.56. There were still $600,000 of 
 the $15,000,000 second consolidated mortgage bonds 
 in the possession of the Company. The Company 
 received on account of the disposal of these bonds 
 by the London Banking Association, previous to the 
 coming in of Mr. Jewett, on July 14, 1874, $2,106,- 
 293.26. Since his election there had been received 
 $2,556,567.83, which, with disbursements of pro- 
 ceeds of the bonds made on indebtedness of the 
 Company in London, and amounting to $1,497,- 
 283.91, was an aggregate amount of $6,160,145, 
 leaving $2,542,157.50 to be accounted for, to which 
 was due the controversy then pending between the 
 Company and McHenry and the London Banking 
 Association. The disposal of the money received by 
 
 the Jewett management from the proceeds of the 
 second consolidated bonds ($2,556,567.83), was re- 
 ported from the Treasurer's office as follows: 
 
 Disbursements on Account of Indebtedness hicurred Prior 
 to July 14, 1874. 
 
 For Construction $343,698 SZ 
 
 Coal Land Mortgages 829,904 14 
 
 Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, Account of 
 
 Rental 329,53' 25 
 
 Settlement of Buck & Fargo and Union Car Com- 
 pany Suits 202,375 44 
 
 Injuries to Persons (old claims) 85,025 06 
 
 Suspension Bridge and Erie Junction Railroad 
 
 Stock 23,700 00 
 
 Buffalo Real Estate 24,958 30 
 
 First Mortgage Bonds paid off 2,000 00 
 
 $1,841,192 72 
 
 Disbursements on Account of Indebtedness Incurred Sub- 
 sequent to ficly 14, 1874. 
 
 Advances on Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, 
 and Indianapolis Stock Account, James Mc- 
 Henry $681,095 n 
 
 Steel Rails 129,378 65 
 
 General Fund 46,810 04 
 
 $857,284 46 
 
 Aggregate $2,698,477 18 
 
 Deduct Cash in Treasury, July 14, 1874.'. . . 141,909 35 
 
 $2,556,567 83 
 
 The coal lands, and stocks in the companies own- 
 ing them, cost the Company $2,594,191.65, of which 
 amount $1,931,810.08 was applied to the purchase 
 of the stock, and $662,381.57 was advanced to 
 meet expenses incurred by the companies in the 
 management and development of the lands, none 
 of which had as yet been profitable to the Com- 
 pany. 
 
 The truth about the mission of John A. C. Gray 
 to London to bring about a settlement with McHenry 
 and the London Banking Association was that he 
 brought back 2,766 shares of the Cleveland, Colum- 
 bus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railroad stock, and 
 $656,500 in Atlantic and Great Western bonds, 
 known as the western extension bonds, the value of 
 which was not known, or uncertain. The lease of 
 
240 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad that the 
 Watson management had made and ratified con- 
 tained no clause specifying the kind of security the 
 Erie Railway Company should deposit to insure its 
 agreement, but the agreement ratified by the Atlan- 
 tic and Great Western Railroad Company declared 
 that the Erie must deposit in the State of Ohio 
 $1,000,000 in its second consolidated mortgage 
 bonds. The lessee company was also to purchase 
 and transfer to the lessor a controlling interest of 
 $7,500,000 in the stock of the Cleveland, Columbus, 
 Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railroad Company by 
 January i, 1875. This was the stock McHenry held, 
 and he insisted that the Erie Railway Company 
 must take it and pay him all the investment had cost 
 him. This Mr. Jewett had refused to sanction ; and 
 holding that there was good and legal reason for not 
 regarding the lease as binding on his Company, he 
 had repudiated it, and the Atlantic and Great West- 
 ern Railroad Company was meditating legal proceed- 
 ings to enforce its terms. 
 
 The earnings of the Erie Railway Company were 
 falling short of its requirements for interest on its 
 bonds and floating debt and its leases more than 
 $3,000,000. This had been going on for several 
 years, and the bonded debt had increased $5,000,000 
 a year for four years, and the last bonds issued by 
 the Company, a gold 7 per cent, bond, had been dis- 
 posed of for forty cents on the dollar. 
 
 This telling of the truth about Erie occurred on 
 May 14th, and it was soon known that the Erie was 
 trying to borrow $500,000 to meet its June interest 
 by mortgaging its coal lands in Luzerne County, Pa., 
 to the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad 
 and the Delaware and Hudson Canal companies, as 
 security for the loan, and it was rumored that the 
 coal companies had agreed to advance the money. 
 The street was intensely excited over this evident 
 new crisis in Erie. On May 23d a meeting of stock- 
 holders, the call for which had greatly excited Wall 
 Street and caused the liveliest dealing in Erie shares 
 that the Street had known for many a day, was held 
 at Delmonico's, in Beaver Street. L. Bronell pre- 
 sided, and resolutions were adopted deprecating the 
 purpose of the Company to mortgage its coal lands 
 
 to the Delaware and Hudson Canal and the Dela- 
 ware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad companies 
 to obtain money to pay its June interest, or on 
 terms that must eventually result in their loss to the 
 Company, as being a continuation of the wretched 
 financial policy of borrowing money to pay interest 
 which had brought the Company to the verge of 
 bankruptcy. The resolutions recommended an as- 
 sessment on the stock, to raise the needed money, 
 and called on the Board of Directors to open books 
 and invite stockholders to contribute toward this 
 end and prevent the Company from going to pro- 
 test. The Directors did not heed the call, nor is it 
 likely the stockholders would have paid any great 
 heed themselves to an invitation to step forward and 
 send more good money rattling after bad. 
 
 In March, 1875, President Jewett, by direction of 
 the Board, had sent Hon. Hugh McCulloch to Lon- 
 don as the attorney of the Erie Railway Company, 
 to endeavor to effect an amicable settlement of the 
 dispute between the Company and James McHenry 
 and the London Banking Association. After more 
 than a month spent in fruitless negotiations to that 
 end, Mr. McCulloch informed President Jewett that 
 such a settlement was impossible. He was then 
 instructed to resort to legal proceedings in the mat- 
 ter. Then followed President Jewett's showing of 
 the account between the Erie Railway Company and 
 the London financiers, the correctness of which the 
 latter speedily denied to Mr. McCulloch, and the 
 famous Erie-McHenry litigation was begun. 
 
 But the entire truth had not been told about Erie 
 yet. On May 25th President Sloan and President 
 Dickson, of the two coal companies mentioned, sent 
 word to President Jewett that they had decided not 
 to lend him the $500,000 on the coal lands security, 
 as counsel had advised them that there was doubt 
 on the legality of the Erie's title to the property. 
 A meeting of the Board of Directors was held at 
 Director Barlow's Madison Avenue residence, on the 
 evening of that day, and President Jewett announced 
 the eleventh-hour decision of the coal companies. 
 At the meeting previous to this one the Board had 
 determined to individually provide for the June 
 interest, and the President, at the meeting on the 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 241 
 
 2Sth, declared that he felt it his duty, before permit- 
 ting any one to become involved in such a trans- 
 action, to acquaint the Board with the fact that the 
 financial condition of the Company was extremely 
 critical. The so-called second consolidated mort- 
 gage for $i5,ooo,cx30, which was negotiated at forty 
 cents on the dollar, he declared fraudulent both of 
 issue and in the method of its manipulation by James 
 McHenry and the London Banking Association, and 
 that no bona-fide holders had them; and even if 
 there were bona-fide holders, the Company was only 
 liable for the amount it had received for the bonds. 
 The first consohdated bonds, $12,076,000 outstand- 
 ing, and the $10,000,000 convertible gold bonds, 
 were believed to be valid obligations. The annual 
 rentals for lines leased by the Company was $986,- 
 722.31, and liable to forfeiture unless paid when due. 
 The outstanding unsecured debts due, and shortly 
 to become due, were §2,648,531.55, of which $1,086,- 
 891.87 were due for wages, and $635,809.89 for sup- 
 - plies. There were many suits pending against the 
 Company, and judgments against it had been ob- 
 tained in many others. The purchase of the coal 
 lands was a violation of the charter and a just ground 
 for forfeiture of it, although they had cost the Com- 
 pany thus far upward of $1,000,000. The Atlantic 
 and Great Western lease was also in violation of the 
 charter, and should be adjudged void. The scrip 
 dividend of February 11, 1869, and the Watson 
 dividends of 1872 and 1873, he held were not earned, 
 and consequently had been illegally declared, and 
 that there should be an accounting. The current 
 net income of the Company from the earnings had 
 not for many years, at any time, been equal to the 
 payment of the current obligations as they matured, 
 and had been paid by borrowing money, which in- 
 creased rather than satisfied the obligations. The 
 Company had been insolvent for more than a year, 
 and had not paid its current indebtedness, the net 
 earnings having been, since July 14, 1874, only 
 $3,163,454.19. The current obligations during the 
 same time were $4,784,911. The floating debt had 
 been somewhat reduced from $5,000,000, as it stood 
 on July 14, 1874; not by the earnings, but by apply- 
 ing the proceeds of the bonds sold or hypothecated 
 
 at the sacrifice mentioned, and was therefore not 
 16 
 
 diminished, but really increased in amount. The 
 wages of the employees had not been paid since 
 March, and a wholesale strike of 12,000 men was 
 threatened. The only available assets were $100,000, 
 nominal value, in bonds. There- was imminent dan- 
 ger of hypothecated securities, on which $1,405,000 
 had been borrowed, being sold at a sacrifice. There 
 was interest due in June, amounting to $553,190.40. 
 The Company's obligations by October 1st, the end 
 of the fiscal year, would be $8,000,000, outside of 
 the specified debts due and falling due, and the 
 most liberal estimates put the earnings at only a 
 little more than $4,500,000 ($4,581,271.94), near 
 $4,000,000 less than the expected liabilities. Even 
 if the June interest were paid, the prospects of pro- 
 viding for the July interest were not promising, and 
 he could see no way of it being made by the earn- 
 ings of the Company. He said that it was a part of 
 the plot against the Company and its credit to in- 
 volve employees in a strike. Under all the circum- 
 stances, he was of the opinion that it would be better 
 for the property to remain in the control of those 
 who would seek to preserve it, and not pass into the 
 hands of selfish conspirators, whose purpose would 
 not be to regard the obligations and duties of the 
 Company. 
 
 The result of the discussion of the subject was the 
 adopting of a resolution that " in the judgment of 
 the Board, if a Receiver of the property and assets 
 and credits of the Erie Railway Company is to be 
 appointed, Mr. Hugh J. Jewett is the most fit and 
 proper person to be charged with the duty." 
 
 The Angell suit was still in the hands of Attorney- 
 General Pratt. Early in May Wilbur M. Brown, 
 law partner of the Attorney-General, and by his 
 authority, had visited President Jewett at his ofifice 
 in New York, and announced that the Attorney- 
 General felt that he must proceed at once, in case 
 the rumor regarding the Company's prospective de- 
 fault on its June interest had foundation. President 
 Jewett, having then assurances that the money 
 would be forthcoming, had informed Mr. Brown 
 that there was no probability of the default nor need 
 of a Receiver, and declared that the parties pressing 
 the Angell suit were stock-jobbers and Wall Street 
 raiders. Brown thereupon told Jewett that no action 
 
242 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 would be taken by the Attorney-General without 
 he first informed the Erie President. 
 
 The Angell suit had Jay Gould at its back. Soon 
 after it was begun, November 9, 1874, the Erie Rail- 
 way Company brought suit against Jay Gould to 
 recover $420,000 claimed to be due from him by his 
 default in a certain clause of the Watson " repara- 
 tion " agreement. This action was still pending in 
 May, 1875, and the case against Gould was under- 
 stood to be a strong one. When it was resolved by 
 the Erie Directors to apply for a Receiver, William 
 Wallace MacFarland, of the firm of Shipman, Bar- 
 low, Larocque & MacFarland, suggested the taking 
 by the Company itself of the Angell suit, amending 
 the summons for relief, and applying, through the 
 Attorney-General, for a Receiver on charges and 
 allegations of that suit. This was agreed to. A 
 conference was held between S. L. M. Barlow and 
 Jay Gould. What transpired between them is one 
 of the unrevealed Erie secrets, but there was no 
 opposition made by Gould or any one else to the 
 appropriating of the Angell suit by the defendants 
 against whom it was originally brought, or to any of 
 the proceedings that were begun through it, and 
 early in 1876 Receiver Jewett applied to Judge 
 Donahue for leave to settle the above action against 
 Gould, he having signified a willingness to remove 
 mortgage liens upon Erie property conveyed to the 
 Company by him, and deliver to the Receiver $350,- 
 000 in the mortgage bonds of the Northern Central 
 Railroad, and $50,000 in the stock of the Suspension 
 Bridge and Erie Junction Railroad, on which stock, 
 by its lease of that road, the Erie Railway Company 
 stood as guarantee for the interest or dividends at 
 the rate of seven per cent, per annum, which guar- 
 antee alone made the stock of any market value, it 
 being worth at the time only about twenty cents on 
 the dollar. To the Erie, however, Mr. Jewett said, 
 this stock was worth more than that, owing to the 
 connecting relations between the two roads. 
 
 May 26, 1875, at a Special Term of the Supreme 
 Court of New York, at the Court House in New 
 York City, the appropriated Angell suit came up 
 for a hearing before Judge Charles Donahue. The 
 suit was called " The People of the State of New 
 York, plaintiff, against the Erie Railway Com- 
 
 pany, Hugh J. Jewett, Thomas A. Scott, John Tay- 
 lor Johnston, Marshal O. Roberts, Frederick Schu- 
 chardt, William Butler Duncan, Edwin D. Morgan, 
 Herman R. Baltzer, Samuel L. M. Barlow, H. W. 
 Meyer, Henry G. Stebbins, R. Suydam Grant, 
 • Lucius P.obinson, John A. C. Gray, Cortlandt 
 Parker, and Homer Ramsdell, Directors; and J. C. 
 Bancroft Davis, W. S. Gregory, Farmers' Loan and 
 Trust Company, John Earl Williams, Jay Gould, 
 C. T. Hunter, William Butler Duncan, Horatio N. 
 Otis, Cornelius Walsh, John Toucey, Zenas H. Rus- 
 sell, Coe F. Young, Dorman B. Eaton, Augustus 
 Frank Lawrence, C. Woodruff, John A. C. Gray, 
 and Legrand Lockwood, defendants, as Trustees 
 under the various mortgages." Wilbur M. Brown 
 appeared on behalf of the Attorney-General to repre- 
 sent the plaintiff, and William Wallace MacFarland 
 for the defendants. On these proceedings Hugh J. 
 Jewett was appointed Receiver by Judge Donahue. 
 Mr. Jewett filed the required bonds in $500,000, 
 S. L. M. Barlow, Homer Ramsdell, and Edwin D. 
 Morgan qualifying as his sureties. The compensa- 
 tion of Mr. Jewett as Receiver was fixed at $40,000 
 a year. 
 
 Quickly following Judge Donahue's order the fol- 
 lowing was issued, on the same day, from the Erie 
 general offices, and the Company's second career as 
 an acknowledged bankrupt began : 
 
 Receiver's Order, No. i. 
 
 The undersigned having been duly appointed Receiver of 
 the Erie Railway, its branches, and leased lines, has this day 
 assumed the control thereof, and of the equipment, material, 
 and all other property and assets belonging thereto. All offi- 
 cers, agents, and employees will continue in the discharge of 
 their respective duties as heretofore, until otherwise ordered. 
 
 H. J. Jewett, Receiver. 
 
 Erie stock had fallen from 36 on July 14, 1874, to 
 i6y^ on May 25, 1875 — the deepest in the mud of 
 Wall Street this foot-ball of speculation and pecula- 
 tion had been trampled since the luckless days of 
 Charles Moran. 
 
 III. CAREER OF A BANKRUPT. 
 
 The default of the Erie Railway Company, and 
 the turning of its affairs over to a Receiver, caused 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 243 
 
 the utmost agitation among the foreign proprietors, 
 and many of them in London affected to be amazed, 
 although it was an event that might easily have been 
 discounted, on the strength of preceding rumors. 
 Their alarm was particularly grounded on the allega- 
 tion in the suit on which the Receiver was appointed 
 that the second consolidated mortgage bonds were a 
 fraudulent issue, fraudulently placed ; that none of 
 them was in the hands of bona-fide purchasers, and 
 that even if such were the case the Company was 
 liable only in the amount it had received from them, 
 something less than one-half the outstanding charge. 
 This possible extinguishment of $15,000,000 of obli- 
 gations at one blow, taken in connection with the 
 altogether wretched showing of the Company's finan- 
 cial and physical condition as promising any return 
 in the future for the investment that might be left 
 intact, was such an unheard-of reward for their hav- 
 ing responded, only the year before, to the Com- 
 pany's distressful appeals — although at a tremendous 
 "shave" — that the English bondholders clamored 
 loudly for the taking of summary proceedings for 
 redress. The shareholders, now fully confirmed in 
 the belief — which by this time would have needed 
 no further confirmation to less credulous persons — 
 that the slops which had been thrown to them in 
 1872 and 1873 in the shape of dividends were simply 
 abstracted from their own property and returned 
 to them, and seeing their shares sunk to scarcelya 
 nominal price in the market, with no visible pros- 
 pect of their ever again rising to even a respectable 
 showing, clamored more loudly than the bondholders 
 for redress. The foreign proprietors had the power 
 to foreclose at once if they so decided, as they 
 owned all of the first and second consolidated mort- 
 gage bonds, and most of the fifth mortgage bonds. 
 In truth, Mr. O. G. Miller, of Dundee, Scotland, 
 One of the largest holders of Erie securities in Great 
 Britain, and especially of the securities in default, 
 did take steps in Scotland toward a hostile fore- 
 closure, but was induced to suspend proceedings to 
 await subsequent events. 
 
 According to an inventory of the property of the 
 Company, taken under an order of court issued by 
 Judge Donahue May 26, 1875, the valuation of it 
 was placed at $40,000,000, in round numbers, and 
 
 $60,000,000 including bonds. The inventory was 
 taken by Col. George F. Balch. In its original form 
 it filled 120 large volumes. These were reduced to 
 nineteen folio volumes, which were condensed into 
 three volumes, of enormous size, for the use of tlie 
 Supreme Court. The work cost $100,000. Every 
 possible bit of property imaginable was taken into 
 account, even to the number of spikes in the 1,800 
 miles of track, which number was recorded in all 
 seriousness and solemnity as 21,600,000. The inven- 
 tory was not completed until August, 1877. 
 
 June 9, 187s, the Farmers' Loan and Trust Com- 
 pany of New York, one of the defendants in the 
 Receivership action, filed an answer to it and ob- 
 tained an order from Judge Donahue extending the 
 Receivership to mortgages held by the Trust Com- 
 pany. June 15th the Trust Company brought suit 
 against the Erie Railway Company, and James Brown 
 and J. C. Bancroft Davis, as Tru.stees, to have the 
 mortgage which they held foreclosed. On the same 
 da)' J. C. Bancroft Davis, as Trustee, began a suit to 
 foreclose the fifth mortgage and the mortgages sup- 
 plemental thereto. Judge Donahue extended the 
 Receivership in both of these suits, appointing 
 Hon. James C. Spencer Referee in the Davis action, 
 to pass, decide, and report on the accounts and 
 vouchers and doings of the Receiver, and to take 
 testimony for the use of the Receiver in the manage- 
 ment of the questions that might arise during the 
 Receivership. December 21, 1875, Judge Donahue 
 issued an order in the suits of the People, the Trust 
 Company, and the Brown-Davis suit, ordering Ref- 
 eree Spencer to report on the accounts and doings 
 of the Receiver in the People's suit so far as already 
 examined, to cover the questions of final accounting 
 and discharge of the Receiver and release of his 
 bondsman in that suit, " it being understood the 
 same was about to be discontinued " ; also the costs 
 and allowances and compensation and expenses to 
 be paid by the Receiver to defendants as trustees, 
 and to others who appeared in the People's suit, 
 and also the charges of the Referee for services. 
 
 In this country some feeble attempts were made 
 to interfere with the turn affairs had taken, chiefly 
 under the direction of a ridiculous, fussy, and med- 
 dlesome person named John Livingston, although 
 
244 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Col. Sylvester H. Dunan, the Auditor of the Com- 
 pany under Watson, whose revelations as to the 
 dividends precipitated the downfall of that admin- 
 istration, came to the surface once more as a protest- 
 ant, and as quickly disappeared. In May, 1875, an 
 act was passed by the New York Legislature amend- 
 ing the act of April, 1872, by which amendment the 
 time for holding the annual election for the Erie 
 Directors was changed so that after the election of 
 July, 1875, no elections should be held until Novem- 
 ber, 1876, and in November every year thereafter. 
 This was to bring the election soon after the end 
 of the fiscal year, instead of three months before it 
 ended. John Livingston saw danger in this, and, as 
 the self-appointed representative of wliat he called 
 the Erie Protection Committee of London, he got 
 together twenty-five stockholders of the Company 
 on July 12, 1875, and declared to them that the en- 
 suing election of July 14th must be carried against 
 the Jewett management. This incident has no im- 
 portance in this history, only through the fact that it 
 resulted in the first contest in an election for Erie 
 Directors that had occurred for many years. The 
 opposing ticket was made up as follows: Cornelius 
 Vanderbilt, William H. Vanderbilt, William K. Van- 
 derbilt, Moses Taylor, Percy R. Pine, J. E. Burrill, 
 D. R. Pearson, William L. Clinch, George J. Whit- 
 ney, Samuel Sloan, Francis K. Thurber, Charles K. 
 Dyer, Samuel F. Berger, Augustus Schell, Chester 
 W. Chapin, E. N. Hollinger, G. A. Hollinger. 
 
 Livingston appeared at the election. S. L. M. 
 Barlow offered to vote on proxies for 236,000 shares, 
 and was challenged by Livingston. The inspectors, 
 ex-Judge William D. Shipman, George Ticknor 
 Curtis, and James H. Fay, overruled the challenge, 
 as they did the challenge of ex-Governor Morgan, 
 who voted on 5,000 shares. The Jewett ticket 
 received 251,735 votes, the opposition casting 750. 
 The following was the first Board elected under the 
 Receiver: 
 
 George F. Tallman, Henry G. Stebbins, Samuel 
 Sloan, Marshall O. Roberts, Edwin D. Morgan, 
 John Taylor Johnston, Hugh J. Jewett, R. Suydam 
 Grant, New York ; Herman R. Baltzer, Staten 
 Island; John B. Brown, Portland, Me.; Thomas 
 Dickson, Scranton; Solomon S. Guthrie, Buffalo; 
 
 Giles W. Hotchkiss, Binghamton ; Asa Packer, 
 Mauch Chunk; Homer Ramsdell, Newburgh; J. 
 Lowber Welsh, Philadelphia. 
 
 Livingston immediately issued a circular to the 
 stock and bondholders declaring that the election 
 was illegal as to Packer, Guthrie, and Dickson, 
 because they were not stockholders under the law, 
 and he notified the Directors that he would contest 
 the election in the courts. The motion to set aside 
 the election was made before Judge T. E. West- 
 brook August 13th, after one adjournment, and 
 Judge Westbrook promptly denied the motion, 
 which was the end of the Livingston attempt to 
 overthrow the Erie management. 
 
 Dunan's effort to revolutionize the affairs of the 
 Company was based on the Receiver's monthly 
 reports, which Dunan declared were misleading. 
 They might have been so, but the question was not 
 one that seemed to interest the public, far less one 
 that excited it, for the public had long since given 
 over the task of attempting to unravel the distract- 
 ing mysteries of railroad reports. However, the 
 alleged insincerity of the Receiver's statements 
 rasped the sensitive soul of Dunan, and, through one 
 J. Warden Gedney, a meeting of persons interested 
 was held September 20, 1875, to consider the Dunan 
 allegations. Dunan was present, and on the strength 
 of his remarks it was resolved that foreclosure pro- 
 ceedings should be brought at once on the sterling 
 bonds, then due, so that the property might be 
 placed in the hands of its true owners, the bond- 
 holders. It was further resolved that B. H. Cheever, 
 S. P. Dinsmore, and T. N. Matthews be a committee 
 to see this done, and to retain Charles O'Connor and 
 Dexter A. Hawkins to do it. It is not on record 
 anywhere that they ever did it. 
 
 But the disturbed condition of things among the 
 English stock and bondholders was tending toward 
 events of a nature to arouse more serious apprehen- 
 sion in the minds of the Receiver and his advisers 
 than these ridiculous outbreaks in New York could 
 possibly excite, and if the affairs of the Company 
 were to be conducted to the issue contemplated by 
 Receiver Jewett, it was not only plain, but entirely 
 necessary, that amicable relations must, as soon as 
 possible, be induced between the justly agitated for- 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 245 
 
 signers and the Directors in the new order of things 
 in Erie, so that all interested might work in har- 
 mony toward a common end. 
 
 The revelations as to James McHenry and Bischoff- 
 scheim & Goldschmidt, regarding their stewardship 
 or handling of Erie financial affairs entrusted to their 
 disposition, and as to the Atlantic and Great West- 
 ern entanglements, had removed those individuals 
 signally from the confidence of foreign investors, 
 and the management of the latter's interests was no 
 longer entrusted to them. Sir Edward Watkin, 
 M.P., a man experienced in railroad financiering and 
 management, was selected by the London Commit- 
 tee of Erie bond and shareholders as Chairman, and 
 he was commissioned to come to this country, in- 
 ■vestigate, consult with Receiver Jewett, and report 
 to the Committee what measures it was best to take 
 to protect and preserve foreign rights in the Erie 
 Railway Company. It was through the mediation 
 ■of Sir Edward that the impatient Scotch bondholder, 
 Mr. O. G. Miller, was induced to defer his hostile 
 foreclosure proceedings, and to subsequently become 
 conspicuous in efforts to bring about an amicable 
 settlement. 
 
 Sir Edward Watkin arrived in New York early in 
 August, 1875. Unable, owing to an accident to 
 Receiver Jewett — who had been recently thrown 
 from his carriage, by which mishap his right leg was 
 ibroken — to have an interview with him, Sir Edward 
 made a leisurely tour of the Erie lines and the At- 
 lantic and Great Western system, informing himself 
 "thoroughly upon their condition and needs. He 
 was in this country until October, when he returned 
 to London to make his report. 
 
 September 30, 1875, Judge Donahue granted an 
 •order authorizing Receiver Jewett to take such ac- 
 tion as he might deem advisable to accomplish the 
 purpose set forth in an affidavit made by Charles G. 
 Barber, Secretary to the Receiver, the purport of 
 which was to recognize the interest of the foreign 
 bond and shareholders, so that the bondholders 
 might have a voice in the formulating of such plans 
 as would best tend to aid the Receiver in his duties 
 and hasten the rearrangement or reorganization of 
 the Company, and in the expenditure of the net 
 •earnings that otherwise would be applied to the pay- 
 
 ment of the interest in default on their holdings, such 
 voice to be heard through a committee representing 
 such bondholders or bond and shareholders, whose 
 advice the Receiver should consult in the expen- 
 diture of such earnings; that the committee might 
 open an ofifice in London, necessary to their duties, 
 their expenses to be paid by the Receiver out of his 
 funds, and make a monthly report of the earnings 
 and expenditures; that the laws of New York be so 
 amended as to permit the foreign bond and stock- 
 holders a representation from their number in the 
 Board of Directors ; that the Receivership should be 
 terminated as soon as the Company could be relieved 
 of its unjust and fraudulent engagements, originating 
 in former managements — by negotiation, if possible, 
 or, failing in that, by foreclosure; that Mr. John 
 Morriss, legal adviser of Sir Edward Watkin and 
 the London Erie Committee, be associated with the 
 counsel of the Erie Railway Company and the Re- 
 ceiver in the undertaking. This was a concession 
 toward recognition of the rights of the foreign pro- 
 prietors and creditors that was wise and judicious, 
 saved much annoying and expensive litigation, and 
 was intended to hasten the time when the Com- 
 pany's affairs might be placed in a condition to be 
 safely, prudently, and efficiently conducted by a 
 corporation. 
 
 John Morriss made his report to the English bond 
 and stockholders October i8th, and it was another 
 discouraging event in the long list of discouraging 
 events in the history of their investment in Erie, 
 indicating, as it did, heavy sacrifices to be made by 
 them, one of which was that as the fixed charges of 
 the Company exceeded the net earnings by $1,000,- 
 000, they would have to subordinate their claims to 
 such' charges and to the floating debt. Sir Edward 
 Watkin accompanied Mr. Morriss's report with an 
 extended address, in which he reviewed the past 
 managements of Erie, to their great disadvantage, 
 and criticised freely some of the acts of President 
 and Receiver Jewett, but summed up with a hopeful 
 view of Erie and confidence in its future, if the Com- 
 pany could be put on its feet again and in the hands 
 of honest and capable management. 
 
 Soon after the report, the Erie bondholders in 
 London appointed a Committee of Consultation to 
 
246 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 prepare a scheme of reorganization. On December ferred stock, and six in the hundred on the common 
 3, 1875, Judge Donahue granted an order authorizing stock, shareholders to receive for the amounts thus 
 Receiver Jewett to remit $10,000 to John Morriss, in paid third mortgage bonds to bear 5 per cent. inter- 
 London, for the purpose of prosecuting the claim of est, payable only from the net earnings, and also 
 the Erie Railway Company against James McHenry shares in the reconstructed Company, 
 and the London Banking Association for $1,000,000 This scheme was adopted in principle by the bond- 
 each, holders in London at a meeting held January 4, 1876, 
 
 The proceedings in equity to foreclose on the fifth subject to modifications to be made after consulta- 
 
 mortgage against the Erie Railway were begun in tion with the Receiver and the American bond and 
 
 the court of Pike County at Milford, Pa., December stockholders. A committee was appointed and em- 
 
 24, 1875. H. J. Jewett was appointed Receiver, powered to execute the scheme. O. G. Miller and 
 
 with bonds at $50,000, similar proceedings having Robert Fleming, of Dundee, Scotland, were made 
 
 been begun in New Jersey and New York City in this committee. They undertook the task, and sailed 
 
 November. These were amicable suits brought by for New York on- January 30, 1876. Thomas Dick- 
 
 the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company and the son, Samuel Sloan, and E. D. Morgan were ap- 
 
 Trustees of Erie mortgages. pointed a special committee to confer with Messrs. 
 
 Sir Edward Watkin submitted to the English pro- Fleming and Miller during their stay in this country, 
 prietors of Erie, on December i6th, a scheme to be and negotiate the terms of the reorganization scheme, 
 carried out under foreclosure by a committee of The representatives of the London Committee 
 which Governor Samuel J. Tilden was to be invited arrived at New York the first week in February, and 
 to take the Chairmanship. The plan proposed to about the middle of March the scheme, with modi- 
 give the bondholders the voting power until the fications and additions, was agreed upon and for- 
 positionof the undertaking was retrieved, and the warded by Messrs. Fleming and Miller to London Lo 
 fixed liabilites reduced to a level with the net rev- be submitted to the -foreign bond and shareholders, 
 enue, by reducing onerous rent charges and the The plan seems not to have been yet in form to 
 engagements of interest on the first and second meet the approbation of all parties, for it was still in 
 mortgage bonds, as follows: abeyance in July, 1876, when Receiver Jewett was 
 
 Holders of the former and of the sterling 6 per in London, having gone abroad both on account of 
 cent, bonds to receive mortgage bonds of the same impaired health and in connection with the affairs of 
 class for interest at the existing rates to March i, the Erie Railway Company. He addressed a meet- 
 1876; thereafter until 1880 the interest to be pay- ing of stock and bondholders in London July 13th, 
 able in gold at 6 per cent., and after that time at and made suggestions as to further modification of 
 7 per cent., the Company being entitled to redeem the reorganization plan. Soon afterward the plan 
 prior to 1880 at 105 for Erie second mortgage, in- was perfected to the satisfaction of the foreign con- 
 cluding the convertible gold bonds. Two classes of tingent in interest, for it received the necessary 
 gold sterling mortgage bonds, running ninety years, signatures there August 28, 1876. The signatures 
 were to be substituted, the first for 60 per cent, of necessary in this country to make the contract valid 
 the principal, carrying interest at 6 per cent, and were not attached until January 15, 1877. With the 
 payable in bonds of the same class from the date of exception of its legal verbiage, terms, and repeti- 
 default, until March, 1877, and thereafter in gold ; the tions, the plan upon which the amicable reconstruc- 
 second for 40 per cent, of the principal, carrying tion of the Erie Railway Company, and the winding 
 4 per cent, interest, and payable only out of net up of its memorable and by no means savory career, 
 earnings until 1881, and thereafter 5 per cent. were effected, was as follows: 
 
 The dividend on the preferred stock was to be There was to be no reduction of interest on the 
 
 reduced to 6 per cent. Assessments were to be car- first consolidated mortgage bonds; the sterling 6 per 
 
 ried at the rate of three in the hundred on the pre- cent, bonds to bear that interest up to September i. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 247 
 
 1875, and 7 per cent, after that date; the first con- 
 solidated bonds to fund their coupons of September 
 I, 1875, March i, 1876, March i, 1877, September i, 
 1877, September i, 1878, and September i, 1879; 
 coupon bonds to be issued in exchange for the 
 funded coupons, payable in gold September i, 1920, 
 with 7 per cent, interest, and to be secured by a 
 deposit of the funded coupons, the interest to date 
 irom September i, 1877, on their entire amount. 
 The coupons of the first consolidated mortgage 
 bonds falling due September i, 1876 (but to be paid 
 on December i, 1876), March i, 1878, March i, 
 1879, and March i, 1880, to be paid in cash, the 
 reconstruction trustees having power, at the request 
 of the Receiver, to extend the time of paying the 
 first coupon to March i, 1877; the six coupons of 
 these bonds intended to be funded to be forthwith 
 deposited with the Reconstruction Trustees and 
 receive in exchange certificates representing them, 
 pending the preparation of the new coupon bonds, 
 thus signifying their assent to the arrangement. 
 
 The second consolidated mortgage bonds to fund 
 their coupons as follows: Ten half-yearly from June 
 I, 1875, to December i, 1879, inclusive, the coupons 
 to be funded at the existing rate of interest on the 
 bonds, 7 per cent., and funded coupon bonds to be 
 issued in the amounts bearing interest at the reduced 
 rate of 5 per cent, from December i, 1877, to June 
 I, 1883, and thereafter at 6 per cent., the Recon- 
 struction Trustees having power to postpone for six 
 months the payment of the first coupon on these 
 tonds, falling due June i, 1878, at the request of 
 the Receiver. 
 
 The principal of the second consolidated and gold 
 convertible bonds to be represented by new second 
 consolidated mortgage bonds at 6 per cent, from 
 December i, 1879, ^^^'^ maturing December i, 1969, 
 the funded coupon bonds to mature at the same 
 date. The second consolidated and gold convertible 
 bonds to be depo<;ited, with all coupons attached, 
 "with the Reconstruction Trustees, for exchange for 
 certificates pending the conversion of the new secu- 
 rities 
 
 The property to be foreclosed, and the Trustees 
 to buy the railroad in with such bonds and coupons 
 thus deposited with them as might be advisable, a 
 
 new company to be formed, the foreclosure to be 
 obtained under one or more of the existing mort- 
 gages best to carry out the scheme. 
 
 One-half the shares of the new company to be 
 issued in the names of one or more sets of Trustees, 
 to be called the Voting Trustees, who should hold 
 them for voting upon them until dividends had been 
 paid on the preferred stock three consecutive years, 
 certificates to be issued for the same, entitling the 
 holder to receive all dividends declared on the shares 
 held in trust ; the Voting Trustees to be named by 
 the Reconstruction Trustees, and empowered to fill 
 their own vacancies, each Voting Trustee to be a sub- 
 stantial bondholder at the time of his appointment, 
 and to resign in the event of his ceasing to be such. 
 
 The dividend power of preferred stock was re- 
 duced from jYi to 6 per cent., payable in currency, 
 and dependent on the net earnings, each shareholder 
 to be admitted to the new Company, share for share, 
 preferred for preferred, and common for common, but 
 conditional on the payment of $3 gold per preferred 
 share and $6 gold per common share, on or before 
 March i, 1877, the shareholders making such pay- 
 ments to receive for the amount non-cumulative 
 income bonds, without mortgage security, payable 
 in gold on June i, 1877, and bearing interest from 
 December i, 1879, payable in gold at 6, per cent., 
 dependent on the net earnings. Shareholders had 
 the option to pay on or before March i, 1877, $2 
 gold per preferred share, or $4 per share for com- 
 mon, then to be admitted to the new company 
 without receiving income bonds, a further and final 
 period to be fixed for the payment of assessments 
 beyond March i, 1877, but after that date an addi- 
 tional charge of 7 per cent, on assessments was to 
 be made; new shares to be issued to the amount of 
 all shares in default, to be disposed of for the benefit 
 of the new Company. (The date of this provision 
 was subsequently changed to March 31st, the addi- 
 tional assessment made 10 per cent., and time for 
 coming in on the reorganization fixed at six months 
 from that date.) 
 
 All the new bonds were to be payable in London 
 and New York, and to carry voting powers accord- 
 ing to law, and made payable to bearer or registered 
 in names of holders at their option. The cost of 
 
248 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 reconstruction and foreclosure and all expenses nec- 
 essary in carrying out the scheme were to be paid 
 out of the moneys to be raised by the scheme, or as 
 the Trustees might determine. 
 
 Reconstruction Trustees for the first consolidated 
 mortgage and 6 per cent, sterling bonds were O. G. 
 Miller, H. Rawson; for the second consolidated 
 mortgage and convertible gold bonds, J. K. Cross, 
 M.P., J. Westlake, Q.C. ; for the shareholders, P. 
 McLogan, M.P., B. Whitworth, M.P. Independent 
 Trustees, not representing any special interest, were 
 Sir Edward Watkin, M.P., with a casting vote, and 
 Z. W. Powell. The scheme was subject to modifica- 
 tion in the judgment of the Reconstruction Trustees, 
 and was signed as follows: 
 
 E. W. Watkins, M.P., Chairman; Cecil Beadon, 
 K.C.S. ; J. K. Cross, M.P. ; Philip Rose, O. G. Miller, 
 T. W. Powell, B. Whitworth, M.P. ; J. Westlake, 
 Q.C; Henry Rawson, P. McLogan, M.P. ; Robert 
 Fleming, Lawrence Hayworth, J. M. Douglas, W. 
 Leeming, W. Weir, J. C. Conybeare, A. H. Moncur. 
 
 Signed in London, August 28, 1876; in New York, 
 January 15, 1877, for the Farmers' Loan and Trust 
 Company, agents of the London Reconstruction 
 Trustees, by R. G. Rolston, President. 
 
 Before any substantial movement had been made 
 toward the formulating of a plan, September 10, 
 1875, S. L. M. Barlow offered his resignation as a 
 Director, and Mr. Jewett advised its acceptance. 
 Mr. Barlow, owing to his relations with McHenry, 
 although they had then ceased, was not acceptable 
 to the existing foreign sentiment in regard to Erie 
 management. Marshall O. Roberts resigned at the 
 same time. John P. Brown, of Portland, Me., and 
 J. Lowber Welsh, of Philadelphia, were elected to 
 the vacancies. Mr. Brown represented the interests 
 of the Grand Trunk Railway Company. 
 
 \vl the spring of 1877 James McHenry, becoming 
 convinced that Receiver Jewett was determined to 
 push the proceedings against the London Bank- 
 ing Association, Bischoffscheim & Goldschmidt, and 
 himself, came forward and began an aggressive 
 counter campaign against the Receiver. As early as 
 May lOth he made a fierce attack on him at a meet- 
 ing of his adherents at Guildhall Coffee House, 
 
 London, charging him with mismanagement, corrup- 
 tion, and duplicity. Going further, he sought once 
 more the aid of Gen. Daniel E. Sickles, and a plan 
 to oust the existing management and turn the Erie 
 Railway Company once more over to the control of 
 McHenry was formed. Originally this was intended 
 to be a coup similar to the one of 1872, but there was- 
 different material in the Board of Directors, and that 
 line of action was abandoned. Early in September 
 rumors were abroad that General Sickles was to suc- 
 ceed Jewett as Receiver of the Erie Railway Com- 
 pany, and it was noticed that ex-Auditor Dunan was- 
 again in evidence as an expert in the best way to put 
 Erie on its feet. 
 
 According to the story of Joseph W. Guppy, 
 before the Legislative Investigating Committee of 
 1879, General Sickles, October i, 1877, sent one- 
 Charles O'Day to him with a request that Guppy 
 should call on the General. Guppy called, and Gen- 
 eral Sickles brought up the subject of the proposed 
 movement against the Jewett management, and en- 
 deavored to enlist Guppy in it. He declined to- 
 have anything to do with it. Sickles said to Guppy- 
 that if he would join them " and they were success- 
 ful, they would divide the swag with him"; that 
 " the parties in power had not quite stolen every- 
 thing there, and there was something left, probably- 
 enough for all." Guppy persisted in his refusal to- 
 join the Sickles party. 
 
 Subsequently he told H. D. V. Pratt what Sickles- 
 had solicited him to do. Pratt, in a conversation 
 with Gould later on, repeated the information to- 
 him. On the morning of the day after Christmas, 
 1877, Gould sent Giovani Morosini, his private sec- 
 retary, to Guppy, requesting the latter to call at his 
 ofifice. Guppy did so. 
 
 " Guppy," said Gould, " if you will appear in 
 behalf of the Jewett interest against the Sickles- 
 raiders, and testify as to what they have offered you 
 to come in and aid them, Mr. Jewett will take that 
 $10,000 in National Stock Yard stock and pay yoa 
 par for it. With your testimony we can defeat the 
 Sickles party and send them to State prison." 
 
 Guppy held $10,000 in National Stock Yard stock, 
 which, in 1877, had little intrinsic value. It had 
 been given him on the formation of that compan}^ 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 249 
 
 by Gould, in 1870, in lieu of an increase in his salary 
 as Assistant to the General Superintendent. Guppy 
 was in poor health in 1877. He declined to accept 
 Gould's proposition because, for one reason, of the 
 precarious state of his health, and, for another, that 
 he did not care to be mixed up in the matter. 
 Gould tried to induce him to change his mind, and 
 failing in that, threatened to have Guppy examined 
 ex-parte, and compelled to give his evidence. 
 
 " Do not allow that to be done," said Guppy; 
 " I am sick, and do not want to be worried." 
 
 " It is too late for me to interfere in the matter," 
 replied Gould. " You had better do it cheerfully. 
 Otherwise you cannot sell your stock." 
 
 " Mr. Gould," insisted Guppy, "you must keep 
 them away from me in this matter." 
 
 " I cannot control it now," repeated Gould. 
 " Then," exclaimed Guppy, rising to take his 
 leave, " I tell you that for your own good you had 
 better keep them away from me! And, young 
 man," said Guppy significantly, " you know what 
 that means! " 
 
 Through counsel in the case, as well as H. D. V. 
 Pratt, and by means of detectives, Gould continued 
 his efforts to induce Guppy's aid for the Jewett side 
 of the affair, but without success, and the inside his- 
 tory of the Sickles raid never got into the courts. 
 
 On March 22, 1877, the old suit of the Erie Rail- 
 way Company, brought in July, 1870, by Gould and 
 Fisk, to recover from Cornelius Vanderbilt the 
 millions paid him in making the settlement by 
 which the Erie escaped from the Drew- Vanderbilt 
 war of 1868, and in which suit the plaintiff was 
 defeated by a decision in Judge Barnard's court in 
 January, 1871, came to the surface again. The case 
 had been appealed by the Railway Company to the 
 General Term of the Supreme Court, and in October 
 of that year that court reversed the Barnard judg- 
 ment. Vanderbilt took the case to the Court of 
 Appeals, where the General Term was sustained. 
 Pending a retrial of the case, it was settled out of 
 court to the satisfaction of Vanderbilt, who, it was 
 charged, was interesting himself in the opposition 
 to the Jewett management. 
 
 The Farmers' Loan and Trust Company, in the 
 preliminary suits tending toward the reorganization 
 
 of Erie, had acted in its capacity of trustee of the 
 first consolidated mortgage, in conjunction with 
 J. C. Bancroft Davis and others, as trustees of the 
 fifth mortgage. On September 24, 1877, however, 
 the Trust Company entered proceedings to press 
 judgment in foreclosure under the claims of the 
 holders of the second consolidated mortgage bonds. 
 This opened the way for long, expensive, tedious, 
 and complicated litigation, which James McHenry 
 and his coadjutors were quick to take advantage of. 
 Acting on the proceedings taken September 24th, 
 Judge Charles Donahue, in Supreme Court Cham- 
 bers, New York, November 7, 1877, granted a decree 
 of foreclosure in the suit of the Farmers' Loan and 
 Trust Company. The old bonded debts of the 
 Company, the mortgages on the New York and Erie 
 Railroad, were in amount: First mortgage, $2,482,- 
 000 ; second, $2,174,000; third, $4,852,000; fifth, 
 $709,500. The new mortgages were as follows: 
 Sixth, made to the Farmers' Loan and Trust Com- 
 pany, $16,656,000, on which $2,573,245 in interest 
 was due; seventh, containing two parts, one for 
 $10,000,000, and the other for $15,000,000, on which 
 $1,898,020.80 and $2,855,312.50 in interest became 
 due on November ist. The amount due by the 
 Company on these accounts was $62,167,078.30. 
 The place of sale of the property was fixed at New 
 York City, date to depend on the close of the aux- 
 iliary suits in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. George 
 Ticknor Curtis was appointed Referee to sell the 
 property. The sale was to be for cash, and subject 
 to the Receiver's contracts. Agents having been 
 appointed by the Bondholders' Committee to form a 
 new Company under the law of New York State, the 
 decree authorized the sale of the Erie Railway Com- 
 pany's effects to the new corporation, provided it 
 was the highest bidder. The accounts of the Re- 
 ceiver were to be audited and passed upon by ex- 
 Judge James C. Spencer, the amount found to be 
 due the Receiver to be a first lien on the property, 
 the Receiver having authority, also, to take bonds 
 and coupons at their face value from the new Com- 
 pany for the amounts due him. The date of sale 
 was subsequently fixed and advertised for January 
 21, 1878, at the Merchants' Exchange, New York, 
 at 12 o'clock, noon. 
 
250 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 November 14, 1877, Judge Spencer had made his 
 report to the court as Referee in the Receivership, 
 under the order of Judge Donahue of December 21, 
 1875. Later in the month there were rumors that 
 Attorney-General Fairchild would take measures to 
 interfere with the proceedings on the ground that 
 Jewett had been appointed in an irregular manner, 
 and had paid William M. Brown, of the Attorney- 
 General's office, $5,000 for making the affidavit on 
 which Attorney-General Pratt had made the appoint- 
 ment. This rumor proved not to be true, but was 
 an emanation from the McHenry camp, which was 
 in charge of Gen. Daniel E. Sickles. There was this 
 much of a disturbing element in the bearing of the 
 Attorney-General, however. The original suit of 
 the People against Jewett and the management of 
 the Erie Railway Company (the Angell suit) was 
 discontinued under written stipulation of Attorney- 
 General Pratt, November 25, 1875. When the mat- 
 ter was brought to the attention of his successor, 
 Charles S. Fairchild, after the decree of foreclosure, 
 the new Attorney-General was unable to find an 
 order of discontinuance on record. December 24th 
 he wrote Referee Spencer from Albany, saying that 
 he had been requested by the attorneys of the Erie 
 Railway Company and of Receiver Jewett to discon- 
 tinue the action of the People against that Company. 
 He said that he had also been requested by counsel 
 representing stockholders and bondholders of that 
 Company not to discontinue the action without 
 examination of the plaintiffs into the Receiver's 
 accounts. " I see that the plaintiffs do not appear 
 to have had any notice," he wrote, " of the pro- 
 ceedings before you as Referee, or to have been 
 represented upon any hearing. I deem it my duty 
 to examine into the Receiver's doings before giving 
 my consent to the discontinuance of the action and 
 the Receiver's discharge. I have requested Messrs. 
 Barlow & Olney to represent me in this, and arrange 
 with the various parties for an examination before 
 }'ou in the matter." 
 
 At a hearing held in New York City, in pursuance 
 of this request of the Attorney-General, on Decem- 
 ber 27, 1877, all parties being represented by coun- 
 sel, and the proposition being opposed by the defend- 
 ants in the various cases. Trustee Spencer decided 
 
 to reopen the reference, considering his report as 
 being cancelled, and giving the plaintiffs a hearing in 
 the new examination of the Receiver's accounts and 
 vouchers. 
 
 But long before Attorney-General Fairchild had 
 come to the aid of the plaintiff in the Angell suit, 
 James McHenry had set his forces working. On 
 November 24, 1877, counsel for James McHenry, 
 John Henry Brown, and Charles Frederick Evans, 
 English bondholders, began suit in the Supreme 
 Court of Monroe County, N. Y., at Rochester, 
 against the Erie Railway Company, the Farmers' 
 Loan and Trust Company, and others. The plain- 
 tiffs claimed to be the owners of $91,000 of the first 
 consolidated mortgage bonds of the Company, and 
 the purpose of the suit was to demand an accounting 
 on the first consolidated bonds and for the overdue 
 interest on them ; the removal of the Farmers' Loan 
 and Trust Company as Trustees, and the appoint- 
 ment of another; the forfeiture of the Trust Com- 
 pany of all right to compensation for its services; 
 and an injunction restraining it and others from pro- 
 ceeding further with the reconstruction of the Erie 
 Railway Company, the appointment of a receiver 
 pending the suit, and the foreclosure of the first con- 
 solidated mortgage and sale of the Company's prop- 
 erty in entirety. The complaint in this case charged 
 the Jewett Receivership with being illegal, corrupt, 
 oppressive, and coercive. Similar suits were brought 
 in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 
 
 November 27th the old Board of Directors was 
 reelected by a vote of 548,802 to 29,929 for scat- 
 tering candidates. December 7th, before Judge 
 Donahue, the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company 
 answered the charges made by James McHenry, 
 John Henry Brown, and Charles Frederick Evans in 
 the suit brought by them in the Supreme Court at 
 Rochester, entering a denial of them all, and asking 
 that the plaintiffs be enjoined from further proceed- 
 ings. Judge Donahue issued an order on the plain- 
 tiffs, citing them to show cause why they should not 
 be permanently enjoined, and pending the decision 
 on that order, stayed the proceedings brought in 
 Monroe County. 
 
 The new Erie litigation brought into the Supreme 
 Court Chambers, before Judge James T. Brady, such 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 251 
 
 f an array of counsel as few causes had ever summoned 
 together at any one time in New York City or else- 
 where. On December 23d, in behalf of the Eng- 
 lish Bondholders' Committee, appeared Secretary of 
 State William M. Evarts, ex-Judge Comstock, and 
 Amos A. Redfield. Turner, Lee & McClure repre- 
 sented the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company. 
 Joseph Larocque and William Wallace MacFarland 
 appeared for the Erie Railway Company, and Dor- 
 man B. Eaton was present to guard Receiver Jewett's 
 interests. The McHenry party's counsel were ex- 
 Judge Emott, Burnett & Hammond, Aaron J. Van- 
 derpoel. Gen. Daniel E. Sickles, ex-Judge Ashbel 
 Green, Hon. Daniel Dougherty of Philadelphia, 
 Henry Arden, and Dunning, Edsall, Hart & Fowler. 
 This latter firm appeared simply to argue a motion 
 to compel Receiver Jewett to permit an examina- 
 tion of the books in regard to the last election for 
 Directors, and show cause why he should not be re- 
 moved. Affidavits which, metaphorically, threshed 
 over all the old straw of the alleged illegal Receiver- 
 ship, its mismanagement, and the collusive acts un- 
 der it, and counter-afifidavits denying them, were 
 read. The hearings and arguments on these and a 
 multitude of similar actions, all exhibiting the re- 
 sourcefulness of McHenry and his lieutenants — chief 
 among them being James A. Reilly, not personally 
 eminent, but useful to his long-time chief beyond 
 calculation — and all, while based on strong technical 
 points of law and urged by some of the best legal 
 minds of the day, palpably the creatures of personal 
 disappointment and private vengeance. They were 
 prosecuted and defended with vigor, as were the 
 numerous counter-suits, the ultimate result being in 
 favor of Receiver Jewett. These being civil suits, 
 and their matter threadbare and musty, they had but 
 small interest to the pubhc, but in January, 1878, 
 the tactics of the opposition assumed a more dra- 
 matic character, and enlivened the litigious events 
 of the Erie as of old. 
 
 Frank Piatt, claiming to be an English stock- 
 holder in the Company, was selected as the medium 
 through which this move was to be carried forward. 
 He made affidavit that on November 23, 1877, Re- 
 ceiver Jewett had sworn to the annual statement of 
 the Company as being true in every particular; that 
 
 the amount of the funded debt of the Company at 
 that date was $54,271,844; the floating debt, $1,887,- 
 216. II; and the amount of interest paid on the 
 funded debt for the year covered by this report 
 was $3,807,764.50, whereas, according to the Piatt 
 affidavit, which was based on the affidavits of Charles 
 Barrett and Alexander Robertson, experts in railway 
 accounts, who claimed to have examined the Erie 
 books under an order of the Supreme Court, the 
 funded debt of the Company was actually $63,324,- 
 367.47; the floating debt, $4,861,533.86, and the 
 interest paid for the year was only $786,673, instead 
 of $3,807,764.50. Piatt charged that Jewett had 
 sworn to the statement, knowing that it was false, 
 with intent to deceive the bondholders and stock- 
 holders of the Company. Ex-Ju^ge William A. 
 Beach was Piatt's chief counsel. Information that 
 such a complaint had been made before Police Jus- 
 tice Bankson J. Morgan, at Jefferson Market Court, 
 was received by Mr. Jewett, and on the morning of 
 January 30th he drove with his counsel, Dorman B. 
 Eaton, to that court and appeared informally before 
 Judge Morgan. Thus the issuing of a warrant for 
 the Receiver's arrest was made unnecessary. Mr. 
 Eaton demanded an examination in behalf of his 
 client, and February 5th was fixed by the court as 
 the day of such examination. 
 
 Mr. Jewett explained the discrepancies in the 
 figures of the statement he had sworn to and the 
 figures as presented by Piatt by the declaration that 
 the former did not show the amount of interest paid, 
 but the amount of interest payable, the Receiver 
 having so construed the requirement of the statute 
 in that respect. As to his statement in regard to 
 the debt of the Company, Mr. Jewett said that it 
 would be for experts to determine whether it had 
 been understated, as " the charge seemed to rest on 
 details of book-keeping too complicated for ready 
 explanation, and requiring experts to show upon 
 what facts the returns in that regard should be 
 based." 
 
 Stephen Little, then Auditor of the Company, 
 declared, in an affidavit, that the declarations of 
 Accountant Robertson were false in every particu- 
 lar, and that although the Receiver's books had been 
 thrown open to him, he was incompetent to the task 
 
2\2 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 of ascertaining the truth from them, and that Bar- 
 rett's affidavit was also based on wrong premises and 
 was thus misleading. These experts had examined 
 the books on the order of court granted in the suit 
 of Isaac S. Fowler, December 15, 1877. 
 
 February 5th Receiver Jewett appeared at Jeffer- 
 son Market Police Court, with his counsel, ex-Judge 
 FuUerton, Dorman B. Eaton, William Wallace 
 MacFarland, and ex-Judge Comstock, and accom- 
 panied by Thomas Dickson, President of the Dela- 
 ware and Hudson Canal Company, ex-Governor 
 Edwin D. Morgan, Marshall O. Roberts, J. Lowber 
 Welch, of Philadelphia, J. D. Ayer, Secretary of the 
 Reconstruction Trustees of London, and other dis- 
 tinguished persons. Ex-Judge Fullerton said his 
 client would waive examination and give bail for 
 appearance at court. Ex-Judge William A. Beach 
 objected strenuously. Judge Morgan decided that 
 he would hear argument further on the question, 
 and postponed it until February 6th. At the hear- 
 ing on that day Judge Morgan decided that his 
 duty was to proceed with the examination. Mr. 
 Fullerton requested the justice to fix bail then, as 
 Mr. Jewett had bondsmen present who desired to 
 qualify. Judge Morgan refused to fix bail before 
 the examination was held. Ex-Judge Comstock, of 
 Jewett's counsel, then left the court-room. The 
 hearing was proceeded with. Exciting examina- 
 tions of witnesses were had. It was evident from 
 the dilatory interferences and objections of Mr. Ful- 
 lerton that the departure of Judge Comstock was to 
 have a sequel, and that it would be of no effect if it 
 did not appear before the examination was over. 
 Judge Fullerton was cross-examining Robertson, 
 one of the experts, when there was a bustle at the 
 door, and Lawyer Joseph Stiner entered in haste, 
 and waving a paper in his hand, exclaimed : 
 
 " Your Honor, I have here a writ of certiorari and 
 habeas corpus, issued by Judge Donahue, command- 
 ing the appearance of Hugh J. Jewett before him at 
 Supreme Court Chambers at i o'clock to-day." 
 
 This rather dramatic interruption brought the pro- 
 ceedings to a close, and Judge Morgan adjourned 
 them until 10 o'clock next day. In the proceedings 
 on the writ of habeas corpus before Judge Donahue, 
 John R. Fellows argued the case for Receiver Jewett. 
 
 Judge Donahue withheld his decision, and the exam- 
 ination of Mr. Jewett in the police court was further 
 adjourned pending the result. February 7th Judge 
 Donahue decided that Judge Morgan must either 
 commit, discharge, or hold to bail in the case. The 
 order was served on Judge Morgan February 8th, 
 and, although he declared his belief in the correct- 
 ness of his judgment in the case, he held Jewett in 
 $10,000 bail, which was furnished by ex-Governor 
 Morgan. The proceedings were objected to all the 
 way through by ex-Judge Beach, who appealed from 
 the decision of Judge Donahue. 
 
 The appeal was argued February 21st before Chief 
 Justice Noah Davis and Judge Brady, at General 
 Term of the Supreme Court, at New York. Ex- 
 Judge William Fullerton and John R. Fellows ap- 
 peared on behalf of Receiver Jewett, and William A. 
 Beach in opposition. Decision was reserved, and 
 not rendered until April 30th. The decision was 
 that Judge Donahue's ruling under the habeas cor- 
 pus proceedings was wrong, but that as the police 
 justice had acted under it and accepted bail, there 
 would be no remedy by reversing the order. The 
 police magistrate had no further jurisdiction, and 
 the matter now lay with the Grand Jury. May 9th 
 the Grand Jury dismissed the complaint, and the 
 effort of the McHenry contingent to use the crim- 
 inal courts to serve a purpose they could not induce 
 the civil courts to take cognizance of was foiled, 
 much to their disappointment and to the damage of 
 their prospects in the Erie litigation. The shrewd- 
 ness and astuteness of ex-Judge Fullerton rescued 
 Receiver Jewett from this unpleasant and critical 
 dilemma. 
 
 Receiver Jewett charged Col. George T. Balch 
 with having been designedly the cause, in conspiracy 
 with the sponsors of the attempted new " Sickles 
 Raid" of 1877, of the criminal proceedings. Colo- 
 nel Balch was a graduate of West Point, and had 
 been for fifteen years, and up to 1862, an officer in 
 the regular army. October i, 1872, he entered the 
 service of the Erie Railway Company, under Presi- 
 dent Watson, as assistant to the Inspecting Engi- 
 neer. He continued as such until January, 1873, 
 when he was put in charge of the repairs and con- 
 struction of Erie property at Jersey City and New 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 253 
 
 York. July i, 1873, he was appointed General 
 Storekeeper and Inspector of Supplies for the Com- 
 pany, which place he filled until May, 1874, when 
 the office was abolished. When Mr. Jewett came 
 into control of Erie, Colonel Balch was detailed to 
 prepare a history of the Supply Department of the 
 Company for the previous ten years, which he did 
 so satisfactorily that President Jewett gave into 
 his charge the compiling of the reports of the Com- 
 pany made annually to the proper State ofificials of 
 New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Colonel 
 Balch compiled these reports for the years 1874, 
 1875, 1876, and 1877, and, such was Mr. Jewett's 
 confidence in him, according to his (Jewett's) sub- 
 sequent declaration, his figures were accepted and 
 sworn to by Jewett, both as President and Receiver, 
 without the suspicion of a doubt as to their accuracy 
 and truthfulness. Colonel Balch also had charge of 
 the taking of the inventory of the Company's prop- 
 erty, under the order of Court appointing the Re- 
 ceiver in 1875, and by Receiver Jewett's direction. 
 
 After Receiver Jewett's arrest on the charge of 
 perjury in February, 1878, he began an investiga- 
 tion. Colonel Balch had prepared the report for 
 1877, on the alleged falsity of which the arrest was 
 made. The result of Jewett's investigation was that 
 on May 7th he summarily dismissed Colonel Balch 
 from the Company's employ, in a scathing letter in 
 which he reviewed Balch's connection with the Com- 
 pany, reminded him of the great leniency with which 
 the writer had treated him on a previous occasion, 
 when a certain act of his was not above suspicion, 
 but for which Jewett had taken Balch's plausible 
 explanation as satisfactory, and charging him with 
 having been guilty — after having had sole charge of 
 making out the annual reports of the Company to 
 the State Engineer for several years, in the entire 
 personal confidence of Mr. Jewett — of making state- 
 ments in the report for 1877 — which was verified as 
 usual by the Receiver — that had led to Jewett's 
 arrest on the charge of perjury, and then failing to 
 come forward and assume the responsibility for the 
 complication and exonerate the Receiver from blame. 
 Moreover, the Receiver charged Balch with playing 
 him false, making efforts to aid the conspiracy for 
 the proierted Sickles raid in 1877, and aiding and 
 
 abetting other enemies of the Jewett management, 
 with the hope and expectation of personal aggran- 
 dizement. Balch replied in a long letter, recounting 
 the history of the matters charged by the Receiver, 
 and denying them all. 
 
 Among those whom Mr. Jewett believed he had 
 indubitable reason to suspect of treachery to him at 
 this time was William Pitt Shearman, who had been 
 Treasurer of the Erie Railway Company and Assist- 
 ant to the Receiver, and Mr. Shearman was com- 
 pelled to quit the service. Shearman always claimed 
 that he was sacrificed because he would not recog- 
 nize and approve officially matters of accounting 
 which he believed to be wrong. It was originally 
 for this that he was promoted, as he supposed, from 
 the Treasurership, in 1877, to be Assistant to the 
 Receiver, which promotion proved to be merely one 
 in appearance. As Treasurer he had protested 
 against the payment of accounts of the Receiver as 
 irregular, and it was to get rid of his unpleasant 
 presence in that office that he was made Assistant 
 to the Receiver, Bird W. Spencer, who had been 
 Assistant Treasurer, being then appointed as Acting 
 Treasurer. Mr. Shearman soon found, however, 
 that his acts as Assistant to the Receiver were regu- 
 larly disregarded in the Auditing Department and 
 the Treasury Department, both of which were sus- 
 tained by the Receiver as against him. When the 
 new Company was organized Mr. Shearman was left 
 out of any participation in it, and the charge of 
 treacliery to Mr. Jewett and his management was 
 offered as the reason. 
 
 " If any action I ever took while connected with 
 the Jewett management could be called disloyalty," 
 Mr. Shearman said to the compiler of this HisLory, 
 in 1894, " it thus became all the greater an act of 
 loyalty to the true interests of the Company." 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to say that neither this 
 move in the police court against Receiver Jewett, 
 nor any other of the harassing litigation, would have 
 been heard of had he proceeded in the management 
 of the Erie Railway Company according to the lines 
 McHenry had marked out, when he and his friends 
 permitted Mr. Jewett's election as President in July, 
 1874; for McHenry was then still in control of the 
 English stock, and without his assent neither Jewett 
 
254 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 nor any one else proposed could have been chosen. 
 But, as has been seen, President Jewett repudiated 
 the Watson lease of the Atlantic and Great Western 
 Railroad, and, instead of leaving uncovered the Erie 
 Treasury that it might be used to the benefit of that 
 utterly insolvent corporation, and acknowledging the 
 right of McHenryand his associates to $2,000,000 of 
 Erie funds then in their possession as custodians, he 
 actually closed the one and demanded the restitu- 
 tion of the other, which, being refused, he sought 
 the arbitration of the English courts in the matter. 
 Hence, the righteous indignation of McHenry, and 
 the discovery that Receiver Jewett was a fraudulent 
 Receiver and a corrupt manager, and the litigation 
 hindering and endeavoring to prevent any reorgani- 
 zation of the Erie Railway Company that would for- 
 ever destroy the McHenry interest and influence was 
 the outcome. 
 
 THE SALE THE STRUGGLE TO PREVENT IT. 
 
 In all the history of Erie in the courts there is no 
 record of such a struggle as the opponents of the 
 Jewett Receivership made to prevent the sale of the 
 Erie Railway and its property, or to change the 
 terms and conditions of the sale, between the time 
 the public notice of the sale was given until and up 
 to the very hour of the day it at last took place. 
 The struggle began January 18, 1878. Judge James 
 T. Brady, in the Supreme Court, at New York City, 
 granted an order postponing the sale of the railroad 
 property sixty days, pending the outcome of litiga- 
 tion then in the courts. 
 
 Before Judge Barrett, the same day, in Supreme 
 Court Chambers, Dorman B. Eaton appeared for the 
 Receiver in the complicated situation of affairs that 
 the action of Attorney-General Fairchild, Novem- 
 ber, 1877, had induced. Augustus Schoonmaker, 
 Jr., had in the meantime succeeded Fairchild as 
 Attorney-General of New York, and his opinion was 
 that the old suit of the People against the Erie (the 
 Angell suit) should not be reopened, but should be 
 discontinued. Amasa J. Redfield, who represented 
 the Erie corporation, asked that the suit be discon- 
 tinued, on the written stipulation made by Attorney- 
 General Pratt in 1875, by which he granted leave to 
 
 discontinue. Peter B. Olney appeared on behalf of 
 Attorney-General Schoonmaker, and read a letter 
 from him to the law firm of Barlow & Olney, in 
 which he expressed a wish to be a passive agent in 
 the disposal of the vexing question, and calmly 
 handed the matter over to the adjudication of the 
 court, upon the result of which his action would 
 abide. Judge Barrett, however, declined to act as 
 the adviser of the Attorney-General, and the case was 
 adjourned. January 30th Turner, Lee & McClure 
 and Amasa J. Redfield appeared before Judge Law- 
 rence in Supreme Court Chambers in further argu- 
 ment in opposition to the reopening of the case. 
 Peter B. Olney, Ashbel Green, and Gen. Daniel E. 
 Sickles represented the McHenry interest. Judge 
 Lawrence took the papers'. Early in February 
 Attorney-General Schoonmaker wrote Barlow & 
 Olney, his representatives at New York, that the 
 office of the Attorney-General did not exist for the 
 promotion of personal interests, and that before he 
 consented to the reopening of the Receiver's ac- 
 counts, after they had been approved by the Su- 
 preme Court, and order a reexamination, he should 
 require proof by affidavit as to why it was sought 
 and what good it was expected to accomplish or 
 how to prevent ; by whom the reaccounting was 
 required, and by what right and when acquired ; 
 what of the Receiver's transactions were claimed to 
 be fraudulent, and how the claimants were injured 
 thereby; and whether there was not some other 
 remedy. The case was never reopened. 
 
 January 19, 1878, Elihu Root, as attorney for 
 Charles Potter, Samuel Bird, John Jones, Christina 
 M. Edwards, Inslee A. Hopper, James M. Durand, 
 Augustus F. R. Martin, Enos Runyon, Louis May, 
 and James A. Reilly, claiming to hold 2,000 shares 
 of Erie stock, obtained leave from Judge Barrett to 
 sue Receiver Jewett, the Farmers' Loan and Trust 
 Company, and J. C. Bancroft Davis, on complaints 
 and allegations presented. These charged fraud and 
 mismanagement sweepingly — fraud on Jewett's part 
 in obtaining the office of Director September 24, 
 1874; conspiracy between him and his friends in 
 bringing about the Receivership, when the Com- 
 pany's earnings were more than enough to meet all 
 its liabilities, for the purpose of making large gains 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 255 
 
 by means of "short" speculations in Erie stock, 
 Jewett's share in the profits of which, the complaint 
 alleged, were, on one occasion, $70,000, and on 
 another $140,000; fraud and irregularity in the fore- 
 closure proceedings; fraud on the part of Jewett as 
 Receiver in granting rebates to the Delaware and 
 Hudson Canal Company, and other shippers over 
 the Erie ; in misrepresenting the cost of the third 
 rail between West Junction and East Buffalo; and 
 in having credited himself with the payment of 
 $85,233.85 more than it cost; in the making of con- 
 tracts with the Standard Oil Company and the New 
 Jersey Lighterage Company; in the purchase of 
 Pennsylvania coal lands; and in putting numerous 
 useless employees, including relatives and friends, 
 on the Company's salary lists at extravagant salaries, 
 through all of which the expenses of operating the 
 road had been unnecessarily increased $5,000,000 a 
 year. The complaint attacked the legality of the 
 foreclosure proceedings, and declared that the scheme 
 of reconstruction was promoted by fraud on and 
 deception of the court. The removal of Receiver 
 Jewett was demanded, and an injunction restraining 
 all further proceedings under the foreclosure was 
 asked for. 
 
 The defendants in the suit obtained an order for 
 the examination of James A. Reilly, McHenry's 
 agent, and Freeling H. Smith was appointed Ref- 
 eree to conduct it. Counsel for the defendants were 
 particularly anxious to obtain from Reilly the names 
 of the railway ofificials from whom he had obtained 
 the information on which the allegations of the com- 
 plaint in the Potter suit were based. He declined 
 to answer. The Referee held that he must answer 
 the question or be committed for contempt. Elihu 
 Root, Reilly's counsel, then obtained an order from 
 Judge Lawrence, January 31st, directing Receiver 
 Jewett to show cause why Reilly's examination 
 should not be set aside or restricted in its scope. 
 The matter came before Judge Donahue February 
 1st, but he declined to interfere in the matter because 
 the order of Reference had not been made by him, 
 and because he considered the Referee fully com- 
 petent. Reilly, February 9th, testified that he was 
 acting in the interest of McHenry, General Sickles, 
 and General Barrett, who had an agreement as to the 
 
 disposal of Erie if they succeeded in overthrowing 
 Receiver Jewett. All his information was hearsay, 
 as he had no personal knowledge of any wrongdoing 
 by an Erie officer. 
 
 While the Potter suit was pending in the courts, 
 most of the plaintiffs in the case made affidavit that 
 their names had been used without their authority. 
 
 February 19th, before ex-Judge Spencer, Referee, 
 Henry Arden, as counsel for Charles and William 
 Zaggel and George Talbot, who had small judgments 
 against the Erie Railway Company, objected to the 
 continuation of the reaccounting of the Receiver 
 unless his clients' right to participate was acknowl- 
 edged and allowed. The settling of this question 
 in favor of the claimants would disturb and render 
 void the entire foreclosure proceeding. It was op- 
 posed in the Receiver's interest by Charles L. Atter- 
 bury, and oxi behalf of the Farmers' Loan and Trust 
 Company by J. H. Henshaw. February 21st Ref- 
 eree Spencer decided that it must be passed upon 
 by the Supreme Court. Before it came to adjudica- 
 tion in the courts, the judgments held by Arden's 
 clients were transferred to other parties, who dis- 
 posed of them to Receiver Jewett. Elihu Root had 
 become interested in the case as counsel, and on 
 April 4, 1878, before Referee Spencer, denounced 
 the transaction as merely one to cover up the Re- 
 ceiver's accounts. 
 
 As something of a relief to the monotony of the 
 Receivership litigation, the Farmers' Loan and Trust 
 Company applied to Judge Donahue, February 26, 
 1878, for an order directing Receiver Jewett to pay 
 it $7,500 of the Erie's money in his hands to defray 
 legal expenses the Trust Company had been under, 
 owing to the annoying and harassing lawsuits the 
 affairs of the Company had involved the Trust Com- 
 pany in, because it had interested itself as Trustee in 
 efforts to straighten out such affairs, and inasmuch 
 as it had thus far received only $4,500 toward such 
 expenses. Judge Donahue granted the order. 
 
 The return of the order to show cause why James 
 McHenry should not be admitted as a party to the 
 suits of the Attorney-General, the Farmers' Loan 
 and Trust Company, and J. C. Bancroft Davis 
 against the Company, and also why the sale of the 
 railroad should not be further postponed, was argued 
 
256 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 before Judge Lawrence in the Supreme Court Cham- 
 bers, March 20, 1878. John A. Davenport appeared 
 for McHenry. WiUiam Wallace MacFarland repre- 
 sented Mr. Jewett, and objected to the proceedings 
 as being simply a device to secure the postponement 
 ot the sale of the road. The matter was adjourned 
 until next day, when a decision was rendered by 
 Judge Daniels denying McHenry's motion, on the 
 ground that if McHenry and his associates had any 
 just grievance it had its remedy in the Monroe 
 County suit, Judge James T. Brady having sustained 
 McHenry in that action the same day, denying the 
 motion of the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company 
 to make permanent Judge Donahue's injunction 
 restraining McHenry from further proceedings in 
 that suit. In denying the Trust Company's motion. 
 Judge Brady held that the charges of fraud and mis- 
 management on the part of the Receiver made in the 
 complaint in that suit "are sufificient in substance to 
 justify the relief demanded (if true); and whether 
 they are true or not is an issue which the plaintiffs 
 in that suit have the right to present and to have 
 determined therein." He held that the Trust Com- 
 pany could not be allowed to prevent the investi- 
 gation in regard to the performance of the trust. 
 March 23d Judge Brady dissolved Judge Donahue's 
 injunction. McHenry appealed from Judge Dan- 
 iels's decision to the General Term, where, April 
 i8th, Judge Lawrence decided that he had no case, 
 and denied his application. 
 
 March 21st the application of Albert de Betz, 
 Moritz Lewin Borchard, and Jules Levita, foreign 
 bondholders, claiming to own $345,000 of the second 
 consolidated mortgage bonds, to be made parties to 
 the foreclosure suit, to present charges against the 
 Receiver, examine his accounts, etc., was granted 
 by Judge Daniels. The Farmers' Loan and Trust 
 Company disputed the claim of these plaintiffs to be 
 bona-fide bondholders. 
 
 March 22d another great array of legal talent 
 appeared in the next move in the McHenry litiga- 
 tion before Judge Lawrence. In McHenry's employ 
 were Aaron J. Vanderpoel, Ashbel Green, Daniel E. 
 Sickles, Elihu Root, and John A. Davenport. The 
 Receiver had in his interest William Wallace Mac- 
 Farland and Dorman B. Eaton. Herbert B. Turner 
 
 and George F. Comstock looked after the Trust 
 Company's interests. Peter B. Olney and Luke F. 
 Cozans represented the Attorney-General, who had 
 been made a party to the suit. Mr. Cozans asked 
 for an adjournment. Mr. Vanderpoel insisted that 
 if an adjournment was allowed, the sale of the rail- 
 road should be postponed, as it was proposed by the 
 Receiver, he said, to sell $19,000,000 ofproperty not 
 covered by the mortgages under which the fore- 
 closure was obtained. Postponement of the sale was 
 opposed by ex-Judge Comstock and Mr. MacFar- 
 land. Judge Lawrence withheld his decision, and 
 on Monday, March 24th, Judge Daniels granted an 
 order based on the suit of Albert de Betz, Moritz 
 Lewin Borchard, and Jules Levita, the alleged for- 
 eign bondholders, postponing the sale of the railroad 
 thirty days. On the contention that they were not 
 bondholders, William Allen Butler was appointed 
 Referee to ascertain whether the plaintiffs in the 
 action were bona-fide bondholders; to report on the 
 amount of lawful indebtedness incurred by the Re- 
 ceiver in the execution of his trust, properly con- 
 stituting a lien upon the mortgaged premises prior 
 to the lien of the second consolidated mortgage; on 
 the executory contracts properly made by the Re- 
 ceiver, subject to which the mortgaged property 
 should be sold ; on the charges against the Receiver, 
 and the items of his accounts, etc. ; and to report a 
 particular description of the property which should 
 properly be sold under the judgment, and the amount 
 of indebtedness and of outstanding bonds and cou- 
 pons secured by the mortgage. 
 
 April 4, 1878, Henry Arden, of counsel for de 
 Betz, Borchard, and Levita, at a meeting before the 
 Referee, sought to have his clients represented there, 
 but as they had not yet established their claim as 
 bondholders before Referee Butler, Referee Spencer 
 ruled that they had no right to appear. 
 
 The postponement of the sale for thirty days was 
 made absolute. In case the counsel on behalf of the 
 Farmers' Loan and Trust Company should stipulate 
 to deduct from the amount of the judgment such 
 sums as should be found by Referee Butler not 
 proper charges prior to the mortgage, and also to 
 deduct any sums improperly allowed to the Receiver, 
 besides stipulating that the applicants should, if they 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 257 
 
 chose, be entitled to share in the -benefits of the 
 reorganization scheme, no further postponement 
 should be allowed. If the Trust Company should 
 refuse to make such stipulations, the sale would 
 stand further postponed until the coming in of the 
 Referee's report. The stipulations were agreed to. 
 
 April 22d Henry Arden came to the front again 
 as the attorney of John Henry Brown and F. W. 
 Isaacson, of London, who, as alleged stockholders 
 in the Erie, also professed to be fearful of the result 
 to their interests of the sale of the railroad, peti- 
 tioned for a postponement of the sale, and a reopen- 
 ing of the decree of foreclosure. General Sickles, 
 for McHenry, was the backer of Arden in the latest 
 effort, and all the old McHenry charges were re- 
 hashed. The good faith of the action was doubted 
 by the Receiver's counsel, and Judge Potter ad- 
 journed the hearing until 9 o'clock A.M., April 24, at 
 noon on which day the Erie sale was to be held. The 
 counsel for the petitioners were A. J. Vanderpoel, 
 ex-Judge James Emott, Ashbel Green, Daniel E. 
 Sickles, Elihu Root, William A. Beach, H. L. Bur- 
 nett, and Henry Arden. In opposition were ex- 
 Judge George F. Comstock, Herbert B. Turner, 
 William Wallace MacFarland, E. R. Bacon, and 
 John H. Henshaw. 
 
 When Judge Potter, pursuant to adjournment, 
 opened Supreme Court Chambers that morning to 
 hear the continuation of the argument for a post- 
 ponement of the sale of the Erie Railway Company's 
 property, few, if any, of the large number of persons 
 present had any idea that the matter would be so 
 summarily disposed of as to permit the sale to take 
 place at the time advertised. The argument was 
 resumed in such a steady, thoroughgoing manner 
 that it bade fair to last all day, if not longer. Ex- 
 Judge Comstock spoke in defence of the motives and 
 conduct of those opposed to McHenry's attacks. 
 William A. Beach followed in a long speech, insisting 
 on the rights of the stockholders, who, he claimed, 
 should have been notified of what property was to 
 be sold in time to enable them to form some kind of 
 combination to protect their interests. Mr. Beach 
 concluded his remarks at 11.35 A.M. Then ex-Judge 
 Emott spoke a few words on the necessity of post- 
 poning the sale. Twenty minutes before noon 
 17 
 
 Judge Potter put an end to the discussion by 
 saying: 
 
 " This is a very important matter. I have had 
 little opportunity to give it any thought whatever, 
 and only such as occurred in the progress of this 
 discussion. It seems this decree was taken last 
 November, and from that time to this there have 
 been various applications, and now this one is made 
 just at the eve of sale. If any injustice is done by 
 the sale, any fraud practised, or any mistake made, 
 the courts can relieve against it. I think the sale 
 should take place." 
 
 There was a sensation in court at this abrupt 
 decision, which seemed to stun the counsel on both 
 sides. In a moment^ however, the counsel favoring 
 the sale made a rush for the door of the court-room, 
 and as soon as they reached the corridors they tele- 
 graphed to have the sale proceeded with. 
 
 An imiTiense crowd had gathered in the Exchange 
 salesroom by noon to witness the sale of the great 
 railway at public action. The sale was to be under 
 judgments of foreclosure obtained by the Farmers' 
 Loan and Trust Company of New York as Trustee 
 for the second consolidated mortgage bondholders, 
 in the Supreme Court of New York; by the Elmira 
 Iron and Steel Rolling Mills Company, before the 
 New Jersey Master in Chancery, and by certain per- 
 sons in the Court of Common Pleas of Pike County, 
 Pa., before Judge Henry M. Seeley. Among those 
 present at the sale were George Ticknor Curtis, the 
 Referee for the sale; R. G. Rolston, President of 
 the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company, and Samuel 
 Sloan, President of the Delaware, Lackawanna and 
 Western Railroad Company. Receiver Jewett was 
 not present. At precisely 12 o'clock Bernard Smyth, 
 the auctioneer, mounted the rostrum and began read- 
 ing the description of the property, the decree of the 
 court, and the terms of sale. 
 
 The decree described the property to be sold as 
 the railway from Piermont on the Hudson River 
 to Dunkirk on Lake Erie; that from Newburgh, 
 N. Y., to the main line at Greycourt, N. Y. ; that 
 from Hornellsville, N. Y., to Attica, N. Y., and 
 " all other railways and property belonging to the 
 Company in New York, Pennsylvania, and New 
 Jersey," and numerated the incumbrances on the 
 
258 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 property, viz. : A mortgage of $2,483,000, with 
 interest from November i, 1877; a mortgage of 
 $2,174,000, with interest from March i, 1878; a 
 mortgage for $4,852,000, with interest from March i, 
 1878; a mortgage for $2,937,000, with interest from 
 October i, 1877; a mortgage for $709,500, with 
 interest from December i, 1877; the Receiver's 
 indebtedness at the time of sale; the debt to the 
 Farmers' Loan and Trust Company, amounting to 
 $16,656,000 gold, with accrued interest to Novem- 
 ber I, 1877, aggregating $2,573,245, gold, and inter- 
 est since that date, and all executory contracts exist- 
 ing at the time of sale. 
 
 Persons proposing to become bidders were also 
 required to assume the auxiliary judgments and 
 decrees obtained in the New Jersey Court of Chan- 
 cery, and the Court of Common Pleas of Pike 
 County, Pa. 
 
 During the reading the auctioneer was interrupted 
 by Lawyer Frank Piatt with a demand for an inven- 
 tory. Referee Curtis announced that an inventory 
 of the property of the Erie Railway Company, in 
 eighteen large folio volumes, was at hand, and was 
 open to the inspection of any intending bidder. No 
 one undertook the task. Auctioneer Smyth asked 
 for a bid. He was interrupted again by Lawyer Piatt, 
 who entered a formal protest against the sale on the 
 ground that it was impossible for any stockholder 
 outside of the Reconstruction Committee to make a 
 bid, because no opportunity had been given for an 
 examination of the inventory. Auctioneer Smyth 
 took counsel with ex- Judge Comstock, and on his 
 advice proceeded with the sale. 
 
 Ex-Governor Edwin D. Morgan bid $5,000,000. 
 Mr. Piatt bid $5,500,000. Ex-Governor Morgan 
 followed with a bid of $6,000,000. The auctioneer 
 gave time for any further bidder to announce his 
 bid, but none was made, and the property, rights, 
 franchises, etc., of the Erie Railway Company were 
 knocked down to ex-Governor Morgan for $6,000,000, 
 the actual purchasers being ex-Governor Morgan, 
 David A. Wells, and J. Lowber Welsh, of the Recon- 
 struction Committee. Ex-Governor Morgan at once 
 drew his check on the National Bank of Commerce 
 of New York City for $720,000, and handed it to 
 Referee Curtis, who sent it to the bank for certifica- 
 
 tion. When it was returned certified, the prelim- 
 inary papers were signed on both sides, and the 
 assemblage quietly dispersed. The entire proceed- 
 ings occupied just one hour. 
 
 The sale was confirmed by the court April 25, 
 1878. April 27th articles of incorporation of the new 
 Company were filed in the ofifice of the Secretary of 
 State, and then the Purchasing Trustees formally 
 conveyed the property to the new Company — the 
 New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad Com- 
 pany — and the Erie Railway Company was no more. 
 At 10.30 o'clock, April 27th, a meeting of incorpo- 
 rators of the new Company was held at ex-Governor 
 Morgan's ofifice, 54 Exchange Place. Those present 
 were R. Suydam Grant, Solomon S. Guthrie, Hugh 
 J. Jewett, John Taylor Johnston, Edwin D. Morgan, 
 Cortlandt Parker, Homer Ramsdell, Samuel Sloan, 
 Henry G. Stebbins, George F. Tallman, J. Lowber 
 Welsh, David A. Wells, William Walter Phelps, 
 Charles Dana, J. Frederick Pierson, Theron R. 
 Butler, and James J. Goodwin. The absentees were 
 Herman R. Baltzer, who was in Europe; John B. 
 Brown, of Portland, Me. ; Thomas Dickson, of Scran- 
 ton, Pa. ; Asa Packer, of Mauch Chunk, Pa. ; Giles 
 W. Hotchkiss, of Binghamton, and Marshall O. 
 Roberts. The following members of the English 
 Reconstruction Committee were also named in the 
 articles as incorporators : Sir Edward William Wat- 
 kin, M.P. ; Oliver Gourlay Miller; Henry Rawson ; 
 John Kynaston Cross, M.P. ; John Westlake, Q.C. ; 
 Peter M. Logan, M.P. ; Benjamin Whitworth, M.P., 
 and Thomas Wilde Powell. At this meeting the 
 following resolutions were adopted : 
 
 Resolved, That this Board tender to Hon. Hugh J. Jewett its 
 gratitude and sincere thanks for his able, wise, and energetic 
 administration of the property and affairs of the Erie Railway 
 Company, both as President and Receiver. 
 
 Resolved, That we extend to him the emphatic assurance of 
 our entire respect and confidence, and we denounce as utterly 
 false, malicious, and defamatory the various loose, vague, and 
 general charges of mismanagement and misconduct that have 
 been brought against him in the course of the litigation in op- 
 position to the scheme of reconstruction, and in various news- 
 papers published in London. 
 
 Hugh J. Jewett was elected President of the new 
 Board, and A. R. Macdonough Secretary. Bird W. 
 Spencer was named for Treasurer, but action as in 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 259 
 
 regard to that office, Vice-President, and other 
 officials, was postponed until a future meeting. 
 Shipman, Barlow, Larocque & MacFarland were con- 
 tinued as counsel to the corporation. The benefits 
 of the reorganization remained open to all inter- 
 ested in the property who chose to unite in it. 
 Nearly all the bondholders and a majority of the 
 stockholders had given their adhesion to the plan, 
 and all others had six months in which to come in, 
 by paying the 4 per cent, installment on the pre- 
 ferred stock and 6 per cent, on the common. 
 
 May 7th Judge Donahue confirmed the Receiver's 
 accounts, and authorized the transfer of the Erie 
 Railway Company's assets to the New York, Lake 
 Erie and Western Railroad Company. Mr. Jewett 
 was discharged from further liability and duty as 
 Receiver, except as concerned the discharge of his 
 indebtedness as such Receiver, and the defending 
 and prosecuting of suits against or by him in that 
 capacity. 
 
 George Ticknor Curtis was awarded. May 16, 1878, 
 by Judge Donahue, $13,500 as fees and $3,500 as 
 expenses for clerk hire, etc., for his services as Ref- 
 eree in the foreclosure and sale of the Erie Railway 
 property. 
 
 April 21, 1878, Judge Van Vorst, at Special Term 
 of the Supreme Court, gave judgment for $103,- 
 647.50, with interest from August 14, 1877, to Henry 
 Bischoffscheim, successor to Bischoffscheim & Gold- 
 schmidt, for services in negotiating for Receiver 
 Jewett bonds under the agreement with President 
 Watson, May 8, 1872. The court gave Mr. Jewett 
 leave to answer on paying costs. May 3d Bischoff- 
 scheim's counsel applied to Judge Donahue for an 
 order compelling Mr. Jewett to deposit a sufficient 
 sum to meet the possible outcome of that suit. 
 Judge Donahue denied the petition, and decided 
 that Bischoffscheim's success on the first suit was 
 fatal, because it showed that the companies that 
 were parties to the foreclosure suit in which Mr. 
 Jewett was Receiver were not parties to Bischoff- 
 scheim's suit, which put an end to that harassing 
 move in the McHenry warfare. 
 
 The examination in the cancelling of Referee 
 Spencer's report on the Receivership and the re- 
 opening of Receiver Jewett's accounts, requested by 
 
 Attorney-General Fairchild in November, 1877, had 
 been continued from time to time until May 20, 1878, 
 when, on motion of the Attorney-General (Augustus 
 W. Schoonmaker having succeeded Charles S. Fair- 
 child in that office), against the protest of the oppos- 
 ing counsel, Judge Donahue issued a further order 
 appointing Judge Spencer Referee in the People's 
 action, under which order the accounts of the Re- 
 ceiver already rendered were to be accepted, but the 
 Attorney-General was clothed with power to reexam- 
 ine them and require more specific accounts from 
 the Receiver, if he thought advisable, and to ascer- 
 tain what property or assets Mr. Jewett as Receiver 
 had disposed of or held, not covered by the lien 
 of the mortgages foreclosed, and what interest the 
 Farmers' Loan and Trust Company had in such 
 assets or property, the Referee to report the testi- 
 mony and his opinion to the court. This order also 
 gave the Attorney-General leave to ask, if he deemed 
 it expedient, for the appointment of a Receiver in 
 place of Mr. Jewett. The Attorney-General saw 
 nothing in the situation that warranted him to take 
 any action under Judge Donahue's order. 
 
 The action under which this order was obtained 
 was the result of allegations made subsequent to the 
 sale of the Erie Railway, that the Receiver had in- 
 cluded in the properties sold under the foreclosure 
 a large and valuable amount which was not subject 
 to lien, which action made the sale irregular, and 
 furnished ample grounds to have it declared illegal 
 and void. The property alleged to have been thus 
 sold was the Grand Opera House property, the river 
 front property, and the leasehold of the property in 
 West Street, New York, occupied as the general 
 offices of the Erie Railway Company; real estate 
 along the line of the railroad, in New York and New 
 Jersey; leaseholds of various kinds, and the terminal 
 property at Buffalo; coal lands in Pennsylvania; 
 docks, stock-yards, car companies; securities held as 
 collateral in trust, book accounts against McHenry, 
 the London Banking Association, the Atlantic and 
 Great Western Railroad Company, and the Hillside 
 Iron and Coal Company; patent rights, etc. 
 
 Judge Spencer filed his report as Referee, October 
 31, 1879. It was accompanied by his opinion on the 
 questions raised by the Attorney-General. He held 
 
26o 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 that all the property alleged to have been sold ille- 
 gally was covered by the mortgage, and passed by 
 toreclosure sale, and that consequently Mr. Jewett 
 did not acquire, hold, or dispose of any property or 
 assets not covered by the mortgage of the Erie Rail- 
 way Company to the Farmers' Loan and Trust Com- 
 pany. The opinion of the Referee was sustained 
 and approved by Judge Donahue, and confirmed by 
 him November 25, 1879. The same day Judge 
 Donahue confirmed the acts of the Receiver, 
 and placed him in possession of the new Com- 
 pany. 
 
 According to the report of the Referee, the 
 amount of cash received by Receiver Jewett on May 
 26, 1876, as part of the assets of the Erie Railway 
 Company, was $52,495.42. During his term as Re- 
 ceiver he sold securities to the amount of-$62, 360.47. 
 From May 26, 1875, to May 31, 1878, he borrowed 
 on notes and certificates to meet the expenses and 
 obligations of the Receivership, $13,342,088.29. He 
 repaid those loans during that time to the amount 
 of $11,970,710.32. At the close of his Receivership 
 he was indebted on such notes and certificates 
 $1,371,372.97. 
 
 The Receiver's disbursements during his term 
 were for the current expenses of the management 
 and operation of the railroad; the expenses of real 
 estate; principal and interest on money borrowed 
 from time to time; payments on indebtedness exist- 
 ing at the time of the Receivership, and subse- 
 quently, under direction of the court; payments for 
 purchase of capital stock and bonds of other cor- 
 porations, by order of court; advances made to coal 
 companies, purchase of rolling stock, real estate, 
 rails, etc., and all the necessary expenses of the oper- 
 ation of the road. The aggregate amount thus dis- 
 bursed was $10,867,326. 
 
 Mr. Jewett was continued as Receiver by order of 
 Judge Donahue, on petition of the Farmers' Loan 
 and Trust Company, in proceedings brought to trans- 
 fer the property of the Erie Railway Company to 
 the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad 
 Company, although he was President of the latter 
 Company. This was to enable him to defend suits 
 and settle up much unfinished business of the Re- 
 ceivership. He was discharged as Receiver of the 
 
 Erie Railway Company, however, and his bondsman 
 released. 
 
 The Receivership proceedings were begun under 
 Attorney-General Pratt, continued through the 
 administration of Attorney-General Fairchild, and 
 terminated under Attorney-General Schoonmaker. 
 The regular counsel engaged in them were: Amasa 
 J. Parker, of Albany, and Luke F. Cozzens, of New 
 York, for the Attorney-General; Shipman, Barlow, 
 Larocque & MacFarland for the Erie Railway Com- 
 pany; Dorman B. Eaton for J. C. Bancroft Davis; 
 Charles L. Atterbury for the Receiver; and Turner, 
 Kirkland & McClure for the Farmers' Loan and 
 Trust Company. The Erie paid in counsel fees 
 during the Receivership upward of $400,000. 
 
 Thus the Erie Railway disappeared after seven- 
 teen years of existence, the lingering victim of what 
 it would be the broadest charity to designate as gross 
 mismanagement on the part of those into whose 
 hands the larger part of its career had been confided. 
 If it had been otherwise, the Erie Railway Company 
 would not have died a disreputable bankrupt, but 
 would have existed as a profitable, influential cor- 
 poration, with an honored and unsullied name. The 
 Erie Railway Company had succeeded the unfortu- 
 nate New York and Erie Railroad Company, which 
 had also closed a memorable career under a cloud. , 
 It started forward practically unhampered by its 
 obligations. Its funded debt was $19,831,500, its 
 capital stock being the old New York and Erie's 
 chartered capital and the addition of the preferred 
 stock under the terms of reorganization, altogether 
 $19,973,200. There was no floating debt. The 
 cost of the road and equipment up to January i, 
 1862, was $39,704,700. The road earned a dividend 
 of 5 per cent, on the preferred stock in 1862; 3^ per 
 cent, on the preferred and 3^ on the common stock 
 in the first half of 1863; 7 per cent, on the preferred 
 and 8 per cent, on the common stock in 1864; the 
 same on both stocks in 1865 ; 7 per cent, on the pre- 
 ferred stock in 1866, and the same in 1867. From 
 that time until its sale in 1878, the Erie had never 
 earned a dividend, although, as we have seen, divi- 
 dends were declared and paid. After the years of 
 stock jobbing, corrupt manipulation for personal 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 201 
 
 ends, and management for individual revenue only 
 had at last done their work, and in consequence of 
 it, the Erie Railway died a bankrupt. The Com- 
 pany's accounts showed that the capital stock had 
 been increased to more than four times its original 
 amount, and was $86,536,910. The funded debt 
 was $54,271,814, or nearly three times what it was 
 in 1862, and the floating debt was $1,159,060.46. 
 Moreover, the cost of the road and its equipment 
 stood charged on the books at $117,445,120.54 — an 
 addition of nearly $80,000,000 in seventeen years, or 
 about $4,500,000 a year, alleged to have been ex- 
 pended in improvements and construction, when the 
 actual condition of the railroad, its equipment, its 
 ■capacity, and its belongings generally, gave abun- 
 dant evidence that if more than $5,000,000 had been 
 appropriated to honest construction and equipment 
 in all these years, the Erie Railway Company had 
 made a bad bargain. 
 
 IV. THE BURDEN TOO HEAVY. 
 
 The period of the Jewett Receivership had been 
 ■marked by many disturbing events, not the least of 
 -which was the memorable strike of July, 1877, which 
 ■paralyzed the business of the Company for nearly 
 two weeks, a time as much longer being required to 
 so arrange operations on the road that traffic could 
 be regularly resumed. The Centennial year of 1876 
 ■came during the Receivership, when the Erie Rail- 
 way Company carried 5,000,000 passengers without 
 a single passenger receiving injury or a piece of bag- 
 gage being lost. Notwithstanding the great busi- 
 ness of that year, the road was operated at a loss of 
 ■more than a million and a quarter of dollars, the 
 -deficit the preceding year having been over $1,350,- 
 <X)0. The deficit of the strike year of 1877 was 
 $1,300,000. The business for 1878 up to June 1st, 
 the day the New York, Lake Erie and Western 
 Railroad Company's life began, showed a loss of 
 
 :$203,000. 
 
 The first statement of operations made by Mr. 
 Jewett as President of the New York, Lake Erie 
 and Western Railroad Company, was for the period 
 cbetween June i and September 30, 1878, and was 
 as follows: Gross earnings, $5,192,681.22; operating 
 
 expenses, $3,272,748.77; total net earnings from 
 all sources, $1,930,479.93; rentals on leased lines, 
 $311,047.75; total net revenue, $1,619,432.18. De- 
 ducting interest on mortgages and loans (not bonds), 
 premium on gold, etc. ($47,482.02), and interest on 
 the funded debt ($743,403.70), left a balance to the 
 credit of profit and loss of $828,546.40. Combining 
 the eight months of the fiscal year, the operations 
 for which were reported separately under the Re- 
 ceivership, the statement showed earnings for the 
 year of $15,644,978.09; operating expenses, $10,635,- 
 863.67; net earnings, $5,000,114.42; net revenue, 
 deducting " losses from various sources," $4,913,- 
 075.69. Deducting interest, rent claims, expenses 
 of foreclosure, reorganization, etc., the profit for the 
 year was $625,431.77. The gross earnings of the 
 leased and unleased lines and branches were esti- 
 mated at between $4,000,000 and $5,000,000. The 
 leased lines showed a net loss of $283,744.26. The 
 funded debt, excluding prior lien bonds of $2,500,- 
 000, was reported at $66,818,203.69, which made, 
 total funded debt and stock indebtedness, $152,072,- 
 603.69. Taking the circumstances all together, Mr. 
 Jewett was of the opinion that the Company's pros- 
 pects were fairly encouraging. 
 
 But the first six months of 1879 failed to bring a 
 realization of this hope. The earnings had fallen off 
 largely. The quantity of business was large, but 
 transportation rates were low, owing to a war of 
 rates between the Pennsylvania Railroad and the 
 New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Com- 
 panies. The work of improving the terminal facilities 
 at Jersey City, New York, and Buffalo, which in- 
 cluded the building of costly grain elevators, was 
 progressing, as was the important work of complet- 
 ing the double-tracking of the line. These, and 
 many other needed improvements, were absorbing 
 largely of the Company's earnings. " But," said 
 Mr. Jewett, in June of that year, " there is no reason 
 why the plans of the reorganization cannot be made 
 a perfect success, or why the Company should not 
 be able to comply with all the obligations which it 
 assumes in adopting such a plan." 
 
 The question of leasing the Atlantic and Great 
 Western Railroad was the uppermost one in the 
 affairs of the Company during 1879. This company 
 
262 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 was in the hands of a Receiver for the third time, 
 and its prospects were anything but bright. The 
 courts of three States — New York, Pennsylvania, 
 and Ohio — were trying to straighten out its affairs, 
 and had been so engaged for three years. The com- 
 pany owed $60,000,000. Reorganization could soon 
 be effected if the company could raise between 
 $4,000,000 and $5,000,000. The New York, Lake 
 Erie and Western Railroad Company was willing 
 and anxious to guarantee and pay the interest on 
 bonds to the necessary amount in return for a lease 
 of the railroad, although the road had scarcely suffi- 
 cient equipment to run a train over a division. The 
 United States Rolling Stock Company had been 
 organized some years before to equip the road with 
 broad-gauge cars, but the railroad company had not 
 paid the obligations due on them, and the rolling 
 stock company had taken possession of the cars, 
 the railroad company still owing $1,000,000 for the 
 use of them. The proposed arrangement between 
 the Erie and the Atlantic and Great Western Rail- 
 road Company was substantially that the Trustees 
 of the latter were to raise money on construction 
 bonds sufficient to standard-gauge the road and 
 equip it, which bonds were to be placed at the dis- 
 posal of the Erie for the purpose. The net earnings 
 of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad were to 
 be divided in proportion of two-thirds to that com- 
 pany and one-third to the Erie. The cost to the 
 latter Company, at a guarantee of 6 per cent, on 
 $5,000,000 of bonds, $300,000 a year, was regarded 
 as a mere bagatelle in return for an independent 
 through trunk line connection to and from the West. 
 The proposed lease of the Atlantic and Great West- 
 ern Railroad to the Erie aroused James McHenry 
 again. He had induced his fellow-countrymen to 
 invest something like $50,000,000 in the stock of 
 that company, and nearly $70,000,000 in its bonds. 
 The entire property was not, and never had been, 
 worth $10,000,000. This company had been the 
 basis of all McHenry's litigation with the Erie, and 
 it galled him to think that it was likely to pass into 
 the control of his hated foe. He and his associates, 
 although in a minority, were able to retard the 
 necessary proceedings looking to a reorganization of 
 the company to such a degree that it was not until 
 
 January, 1880, that those proceedings culminated in 
 the sale of the Atlantic and Great Western property, 
 and the reorganization of the company as the New 
 York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad Company. 
 For more than three years after that the new com- 
 pany was sanguine enough to beheve that it could 
 exist as a corporation independent of permanent 
 coalition with any other company, but at last recog- 
 nized the impossibility of it, and April 6, 1883, 
 agreed to a lease of its property to the Erie for 
 ninety-nine years. The property thus acquired by 
 the Erie was sorely dilapidated, but it was the Erie's 
 only salvation if that Company were to have ever a 
 secure connection for its Western business. The 
 terms of the lease were criticised, and even con- 
 demned in many quarters, but the time was at hand 
 when criticism of any measure the Erie management 
 might favor was a natural sequence of events. 
 
 Toward the close of 1880 the condition of the 
 Company's business, according to the reports, seem- 
 ing to warrant it, foreign holders of preferred stock 
 became dissatisfied that no dividends were paid on 
 such shares. President Jewett claimed that the true 
 meaning of the reorganization plan was that the 
 profits were to be applied to the improvement and 
 additions to the Company's property, so that its 
 earning capacity might be increased, with the intent 
 of enhancing the interests of all holders of obliga- 
 tions, bond and stock, and consequently he was not 
 justified in diverting the profits for the benefit of 
 any one class of creditors. He did, however, recom- 
 mend the payment of the coupons on the income 
 bonds, which was done by order of the Board, made 
 November 30, 1880. The stand taken by Mr. 
 Jewett, however, in the matter of not paying divi- 
 dends, did not tend to lessen the dissatisfaction of 
 the foreign shareholders, and the dissatisfaction in- 
 creased, so that it took the form of such opposition 
 to the Jewett management that the Reorganization 
 Trustees of London, who held a majority of the 
 voting power, resolved to use it against President 
 Jewett at the annual election in 1881. William H. 
 Vanderbilt was offered the Presidency, the English- 
 men being willing to throw the Erie into his hands, 
 and on his refusal to accept the place. Jay Gould 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 263 
 
 was actually solicited to resume the control of Erie 
 that the English stockholders had forced from him 
 in 1872! Mr. Gould declined the offer, time and 
 his remarkable facility having placed him in charge 
 of better things. The opposition was allayed, how- 
 ever, by Mr. Jewett changing his policy, and at the 
 election of 1881 the Jewett ticket was chosen almost 
 unanimously. The Board decided to pay a dividend 
 of 6 per cent, on the preferred stock, and the coupons 
 on income bonds. The new Directory was: Theron 
 R. Butler, Charles Dana, Thomas Dickson, Harri- 
 son Durkee, R. Suydam Grant, Jacob H. Schiff, 
 Solomon S. Guthrie, Hugh J. Jewett, John Taylor 
 Johnston, William Martins, Edwin D. Morgan, Court- 
 landt Parker, Henry G. Stebbins, William L. Strong, 
 of New York; Francis N. Drake, of Corning, N. Y. ; 
 Homer Ramsdell, of Newburgh, N. Y. ; J. Lowber 
 Welsh, of Philadelphia, Pa. Messrs. Schiff, Martins, 
 and Drake succeeded Messrs. James R. Keene, John 
 Frederick Pierson, and James J. Goodwin. 
 
 The year 1882 was marked in the affairs of Erie 
 by a memorable rate war, and by the efforts of the 
 New York Central Railroad Company and its aux- 
 iliary contingent to cripple the Erie by closing to 
 it all connections west of Buffalo and Salamanca. 
 The manner in which these difficulties were met and 
 overcome, handicapped as the Erie was by its nu- 
 merous other harassing troubles, should stand con- 
 spicuously forward as a manifestation by the Jewett 
 regime of extraordinary genius in railway manage- 
 ment. Advantages that the Erie Company enjoys 
 to-day are due, in a large degree, to the alertness, 
 determination, and rare foresight that characterized 
 the men then in Erie, who found themselves pitted 
 against adversaries whose strength and equipment 
 would have discouraged and disheartened lesser men. 
 
 The annual meeting of the stockholders for 1883 
 had some exciting features, and it was evident that a 
 cloud was rising on the horizon of Erie affairs, and 
 that it was likely to gather in proportion and por- 
 tent. Mr. Jewett had the control of affairs still in 
 his hands, but his vote on the proxies he held was 
 challenged by Stockholder Brenkendorf, who came 
 to the front when the question of the approval of 
 the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio lease came 
 up. He charged that the holdings were not in the 
 
 names of their rightful owners. Mr. Jewett was 
 obliged to swear that to the best of his knowledge 
 and belief he was entitled to vote on his proxies. 
 The lease was approved by seven-eighths of the 
 stock and bonds voted. James D. Fish, President 
 of the Marine Bank of New York, which had become 
 the depository of the Erie funds, was elected to the 
 Board, in place of ex-Governor Morgan, who had 
 died during the year. Mr. Jewett, in his statement 
 of the results of the Company's business for the year, 
 said the surplus earnings were $1,265,484.98. The 
 Board of Directors elected was composed of Theron 
 R. Butler, Charles Dana, F. N. Drake, Thomas 
 Dickson, Harrison Durkee, James D. Fish, R. Suy- 
 •dam Grant, James J. Goodwin, Solomon S. Guthrie, 
 Hugh J. Jewett, John Taylor Johnson, Courtlandt 
 Parker, John Frederick Pierson, Homer Ramsdell, 
 Jacob H. Schiff, William L. Strong, and J. Lowber 
 Welsh. 
 
 A dividend of 6 per cent, on the preferred stock 
 was declared, payable in January, 1884. President 
 Jewett, broken in health by his labors, threw them 
 off for the time and went South after the November 
 election. 
 
 rit was evident, early in 1884, that a crisis was im- 
 pending in Erie affairs. The Jewett management 
 had been in control nearly ten years — the longest 
 continuous regime in the history of the Erie — and 
 the wonder was that it had sustained itself so amaz- 
 ingly well. The patient and accommodating Eng- 
 lish share and bondholders had once more become 
 aroused, and in the spring of 1884 they held a meet- 
 ing at London, and sent a committee to this country 
 to investigate the Erie situation, and find out if they 
 could if there was any ground for hope that Erie 
 would ever make any return for all the millions of 
 money that had been delivered over to various of its 
 alluring managements. This committee was T. W. 
 Powell and J. Westlake. 
 
 Rumor was busy all winter long to the effect that 
 the dissatisfaction with the Jewett management, its 
 methods, and the results of its policy was such that 
 its retirement, either voluntary or compulsory, was 
 to come to pass at an early day. The statement was 
 put forward with such positiveness that it had the 
 
264 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 bearing of indisputable fact, that the interest on the 
 second consolidated mortgage bonds, due June ist, 
 would be passed. Early in the spring it was declared 
 on the Street that the Company was borrowing 
 money, or trying to borrow money, on commercial 
 paper, to help it over impending trouble. President 
 Jewett, as late as April, denied the prevailing rumors 
 that the road was in wretched condition ; that the 
 Company was borrowing money on commercial paper 
 at a large discount, or that the management was on 
 the eve of resigning at the demand of dissatisfied 
 stockholders, and declared that the affairs of the 
 Company were in perfectly satisfactory shape; that 
 it had expended nearly $14,000,000 in betterments 
 of its property under his management, and that* 
 " President Jewett and the Board of Directors have 
 no intention of resigning, and they know of no 
 earthly reason why they should be accused of such 
 an intention." 
 
 Perhaps, if an entirely unexpected termination in 
 the career of highly accredited financial concerns had 
 not intervened at this critical time in the affairs of 
 Erie, time might have borne out President Jewett's 
 estimate of his Company's situation and condition ; 
 but the hand of Fate was busy. The fact was that 
 the Company had then applied, or did soon after- 
 ward apply, to the Wall Street firm of Grant & Ward 
 for a large loan on its notes, as security for which 
 11,000 shares of the stock of the Cleveland, Colum- 
 bus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railroad Company 
 were deposited with the firm. Moreover, the Erie 
 had placed with the same firm $1,150,000 of the 
 bonds of the Chicago and Atlantic Railroad Com- 
 pany, to be sold for the Erie's account. Pending 
 these negotiations, on May 6, 1884, the Marine 
 National Bank closed its doors, to the consternation 
 of Wall Street and the entire financial world. This 
 was followed by the immediate failure of Grant & 
 Ward, whose transactions were closely allied to those 
 of the bank; in fact, it was the peculiar transactions 
 of the house of Grant & Ward that carried down the 
 bank. James D. Fish, President of the bank, was a 
 member of the Erie Directory. His bank was also 
 the accredited depository for the Erie funds. In- 
 stantly the direst reports affecting the affairs of the 
 Railroad Company, as connected with these failures, 
 
 were set afloat, one to the effect that the Treasurer 
 of the Company was involved in a compromising 
 way with the transactions of Grant & Ward, through 
 his relations with the Marine Bank as such officer. 
 It was found that Grant & Ward had hypothecated 
 the $1,100,000 of stock deposited with them by the 
 Company; had also negotiated the Company's notes 
 separately, and had hypothecated the Chicago and 
 Atlantic bonds for their own use instead of nego- 
 tiating them for the Erie. 
 
 This was most unfortunate for the Company. It 
 was in need; and although President Jewett and the 
 Directors returned cheering words to all inquirers, 
 and declared that everything was all right, and that 
 disturbing rumors and untoward appearances were 
 misleading. Secretary MacDonough, May 23, 1884, 
 made official public announcement that the Company 
 would not pay the interest on its second consoli- 
 dated mortgage bonds, due June ist. This, he said, 
 was only a temporary postponement, and was made 
 necessary by the great falling off in the earnings for 
 the first half of the year. Under the terms of the 
 reorganization of 1878, payment of Erie bonds could 
 not be enforced for three years after default, which 
 alone kept the Company out of a Receiver's hands 
 in June, 1884. Following closely on the heels of 
 this default, the Company, July 1st, failed to meet 
 the interest on its Car Trust bonds, class G. The 
 Auditing Department, however, made optimistic 
 statements to the public, from which could be 
 evolved the conclusion that Erie, instead of being 
 in hard lines, was actually in excellent form. The 
 fact was, though, that the treasury was empty, and 
 the Company bankrupt. The Erie estate, by the 
 Company's official showing, was $150,311,883.15, 
 although a valuation one-third less than that would 
 have been an extremely liberal one. A prominent 
 holder of Erie securities at this time declared that 
 the Company "owns not more than $90,341,859, and 
 its liabilities are $178,089,495.19. The indebtedness 
 outside of the stock is more than the amount of the 
 assets, and the stock is worthless and the road 
 bankrupt." The truth of the charge was not chal- 
 lenged. 
 
 But in spite of all the disclaimers that the Com- 
 pany was in straits or the management unpopular. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 265 
 
 or that there was any thought or intention of aban- 
 doning its policy or of changing its personnel, July 
 14, 1884, President Jewett placed in the hands of 
 the Board the following letter: 
 
 New York, July 14, 1884. 
 
 To the Board of Directors of the New York, Lake Erie and 
 Western Railroad Company : 
 
 Gentlemen: — Ten years ago this day I was elected Presi- 
 dent of the Erie Railway Company, with the understanding 
 (which was immediately thereafter put in the form of a con- 
 tract) that I was to serve for a term of ten years. 
 
 Upon the dissolution of that company and the organization 
 of this company, that contract, perhaps, became inoperative, 
 but I felt it to be my duty to serve the company for the full 
 time if such service was desired, regardless of any contract 
 obligations, and so advised the members of this Board. I, 
 however, never contemplated a longer official connection with 
 the company. 
 
 For ten years I have devoted my entire time, with all the 
 skill and ability I am possessed of, to the care and management 
 of these companies, to the absolute and entire neglect of my 
 private business and personal interests, looking forward to the 
 end of the ten years when I could return to them, and, to some 
 extent, reinstate them to the condition in which I left them. 
 For some time past I have, with great care and anxiety, been 
 reviewing the details of the improvements, extensions, and 
 management of the properties, interests, and business of the 
 companies since my connection with them, expecting to realize 
 that I had made many mistakes, and fearing that I might find 
 some of a serious and, perhaps, dangerous character. That I 
 have made mistakes there can be no doubt, but I am gratified 
 to find and to be able to say that upon such a careful review of 
 the whole period I can find no transaction of importance that, 
 with the same lights only which were then before me, I would 
 not now repeat. With the same lights and the additional ex- 
 perience I now have, in many instances I would perhaps have 
 advised a different line of action and of policy. If, therefore, 
 there was nothing else involved, and the business of the country 
 was in a happy and prosperous condition (which is all that is 
 necessary to a healthy and prosperous condition of this com- 
 pany), after tendering to you my most sincere thanks for, and 
 unqualified appreciation of, your uniform kindness to and co- 
 operation with me in the discharge of my official duties, I 
 should tender to you my resignation as President of this com- 
 pany. But in view of the disordered and disorganized state of 
 affairs and of business generally, as well as of the business and 
 interests of this company, I can do nothing more at present, 
 therefore, than to place before you the facts and to remain 
 subject to your will and pleasure, with the distinct understand- 
 ing, however, that I cannot consent to a reelection so as to 
 have devolved on me in the future, as in the past, all the duties 
 of supervising and directing the detailed management of the 
 various departments and interests of the company. With the 
 greatest consideration and respect, I remain. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 H. J. Jewett. 
 
 and R. Suydam Grant to take the matter into con- 
 sideration, and to devise some satisfactory plan of 
 action. During their consideration of the subject 
 many men of prominence in railway affairs were 
 mentioned as being men whose services would be 
 desirable as an assistant to Mr. Jewett. John King 
 was at last decided upon as being the one who would 
 be the most likely to meet all the requirements of 
 the case, but the committee did not purpose making 
 any selection at all, unless it could be accompanied 
 by assurances that would relieve the Company from 
 its pressing financial necessities. The following let- 
 ter opened the way for action by the committee : 
 
 New York, August 18, 1884. 
 
 Hon. H. y. Jewett, President New York, Lake Erie and 
 Western Railroad Company : 
 
 Dear Sir: — I am satisfied from representations made to me 
 by Messrs. Powell and Westlake, representsftives of the Euro- 
 pean interests in your company, that if I am elected Assistant 
 President of your company for the time being, with the under- 
 standing that I am to be elected President at the annual meeting 
 in November next, the funds needed to retire the floating debt 
 of the company and to place the company upon a safe financial 
 basis will be furnished, and it is upon this assurance that I 
 consent to accept the position referred to. 
 
 I am, very respectfully yours, etc., 
 
 John King. 
 
 This letter was endorsed as follows: 
 
 We have given Mr. King such assurance as above mentioned. 
 
 T. W. Powell, 
 J. Westlake. 
 
 Thereupon the committee, August 21, 1884, in 
 a resolution unanimously adopted, appointed John 
 King Assistant President of the Company, and to 
 take Mr. Jewett's place as President at an early 
 date, to be determined by Mr. Jewett. The resolu- 
 tion also directed that a contract be made with Mr. 
 Jewett, after his resignation as President, " whereby 
 his counsel, advice, and aid in the management of 
 the affairs of this Company may be secured as Chair- 
 man of the Executive Committee, or otherwise, for 
 the term of one year after such resignation, at his 
 present salary." 
 
 The Board appointed a committee consisting of The report of the English representatives, Messrs. 
 Thomas Dickson, J. Lowber Welsh, Jacob H. Schiff, Powell and Westlake, was published in London, 
 
266 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 September 12th, and its character was such that the 
 Company's second consolidated bonds fell from 59^^ 
 to 56, and there was a great scramble in Wall Street 
 to get rid of holdings in those securities. The float- 
 ing debt of the Company (according to this report), 
 for which immediate funds were necessary, was 
 $4,477,316, and $5,750,000 (Car Trust bonds to be 
 cared for early in the future) could be properly added 
 to that amount. The committee said that the Com- 
 pany's credit had been unable to withstand the strain 
 the Grant & Ward failure put upon it, and that the 
 Company should without delay raise a permanent 
 loan of $5,000,000 on available securities. In com- 
 menting on the condition of Erie affairs, as this report 
 showed them to be, the London Telegraph said : 
 
 Some explanation is wanting regarding the Erie's liability 
 of $5,750,000 for future installments to car trusts, extending 
 to May, 1892. But, anyway, it is difiScult to conceive that the 
 English public, however skillfully approached, will lend another 
 million pounds, or half million, even, with no better guarantee 
 for the future management of the road than the substitution 
 of Mr. King for Mr. Jewett as President. 
 
 The report met with indignant disapproval on the 
 part of the English shareholders, and they con- 
 demned universally the suggestions of the Commit- 
 tee that they come forward to the aid of the Com- 
 pany once more. This did not tend to the benefit 
 of the Jewett influence as a factor in outlining or 
 dictating the future policy of the Company, but as 
 late as the middle of October that influence still 
 aspired to predominance in the management. Octo- 
 ber i6th John King, James A. Raynor, Ogden Mills, 
 and J. G. McCullough were elected Directors to 
 fill vacancies. Mr. Jewett's resignation as President 
 was made as of effect November 1st, and Mr. King 
 was elected to succeed him on that date. Presi- 
 dent Jewett said the Company's prospects were 
 bright, notwithstanding the depressed conditions of 
 business throughout the country. He defended his 
 lease of the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio 
 Railroad, although it had as yet shown no profit- 
 able return to the Company. The future, how- 
 ever, would show the wisdom of the arrangement, 
 he declared. The opposition to the retention of 
 Mr. Jewett as Chairman of the Executive Commit- 
 tee, which had always been held by the President 
 
 of the Company, made itself known as the annual 
 election approached. This opposition was cham- 
 pioned by I. & S. Wormser, the bankers, and they 
 solicited proxies from the foreign stockholders for 
 use at the election, to elect a Directory that would 
 give President King the authority and support it 
 was claimed he was entitled to in the management 
 of the property. The result of this was that Mr. 
 Jewett, before the election came round, notified the 
 Board that he would decline to assume the Chair- 
 manship of the Executive Committee, and wrote 
 President King and others who held voting proxies 
 that he intended to withdraw from the Board and all 
 further connection with the Company, and requested 
 that his name be not presented as a member of the 
 Direction for the coming year. 
 
 According to the last annual report of the Jewett 
 management, which was for the year ending Septem- 
 ber 30, 1884, the result of operations for that year 
 was as follows : 
 
 Gross Earnings $22,715,06097 
 
 Operating Expenses 16,358,077 74 
 
 Net Earnings $6,356,983 23 
 
 Interest, Rentals, etc., paid $5,375,736 18 
 
 Interest passed, June i 1,679,870 00 
 
 Total $7,055,606 18 
 
 Net Earnings 6,356,983 23 
 
 Deficit $698,622 95 
 
 Decrease in Gross Earnings from 
 1883, including the Operations 
 of the New York, Pennsylvania 
 and Ohio Railroad $1,164,811 87 
 
 Increase in Working Expenses. . . 913,494 62 
 
 Decrease in Net Earnings $2,078,306 49 
 
 Decrease in Gross Earnings, ex- 
 clusive of the New York, Penn- 
 sylvania and Ohio Railroad... $2,979,595 49 
 
 Decrease in Working Expenses. . 1,509,362 29 
 
 Decrease in Net Earnings $1,470,233 20 
 
 Gross Earnings of New York, 
 Pennsylvania and Ohio Rail- 
 road, under the Lease $4,018,458 73 
 
 Working Expenses 4,288,739 98 
 
 Loss in Operating the New York, 
 
 Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad $270,281 25 
 
 Stock, Bond, and Trust Obligations. 
 
 Capital Stock, Issued $85,332,000 00 
 
 Funded Debt 75,268,485 10 
 
 Car Trust Obligations, payable in Installments 
 to 1892 5,666,000 00 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 267 
 
 Debts Due and Past Due. 
 
 Loans Payable $2,255,392 94 
 
 Bills Payable 1,053,418 05 
 
 Accrued Interest 2,888,961 25 
 
 Rentals of Leased Lines 410,846 18 
 
 Rent Due New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio 
 
 Railroad 327,604 81 
 
 Pay Rolls, etc 3,582,406 15 
 
 Total $10,518,629 38 
 
 Due the Company from Agents, etc., including 
 
 $355,115-82, cash on hand 9,162,963 09 
 
 Leaving Cash Assets Less than Immediate Lia- 
 
 bilities $1,355,66627 
 
 At the election November 26th not a remnant of 
 what might have been regarded as Jewett influence 
 was perceptible. John King voted on the entire 
 English holding of stock, some $23,000,000. John 
 G. McCullough voted the Park and Mills interests, 
 aggregating $38,000,000. Among the large stock- 
 holders of Erie then were Drexel, Morgan & Co., 
 $1,155,000; Philadelphia Savings Fund Institution, 
 $1,000,000; E. D. Morgan & Co., $650,000; August 
 Belmont, William A. Wheelock, E. E. White, W. 
 B. Dinsmore, and others, holding $200,000 to $500,- 
 000. They all gave their proxies to Wormser & Co. 
 and R. Suydam Grant for the election. The follow- 
 ing Board of Directors was chosen : 
 
 John King; William Whitewright, Chairman of 
 the Executive Committee of the Union Trust Com- 
 pany; J. G. McCullough, President of the Panama 
 Railroad Company; Ogden Mills; William A. 
 Wheelock, of the Central National Bank; W. B. 
 Dinsmore, President of the Adams Express Com- 
 pany; William Libby, formerly of the house of A. T. 
 Stewart; James A. Raynor; George M. Graves, 
 Vice-President of the Bank of the Metropolis ; Henry 
 H. Cook; George W. Quintard, President of the 
 Pennsylvania Coal Company; William N. Gilchrist; 
 Jacob Hayes (all new men) ; William L. Strong, the 
 dry-goods millionaire, and subsequently Mayor of 
 New York; J. Lowber Welsh, of Philadelphia; Court- 
 landt Parker; James J. Goodwin, of Drexel, Morgan 
 &Co. 
 
 The Board met and elected John King President; 
 Charles G. Lincoln, Treasurer, in place of Bird W. 
 Spencer; Edmund S. Bowen, Vice-President; A. R. 
 
 Macdonough, Secretary. Charles G. Barber, Mr. 
 Jewett's chief lieutenant, resigned. Mr. Jewett was 
 not present at the meeting. No resolution of regret 
 that he was severing his long connection with the 
 Company was offered. This was an act of discour- 
 tesy which placed the ending of the Jewett manage- 
 ment in the light of being an enforced one rather 
 than a voluntary retirement, and seemed to be an 
 official and emphatic answer in the negative to the 
 question : Did the Company make a good bargain 
 with Mr. Jewett in securing his services in 1874, on 
 his own terms ? and to stamp with official approval 
 the opinion that events had failed to carry to reali- 
 zation his declaration, made on taking control ten 
 years before, that he had " accepted the Presidency 
 of the Erie Railway Company with the determina- 
 tion, if possible, to place the road on such a basis as 
 will enable it to compete successfully with the other 
 great trunk lines." 
 
 Were these conclusions just ? 
 
 The history of the New York, Lake Erie and 
 Western Railroad Company under President Jewett 
 had been one of advancement toward the ideals 
 other managements had professed but never attained. 
 During the Jewett administration the road was laid 
 with steel rails entire ; the double track was com- 
 pleted between New York and Buffalo ; the gauge 
 was reduced from the unfortunate six foot to the 
 standard; the terminal facilities at Jersey City were 
 enlarged, improved, and to a great extent made 
 new; grain elevators were erected both at Jersey 
 City and Buffalo ; the rolling stock and machinery 
 of the road were brought up to the best standard of 
 excellence then obtainable, with every modern appli- 
 ance, iricluding air-brakes, and gas-lighting of passen- 
 ger trains ; an equable traffic agreemeni with, and what 
 had seemed to be a wise and profitable lease of, the 
 long-coveted Atlantic and Great Western Railroad 
 were secured, that company having been reorganized 
 as the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad 
 Company; new branch connections were obtained; 
 the coal properties of the Company in Pennsylvania 
 were consolidated and fused into the present invalu- 
 able and profitable possessions of the Erie; unde- 
 sirable contracts with outside corporations, such as 
 the Jefferson Car Company and the National Stock 
 
268 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Yard Company, were settled and discontinued to the 
 advantage of the Company, and the Erie generally 
 placed in position, as far as its physical condition 
 was concerned, to compare favorably with the best 
 railroads of the day. More than these. President 
 Jewett had built and put in successful operation a 
 railroad which, in connection with the New York, 
 Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad, gave the Erie an 
 independent line of its own between New York and 
 Chicago. This was the Chicago and Atlantic Rail- 
 road, from Marion, O. It released and relieved the 
 Erie from dependence on rival lines for the courtesy 
 of travel over them, and is to-day the link that 
 makes the Erie Railroad a successful competitor of 
 all the other trunk lines for Chicago business and 
 traffic to and from the great West. He had fought 
 to a successful termination most vexing and harass- 
 ing litigation, thus removing that great obstacle from 
 the path of future managements. 
 
 Were not these things, then, sufficient to warrant 
 his approval by the stockholders, instead of sub- 
 mitting him to implied condemnation ? It would 
 certainly seem so. 
 
 Receiver Jewett, early in his administration, be- 
 came convinced that the Pennsylvania coal lands 
 purchased and leased during the Watson administra- 
 tion, might be made profitable to the Company, if 
 properly handled, instead of being a bad bargain, as 
 he had at first believed and announced. These lands 
 included 8,000 acres in fee, and large tracts in lease- 
 hold and mining right, located in Luzerne (now 
 Lackawanna), Wayne, and Susquehanna counties, 
 and 14,000 acres in fee, and 13,000 acres in mining 
 right, located in Elk and Jefferson counties. The 
 former were anthracite, the latter bituminous coal 
 lands. The anthracite property cost $2,236,663, and 
 the bituminous lands $1,094,029. Two companies 
 had been formed under the laws of Pennsylvania to 
 operate and develop these lands — the Hillside Coal 
 and Iron Company for the anthracite region, and 
 the Northwestern Mining and Exchange Company 
 for the bituminous region. 
 
 In 1875 Receiver Jewett had obtained an order 
 from Judge Westbrook permitting the execution of a 
 contract by which the property of the Erie Railway 
 
 Company in the coal lands in Pennsylvania, known 
 as the stock of the Northwestern Mining and Ex- 
 change Company, might be consolidated with the 
 Shawmut Company, owning lands adjoining and sur- 
 rounding the Erie property, in Elk and Jefferson 
 counties. To effect this a mortgage was to be exe- 
 cuted on the property to secure bonds to the amount 
 of $4,000,000, which were to be disposed of by ex- 
 Judge W. D. Shipman as Trustee. The consoli- 
 dated company was then to be transferred to the 
 Receiver of the Erie Railway Company by the ex- 
 change of 5,000 shares of Northwestern stock for 
 $1,366,667 of the bonds at par, subject to the pay- 
 ment of the balance due on the purchase of the lands 
 of the Northwestern Company, amounting to $544,- 
 000, the Shawmut Company to receive mortgage 
 bonds in payment for its interest in the mortgaged 
 premises. This was to be followed by the consolida- 
 tion of the Buffalo, Bradford and Pittsburg Railroad 
 Company, the Pittsburg, Buffalo and Rochester 
 Railroad Company, and the Brandy Camp Railroad 
 Company, with a capital stock of $4,000,000 in shares 
 of 100 each, 22,900 shares to be delivered to the Erie 
 Railway Company, the consolidated company to 
 guarantee the principal and interest of the $4,000,000 
 bonds of the Northwestern Mining and Exchange 
 Company; the name of the new consolidated com- 
 pany to be the Pennsylvania and Erie Coal and Rail- 
 road Company. The proceeds of the bonds, or a 
 sufficient amount, were to be used in building rail- 
 roads and developing the coal lands in connection 
 with the railroads named. 
 
 The purposes and advantages of this arrangement 
 were to be the obtaining of cheaper coal for the use 
 of the Erie Railway Company, the opening up ^f a 
 rich but then isolated and undeveloped country, and 
 the ultimate production of coal so much greater than 
 the needs of the Company as to create a remunera- 
 tive business in merchantable coal, and the arrange- 
 ments were consummated. 
 
 As no mention was made in any of these negotia- 
 tions of the possibilities or probabilities, as an oil- 
 producing region, of the country the Erie Railway 
 Company was then about to largely control, it is 
 safe to assume that the parties interested were of 
 those who thought lightly, if they thought at all, of 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 269 
 
 the prospects of McKean County, Pa., and the adja- 
 cent districts as a petroleum field, although even 
 then many wells were down at and about Bradford 
 — flowing wells and fair producers — and speculators 
 and operators were flocking thither from all parts of 
 the old oil country in Venango County. Even if 
 the factor of petroleum had not subsequently come 
 in to make the Erie Railway Company's consolidated 
 interests still more valuable. Receiver Jewett's plan 
 of dealing with the coal lands would have been wise 
 and profitable. At the time the arrangement was 
 made, the Buffalo, Bradford and Pittsburg Railroad 
 (Bradford Branch of the Erie) was earning perhaps 
 $2,500 a month. A year later, the receipts from 
 freight and passengers between Bradford and Carrol- 
 ton, at the junction with the main line of the Erie, 
 24 miles, were over $2,500 a day. This was the rail- 
 road that Cornelius Vanderbilt denounced in 1868 as 
 the worthless load that had been foisted upon the 
 Erie to enrich the Directors concerned in organizing 
 it. His allegation was undoubtedly true at the 
 time. The Buffalo, Bradford and Pittsburg Rail- 
 road was but a sorry one. It came into the posses- 
 sion of the men who unloaded it or the Erie Railway 
 Company, in 1867, at a profit of $75,000 apiece to 
 them, although they were Erie Directors, but they 
 would have been glad to have bought it back again 
 in 1876 at many times the amount of the profit they 
 made by disposing of it to the Erie Railway Com- 
 pany. They had builded for the Erie much better 
 than they knew or suspected, otherwise they would 
 have builded for themselves alone. The wonderful 
 oil reservoir from which was poured forth unceas- 
 ingly for more than ten years the yield of petroleum 
 that supplied the world's demand had been tapped, 
 and the Bradford Branch of the Erie became for the 
 time its most valuable collateral property. 
 
 The suits that had been brought against James 
 McHenry by Mr. Jewett as Receiver of the Erie 
 Railway Company, and so continued by him as Presi- 
 dent of the New York, Lake Erie and Western Rail- 
 
 road Company, having passed through all the varied 
 and tedious methods of procedure in the courts of 
 this country, and been decided upon by the English 
 Court of Chancery, invariably against McHenry, 
 were at last passed upon finally April 24, 1883, in 
 the United States District Court at New York, 
 before Judge Coxe and a jury. The ground of the 
 Jewett contention was that McHenry, as an agent 
 of the Erie Railway Company, had, in 1873, 1874, 
 and 1875, sold certain securities on behalf of that 
 Company, and failed to account to it for the pro- 
 ceeds. This was the transaction in the bonds that 
 President Watson had left in London to be dis- 
 posed of, in 1873-74. The jury in the final action 
 before Judge Coxe found for the Company in judg- 
 ment to the amount of $1,406,813.96. This made 
 the aggregate amount of judgment the Company had 
 obtained against McHenry nearly two millions and a 
 half of dollars. The Company held 11,477 shares of 
 the stock of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and 
 Indianapolis Railroad, and 13,000 Atlantic and Great 
 Western extension certificates, representing a like 
 number of the shares of the same stock. These 
 securities were to be turned over to McHenry on 
 satisfaction of the judgment. He submitted various 
 propositions in writing to President Jewett, all of 
 which were declined. He came to this country in 
 the spring of 1884, for the purpose, it was thought, 
 of settling the matter. He did not do so, and was 
 preparing to return to Europe, when, April 9th, 
 Jewett secured an order for his arrest in supplemen- 
 tary proceedings. McHenry then came to terms, and 
 surrendered his claim to the securities, turning them 
 over to the Company at a valuation of $1,500,000. 
 That left $800,000 due on the judgment, which 
 McHenry gave a written agreement to pay, one-half 
 in one year and the balance in two years. The order 
 of arrest was then vacated, and McHenry sailed for 
 home. The litigation had been in the courts more 
 than six years, had virtually ruined McHenry, and 
 had not a little to do with bringing about the bank- 
 ruptcy of Erie. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOHN KING, PRESIDENT, AND JOHN KING AND J. G. McCULLOUGH, 
 
 RECEIVERS— 1884 TO 1895. 
 
 I. Retrenchment and Reform: A Start Toward It — A Stubborn Floating Debt — Ex-President Jewett Resents His Treatment by the 
 King Management, and Erie Once More Dances Attendance on Courts and Lawyers — Another Erie Dividend, and the Last — 
 Cheering Reports of the Prospects, but Doleful Actual Results — Erie Again Tottering Under Its Burden. II. In the Old R6le 
 OF Bankrupt — The Floating Debt Asserts Itself — The Use of Interest Money to Quiet It Compels Default— Receivers Appointed 
 to Take Charge of the Company — The Drexel-Morgan Plan to Rescue It from Its Dilemma — The Plan Opposed as neither 
 Practical nor Just — A New Plan of Reorganization Submitted and Approved — The Efficiency of a $100,000,000 Blanket 
 Mortgage — Sale of the Railroad, and the Forming of a New Corporation — The Erie Railroad Company Arises from the Ruins 
 of the New York and Erie Railroad Company, the Erie Railway Comoany, and the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad 
 Company. 
 
 I. RETRENCHMENT AND REFORM. 
 
 The avowed policy of the new administration was 
 " Retrenchment and Reform." Retrenchment was 
 begun at once by cutting down salaries. Mr. Jewett 
 had been receiving $40,000 a year as President of 
 the Company. Mr. King's salary was fixed at 
 $25,000 a year. Other ofificers were reduced in pay 
 from 30 to 50 per cent. The offices of Assistant to 
 the President and Assistant Secretary were abol- 
 ished. Other changes in the executive and operat- 
 ing departments, all on the score of economy, were 
 made, and much of the luxurious space in the Coal 
 and Iron Exchange Building in Cortlandt Street 
 that the late Executive Department had occupied 
 was abandoned for more modest quarters higher up 
 in the same building. Rigid economy and curtail- 
 ment were enforced in all departments, and it be- 
 came a matter of comment that if Erie could be 
 lifted out of trouble by saving money in running its 
 business, Erie was surely on the high road to ways 
 of pleasantness and peace. 
 
 It soon became evident that Mr. Jewett had de- 
 parted from the Erie fold with no very warm feeling 
 of cordiality toward the new order of things. This 
 was first shown when he vigorously opposed the pro- 
 posed removal of the office of the Chicago and Atlan- 
 tic Railroad Company, of which he was President, 
 from Chicago to New York, by which move, and the 
 removal of the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio 
 
 offices from Cleveland to New York, the new man- 
 agement declared that it could save $50,000 a year. 
 The Grant & Ward notes of the Jewett administra- 
 tion also came to the front early to plague the King 
 management, in a suit brought by Walter S. John- 
 son, Receiver of the Marine National Bank, against 
 the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad 
 Company and the Chicago and Atlantic Railway 
 Company, to recover on thirty notes, made by the 
 latter Company in February and March, 1884, and 
 endorsed by the former. The amount of the notes 
 was $405,000. The Erie management denied liabil- 
 ity for the notes on the ground that its name as 
 endorser was wrongfully used by Treasurer Bird W. 
 Spencer, or some other person, and that no consider- 
 ation had been given for them. The further charge 
 was made that fraud had been committed upon the 
 Company in the issuing of the notes by Grant & 
 Ward to the Marine Bank, and that Bird W. Spencer, 
 James D. Fish, and Grant & Ward acted in collu- 
 sion, Spencer being a director in the bank, and Fish 
 being its President, as well as a member of the firm 
 of Grant & Ward. This suit was subsequently com- 
 promised. The Company paid $310,000, and the 
 hypothecated securities were returned to its treasury 
 by the Marine Bank. 
 
 President King was not satisfied with the arrange- 
 ment ex-President Jewett had made by which he 
 secured the completion and control of the Chicago 
 and Atlantic Railway as a link in the Erie and New 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 271 
 
 York, Pennsylvania and Ohio line to Chicago, and 
 refused to contribute toward the payment of the 
 interest on the $6,500,000 Chicago and Atlantic 
 bonds, according to the agreement made by Jewett 
 between that company, the New York, Lake Erie 
 and Western Railroad Company, and the New York, 
 Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad Company. Jewett, 
 as President of the Chicago and Atlantic Railway 
 Company, charged that President King was divert- 
 ing freight and passenger traffic from that line to 
 other lines. Early in May, 1885, Jewett brought 
 proceedings before' Judge Donahue, in the New York 
 Supreme Court, to compel an accounting from the 
 Erie, and an order was issued by the court direct- 
 ing that Company to keep the agreement with the 
 Chicago and Atlantic. 
 
 Ex-President Jewett also opposed the Erie's efforts 
 to maintain traffic relations with the Cincinnati, 
 Hamilton and Dayton Railroad. In 1882 Mr. 
 Jewett, as President of the New York, Lake Erie 
 and Western Railroad Company, had effected an 
 arrangement by which a transfer of a majority of the 
 stock of the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Rail- 
 road Company was placed in his name, trust certifi- 
 cates being issued to the owners of the stock, on 
 which 3 per cent, semi-annual dividends were guar- 
 anteed by the Erie. The stock was held by Mr. 
 Jewett, subject to a voting proxy as the Erie Direct- 
 ors might decide. The continuance of the relations 
 with the Cincinnati connecting line was extremely 
 desirable to the Erie, but at the annual election in 
 June, 1885, it was evident that the ex-President of 
 Erie, in whose name the stock still remained, in- 
 tended to vote it so that the Erie would be ousted 
 from its relations with that road. The Erie Com- 
 pany took measures to compel him to vote the stock 
 according to the spirit of the contract, but on his 
 behalf a stockholder of the Cincinnati, Hamilton, 
 and Dayton Railroad Company asked for an injunc- 
 tion restraining him from delivering the proxy to the 
 Erie, or to restrain the Cincinnati, Hamilton and 
 Dayton officers from counting the votes if they were 
 so cast. The Superior Court judges before whom 
 the case was argued at Cincinnati, May 26, 1885, 
 decided that the contracts under which the stock was 
 obtained for the Erie in 1882 were invalid, and that 
 
 the proxies could neither be voted by ex-President 
 Jewett nor by the Erie. 
 
 The Buffalo and Southwestern Railroad Company 
 began suit against the Erie, February 6, 1885, claim- 
 ing that the interest on a mortgage for $1,500,000, 
 which had been guaranteed by the Erie in return for 
 the lease of that railroad, had been permitted to go 
 to default, January ist. The complaint charged 
 that the Erie was insolvent, and had been so since 
 the first of the year, and demanded that the Com- 
 pany be enjoined from using its gross receipts until 
 the amount of interest, $345,000, was paid. 
 
 In the fall of 1885 the haunting floating debt began 
 to be troublesome, and in November of that year 
 the Company negotiated a loan on the pledge of the 
 Long Dock property to pay the floating debt, by 
 funding the coupons of the second consolidated 
 mortgage bonds and the second consolidated funded 
 coupon bonds, of June and December, 1884, June, 
 1885, and June, 1886, into a 5 per cent, gold bond 
 due in 1969. 
 
 According to the first annual report of the King 
 management, the earnings of the railroad for the year 
 had fallen short of the expenses $1,376,943.55. The 
 burden of bonded debt was telling severely on the 
 capacity of the property to sustain it, the outlay for 
 interest alone having been nearly as much as the net 
 earnings, which were $4,587,055.98. The working 
 expenses showed a decrease over 1884 of $2,010,- 
 561.01. There was a decrease of $692,301.36 on the 
 net earnings. 
 
 As Trustee under the agreement between the Erie 
 and the Chicago and Atlantic Railroad Company, 
 ex-President Jewett held control of the latter Com- 
 pany, and the feeling between him and the new Erie 
 management made the relations of the two roads 
 anything but pleasant. President King was desirous 
 that the Chicago and Atlantic should pass to the 
 control of his management, as that railroad was his 
 only outlet to Chicago in direct connection with the 
 Erie. The terms of the lease of the New York, 
 Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad to the Erie he 
 charged were so onerous that they could not be 
 maintained without loss to the Erie. On this ground 
 he twice had the terms modified. March 5, 1886, 
 determined to bring about the removal of Jewett 
 
272 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 from the control of the Chicago and Atlantic Rail- 
 road if possible, President King had recourse to the 
 courts. On that day the Farmers' Loan and Trust 
 Company of New York asked for the appointment of 
 a Receiver for the Chicago and Atlantic Company 
 before Judge Walter Q. Gresham, at Chicago, on 
 the ground that the company was in default of inter- 
 est on bonds. The motion was opposed by counsel 
 in the interest of Mr. Jewett. The plaintiff cited 
 the Jewett hostility to the Erie, and declared that he 
 was diverting business from that railroad by using 
 the Chicago and Atlantic against it, although the 
 Chicago line had been built by Erie funds to make 
 it an adjunct of its own as a western outlet. The 
 hypothecating of the $2,500,000 second mortgage 
 bonds of the Chicago and Atlantic Railway Company 
 with Grant & Ward as collateral for a loan, under 
 the Jewett management, was referred to, and the 
 claim was urged that the Western company was 
 indebted to the Erie in that amount, this being 
 before the settlement of the Grant & Ward trans- 
 action. 
 
 April 8, 1886, Judge Gresham decided that Jewett 
 had been made Trustee of the Chicago and Atlantic 
 Railroad Company simply because he was President 
 of the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad 
 Company, and could be relied upon to control the 
 road as the western outlet of the Erie. Judge 
 Gresham held that the holders of the past due and 
 unpaid coupons were entitled to their money, irre- 
 spective of the arrangement between the two com- 
 panies, and that if they were not paid it would 
 become necessary to appoint a Receiver. A Re- 
 ceiver was subsequently appointed, and August 12, 
 1887, the road was sold to the Erie for $6,000,000, 
 and August 31, 1887, the company was reorganized 
 as the Chicago and Erie Railroad Company, with all 
 the stock in possession of the Erie, which gave that 
 Company virtual ownership of the line. S. M. Fel- 
 ton. First Vice-President of the New York, Lake 
 Erie and Western Railroad Company, was elected 
 President of the new company. Eben B. Thomas, 
 Second Vice-President of the Erie, was made Gen- 
 eral Manager. 
 
 The annual Erie report for 1886 showed an in- 
 crease in net earnings of the entire system over those 
 
 of 1885 of $3,915,984.37, and an increase of expenses 
 of $2,041,121.41. The earnings were sufficient to 
 pay expenses and leave a surplus of $14,610.95. 
 Nearly $2,000,000 were expended in work on the 
 road " that should have been done in previous 
 years," the report declared — ballasting, train-sheds, 
 cross-ties (the laying of ties alone costing $708,- 
 193.08); 10,000 tons of steel rails were put down; 
 $450,000 worth of new rolling stock was added ; 
 $214,000 was expended in ballasting. The follow- 
 ing Board of Directors was elected for the ensuing 
 year: 
 
 John King, J. G. McCullough, J. Lowber Welsh, 
 Courtlandt Parker, Henry H. Cook, William Libby, 
 William A. Wheelock, William Whitewright, George 
 W. Quintard, Ogden Mills, William L. Strong, Will- 
 iam B. Dinsmore, Morris K. Jessup, James J. Good- 
 win, William N. Gilchrist, Josiah Belden, Joseph 
 Ogden. 
 
 John King was reelected President; S. M. Felton, 
 First Vice-President; Andrew Donaldson, Third 
 Vice-President ; A. R. Macdonough, Secretary ; Ed- 
 ward White, Treasurer. 
 
 To all outward appearances Erie was sailing 
 smoothly along toward a safe harbor at last. The 
 annual report for 1887 sparkled with statements of 
 increased earnings, increased surplus, increased ton- 
 nage, increased passenger traffic, increased rates, in- 
 creased steel rail-laying, increased equipment quota. 
 The same Board of Directors was elected, the same 
 officers; the same policy prevailed: " Retrenchment 
 and Reform." In 1888, 13,000 tons of new steel rails 
 were laid, and forty-one new locomotives purchased. 
 November 27, 1889, the Board of Directors- — which 
 was the same, except that S. M. Felton, Jr., had 
 succeeded Joseph Ogden, and W. F. Reynolds had 
 taken the place of Director Dinsmore, who died in 
 1888— resolved to resume payment of interest on the 
 Company's income bonds in January, 1890, the first 
 interest that had been paid on them in nine years. 
 January 21, 1890, the Board voted that a dividend 
 of I per cent, on the preferred stock had been earned 
 and was payable for the quarter ending December 31, 
 1889, and would be payable quarterly thereafter. 
 " The time had arrived when extraordinary expendi- 
 tures for improvements and the necessities of the 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 273 
 
 property were no longer necessary." The dividend 
 was made payable February 14, 1890, with the dec- 
 laration by the Board that it was believed that " the 
 dividend could not only be maintained, but grad- 
 ually increased, the property at the same time being 
 kept up in good condition." 
 
 This was the most reassuring news that had come 
 from Erie quarters in many a day. President Jewett 
 had paid some dividends, not many years before, and 
 he had made declarations anent them every bit as 
 rosy as these later ones from his successors. But 
 people had forgotten that. And they knew little 
 about that persistent floating debt that stalked about 
 in Erie's marble halls. The dividend was paid. 
 The year passed. At the annual election of 1890 
 S. M. Felton, Jr., whose rather arbitrary ideas of 
 railroad management, and habit of asserting them, 
 had not met with the approval of some members of 
 the Board, retired as a Director and First Vice-Presi- 
 dent, and was succeeded by Eben B. Thomas, whose 
 practical methods and capacity had made a much 
 different impression on the Directory. President 
 King was reelected. The annual report halted a 
 little. Business had been large, but rates low, due 
 to the action of rival lines. The dividend which- was 
 to have been " payable quarterly" right along, and 
 " gradually increased," was not declared this year, 
 but the Board resolved to pay the interest on the 
 income bonds, January 15, 1891. The dividend was 
 not resumed. It was the last Erie dividend up to 
 date (1898). Disorganization, if not demoralization, 
 of railroad rates continued. The floating debt grew 
 apace. The burden of Erie was slowly but surely 
 getting to be more than it could bear. 
 
 II. IN THE OLD ROLE OF BANKRUPT. 
 
 From early in 1893 the inability of the Company 
 to maintain itself against the effects of continued 
 decrease in earnings, and the pressing demands of 
 creditors whose accounts were past due, had been 
 believed in and talked about by a very confident por- 
 tion of Wall Street, and the ease with which Erie 
 stock yielded to every hostile assault of the bear 
 Element showed that there was nothing back of it to 
 sustain it or to give it stability. The management 
 18 
 
 of the Company, while not admitting that the future 
 was dark, did not deny that difficulties were con- 
 fronting it as a result of the floating debt, which was 
 said to be upward of $6,000,000, an estimate that 
 subsequent revelations proved to be much below the 
 actual fact. Yet as late as March 19, 1893, the New 
 York Times' money article was thus positive in its 
 treatment of a prevailing rumor: 
 
 " An absurd rumor has got into circulation that the Erie is 
 in danger of a receivership. This is nonsense. The company- 
 had a floating debt at the date of its last report of about $S,- 
 000,000, which is probably rather larger now, and doubtless it 
 is experiencing trouble with its paper from the conditions of 
 the money market. That is the extent of its difficulties. In 
 June it has to meet the interest on its $25,000,000 of second 
 consols, but in these bonds there is what might be called an 
 emergency clause, expressly drawn to enable the company to 
 tide over times of difficulty, whereby it is entitled to postpone 
 the payment of six consecutive coupons on the bonds before 
 foreclosure proceedings can be instituted. The company has 
 availed itself of the privilege in the past, the outstanding funded 
 coupons representing the defaulted interest. Previous to this 
 the seconds had declined to 40 or 50." 
 
 June II, 1893, Vice-President Thomas, in denying 
 rumors as to financial troubles of the Erie, said: 
 " The interest due on bonds June 1st was paid, and 
 the interest due July ist is provided for. The Erie 
 is in as good condition financially to meet its obliga- 
 tions as at anytime in the years the present manage- 
 ment has been in charge." 
 
 That Erie was in such " a condition financially" 
 was undoubtedly the exact truth, for at no time 
 within those years had the Company been in any 
 better condition to meet its obligations than it was 
 in June, 1893. The Company was bankrupt de facto 
 when it passed to its new control, and that the time 
 when it must become a bankrupt de jure was held off 
 so long was a striking demonstration of the tact and 
 resourcefulness which the new regime had been able 
 to bring to bear in the management of the Com- 
 pany's unpromising affairs, and in judicious shifting 
 and manipulating of the heavy burdens Erie bore 
 upon its chafed and weary shoulders. But the in- 
 evitable was simply being postponed, and the further 
 postponement could be of but short duration, so 
 short that, July 25, 1893, the Executive Committee 
 of the Board, acting under previous resolutions 
 passed by the full Board, came to the relief of the 
 
74 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 strained situation by deciding to place the Com- 
 pany in tlie hands of Receivers, and the motion for 
 the appointment of them was made before Judge 
 Lacombe, of the United States Circuit Court, the 
 same day. His appointees were President John 
 King and Director John G. McCullough, they hav- 
 ing been selected by the Directors for the task. In 
 explanation and justification of this proceeding, the 
 Board made the following statement : " This measure 
 was taken purely in the interests of the road and its 
 creditors. Within the last few weeks, during the 
 severe money stringency, the floating debt of the 
 Erie (which every one knows has existed for the past 
 few years) became impossible of renewal, and in 
 order to not sacrifice the best interests of the Com- 
 pany, it was decided to place the road in Receivers* 
 hands and preserve the system intact, and preserve 
 and develop the transportation business of the Com- 
 pany. The owners of its securities should not sacri- 
 fice their holdings because of this step. The names 
 of the Directorate of the Erie are a sufficient guar- 
 anty of the honest and intelligent management of 
 the interest committed to their hands." 
 
 The formality necessary to conserve the legal 
 requirements of the proceeding was a complaint 
 entered by Trenor L. Park, in which he set forth 
 that he was a creditor of the Company to the extent 
 of $200,000 in bonds and other securities. Decem- 
 ber I, 1892, to meet a pressing necessity of the Com- 
 pany, he had advanced, on a demand note, $34,000. 
 This the Company was unable to meet. The com- 
 plaint averred, furthermore, that the net earnings 
 of the Company were diverted from their proper 
 channels, and a floating debt of over $5,000,000 had 
 been contracted for improvements, wages, traffic 
 balances, and other expenses. Other creditors were 
 pressing their claims against the Compan)/-, and there 
 was danger of attachments and court proceedings 
 that would prove to be detrimental to the holders of 
 the mortgage bonds if these were not prevented. A 
 large part of the liabilities consisted of loans made 
 by banks, trust companies, and individuals, part of 
 which had been secured by the depositing of col- 
 lateral by the Company, but the depressed state of 
 the stock market had greatl)^ reduced the value of 
 that collateral. Many of the loans were entirely 
 
 unsecured. A large part of the debt was owed to 
 connecting lines, which would withdraw trafific 
 arrangements unless the over-due accounts were 
 settled. The interest on the first mortgage bonds 
 of the Company was to fall due September ist, and 
 December ist the interest on the second mortgage 
 bonds was to be payable. The former amounted to 
 $720,894, and the latter to $1,255,030. Calls for 
 margins were becoming more frequent and more 
 pressing, and to save the collateral deposited, and 
 to prevent the Company from falling into the hands 
 of the creditors, some of whom were by no means 
 friendly to it. Receivers were asked for. 
 
 July 26th the papers in the action were filed in 
 court, and Judge Lacombe approved of the bonds- 
 men, D. O. Mills and J. Lowber Welsh, who quali- 
 fied in $500,000 each as securities for the Receivers. 
 The announcement of the Receivership, although 
 the probability of it had been long discounted, had 
 a disastrous effect in Wall Street, it being quickly 
 followed by a sharp decline in all kinds of railroad 
 securities, although just why Erie's troubles should 
 have caused so general a ".slump " in the market is 
 to this day not exactly clear. It was, to be sure, a 
 time of universal suspicion, and the bears of the 
 Street used it to its full value and reaped their har- 
 vest. That there was no real cause for the alarm 
 that seized holders of railroad stocks was shown by 
 the rapid recovery of the Street from the excitement 
 of the 26th, the tumbling stocks rallying next day 
 to almost the position they held when the news of 
 Erie's fourth failure reached the Street. 
 
 During the succeeding five months the manage- 
 ment bent its efforts toward evolving a plan of re- 
 organization of the finances of the Company, the 
 result of which labor was submitted to the bond and 
 shareholders January 2, 1895. The circular through 
 which it was submitted stated that Drexel, Morgan 
 & Co., of New York, and J. S. Morgan & Co., of 
 London, had agreed to assist in carrying out the 
 plan, which involved the making of a mortgage to 
 run for one hundred years, covering the property of 
 the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad 
 Company, the leasehold of the New York, Pennsyl- 
 vania and Ohio Railroad Company, and the stock of 
 the Chicago and Erie Railroad Company, thus giving 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 275 
 
 control of the entire line between New York and 
 Chicago, and securing bonds limited to the amount 
 of $70,000,000, bearing interest at 5 per cent, from 
 December i, 1893, principal and interest payable in 
 gold. Of this mortgage, $33,597,400 was to be used 
 to acquire the second consolidated mortgage bonds 
 of the reorganization of 1878, conditioned on each 
 depositor of such bonds subscribing and paying in 
 90 per cent, and interest for additional bonds and 
 interest, in the proportion of a $1,000 new bond for 
 each $4,000 of second consolidated bonds deposited; 
 $4,031,400 to acquire the funded coupon bonds of 
 1885, at par, on the same conditions of deposit; 
 $508,008 to acquire the income bonds, at par, each 
 depositor of such bonds to subscribe and pay 90 per 
 cent, and interest for additional bonds of the new 
 issue to the amount of income bonds deposited. Of 
 the proposed new mortgage bonds, $9,915,208 were 
 to be for subscription by depositors of second con- 
 solidated mortgage bonds, funded coupon bonds, and 
 income bonds, as above; $6,512,800 were to be 
 reserved to acquire or provide for the first lien bonds 
 and collateral trust bonds of the reorganization of 
 1878, on such basis as the new mortgage should pro- 
 vide; $15,485,184 were to be specially set apart and 
 used, under proper restrictions, only for construc- 
 tion, equipment, the acquisition of new property 
 and betterments, etc., to an extent not exceeding 
 $1,000,000 in any one year, except that the bonds 
 thus reserved might be further used in any year to 
 the extent of $500,000 if necessary, in order to 
 acquire existing Car Trust liens; the second consol- 
 idated and funded coupon bonds of 1885 to be kept 
 alive, when acquired, and deposited with the Trus- 
 tee, who was to hold them as long as might be 
 deemed necessary for the protection of the new 
 bonds. 
 
 The circular dwelt particularly on the peculiar 
 terms and conditions of the second consolidated 
 mortgage bonds, which had practically precluded the 
 Company from securing the necessary funds for the 
 expenditures that had confronted it for years in pro- 
 viding for the development of the transportation 
 facilities and the protection of the Company's prop- 
 erty. " It is true," the circular stated, " that the 
 conditions which have confronted the Company were 
 
 contemplated in 1878, when the second consohdated 
 mortgage was created, and, with this in mind, a pro- 
 vision was inserted in it to the effect that no fore- 
 closure rights should accrue to the bondholders 
 unless the Company should default in the payment 
 of six successive coupons. This pecuhar provision 
 has at all times deprived the second mortgage bonds 
 of the market character they would be entitled to 
 under ordinary circumstances, and if the legitimate 
 requirements of the Company had been properly 
 provided for. The necessity of procuring construc- 
 tion funds by defaulting in interest obligations is, 
 of course, discreditable to the Company and disas- 
 trous to its second mortgage bondholders, and the 
 possibility of its recurrence at any time is a constant 
 menace to the latter; but so long as no other means 
 are available, its recurrence is almost a matter of 
 necessity." 
 
 In such a situation it was the unanimous opinion 
 of the Board that such change should be made as 
 would obviate the perplexing difficulties, which they 
 thought might be done by creating a new mortgage 
 to run one hundred years, to acquire outstanding 
 obligations as outlined above. This arrangement, it 
 was claimed, would provide for the floating debt, 
 then nearly $9,000,000, and for the outstanding Car 
 Trust obligations, amounting to $6,000,000, and the 
 fixed charges of the Company would not be in- 
 creased. 
 
 In a circular of even date, Drexel, Morgan & Co. 
 and J. S. Morgan & Co. warmly endorsed the plan 
 (which was but natural, as it had been drawn up 
 from suggestions submitted by them), and urged its 
 prompt acceptance by the holders of the securities 
 affected by the proposed reorganization. 
 
 Analyzed, this reorganization scheme meant that 
 a cash contribution of $9,000,000 was asked, not 
 from the stockholders, but from the second consol- 
 idated mortgage bondholders, to whose rights those 
 of the stockholders were subordinate. These bond- 
 holders were to consent that the interest on their 
 bonds should be reduced from 6 per cent, per annum 
 to 5 per cent., and that their security should be 
 weakened by increasing the total amount secured by 
 their mortgage from $40,000,000 to $70,000,000, of 
 which $70,000,000 they were to receive an amount 
 
276 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 equal to that which they held of the $40,000,000 
 issue, and, besides, were to purchase 22)4. per cent, 
 more at 90 cents on the dollar in cash. The practi- 
 cal result was to have been that the holder of $4,000 
 of the $40,000,000 bonds at 6 per cent, would have 
 paid $900 in cash and become the owner of $S,ooo 
 in bonds of the 5 per cent. $70,000,000 issue, thus 
 receiving as compensation for the $900 an increase 
 of annual income from $240 to $250. 
 j This plan met with prompt opposition from promi- 
 nent holders of Erie securities, or representatives of 
 Erie bondholders. Such capitalists and representa- 
 tives of capitalists as Kuhn, Loeb & Co. ; August 
 Belmont & Co. ; Hallgarten & Co. ; Vermillye & 
 Co.; the United States Trust Company; J. D. 
 Probst & Co. ; Charles J. Peabody, Agent of the 
 Astor Estate; and E. H. Harriman were among 
 these. They suggested, and, in fact, insisted on, 
 material modifications of the reorganization plan, so 
 that it might be more equable and just to those who 
 were to make sacrifices to carry it forward. Jan- 
 uary 30, 1895, these objectors to the plan addressed 
 President King in a letter on the subject. He re- 
 plied, February 5 th, saying that all the points the 
 writers submitted had been fully considered in for- 
 mulating the plan proposed by the Company, and 
 that subsequent consideration had confirmed him in 
 the opinion that the modifications asked for were 
 not for the best interests of the Company. 
 
 Soon afterward a " Protective Committee," con- 
 sisting of E. H. Harriman, Henry Burdge, of Hall- 
 garten & Co., John J. Emery, and Sidney Webster, 
 was appointed by the protesting bondholders to 
 organize and press the opposition to Drexel, Morgan 
 & Co.'s plan of reorganization, and endeavor to 
 secure the desired modifications. The Committee 
 retained Evarts, Choate &. Beaman as their counsel. 
 March ist the Committee addressed a circular to the 
 Company, in which the objections to the reorganiza- 
 tion scheme were set forth as follows : 
 
 First. — That Ijy enlargement of the issue from which the 
 bonds to be exchanged for ours are to be taken it reduces 
 our security by more than one-half. 
 
 Second. — That no proper equivalent is offered for the reduc- 
 tion of interest on our bonds. 
 
 Third. — That the requirement to purchase new bonds at 
 more than their value (being in effect an assessment on the 
 
 bondholder) is an unjust and hitherto unheard of imposition 
 by a debtor upon a secured creditor. 
 
 Fourth. — That if an assessment may be forcibly demanded 
 and collected by a debtor of a second creditor for the preserva- 
 tion of the debtor's property and to keep it in his control, this 
 plan does not go far enough. The contribution demanded is 
 not sufficient to put the company on a sound and interest- 
 paying basis. 
 
 Fifth. — It calls for no effort or sacrifice on the part of the 
 debtor company to preserve its property and redeem it from 
 insolvency. 
 
 Sixth. — The scheme, if successful, would tend to establish 
 a dangerous precedent which would be a discredit to American 
 railroad finance, violating the plain obligations of the contract 
 of security, and tend to increase distrust in all American rail- 
 road securities. 
 
 We also regard as objectionable, considering the relation 
 of the parties, the language of the circular of the company and 
 its bankers, containing an implied threat of punishment to 
 those declining their proposition, and the scant consideration 
 given to suggestions by the bondholders for a modification of 
 the scheme. 
 
 March 6, 1894, in a circular letter to the holders 
 of the bonds to be affected by the proposed reorgan- 
 ization, Drexel, Morgan & Co. gave notice that de- 
 posits of outstanding bonds made after March 21, 
 1894, " if received," would be subject to such pen- 
 alties as they might see fit to thereafter fix. The 
 same day, at a meeting of the stockholders, at which 
 630,000 shares were voted upon (623,000 being voted 
 by President King), the reorganization scheme was 
 ratified. March 14, 1894, Evarts, Choate & Beaman 
 gave their clients a long and exhaustive opinion on 
 the question of the impairment of bondholders' legal 
 rights by the Drexel, Morgan & Co. scheme, hold- 
 ing that the plan was fatally defective in that respect, 
 and could not hold in law. The Protective Com- 
 mittee, on the strength of this opinion, appealed to 
 the bondholders not to deposit their bonds with 
 Drexel, Morgan & Co., under the fear that failure to 
 do so would destroy the life of their securities, but 
 to delay such deposit in the interest of a modified 
 plan. But in spite of these efforts of the oppositioii 
 to show bondholders how onerous the terms of the 
 Erie reorganization plan were to them, by far the 
 larger part of them accepted it and agreed to pay in 
 the $9,000,000 it demanded from them. 
 
 The entire issue of bonds for the new $70,000,000 
 mortgage was printed, and deposited with the 
 Farmers' Loan and Trust Company as Trustee, 
 March 16, 1894. The mortgage was formally re- 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 277 
 
 corded April i8th, but May 30th Drexel, Morgan & 
 Co. announced that owing to opposition to the plan 
 ot reorganization the new bonds would not issue 
 xintil certain legal questions were settled. June 19, 
 1894, John J. Emery, for himself and other bond- 
 liolders, through James C. Carter, Charles C. Bea- 
 man, and Charles B. Atterbury as counsel, sought 
 an injunction from Judge Ingraham in the Supreme 
 Court, Chambers, to restrain the issue of the bonds, 
 which motion was denied. 
 
 But an obstacle more difificult to overcome than 
 injunctions or tedious law-suits had intervened to 
 ^discredit the reorganization plan, bring about its 
 -eventual abandonment for another, and spare the 
 :second consolidated mortgage bondholders the sac- 
 rifice demanded from them. The interest on the 
 bonds in default being only $2,400,000 a year, and 
 that on the proposed new issue being $3,500,000, it 
 Avas inevitable, unless the business of the road greatly 
 improved, that a default on the new bonds should 
 •speedily take place. Such default was actually made 
 on the first coupon of the issue. It has never been 
 iigured out yet how it was expected that a road 
 that could not earn enough to pay an obligation of 
 $2,400,000 could start in, under even more depress- 
 ing circumstances, and earn enough to pay a debt 
 more than a million dollars greater than that amount. 
 
 Recognizing the danger that beset their plan 
 through this default on the very threshold of its 
 •existence, Drexel, Morgan & Co. issued a circular, 
 December 10, 1894, in which they announced that 
 unless depositors of bonds, according to the require- 
 Tnents of the reorganization plan, would consent to 
 "waive payment of the June and December coupons 
 until the earnings of the road after December i, 
 1894, were sufificient to pay them, the plan would 
 have to be abandoned. No call had been made for 
 subscriptions, and $32,000,000 out of $38,000,000 of 
 the second consolidated mortgage bondholders had 
 deposited their bonds as requested. A majority of 
 the bondholders had acceded even to the making of 
 this additional sacrifice by April, 1895, but yet the 
 stability of things did not seem to be of a character 
 calculated to assure the future of either the reorgan- 
 ization plan or the welfare of the Company under it, 
 so a new plan was subjected to the processes of evo- 
 
 lution. It was fashioned into form August 26, 1895. 
 This reorganization scheme proposed to consolidate, 
 in the ownership of a single new corporation, there- 
 after to be created, the properties belonging to the 
 New York, Lake Erie and Western, the New York, 
 Pennsylvania and Ohio, and the Chicago and Erie 
 Railroad Companies, and forming a continuous line 
 of railroad from New York to Chicago, with numer- 
 ous branches. Upon this consolidated line and its 
 branches the new corporation was to place a mort- 
 gage for $175,000,000, bearing interest at the rate of 
 4 per cent, per annum, of which $35,000,000 was to 
 be prior in lien to the remaining $140,000,000, called 
 general lien bonds. The corporation was to have 
 common stock to the amount of $100,000,000, first 
 preferred stock to the amount of $30,000,000, and 
 second preferred stock to the amount of $16,000,000. 
 The common stock, the preferred stock, the $35,000,- 
 000 prior lien bonds, and $30,000,000 of the $140,- 
 000,000 general lien bonds were to be issued at once, 
 leaving $110,000,000 of the general lien bonds to 
 take up unmatured existing mortgage bonds and to 
 provide for improvements. 
 
 To supply the ready money needed to carry out 
 the scheme, the Erie stockholders were called upon 
 to contribute $12 per share on the common stock 
 and $8 per share on the preferred, making in all 
 $10,000,000, besides which $15,000,000 of the prior 
 lien bonds were to be sold to a syndicate at 95, 
 yielding $14,250,000 more. 
 
 According to the figures given by the Company in 
 the promotion of this plan, the annual fixed charges 
 of the new company for the rentals and the interest 
 left undisturbed by the proposed reorganization were 
 these: 
 
 Interest on Bonds of the Erie System Proper $2,112,727 
 
 Rental on Leases of that System 1,699,188 
 
 Interest and Rentals of the New York, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and Ohio System 1,261,019 
 
 Interest and Rentals of the Chicago and Erie Rail- 
 road Company 615,000 
 
 Total $5,687,934 
 
 Adding to this the interest at 4 per cent, on the 
 proposed issue of $35,000,000 prior lien bonds, 
 amounting to $1,400,000, and of 3 per cent, on 
 $29,433,000 general lien bonds, amounting to 
 
7 
 
 8 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 ^82,990, made a total of $7,970,924. For the year 
 the net earnings of the separate properties of which 
 1894 the new consolidated system was to be com- 
 posed were but $7,400,000, which left a deficiency of 
 $570,924 to be made up out of increased net earn- 
 ings in the future. 
 
 In the circular submitting this plan it was an- 
 nounced that the net earnings of the properties were 
 for several years prior to 1893-94 sufficient, on an 
 average, to pay not only the proposed fixed charges, 
 but also to leave a surplus of $1,500,000 for the 
 stockholders. The Company candidly admitted, 
 however, that nearly the whole of this $1,500,000 
 was derived from trackage paid by the Lehigh Valley 
 Railroad Company, which income ceased in 1892. 
 The estimate of fixed charges under the new plan 
 being $7,850,000 per annum, to pay this the net 
 earnings would have not only to equal those of 
 1893-94, but exceed them by $450,000. 
 
 This plan was entered into subsequent to the de- 
 cree of foreclosure sale of the New York, Lake Erie 
 and Western Railroad property, \\hich decree issued 
 from the Circuit Court of the United States for the 
 Southern District of New York, August 21, 1895. 
 Under the plan, upward of 750,000 shares of the 
 common and 82,000 of the preferred stock were 
 deposited with the Reorganization Committee, 
 Charles H. Coster, Louis Fitzgerald, and Anthony 
 J. Thomas, who also held upward of $32,700,000 of 
 the second consolidated bonds of 1878, upward of 
 $3,700,000 of the funded coupon 5 per cent, bonds 
 of 1885, and upward of $475,000 of the income 
 bonds. The actual assessment on the stock to be 
 deposited was $18 a share on the common and $12 
 on the preferred, a deduction of $6 per share on the 
 former and $4 on the latter being allowed if shares 
 were deposited on or before September 20, 1895, 
 and the assessments paid in four equal installments 
 on September 20, October 21, November 21, and 
 December 23, 1895. 
 
 The new plan was received with general favor. In 
 the first place, warned by the failure of the plan of 
 January, 1894, wherein new bonds were rated at 
 higher figures than their intrinsic merits justified, 
 the committee had made a more thorough examina- 
 tion into all the affairs — great and small — of the Erie, 
 
 and arranged their plan accordingly. Then, in order 
 to justify the severity with which the junior bonds 
 and shares of the old system were to be treated, the 
 Committee found itself obliged to make a confession 
 which, no doubt, it was loath to put in print — that 
 the alleged surpluses shown in the annual reports for 
 the five years previous to 1894 were at least twice as 
 large as the actual earning capacity of the Company. 
 
 This was the second time the truth had been 
 bluntly told about Erie, the first being the memor- 
 able uncovering of the Company's true condition by 
 President Jewett in the spring of 1875. 
 
 That feature of the Erie plan which contemplated 
 one organization to control all the lines and proper- 
 ties was heartily commended. Any one who had 
 followed the train of vicissitudes that had attended 
 the Erie's efforts to compete with rival lines by de- 
 pendence on the uncertain tenure of traffic arrange- 
 ments with alien lines, and the fleeting advantages 
 of leases of connecting lines, or control of them by 
 dickering for their stock, could see at once that such 
 a consummation as this could not fail to add greatly 
 to the efficiency of the system as a whole. The new 
 plan also provided several millions of new capital for 
 pressing improvements, a thing from whose lack the 
 Erie had suffered from its earliest days. 
 
 The road was sold under foreclosure November 6, 
 1895, for $20,000,000. Francis Lynde Stetson, rep- 
 resenting the purchasers, Charles H. Coster, Louis 
 Fitzgerald, and Anthony J. Thomas; and David 
 McCIure, representing the Farmers' Loan and Trust 
 Company, appeared before Judge Lacombe, in the 
 United States Circuit Court, November 9th, and 
 asked for a confirmation of the sale. William Wal- 
 lace MacFarland, representing the New York, Penn- 
 sylvania and Ohio Railroad Company, interposed a 
 formal objection on the ground that he did not think 
 the court had jurisdiction to foreclose the mortgage. 
 November nth Judge Lacombe dismissed the objec- 
 tion, and confirmed the sale. The New York, Lake 
 Erie and Western Railroad Company, which had 
 been comprehensive only in name, ceased to be, and 
 the Erie Railroad Company, its great scope being in 
 no sense represented by its title, succeeded to the 
 demesne, rights, titles, and franchises of the old Com- 
 pany, and to rights, titles, and franchises in efforts 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 279 
 
 to secure which various of the new Company's pre- 
 decessors had called up many troubles to sorely 
 plague them. 
 
 The plan of readjusting and reorganizing the Com- 
 pany was in the hands of Charles H. Coster, Louis 
 Fitzgerald, and Anthony J. Thomas. They had 
 wide discretionary powers. The certificate of incor- 
 poration of the Erie Railroad Company was filed in 
 the ofifice of Secretary of State John Palmer, at 
 Albany, N. Y., November 14, 1895. The incor- 
 porators or temporary directors named were Temple 
 Bowdoin, Charles H. Coster, J. H. Emanuel, Jr., 
 A. H. Gilland, A. B. Hopper, Thomas W. Joyce, 
 Walters. Kermeys, J. P. Morgan, Jr., Francis Lynde 
 Stetson, Mortimer F. Smith, W. T. Townsend, 
 J. H. Tierney, and E. B. Thomas. The capital 
 stock of the Company, as fixed by the plan of reor- 
 ganization, was $146,000,000, divided into 300,000 
 shares of non-cumulative 4 per cent, first preferred 
 stock ; 16,000 shares of non-cumulative 4 per cent, 
 second preferred stock; and 1,000,000 shares of com- 
 mon stock, each class being of a par value of $100 
 per share. The first preferred stock had the prior- 
 call for dividends (non-cumulative) at the rate of 
 4 per cent, per annum, beginning with June 30, 
 1896, out of the undivided net profits of the Com- 
 pany, whenever, in the opinion of the Board of 
 Directors, a dividend might be declared. The sec- 
 ond preferred stock was entitled to no dividend, 
 •except when there should remain a surplus undi- 
 vided net profit after a dividend on the first pre- 
 ferred stock had been paid. Dividends on the com- 
 mon stock were payable out of the surplus only that 
 might remain after both the preferred stocks had 
 been paid full dividends from the profits of any 
 fiscal year. 
 
 Under the plan of reorganization a mortgage or 
 trust deed was given to secure two series of bonds, 
 Icnown respectively as prior lien bonds and general 
 lien bonds. The authorized issue of the former 
 series was $35,000,000, bearing interest at 4 per 
 ■cent., and of the latter issue $140,000,000, with in- 
 terest at 3 per cent, until July i, 1896, and 4 per 
 -cent, thereafter, interest and principal of both series 
 to be paid in gold, the life of the mortgage being 
 one hundred years, or until January, 1996. The 
 
 prior lien bonds, as their name indicates, had priority 
 over the general lien bonds in regard to payment of 
 principal and interest, and the rights of their holders 
 could not be affected by foreclosure of the lien of 
 the general lien bonds. 
 
 Out of the $35,000,000 of prior lien bonds, 
 $15,000,000 were issued at once, and the proceeds, 
 together with the cash received from assessments of 
 stock, used for reorganization purposes and for taking 
 up outstanding obligations of the New York, Lake 
 Erie and Western Railroad Company, as follows: 
 
 Reorganization First Lien Bonds, issued under 
 the Mortgage of October S, 1878 (Principal) $2,500,000 
 
 Collateral Trust Bonds, secured by Trust Deed of 
 
 November i, 1882 (Principal) 3,344,000 
 
 Equipment Trust Obligations to mature within 
 three years, estimated at (Principal) 2,000,000 
 
 Any Floating Indebtedness of that Company or the 
 Chicago and Erie Railroad Company, or any 
 Company in its System, and any Certificates and 
 other Indebtedness of the Receivers of the New 
 York, Lake Erie, and Western Railroad Com- 
 pany, estimated at 11,500,000 
 
 The balance of the issue of prior lien bonds was 
 reserved for use as follows : $14,400,000 for the pur- 
 chase of the railroad and property of the New York, 
 Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad Company, subject 
 to a mortgage of $8,000,000; $5,000,000 for the 
 enlargement and improvement of terminal facilities 
 at Jersey City, Buffalo, and elsewhere; reducing 
 grades; constructing double track, and purchasing 
 additional equipment. The cost of the Nypano 
 (which has come to be the official designation of the 
 New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad) involved 
 an annual fixed charge of $1,741,386, which, in the 
 light of the average net earnings of that road since 
 1885 ($1,811,758), was not an unwise responsibility 
 to assume. 
 
 From the total of the general lien bonds, $30,927,- 
 000 were issued at once for reorganization purposes. 
 Of the remainder, $79,918,000 were reserved to take 
 up at or before maturity outstanding bonds of the 
 New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad Com- 
 pany, the Chicago and Erie Railroad Company, and 
 the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad 
 Company, and of other lines, lands, and properties 
 in which the Company was interested, as lessee or 
 
28o 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 stockholder; $8,636,000 to acquire the stock of com- 
 panies subsidiary to the Erie system; $4,092,000 
 to take up equipment bonds and trust certificates, 
 notes, or obligations; $17,000,000 for new construc- 
 tion, betterments, equipment, and acquisition of 
 new property along lines leased or controlled by the 
 Company, or in which it was interested as a holder 
 of a majority of stock, not over $1,000,000 of the 
 reserved bonds to be thus used in any one year after 
 January i, 1898. This new mortgage specifically 
 provides that all outstanding divisional liens (except 
 the New York and Erie first mortgage bonds of 1845, 
 which might be extended at maturity, and which 
 were extended. May i, 1897, for forty years), must 
 be paid at maturity and cancelled, or acquired and 
 pledged, or cancelled and renewal bonds pledged, 
 under the mortgage, thus in time making the prior 
 lien bonds an absolute first mortgage, either by 
 direct lien or through collateral trust, on the entire 
 consolidated properties, except on the Buffalo and 
 Southwestern Railroad, on which there is a lien not 
 intended to be retired by the general lien bonds, and 
 on which those bonds will be a mortgage subject to 
 the prior lien bonds. The mortgage (or more prop- 
 erly, the mortgage deed) is substantially a first lien, 
 either by mortgage or by collateral trust, upon the 
 Company's principal coal properties, upon its water 
 transportation lines (including valuable terminal prop- 
 erties appurtenant thereto), and upon its valuable 
 local railroads in New Jersey and near Buffalo; a 
 second lien (subject only to some of the divisional 
 mortgages) upon the remaining coal properties; upon 
 the terminals at Jersey City; upon the Buffalo, New 
 York and Erie Railroad; upon the Buffalo terminal 
 properties, other than those upon which it is a first 
 lien; and upon the entire line from Salamanca, 
 N. Y. , to Chicago; and a second consolidated mort- 
 gage upon the lines of the original New York and 
 Erie Railroad Company, between Piermont and Dun- 
 kirk. 
 
 The denomination of the bonds issued under this 
 mortgage is $1,000 each. The Company is obligated 
 to the payment of all taxes, present or future, on 
 the bonds. 
 
 Following is a list of bonds and stocks pledged 
 under the mortgage: 
 
 Bonds. 
 
 Stock. 
 
 Name of Company. 
 
 Total 
 Capital. 
 
 Amount 
 Pledged. 
 
 Basis of 
 
 Ex. i o£ 
 
 Par, 
 
 Arnot & Pine Creek RR 
 
 $255,000 
 
 200,000 
 
 40,000 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 2,286,400 
 
 250,000 
 
 950,000 
 
 100,000 
 
 3,000,000 
 
 19,100 
 
 90,200 
 
 96,190 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 2,095,450 
 
 800,000 
 
 122,200 
 
 150,000 
 
 250,000 
 
 145,750 
 
 604,400 
 
 500,000 
 250,000 
 100,000 
 405,800 
 433,350 
 
 500,000 
 189,700 
 391,200 
 1 ,000,000 
 150,000 
 
 $255,000 
 
 200,000 
 
 40,000 
 
 1 ,000,000 
 
 2,189,000 
 
 125,000 
 
 823,000 
 
 100,000 
 
 
 Bergen & Dundee RR 
 
 Blossburg Coal Co 
 
 
 Buffalo, Brad ford & Pittsb'g RR. 
 Buffalo Creek RR 
 
 10 
 
 Buffalo, N. Y. & Erie RR 
 
 Chicago & Erie RR 
 
 150' 
 
 Cleveland & Mahoning Vy. RR. 
 Conesus Lake RR 
 
 225 
 
 18,750 
 61,000 
 
 Elmira State Line RR 
 
 Goshen & Deckertown RR. . . . 
 
 100 
 
 70- 
 
 Hillside Coal & Iron Co 
 
 Jefferson RR 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 2,095,450 
 
 800,000 
 
 80,000 
 
 Long Dock Co 
 
 Middletown & Crawford RR.. . 
 Montgomery & Erie RR 
 
 20 
 70 
 
 10 
 
 Newark & Hudson RR 
 
 Newcastle & Shenango Vy. RR. 
 
 250,000 
 
 N. Y., L. E. & W. Docks & Im- 
 provement Co 
 
 604,400 
 
 500,000 
 250,000 
 100,000 
 
 
 Northwestern Mining & Ex- 
 change Co 
 
 
 Paterson, Newark & N. Y. RR. 
 Pavonia Ferry Co 
 
 
 Rochester&Genesee Valley RR. 
 Sharon Ry 
 
 lOO- 
 
 125 
 
 Suspension Bridge & Erie Junc- 
 tion RR 
 
 499,200 
 189,700 
 390,900 
 1,000,000 
 150,000 
 
 Tioga RR., preferred 
 
 
 Tioga RR., common 
 
 10- 
 
 Union Steamboat Co 
 
 
 Union Dry Dock Co 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 $17,294,340 
 
 $12,722,700 
 
 
 
 
 All of the companies named above whose stocks 
 are not pledged as collateral under this mortgage^ 
 are secured to the Erie by long leases. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 281 
 
 All classes of stock in the new corporation are 
 vested in Voting Trustees, who are to hold it, under 
 a trust agreement with the Committee, for five years, 
 and for such further period as may elapse before a 
 4 per cent, cash dividend is paid on the first pre- 
 ferred stock, the trust to be terminated, however, at 
 the discretion of the Trustees, they to issue stock 
 trust certificates entitling registered holders to re- 
 ceive stock certificates for the number of shares 
 stated in the trust certificates, and payments to the 
 amount of dividends collected by the Voting Trus- 
 tees upon those shares, which are, with all voting 
 powers and other interest, to remain vested in the 
 Voting Trustees until the shares shall become deliv- 
 erable according to the provisions of the stock trust 
 certificates. Registered owners of prior lien or gen- 
 eral lien bonds without coupons, or registered coupon 
 bonds, or persons in whose names coupon bonds 
 stood registered within one year prior to the date of 
 a meeting, have the right to vote after the termina- 
 tion of the Voting Trust, one bond of $1,000 entitling 
 the holder to the same vote as ten shares of stock. 
 The Voting Trustees named under the plan were J. 
 Pierpont Morgan, Louis Fitzgerald, and Sir Charles 
 Tennant, Bart., and they are still in office (1898). 
 
 None of the $5,000,000 prior lien nor of the 
 $17,000,000 general lien bonds reserved for construc- 
 tion requirements was used. Of the fund received 
 from the Reorganization Committee for early con- 
 struction requirements and improvements, amount- 
 ing to $4,343,850.13, to which was added the pro- 
 ceeds of $383,000 of New York and Greenwood Lake 
 prior lien 5 per cent, bonds received from the Com- 
 mittee ($363,850), making total cash received $4,707,- 
 700.13, there was expended for construction and 
 equipment and old Car Trusts $3,467,036.39, leaving 
 still available $1,210,663.74 in cash. 
 
 The Reorganization Committee submitted their 
 final account to the Board early in 1896, which, after 
 examination, was approved and accepted. The bal- 
 ance turned over to the Company by the Commit- 
 tee far exceeded the expectation of the Board, 
 and amounted to $8,469,163.35, consisting as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 Cash $4,343,850 13 
 
 Securities for Construction Purposes 2,750,655 22 
 
 Securities for General Use 55,732 00 
 
 Securities held in Trust to be Pledged under the 
 
 First Consolidated Mortgage Deed 1,318,926 00 
 
 Total $8,469,163 35 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF EBEN B. THOMAS— 1895 TO 1899. 
 
 I Erie Made Equal to the Burden: Strengthened by Consolidation — End of the Atlantic and Great Western-New York, Penn- 
 sylvania and Ohio Corporation, the Long-Time Disturber of the Erie's Peace and Prosperity — A Policy of Actual Betterment of 
 the Road, to the Full Limit of the Company's Resources for that Purpose, Proving Its Wisdom — P'or the First Time in Its 
 History, Erie Pays as It Goes — Development Beyond Wildest Dreams of the Fathers — To What the Forty-six Miles of Railroad 
 of 1 841 Have Grown. II. But at What Cost: What the Rehabilitated Erie Owes after All Its Years of Tribulation — $300,- 
 000,000 of Debt Represented by Its Stocks and Bonds — And Erie Became Bankrupt Once Because It Could Not Pay $40,000 It 
 Owed for Interest. 
 
 I. MADE EQUAL TO THE BURDEN. 
 
 The new Erie Railroad Company took possession 
 of its property and assumed its operation Decem- 
 ber I, 1895, with the following organization: 
 
 Officers. — E. B. Thomas, President; W. F. Mer- 
 rill, Second Vice-President; A. Donaldson, Third 
 Vice-President; G. G. Cochran, Fourth Vice-Presi- 
 dent; J. A. Middleton, Secretary; Edward White, 
 Treasurer; J. T. Wann, Auditor. 
 
 Directors. — Charles H. Coster, James J. Goodwin, 
 Abram S. Hewitt, Darius O. Mills, Alexander E. 
 Orr, George W. Quintard, Samuel Spencer, Francis 
 Lynde Stetson, E. B. Thomas, New York; John G. 
 McCuUough, Vermont; J. Lowber Welsh, Philadel- 
 phia; Samuel E. Williamson, Cleveland, O. One 
 vacancy. 
 
 President Thomas, being a man of action, not 
 words, made no public proclamation of his inten- 
 tions, his hopes, or his fears as to the future of Erie. 
 As a matter of fact, the author, in his search through 
 the newspapers of that time for some expression of 
 opinion by the new President of Erie on the subject, 
 found that the aid of the newspaper interviewer in 
 shaping the policy of the Company, and formulating 
 measures for its welfare and success, was not forth- 
 coming, something almost without precedent in the 
 later history of Erie. If President Thomas felt that 
 he had undertaken a mighty task, and one whose 
 grave portent bade him hesitate and ask for prayer- 
 ful guidance, he kept the knowledge to himself and 
 went to work. He has been quietly at work three 
 
 years. Chronicles of the affairs of Erie have filled 
 scarcely a column's space in any newspaper in all 
 that time. In court corridors and chambers, where 
 erstwhile in the one it had become a byword and in 
 the other a monopolizer of the dockets, the name 
 of Erie has gradually grown less and less famil- 
 iar, until now it is but a memory. Legislative halls 
 have not rung with indignant eloquence provoked 
 by Erie's alleged transgressions, nor conscienceless 
 lobbyists swarmed, like unclean birds of prey, to 
 share, as of old, loot from Erie's helpless treasury. 
 The long-fostered policy of temporizing with disaster 
 was cast aside three years ago. The knife was thrust 
 in to the root of the evil that held Erie prone under 
 its spell. Behold the result. 
 
 The work of consolidation was pushed steadily and 
 so rapidly that at the submitting of the Company's 
 first annual report, September 15, 1896, which report 
 included only the first seven months of possession, 
 from January i to June 30, 1896, the management 
 was able to state that the following subsidiary lines 
 had been merged into, or otherwise practically con- 
 solidated with, the Erie Railroad : 
 
 " The Buffalo and Southwestern. — The unsatisfac- 
 tory lease to the old Company of this line (based on 
 a percentage of its gross earnings) was assumed by 
 the new Company, the entire capital stock of the 
 Buffalo and Southwestern Company having been 
 previously purchased by the Reorganization Com- 
 mittee, and that company was duly merged into the 
 Erie Company November 19, 1895. In exchange 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 283 
 
 for the capital stock of the Southwestern Company, 
 the Erie issued 1,200 fully-paid shares of its com- 
 mon stock and bonds to the amount of $1,000,000, 
 secured by a second mortgage on the Southwestern 
 Road, bearing S per cent, per annum interest. The 
 road was thus obtained at an annual charge of $50,- 
 000, and interest on its first mortgage of $1,500,000 
 at 6 per cent., or a fixed total annual charge of 
 $140,000, which will in due course be still further 
 reduced by taking up the latter mortgage with the 
 Erie's 4 per cent, general lien bonds." 
 
 The New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad. — 
 The long-conflicting, costly, and harassing relations 
 of the Erie with this railroad were at last set at rest 
 forever by an agreement whereby the Erie should 
 operate the road at a fixed annual rental until it 
 could be sold under foreclosure proceedings and 
 reorganized into the Erie system. " After due pro- 
 ceedings in the courts, the property was sold at pub- 
 lic auction February 25, 1896, and purchased by a 
 committee in behalf of the Erie. Corporations called 
 The Nypano Railroad Company were incorporated 
 under the general law of the States of Ohio and 
 Pennsylvania, and consolidated into one, under the 
 same title, to which was deeded the property of the 
 New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad Com- 
 pany, purchased at the sale. The Nypano Company 
 took the property, subject tp $8,000,000 prior lien 
 bonds, bearing 4)^ per cent, interest, the rentals of 
 the old New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad 
 Company's leased lines, and the outstanding Car 
 Trusts. It issued common capital stock to the 
 amount of $20,000,000, and a mortgage to the 
 amount of $26,000,000, bearing 4 per cent, interest 
 per annum. This entire capital stock, and all the 
 bonds issued under the latter mortgage, are owned 
 by the Erie, and are deposited with the Trustee 
 under the first consolidated mortgage, as additional 
 security. The Erie, therefore, became the owners 
 of the Nypano Railroad Company, and secured a 
 line from Salamanca, N. Y., to Dayton, O., with 
 branches to Youngstown and Cleveland, and in pay- 
 ment therefor issued $14,400,000 of its new prior 
 lien 4 per cent, bonds, $7,960,000 of its first pre- 
 ferred stock, and $16,986,000 of its common stock, 
 receiving in the adjustment $742,320 in cash. Proper 
 
 reservation of Erie's securities was made to retire 
 the liens on the Nypano property as they mature." 
 
 Thus passed out of existence a corporate body 
 which from its birth, more than thirty years before, 
 had been a curse to its projectors, had brought ruin 
 to successive owners, and had been the means of 
 heaping upon the Erie a large portion of that moun- 
 tain of ills under which the Company had staggered 
 so helplessly through a quarter of a century of its 
 career. It was but retributive justice that the Erie 
 should absorb the source of all that evil, and turn it 
 toward its own good at last. 
 
 Lockport and Buffalo Railway. — The Company 
 accepted an assignment of the lease of this road 
 from the Suspension Bridge and Erie Junction Rail- 
 road Company, acquired the ownership of its entire 
 capital stock, and, November 25, 1895, merged it 
 into the Erie Company. The road runs from Lock- 
 port, N. Y., to Tonawanda, N. Y., a distance of 
 i5j{ miles, and is a valuable feeder to the Com- 
 pany's main line. It was subject to a mortgage of 
 $140,000, bearing 7 per cent, interest, which lien 
 was satisfied on maturity, October i, 1897. 
 
 Erie International Railway. — The Erie took a lease 
 of this railroad, and subsequently, becoming the 
 owner of its entire capital stock, merged the Inter- 
 national Company into the Erie Railroad Company 
 November 27, 1895. The Erie International Rail- 
 way Company had no funded debt. The railroad is 
 four miles long, and gives the Erie access to the 
 International Niagara Bridge at Buffalo. 
 
 Suspension Bridge and Erie Junction Railroad. — 
 This railroad forms the Erie's Niagara Falls line, 
 running from East Buffalo, N. Y., to Suspension 
 Bridge, N. Y., a distance of 24 miles, and gives the 
 Erie connection with the Canadian lines. The Erie 
 leased the railroad, acquired the entire capital stock 
 of the company, and merged it into the Erie Rail- 
 road Company April 3, 1896. This railroad is sub- 
 ject to a mortgage of $1,000,000, of which amount 
 $965,000 is held by the public, the balance by the 
 Erie. 
 
 Buffalo, New York and Erie Railroad. — This road 
 extends from Painted Post, N. Y., to Buffalo, N. Y., 
 a distance of 14034^ miles, and gives the Erie the 
 greater part of its Rochester line and secures its 
 
284 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Buffalo terminal. The advisability of acquiring a 
 more absolute title to this property than a leasehold 
 was apparent. The Erie purchased the entire cap- 
 ital stock of this Company, and merged it into the 
 Erie Company April 3, 1896. It has a funded debt 
 of $2,380,000, bearing 7 per cent, interest, and matur- 
 ing June I, 1916. 
 
 The Union Steamboat and Union Dry Dock Com- 
 panies. — The Union Steamboat Company owning 
 the entire capital stock of the Union Dry Dock Com- 
 pany at Buffalo, the latter was merged into the 
 former June 11, 1^96; and, the entire capital stock 
 of the Union Steamboat Company being owned by 
 the Erie, that corporation was merged into the Erie 
 Railroad Company June 30, 1896, thus doing away 
 with the maintenance of two separate corporations 
 and bringing the management of the Lake Line and 
 Dry Dock into the parent Company. 
 
 The Erie also purchased all the stock of the Tioga 
 Railroad Company, excepting six shares, the owners 
 of which could not be found ; all the capital stock of 
 the Arnot and Pine Creek Railroad Company, and 
 about two-thirds of the capital stock of the Elmira 
 State Line Railroad Company. These three roads 
 had formed parts of the Erie system through leases 
 or ownership of stock. By this consolidation the 
 Erie became the absolute owner of those properties, 
 which command sole entry, from the East, to the 
 valuable semi-bituminous coal fields and the great 
 farming and lumber regions of Tioga County, Pa. 
 
 Avon, Geneseo and Mount Morris Railroad. — This 
 railroad, from Avon, N. Y., to Mount Morris, N. Y., 
 a distance of nearly 18 miles, had long served as a 
 feeder to the Erie, and was held under a lease at an 
 annual rental of $13,600, being 6 per cent, upon its 
 capital stock. As the road was being operated at a 
 loss, the new Erie Company decided not to assume 
 the lease unless a material reduction in the rental 
 could be secured, which was accomplished, a new 
 arrangement being effected as follows: Two and a 
 half per cent, upon the capital stock for four years, 
 3 per cent, for the fifth year, and 3^ per cent, there- 
 after. 
 
 The Erie's suburban lines, running almost exclu- 
 sively within the State of New Jersey, had enjoyed 
 so steady a growth that they at times severely taxed 
 
 the facilities of the Erie at the Jersey City terminal. 
 The New York and Greenwood Lake and the New 
 Jersey and New York Railroads, using that terminal 
 as tenants, and the Northern Railroad of New Jersey, 
 operated upon a percentage basis, had paid practi- 
 cally nothing for the valuable terminal facilities they 
 enjoyed. As a remedy for this unequal condition of 
 affairs, the Company declined to assume the North- 
 ern Railroad of New Jersey contract on the reorgan- 
 ization, and notified that company, and the New 
 York and Greenwood Lake Railway and the New 
 Jersey and New York Railroad companies, that they 
 would be required to bear their equitable proportion 
 of the cost of operating the Jersey City terminal. 
 The result has been that all of these roads have 
 passed virtually within the control of the Erie, the 
 Northern Railroad and the New Jersey and New 
 York Railroad by purchase, and the New York and 
 Greenwood Lake Railroad by lease. 
 
 April 28, 1897, an important contract was con- 
 cluded between the Company and the authorities of 
 Jersey City, by which all Erie grade crossings in that 
 city, between the Hudson River and Bergen Tunnel, 
 a distance of i"^ miles, are to be eliminated by the 
 elevation of the tracks of the Company and depres- 
 sion of certain streets. The contract also provides 
 for the construction of two or more additional tracks 
 over or through Bergen Hill, above and adjacent to 
 the present two tracks in the tunnel, also lying within 
 the boundaries of Jersey City. Under the contract 
 the Company began the work November i, 1897. 
 The work is to be completed, as far as the streets 
 east of the tunnel are concerned, on or before Jan- 
 uary I, 1900. A company, called the Penhorn Creek 
 Railroad Company, was organized to execute that 
 part of the agreement relating to the work to be 
 done between the east end of the tunnel and Pen- 
 horn Creek, which latter is the western boundary of 
 Jersey City. This great work of elevating the tracks 
 of the Erie is progressing. 
 
 Work now in progress (1898), looking toward the 
 still further improvement of the line, embraces the 
 laying of third and fourth tracks; eliminating grade 
 crossings at Buffalo; elevating the tracks at Jersey 
 City; erecting new stations and other buildings; lay- 
 ing of 90-pound steel rails, and the further improving 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 285 
 
 of the terminal facilities at Cleveland, the work 
 already completed theie having reduced the cost of 
 handling coal and ore from 67 cents per car to 52 
 cents per car, besides greatly facilitating the loading 
 and unloading of freight. The cost to the Erie of 
 the Buffalo improvements alone will be $750,000. 
 
 In line with its policy of consolidation, the Com- 
 pany, in February, 1898, decided that it would be 
 advisable to go beyond fields that were direct and 
 natural feeders of the Erie main line, and add to the 
 Erie system a property that, owing to the situation 
 of the Company's interests in the anthracite coal 
 regions, and to the importance of certain items of 
 local traffic, notably that of milk, might well be 
 regarded as a property so closely allied to the Erie 
 that a consolidation of its interests with those of that 
 Company would be not only good business policy 
 for the present, but a guarantee of supremacy in a 
 field certain to be sought by competitors at no far 
 distant day. Accordingly, February, 1898, that 
 property was secured to the Erie by the purchase of 
 a large majority of its stock. This property was the 
 New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad and 
 its leased and controlled lines, including the Wilkes- 
 Barre and Eastern Railroad. This railroad system 
 extends from Jersey City to Middletown, N. Y., to 
 Stroudsburg, Pa., thence to Wilkes-Barre, Pa. To 
 purchase this property the Erie's capital stock was 
 increased $26,000,000 by an authorized issue of 
 130,000 shares each of the first preferred and the 
 common stock. 
 
 It was also deemed wise by the Board to strengthen 
 the traffic relations of the Company with the Phila- 
 delphia and Reading System, and a trackage contract 
 was made with the Fall Brook Railroad Company 
 which gives the Erie the use of that road for freight 
 traffic between Corning, N. Y., and Williamsport, 
 Pa., connecting at the latter point with the Phila- 
 delphia and Reading Road, and giving it a through 
 line, under its own control, to and from the West 
 to the Reading territory. This arrangement went 
 into force early in 1897. 
 
 Gross Revenue from Operation $17,017,376 59 
 
 Operating Expenses and Taxes 12,877,423 87 
 
 Net Income from Operation $4,139,952 72 
 
 Income from Securities Owned 55.546 26 
 
 Total Income $4,195,498 98 
 
 Interest and Rentals Paid 4,043,789 55 
 
 Balance— Credit to Profit and Loss $151,709 43 
 
 The second annual report (1897) stated the Income 
 account for that year as follows : 
 
 Gross Revenue from Operation $31,497,030 92 
 
 Operating Expenses and Taxes 23,332,242 58 
 
 Net Income from Operation $8,164,788 34 
 
 Income from Securities Owned, etc 3I3,5I3 3° 
 
 Total Income $8,478,301 64 
 
 Interest and Rentals 8,126,282 -77 
 
 Balance— Credit to Profit and Loss $352,018 87 
 
 The report for 1898 is an exhibit still better: 
 
 Gross Revenue from Operations $33,740,860 16 
 
 Operating Expenses and Taxes 25,438,037 95 
 
 Net Income from Operations $8,302,822 21 
 
 Income from Securities Owned, etc 413,367 59 
 
 Total Income $8,716,189 80 
 
 Interest and Rentals 8,082,273 04 
 
 Leaving a Balance — Credit to Profit and 
 
 Loss— of $633,916 76 
 
 The Company is, therefore, apparently earning its 
 fixed charges with ease, and enough more to leave a 
 handsome surplus. Moreover, the hideous spectre 
 — the floating debt — that haunted for so many years 
 successive managements of Erie, and not only would 
 not down, but steadily grew in hideousness, has been 
 exorcised of its spell at last, and has taken its dis- 
 quieting presence elsewhere. The floating debt has 
 disappeared. At least the last Erie report declared: 
 " The Company has no floating debt." For the 
 first time in its history the Erie is paying as it goes. 
 Out of its own pocket ? Time will tell. 
 
 The report of Erie Railroad Company's income As the result of the reorganization and consolida- 
 
 account for the fiscal year of 1896 made this show- tion under it, this is the stupendous development of 
 ing: the GREATER ERIE: 
 
286 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 MILES OF ROAD OPERATED, JUNE 30, 1898. 
 
 Owned by Erie Railroad Company or Controlled by 
 Ownership of Entire Stock. 
 
 T T-x 1 ^ . T^ . ^^"^ TRACK. 2D TRACK. 
 
 Long Dock Company s Railroad — Passen- 
 ger Station, Jersey City, N. J., to Bridge 
 Creek, Jersey City, N. J 2.561 2.561 
 
 Newark and Hudson Railroad — Bergen 
 Junction, N. J., to Newark, N. J 5.620 4.517 
 
 Paterson, Newark, and New York Rail- 
 road—Newark, N. J., to Paterson, N. J. 11.326 0.606 
 
 Bergen County Railroad — Rutherford 
 Junction, N. J., to Ridgewood Junction, 
 N. J 9.821 9.821 
 
 Arlington Railroad — Newark Junction, 
 N. J., to New York and Greenwood 
 Lake Junction, N.J i. i6o 
 
 Bergen and Dundee Railroad — Garfield, 
 
 N. J., to Passaic, N. J 2.450 
 
 Pierraont, N. Y., to Dunkirk, N. Y 446.636 305.900 
 
 East Portal Bergen Tunnel, Jersey City, 
 N. J., to Junction with New Jersey 
 Junction Railroad Company's Tracks. . .433 .433 
 
 Arden Junction, N. Y., to Vail's Gate 
 Junction, N. Y 12.642 
 
 Greycourt, N. Y., to Newburgh, N. Y. .. . 18.731 6.330 
 
 Jefferson Railroad: 
 
 Honesdale Branch, West Hawley. 
 
 Pa., to Honesdale, Pa 8.180 3-150 
 
 Jefferson Branch, Lanesboro, Pa., to 
 
 Carbondale, Pa 36.510 35.190 
 
 Moosic Mountain and Carbondale Rail- 
 road — Winton, Pa., to Marshwood, Pa. 4,210 
 
 Hornellsville, N. Y., to Buffalo, N. Y 92.161 92.161 
 
 East Buffalo, N. Y., to Suspension Bridge, 
 N. Y 24.010 5.340 
 
 International Junction, N. Y., to Inter- 
 national Bridge, N. Y 4.500 4.500 
 
 Erie and Black Rock Railroad — Black 
 Rock Junction, N. Y., to Black Rock, 
 N. Y 1.140 
 
 Tonawanda, N. Y., to Lockport, N. Y 15.120 
 
 Painted Post, N. Y., to Attica, N. Y. {via 
 Avon) 109.012 
 
 Conesus Lake Railroad — Conesus Lake 
 Junction, N. Y., to Lakeville, N. Y 1.610 
 
 Buffalo Creek Railroad Junction, Buffalo, 
 
 N. Y., to Jamestown, N. Y 66.360 
 
 Erie Breaker, Pa., to Edgerton Breaker, 
 Pa 2.500 
 
 New York, Lake Erie and Western Coal 
 and Railroad Company' s Railroad : 
 
 Main Line, Crawford Junction, Pa., to 
 
 Johnsonburg, Pa 29.920 21.310 
 
 Alton Loop, Alton, Pa., to Riderville 
 
 Junction, Pa 1. 126 
 
 Toby Branch, Brockwayville, Pa., to 
 
 Dagus Mines, Pa 12.000 
 
 Mead Run Branch, Brockport, Pa., to 
 
 Shawmut, Pa 2.100 
 
 Daguscahonda and Elk Branch, 
 Daguscahonda, Pa., to Dagus 
 Mines, Pa 
 
 1ST TRACK. 2D TRACK. 
 
 S-Soo 
 
 Nypano : 
 
 Salamanca, N. Y., to Dayton, O 388.040 
 
 Buchanan Junction, Pa., to Oil City, 
 
 Pa 33-780 
 
 Silver Creek Junction, O., to Coal 
 Mines, O., including both North 
 and South Branches 7-770 
 
 Chicago and Erie Railroad — Marion Junc- 
 tion, O., to Indiana and Illinois State 
 Line, near Hammond, Ind 249.570 
 
 Total 1,606.499 491-819 
 
 Controlled by Ownership of Over a Majority 
 of Stock. 
 
 New York and Greenwood Lake Rail- 
 
 way : 
 
 Main Line, New York and Greenwood 
 Lake Junction, N. J., to Sterling 
 Forest, N. J 
 
 Watchung Railway, Forest Hill, N. J., 
 to Main Street, Orange, N. J 
 
 Caldwell Railway, Caldwell Junction, 
 N. J., to Caldwell, N. J 
 
 Roseland Railway, Caldwell, N. J., to 
 Essex Falls, N. J 
 
 Ringwood Branch, Ringwood Junc- 
 tion, N. J., to Ringwood, N. J 
 
 1ST TRACK, 2D TRACK. 
 
 39.261 
 
 4-163 
 
 4.500 
 
 -947 
 
 2.789 
 
 11.950 
 
 New Jersey and New York Railroad: 
 
 Main Line, New Jersey and New 
 York Junction, N. J., to Nanuet 
 Junction 20.634 
 
 Main Line, Spring Valley, N. Y., to 
 Haverstraw, N. Y 10.905 
 
 Stony Point Branch, Stony Point 
 Junction, N. Y., to Stony Point, 
 N. Y 1.042 
 
 New City Branch, New City Junction, 
 N. Y., to New City, N. Y 4.293 
 
 Middletown and Crawford Railroad — • 
 Crawford Junction, N. Y., to Pine Bush, 
 N. Y 10.220 
 
 Elmira State Line Railroad — State Line 
 Junction, N. Y., to Pennsylvania State 
 Line 6.509 
 
 Tioga Railroad: 
 
 Pennsylvania State Line to Hoytville, 
 
 Pa 51-091 
 
 Tioga Junction, Pa., to Lawrenceville, 
 
 Pa. (State Line) 3.500 
 
 Morris Run Branch, Blossburg to 
 
 Morris, Pa 3.560 
 
 11.050 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 287 
 
 t Buffalo, Bradford and Pittsburgh Rail- 
 road : 
 
 1ST TRACK. 2D TRACK. 
 
 Mam Line, Carrollton, N. Y., to 
 Gilesville, Pa 26.170 
 
 West Branch, Bradford, Pa., to Ter- 
 minus 5.240 
 
 Total 194.824 23.000 
 
 Leased. 
 
 Bridge Creek, 
 Jersey City, 
 N. J., to Suf- 
 fern, N. Y. 
 
 Paterson and Hudson 
 River Railroad, 
 
 Paterson and Ramapo - 
 Railroad, 
 
 Union Railroad, 
 
 IMontgomery and Erie Railroad— Goshen, 
 N. Y., to Montgomery, N. Y 
 
 Goshen and Deckertown Railroad — 
 Goshen, N. Y., to Pine Island, N. Y... 
 
 Pennsylvania Coal Company's Railroad — 
 Hawley Branch, Lackawaxen, Pa., to 
 West Hav(?ley, Pa 
 
 Rochester and Genesee Valley Railroad^ 
 Avon, N. Y., to Rochester, N. Y 
 
 Avon, Geneseo, and Mount Morris Rail- 
 road — Avon, N. Y., to Mount Morris, 
 N. Y 
 
 Cleveland and Mahoning Valley Railway 
 — Cleveland, O., to Pennsylvania State 
 Line, including line from Youngstown, 
 O., to Hazleton, O 
 
 Niles and New Lisbon Railroad — Niles, 
 O., to three miles south of New Lis- 
 bon, O 
 
 Liberty and Vienna Railroad — Mosier, O., 
 to Coal Mines below Vienna, O 
 
 Westerman Railroad — Centre of Mill St., 
 Sharon, Pa., to Pennsylvania State Line 
 
 Sharon Railway — Centre of Mill Street, 
 Sharon, Pa., to Pymatuning, Pa., in- 
 cluding Middlesex Branch from Fer- 
 rona. Pa., to West Middlesex, Pa 
 
 Sharpsville Branch — Boyce, Pa., to Fur- 
 naces at Sharpsville, Pa 
 
 New Castle and Shenango Valley Rail- 
 road, West Middlesex, Pa., to New 
 Castle, Pa '. 
 
 Youngstown and Austintown Railway — 
 Youngstown, O., to Leadville Mines 
 and Branch to Manning and Tippecanoe 
 Shafts 
 
 Canal Branch — Girard, O., to Crab Creek, 
 Youngstown, O 
 
 1ST TRACK, 2D TRACK. 
 
 28.682 28.682 
 
 10.430 
 11.640 
 
 15.610 
 18.401 
 
 17.700 
 
 36-250 
 6.800 
 2.090 
 
 14.790 
 
 1-550 
 16.730 
 
 8.490 
 6.005 
 
 Total 275.978 
 
 Operated Under Agreements. 
 
 80.810 65.760 
 
 94.442 
 
 Trackage Rights. 
 
 1ST TRACK. 2D TRACK, 
 
 Northern Central Railway — Southport 
 
 Junction, N. Y., to State Line Junction, 
 
 N. Y 2.094 
 
 Philadelphia and Erie Railroad, Johnson- 
 burg, Pa., to Brockwayville, Pa 27.760 7.800 
 
 Philadelphia and Erie Railroad, Ridgway, 
 
 Pa., to Daguscahonda, Pa 5.000 
 
 Garnersville Railroad — Miners Creek, N. 
 
 Y., to Garnersville Print Works i.ooo 
 
 Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad — 
 
 Indiana and Illinois State Line, near 
 
 Hammond, Ind., to Dearborn Station, 
 
 Chicago, 111 19-990 19-990 
 
 New Jersey Junction Railroad — Junction 
 
 with New Jersey Junction Railway 
 
 Company's Tracks to Delaware and 
 
 Hudson Canal Company's Docks at 
 
 Weehawken 3.015 3.015 
 
 Fall Brook Railway — Corning, N. Y., to 
 
 Newberry Junction, Pa 109.200 
 
 Total 168.059 30.805 
 
 Recapitulation. 
 
 Owned by Erie Railroad Company, or 
 Controlled by Ownership of Entire 
 
 Stock 1,606.499 
 
 Controlled by Ownership of over a Ma- 
 jority of Stock 194.824 
 
 Leased by Erie Railroad Company 275.978 
 
 Operated Under Agreements 26.050 
 
 Trackage Rights 168.059 
 
 1ST TRACK, 2D TRACK. 
 
 Total 2,271.410 
 
 492.979 
 
 23.000 
 94.442 
 21.540 
 30.805 
 
 662.766 
 
 Northern Railroad of New Jersey — Ber- 
 gen Junction, N. J., to Nyack, N. Y 
 
 1ST TRACK. 2D TRACK. 
 
 26.050 
 
 21.540 
 
 Note. — There are 3.960 miles of third and the same of fourth 
 track on the New York Division, between the western opening 
 of the Bergen Tunnel and Rutherford, N. J. 
 
 II. BUT AT WHAT COST ! 
 
 The Erie, by the heroic treatment of its new pos- 
 sessors, is brought up out of the slough of despond 
 wherein it so long floundered, but at what cost! 
 Upon the broadened and strengthened shoulders of 
 the Company is a burden of more than three hun- 
 dred millions of debt, which the railroad, that was 
 originally to have been placed between the Hudson 
 River and Lake Erie at a cost, " liberally esti- 
 mated," of less than $7,000,000, is, with the aid of 
 its collateral railroads, expected by its creditors to 
 pay, and once this same railroad became a bank- 
 rupt property because the Company could not pay 
 $40,000 due for interest! The cost of Erie's present 
 
288 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 independent position among the great railroads of 
 the world may be thus exhibited: 
 
 March ii, 1898, the Company's, capital stock 
 was increased by 130,000 shares of first preferred 
 stock, and 130,000 shares of common stock, for the 
 purpose of acquiring the ownership of the New 
 York, Susquehanna, and Western Railroad. The 
 greater portion of the authorized increase of the 
 capital stock has been issued and used for the 
 purpose stated, and the total issue now stands as 
 follows : 
 
 Non-cumulative four per cent. First Preferred. . $42,844,000 00 
 Non-cumulative four per cent. Second Preferred 16,000,000 00 
 Common 1 12,246,300 00 
 
 Total Capitalization $171,090,300 00 
 
 The outstanding bonded indebtedness of the Erie 
 Railroad Company, which includes the debts inher- 
 ited from the New York and Erie Railroad Company, 
 the Erie Railway Company, and the New York, Lake 
 Erie and Western Railroad Company, is (June 30, 
 1898) $137,044,100. The list of the mortgages rep- 
 resenting this debt is a long and varied one, and the 
 following grouping of the lot, with a description of 
 the Erie property covered by each mortgage, cannot 
 fail to be of interest to the general reader, as a curi- 
 ous chapter in Erie history, and of great value to the 
 investor and to the railroad financier as a matter of 
 reference. An asterisk (*) indicates that the stock 
 of the Company thus marked is pledged under the 
 first consolidated mortgage, with distinct agreement 
 that the present indebtedness, if any, upon this prop- 
 erty shall not be increased, and at maturity shall be 
 paid off or acquired, and renewal bonds pledged 
 under the first consolidated mortgage, to the end 
 that ultimately said mortgage, either by direct mort- 
 gage or through collateral trust, shall be the first 
 lien on the entire system. 
 
 Erie Railroad Company's ioo-Year First Consolidated 
 Mortgage Deed, Prior lien bonds, $30,000,000. Issue, 
 1895. Principal payable January i, 1996 ; interest, 4 per 
 cent., gold, payable January and July, $1,200,000. De- 
 nomination of bonds, $1,000. General lien bonds, $31,- 
 032,000. Issue, 1895. Principal payable January, I, 1996 ; 
 interest, 4 per cent., gold, payable January and July, 
 $1,241,280. Denomination of bonds, $1,000. 
 
 This mortgage is a first lien upon the Company's 
 principal coal properties, upon its water transporta- 
 tion lines, including valuable terminal properties 
 appurtenant thereto, and upon a number of profit- 
 able local lines in New Jersey and near Buffalo ; a 
 second lien (subject only to some of the divisional 
 mortgages) upon the remaining coal properties and 
 upon the railroads leading to all the coal properties, 
 upon the terminals at Jersey City, upon the Buffalo, 
 New York and Erie Railroad, and the Buffalo ter- 
 minal properties other than those upon which it 
 is a first lien, and upon the entire line from Sala- 
 manca to Chicago, and a second consolidated mort- 
 gage upon the line of the original New York and Erie, 
 between Piermont and Dunkirk. Covered by this 
 mortgage are the following important properties: 
 
 '^The Hillside Coal Company s property. — This com- 
 pany owns in fee 6,614 acres of anthracite coal lands 
 in Lackawanna, Susquehanna, and Wayne counties, 
 Pa. ; 1,960 acres of surface lands, and has mineral 
 rights in 1,566 acres, on which there is no mortgage 
 except this one. Capital stock, $1,000,000, all owned 
 by the Erie. 
 
 *TIie Northwestern Mining and Exchange Com- 
 pany s property. — This company owns in fee 8,520 
 acres of bituminous coal lands, and has mineral rights 
 in 5,654 acres in McKean, Elk, and other Pennsyl- 
 vania counties. The entire capital stock of the com- 
 pany, $500,000, is owned by the Erie. 
 
 "The Blossburg Coal Company s holding of 6,107 
 acres of bituminous coal lands in Pennsylvania. — Tlie 
 capital stock of this company, $1,000,000, is owned 
 by the Erie. 
 
 The leasehold rights in the Paterson and Ramapo 
 and the Paterson and Hudson Railroads, which form 
 the main line of the Erie from Suffern, N. Y., to the 
 east portal, Bergen Tunnel ; all of the stock of the 
 Paterson, Newark and New York and the Newark 
 and Hudson railroads, which form the Newark 
 Branch, and of the Bergen County Railroad (Bergen 
 Short-cut), the Long Dock Company, and the New 
 York, Lake Erie and Western Docks and Improve- 
 ment Company (Weehawken, N. J.), and $1,900,000 
 of the bonds of the New York, Lake Erie and West- 
 ern Coal and Railroad Company, are also pledged 
 under the general mortgage. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 289 
 
 New York and Erie Railroad Company's First Mort- New York and Erie Railroad Company's Fourth Mort- 
 gage, currency, $2,482,000. Issue, 1845. Principal pay- 
 able May, 1937 ; interest, 7 per cent., payable May and 
 November. Covers 446.63 miles of the railroad. Annual 
 interest, $99,280. 
 
 This is the amount still unpaid of the original 
 mortgage for $3,000,000, issued under the enabling 
 act of 1845, by which it was possible to continue the 
 work of constructing the railroad westward from 
 Middletown, N. Y. It is a first mortgage on the 
 main line, Piermont to Dunkirk. The mortgage was 
 extended in 1867 to May, 1897, and in May, 1897, 
 to May, 1937. The interest paid by the Company 
 on this original loan amounts (1898) to more than 
 three times the principal of the debt, and to nearly 
 half as much as the entire cost of building the rail- 
 road from Piermont to Dunkirk, which was, in round 
 numbers, $23,000,000. 
 
 New York and Erie Railroad Company's Second Mort- 
 gage, _§■(;/(?', $2,149,000. Issue, 1849. Principal payable 
 September, 1919 ; interest, 5 per cent., payable March and 
 September. Covers 446.63 miles of railroad. Denomina- 
 tions of bonds, $1,000. Annual interest, $107,450. 
 
 Issued (original amount $4,000,000) to provide 
 funds for continuing the construction of the railroad 
 west of Binghamton, and to purchase rolling stock. 
 It is a second mortgage on the main line, Piermont 
 to Dunkirk. The mortgage was extended in 1859 
 to September, 1919. Interest reduced from 7 to 5 
 per cent., and principal and interest made payable 
 in gold. 
 
 New York and Erie Railroad Company's Third Mort- 
 gage, gold, $4,617,000. Issue, 1853. Principal payable 
 March i, 1923 ; interest, 4i per cent., payable March and 
 September. Covers 446.63 miles of the railroad. Denom- 
 ination of bonds, $1,000. Annual interest, $207,765. 
 
 This is a lien on the main line, Piermont to Dun- 
 kirk. Principal and interest were originally payable 
 in currency. The mortgage was extended in 1883 
 to March, 1923 ; interest reduced from 7 to 41^ per 
 cent., and principal and interest made payable in 
 gold. The original amount of the issue of this loan 
 was $5,200,000, and these bonds were the first ones 
 for which the Company had to borrow money to pay 
 the interest on. 
 19 
 
 gage, ^^/^, $3,926,000. Issue, 1857. Principal payable 
 October i, 1920; interest, 5 percent., payable April and 
 October. Covers 465.36 miles of the railroad. Denom- 
 ination of bonds, $1,000. Annual interest, $146,300. 
 
 A fourth mortgage on the main line, Piermont to 
 Dunkirk; also a first mortgage on the Newburgh 
 Branch, Newburgh to Greycourt, N. Y., and a mort- 
 gage on the leasehold rights in the Union Railroad, 
 Paterson and Ramapo Railroad, Paterson and Hud- 
 son Railroad, and the Long Dock Company, together 
 forming the line from Suffern, N. Y., to Jersey City. 
 The mortgage was extended in 1880 to October, 
 1920; interest reduced from 7 to 5 per cent., and 
 principal and interest made payable in gold. 
 
 New York and Erie Railroad Company's Fifth Mort- 
 gage, gold, $709,500. Issue, 1858. Principal payable 
 June I, 1928 ; interest, 4 per cent., payable June and 
 December. Covers 465.36 miles of railroad. Denomina- 
 tion of bonds, $200 and $1,000. Annual interest, $28,380. 
 
 Fifth mortgage on the main line, second mortgage 
 on the Newburgh Branch, and second mortgage on 
 the leasehold rights in the New Jersey railroads and 
 Long Dock Company. It was extended in 1888 to 
 June, 1928; interest reduced from 7 to 4 per cent., 
 and principal and interest made payable in gold. 
 
 Buffalo Branch First Mortgage, $182,600. Issue, 1861. 
 Principal payable July i, 1931 ; interest, 4 per cent., gold, 
 payable January and July. Covers 60.92 miles of railroad. 
 Denomination of bonds, $200 and $1,000 Annual in- 
 terest, $7,304. 
 
 First mortgage on the Buffalo Branch, from Hor- 
 nellsville, N. Y. , to Attica, N. Y. It was extended 
 in 1891 to July, 1931; interest reduced from 7 to 4 
 percent., and principal and interest made payable in 
 gold. This is balance due on the mortgage issued 
 during the Receivership of Nathaniel Marsh (1859- 
 61) for the purchase of the Buffalo and New York 
 Railroad, to secure a Buffalo connection, the Erie 
 having been hampered by previous arrangements 
 with that company in the running of its trains 
 between Hornellsville and Buffalo. 
 
 Erie Railway Company's First Consolidated Mortgage, 
 $16,891,000. Issue, 1870. Principal payable September, 
 I, 1920 ; interest, 7 per cent., gold, payable March and 
 
290 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 September. Covers 526.28 miles of railroad. Denomina- 
 tion of bonds, $i,cx)0 or ^200. Annual interest, $1,182,- 
 370. 
 
 Sixth mortgage on the main line, third mortgage 
 on the Newburgh branch, and second mortgage on 
 the Buffalo Branch. Also mortgage on leasehold 
 rights in the Union Railroad, Buffalo, New York 
 and Erie Railroad, Buffalo, Bradford and Pittsburg 
 Railroad, Rochester and Genesee Valley Railroad, 
 and the Long Dock Company. Issue was limited to 
 $30,000,000, of which $13,065,000 was reserved to 
 retire the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth mort- 
 gage bonds of the New York and Erie Railroad 
 Company, and the Erie Railway and Buffalo Branch 
 first mortgage bonds. This loan was the famous 
 Gould issue of bonds, wise in its intent, but a good 
 intention belated and fallen on evil times. 
 
 New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad Company's 
 First Consolidated Mortgage Coupon Bonds, 
 $3,699,500. Issue, 1878. Principal payable September, 
 I, 1920; interest, 7 per cent., gold, payable March and 
 September. Covers 526.28 miles of railroad. Denomina- 
 tion of bonds, $1,000. Annual interest, $258,965. 
 
 These bonds are secured by the same property as 
 the above consolidated mortgage, they having been 
 issued to fund coupons from the bonds of that issue, 
 which coupons are held as collateral security. These 
 bonds were provided for in the reorganization plan 
 of 1878. With this included, the total outstanding 
 debt of the Erie under the Erie Railway Company's 
 first consolidated mortgage is $33,663,077. 
 
 Buffalo and Southwestern Railroad Company's First 
 Mortgage, ^(7 /^, $1,500,000. Issue, 1877. Principal pay- 
 able July I, 1908 ; interest, 6 per cent., payable January 
 and July. Covers 66.36 miles of railroad. Denomina- 
 tion of bonds, $50, $100, $500, and $1,000. Annual in- 
 terest, $90,000. 
 
 First mortgage on the above railroad, Buffalo 
 Creek Railroad Junction, Buffalo, to Jamestown, 
 N. Y. 
 
 Erie Railroad Company's Second Mortgage on the 
 Buffalo and Southwestern Railroad, gold, $1,000,- 
 000. Issue, 1895. Principal payable July I, 1908 ; interest, 
 6 per cent., gold, payable January and July. Covers 66.36 
 miles of railroad. Denomination of bonds, $1,000. An- 
 nual interest, $50,000. 
 
 This mortgage covers the same property as the 
 Buffalo and Southwestern first mortgage, and was 
 placed to facilitate and insure consolidation of that 
 railroad with the Erie system in 1895. 
 
 Newburgh and New York Railroad Company's First 
 Mortgage, $250,000. Issue, 1868. Principal payable 
 January I, 1929; interest, 5 per cent., gold, payable Jan- 
 uary and July. Covers 12.64 miles of railroad. Denom- 
 ination of bonds, $1,000. Annual interest, $12,500. 
 
 First mortgage on that railroad, Arden Junction 
 to Vail's Gate Junction, N. Y. Consolidated with 
 Erie in 1895. This railroad is the " Newburgh 
 Short-cut." It was built by a corporation entitled 
 the Newburgh and New York Railroad Company, 
 which was composed of the leading men in control 
 of the Erie in the time of President Berdell and later 
 under the Eldridge and Gould regimes. The rail- 
 road was to be the link that was to bring about the 
 much-vaunted Erie connection with Boston and the 
 East, by means of the railroad then exploited under 
 the name of the Boston, Hartford and Erie, of un- 
 savor)^ memory, and of contact most unfortunate to 
 Erie interests. 
 
 * Bergen County Railroad First Mortgage, $200,000. 
 
 Issue, 1881. Principal payable April I, 1911; interest, 6 
 per cent., payable April and October. Covers 9.82 miles 
 of railroad. Denomination of bonds, $1,000. Annual 
 interest, $12,000. 
 
 First mortgage on that railroad, Rutherford Junc- 
 tion, N. J., to Ridgewood Junction, N. J. Stock 
 $200,000, all owned by the Erie. 
 
 * Buffalo, New York and Erie First Mortgage, $2,380,- 
 
 000. Issue, 1876. Principal payable June i, 1916 ; inter- 
 est, 7 per cent., payable June and December. Covers 
 140.25 miles of railroad. Denomination of bonds, $1,000. 
 Annual interest, $166,600. 
 
 First mortgage on Buffalo, New York and Erie 
 Railroad, Painted Post, N. Y., via Avon, to Buffalo, 
 N. Y. The total capital stock of this Company is 
 $950,000, of which $946,000 is owned by the Erie. 
 This road was leased by the Erie in 1863 for four 
 hundred and ninety years. Rental 7 per cent, on 
 stock, interest on bonds, and $5,000 for organization 
 expenses. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 291 
 
 ♦Chicago and Erie Railroad First Mortgage, $13,000,- 
 000. Issue, 1890. Principal payable May i, 1982 ; inter- 
 est, 5 per cent., gold, payable May and November. Covers 
 249.57 miles of railroad. Denomination of bonds, $1,000. 
 Annual interest, $600,000. 
 
 First mortgage on the Chicago and Erie Railroad, 
 Marion, O., to Illinois-Indiana State line, near Ham- 
 mond, Ind. ; also mortgage on leasehold rights in the 
 Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad, on $1,000,000 
 of capital stock of Chicago and Western Indiana 
 Railroad, and on $240,000 capital stock of the Belt 
 Railway of Chicago, being one-fifth interest in the 
 stock of each of said companies. The entire capital 
 stock of the Chicago and Erie is owned by the Erie. 
 
 Chicago and Atlantic Railway Terminal First Mort- 
 gage, gold, $300,000. Issue, 1888. Principal payable 
 July I, 1918 ; interest, 5 per cent., gold, payable January 
 and July. Denomination of bonds, $1,000. Annual inter- 
 est, $15,000. 
 
 First mortgage on lands situated along the line of 
 the Chicago and Erie Railroad, formerly known as 
 Chicago and Atlantic Railroad, in the States of Ohio 
 and Indiana, together with all depots, engines, 
 freight and car-houses, and all other improvements 
 on the lands. 
 
 ♦Jefferson Railroad Company's First Mortgage, $2,- 
 800,000. Issue, 1869. Principal payable January I, 1909 ; 
 interest, 5 per cent., gold, payable April and October. 
 Covers 36.51 miles of railroad. Denomination of bonds, 
 $1,000. Annual interest, $140,000. 
 
 First mortgage on the Jefferson Railroad, Carbon- 
 dale, Pa., to Susquehanna, Pa., 36.51 miles. Entire 
 capital stock $2,095,450, owned by the Erie. 
 
 Jefferson Railroad Company (Honesdale Branch), 
 First Mortgage, $204,000. Issue, 1867. Principal pay- 
 able July I, 1927 ; interest, 4I per cent., payable January 
 and July. Covers 8.18 miles of railroad. Denomination of 
 bonds, $1,000. Annual interest, $9,180. 
 
 First mortgage on above railroad, on Honesdale 
 Branch, Honesdale, Pa., to Hawley, Pa., 8.18 miles. 
 The mortgage was extended in 1887 until 1927; 
 interest reduced from 7 to 4^ per cent. 
 
 Jefferson Railroad Company (Honesdale Branch), 
 Second Mortgage, $96,000. Issue, 1869. Principal 
 payable January i, 1929; interest, 6 per cent., payable 
 January and July. Covers 8.18 miles of railroad. Denom- 
 ination of bonds, $1,000. Annual interest, $5,760. 
 
 Second mortgage on same property as above. It 
 was extended in 1889 until 1929; interest reduced 
 from 7 to 6 per cent. 
 
 *Long Dock Company's Consolidated Mortgage, $7,- 
 500,000. Issue, 1885. Principal payable October I, 1935 ; 
 interest, 6 per cent., gold, payable April and October. 
 Denomination of bonds, $1,000. Annual interest, $450,000. 
 
 First mortgage on 577 acres of land and land under 
 water, located at Jersey City, including the tunnel 
 through Bergen Hill, the lands used by the Erie for 
 depot and track purposes, and the strip of land 100 
 feet wide extending from the terminus of the Pater- 
 son and Hudson Railroad at the west portal of the 
 tunnel, to the Hudson River; also mortgage on all 
 buildings constructed or to be constructed, and all 
 tracks, etc. On this property there are about 48 
 miles of track, many large warehouses and docks, 
 ferry slips, passenger depot, machine, boiler, and car 
 repair shops, and other structures. Estimated value 
 of all, $16,000,000. These bonds are redeemable by 
 lot at no, but " only from the proceeds of sale of 
 such lands as may be sold ... as not necessary for 
 the purposes of the Company." Capital stock, 
 $800,000, all of which is owned by the Erie. 
 
 *New York, Lake Erie and Western Docks and Im- 
 provement Company's First Mortgage, $3,396,000. 
 Issue, 1883. Principal payable July i, 1913 ; interest, 6 per 
 cent., payable January and July. Denomination of bonds, 
 $1,000. Annual interest, $203,760. 
 
 First mortgage on 94.17 acres of land and land 
 under water at Weehawken, N. J., having a shore 
 front of 2,558 feet, together with grants and leases 
 from State of all riparian rights in front of property. 
 Original consideration for the lands alone, $2,342,- 
 708. Property situated south of West Shore Rail- 
 way terminals and north of the Delaware and Hud- 
 son Canal Company's terminals. Depth of water, 
 25 feet. Property improved with 8 piers, varying 
 in length from 700 to 1,000 feet, and in width from 
 40 to 100 feet ; also a coal trestle 1,000 feet long, and 
 a cold storage warehouse about 200 feet square, 
 shops, etc. Structures are kept insured for 80 per 
 cent, of value. About 25 miles of railroad track are 
 laid on the property. The mortgage also covers the 
 floating equipment of this Company, consisting of 
 
292 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 ferry-boat, barges, car floats, lighters, etc. This 
 property constitutes the main freight ternainal of the 
 Erie in New York Harbor. The total issue of these 
 bonds was $4,000,000, of which $604,000 and the 
 entire capital stock of the company are owned by 
 the Erie. 
 
 New York, Lake Erie and Western Coal and Rail- 
 road Company's First Mortgage, $1,100,000. Issue, 
 1882. Principal payable May i, 1922 ; interest, 6 percent., 
 payable May and November. Denomination of bonds, 
 $1 ,000. Annual interest, $66,000. 
 
 First mortgage on the main line of the above com- 
 pany's railroad, Crawford Junction, Pa., to Johnson- 
 burgh, Pa., 29.92 miles, and branches 27.72 miles; 
 total, 57.64 miles; also on 14,120 acres of coal lands 
 owned in fee, and the mining rights in 8,057 acres 
 additional. Total issue of bonds, $3,000,000, of 
 which $1,900,000 is owned by the Erie. The e-ntire 
 capital stock, $500,000, is owned by the Northwest- 
 ern Mining and Exchange Company. 
 
 * Suspension Bridge and Erie Junction Railroad Com- 
 pany's First Mortgage, $965,000. Issue, 1870. Prin- 
 cipal payable July i, 1900; interest, 7 per cent., payable 
 January and July. Covers 24.01 miles of railroad. De- 
 nomination of bonds, $1,000. Annual interest, $67,550. 
 
 First mortgage on the above railroad. East Buffalo 
 Junction, N. Y., to Suspension Bridge, N. Y., via 
 Niagara Falls. The total issue of bonds was $1,000,- 
 000, of which $35,000 is owned by the Erie. Of the 
 capital stock, $500,000, all but $8oo is owed by the 
 Erie. 
 
 Elmira and State Line Railroad Company's Mort- 
 gage, $160,000. Issue, 1875. Principal payable October 
 I, 1905 ; interest, 7 per cent., payable April and October. 
 Covers 6.50 miles of railroad. Denomination of bonds, 
 $500 and $1,000. Annual interest, $11,200. 
 
 First mortgage on the Elmira and State Line Rail- 
 road, New York-Pennsylvania State line to Northern 
 Central Railroad Junction, Elmira, N. Y. Principal 
 and interest guaranteed by the Tioga Railroad Com- 
 pany. Leased to that Company in 1876 for nine 
 hundred and ninety-nine years. Stock $90,200, of 
 which $61,000 is owned by the Erie. 
 
 New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad Com- 
 pany's Prior Lien Mortgage, gold, $8,000,000. Issue, 
 1880. Principal payable March i, 1935 ; interest, 4J^ per 
 cent., gold, payable March and September. Covers 429.59 
 miles of railroad. Denomination of bonds, $1,000, or ^200; 
 $500, or j^ioo. Annual interest, $360,000. 
 
 First mortgage on main line of the Nypano, Sala- 
 manca, N. Y., to Dayton, O., 383.04 miles; branches 
 to Oil City, Pa., 33.78 miles, and to Coal Mines, O., 
 "j.-j-j miles. This mortgage matured March, 1895, 
 and was extended forty years, interest being reduced 
 from 6 per cent, to A^yi. per cent. 
 
 * Tioga Railroad Company's First Mortgage, $239,500. 
 Issue, 1852. Principal payable November i, 1915 ; inter- 
 est, 5 per cent., gold, payable May and November. Covers 
 38.89 miles of railroad. Denomination of bonds, $500 and 
 $1,000. Annual interest, $11,975. 
 
 First mortgage on the above railroad, from the 
 coal-beds near Blossburg, Pa., to the northern 
 boundary of Pennsylvania, near Lawrenceville. The 
 mortgage was extended in 1872 until 1915; interest 
 reduced from 7 to 5 per cent. Stock — $391,200 
 common, $189,700 preferred — is all owned by the 
 Erie, except $300 of common. 
 
 Tioga Railroad Company's Tioga Extension First 
 Mortgage, $265,000. Issue, 1875. Principal payable 
 October i, 1905 ; interest, 7 per cent., payable April and 
 October. Covers 6.50 miles of railroad. Denomination of 
 bonds, $1,000. Annual interest, $18,550. 
 
 First mortgage on the Tioga extension, extending 
 from a point on the main line south of Lawrence- 
 ville, Pa., to the terminus of the Elmira and State 
 Line Railroad at the New York-Pennsylvania State 
 line. 
 
 Recapitulating the above summary, the outstand- 
 ing obligations of the Company (June 30, 1898) 
 are : 
 
 Capital stock $171,090,300 
 
 Bonded debt 137,044,100 
 
 Erie total indebtedness $308,134,400 
 
 FIXED CHARGES. 
 
 Following are the sums the Erie must provide for 
 annually, to pay the charges against it, over and 
 above its operating expenses: 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 293 
 
 Interest. 
 
 !New York and Erie Railroad Company First Mort- 
 gage Bonds $99,280 
 
 New York and Erie Railroad Company Second 
 
 Mortgage Bonds 107,450 
 
 New York and Erie Railroad Company Third Mort- 
 gage Bonds 207,765 
 
 New York and Erie Railroad Company Fourth 
 
 Mortgage Bonds 146,300 
 
 New York and Erie Railroad Company Fifth Mort- 
 gage Bonds 28,380 
 
 Buffalo Branch Mortgage Bonds 7,304 
 
 Erie Railway Company First Consolidated Mort- 
 gage Bonds 1,182,370 
 
 New York, Lake Erie, and Western Railroad Com- 
 pany First Consolidated Mortgage Coupon Bonds 258,965 
 
 Erie Railroad Company Prior Lien Bonds 1,200,000 
 
 Erie Railroad Company General Lien Bonds, 3 per 
 cent. Gold, July, 1896, to July, 1898, 4 per cent. 
 
 Gold thereafter 1,241,280 
 
 Newburgh and New York Railroad Bonds 12,500 
 
 Long Dock Company Bonds 450,000 
 
 Buffalo, New York, and Erie Railroad Bonds 166,600 
 
 Honesdale Branch Railroad Bonds 9,i8o 
 
 Honesdale Branch Railroad Bonds 5, 760 
 
 Jefferson Branch Railroad Bonds 140,000 
 
 Bergen County Railroad Bonds 12,000 
 
 New York, Lake Erie, and Western Docks and Im- 
 provement Company Bonds 203,760 
 
 New York, Lake Erie, and Western Coal and Rail- 
 road Company Bonds 66,000 
 
 "Suspension Bridge and Erie Junction Railroad 
 
 Bonds 67,550 
 
 Buffalo and Southwestern Railroad Company First 
 
 Mortgage Bonds 90,000 
 
 Erie Railroad Company, Buffalo and Southwestern 
 
 Division, Second Lien S per cent. Gold Bonds... 50,000 
 
 Tioga Railroad First Mortgage Bonds ii,97S 
 
 Tioga Railroad, Tioga Extension Bonds 18,550 
 
 Elmira State Line Railroad Bonds 11,200 
 
 New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio Railroad Com- 
 pany Prior Lien Bonds 360,000 
 
 Chicago and Erie Railroad First Mortgage Gold 
 
 Bonds 600,000 
 
 •Chicago and Atlantic Railway Terminal Bonds.... 15,000 
 
 Total $6,769,169 
 
 Rentals. 
 
 Union Railroad $3,50000 
 
 Paterson and Ramapo Railroad 26,500 00 
 
 Paterson and Hudson Railroad 48,400 00 
 
 Montgomery and Erie Railroad 16,000 00 
 
 Goshen and Deckertown Railroad 19,035 00 
 
 "Hawley Branch ' 50,000 00 
 
 Rochester and Genesee Valley Railroad 34,oi2 00 
 
 Middletown and Crawford Railroad 10,500 00 
 
 Elmira State Line Railroad. 6,314 00 
 
 New Jersey Junction Railroad 6,001 00 
 
 Avon, Geneseo, and Mount Morris Railroad 5,725 00 
 
 New York and Greenwood Lake Railway 75, 000 00 
 
 Cleveland and Mahoning Valley Railway 525,967 38 
 
 Sharon Railway 37,ioi 00 
 
 Westerman Railroad $4,000 00 
 
 New Castle and Shenango Valley Railroad I5,037 5° 
 
 Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad — 
 
 Estimate 194,955 97 
 
 Total $1,078,048 85 
 
 Interest on Bonds $6,769,169 00 
 
 Rental for Railroads 1,078,048 85 
 
 Other Interest and Rentals.. 235,055 19 
 
 Total Fixed Charges 
 
 1,082,273 04 
 
 Can the Erie earn this appalling sum ? Can it pay 
 this terrible penalty that its misguided past has 
 doomed it to — and live ? 
 
 The annual reports give every assurance that it can. 
 The three of them that have been issued since the 
 formation of the Erie Railroad Company show that 
 the sum has thus far been earned. According to the 
 report for 1898 the net earnings of the railroad and 
 income from other sources (year ending June 30th) 
 were $8,716,189.80, which provided for the fixed 
 charges and left a surplus of more than $633,000. 
 This, then, would seem to demonstrate, beyond dis- 
 pute or cavil, the correctness of the claim of those 
 who pressed the reorganization to success, that the 
 Erie Railroad's earnings would easily be more than 
 its expenses, if the Company were relieved of the 
 incubi that had hampered it for a generation, and 
 the subsidiary lines necessary for the Erie's trafific 
 were changed from a warring, irresponsible group to 
 one uniform system, through a rational, business-like 
 process of consolidation, by which they might be 
 brought under the control and direction of one head. 
 By such a consolidation of the Erie system, the 
 days of loading upon Erie worthless and extravagant 
 leases, the aftermath of corrupt stock-jobbery, and 
 the cost and future responsibility of bad personal 
 undertakings generally, have become, necessarily and 
 happily, a thing of the past. Those plunderings of 
 Erie are represented to-day by not less than $100,- 
 000,000 of her tremendous debt. If the Company 
 and the railroad, conducted on correct principles of 
 business and financiering and of operative manage- 
 ment, can show a surplus above the large sum of 
 fixed charges made necessary by that unrighteous 
 debt, what might not this highway of most unfor- 
 tunate memory have done if it had not fallen into 
 designing hands years and years ago ? 
 
294 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 A STUDY IN THE GROWTH OF ERIE. 
 
 The Railroad was opened to Goshen, N. Y., September sj, 1841. The earnings from that date until December 31, 1841, 
 both inclusive, according to the FIRST Erie Official Report of Earnings, were : 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 FREIGHT. 
 
 PASSENGERS. 
 
 
 
 
 Revenue. 
 
 
 No. Carried. 
 
 Revenue. 
 
 MONTHS OF 
 
 Pounds 
 Westw'd. 
 
 Pounds 
 Eastward. 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Tolls 
 Westw'd. 
 
 Tolls 
 Eastward. 
 
 Total. 
 
 ist 
 Class. 
 
 2d 
 Class. 
 
 Total. 
 
 From Railroad. 
 
 Steamboat 
 
 Total. 
 
 ist Class. 
 
 2d Class. 
 
 BothCla's. 
 
 BothClasses 
 
 September,i84i 
 
 208,620 
 
 53.492 
 
 322,112 
 
 $341.38 
 
 $63.31 
 
 $404.69 
 
 566i 
 
 27 
 
 5934 
 
 $671.59 
 
 $20. 5 1 
 
 $203.26 
 
 $895.36 
 
 October, 1841.. 
 
 1,006,246 
 
 1,394,704 
 
 2,400,950 
 
 1,510.04 
 
 2,044.03 
 
 3,554-64 
 
 3,501 
 
 209i 
 
 3,7I0i 
 
 3,394-23 
 
 113-57 
 
 1,236.40 
 
 4,744-20 
 
 November, 1841 
 
 2,120,830 
 
 2,693,815 
 
 4,814,645 
 
 2,550.61 
 
 3,440.01 
 
 5,996.62 
 
 4,106 
 
 67i 
 
 4,i73i 
 
 3,882.83 
 
 52-33 
 
 1,374-38 
 
 5,249-54 
 
 December, 1841 
 Grand Totals 
 
 2,287,735 
 
 1,732,077 
 
 4,019,817 
 
 2,242.44 
 
 2,325.60 
 
 4,568.04 
 
 3,i49i 
 
 
 3,1491- 
 
 3,022.62 
 
 
 1,243.72 
 
 4,276.34 
 
 5,683,431 
 
 5,874,088 
 
 11,557,519 
 
 $6,645.04 
 
 $7,818.95 
 
 $14,523.99 
 
 11,323 
 
 304 
 
 11,627 
 
 $10,921.77 
 
 $186.31 
 
 $4,057.76 
 
 $15,165.44 
 
 Revenue from 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Freight. . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 14,523-99 
 
 Total Earnings 
 for four months 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 $29,689.43 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 What the Railroad earned for the same period in i8gj, according to the LAST Erie Official Report of Earnings : 
 
 
 Freight. 
 
 Coal. 
 
 Passenger. 
 
 Mail. 
 
 Express. 
 
 Rents and 
 Miscellaneous. 
 
 Total 
 Earnings. 
 
 Last 8 days of 
 
 September, 1897, (averaged). 
 
 October i8q7 
 
 $443,427-20 
 1,715,264.02 
 1,520,021.36 
 1,490,643.65 
 
 $187,423.56 
 848,441.37 
 802,911.00 
 651,653.69 
 
 $163,735.76 
 505,317.51 
 436,720.91 
 453,408.46 
 
 $11,029.60 
 
 38,974-11 
 41,076.43 
 39,760.56 
 
 $12,932.16 
 47,987-98 
 48,114.55 
 48,855.63 
 
 $32,007.52 
 113,307-89 
 107,175.74 
 108,972.57 
 
 $850,578.80 
 3,269,292.88 
 2,956,019.99 
 2,793,294-56 
 
 
 December i8q7 
 
 Total Earnings, four months. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 $9,869,186.23 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (For continuatiott of the Thomas Administration, see '^Addenda," pp. jij, ji6.) 
 
FIGHTING ITS WAY.* 
 
 1832 TO 1850. 
 
 Story of Erie's Long' Struggle in the Legislature for Corporate Existence and Power to Complete the Work it Had Undertaken — The 
 Erie Charter and its Amendments — Who Were the Company's Friends and Who its Enemies — The First Relief Bill — Details of 
 the Legislation Necessary to its Life, to Obtain which the Erie had to Fight in New York and Pennsylvania for Almost a 
 Score of Years — Triumph Came with the General Railroad Law. 
 
 1832. 
 
 Governor Throop's message to the New York State 
 Legislature, read on the assembhng of that body in January, 
 1832, was largely devoted to the new, and what had become 
 the absorbing, subject of railroads. The message was referred 
 to the Committee on Railroads in the Assembly, for consid- 
 eration of so much of it' as related to that particular subject. 
 This was the first railroad committee ever appointed in the 
 Assembly. Its members were Silas M. Stilwell, of New 
 York ; John C. Kemble, of Rensselaer County ; William 
 Se3Tnour, of Albany ; Horace Mack, of Tompkins County ; 
 Aaron Remer, of Yates County. Hundreds of petitions from 
 the locahties interested in the railroad were received by both 
 houses of the Legislature daily, from the opening of the 
 session, and they were referred to the respective committees 
 on railroads. 
 
 February i, Mr. StilweU reported from the Committee on 
 Railroads in the Assembly a bill entitled, " An Act to Incor- 
 porate the New York and Erie Railroad Company," which 
 was referred to the Committee of the Whole. 
 
 March 8th, Myndert Van Schaick, of New York, reported 
 the bill from that committee. The bill was hotly debated 
 tmtil the 13 th, during which time it was changed and amended 
 in various ways. March 19 th the amended act passed the 
 Assembly by a vote of 108 to 2 — the two negative votes 
 being Isaac Vandewater, of Essex County, and John M' Don- 
 ald, of Washington County. 
 
 In the Senate the measure was debated nearly a month, 
 during which time it was still further amended, being finally 
 
 passed April i8th, and adopted by a vote of 23 to 3 — William 
 I. Dodge, of the Fourth District; William Deitz, of the 
 Third, and Alvin Bronson, of the Fifth, voting against it. 
 
 April 19th the Assembly accepted the amended Senate bill, 
 by a vote of 95 to none, and the first ostensible step in the 
 construction of the Erie was taken. The charter was passed. 
 It was signed by Governor Enos Throop April 24th, and be- 
 came a law on that date. 
 
 THE CHARTER. 
 
 An Act to Incorporate the New York and Erie Rail- 
 Road Company. 
 
 The People of the State of New York represented in Senate and 
 Assembly^ do enact as follows : 
 Sec. I. — Samuel Swartwout, Stephen Whitney, Robert White, 
 Cornelius Harsen, Eleazar Lord, Daniel Le Roy, William C. Red- 
 field, Cornelius J. Blauvelt, Jeremiah H. Pierson, William Townsend, 
 Egbert Jansen, Charles Borland, Abram M. Smith, Alpheus Dim- 
 mick, Randall S. Street, John P. Jones, George D. Wickham, Joseph 
 Curtis, John L. Gorham, Joshua Whitney, Christopher Eldridge, 
 James McKinney, James Pumpelly, Charles Pumpelly. John R. 
 Drake, Jonathan Piatt, Luther Gere, Francis A. Bloodgood, Jeremiah 
 S. Beebe, Ebenezer Mack, Ansel St. John, Andrew DeWitt Bruyn, 
 Stephen Tuttle, Lyman Covell, Robert Covell, John Arnot, John 
 Magee, William M. McCay, William S. Hubbell, William Bonham, 
 Arthur H. Erwin, Henry Brother, Philip Church, Samuel King, 
 Walter Bowne, Morgan Lewis, William Paulding, Peter Lorillard, 
 Isaac Lawrence, Jeromus Johnson, John Steward, Jr., Henry 1. Wyc- 
 koff, Richard M. Lawrence, Gideon Lee, John P. Stagg, Nathaniel 
 Weed, Hubert Van Wagenen, David Rogers, John Hone, John G. 
 Coster, Goold Hoyt, Peter 1. Nevius, Robert Buloid, Thomas A. 
 Ronalds, John Haggerty, Elisha Riggs, Benjamin L. Swan, Grant 
 B. Baldwin, William Maxwell, and Darius Bentley, with such other 
 
 * It was not possible, even if it had been desirable, to so group and classify the details of the many procedures, plans, incidents, and 
 collateral events that attended the rise and development of Erie, that their chronicling might accompany the general narrative. While they 
 are part of that narrative, they go to make a story in and by themselves, so I have made this grouping of them with that idea in view, 
 beginning with the first appearance of the Erie project in the Legislature of New York and its reception and treatment there ; follow- 
 ing the enterprise afield, and showing how it struggled to become a railroad ; taking it in the infancy of its railroad life and going 
 forward with it to the full measure of its lusty growth ; showing its comedy and its tragedy ; and rescuing from oblivion the memory 
 of the men and the nature of the measures that made of Erie the pioneer in many of the methods that are standard to this day in 
 the operating of railroads. All this will unfold itself in unbroken narrative by this plan, and in strong individuality, as it could not 
 have done if interpolated in the subject-matter paramount in the general history.— E. H. M. 
 
296 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 persons as shall associate with them for that purpose, are constituted a 
 body corporate and politic, by the name of " The New- York and Erie 
 Rail-Road Company," with power to construct a single, double or 
 treble rail-road or way, from the City of New- York to Lake Erie, 
 commencing at the City of New- York, or at such point in its vicinity 
 as shall be most eligible and convenient therefor, and continue said 
 rail-road through the southern tier of counties, by way of Owego, in 
 the County of Tioga, to the shore of Lake Erie, at some eligible point 
 between the Cattaraugus creek and the Pennsylvania line ; with power 
 to transport, take and carry property and persons upon the same, by 
 the power and force of steam, of animals, or of any mechanical or 
 other power, or of any combination of them, for the term of fifty 
 years from the passage of this act. 
 
 Sec. 2. — If the said corporation hereby created, shall not, within 
 four years from the passage of this act, commence the construction of 
 the said rail-road or way, and spend within one year thereafter, the 
 sum of two hundred thousand dollars thereon, and shall not, within 
 ten years from the passage of this act, construct, finish and put in 
 operation one-fourth part of the said rail-road or way, and shall not, 
 within fifteen years from the passage of this act, construct, finish and 
 put in operation one-half of the said rail-road or way, and shall not, 
 within twenty years from the passage of this act, complete and put in 
 operation the whole of the said rail-road or way, or in the event of a 
 failure by the company to construct the parts of the said rail-road 
 within either of the times above mentioned, then the rights, privileges 
 and powers of the said corporation under this act, shall be null and 
 void. 
 
 Sec. 3. — ^The capital stock of the company shall be ten millions of 
 dollars : which shall be divided into shares of one hundred dollars 
 each ; which shall be deemed personal property, and transferable in 
 such manner as the said corporation shall by by-laws direct. 
 
 Sec. 4. — Walter Bowne, Morgan Lewis, William Paulding, Peter 
 Lorillard, Isaac Lawrence, Jeromus Johnson, John Steward, junior, 
 Henry T. Wyckoff, Nathaniel Weed, Hubert Van Wagenen, David 
 Rogers, Samuel Swartwout, John Hone, John G. Coster, Goold Hoyt, 
 Peter I. Nevius, Robert Buloid, Benjamin L. Swan, Thomas A. 
 Ronalds, John Haggerty, Elisha Riggs, Garret Storm, George Curtis, 
 Richard M. Lawrence, Charles Henry Hall, Robert White, Stephen 
 Whitney, Eleazar Lord, John P. Stagg, Sara'l Alley, Josiah Hedden, 
 Thomas T. Woodruff, Michael Burnham, Gideon Lee and Cornelius 
 Harsen, of New York ; Jeremiah H. Pierson, Cornelius J. Blauvelt, 
 Edward Suffern, John J. Wood and Benjamin Blackledge, of Rock- 
 land ; Selah Reeve, George D. Wickham, Alexander Thompson, 
 Samuel S. Seward, Stacy Beaks and John Hallock, junior, of Orange ; 
 Randall S. Street and John P. Jones, of Sullivan ; John Sudani and 
 John Van Buren, of Ulster ; James G. Elliot, of Greene ; Erastus 
 Root, of Delaware ; Sherman Page, of Otsego ; John C. Clark, of 
 Chenango ; Joshua Whitney, Stephen Weed, Christopher Eldridge 
 and Levi Dimmick, of Broome ; James Pumpelly, Lyman Covell, 
 WiUiara Maxwell, Grant B. Baldwin, Darius Bentley and John Jack- 
 son, of Tioga ; John Magee, Ira Davenport, William H. Bull and 
 William S. Hubbell, of Steuben ; Luther Gere, Andrew D. W. Bruyn 
 and Francis A. Bloodgood, of Tompkins ; Philip Church, of Alle- 
 gany ; Timothy H. Porter and Henry Saxton, of Cattaraugus ; 
 Thomas Campbell, Daniel G. Garnsey, Elial T. Foote, Joseph 
 White, junior, Oliver Lee and Leverett Baker, of Chautauqua, shall be 
 commissioners ; the duly of whom it shall be, within the period of six 
 months after the passing of this act, at some suitable place in the city 
 of New-York, and such other place as they may choose to designate, 
 to open books to receive subscriptions to the capital stock of the said 
 corporation, and twenty days' public notice shall be given by the said 
 commissioners of the time and place of the opening of such books, in 
 one of the public newspapers in each of the said places ; and any five 
 of the said commissioners shall constitute a board to receive subscrip- 
 tions : and as soon as the same shall be subscribed, to give a like 
 notice for a meeting of the stockholders, at such time and place as the 
 
 said commissioners may appoint, to choose seventeen directors ; and 
 such election shall be then and there made by such of the stockholders 
 as shall attend for that purpose, either in person or by lawful proxy ; 
 each share of the capital stock entitling a stockholder to one vote ; and 
 the said commissioners, or such of them as shall attend for such pur- 
 pose, shall be inspectors of the first election of directors of the said 
 corporation, and shall certify, under their hands, the names of those 
 duly elected, and deliver over the subscription books to the said direct- 
 ors. And the time and place of holding the first meeting of directors- 
 shall be fixed by the said commissioners. And the said directors shall 
 have power to appoint an engineer, or engineers, and to cause such 
 examination and surveys for the said rail-road to be made, as may be 
 necessary to the selection of the most advantageous line or lines, for 
 the location of the road : and the said directors shall, after such 
 examinations and surveys shall be made, select, and by certificates 
 under their hands and seals, designate the line, course or way, which 
 they may deem most advantageous for the said rail-road ; one of which 
 certificates shall be filed in the office of the register of the city of New- 
 York, and one in the office of each of the county clerks of the several 
 counties through which the said rail-road or way shall pass ; which line, 
 course or way, so selected and certified, shall be deemed the line, 
 course or way on which the said corporation shall construct, erect, 
 build or make their single, double or treble rail-road or ways, as here- 
 inafter mentioned : the expenses of all such surveys and examinations, 
 and all manner of incidental expenses relating thereto, shall be paid 
 for by the said corporation. 
 
 Sec. 5. — If, within three days after opening the subscription books 
 as aforesaid, a sum exceeding ten millions of dollars shall be sub- 
 scribed, the commissioners, who shall meet for that purpose, shall 
 proceed to apportion the stock among the subscribers, and shall com- 
 plete the apportionment within sixty days after the opening of said 
 subscription ; and any nine of the said commissioners shall constitute 
 a board for the purpose of such distribution, if no more than nine of 
 the said commissioners shall then attend for the purpose of making 
 such distribution ; and if the full amount of capital be not subscribed 
 within three days, as aforesaid, then it shall be the duty of the com- 
 missioners to open the subscription books, from time to time, until 
 the whole amount shall have been subscribed. The commissioners 
 shall receive no subscription, unless five dollars on each share sub- 
 scribed be paid at the time of the subscription. 
 
 Sec. 6. — The company, hereby incorporated, shall first construct, 
 lay down and complete one line or track of rail-road from the city of 
 New-York, or from some point on the western shore of the Hudson 
 River, in the said southern tier of counties unto Lake Erie, and shall 
 convey either passengers or materials thereon, before they shall lay 
 down the rails of any part or portion of the said line or track of the 
 said rail-road. 
 
 Sec. 7. — The said directors to be chosen at such meeting, or at 
 such annual election, shall, as soon as may be after every election, 
 choose out of their own number, one president, and one other person 
 to be vice-president ; and in case of the death, resignation or absence 
 of the president, the vice-president shall preside until the next annual 
 election thereafter, or until another president is chosen ; and in case 
 of the death or resignation of the president or vice-president, or of 
 any director, such vacancy or vacancies may be filled for the 
 remainder of the year wherein they may happen, by the board of 
 directors ; and in case of the absence of the president and vice-presi- 
 dent, the board of directors shall have power to appoint a president 
 pro tempore, who shall have and exercise such powers and functions 
 as the by-laws of the said corporation may provide. 
 
 Sec. 8. — In case it should at any time happen that an election of 
 directors shall not be made on any day, when pursuant to this act, it 
 ought to have been made, the said corporation shall not, for that 
 cause, be deemed to be dissolved ; but such election may be held at 
 any time within sixty days thereafter. 
 
 Sec. 9. — The corporation is hereby empowered to purchase, receive 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 297 
 
 and hold such real estate as may be necessary and convenient in ac- 
 complishing the objects for which this incorporation is granted, and 
 may, by their agents, surveyor and engineers, enter upon and take 
 possession of, and use all such lands and real estate as may be indis- 
 pensable for the construction and maintenance of their single, double 
 or treble rail-road or way, and the accommodations requisite and ap- 
 pertaining thereto : and may also receive, hold and take all such vol- 
 untary grants and donations of land and real estate, as shall be made 
 to the said corporation for the purposes aforesaid, to aid in the 
 construction, maintenance and accommodation of the said single, 
 double or treble rail-road or way ; but all lands or real estate thus 
 entered upon, which are not donations, shall be purchased by the said 
 corporation, of the owner or owners of the same, at a price to be 
 eventually agreed upon between them ; and in case of a disagreement 
 as to price, and before making any portion of said road or said land, 
 the said corporation, or the owner of such land, may apply by petition 
 to the vice-chancellor of the circuit within which such land lies, par- 
 ticularly describing the lands to be appraised, who, upon such appli- 
 cation, shall cause such notice to be given to the other party as he 
 shall deem proper and sufficient, appointing therein the time and 
 place of hearing the parties ; at which time and place, upon proof 
 that the notice directed has been given, the said vice-chancellor shall 
 direct the manner of ascertaining the damages Avhich the owner of 
 such land or real estate will sustain by the occupation thereof by the 
 said corporation ; and the said vice-chancellor shall appoint three 
 competent and disinterested commissioners, who shall be free-holders 
 and residents of the county in which the land described in said peti- 
 tion is situate, and who shall, under the direction of the said vice- 
 chancellor, make appraisements and determine said damages, and 
 report in writing under their hands to the said vice-chancellor, who 
 shall examine the same and hear the parties in relation thereto, if he 
 deem it expedient, and increase or diminish the damages if he shall 
 be satisfied injustice has been done. The report shall contain a 
 minute description of the land appraised. The commissioners shall 
 be allowed three dollars each a day for their services. Upon proof to 
 the vice-chancellor, to be made within thirty days after his determina- 
 tion, of payment to the owner, or of depositing to the credit of the 
 owner, in such incorporated monied institution as the said vice-chan- 
 cellor shall direct, of the amount of said damages and the payment 
 of all expenses, the said vice-chancellor shall make an order or de- 
 cree, particularly describing the land and reciting the appraisement 
 of damages and the mode of making it, and all other facts necessary 
 to a compliance with this section of this act ; and when the said order 
 or decree shall be recorded in the office of the clerk of the said vice- 
 chancellor, the said corporation shall be seized and possessed of such 
 land or real estate, and may enter upon and take possession, and use 
 the same for the purposes of the said road. 
 
 Sec. 10. — In case any married woman, infant, idiot or insane person, 
 or non-resident of the State, who shall not appear after such notice, 
 shall be interested in any such land or real estate, the said vice-chan- 
 cellor shall appoint some competent disinterested person to appear 
 before the said commissioners, and act for and in behalf of such mar- 
 ried woman, infant, idiot, insane person or non-resident. 
 
 Sec. II. — The said corporation is hereby authorized to construct, 
 erect, build, make and use a single, double or treble rail-road or ways, 
 of suitable width and dimensions, to be determined by the said cor- 
 poration, on the line, course or way designated by the directors as 
 aforesaid, as the line, course, and way whereon to construct, erect, 
 build and make the same, and shall have power to regulate the time 
 and manner in which goods and passengers shall be transported, taken 
 and carried on the same ; and shall have power to erect and maintain 
 toll houses and other buildings for the accommodation of their con- 
 cerns, as they may deem suitable to their interest. 
 
 Sec. 12. — The said corporation shall not at any point connect the 
 said single, double or treble rail-road or ways with any rail-road, either 
 of the State of Pennsylvania or New Jersey, or leading into either of 
 
 the said. States, without the consent of the Legislature of this State, on 
 pain of forfeiting the powers and privileges conferred by this act. 
 
 Sec. 13. — Whenever it shall be necessary for the construction of 
 their single, double or treble rail-road or way, to intersect or cross any 
 stream of water or water courses, or any road or highway, it shall be 
 lawful for the said corporation to construct their way or ways across 
 or upon the same ; but the corporation shall restore the stream or 
 water courses, or road or highway, thus intersected to its former 
 state, or in a sufficient manner not to have impaired its usefulness. 
 
 Sec. 14 — It shall be lawful for the company hereby incorporated 
 from time to time to fix, regulate and receive the tolls and charges by 
 them to be received for transportation of property or persons on the 
 single, double or treble rail-road or ways aforesaid, hereby authorized 
 to be constructed, erected, built, made and used ; and to take and re- 
 ceive tolls upon any part of said route, whenever and as fast as sec- 
 tions of ten miles are fully completed. 
 
 Sec. 15. — If any person shall wilfully do or cause to be done any 
 act or acts whatever, whereby any building, construction or work of 
 the said corporation, or any engine, machine or structure, or any mat- 
 ter or thing appertaining to the same, shall be stopped, obstructed, im- 
 paired, weakened, injured or destroyed, the person or persons so 
 offending shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and forfeit and pay to the 
 said corporation double the amount of damages sustained by means of 
 such offence or injury, to be recovered in the name of the said corpo- 
 ration, with costs of suit by action of debt. 
 
 Sec. 16. — It shall be lawful for the directors to require payment of 
 the sums to be subscribed to the capital stock, at such times and in 
 such proportions, and on such conditions, as they shall deem fit, under 
 the penalty of the forfeiture of such stock, and of all previous pay- 
 ments thereon, and shall give notice of the payments thus required, 
 and of the place and time when the same are to be paid, at least thirty 
 days previous to the payment of the same, in a public newspaper pub- 
 lished in the city of New York, and in each of the counties through 
 which the said road shall pass, and in such other places as the said 
 directors may deem proper to direct. 
 
 Sec. 17.— It shall be lawful for the said corporation to unite with 
 any other rail-road company already incorporated upon the route of 
 said road through said southern tier of counties, upon such terms as 
 may be agreed upon by the directors of said company, in making a 
 continuous rail-road from New York to Lake Erie ; at all times, how- 
 ever, confining the route of said road to said southern tier of counties. 
 
 Sec. 18. — This said corporation shall possess the general powers, 
 and be subject to the general restrictions and liabilities prescribed by 
 such parts of title third of the eighteenth chapter of the first part of 
 the Revised Statutes as are not repealed. 
 
 Sec. 19. — The directors of said company shall make an annual re- 
 port, in detail, of their proceedings and expenditures, verified by the 
 affidavit of at least two of them, which report shall be filed in the 
 office of the Secretary of State ; and in like manner shall, at the ex- 
 piration of each year, for the term of fifteen years after the completion 
 of said road, file in the said office a detailed statement of tolls re- 
 ceived on such rail-road, and of all moneys expended by said com- 
 pany for repairs or otherwise for the purpose of said rail-road. 
 
 Sec. 20.— If the Legislature of this State shall, at the expiration of 
 ten and within fifteen years from the completion of said railroad, 
 make provision by law for the repayment to the said company of the 
 amount expended by them in the construction of said rail-road, together 
 with all moneys expended by them for permanent fixtures for the use 
 of said rail-road, with interest on such sums at the rate of fourteen 
 per centum per annum, together with all moneys expended by said 
 company for repairs or otherwise for the purposes of said road, after 
 deducting the amount of tolls received on said road, then the said 
 rail-road, with all fixtures and appurtenances, shall vest in and become 
 the property of the people of this State. 
 
 Sec. 21.— The Legislature may at any time hereafter alter, modify 
 or repeal this act. 
 
298 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 1833. 
 
 Petitions poured in upon the Legislature at its session for 
 this year, praying for an amendment to the Erie article of 
 incorporation, on the ground that in the provisions of the 
 original bill it was impossible to organize a company, and for 
 an extension of the time for completing the railroad. The 
 petitions were referred to the Railroad Committees. January 
 17 th, James C. Curtis, of Sullivan County, from the Assembly 
 Railroad Committee, reported a bill amending the charter as 
 prayed for. This bill passed the Assembly February 9 th, by 
 a vote of 87 to 5. It was debated in the Senate until April 
 6th, amended and passed on that day by a vote of 23 to 4. 
 The Assembly concurred April 15 th, by a unanimous vote. 
 The bill was signed by the Governor April 19 th. 
 
 {^Abstract of Act Amending Charter.') 
 
 April 19, 1833. An act to amend the charter. Authorizing the 
 commissioners to open books for subscriptions to stock the second 
 Tuesday of July, 1833, at the Merchants' Exchange in New York 
 City ; to organize a company on subscriptions of $1,000,000 and pay- 
 ment of ten per cent, of the subscriptions ; whole route of the road 
 to be surveyed before the construction of any section shall be under- 
 taken ; books to be opened from time to time, if a company is organ- 
 ized, until a sufficient sum is subscribed to complete the road, but 
 time for completion is not extended. (Chapter 182, Laws of New 
 York, 1833.) 
 
 1834. 
 
 January 8th, in the Assembly, a petition from the President 
 and Directors of the Company, and a memorial from a con- 
 vention of delegates from the City of New York and southern 
 tier counties, praying the aid of the State in the construction 
 of the railroad and for a survey of a route, were read and 
 referred to the Railroad Committee. 
 
 February 3d, a memorial from Philip Church and 127 
 other citizens of Allegany County, remonstrating against the 
 State extending aid to the present managers of the Company, 
 and asking consent to withdraw their subscriptions toward 
 the railroad, was read and referred to the Committee on 
 Railroads. (" First Administration of Eleazar Lord," pages 
 2r, 22.) 
 
 March 26th, Mr. Todd, from the majority of that com- 
 mittee, made a report on the memorials and petitions, 
 deprecating the appropriation of public funds for the aid 
 of private corporations, and recommending against it. The 
 minority of the committee also made a report unfavorable to 
 the appropriation. 
 
 April 4th, Charles \Mnfield, of Orange County, moved that 
 the matter be recommitted to the Committee on Railroads, 
 with authority to report a bill authorizing a survey of the 
 route of the railroad by the State. This was agreed to by a 
 vote of 66 to 33, Messrs. Coe and Shays, of the Committee 
 on Railroads, voting in the affirmative. April 9th, Mr. Shays 
 
 reported a bill entitled "An Act to authorize the survey by 
 the State of the route of the contemplated New York and 
 Erie Railroad." It was referred to the Committee of the 
 Whole. April 14th, on motion of John R. Drake, of Tioga 
 County, it was taken from that committee and referred to a 
 select committee to report on it. Mr. Drake, Merritt H. 
 Cash, of Orange County, and Aaron Spafford, of Oneida 
 County, were appointed on this committee. 
 
 April 1 6th, Mr. Drake reported that the committee had 
 amended the bill, changed the tide to "An Act to authorize 
 the survey of a route for a railroad from the City of New 
 York to Lake Erie." The bill was passed April 21st, by a 
 vote of 64 to 33. 
 
 In the Senate, IMay sth, the Assembly bill providing for 
 the survey came up for final passage, having been in consid- 
 eration by the Committee of the Whole since April 2 2d. 
 Persistent effort ^\as made to defeat it, but on that day it 
 was passed by the narrow vote of r2 to 11. William H. 
 Seward, of the Seventh District, led the opposition to the bill 
 in all its stages. The bill became a law May 6 th. It directed 
 the Governor to appoint a competent and experienced engi- 
 neer to " explore and sui-vey a route for a railroad, commenc- 
 ing at the Cit)' of New York, or the most eligible and con- 
 venient point in its vicinity, and continue it through the 
 southern tier of counties of the State, by way of Owego, to 
 the shore of Lake Erie, at some eligible point between the 
 Cattaraugus creek and the Pennsylvania line." The engineer 
 was empowered to employ necessary assistants. A map and 
 profile of the survey were to be placed with the Secretary of 
 State. The aggregate of the cost of the survey was not to 
 exceed ^15,000. This act is Chapter 311 of the Laws of 
 New York for 1834. 
 
 1835- 
 
 February 9th, a petition from the officers and Directors of 
 the Company, praying for a State subscription or loan of 
 ^3,000,000 in aid of the railroad, was read in the Assembly, 
 and referred to the Committee on Railroads, which, March 
 4th, reported a bill entitled "An Act to expedite the con- 
 struction of the New York and Erie Railroad." The report 
 was submitted to the Committee of the Whole. March 20th, 
 this committee reported, through Peter P. Murphy, of Her- 
 kimer County, against the bill. The report was sustained by 
 a vote of 61 to 47. ("Administration of James Gore King," 
 pages 32-35.) 
 
 Prosper M. Wetmore, of New York, offered a resolution 
 that, inasmuch as the survey for such a railroad ordered by 
 the State having demonstrated its practicability and construc- 
 tion at a reasonable expense, the Committee on Railroads be 
 instructed to prepare and report a bill to provide for the 
 construction by the State of a railroad from the City of New 
 York to Lake Erie. The bill was kid on the table. 
 
 April 24th, James J. Roosevelt, Jr., of New York, intro- 
 duced a bill entitled "An Act to further amend the act to 
 incorporate the New York and Erie Railroad Company, 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 299 
 
 passed April 24, 1832," and it was -passed the same day. 
 The Senate amended the act, and on May 6 th the House 
 agreed to the amended bill and passed it. It became a law 
 May 8th, and was entitled "An Act to further amend the act 
 of incorporation." It authorized the Company to begin the 
 railroad at any point on the route designated, and to put in 
 operation a single or double railway on any section thereof 
 when completed — but the several sections to be completed 
 within the periods limited by the charter ; certificates desig- 
 nating sections of the line and course of the railroad to be 
 filed in the offices of the clerks of the counties through which 
 the same should pass. This act is Chapter 247 of the Laws 
 of New York for 1835. 
 
 1836. 
 
 In the Assembly, February 1 2 th, a memorial from the Corpo- 
 ration of the City of New York, praying for the passage of a 
 bill granting financial aid to the Company, a resolution to 
 the same purpose from the Mayor and Common Council 
 of Brooklyn, and petitions from AVestchester, Delaware, 
 Genesee, AUegany, and Cattaraugus counties, were presented. 
 They were all referred to the Committee of the \Vhole, the 
 Committee on Railroads, for some reason, being ignored in 
 their consideration. 
 
 February i8th, Orville Robinson, of Oswego County, 
 reported from the Committee of the Whole a bill entitled 
 " An Act to expedite the construction of a railroad from New 
 York to Lake Erie." John Wilkinson, of Onondaga County, 
 led in strong opposition to the bill, but the report was adopted 
 by a vote of 61 to 51. February 20th, the bill came up for 
 final action. Preston King, of St Lawrence County, moved 
 it be referred to the Committee on Two-third Bills. The 
 Speaker (Charles Humphrey, of Tompkins County) ruled the 
 motion out of order. Mr. King appealed from the decision 
 of the chair. The decision was sustained. After lively de- 
 bate and unsuccessful efforts for an adjournment the bill was 
 voted on, and was decided in the affirmative by a vote of 63 
 to 45. The Speaker decided the bill passed. Preston King 
 appealed from the decision, which Mr. Robinson moved to 
 lay on the table. Amid great confusion a motion to adjourn 
 was made and voted down. The motion to lay on the table 
 the motion appealing from the decision of the chair was with- 
 drawn, and was renewed by Mr. King himself. It was voted 
 down. The question on the appeal was put by the Speaker, 
 and the chair was sustained by a vote of 61 to 29. 
 
 In the Senate, February 23 d, the Assembly bill was referred 
 to the Committee on Railroads. March 3d, Mr. Mack, from 
 that committee, made a voluminous report on the bill, and 
 recommended its passage. 
 
 The bill was referred to the Committee of the Whole. 
 
 April 22d, the bill was passed by a vote of 17 to 12. It 
 was signed by the Governor April 23d, and was the first 
 legislative act granting State aid to the Company. ("Ad- 
 ministration of James Gore King," pages 38-40.) 
 
 {Abstract of the First Erie Relief Bill.) 
 
 An Act to expedite the construction of the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road. It authorized the Comptroller to issue $600,000 in special cer- 
 tificates of stock, at 4>^ per cent, interest, payable quarterly, when a 
 continuous line of single track railroad should have been constructed 
 from the Delaware and Hudson Canal to the Chenango Canal ; $700,- 
 000 on completion of the road from the Chenango Canal to the Alle- 
 gany River ; $300,000 on completion of the road from the Allegany 
 River to Lake Erie ; $400,000 on completion of the road from the 
 Hudson River in Rockland County to the Delaware and Hudson 
 Canal ; $1,000,000 on the completion of the line of double track from 
 the Hudson River to Lake Erie ; certificates of acceptance of stock to 
 be filed by the Company with the Comptroller before the issuing of 
 any stock by him, such certificate of acceptance to be recorded and 
 become a lien on the Company's property as security for the payment 
 of the principal and interest of the amounts of stock accepted ; the 
 stock to be denominated " The New York and Erie Railroad Stock," 
 for the payment of the interest and redemption of the principal of 
 which the credit of the State was pledged ; stock to be issued in cer- 
 tificates not exceeding $i,ooo each, payable to the Company on its 
 order, and assignable or transferable on the Company's books at such 
 bank in New York city as the Comptroller should designate, or such 
 other place in the said city as the Legislature should direct ; stock to 
 be reimbursable at any time within twenty years from its respective 
 issues, interest payable at the office of transfer on the first days of 
 January, April, July, and October ; stock to be sold by auction within 
 three months after its receipt by the Company, under direction of the 
 State Comptroller, in the City of New York ; any premium raised on 
 such sale to be paid into the school fund of the State ; if stock was not 
 salable at par at such sales, the Company, with advice and consent of 
 the Comptroller, to defer the sale until such time as he might think 
 expedient ; the Company to provide for the punctual payment of 
 interest and redemption of stock, the tolls and income of the road, 
 after paying necessary expenses, being pledged for the payment of the 
 interest : no stock to issue until full and satisfactory proof was given 
 the Comptroller, to be approved by the Attorney-General, that no 
 prior lien or incumbrance existed on the Company's property. In 
 case of default in payment of either interest or principal of the stock, 
 the Comptroller was to sell the road and its appurtenances by auction 
 to the highest bidder, after six months' notice of time and place of 
 sale, published once in each week in the. State paper, and in two news- 
 papers in New York city ; or to buy in the same at such sale for the 
 use and benefit of the State, subject to such disposition as the Legis- 
 lature might thereafter direct. (Chapter 170, Laws of New York, 
 1836.) 
 
 1837- 
 
 In the Senate, May nth, the memorial of the Company 
 for an amendment to the Act of April 23, 1836, granting it 
 further aid, was read and referred to the Committee on Rail- 
 roads. May 13th, Mr. Mack, from that committee, made 
 a report against the memorial, and no aid was granted. 
 
 1838. 
 
 The Legislature was flooded with petitions from all along 
 the line praying for State aid for the railroad. They were 
 referred to the Committees on Railroads. In the Assembly, 
 February 13 th, Mr. HoUey, of that committee for that body, 
 reported a bill entitled " An Act to amend an act to expedite 
 
300 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 the construction of a railroad from New York to Lake Erie, 
 passed April 23, 1836." 
 
 The bill was opposed at every stage, under the lead of 
 Preston King, of St. Lawrence County, but, March i8th, 
 it passed the Assembly by a vote of 84 to 12. It passed the 
 Senate April 14th, by a vote of 21 to 7, and was signed by 
 Governor Marcy April i8th. 
 
 This was the first act of the Legislature that extended any 
 real aid to the Erie project. It amended the act of April 
 23, 1836, so that when the Treasurer and two of the direct- 
 ors of the Company should satisfy the State Comptroller by 
 affidavit that $300,000 collected on the State stock had been 
 expended in the survey and construction of the road, he 
 should issue to them $300,000 of the special certificates, in 
 sums of 1 1 00,000 each, evidence to be furnished by the 
 Company that one installment had been expended according 
 to law before another should issue ; and when the Company 
 had expended this $300,000, the Comptroller to issue $100,- 
 000 for every similar sum of $100,000 expended by the 
 Company in the actual construction of its railroad and col- 
 lected on its capital stock, as well as the whole proceeds 
 of the sales of State stock previously issued ; continuing the 
 issues of $100,000 under like circumstances until the total 
 amount of stock thus issued should equal $3,000,000 ; no 
 part of this stock to be issued until ten miles of the railroad 
 extending westerly from the Hudson River at Tappan, in the 
 county of Rockland, and ten miles eastwardly from Dunkirk, 
 in the county of Chautauqua, should have been located, and 
 grading for such sections actually under contract. This act 
 is Chapter 226 of the Laws of New York for r838. ("Ad- 
 ministration of James Gore King," page 43.) 
 
 1839. 
 
 The feeling of the people, as indicated by the petitions 
 that poured in on the Legislature at this session, was almost 
 unanimously in favor of the abandonment of the railroad by 
 the Company and the turning of the work over to the State. 
 In response to these petitions and to a memorial from the 
 Directors of the Company itself, January 19th, Mr. Scoles, of 
 the Assembly Committee on Railroads, reported a bill pro- 
 viding for State ownership of the railroad. It was referred 
 to the Committee of the Whole. 
 
 March 28th, Levi S. Chatfield, of Otsego County, intro- 
 duced a bill postponing for ten years the loan to the Com- 
 pany of the credit of the State for $3,000,000, or so much of 
 it as had not been actually made. It was referred to the 
 Committee on Railroads. 
 
 In the Senate, February 13 th, a communication from the 
 Company setting forth the crisis in its affairs was read, and 
 February 14th Noadiah Johnson, of the Committee on Rail- 
 roads, reported on the petitions, and introduced a bill pro- 
 viding for the construction of the railroad by the State. 
 The bill was debated and amended in the Committee of the 
 Whole until April 3d, when it was reported to the Senate. It 
 was rejected by the close vote of 15 to 14. 
 
 April 23d, the Assembly passed the Scoles bill of January 
 19th, providing for the construction of the railroad by the 
 State, and it was sent to the Senate for action. It was re- 
 ferred to the Committee on Railroads of the Senate, which re- 
 ported it favorably April 26th. It was in daily debate in the 
 Committee of the Whole until April 30th, special sessions be- 
 ing held for the purpose. On that day it was reported, with 
 amendments. The excitement was intense over the outcome 
 of the vote on the bill, which resulted in its rejection by the 
 close vote of 17 to r4. 
 
 May 4th, Mr. Scoles, from the Assembly Railroad Commit- 
 tee, reported against the Chatfield bill of March 28th, post- 
 poning for ten years the loan of the credit of the State, and 
 it was rejected. ("Administration of James Gore King," 
 pages 46, 47.) 
 
 1840. 
 
 In the Assembly, January 29th, Wm. H. L. Bogart, of 
 Tompkins County, presented the petition of the Company 
 for a modification of the act loaning the credit of the State. 
 It was placed in charge of the Committee on Railroads. 
 
 February 6th, Benjamin Enos, of Madison County, offered 
 a resolution requesting the Comptroller to report to the 
 House the amount of stock he had issued to the Company 
 under the Act of 1838, and what amount had been issued the 
 past year, and to report what evidence the Company had 
 given him that it had collected any portion of its capital 
 stock and expended it in actual construction of the railroad. 
 
 Andrew G. Chatfield, of Steuben, offered an amendment 
 by adding that the Comptroller also report the amount of 
 stock that had been sold under his direction since January i, 
 1839, for the benefit of the Company, and the sum obtained 
 for it. The amendment was adopted. 
 
 February 8th, Bates Cooke, State Comptroller, reported in 
 response to the resolution. February rrth, Elihu Town- 
 send, Treasurer of the Company, reported in response to 
 the Bogart resolution the evidence as to how much capi- 
 tal of the Company had been expended in construction — 
 5400,000. 
 
 February 15th, on motion of James J. Roosevelt, Jr., of 
 New York, the Secretary of State was requested to lay before 
 the House the annual reports, if any, of the proceedings and 
 expenditures of the Company, pursuant to the nineteenth sec- 
 tion of their articles of incorporation. February 19 th, John C. 
 Spencer, the Secretary of State, transmitted the reports pur- 
 suant to the resolution. 
 
 February 25th, on motion of James J. Roosevelt, Jr., the 
 Company was ordered to furnish to the Secretary of State 
 forthwith a copy of its report for 1839, in detail, pursuant to 
 the act of incorporation, and the Secretary of State to sub- 
 mit it to the House as soon as it was filed in his office, and 
 that the Company report to the House without delay what 
 provision had been made by it for the punctual redemption 
 of the State stock issued to it, and punctual payment of 
 the interests which had accrued, and should accrue, on it, 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 301 
 
 according to the act authorizing it. Adopted, 84 to 18. The 
 Company's report for 1839 was submitted February 25th. 
 
 February 27th, on motion of Charles A.Mann, of Oneida 
 County, the Company was required to report without delay 
 the names of the purchasers of the |ioo,ooo State stock is- 
 sued by the Comptroller December 4, 1839 ; details of how 
 the money received for it was spent ; names of stockholders 
 who took the last 1 100,000 of the capital stock of the Com- 
 pany (in addition to the $300,000 previously expended) ; 
 time each holder paid ; time when the call was made by the 
 Company for such payment ; whether paid in money, labor, 
 materials, or otherwise ; amount of subscriptions to the 
 stock during 1839, and names of the subscribers ; whether 
 any certificates for stock were issued during 1 839, and if so, 
 when, in particular on contracts for materials or labor there- 
 after to be furnished, and the names of such contractors and 
 stockholders, and amount of stock issued to each ; and that 
 the report be verified under oath of the President of the 
 Company. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Roosevelt the resolution was amended 
 so as to ask the date, amount, and nature of the contracts, 
 names of the officers. Directors, and stockholders of the Com- 
 pany, with their names and residences, and whether any 
 changes had taken place since January i, 183S ; whether the 
 officers having the custody of the moneys derived from the 
 sale of the State stock issued to the Company had given 
 security, and what security, for safe-keeping and faithful ap- 
 plication of them, and names of such officers ; whether any 
 sales had been made of the stock of the Company since 
 January i, 1838, and at what time and rates; whether the 
 stock had any, and if so what, market value ; and that 
 said report be verified under oath of the President of the 
 Company. 
 
 March 6 th, Mr. Roosevelt moved that the Comptroller be 
 directed to suspend the delivery of any State stock to the 
 Company beyond ;^400,ooo already issued, until further order 
 of the Legislature. This was rejected by a vote of 82 to 25. 
 
 Eleazar Lord, President of the Company, in response to 
 the resolution of February 27th, reported under date of March 
 i8th, and the report was read in the Assembly March 20th. 
 
 In the Senate, February 26th, Mr. Furman, of the Commit- 
 tee on Railroads, to which had been referred the petitions of 
 citizens of Delaware, Chenango, and Broome counties, and 
 of various stockholders of the Company, that the railroad 
 should be made a State work, reported in favor of the peti- 
 tioners, and asked permission to introduce a bill to that effect, 
 which was granted, but the bill was not introduced. 
 
 March 25 th, in discussion on a bill entitled "An Act to 
 amend the Act entitled ' An Act to amend an Act entitled 
 " An Act to expedite the construction of the New York and 
 Erie Railroad," ' " an effort was made by the opponents of the 
 bill to refer it to a select committee to inquire into and in- 
 vestigate the Company's management as to alleged specula- 
 tions in real estate, at the supposed terminations of the rail- 
 road and along the line, by its Directors, managers, or persons 
 interested in the Company, and whether the Company was 
 
 influenced in locating the route and terminations by any 
 speculation, but the resolution was voted down by a vote of 
 16 to 9. 
 
 The aid bill passed the Senate by a vote of 15 to 10. 
 
 March 3d, in the Assembly, Mr. Hubbard, from the Com- 
 mittee on Railroads, brought in a report favorable to the peti- 
 tions and memorial, and presented a bill entitled " An Act to 
 facilitate the construction of the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road." March 27th, the Senate sent to the Assembly for con- 
 currence a bill for a similar purpose. It was considered in 
 the Committee of the Whole until April 23d, when it was re- 
 ferred to a select committee composed of Elias Clarke of 
 Livingston County; Demas Hubbard, Jr., and Arnold B. 
 Watson of Otsego County. The bill was reported from the 
 Select Committee the same day, with the title changed to 
 " An Act to amend the several Acts in relation to the New 
 York and Erie Railroad." April 24th, it passed the Assembly 
 by a vote of 57 to 29, A. G. Chatfield of Steuben County, 
 George A. French of Chautauqua County, and John A. King 
 of Queens County being excused from voting because they 
 were stockholders in the Company and interested in the 
 passage of the bill. 
 
 April 28th, the Senate concurred in the bill as amended by 
 the Assembly, by a vote of 15 to 9. 
 
 This act, which is Chapter 140, Laws of New York for 
 1840, amended the several acts in relation to the New 
 York and Erie Railroad, and authorized the Comptroller 
 to issue, in conformity with the provisions of the Act of 
 April 16, 1838, special certificates of stock to the Com- 
 pany to the amount of $100,000, bearing such a rate of in- 
 terest, not exceeding six per cent., as in the Comptroller's 
 judgment would make the stock salable at par ; and for 
 every further sum of $50,000 expended by the Company the 
 Comptroller to issue $100,000 under the same conditions of 
 interest rate, the whole amount of stock thus issued not to 
 exceed $400,000 during the year 1840; a Railroad Inspector 
 to be appointed by the Governor to examine the work on the 
 railroad, whenever stock was applied for, and certify to the 
 Comptroller whether avails of previous State stock had been 
 expended according to the intent of the act ; the Inspector 
 to be paid by the Company from the proceeds of the stock 
 the compensation allowed by law to canal appraisers ; stock 
 to be withheld if the Inspector found the provisions of the 
 act not fully and fairly compUed with, until the Company 
 complied with the conditions thereof ; stock that might be 
 issued under this act to be deemed part of the $3,000,000 
 authorized to issue by the Act of April 23, r836. The Com- 
 pany was authorized to exchange the $r 00,000 in four and 
 one-half per cent. State stock last issued to it for a like 
 amount of the certificates provided for in this act; interest 
 to be deposited at a New York city bank designated by the 
 State Comptroller five days before it became due, and notice 
 to be given him of the fact; in default thereof, the Com]^- 
 troUer was to make provision for the payment of the in- 
 terest, such advance, with interest, to be refunded to the 
 State by the Company on demand, in default of such pay- 
 
302 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 ment the Comptroller to enforce it by law. All the provisions 
 of the Act of April 23, 1836, except the first section, were to 
 apply to the stock authorized by this act, which was to take 
 effect immediately. 
 
 1 841. 
 
 This year, there being no Erie legislation before the Senate 
 or Assembly, the Assembly ordered an investigation of the 
 affairs of the Company. The matter was referred to the 
 Committee on Railroads — Erastus D. Culver of Washington 
 County, Jonathan Arthur of Dutchess County, William C. 
 Pierrepont of New York, Seth C. Hawley of Erie County, 
 Reuben Howe of Montgomery County. It was subsequently 
 placed in charge of a special committee — A. G. Chatfield, 
 C. G. Graham, and William B. McClay. 
 
 1842. 
 
 January i8th, the Select Committee of the Assembly of 
 1841, appointed to investigate the affairs of the Company, 
 made its report, exonerating the Company from the charges. 
 
 Petitions for aid to the railroad, remonstrances against it, 
 remonstrances against the locating of the route in the Dela- 
 ware Valley and its passing into Pennsylvania, were sent to the 
 Senate by the thousand. They were referred to the Com- 
 mittee on Railroads, March ist. Mr. Scott, from that com- 
 mittee, made a report and introduced a bill entitled an " Act 
 in relation to the New York and Erie Railroad." Same day, 
 Andrew B. Dickinson, of the Sixth District, introduced a bill 
 entitled " An Act to expedite the construction of the New 
 York and Erie Railroad by the State." March nth, James 
 Faulkner, of the Sixth District, introduced a bill entitled an 
 " Act to aid the construction of the New York and Erie 
 Railroad." 
 
 March i6th, Mr. Scott, of the Senate Committee on Rail- 
 roads, reported in favor of the remonstrance of citizens of 
 Sullivan, Orange, and Ulster counties against changing the 
 route to the Delaware Valley, and was given leave to intro- 
 duce a bill preventing the change. March 30th, the Committee 
 on Railroads, to which had been referred the bill in relation 
 to the construction of the railroad by the State, reported 
 against the bill. 
 
 April I St, the Senate Railroad Committee's bill entitled " An 
 Act in relation to the New York and Erie Railroad " was 
 passed unanimously, and sent to the Assembly for action. 
 
 April 6th, the Faulkner bill of March nth, extending the 
 aid of the State to the railroad, was rejected by a vote of 18 
 to 12. 
 
 April 8th, Mr. Bockee, of the Senate Committee on Rail- 
 roads, introduced a bill entitled " An Act to amend an act 
 entitled ' An Act to incorporate the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road Company.' " April nth, the bill " in relation to the New 
 York and Erie Railroad," passed by the Senate April ist, was 
 returned from the Assembly with a message stating that it 
 
 had been passed without amendment as a majority bill. It 
 was sent back to the Assembly with the information that in 
 the opinion of the Senate the bill required a two-thirds vote, 
 and it was laid on the table. Same day, the Senate received 
 from the Assembly the Senate bill of April 8th, amending the 
 act of incorporation of the Company, which the Assembly 
 returned with amendments. The amendments were con- 
 curred in, and the bill passed by a vote of 24 to i. This was 
 the act extending the time of completing the railroad. 
 
 The Legislature adjourned by joint resolution, to meet in 
 extra session August 16, 1842, the business of the extra 
 session to be confined to the apportionment of the congres- 
 sional districts of the State. Erie affairs were left in a most 
 unsatisfactory situation. The Company had defaulted to the 
 State, had gone into bankruptcy, and the road had been 
 advertised by the Comptroller for sale. ("Administration 
 of James Bowen," pages 57-66.) Favorable legislation was 
 needed to insure the prospects of the Company and the 
 railroad. 
 
 AT THE EXTRA SESSION. 
 
 August 1 6 th, the proceedings of a convention held July 
 20th at Owego of delegates from the various counties inter- 
 ested in the construction of the railroad were read in the 
 Assembly and laid on the table. 
 
 Mr. Leland offered a resolution that the joint resolution 
 confining the business of the extra session to the apportion- 
 ment of congressional districts be so modified as to allow the 
 Legislature to proceed to business in relation to the sale of 
 the New York and Erie Railroad, which was tabled. 
 
 August 1 8th, in the Senate, Mr. Faulkner offered a con- 
 current resolution that so much of the joint resolution as 
 confined the subject of legislation to congressional appor- 
 tionment be so modified as to allow legislation on the fol- 
 lowing concurrent resolution : 
 
 Resolved (if the Assembly concur), That the Comptroller be and is 
 hereby authorized and directed to suspend all further proceedings in 
 the collection of the debt or debts due the State from the New York 
 and Erie Railroad Company until the further order of the Legis- 
 lature. 
 
 Laid on the table. 
 
 In the Senate, August 20th, Mr. Faulkner offered a reso- 
 lution modifying the joint resolution of August i8th, confining 
 the business of the extra session to the congressional appor- 
 tionment, so that legislative action might be taken in relation 
 to the sale of the New York and Erie Railroad by the Comp- 
 troller, as follows : " That the Comptroller be notified and 
 directed to bid in at the sale (advertised to take place at the 
 Capitol in Albany on the 31st day of December next) of the 
 New York and Erie Railroad, on behalf of the State, at an 
 amount not exceeding that of the State mortgage of three 
 millions of dollars and the interest thereon." 
 
 John Hunter, of the Second District, moved to amend the 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 303 
 
 Faulkner resolution (if the joint resolution was modified) so 
 that it would read : " That the Comptroller be and is hereby 
 authorized and directed to postpone the sale of the New York 
 and Erie Railroad and its appurtenances until the first Tues- 
 day of May next." 
 
 Carried by a vote of 15 to 11. 
 
 August 27th, the Assembly concurred in the amended 
 Faulkner resolution, and the sale of the railroad was post- 
 poned. 
 
 The session of 1842 left the Company newly fortified 
 against adversity so far as the following acts could provide 
 assistance : 
 
 Act of April nth. — Extending for two years from date, the time pre- 
 scribed by the act of incorporation of April 24, 1832, for finishing and 
 putting in operation one-fourth of the railroad, nothing in the act to 
 be construed to impair the rights of the State by virtue of its lien on 
 the road, nor to release the Company from any penalty or forfeiture, 
 in consequence of any neglect or refusal of the Company to pay the 
 interest on the State stock. (Chapter 227, LavA's of New York, 
 1842.) 
 
 Concurrent Resolution. August 27, 1842. Modifying the joint 
 resolution of April gth, confining the subject of the special session of 
 the Legislature to apportionment of congressional districts, and author- 
 izing the Comptroller to postpone the sale of the railroad until the 
 first Tuesday of May, 1843, 
 
 1843- 
 
 January 23d, in the Senate, James Faulkner, from the Com- 
 mittee on Railroads, to which was referred the memorial of 
 the President and Company, and petitions praying for a biU 
 giving the Company authority to negotiate a loan of ^3,000,- 
 000, that would be a Uen prior to the State's, introduced such 
 a bill. It was referred to a select committee. 
 
 February 8th, on motion of John Porter, of the Seventh 
 District, it was 
 
 Resolved, That the President and Directors of the New York and 
 Erie Railroad Company furnish, forthwith, to the Senate a statement 
 showing whether or not the said Company, or any officer or agent of 
 said Company, in their behalf, had, at the time when the President of 
 said Company informed the Governor that the interest, which would 
 become due on the stock loaned by the State to the said Company, on 
 the first day of April then next, would be in default, any of said stock 
 unsold, or if pledged, to whom and on what terms ; or any money de- 
 posited in bank, and if so, how much ; and in what bank or banks the 
 same is deposited. 
 
 And that they further state whether the said Directors, or any 
 officer of said Company, have assigned, transferred, or in any way 
 pledged their said railroad, or any part thereof, or any and what part 
 of their personal property ; and if so, when and to whom, and for 
 what purpose said assignment, transfer, or pledge was made ; and that 
 they send with said statement a copy or copies of any such assign- 
 ments, transfers, or pledges. 
 
 That the clerk deliver a copy of said resolution to the President and 
 Directors of the New York and Erie Railroad Company. 
 
 February 17 th, the statement requested was submitted by 
 the Company. (Senate Document No. 38, 1843.) 
 
 March 3d, the Faulkner bill was reported from the Com- 
 mittee of the Whole, and Nehemiah Piatt, of the Sixth Dis- 
 
 trict, moved that one providing that the railroad be declared 
 a State route be substituted for it, which was rejected, 21 
 
 tos- 
 
 March 4th, WiUiam C. Ruger, of the Fifth District, moved 
 that the bill be referred to the Attorney- General for his 
 opinion as to whether it was a two-thirds bill. Rejected, 17 
 to 10. The Faulkner bill received 19 votes to 18 against it, 
 and the chair decided it passed. Mr. Ruger appealed from 
 the decision of the chair, upon the ground that the bill was a 
 two-thirds bill. Warm debate followed, and was continued 
 daily until March 6 th, when the chair was sustained by a vote 
 of 14 to 12. 
 
 March 20th, the memorial of the President, Managers, and 
 Company of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, 
 praying for the passage of a law to prohibit the New York 
 and Erie from locating the road in the Delaware Valley, 
 between Port Jervis and the town of Cochecton, was read and 
 referred to the Committee on Railroads. March 31st, Mr. 
 Scott, from the Committee on Railroads, to which the memo- 
 rial was referred, reported a bill on the subject, favorable to 
 the petition. 
 
 February 21st, in the Assembly, Robert FKnt, of Allegany 
 County, introduced a bill to provide for the construction of 
 the New York and Erie Railroad by the State. 
 
 April 5 th, Samuel G. Hathaway, Jr., of the Select Com- 
 mittee to which was referred the Senate bill in relation to the 
 construction of the railroad, reported agreement with it with- 
 out amendment. 
 
 Willis Hall, of Albany, moved to amend by striking out all 
 after the enacting clause, and inserting a section providing 
 that the State should loan the Company ^3,000,000 as soon 
 as it had completed its railroad from Dunkirk to the Hudson 
 River, and procured all necessary locomotives and cars and 
 appurtenances for operating it. Rejected by a vote of 
 72 to 25. 
 
 Alonzo Hawley, of Cattaraugus County, moved the substi- 
 tution for the Senate bill of one directing the Comptroller to 
 sell the road and bid in the same for the State, unless some 
 one bid the amount due the State ; placing the road under 
 the control of the Canal Commissioners, and whenever the 
 enlargement of the Erie Canal should be resumed, one dollar 
 to be spent on the construction of the railroad for every two 
 spent on the canal, until the railroad was completed. Re- 
 jected by a vote of 72 to 22. 
 
 Frantic efforts were made to have the Senate bill referred 
 to the Committee on Two-third Bills, and to the Attorney- 
 General for his opinion, but they were defeated, as were the 
 numerous motions to adjourn that were made during the 
 warm debate. The bill was finally, on the motion of Jonathan 
 Stratton, of Sullivan County, recommitted to the Committee 
 of the Whole, which reported it favorably April 14th, and it 
 received a vote of 68 to 25 votes against it. The Speaker 
 declared it passed. Thomas Sherwood, of Onondago County, 
 appealed from the decision of the chair, on the ground that 
 the bill required a two-thirds vote.' The decision of the chair 
 was sustained by a vote of 54 to 39. 
 
304 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 The controversy on this point called forth a long state- 
 ment from the Speaker, defending his decision and jus- 
 tifying it. 
 
 This latest Erie bill, known as the Faulkner bill (Chapter 
 200, Laws of New York for 1843), became a law April i8th. 
 It suspended the sale of the railroad, as provided for by the 
 Act of April 23, 1836, until July 4, 1850, on condition that 
 the Company should actually resume work of construction 
 within two years from date, prosecute it as fast as funds 
 could be raised, and complete for use a single track from the 
 Hudson River to Lake Erie, with necessary turnouts, depots, 
 etc., within seven years from date ; authorized the issue by 
 the Company of bonds not exceeding ^3,000,000 in the 
 aggregate, of denominations not less than $200, principal to 
 be made payable in not less than eight years from date, a 
 portion or whole of the road to be pledged as security for 
 such payment ; bonds to be countersigned by a Railroad 
 Commissioner, to be provided for ; duplicates to be filed in 
 the Comptroller's office ; no bond to be valid until thus 
 countersigned and filed ; bonds to be an absolute lien on the 
 railroad and its appendages, or upon divisions thereof, prior 
 to any lien or incumbrance which the State has by virtue of 
 any previous acts, upon condition that each bond should 
 specify on its face that the State was not responsible for its 
 payment ; that within two years after the completion of the 
 road the Legislature might pay the Company the cost of con- 
 structing the road and its appendages, with seven per cent, 
 interest, deducting the amount of stock loaned by the State 
 and the net proceeds derived from the use of the railroad, 
 and take possession of it as the property of the State ; in case 
 such purchase not being made, the Company to be released 
 from all obligation to redeem the ^3,000,000 of stock issued 
 to it by the State, and all interest due thereon ; a Railroad 
 Commissioner to be appointed by the Governor to examine 
 the progress of the work, approve and countersign the bonds 
 and contracts made by the Company, and see that the pro- 
 ceeds of the bonds were faithfully and economically expended 
 for the purposes on which they were authorized to be issued ; 
 examine vouchers of all payments, and report to the Canal 
 Board the result on the first Tuesday of January of each 
 year ; no contract exceeding $200 to be binding on the 
 Company unless countersigned by the Commissioner, the 
 State not to be liable for any contract, whether so counter- 
 signed or not. In case of non-payment of bonds, the holder 
 was authorized to deliver same to the Comptroller, who will 
 proceed to sell the property pledged for their security. 
 ( "Administrations of \\'illiam Maxwell and Horatio Allen," 
 pages 67 and 71.) 
 
 1844. 
 
 The Erie question at this session of the Legislature that 
 aroused the most public interest was a proposed bill to 
 authorize the City of New York to vote on the matter of sub- 
 scribing S3, 000,000 toward the aid of the railroad. ("Ad- 
 
 ministration of Horatio Allen," page 70.) Remonstrances 
 against such a bill, signed by Peter Lorillard, Jr., Peter Scher- 
 merhorn, John Anthon, and others, were presented. The bill 
 was never reached. 
 
 March 25th, Mr. Faulkner introduced in the Senate a bill 
 entitled "An Act to amend an act entitled 'An Act to incor- 
 porate the New York and Erie Railroad Company.' " It 
 passed the Senate April 2d, by a vote of 22 to 2, and the 
 Assembly April 5 th. 
 
 This act amended the articles of incorporation, so as to 
 further extend the time for finishing and putting in operation 
 one-fourth of the railroad for the period of two years from 
 date. (Chapter 118, Laws of New York, 1844.) 
 
 1845. 
 
 The Company's affairs, instead of being made easy and 
 promising by the Legislature of 1843, had been complicated 
 by it, for when the Company essayed to place its bonds 
 authorized by the Act of 1843, it was discovered that the lan- 
 guage of the act was so ambiguous that there was grave 
 doubt whether priority of lien of the bonds was not made to 
 depend on the completion of the road within the prescribed 
 time, and investors would not accept them as security. This 
 was a circumstance of such vital importance that the Com- 
 pany, in 1845, appeared again as an applicant for legislative 
 interference, and solicited the passage of an act removing the 
 cloud on the title of the proposed bonds to priority of lien. 
 Another matter that affected the progress of the railroad's 
 construction, and which required legislative authority before 
 the Company could deal with it satisfactorily, was the final 
 location of the route for the road between the Shawangunk 
 Summit, in Orange County, and Binghamton, in Broome 
 County. So the time of the session of 1845 was largely 
 occupied with the consideration and discussion of bills having 
 the settlement of these vexing questions in view. 
 
 Petitions for, and remonstrances against, the surrender of 
 the lien of the State on the Company's property were pre- 
 sented, and, on January 25 th, Mr. Van Valkenburg, of the 
 Assembly Committee on Railroads, to which they were re- 
 ferred, reported in favor of such a surrender. January 2d, 
 Mr. Van Valkenburg offered the following : 
 
 Resolved 1^1 the Senate concur), That pursuant to the twelfth sec- 
 tion of the act incorporating the New York and Erie Railroad, the 
 consent of the Legislature be and is hereby granted allowing said 
 Company to connect the railroad authorized by the said act, with a 
 continuation of about 16 miles of the line thereof into the State of 
 Pennsylvania, around the great bend of the Susquehanna ; and also to 
 connect the same with a continuation of not exceeding 25 miles of the 
 line thereof into said State of Pennsylvania, along the southerly side of 
 the Delaware River, in the County of Pike, opposite to, and in order to 
 avoid all interference with, the Delaware and Hudson Canal ; and 
 also to connect the railroad with the Blossburgh and Corning'Railroad, 
 at the intersection thereof in the village of Corning ; provided that 
 the line of said railroad shall, as heretofore contemplated, pass 
 through the villages of Deposit, in Delaware, and Binghamton, in 
 Broome counties. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 305 
 
 This was to meet the conditions of Pennsylvania legislation 
 granting the railroad right of way through that State. Its 
 purpose was covered by one of the provisions of the act 
 subsequently passed. 
 
 February 6th, the remonstrance and papers relative to the 
 locating of the road in the Delaware Valley or out of the 
 State, made in 1843, were ordered from the files and referred 
 to the Committee on Railroads. February 21st, Thornton 
 M. Niven, of Orange County, offered a resolution to the 
 effect that " the ability of the Delaware and Hudson Canal 
 Company to meet its obligations to the State depends on its 
 ability to carry on its regular business undisturbed by the 
 operations of the New York and Erie Railroad Company, and 
 that the Comptroller be requested to furnish to the Assembly 
 a statement showing the amount of the indebtedness of these 
 companies to the State, and also whether they, or either of 
 them, have paid the interest on their indebtedness to the 
 State." 
 
 March ist, Mr. Morrison, from the Assembly Committee 
 on Railroads, reported in favor of the resolution referring to 
 the change of route of the railroad. March nth, Mr. Van 
 Valkenburg, of the same committee, reported a bill entitled 
 "An Act in relation to the construction of the New York and 
 Erie Railroad." 
 
 In the Senate, March 20th, Mr. Faulkner introduced a bill 
 entitled " An Act to authorize the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road Company to construct a branch terminating at New- 
 burgh." This was passed March 28th, by a vote of 22 to 
 2, Carlos P. Scovill, of the Fifth, and Albert Lester, of 
 the Seventh District, voting against it. The Assembly con- 
 curred in the bill April 5 th. 
 
 April 2gth, the Van Valkenburg bill of March nth 
 passed the Assembly by a vote of 92 to 20, and May 14th, 
 on motion of Mr. Faulkner, it was concurred in by the Sen- 
 ate by a vote of 24 to 4. 
 
 This act amended the bonding act of 1843 and combined 
 with it the provision for the final locating of the route of the 
 railroad. (" Second Administration of Eleazar Lord," pages 
 76-85.) 
 
 (Abstracts of Enabling Acts of 1845.) 
 
 April ith. — Authorizing the Company to construct a branch of its 
 road in Orange County, with single or double track, from the main 
 line at a point not to exceed one and a half miles east of the village 
 of Chester, and extending to the village of Newburgh, at such point 
 as may be agreed upon between the Company and the trustees of that 
 village, running through Front Street to the north part of the village, 
 under direction of the trustees ; to purchase all the rights and priv- 
 ileges that the Hudson and Delaware Railroad Company held under 
 its charter ; the Company not to connect its branch with any railroad 
 leading into Pennsylvania or New Jersey, west of the Shawangunk 
 Ridge, by virtue of any power contained in the charter of the Hudson 
 and Delaware Railroad Company. (Chapter 50, Laws of New York, 
 
 1845-) 
 
 May 14th. — Authorizing the Company, after obtaining bona fide 
 
 subscriptions to the amount of $3,000,000, 25 per cent, paid in, and 
 
 discharging all liens and incumbrances on its real estate, except the 
 
 State lien, or satisfying the Attorney-General that owners of such 
 
 20 
 
 liens have consented to the priority of the bonds to be issued over 
 such liens, to issue to the State, in liquidation of the debt due the 
 State, $3,000,000 in bonds of not less than $i,ooG each, at not more 
 than 7 nor less than 5 per cent, interest, payable in not less 
 than six nor more than twenty years, the bonds to be numbered and 
 registered in the Secretary of State's office, and become mortgages to 
 the State on all the Company's property, and to have priority of lien 
 over all previous obligations ; an agent appointed and paid by the 
 Company, and approved by the Governor, to apply the bonds in the 
 purchase of materials for the construction of the road, or to negotiate 
 the sale at not less than par, and to apply the proceeds in payment 
 for materials and labor ; the Comptroller to assign all bonds, the pur- 
 chase of which has been contracted for through the agent, on ap- 
 proval of the Board of Directors, to the purchasers, the assignment 
 being endorsed upon the bonds, with no recourse to the State, but not 
 more than $750,000 to be assigned until it shall be satisfactorily 
 shown that the Company has expended $1,500,000 in actual construc- 
 tion of the road since the passage of this act ; after which, assign- 
 ments shall be made of bonds upon the showing of the Company that 
 an additional sum equal to the amount of the bonds to be assigned 
 has been paid in on the subscriptions to the capital stock and ex- 
 pended in the construction of the railroad, and equal in amount to 
 the aggregate amount of bonds already assigned and the amount de- 
 sired to be assigned at any one time, but none of these subsequent 
 assignments to be for more than $500,000 ; the Company, at the time 
 of each and every assignment of bonds, to deposit with the Comp- 
 troller a sum sufficient to meet the annual interest, such amount to be 
 invested by the Comptroller in the stock of the State, and the interest 
 on the bonds to be paid by him when due out of such funds, all funds 
 remaining in his hands, in case the railroad should be completed be- 
 fore they are all expended, to be delivered to the Company ; no ma- 
 terials purchased by proceeds of the bonds to be liable to seizure for 
 any debt of the Company until permanently fixed in or upon the road, 
 and all moneys obtained by sale of bonds to remain in the custody of 
 the agent and be paid out by him for material or wages, on estimates 
 for the one or certificates for the other. The time for completing a 
 single track is extended for six years from date, and if the same is 
 constructed within that time, adopting the route between the summit 
 of the Shawangunk Ridge and a point one mile westward of the 
 village of Binghamton, as established under this act, and cars and 
 engines have passed over the same, affidavit to that effect having been 
 filed by the President of the Company with the Comptroller, from the 
 time of filing the affidavit the Company to be released from all lia- 
 bility to the State for any debt due from it to the State, with the ex- 
 ception that if any of the capital stock of the Company previously 
 issued and certified or purporting to be paid in full shall not be ex- 
 changed by the holder or holders, two shares for one, in stock to be 
 hereafter issued, within six months, it shall not be subject to the 
 conditions of this act, but the State shall retain the right to claim on 
 such outstanding stock, and the Company shall pay to the State 
 all dividends on it, the same to be applied to the credit of the Com- 
 pany until the State shall receive in such dividends so much of its 
 debt of $3,000,000, and the interest thereon, as would be the pro- 
 portion of such outstanding stock to pay, provided the whole of such 
 debt were collected ratably from all the stock outstanding. If the 
 Company fails to complete the railroad according to the provisions of 
 this act, it shall be liable to pay to the State the amount of all 'bonds 
 assigned by the State for its use. This act gave the State the option 
 of repaying, within one year after completion of the road, the cost of 
 the road and its fixtures, with interest at 14 per cent, per annum, 
 together with the amount expended by the Company for repairs, etc., 
 deducting amount of tolls received and proceeds of any bonds as- 
 signed by the Comptroller for the use of the Company, and taking 
 possession of the property. No foreclosure proceedings to be had 
 within one year after passage of this act. The Act of April 18, 1843. 
 and al other acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this act, repealed. 
 
3o6 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 The act further provided that the railroad " shall be constructed be- 
 tween Deposit, in Delaware County, and a point on the west side of 
 Chenango River, one mile westerly of the village of Binghamton, in 
 Broome County, on or near the route established by Benjamin 
 Wright, via Nineveh and Page Brook, with the privilege of running 
 the same through Chenango County : Provided said route is practica- 
 ble and can be adopted without prejudice to the public interest, which 
 shall be decided by the certificate of John B. Jervis, Orville W. 
 Childs, and Horatio Allen, engineers, or by any two of them. If 
 they decide that route not to be practicable, they shall locate the route 
 from Deposit to and through the village of Binghamton to a point 
 one mile westerly of that village, or any other route, or by the great 
 bend of the Susquehanna River ; and the Company is authorized to 
 construct the road in the county of Susquehanna in the State of Penn- 
 sylvania, as may be necessary for that purpose ; the engineers to sur- 
 vey all the proposed routes between those points. 
 
 The Company is required to construct the road between the summit 
 of the Shawangunk Ridge and Deposit, within the State of New 
 York, through the interior of Sullivan County, and, if necessary, 
 through a portion of the county of Ulster, providing a practicable 
 route can be obtained, which is to be decided by the same engineers ; 
 but in case they shall not so decide, the Company is authorized to 
 construct a portion of its road on such route as the Directors shall 
 decide through the counties of Sullivan and Ulster, the engineers to 
 survey all the routes proposed between the two points. 
 
 The Company is authorized to connect the railroad with the Corn- 
 ing and Blossburg Railroad, at or near the village of Corning, and 
 with the Williamsport and Elmira Railroad, at or near the village of 
 Elmira ; no bonds to be issued or assigned by the Comptroller until 
 after the route is located between the Shawangunk summit and De- 
 posit, and Deposit and Binghamton, according to the provisions of 
 this act. (Chapter 325, Laws of New York, 1845.) 
 
 1846. 
 
 Petitions from Chenango and Delaware counties for an act 
 compelling the Company to construct its railroad on the 
 northern route, and against locating any part of the route in 
 Pennsylvania ; and from the Directors for an act to amend the 
 Act of May 14, 1845, as regarded the locating of the route, 
 were presented early in the session. 
 
 In the Assembly, March i6th, Mr. Titus, from the Com- 
 mittee on Railroads, rej)orted in favor of such a bill. March 
 28 th, it having been recommitted to the Committee on Rail- 
 roads, Mr. Bush reported in favor of its passage. Mr. Blod- 
 gett, from the same committee, reported against the passage 
 of any bill permitting the railroad to go into Pennsylvania and 
 against ignoring Sullivan County. The bill was returned to 
 the committee. March 31st, Mr. Titus re-reported it with- 
 out amendment. The debates on and amendments to the 
 bill in the Assembly were so lively and numerous that, April 
 9 th, on motion of Alvah Worden, of Ontario County, it was 
 referred to a select committee of eight, consisting of one 
 member of Assembly from each Senate District. 
 
 The Speaker, William C. Crain, appointed from the First 
 District Mr. Titus ; from the Second, George T. Pierce ; 
 from the Third, Henry C. Haynor ; from the Fourth, Sid- 
 ney Lawrence; from the Fifth, Benjamin F. Cooper; from 
 the Sixth, Andrew G. Chatfield ; from the Seventh, Mr. Wor- 
 den ; from the Eighth, Mr. Blodgett. 
 
 April loth, the committee reported the bill, with amend- 
 ments, and it was agreed to. Benjamin Bailey, of Putnam 
 County, offered an amendment that if the railroad was built 
 out of the State, or connected with any other railroad, the 
 Company should forfeit its charter. 
 
 Not agreed to. 
 
 April 2 2d, the bill reported by the Select Committee of the 
 Assembly was rejected, less than two- thirds of the members 
 voting for it. 
 
 All efforts to reconsider the vote failed. May 2d, Mr. Wor- 
 den introduced the bill anew, and it was passed by a vote of 
 99 to o. 
 
 May 4th, in the Senate, Mr. Hard introduced a bill en- 
 titled " An Act to amend an act in relation to the construc- 
 tion of the New York and Erie Railroad, and for other pur- 
 poses"; passed May 14, 1845. Same day the Worden bill 
 was received from the Assembly, and referred to the Com- 
 mittee on Railroads, which reported in favor of its passage, 
 without amendment. 
 
 May 7 th, the Senate passed the Hard bill by a vote of 23 to 
 4. May 8th, it was amended in the Assembly, and passed, 
 May 9th, by a vote of 95 to 20. Same day, the Senate agreed 
 to the Assembly amendments, and the bill passed by a vote 
 of 23 to I, Mr. Putnam, of the Eighth District, voting 
 against it. May 13th, the Senate passed the Worden bill by 
 a vote of 23 to o. 
 
 {Abstracts of the Bills.') 
 
 Rlay ilih. — Repealed the section of the Act of May 14, 1845, re- 
 ferring to the survey of the route by John B. Jervis, Orville W. 
 Childs, and Horatio Allen, and appointed John B. Jervis, Orville W. 
 Childs, Horatio Allen, civil engineers, and Frederick Whittlesey of 
 Monroe County, Jared Wilson of Ontario County, William Dewey of 
 Jefferson County, and Job Pierson of Rensselaer County, Commis- 
 sioners to determine the route by surveys, and if they determine that 
 there was no practicable route between the Shawangunk Ridge and 
 Deposit, through the interior of Sullivan County, the Company had 
 the privilege of leaving its contemplated route, or the completed road, 
 at any point west of Goshen, in Orange County, and locate the road 
 through Ulster County, on the eastside of Shawangunk Mountains, pur- 
 suing the valley of the Wallkill, to near the village of Rondout ; 
 thence up the Rondout Creek, crossing to Esopus Creek ; up that creek 
 to the Barberbush Kill, in the town of Shandaken, Ulster County ; up 
 that creek and through Stony Clove to the Schoharie Kill, in the 
 town of Hunter, Greene County ; down the Schoharie Kill to the Bear 
 Kill; up that kill to the town of Stamford, Delaware County; then across 
 through the town of Harpersfield to the Charlotte River ; then down the 
 same and the Susquehanna River to the best point to cross at or near 
 Binghamton, or any other route the said Company shall determine to 
 follow through Ulster, Greene, Delaware, or Sullivan counties ; or the 
 'Company is authorized to fix and locate the Hne, the Legislature re- 
 serving power, at its next annual meeting, to direct otherwise, be- 
 tween the Shawangunk Ridge and Deposit, along the valley of the 
 Delaware River, and across the Delaware to the Pennsylvania side, 
 but not to construct between those points more than thirty miles in 
 length of their railroad on the Pennsylvania bank of the Delaware, 
 the route to cross the Delaware, between Carpenter's Point, in Orange 
 County, and the Glass House Rocks, in Pike County, Pa., and recross 
 the Delaware into New York State, not less than three nor more than 
 ten miles above the mouth of the Lackawaxen River, the road on 
 the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware to be constructed as not to 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 307 
 
 contract the natural flow and expansion of the river at high floods, 
 nor impede nor obstruct the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company 
 in its plan for the erection of an aqueduct at or near the mouth of the 
 Lackawaxen River, nor in any manner to disturb or injure the works 
 or impede the business of this canal company in Pennsylvania or New 
 York. 
 
 If the Commissioners found none of the routes practicable between 
 Deposit and Binghamton, the Company was authorized to construct 
 the railroad on any other route, or by the great bend of the Susque- 
 hanna River, and in or through Susquehanna County, Pa. The com- 
 pensation of the Commissioners to be determined by the Secretary of 
 State and the Comptroller. The report of the Commissioners on the 
 result of their surveys to be made to the next Legislature, on or be- 
 fore January 15th. (Chapter igg, Laws of New York, 1846.) 
 
 May I'ilh. — Extended the time of obtaining the $3,000,000 sub- 
 scription to the stock from one year to two years and six months, and 
 the time when foreclosure proceedings might begin, from one year to 
 two years and six months. (Chapter 318, Laws of New York, 1846.) 
 
 1847. 
 
 A large part of the time of the Legislature was taken up at 
 this session by the petitions for the change of route and 
 remonstrances against it. 
 
 January 14th, John B. Jervis, Horatio Allen, J. Wilson, and 
 William Dewey, of a majority of the Board of Commissioners, 
 reported voluminously in favor of the Pennsylvania and Dela- 
 ware A'aUey route, and the change between Deposit and 
 Binghamton. F. ^^'hittlesey, Orville W. Childs, and Job 
 Pierson, of the minority, by request of the Assembly, reported 
 their reasons for not agreeing with the majority in ordering 
 the change of route. 
 
 March 8th, WiUiam B. Wright, of Sullivan County, intro- 
 duced a bill providing for the construction of the railroad 
 entirely mthin the State. March 30th, Mr. Leavens, from a 
 majority of the Committee on Railroads, reported against the 
 bill. Mr. Wright, from the minority, reported in favor of it. 
 
 April 8th, a bill entitled " An Act in relation to the location 
 and construction of the New York and Erie Railroad" was 
 introduced. This was a bill prohibiting the change of route. 
 It did not pass. 
 
 The Legislature adjourned May 13th until September 8, 
 1847. 
 
 October 8th, Mr. Hard introduced a bill to amend the act 
 passed May 11, 1846, in relation to the New York and Erie 
 Railroad. It was passed October 12th, by a vote of 19 to i, 
 Harvey R. Morris, of the Second District, voting against it. 
 
 October i8th, the bill passed the Assembly (there is no 
 record in the Journal of the vote). The act amended the Act 
 of May r4, 1845, and authorized the Company, to enable it 
 to avoid the obstacles on the Pennsylvania side of the Dela- 
 ware River, at the point known as the Glass Factory Rocks 
 (" Administration of Benjamin Loder," pages 90, 91), to cross 
 the river above the Glass House Rocks, and below Bolton 
 Basin, provided the Company obtain the consent in writ- 
 ing of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company to such 
 proposed change, nothing in the act to impair any right or 
 privilege the Company had by existing laws to extend its rail- 
 
 road across the Delaware and connect with any railroad in 
 Pennsylvania at or near or opposite Carpenter's Point or Port 
 Jervis, or any other privilege connected therewith, already 
 granted. (Chapter 316, Laws of New York, 1847.) 
 
 1848. 
 
 This was the first year since 1832 that the Legislature of 
 New York was not occupied in special matters of some kind 
 relating to the New York and Erie Railroad. This year, 
 however, an act was passed (March 26th) authorizing the 
 formation of railway corporations. This was the original 
 " General Railroad Law," but was passed largely through the 
 influence of the New York and Erie Railroad Company, as it 
 relieved the future of its road from many of the restrictions 
 of the charter which time had shown to be against its general 
 interests. (Chapter 140, Laws of New York, 1848.) 
 
 1849. 
 
 This year there was absolutely nothing in the Legislature 
 that in any way affected the affairs of the Erie, even in a 
 general way. 
 
 1850. 
 
 The changes made in 1 849 in the survey of the route through 
 the western counties of Allegany, Cattaraugus, and Chautauqua 
 affected the interests of many residents in those counties, and 
 at the session of the Legislature for 1850 petitions poured in 
 from them for the passage of a law compelling the Company 
 to construct its road on the route surveyed in 1845. Peti- 
 tions for removing all obstacles against the free transit of 
 freight and passengers from the New York and Erie Railroad 
 Company through New Jersey were also numerous from all 
 the counties along the line, except Rockland. This was the 
 beginning of the movement to run trains to Jersey City as 
 the terminus, instead of Piermont. The petitions were voted 
 on adversely. 
 
 February 20th, the Senate passed a bill in response to the 
 petitions of the people of the western counties, compelling the 
 Company to build its railroad on the survey of 1845, and sent 
 it to the Assembly for concurrence. February 27th, the 
 Assembly Railroad Committee, to which it was referred, re- 
 ported against the bill, and the report was sustained. 
 
 February 31st, Assemblyman Allison offered a resolution 
 that a select committee be appointed to inquire into the 
 amount of money the Company had expended in the con- 
 struction of its railroad ; the amount expended for all pur- 
 poses on the line abandoned east of Binghamton and the 
 part proposed to be abandoned west of Olean ; the amount 
 expended in acquiring the right to run its road through a part 
 of Pennsylvania, and to whoin it was paid ; and the several 
 amounts paid to procure or prevent the passage of laws by 
 the Legislature of this State, and to whom ; the committee ta 
 
3o8 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 have power to send for persons and papers. The resolution 
 was laid on the table, and on February 28th, James Little, of 
 Onondaga County, offered a resolution providing that if the 
 committee was appointed, it should be instructed to inquire 
 whether the Company had complied with the requisition of 
 the Act of May 14, 1845 ; whether the bonds issued to the 
 Company by the State were not sold below par, in violation 
 of that act; whether the Company had not mortgaged its 
 road and the proceeds thereof, and if so, to whom, for what 
 amount, and by what authority ; whether money obtained by 
 the Company for the construction of the road had not been 
 appUed to the payment of interest ; whether the bonds of the 
 Company had not been hypothecated by it for money bor- 
 rowed, and if so, to whom and what amount of bonds ; and 
 if sold by the persons to whom they were hypothecated, at 
 what rate each bond was sold ; whether in the judgment of 
 the committee the State ought not to resume the lien con- 
 ditionally released by the Act of May 14, 1845. The resolu- 
 tion was laid upon the table. 
 
 February 21st, Senator Johnson introduced a bill imposing 
 tolls upon freight transported on the New York and Erie 
 Railroad. It was referred to the Finance Committee, which 
 reported that it was inexpedient to pass such a bill at that 
 time. 
 
 These and similar harassing measures were to prevent the 
 passage of a bill which the New York and Erie Railroad 
 Company was the sponsor for, and was using all its endeavors 
 to carry through the Legislature. This was finally accom- 
 plished on April 20th, in spite of the filibustering tactics of 
 its opponents. This act is what is known as the General 
 Railroad Law. It repealed the Act of March 27, 1848. It 
 still further widened the scope of the Erie plans. Sec. 5 1 
 provided that nothing in the act should authorize or permit 
 the New York and Erie Railroad Company to abandon the 
 use of its road in the county of Rockland, east of Suffem 
 depot. (Chapter 140, Laws of New York, 1850.) 
 
 1852. 
 
 In the Senate, February 6, 1852, on petition of citizens 
 of Rockland County, whether the Company had exceeded 
 its powers in certain bonds, on motion of Abraham B. 
 Conger, of the Seventh District, the President appointed a 
 select committee to inquire into the matter. The committee 
 were: Mr. Conger; Azor Taber, of the Eleventh District, 
 and Ashley Davenport, of the Twenty-first District. 
 
 Another petition from Rockland County for a committee 
 to inquire whether the Company had not exceeded its cor- 
 porate powers, was presented. It was referred to a special 
 committee. March ist, the matters were taken from the 
 committee and referred to the Committee on Railroads, and 
 they were not heard of again during the session. 
 
 Efforts were made by the enemies of the Company in the 
 Assembly to pass an act compelling it to pay tolls to the State 
 on its traffic, without success. 
 
 IN THE PENNSYLVANIA LEGISLATURE. 
 
 1841. 
 
 As early as 1841 the people of northeastern Pennsylvania 
 foresaw the importance of the railroad to them, and antici- 
 pated the change in the route from the roundabout course of 
 the Wright survey, from the Delaware Valley to the Susque- 
 hanna Valley, to one more direct and feasible, and secured 
 the passage of an act (February 18, 1841) by the Pennsylva- 
 nia Legislature, authorizing the New York and Erie Railroad 
 Company " to construct said road through a portion of Sus- 
 quehanna County, in the State of Pennsylvania, because it 
 had been represented that in the county of Broome the Com- 
 pany could not build its railroad further, except by tunneUing 
 the mountain west of Deposit, or using stationary power." 
 (No. 17, Pamphlet Laws of Pennsylvania, 1841.) 
 
 1851. 
 
 In the Assembly the matter of the petition of citizens of 
 Rockland County, to prevent the Company from diverting 
 traffic by way of the New Jersey railroads, and the remon- 
 strances from New York City and all along the line against 
 the passage of such a bill, were referred to the Committee on 
 Railroads, March 12th. The committee were: Joseph B. 
 Varnum, Jr., of New York ; John Horton, of St. Lawrence 
 County ; George Lesley, of Rensselaer County, and Wolcott 
 J. Humphrey, of Wyoming County. The committee reported 
 April I St, sustaining the remonstrances, and reported a bill 
 simply providing against the running of freight trains over 
 any railroads in the State of New Jersey, leaving the Com- 
 pany at liberty to transfer goods from its own to other trains 
 if the consignees desired it. The committee learned nothing 
 to justify the impression that the Company had in any way 
 violated its charter. The prayer of the petitioners was not 
 granted. 
 
 1846. 
 
 The question of right of entry into Pennsylvania by the 
 railroad was the one that seriously confronted the Company 
 at this period of the work, and great opposition to it was 
 made by the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company and 
 others in Pennsylvania. The Legislature of that State, how- 
 ever, at last passed an act (March 26, 1846), amending the 
 Act of February 18, 1841, so that the Company was author- 
 ized to extend the line of its railroad from a point near the 
 village of Port Jervis, across the Delaware, into the county of 
 Pike, and thence up the valley near the shore of the river, a 
 distance not to exceed thirty miles, to a point not exceeding 
 ten miles above the mouth of the Lackawaxen River, pro- 
 vided that the road cross the river into Sullivan County not 
 less than three nor more than ten miles above the mouth of 
 the Lackawaxen River, and constructed so as not to obstruct 
 the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company in the building of 
 its aqueduct across the Delaware at Lackawaxen, or injure 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 309 
 
 the rafting channel of the river, or impede the business of the 
 Delaware and Hudson Canal, the railroad to cross the river 
 at some point between Carpenter's Point and the Glass 
 House, and permit a connection at or near Carpenter's Point, 
 in Pike County, with any railroad now chartered or hereafter 
 to be chartered by Pennsylvania ; the Company to keep at 
 least one manager, toll-gatherer or other officer, a resident of 
 Pike County, and one in Susquehanna County. This act was 
 not to take effect until the New York Legislature should au- 
 thorize the Company, and the Company should consent, to 
 make a connection with the Blossburg and Corning Railroad, at 
 or near Corning, and with the Williamsport and Elmira Rail- 
 road at or near the village of Elmira. Among the conditions 
 of the act was one compelling the Company to regulate its tolls 
 so that the charge on anthracite and bituminous coal should 
 not exceed one and one-half cents per ton per mile ; the 
 Compan)' to pay the State, after the completion of the road 
 to Lake Erie, Si 0,000 a year, any failure to do so to forfeit 
 all the rights granted in the act ; the Company to make a 
 sworn statement to the Auditor-General of the cost of the 
 work in the State, and to pay a tax on its stock to an equal 
 amount of such cost, at the rate similar property was taxed ; 
 the Compan}' to make a sworn statement to the Legislature, 
 in January of each year, of its business for the previous year ; 
 a scire facias to issue from the Supreme Court of Pennsyl- 
 -vania and be served on the President or any officer or agent 
 of the Company, on complaint that any of the provisions of 
 this act had been violated, and show cause, the act to be null 
 ■and void if such were the case. (No. 17, Pamphlet Laws of 
 Pennsylvania, 1846.) 
 
 The interests of the Company were all centred in the 
 Pennsylvania Legislature of 1848, and its future depended 
 on the action of that body in the matter of a necessary 
 change of the point of entry of the railroad into that State. 
 ( "Administration of Benjamin Loder," pages 8S-90.) Fa- 
 -vorable action was taken, and an act was passed amending 
 the Acts of 1846 and 1841 ; giving the Company author- 
 ity to change the place of crossing the Delaware into 
 Pike County from " some point between Carpenter's Point 
 and the Glass House " to " some point between Carpen- 
 ter's Point and Bolton Basin," provided that the Com- 
 pany should erect, by the first day of October, 1852, a 
 permanent and substantial bridge across the Delaware, 
 between Sim's Clip and the rope ferry at Matamoras, with a 
 double track, one for a railroad, the bridge to be kept in 
 good order and repair by the Company " forever thereafter," 
 the ComiDany to receive the same rate of tolls as was charged 
 at the Delaware Bridge at Easton, Pa. ; the Company to con- 
 nect any railroad that might be constructed to the abutment 
 of the bridge with its railroad by a branch railroad on one of 
 the tracks of the bridge to the main line, at or near the depot 
 at Port Jervis ; no tolls to be exacted for railroad passengers 
 or freight passing over the bridge ; the Company to begin 
 
 the construction of the bridge and branch railroad with all 
 proper speed, if a railroad was built to the Delaware River at 
 the bridge before January i, 1852 ; the Company to pay all 
 immediate and consequent damages to the proprietor of the 
 rope ferry at Matamoras in consequence of construction of 
 the bridge, the last item not to exceed ^3,000 ; the penalty 
 of refusal or neglect to comply with the provisions of this act 
 to be the assessment by the State of Pennsylvania on the Com- 
 pany and the collection of a tax of one dollar for each pas- 
 senger carried on the railroad in Pennsylvania, until a sum 
 sufficient to construct the bridge and pay all damages to 
 private property ; a refusal to pay the tax to be followed by 
 the Canal Commissioners of Pennsylvania appointing a col- 
 lector and adopting measures to enforce the payment ; non- 
 compliance with any of the provisions of the act to be fol- 
 lowed by the repeal of the Act of 1841, and all the supple- 
 ments thereto, nothing in the act to be construed as exonerat- 
 ing the Company from the payment of the ^10,000 annual 
 bonus to the State. (No. 262, Pamphlet I^aws of Pennsyl- 
 vania, 1848.) 
 
 ^^^th the passage of the General Railroad Law by the New 
 York Legislature, and the action of the Company under it, the 
 Erie won its way from the Ocean to the Lakes, after a per- 
 sistent fight of twenty years. 
 
 These two extracts from letters of Benjamin Loder, who 
 was President of Erie at the time, are significant : 
 
 Albany, 8 March, 1850. 
 Delavan House. 
 I find from the number and variety of subjects requiring attention 
 here, tliat I cannot possibly get tiirougli with them this week. 
 Our road is so large and its interests so extended and com- 
 plicated that it requires some one on the watch, to guard it against 
 secret and open enemies, or, if nothing else, against injudicious leg- 
 islation. 
 
 Albany, 5 April, 1850. 
 I have been here two days, anxiously watching and managing in be- 
 half of our favorite bill, which I thought, when I returned to the city 
 last week, could not fail of being passed without much trouble. All 
 assured me then that it would pass almost without opposition, and I 
 expected every day to hear of its passage. But I found it in the same 
 condition when I returned as when I left. Immediately on my arrival 
 here I commenced my labors, and succeeded in getting it reported to 
 the Senate, and referred to a select committee to report complete. In 
 the afternoon it was unanimously reported by the committee and laid 
 over until to-day, when it was called up and very unexpectedly and 
 seriously opposed — and finally amended and passed by a small ma- 
 jority, but the amendment rendered it necessary to send it back to 
 the House for concurrence. ... I have just returned from the 
 Capitol, and am glad to say that the amendment was concurred in by 
 a handsome majority. We have thus succeeded in carrying every bill 
 we wished passed, and defeating every bill we wanted to defeat. 
 
 The bills referred to were the General Railroad Law, by 
 means of which the Company was to be enabled to extricate 
 itself from the narrow provisions of the charter, then nearly 
 twenty years old, and bills calculated to prevent the Company 
 from taking advantage of that law, even if it should pass. 
 
THE BUILDING OF IT. 
 
 AS IT PROGRESSED, STEP BY STEP, FROM 1832 TO 185 1. 
 
 Early Talk About the Best Way to Build It— Philip Church Would Build It Above the Ground, on the Strickland Plan of 1825— Later 
 Ideas All Queer — Work Begun in 1835 — Suspended in 1837 — The Resumption of 1838-40, and the First Contractor — Driving; 
 the First Spike at Piermont — Manipulating the Stock to Raise Money — How Contractors Enforced Settlements — How the First 
 Rails Were Bought in England — Opening of the First Section of Railroad in 1S41 — Bankruptcy — Work Resumed in 1846 — The 
 Shin Hollow War — Pioneer Trains and Incidents — Tragedy and Comedy — Getting the First Train Through the Delaware 
 Valley and to Binghamton — The Cascade Bridge and Starucca Viaduct — How They Were Built — On to the Alleghany — Bloody 
 and Fatal Riots — Driving the Last Spike — To Lake Erie at Last — The Newburgh Branch — Additions That Came Later. 
 
 CRUDE AND HALTING PRELIMINARIES. 
 
 In the days when the agitation of the project for a railroad 
 Iron! the Hudson River to Lake Erie began, railroad building 
 was but a budding science in this country, and the ideas that 
 prevailed as to the best means of constructing such thorough- 
 fares were extremely crude. In 1830, two years before the 
 Erie was chartered, Robert L. Stevens had designed the T 
 rail, the first specimen of which was rolled in 1831 — the rail 
 that is now in universal use the world over — but still knowl- 
 edge of railroad construction came to our engineers slowly. 
 J. Elf reth Watkins, in his monograph on " The Development 
 of the American Rail and Track," published by the National 
 Museum in its report for 1888-89, says : "The British rail- 
 way projectors had the advantage of being able to call into 
 their service a trained force of civil engineers, men on whose 
 judgment the wealthy capitalist was willing to supply the 
 money for the proposed improvement. Many of the civil 
 engineers who were first called into the service of the Ameri- 
 can railroads were connected with the Army Engineer Corps, 
 having obtained their training at West Point, the only institu- 
 tion in the United States where engineering was taught dur- 
 ing the first quarter of the century. In some cases, however, 
 these surveys were made by canal or road engineers, who 
 had obtained experience in canal and turnpike construction." 
 Of the latter class were the surveyors for the original route of 
 the New York and Erie Railroad in 1834. 
 
 As early as the summer of 1832 differences had come be- 
 tween the friends of the Erie project in the western part of 
 New York State and those in the eastern part, over the efforts 
 of the latter to have the survey for the route made by the Gov- 
 ernment. Philip Church united the western incorporators of 
 the company (as he termed those of the western New York 
 counties who were mentioned in the charter) into opposition 
 to that plan, but the Government survey was defeated by 
 other causes. (Chapter III., pages 16 to 18.) The western 
 incorporators, failing to induce the Company to make its own 
 survey, united in pressing the importance of the project upon 
 the attention of the New York Legislature, with the purpose of 
 
 having the State itself survey the route for the proposed rail- 
 road. One of the chief objections those unfavorable to the 
 railroad offered to its further recognition by the State was 
 that the climate of the region thiough which much of it was 
 to pass was such that in winter the deep snow would at times 
 entirely put a stop to the use of the railroad, and the ice 
 forming on the rails in the late fall, the winter, and the early 
 spring months, would frequently preclude the use of the loco- 
 motive, while the severe frosts would weaken the foundations. 
 How little had ideas of the practical science of railroad 
 construction taken possession of the projectors of the Erie as 
 late as 1834 is shown by the plan then put forward as the one 
 on which this railroad was to be built, as stated in the ar- 
 gument of the western incorporators before the New York 
 Assembly Committee on Railroads, in meeting the objections 
 of the opponents of the railroad. " Very smooth ice," it said, 
 " forming on the rails prevents the adhesion of the locomotive 
 engine. Those who have been eye-witnesses say that this is 
 obviated on the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad by plac- 
 ing one of the cars before the locomotive. The wheels of the 
 car easily break and displace the ice. It is understood, snow 
 is removed from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad by a ma- 
 chine preceding the locomotive, supposed to be in the shape 
 of a double-moulded plough, and is perhaps what is called 
 the Swedish snow plough. The use of a snow plough ex- 
 tending across the whole ^idth of a railroad, on rails within a 
 few inches of the ground, would produce in our deep snows 
 very considerable retardation. It is proposed to build our 
 rails a considerable height from the earth, which, in our great 
 command of wood, can be easily accomplished, in some such 
 mode as the following : 
 
 Ft. In. 
 
 The top of the cone will be higher than the ground o 6 
 
 On each cone place a block of wood 12 inches square and r4 
 
 inches in height j 2 
 
 Tying the bottom of the blocks together by transverse beams, 
 and the tops of the blocks together by longitudinal beams, 
 on these place rails, say 5 inches by 12 i o 
 
 Top of rails higher than the ground 2 8 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 ;ii 
 
 " Snow very seldom lies to the depth of two feet eight 
 inches. A small snow plough would readily clear the rails of 
 snow. The accumulation of snow in the space between the 
 rails would be of no importance where horse-power was not 
 made use of. It might be difficult to fasten rails of the 
 depth of 1 2 inches so firmly in chairs as to prevent leverage. 
 In that event they may be rendered firm by transverse beams, 
 connecting the opposite and parallel rails, midway between 
 the cones." 
 
 This plan, on which it appears Philip Church, himself an 
 engineer and a man of scientific attainments, proposed that 
 the original Erie should be built, was based on the report of 
 AMUiam Strickland, who had been sent abroad in 1825 by the 
 Pennsylvania Society for the Promotion of Internal Improve- 
 ments, to study the subject of English railroads. Although 
 his report was made in r826, before a foot -of railroad had 
 been put do^^Ti in America, the Erie projectors, eight years 
 later, had heard of no better or newer plans of railroad build- 
 ing. " Where blocks of stone can be easily and cheaply 
 obtained of various lengths on the line of the road" (thus 
 the Strickland report), " they ought to be used in the follow- 
 ing manner, viz. . Dig out shallow holes about a foot or 
 eighteen inches in depth, at four feet apart from centre to 
 centre, and fill them in with small broken stone or gravel, 
 flush with the surface of the road, upon which the foundation 
 props may be laid and bedded securely from the action of 
 the frost. Where stone is not to be had, or but at expensive 
 rate, I would recommend the use of scantling pieces of oak 
 or locust, six inches by eight inches, cut of various lengths, 
 not less than two feet, which may be sawed out of one another 
 lengthwise in the shape of a long wedge. These should be 
 driven into the bottom of a square or round pit, dug out 
 about two feet in width, and from two to three feet in depth, 
 and the pit afterwards filled up with broken stone, rammed 
 in on all sides. The effect of the stone will be to keep the 
 post or prop firm in its place, and to prevent its rising up by 
 action of the frost, which can have no power to move it 
 laterally. ^\'hen the posts have been secured in this manner, 
 the heads of them throughout any section of the line may be 
 sawed off to the proper level. The iron chairs or standards 
 must in this case be cast with a flange on the bottom, of three 
 inches in depth, and a corresponding mortise cut into the 
 head of the post to receive the flange of the chair, which 
 may be pinned through in the usual manner of mortise and 
 tenon." 
 
 In the severe chmate of the region through which the pro- 
 posed Southern Tier railroad was to pass, the foundation 
 stones of the railroad, it was agreed, should be made in the 
 form of an upright quadrilateral cone, about twenty-four 
 inches square at bottom, eight inches at top, and thirty inches 
 high. 
 
 The New York Legislature authorized the making of the 
 survey for the route at the expense of the State, and the 
 work was completed in the fall of 1834. (Chapter IV., 
 pages 24 to 31.) The survey gave a choice of three east- 
 
 ern termini for the route : Tappan, Nyack, and Slaughter's 
 Landing, " opposite Sing Sing," all on the Hudson River. In 
 putting forward the possibilities of Slaughter's Landing as the 
 terminus of the Erie at the Hudson, Engineer Seymour re- 
 ported that the point was " about seven and a half miles above 
 Tappan Landing (Piermont), and ascends the ridge between 
 the Hudson and the Hackensack rivers, through a gap near 
 Rockland Pond, which discharges into the Hackensack River. 
 In passing the ridge, a stationary power will be required on 
 the east side between the Hudson and the summit. The 
 length of the plane proposed is 1,200 feet, the vertical height 
 190 feet, requiring a stationary steam engine of sixty horse- 
 power. It may be well here to remark that the waters of 
 Rockland Pond may be turned into the Hudson River by 
 means of a tunnel between eighty and ninety feet below the 
 summit, and the water used to operate upon the machinery 
 for the inclined plane, instead of the stationary steam engine, 
 and still afford a valuable water power for other purposes." 
 
 {From Engineer Elleit's Report of His Survey, 1834.) 
 
 The railroad to Ithaca, which is already open to the public, and 
 designed to effect a communication between the Susquehanna and 
 Cayuga Lake, and the great country traversed by the Erie Canal, 
 cannot but be regarded as a valuable accession .to the resources of 
 Owego, even supposing the improvement to terminate here. But this 
 will not be permitted. A company is already formed and the con- 
 struction of a steamboat commenced, which is intended to ply be- 
 tween this village and the termination of the Pennsylvania Canal, at 
 the mouth of the Lackawanna ; which, it is believed, will be able to 
 bear the salt and plaster of the North to a Southern market, and re- 
 turn with the anthracite coal of that region, thus creating an impor- 
 tant source of revenue to the railroad, and supplying, reciprocally, 
 wide districts of country with the mineral wealth which nature has 
 denied them. And, from my personal knowledge of the character of 
 the Susquehanna, I have little doubt of the successful result of the 
 experiment. 
 
 "The railroad to Ithaca" was the Ithaca and Owego Rail- 
 road, the second railroad chartered in the State of New York. 
 It extended from Ithaca to Owego, twenty-nine miles, and 
 the motive power was horses and inchned planes. The 
 steamboat that was to " bear the salt and plaster of the North 
 to a Southern market, and return with the anthracite coal of 
 that region, thus creating an important source of revenue to 
 the railroad, and supplying, reciprocally, wide districts of 
 country with the mineral wealth which nature has denied 
 them," must have exhausted, before the boat could be finished, 
 the capital of the company that had set out to build it, for it 
 never called for " the salt and plaster of the North," and 
 consequently never returned with the anthracite coal " of that 
 region." The " salt and plaster of the North," at that time, 
 were the yield of the Syracuse salt springs, and the bed of 
 plaster at the foot of Cayuga Lake, long since exhausted. 
 Plaster is no longer a local item of traffic, but the " salt of the 
 North " now comes chiefly from the great wells of Livingston 
 and Wyoming counties, N. Y., and it is transported largely by 
 the Erie Railroad, as the principal wells are along the line of 
 the Buffalo Division. 
 
;i2 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 {From Engineer Ellctt's Report of His Survey, 1834.) 
 
 The western end of this section (between Elmira and Painted Post) 
 has also its local improvement, with which the interest of the citizens 
 near the southern line of this State and the northern counties of Penn- 
 sylvania is closely connected. The route of the proposed railroad from 
 the iron and bituminous coal district, near the headwaters of Tioga 
 River, was surveyed in 1832, and pronounced in the report of the en- 
 gineers to be perfectly feasible. It cannot be doubted that the con- 
 struction of the New York and Erie Railroad would accelerate the de- 
 velopment of the mineral wealth of that region, and increase to a 
 considerable extent the revenue of the Chemung Canal, through which 
 the supply intended for the northern counties of the State would nec- 
 essarily pass. 
 
 This "local improvement " is the present Fall Brook Rail- 
 road, and the prophecies made by Engineer EUett as to the 
 manner in which that railroad and the proposed Erie would 
 develop the bituminous coal region of that part of Northern 
 Pennsylvania long ago came true. Those early engineers 
 were very solicitous for the interests of the canals in all that 
 they did, and their surveys for railroads were made with the 
 idea that if the railroads were in any way to interfere with 
 the canals, the railroads should seek some other route. The 
 Chenango Canal, the Chemung Canal, the proposed Genesee 
 Canal, were all taken into tender consideration when the 
 original surveys for the New York and Erie Railroad were 
 made, and the Company was admonished by its engineers not 
 to take any steps that might result in the drawing of business 
 away from those canals. Where is the Chenango Canal now? 
 A railroad occupies it. Where is the Chemung Canal? A 
 railroad runs where it once was. Where is the Genesee 
 Canal? A railroad occupies the greater part of its bed. 
 A\'here is the Delaware and Hudson Canal, even, which the 
 original engineers particularly commended to the careful con- 
 sideration of the Railroad Company, and which drove the 
 Erie out of New York State into Pennsylvania, and then tried 
 to prevent the railroad from going through that State? It is 
 abandoned (1898), and a railroad will eventually follow its 
 bed or tow-path, and the company that constructed the canal 
 has made arrangements to have its coal transported to mar- 
 ket over the very railroad whose building it so strenuously 
 contested. 
 
 {From Engineer EUett' s Report of His Survey, 1834.) 
 
 The country north of this part (Olean) of the Alleghany River is of 
 rather superior cast, and the numerous valleys formed towards the 
 heads of the streams flowing into it are generally in a good state of 
 cultivation. The district immediately south of it, between the Alle- 
 ghany and the State line, is yet a wilderness. The mills on the river 
 and its tributaries cut many miUionsof feet of lumber annually, which 
 is rafted down the Alleghany, and supplies the market of Pittsburg 
 and the country on the borders of the Ohio and Mississippi. Bitu- 
 minous coal is said to be found about forty miles from Olean Point, 
 towards the head of the Alleghany River. I know not whether the 
 district containing it has ever been surveyed for the purpose of ascer- 
 taining the quantity or quality of the mineral, or the facilities the 
 country affords for the construction of a road from the mines into the 
 State of New York. It is probable that this has never been done, for 
 though it is the prevailing opinion in the adjacent counties that the 
 supply is inexhaustible, the present situation of the country through 
 
 which it must pass before it could be delivered in the populous dis- 
 tricts on the Erie Canal, is such as topreclude the hope that the 
 adventure would be profitable, until more effectual means can be 
 commanded for its transportation. 
 
 The reported existence of bituminous coal was well founded, 
 and the Bradford Division of the Erie now penetrates the 
 district, which is largely owned by corporations, that, al- 
 though collateral, are really part of the Erie body. 
 
 The Wright survey of 1834 established that the construc- 
 tion of a railroad through the Southern Tier and western 
 counties was feasible, but the State did not think well enough 
 of the project to take hold and complete it as a public work,, 
 as was urged upon it, and the New York and Erie Railroad 
 Company at last began the task itself, Eleazar Lord, the first- 
 President of the Company, having been succeeded in 1835 
 by James Gcrre King. ("Administration of James Gore 
 King," page 32.) 
 
 FIRST CONTRACTS, AND BREAKING GROUND FOR. 
 THE WORK. 
 
 For reasons which are given in detail in the " General 
 History" (page 36), the Company decided to begin work on 
 the construction of the railroad in the Delaware Valley, and 
 advertised as follows : 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD. 
 
 To Contractors : Proposals will be received at the office of this- 
 Company, No. 12 Wall Street, in the city of New York, until the 
 5th of November next, for the grading of forty miles of the railroad, 
 along the Delaware River, and extending from the mouth of Calli- 
 coon Creek (about sixty miles west of Newburgh) to the village of 
 Deposit, in the county of Delaware. This portion of the work is 
 now staked out in convenient sections, generally averaging one mile- 
 in length. Plans and profiles of the line, and printed forms of the 
 contracts (in which stipulations will be inserted prohibiting the use 
 of ardent spirits) will be ready for exhibition on and after the 20th 
 of September instant, at the office of the Division Engineer of the 
 Eastern Division of the New York and Erie Railroad, in the village 
 of Deposit. The Company reserves the privilege of accepting only- 
 such proposals as they may deem for their advantage. 
 
 James G. King, President. 
 New York, Sept. 8, 1835. 
 
 The work was let in forty-four sub-divisions to twenty-six 
 different contractors, among them the father of Charles 
 Mygatt, the veteran Erie engineer. The total amount of 
 contracts was ^3r3,572, or ^7,742 per mile. Ground was 
 broken at Deposit at sunrise, November 7, 1835. ("Ad- 
 ministration of James Gore King," page 36.) Actual work 
 on the contracts began November 15 th. The prospects 
 seeined to be such in April, r836, that President King felt 
 warranted in extending the work, and advertised thus : 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD. 
 
 To Contractors : Proposals will be received at the Engineer's 
 office of the New York and Erie Railroad Company, in the village of 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 3^3 
 
 Binghamton, on and until the 30th day of June next, for grading 6g 
 miles of the railroad from the village of Owego, in Tioga County, 
 to the village of Deposit, in Delaware County. 
 
 Proposals will also be received at the Engineer's office, in Monti- 
 cello, on and until the nth day of July next, for grading 48 miles 
 of the railroad through the county of Sullivan, extending from the 
 Delaware and Hudson Canal up the valley of the Neversink, and 
 thence to the mouth of the Callicoon Creek, on the Delaware River. 
 
 Plans and profiles of the line above mentioned, staked out in con- 
 venient sections, will be ready for exhibition at the said offices twenty 
 days before the days of letting above specified. 
 
 The Company reserve the privilege of accepting only such pro- 
 posals as they deem for their advantage. 
 
 James G. King, President. 
 New York, 26M Aprils 1836. 
 
 A month later, however, the following official announce- 
 ment of the Company's intentions was made : 
 
 NOTICE OF THE NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD 
 COMPANY. 
 
 The Company hereby withdraw their advertisement of 26th April, 
 in consequence of their inability to prepare in time the portion of the 
 line proposed to be let on the 30th June at Binghamton, and on the 
 nth of July at Monticello. P'uture notice shall be given when pro- 
 posals will be received at the above places for the same portions of the 
 
 road. 
 
 James G. King, President. 
 May 28, 1836. 
 
 "Future notice" to such an effect was never made. 
 Work was pushed as rapidly as possible in the Delaware Val- 
 ley, and renewed efforts were made in the Southern Tier and 
 western counties of New York State to obtain such encour- 
 agement as would insure the beginning of active operations 
 there. The engineer department was reorganized in the 
 spring of 1836 by the appointment of E. F. Johnson and 
 Capt. Andrew Talcott, and a new survey of the route was 
 ordered. Johnson had charge of the division between the 
 Hudson River and Painted Post, in Steuben County, and 
 Talcott the rest of the route from that point to Lake Erie. 
 Benjamin Wright was continued as consulting engineer. 
 Johnson, in his examination of the route through Sullivan 
 County, between the Shawangunk Ridge and the Delaware 
 River at Callicoon, discovered its difficulties as to grades and 
 other obstacles, as compared with a route through the Dela- 
 ware Valley. He also disagreed with the original engineer as 
 to the route between Deposit and the Susquehanna Valley, 
 and recommended one by the way of " the great bend of the 
 Susquehanna." But he advised the Company to enlarge its 
 gauge, which was then six feet ! He reported in favor of 
 Tappan (Piermont) as the eastern terminus of the railroad. 
 Captain Talcott examined the harbors of Lake Erie, and chose 
 Dunkirk as the point of terminus for the western end of the 
 railroad. Communication with the West by water was the 
 end they were seeking in those pioneer eariy days. The 
 future possibilities of railroads beyond the western terminus 
 of the Erie did not seem to concern the engineers or the 
 
 Company's management. The location of the ends of 
 the railroad at Tappan and Dunkirk involved the necessity 
 of building a long pier into the river at Tappan and an- 
 other into Lake Erie at Dunkirk. The importance of 
 the terminus at Piermont was urged by the Company in its 
 second annual report to the stockholders, September 9, 1836, 
 because it " was but twenty-two miles from the foot of 
 Twelfth Street, New York, where it was proposed to build a 
 depot for merchandise for the interior, and for the supplies 
 of provisions and other agricultural products to be brought 
 to tidewater upon the road." 
 
 President King and a committee from the Board of Di- 
 rectors, accompanied by Chief Engineer Benjamin Wright, 
 visited Tappan Slote October, 19, 1836, and located the pier 
 and a portion of the line from the river westward. The 
 original intention was to carry the pier out to a point where 
 the water was six feet deep, but it was extended to a depth 
 of nine feet at low tide " to accommodate the sloop trade in 
 lime, coal, plaster, and lumber." 
 
 From the tenor of the report of 1836, no other inference 
 could have been drawn than that the prospects of the Com- 
 pany at that time were particularly bright. 
 
 " The Dunkirk grant to the Company," said the report, " is 
 5,000 lots, one-quarter of the whole town plot." Other 
 donations were " an equal one-quarter of the town plot on 
 the Alleghany River, laid out at the point of embarkation for 
 the early spring merchandise destined for the Ohio and Mis- 
 sissippi valleys, yielding the equivalent of 4,500 city lots, and 
 an equal one-eighth of the tract of 400,000 acres in the coun- 
 ties of Cattaraugus and Allegany, recently purchased of the 
 Holland Land Company. The pecuniary value of these 
 donations is estimated to exceed {82,000,000. Hinsdale, 
 Painted Post, Owego, Binghamton, Deposit, and other towns, 
 have made similar donations. That at Tappan is ninety acres 
 under water, but can be easily filled in and profitably em- 
 ployed or disposed of." 
 
 " Confidence is not only undiminished, but vastly in- 
 creased," said the report. " Difficulties are diminishing, 
 pecuniary resources steadily increasing.'' 
 
 This was in September, 1836. Two months from that 
 time work on several of the contracts in the Delaware Valley 
 was discontinued because the Company had no money to pay 
 for it. In March and April, 1837, all work was suspended 
 and the contractors discharged. The engineers and surveyors 
 all along the line were also discharged. The grading in the 
 Delaware Valley had cost §192,837.63. This had all been 
 paid except ^13,000, which was subsequently settled. Work 
 was not resumed in the Delaware Valley until 1847, and the 
 grading done in 1836-7 was found to be uninjured. 
 
 In May, 1838, a new engineer corps was organized to make 
 a final location of the route. Major Thompson S. Brown, 
 of the United States Engineers, was appointed Chief Engineer 
 of the 'Western Division ; Edwin F. Johnson, of the Susque- 
 hanna Division ; Celim L. Seymour was Resident Engineer 
 of the Delaware Division, and Hezekiah C. Seymour Chief 
 
314 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Engineer of the Eastern Division. Silas Seymour was Major 
 Brown's assistant. A. C. Morton, who had been Resident 
 Engineer in charge of the surveys in Rockland and Or- 
 ange counties in 1836, was appointed Resident Engineer, 
 in chief charge of work in Orange County in September, 
 1838. 
 
 Major Thompson S. Brown entered West Point Academy 
 as a cadet in 1821, and graduated in the military corps of 
 engineers in 1825. For eleven years he was engaged on 
 many important Government works, among them the forti- 
 fications at Mobile Point, Ala. ; at Newport, R. I., where 
 he was five years under Colonel Herr, subsequently Chief of 
 the Engineer Corps, and in the coast surveys and survey for 
 improvement on the Western rivers. He was detailed to in- 
 spect and report on the operations of the now historic old 
 Cumberland road on the sections in Indiana and Illinois. He 
 had the superintendence of the fortifications in Charleston 
 Harbor, S. C, and the general superintendence of the United 
 States harbor improvements on Lake Erie from Buffalo to 
 Cleveland, inclusive. In 1836 he left the Government ser- 
 vice and became employed on public works. In May, 1838, 
 he was appointed Chief Engineer of the Western Division 
 of the New York and Erie Railroad, and had that title until 
 November 25, 1840, when he was made Associate Engineer 
 in charge of the Western Division, and Commissioner of 
 that division. In 1841 he was detailed to accompany Henry 
 L. Pierson to Europe, to contract for the iron rails first used 
 on the Erie between Piermont and Goshen. He was ap- 
 pointed Chief Engineer of the Erie in 1845, resigning in 
 1849 to go to Russia to take charge of the great railroad 
 work there in course of construction by that government, 
 succeeding Major Whistler, who had died there. 
 
 Silas Seymour was born at Springwater, Saratoga County, 
 N. Y., June 20, 1817. He began his career in 1835 on the 
 Delaware Division of the New York and Erie Railroad as 
 rodman, and continued there until work was suspended in 
 1837. He was made Assistant Engineer in May, 1838, on the 
 Western Division, and was Resident Engineer from June i, 
 
 1 840, to June, 1 84 1 . He had charge of the surveys from Dun- 
 kirk to Cuba Summit, ninety-six miles, and from Dunkirk to 
 Cold Spring Summit, forty miles. He had entire charge 
 when Chief Engineer Brown was in Europe with Henry L. 
 Pierson, contracting for Erie's first railroad iron. He lo- 
 cated the line for the ten miles east from Dunkirk. In July, 
 
 1 841, he was appointed Superintendent of Construction on the 
 western end of the railroad. He was Chief Engineer of Con- 
 struction from 1846 until 185 1, when he resigned, having 
 been appointed Chief Engineer of the Buffalo and New York 
 City Railroad, extending from Hornellsville to Buffalo, after 
 the completion of which he became its General Superintendent. 
 Mr. Seymour laid the last rail upon the Western Division of the 
 New York and Erie Railroad at Cuba, on the 17th of April, 
 1 85 1, and assisted at the great celebration of the opening of 
 the road for business, on the 15 th of May following. He 
 designed and constructed the famous Portage Bridge across 
 the Genesee River, a structure 234 feet high and 800 feet in 
 
 length. Soon afterward he became a contractor, and aided 
 in the construction and equipment of the Ohio and Missis- 
 sippi, the Louisville and Nashville, the Maysville and Lexing- 
 ton, the Scioto and Hocking Valley, the New York and Bos- 
 ton Air Line, the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron of Canada, the 
 Western North Carolina, and Sacramento Valley railroads. 
 In 1855 he was elected State Engineer and Surveyor-Gen- 
 eral of New York, which responsible office he held during 
 1856-7. In 1862 he was appointed Chief Engineer of 
 the Washington and Alexandria Railroad, with a view to con- 
 struct a railroad bridge across the Potomac, which important 
 work was successfully completed in 1864. In 1863 the Sec- 
 retary of the Interior designated him as Consulting Engineer, 
 and afterward Chief Engineer of the Washington Aqueduct. 
 In 1864 he was appointed Consulting Engineer of the Union 
 Pacific Road, and remained in that service until the comple- 
 tion of that great work. The last rail was laid on the loth 
 day of May, 1869, with Mr. Seymour present as one of the 
 principal participants in the ceremonies, thus having been 
 identified with the construction of both the initial (the Erie) 
 and terminal links of the great chain of railways, more than 
 three thousand miles in length, which had at last come to 
 span the American continent from ocean to ocean. After 
 the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad Mr. Seymour 
 became Consulting Engineer of the Adirondack Company's 
 Railroad, and of the North Shore Railway of Canada, extend- 
 ing from Montreal to Quebec. The latter part of his life 
 was passed in pleasant retirement at Dansville, N. Y., where 
 he died in 1896. 
 
 Hezekiah C. Seymour was born in Oneida County, N. Y., 
 and was a warm personal friend of Eleazar Lord. He was 
 one of the early prominent civil engineers of this country. 
 His ideas dominated the policy of the Erie in the construc- 
 tion of the railroad up to the time it was opened to Goshen 
 in 1 84 1, and later. He was the first Superintendent of the 
 Erie, and was also its Engineer until 1845, when Major 
 Thompson S. Brown was appointed to the place. Mr. Sey- 
 mour was Superintendent until 1849, in which year he was 
 elected State Engineer and Surveyor of New York State. At 
 the expiration of his term of office in 1852, he was ap- 
 pointed Chief Engineer of the Ontario, Huron and Lake 
 Simcoe Railroad, from Toronto to Lake Huron. He left 
 that place in the spring of 1852 to take an interest in the 
 contracts for building the Ohio and Mississippi, the Louis- 
 ville and Nashville, the Maysville and Lexington, and other 
 railroads in the West. These contracts were the most stu- 
 pendous in amount ever taken for the construction of rail- 
 roads in this country by one firm, the aggregate being more 
 than ^35,000,000. Mr. Seymour did not live to see the 
 completion of the great work, he having died July 24, 1853, 
 at Piermont, N. Y. While Superintendent of the Erie he 
 was known among the employees as " The Oneida Chief," 
 and by railroad men at large he was called " The Father of 
 the Erie Broad-Gauge." He left a widow, one son, and five 
 daughters. The son, Augustus S. Seymour, became United 
 States District Judge in North Carolina. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 315 
 
 Alvin C. Morton began as an Engineer in 1827, on the 
 Lehigh Canal as Assistant Engineer. He was subsequently 
 on the Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal, then 
 on the Raritan Canal. From 1832 to 1835 he was in charge 
 of the Harrisburg and Lancaster Railroad. From there he 
 went to the Sunbury and Erie Railroad Company. He was 
 employed by New York State to make the sui-veys of the 
 branches of the Hudson River, which he completed a short 
 time before going with the New York and Erie Railroad 
 Company. He left the Erie service about 1844, and in 1845 
 he was made Chief Engineer of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence 
 and the St. Lawrence and Atlantic railways, afterward the 
 Grand Trunk Railway of Canada. He subsequently joined 
 the firm of Morton, Seymour & Co., railroad contractors, 
 and also the firm of Robinson, Seymour & Co., who con- 
 structed the Sacramento Valley Railroad, the first railroad 
 built in California. He was one of the early men in the 
 construction of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, now 
 part of the Erie system as the Nypano. At the time of his 
 death he was President of the International Coal and Rail- 
 way Company, of Nova Scotia, with headquarters in New 
 York. Some of the most prominent engineers in the coun- 
 try were pupils of Mr. Morton. He died February 25, iSyr, 
 aged sixty-six years. 
 
 Celim L. Seymour had been in the work of surveying the 
 Delaware and Hudson Canal, Mount Carbon Railroad, Penn- 
 sylvania Canal, Great ^^'estem Mail Route from Vincennes, 
 Ind., to St. Louis, in 1835, 1836, 1837. As Resident Engi- 
 neer of the Delaware Division, he was in favor of the interior 
 route through Sullivan County, and denounced, for years, the 
 taking of the railroad to the Delaware Valley. 
 
 The members of the Eastern Division engineer corps of 
 1838, under H. C. Seymour, were : Alexander Main, John R. 
 Garland, David P. De Witt, Thomas Addis Emmet, Newbold 
 Edgar, Augustus S. Whiton, Norman Seymour, and Peter Bo- 
 gart. Some of them became distinguished engineers, nota- 
 bly Thomas Addis Emmet. Alexander Main was the Erie's 
 first cashier and auditor. A. S. Whiton became superinten- 
 dent of the Eastern Division. 
 
 At a meeting of the Board of Directors, July 15, 1838, 
 authority was given to publish the following : 
 
 NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS. 
 
 Sealed proposals will be received by the subscriber until Wednesday, 
 iSth of August next, at 9 o'clock P.M., at the office of the Company, 
 at Tappan Slote, Rockland County, New York, for the grading, 
 bridging, and masonry of ten miles at the eastern termination of the 
 New York and Erie Railroad. The maps and profiles, together with 
 the specifications and plans of the materials, and the manner of con- 
 struction, will be ready for examination at any time after the 20th of 
 August next, at the office at Tappan, where all requisite information 
 relative to the work will be given, and blank proposals furnished. 
 Some of the sections will be heavy, and will require a considerable 
 quantity of rock excavation. 
 
 Security will be required for the performance of contracts. Persons 
 who are unknown to the subscriber, or to the Engineer, will be ex- 
 pected to furnish satisfactory testimonials. No transfer of contracts 
 
 will be recognized. Individuals proposing for more work than they 
 wish to contract for must specify the quantity they wish to take. 
 
 The undersigned reserves the right of rejecting all propositions 
 which appear incompatible with the interests of the Company. 
 
 For further particulars apply to H. C. Seymour, Civil Engineer, 
 Tappan, Rockland County, N. Y. 
 
 Samuel P. Lyman, 
 Commissioner of the New York and Erie 
 Railroad Company. 
 July 15, 1838. 
 
 A similar notice was published relating to the grading of 
 ten miles from Dunkirk, eastward. The work on these two 
 ten-mile sections had been made a first provision of the act 
 granting the Company State aid in 1838. The contracts were 
 let in August, 1838, and during the year seven miles of the 
 grading at the western end of the route were completed, and 
 five miles of the Piermont ten-mile section, including several 
 arched culverts on the latter. Work on the pier was pro- 
 gressing. Contracts were also closed in August, 1838, for 
 grading the road from the eastern end of the Piermont ten- 
 mile section to Goshen, thirty-five miles, except two miles for 
 piles, and a contract for grading one mile extending east 
 from the village of South Middletown (Middletown), Orange 
 County. Surveying operations were also progressing between 
 Binghamton and the Genesee River, in Allegany County, and 
 from the west end of Allegany County to the east end of 
 the ten miles under contract in Chautauqua County. 
 
 The ten-mile section at the Piermont end of the route was 
 located with no little ceremony, August 15, 1838. President 
 King and members of the Board were present. The begin- 
 ning of the line that was to stretch westward nearly 500 miles, 
 the entire width of the greatest State in the Union, and unite 
 the ocean with the lakes, was in a swampy marsh, which 
 must have seemed to the distinguished men assembled on 
 that historic occasion a most unpromising and discouraging 
 starting point for so stupendous an undertaking, especially as 
 its chief intent was to give New York City communication 
 by rail with then secluded regions, that they might be settled 
 and their resources developed. The men who had insisted 
 on such a beginning, and succeeded in securing it, were the 
 ones who had denounced the original plan of constructing 
 the first section of the railroad in the Delaware Valley, three 
 years before. It is a question which was the wiser start of 
 the two. The Company had the privilege of beginning its 
 railroad at New York until the Rockland County influence 
 obtained the legislation compelling the locating and con- 
 tracting for the ten miles at Piermont before anything else 
 could be done. But for that unfortunate circumstance, and 
 the one compelling the western terminus to be at Dunkirk, 
 the railroad would have been in operation between the Hud- 
 son and Lake Erie years before it was, and with no lasting 
 burden of mortgage debt upon it. 
 
 In the contracts for work made in 1838, the terms were 
 that payments should be made from funds obtained by col- 
 lections on the stock subscriptions in the counties or on the 
 divisions of the railroad where the work was to be done, and 
 from the avails of the State stock collectible on such sub- 
 
3i6 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 scriptions. This facilitated the work by distributing it. The 
 contracts made after 1838 contained the provision, originating 
 with Eleazar Lord, that contractors invest a certain portion of 
 the avails of their contracts in the stock of the Company, the 
 investments to be made from time to time as they received 
 payments from the Company. This was proposed by Mr. Lord, 
 September 10, 1838, at a meeting of the Board. It was put 
 into practical force on the Eastern Division in 1839, while 
 Lord was President and Commissioner, and subsequently be- 
 came the policy of the Company all along the line, and un- 
 doubtedly greatly advanced the work then on hand, but, as 
 it subsequently appeared, by no means to the future benefit 
 of the work or welfare of the Company. 
 
 The first contract for grading was taken August 15, 1838, 
 by Doubleday & Ward for section No. i . There were forty- 
 eight contracts let from between that time and August 13, 
 1839, to thirty-eight contractors. These were for grading 
 culverts and bridges. These early Erie contractors were as 
 follows : 
 
 Rockland Comity, N. V., 1838. — Doubleday & Ward, 
 Thornton & Briggs, Levi Walden, Medler & Sutherland, Briggs 
 & Thomas, B. Thornton, Wood & Horner, C. Midler, J. & C. 
 Collins, Blair & Mills. 1839— Thomas Midler & Co., J. & 
 C. Collins, Blair and Stickney, Jeremiah H. Pierson, Wilson 
 & Phillips, Ward, Wilkes & Co. 
 
 Orange County, 1839. — Ward, Wilkes & Co., H. Jenkins & 
 Co., Hudson Macfarland, John Coffey, T. Selleck (for piles), 
 M. Brainard (driving piles). Nelson Phillips & Co., John 
 Wood, Taylor & Crary, Carmichael & King, George Clark, 
 Taylor & Stevenson, Mills, Riddle & Co., David Spencer & 
 Co., John Seaman. 
 
 These contractors took from one-third to three-eighths 
 of the amount of their contracts in the Company's stock. 
 Twenty-three of the contracts were cancelled in the winter of 
 T 839-40, the Company's finances preventing further prose- 
 cution of the work for the time. 
 
 A ROSY FORECAST. 
 
 To what a promising situation the railroad work had been 
 brought by past operations, and what its prospects and inten- 
 tions for the future were at this interesting period in the 
 history of the Erie, is entertainingly told in the following 
 extracts from a letter from Samuel P. Lyman, General 
 Commissioner of the Company, to Assemblyman Scoles, at 
 Albany, January r4, 1839 : 
 
 The Company, in August, 1835, caused a thorough reexamination 
 of the difficult portions of the line to be made, under the direction of 
 a Board of Engineers, composed of Moncure Robinson of Pennsyl- 
 vania and Jonathan Knight of Maryland, consulting with Benjamin 
 Wright, and the result of their labors induced the Directors to adopt a 
 plan more permanent and expensive. The estimates made upon the 
 plan as enlarged, on the united opinions of these engineers, were as 
 follows: 
 
 Graduation, the expenses of the engineer department, and 
 
 the contingent expenses of the Company $3,117,518 
 
 Superstructure 1,857,000 
 
 Cost of vehicles and other necessary apparatus for the 
 
 business of the road, in the first instance 500,000 
 
 $5,474,518 
 To which the Board of Directors, for more abundant 
 
 caution, added, for contingencies 525,482 
 
 Total -■ ■ • • $6,000,000 
 
 The first work was the obtaining of right of way. Voluntary re- 
 leases were obtained for more than three-quarters of the line. If 
 the Company had had to pay for its right of way entire, at the rates 
 charged other roads in neighboring States, the work would have never 
 begun. The cost would have been $1,000,000, at least. The liber- 
 ality of the farmers and land-holders not only helped the Company, 
 but showed the deep interest they had in the success of the work. 
 
 The next thing was the procuring of subscriptions to the balance of 
 the stock. The financial embarrassments of the city and the apparent 
 solvency of the country induced the Company to confine its efforts to 
 the southern tier of counties. The balance needed was $500,000. 
 After the proposition to take the stock was made to each county, and 
 the probable result estimated, the following distribution was made: 
 
 To Rockland County $20,000 
 
 Orange County 100,000 
 
 Sullivan County 20,000 
 
 Delaware County 40,000 
 
 Broome County 25,000 
 
 Tioga County 50,000 
 
 Chemung County 50,000 
 
 Steuben County 100,000 
 
 Allegany County 50,000 
 
 Cattaraugus County 25,000 
 
 Chautauqua County. 20,000 
 
 Total $500,000 
 
 The distribution was made not so much with reference to the abil- 
 ity of each county to take and hold the stock, as to the amount previ- 
 ously taken, and the zeal manifested in promoting the work. Of this 
 amount $300,000 were subscribed. The whole of the grading can be 
 completed in three years. While the grading is in progress, the Com- 
 pany will purchase timber for the superstructure, in order to have it 
 seasoned and prepared for laying down as soon as the graduation is 
 ready for it, and will contract for iron and cause it to be imported 
 and distributed along tlie line for use the moment the road-bed is 
 ready. The work is divided in five sections, so it will be finished 
 simultaneously all along the line. Four years is all the time the 
 Company requires to complete the work, if they have the money to 
 carry out their plans. It can be done in three years, but there is no 
 telhng how long it will take if the Company does not get aid. from 
 the State. 
 
 Samuel P. Lyman was appointed General Commissioner of 
 the Company April 27, 1838. During the session of the 
 Legislature of 1839, Mr. Lyman was in Albany, having in 
 charge the application of the Company for a modification of 
 the law authorizing the loan of 53,000,000 of State stock to 
 the Company. While Mr. Lyman was there a controversy 
 arose between him and President King, who was supported 
 by some of the Directors, in which Mr. Lyman was charged 
 with misrepresenting the views and wishes of the Company, 
 and with disregarding his instructions. In consequence of 
 this controversy, and having made to the Board of Directors 
 a full report in justification of his motives and proceedings, 
 he resigned. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 317 
 
 President King was striving to have the State take charge 
 of the work and finish it, but as the policy outlined by Ly- 
 man was supported by a strong following in the Board, led 
 by Eleazar Lord, President King resigned from the manage- 
 ment September 25, 1839, a-^d his efforts in behalf of the 
 railroad ceased. He had served without salary, and had 
 sacrificed largely his own private interests in behalf of the 
 work during the four years and more of his connection with 
 the project. Eleazar Lord became President again. 
 
 THE WORK UNDER ELEAZAR LORD. 
 
 In May, 1839, Eleazar Lord had been appointed Commis- 
 sioner of the Eastern Division of the road, and continued such 
 until the middle of March, 1841, at a salary of ^2,400 per 
 annum. From September 25, 1839, until after the expira- 
 tion of his duties as Commissioner, Mr. Lord also held the 
 office of President of the Company, at a salary of $3,600 per 
 year. For about eighteen months, therefore, Mr. Lord re- 
 ceived pay at the rate of $2,400 a year as Commissioner, and 
 $3,600 a year as President, an aggregate salary of §6,000 per 
 annum. Upon the retirement of Mr. Lord as Commissioner 
 of the Eastern Division, the duties of the office were placed 
 in charge of H. C. Seymour, Chief Engineet of the division. 
 A. C. Morton, the Chief Engineer of the Delaware Division, 
 performed the duties of Commissioner of that division. 
 
 October 14, 1839, President Lord took ex-Commissioner 
 Lyman back into the service, appointing him Agent of the 
 AVestem Division to obtain subscriptions to the stock of the 
 Company, and cessions of land. He was at the same time 
 appointed " Agent of the Company, with special reference to 
 services on the Susquehanna and Western divisions of the 
 roads." January 22, 1840, he was appointed Commissioner of 
 the Susquehanna Division. August 1,1841, he was made 
 General Commissioner of the Company. 
 
 August I, 1840, Francis Bloodgood, who had been Ly- 
 man's assistant, was appointed Commissioner of the Central 
 Division, at a salary of $2,500 per annum. On the same 
 day, Thomas A. Johnson became Commissioner of the Sus- 
 quehanna Division, at the same salary. Thompson S. Brown, 
 the Associate Engineer of the Company, in charge of the 
 Western Division as Chief Engineer, was made also Com- 
 missioner of that division, November 25, 1840. 
 
 Gen. C. B. Stuart was appointed Chief Engineer of the 
 Susquehanna Division in February, 1840. General Stuart, in 
 1833, was engaged on the construction of the Saratoga and 
 Schenectady Railroad and Saratoga and Washington Rail- 
 road. From September, 1833, to September, 1836, he was 
 Assistant Engineer of the Utica and Schenectady Rail- 
 road. He became Resident Engineer, in the latter month, 
 of the Syracuse and Utica Railroad, and continued as 
 such until the completion of that road in September, 1839. 
 He then made preliminary surveys of the Oswego and 
 Syracuse Railroad. From February 10, 1840, to February 
 10, 1 84 1, his staff on the Susquehanna Division, between 
 Binghamton and Hornellsville, was as follows : T. G. 
 
 Pomeroy, principal assistant engineer from Elmira to 
 Hornellsville ; Ira Spaulding, principal assistant engineer 
 from Elmira to Binghamton ; Franklin Hathaway, book- 
 keeper and draughtsman, Owego office ; D. W. Linn, 
 leveller, Elmira to Binghamton ; Ephraim Leach, agent to 
 purchase timber, in Tioga County ; Minos McGowan, timber 
 agent for Chemung and Steuben counties ; E. S. Thompson, 
 inspector of pile timber, Binghamton to Elmira ; E. S. 
 Dean, inspector of pile timber, Elmira to Hornellsville ; 
 Stephen Dexter, surveyor, Tioga and Chemung counties ; E. 
 J. Farnum, engineer, Steuben County ; Benjamin B. Griswold, 
 chainman and rodman, Elmira to Hornellsville ; Robert S. 
 Wright, clerk, Owego office. 
 
 The attorneys to investigate land titles and obtain releases 
 for the roadway on the Eastern Division were Thomas E. 
 Blanch, Charles G. King, William F. Sharp, John E. Phillips, 
 and Henry G. Wisner. Rathbone & Marsh, of Utica — the 
 junior member of the firm being Luther R. Marsh, who 
 subsequently became a lawyer of national reputation — had 
 charge of such matters on the Susquehanna Division, and 
 George A. French and Hanson A. Risley on the western por- 
 tion of the line. Mr. Marsh was also a partner of Samuel P. 
 Lyman. He spent two winters at Dunkirk, Bath, Elmira, and 
 Owego, making abstracts of the titles of the land required to 
 be taken for the road-bed and depots, from Binghamton to 
 Lake Erie, and trying the causes for the appraisement of 
 property where parties could not agree. Mr. Marsh is still 
 living at Middletown, N. Y., hale and hearty at the age of 
 eighty years. 
 
 As early as November, 1839, the Company solicited bids 
 for furnishing ties, wooden rails, sills, and piles for the rail- 
 road. The cross-ties were to be of durable oak, chestnut, or 
 butternut, 9 feet in length, 7 >^ to 9 inches in diameter at the 
 small end. The rails were to be of white, pin, or rock oak, 
 6x8 inches, and 15, 20, or 25 feet long. The sills were to 
 be of oak, chestnut, pine, or hemlock, 5 x 10 to 12 inches 
 thick, r5, 20, or 25 feet long. Piles were to b'fe 20 feet long, 
 and over 7 to 8 inches in diameter at the small end. There 
 were also some called for at less than 20 feet. 
 
 The contractors whose bids to furnish this original 
 material for Erie track-laying were accepted were as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 November 21, 1839, Stacy Beakes, "and others." They 
 furnished $10,000 worth of ties, and took the entire amount 
 in the Company's stock. 
 
 November 22, 1839, John Coffey; November 23, J. H. 
 Pierson ; November 25, Jacob M. Ryerson ; November 26, 
 John Kelley, Jonah Brooks; November 29, Cornelius J. 
 Blauvelt. 
 
 The price paid for cross-ties was 20 to 25 cents ' apiece ; 
 for rails, $20 to $25 per 1,000; for sills, $17.50 to $22 per 
 1,000; piles, 20 feet and over, 5 cents per lineal foot; less 
 than 20 feet, 4 j^ cents per lineal foot. 
 
 July 25, 1840, Miss Mary Rutherford sold the Company for 
 $3,000 a tract of 300 acres of land in the Ramapo hills, which 
 
BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 was wanted for the timber it contained. She took $i,ooo in 
 the Company's stock. 
 
 T. Selleck and M. Brainard took the contract, July 27, 
 1839, foi' the piling of the meadows, at 5}^ cents per foot 
 for piles, and $1,100 a mile for driving. This included the 
 piling of the Chester meadows, then an almost bottomless 
 morass, now the broad and fertile onion meadows, famous 
 the country over. The condition of this area at the time 
 the railroad found its way across it fifty-seven years ago, 
 and the work that had to be done to get a foundation for the 
 railroad in the then treacherous spread of morass, was de- 
 scribed at the time in the New York Railroad Journal : 
 " Immediately in the line of the route," said the article, "is 
 found a very extensive peat swamp, which must be crossed at 
 a level of twenty or thirty feet above the surface. This 
 swamp has every appearance of having been the bed of a 
 lake. The difficulties of building the road across it have been 
 met in the following manner : Four piles are placed trans- 
 versely to the road and upon them is founded a trestlework, 
 having a space of twenty feet between the piles. I'he piles 
 are generally fifty feet long, and are driven through the peat 
 into the solid substratum, and the level of the road is from 
 twenty to thirty feet above the surface." 
 
 That " open " work was years ago made solid, and the 
 traveller on the Erie, passing over that mile of railroad be- 
 tween Greycourt and Chester, N. Y., would little suppose that 
 • its foundation was builded on cordons of timber, with bases 
 driven nearly seventy feet into the yielding earth before they 
 touched stable bottom. 
 
 Another locality that was a source of much labor, disap- 
 pointment, and expense to the contractors was in the vicinity 
 of what is now Arden station, east of Turner's, N. Y. Here 
 long stretches of quagmire of great depth were encountered, 
 and piles as large as telegraph poles had to be driven down 
 through the treacherous deposit to find a solid foundation. 
 These piles in some places were driven on top of one another 
 to a depth of nearly 140 feet before such foundation could 
 be struck. Then between the rows of pihng thousands of 
 loads of rock and gravel and earth, mingled with countless 
 untrimmed trees of large size, were dumped, to sink to the 
 solid ground or rock beneath, and gradually build up a foun- 
 dation for the road-bed. Nor were the original trouble and 
 cost of this unstable spot the end of it. To this day im- 
 mense quantities of broken stone are dumped there to re- 
 place the fictitious bottom as it in time sinks away. 
 
 irregular elevation or depression of either stick can take place at a 
 joint. They will break joints with each other, and with the iron rails, 
 and will be bound together, at every six feet on curves, and at every 
 eight feet on tangents, by cross ties of plank, seven and a half feet 
 long, three inches thick, and seven inches wide, fitted accurately into 
 notches two and a half inches deep, on the upper side of the longi- 
 tudinal timbers, and secured by a treenail of pin oak, two inches in 
 diameter. The position of the base of the rail having been accurately 
 marked out on the cross ties, notches half an inch deep and four 
 inches wide will be cut into them, so as to let the rail rest continuously 
 on the longitudinal timbers, the edges of which must be addiceddown 
 to shed the rain. 
 
 The rails are secured from any motion, except that due to the ex- 
 pansion and contraction of the metal, by appropriate chairs of cast 
 iron at the joints, and are fastened to the timbers by brad-headed 
 spikes, half an inch square and five and a half inches long, one of 
 which is required for every eighteen inches. 
 
 Where timber of suitable quality is found on the line of the road, it 
 may be hewn on two sides instead of being sawed square. In such 
 cases it must be got out nine inches thick, and the counter hewn on 
 the upper surface before being laid. 
 
 It will be noticed that by this plan of road, each bearing timber rests 
 continuously on the ground, and at the same time supports continu- 
 ously the iron rail. The cross ties, too, have a double action, binding 
 together the longitudinal bearers, and also connecting the rails, by the 
 notches into which their bases are fitted. By placing the ties on the 
 upper side of the bearers instead of the lower, the connexion is made 
 at the point where its efficiency is greatest and most necessary, and 
 as no part of the vertical support is derived from the ties, the dimen- 
 sions proposed for them will be found sufficient. 
 
 The drainage of the track will be effected by a ditch between the 
 longitudinal timbers, for which the width between the rails affords 
 ample room, and cross drains at suitable distances will carry off the 
 water. The centre drain will be sunk lower than the cross ties, so as 
 not to interfere with them. 
 
 Where a pile road is adopted (which will be the case on more than 
 two hundred miles of the Susquehanna and Western divisions), a 
 similar superstructure is proposed, with the necessary modifications 
 for connecting it firmly and securely to the heads of the piles. 
 
 The width of the track on the New York and Erie Railroad is six 
 feet, and the distance between the tracks (where two lines are laid) is 
 seven feet. These dimensions admit of wider and more commodious 
 cars being used with safety, than can be adopted for roads of the 
 ordinary width. The first-class passenger cars already built for this 
 road are believed to be equal to any hitherto constructed in the United 
 States, with regard to beauty and finish, and superior in all the 
 arrangements and appliances requisite for comfort and ease. They 
 are eleven feet wide, and thirty-six feet long, and are mounted on 
 eight wheels. Those intended for gentlemen will accommodate com- 
 fortably seventy-eight persons. The ladies' cars have drawing and 
 retiring rooms of ample dimensions. 
 
 The second-class cars, intended for the use of emigrants, and others 
 desirous of travelling at a low rate, and willing to accept of cheaper 
 accommodations, will be capable of carrying one hundred persons. 
 
 THE ORICxINAL ERIE RAILROAD. 
 
 (From an Official Statement made in 1S40 for Public Information.') 
 
 The iron rails are to be of the H form, with heavy heads. They 
 are three and one-half inches high, four inches wide on the base, and 
 weigh fifty-six lbs. per lineal yard. Both sides are alike, in order to 
 admit of reversion, if symptoms of failure are perceived in those parts 
 exposed to the action of the wheels. 
 
 The rails are to be supported on continuous bearings of timber, 
 twelve inches broad, eight inches thick, and as long as can be con- 
 veniently obtained. They must be scraphed at the ends, so that no 
 
 STATE STOCK AND EARLY CONTRACTORS. 
 
 By the acts of the New York Legislature of 1838 and 1840 
 that State issued conditionally certificates of stock to the 
 Company in aid of the construction of the railroad. The 
 first installment of State stock, amounting to ^100,000, was 
 issued to the Company Deceinber 3, 1838, by State Comp- 
 troller Bates Cook. January 2, 1839, it was nominally sold 
 to Nevius, Townsend & Co., of New York, at 89 per cent. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 319 
 
 The interest on this stock was ^% per cent., and the Com- 
 pany had in expectation that the Legislature would author- 
 ize an exchange of stock for a 5 per cent, issue, and the 
 ostensible sale was simply an agreement by which Nevius, 
 Thompson & Co. held the stock in trust until such time as 
 the exchange might be made for the Company's own benefit, 
 the Company thus having control of it in procuring means to 
 continue the work of the road. Prime, Ward & King, the 
 banking house in which President James Gore King was a 
 partner, had advanced funds to the Company to the amount 
 of $60,500, and this stock was deposited with them as secu- 
 rity for the loan. It thus remained until September i, 1839, 
 when it was sold bona fide at 82^2 per cent. In the mean- 
 time the Company had been able to fulfil the conditions by 
 which they became entitled to two further installments of 
 Si 00,000 each. The second installment was sold June 29th 
 at 85. The third was sold August 31, 1839, at an average 
 rate of 78. The fourth installment was issued from the 
 Comptroller's office December 4, 1839. I' ^^'^^ sold Decem- 
 ber 6 th to Robert White at 90, no other person appearing 
 disposed to purchase it. He purchased it at the request and 
 for the account of the Company. This installment was held 
 to abide the result of a change of interest by the Legislature, 
 but a part of it was hypothecated for money which had been 
 disbursed in construction, and, with the amount of the Com- 
 pany's other liabilities to contractors and others, amounted to 
 as much as the probable proceeds of the stock. This change 
 in interest was made by the Act of April 29, 1840, and the 
 $100,000 in stock was returned to the Comptroller of the 
 State in exchange for an equal amount of stock bearing in- 
 terest not to exceed 6 per cent, per annum. This exchange 
 was made for a 5 J^ per cent, stock. The Company sold this 
 by auction at diiferent times and rates, the aggregate amount 
 received for it being ^95,451.17, less ^485 brokerage. 
 
 The subsequent issue of State stock bore interest at 5 ^ 
 and 6 per cent., and was bid in at its auction sales by or for 
 the Company, nominally at par. The Company then either 
 sold or hypothecated it at the highest price it would command 
 in the market. The discount was on the average about 15 
 per cent. Under the law, the State stock could not be sold 
 at less than par, but the stock did not command par, and the 
 Company itself was obliged to buy it in at par and then raise 
 what money it could by subsequent sale or hypothecation. 
 
 Lender the Act of the New York Legislature of 1840 by 
 which money was being raised for construction of the rail- 
 road, the State issued to the Company ? 100,000 in certificates 
 of stock, guaranteed by the State, for every $50,000 the 
 Company should actually expend in such construction. The 
 law prescribed that the Company should produce to the 
 Comptroller evidence of the expenditure of the whole pro- 
 ceeds of the sales of previous issues of State stock in actual 
 construction of the road before any further installment would 
 issue by the State to the Company. It became a question in the 
 various discussions of the affairs and management of the Com- 
 ]3any whether the Company was not offering as evidence in ob- 
 taining new issues of State stock the amount by which the stock 
 
 was bid in by it instead of the amount received for it when sold 
 or hypothecated. Then it was charged that in transactions with 
 contractors the Company stipulated that its time drafts, given 
 in payment for work or materials, should be accepted as cash, 
 and that the receipts or vouchers given by contractors for 
 these drafts as cash payments were used as evidences of 
 money expended in construction in obtaining further ad- 
 vances from the State. In making contracts for the purchase 
 and delivery of materials on the Susquehanna Division, the 
 Commissioner and Engineer took in advance a conveyance 
 of the title to all the standing timber to be used according to 
 the contract, and to all the timber which the contractor was 
 to procure for that purpose, and then advanced to him the 
 amount which he agreed to invest on the Company's stock. 
 Then he would give the Company a voucher for such ad- 
 vances, and hypothecate the stock with the Company. This 
 would be held by the Commissioner of that division as secu- 
 rity for the performance of the contract. It was charged that 
 these vouchers were used by the Company in evidence as 
 money actually expended in construction of the road to secure 
 further State stock. It frequently happened that after de- 
 livering timber to a large amount a contractor would default 
 in his contract, when, according to its terms, the Company 
 kept the timber and sold the hypothecated stock, thus making 
 quite a snug thing out of the transaction. In negotiating for 
 right of way where it was not gratuitously offered, the build- 
 ing of the necessary fences and farm crossings was contracted 
 for in the same agreement, the crossings and one-half of the 
 fencing to be built by the land-owner and maintained by him 
 during the life of the Company's charter. The amount nec- 
 essary for this purpose, although the fences wtxe not to be 
 built until the railroad was completed through the property, 
 was advanced by the Company, and the contractor invested 
 it in stock. This the Company regarded as a purchase 
 of stock, and put the vouchers in as evidence of money 
 expended in construction, which the railroad inspectors 
 allowed. 
 
 Special Stock. — The special stock was that issued to 
 subscribers under the Lord plan of raising money by counties 
 and divisions, and which pledged the income of the road to 
 the payment of the interest on the State stock expended in 
 construction of the division where the avails of such stock 
 were used ; to the payment of 6 per cent, per annum on all 
 shares of full stock the installments of which were expended 
 on that part of the road ; and the payment of interest on the 
 installments collected from time to time, except the first 10 
 per cent, on all other shares expended on that part of the 
 road, until the whole road was completed from the Hudson 
 River to Lake Erie. On the Western Division the avails of 
 all the lands on that division given in aid of the road -were 
 also pledged to the subscribers on that division for the same 
 purpose. 
 
 First Manipulation of Erie Stock. — February 4, 
 1835, the first installment ($50,000) paid on subscriptions to 
 
120 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 the stock of the Compan)- after the organization, was de- 
 posited with the New York Life Insurance and Trust Com- 
 pany at 4^2 per cent, interest. This stock was called 
 "general stock." Between April 15th and September i, 
 1^35; 13)62 1 shares of stock were subscribed for, and 5 
 per cent. (§62,ro5) was paid on them. Then a call was 
 made for another 5 per cent, payment, November 2d. To 
 this call 21,131 shares responded, the installment amounting 
 to $105,655. 
 
 During the year 1837, particularly during February, 2,200 
 new shares were subscribed for, on 1,355 °f which cash in- 
 stallments were paid to the amount of $20,137.50. On old 
 subscriptions $59,887.50 were paid during the year. 
 
 No assessments were made on the stock of the New York 
 and Erie Railroad Company since President King's call in 
 1837, until March, 1841. In the aggregate, 15 per cent, of the 
 subscriptions had been called for and a total of $325,907.50 
 paid. 
 
 The call made on the subscribers in March, 1841, was for 
 an installment of 5 per cent, more on their stock. It met 
 with no response. It was only too evident that to depend on 
 the subscribers to this original stock for further voluntary aid 
 would be futile, and as the law's authority to compel payment 
 seemed to the management to be too harsh, some plan must 
 be devised by which money might be raised. Such a plan 
 was adopted March 27, 1 841, by a resolution of the Board 
 of Directors, which was known among the investors and 
 financiers of that day as the " Consolidated Resolution." It 
 was as follows : 
 
 Each original stockholder of the Company, or holder of the stock 
 subscribed in this city in 1835 or 1836, who shall agree to pay on his 
 stock the further sum of five dollars per share on or before the loth day 
 of April next, or two and a half dollars per share subsequently as called 
 for, shall be and is hereby entitled to transfer the whole number of 
 shares so subscribed as held by him, to the Treasurer of the Com- 
 pany. Those who shall have paid the five dollars per share aforesaid 
 shall be entitled to receive certificates of so many shares of full 
 stock as shall be equal to $100 per share to the whole amount which 
 shall have been paid on all the shares transferred by him aforesaid. 
 Those who shall have paid two dollars and fifty cents, or any further 
 sum less than five dollars per share on all the shares so transferred to 
 the Treasurer, shall receive certificates of stock in like proportion, 
 which shall specify the balance of the said five dollars to be paid on 
 each share to make it full stock. 
 
 Resolved, That transfers pursuant to the foregoing arrangement, 
 be and hereby are authorized, as soon as it shall appear that the holders 
 of one-half or more of the original stock aforesaid shall have specified 
 their concurrence in the said arrangement, and that the Executive 
 Committee, with the Commissioner, Mr. Lyman, be authorized to 
 carry the same into effect. 
 
 The reason for this measure was the unfavorable manner 
 in which the call for the 5 per cent, was received by the 
 stockholders. Many of these were insolvent and unable to 
 pay, and those who were able to pay would not do so unless 
 the others paid as well. The gentle view was held of these 
 latter b}' the Board of Directors that as they had subscribed 
 originally for the stock merely to help the Company along. 
 
 and not for any desire or expectation of individual profit, it 
 would be cruel to hold them to the terms of the subscription 
 and the Company's charter, and force them by legal stress to 
 pay their assessments or forfeit their stock. The considerate 
 Board did not seem to think it anything paradoxical in the 
 claim of these stockholders as to how they were helping the 
 Company by subscribing, if they did not intend to pay their 
 subscriptions. And among the subscribers who would be 
 made to sirffer by such a cruel course on the part of the 
 Company were AVilliam B. Astor, John Jacob Astor, Brown 
 Brothers & Company, Francis B. Cutting, John G. Coster, 
 Charles Hoyt, Goold Hoyt, James G. King, Nevius, Town- 
 send & Co., Gouverneur Morris, Frederick de Peyster, 
 Archibald Gracie, Gardiner G. Rowland, James Boorman, 
 Stephen \\^hitney, and scores of other merchant princes and 
 millionaires of that da}', ^^'illiam B. Astor held seventy-five 
 shares, of ^•^•hich he had fifteen made full stock by paying the 
 five dollars per share asked for by the resolution ; the re- 
 maining sixty shares he delivered to the Company, and was 
 relieved of all future liability for them. John Jacob Astor 
 paid $150, and received certificates that he was the owner of 
 thirty full paid-up shares of stock, and the 120 remaining 
 shares of his holding he transferred to the Company and was 
 thus relieved of all suspense as to further demands on him 
 on account of that stock, for which he had promised to pay 
 $100 per share. The others of this body of generous aiders 
 of a much desired and needed public improvement relieved 
 themselves of their responsibility for their original subscrip- 
 tions, every dollar of which could have been collected, in 
 about the same proportion. 
 
 The largest stockholder in the Company was Eleazar Lord. 
 He held 4,020 shares, of which he paid the assessment on 
 804 shares. The 263 stockholders, most of them solvent, 
 paid or agreed to pay five dollars each on 3,420 of their en- 
 tire holding of 17,041 shares, for the privilege of being ab- 
 solved from all future liability, and surrendered the balance, 
 13,261 shares, to the Company. This bit of financial genius 
 on the part of the Directors netted the Company $17,000 
 in cash, and left them the balance of the stock to retransfer 
 to contractors in part payment for work and material, or to 
 sell to possible new purchasers. The Company declared that 
 by this transaction it was enabled to raise more money than 
 could possibly have been obtained in any other way, taking 
 into account the possibility of future subscriptions from many 
 of the stockholders released from the obligations of their old 
 stock, and the general effect harsh measures to collect assess- 
 ments would have had on the condition of the Company's 
 affairs at that time. This was the opinion of President King 
 and Treasurer Bowen, and the plan was adopted on the ad- 
 vice of the Company's counsel, ^A^Uiam Kent. 
 
 A SnO\Y OF PROGRESS. 
 
 The operations of the contractors who were continued at 
 their work in 1839 did not go with much push, and it was 
 not until the early spring of 1840 that healthy activity on the 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 321 
 
 line began. The Lord plan of raising money (" Administration 
 of Eleazar Lord," page 44) was meeting with success, and J. S. 
 T. Stranahan, with Daniel Carmichael as his partner, under the 
 firm name of Carmichael & Stranahan, took contracts to the 
 amount of ^700,000 on the road, mainly in rock and bank 
 excavation and embankment wall. This firm accepted one- 
 third of the contract price in stock. About the same time 
 the Company advertised for bids for laying the superstructure 
 of the railroad, separate bids to be made for the section be- 
 tween Piermont and Coffeys (the Rockland County line), 
 twenty-six miles, and the section from that point to Goshen, 
 twenty miles. There were twenty-three applicants for the 
 contracts. To George C. and Sidney G. Miller was awarded 
 the contract from Coffey's to Goshen, June 12, 1840. The 
 contract price was ten and one-half cents per lineal foot of 
 timber, twenty-five cents apiece for cross ties, and two 
 dollars per rod for mechanical work, including laying the 
 iron. The superstructure for this part of the road cost 
 ^39.376, or $1,968.80 per mile. June 13, 1840, the contract 
 from Piermont to Coffey's, twenty-six miles, was awarded to 
 William E. Camp & Co., of Harrisburg, Pa., at twelve and one- 
 quarter cents per lineal foot of timber, twenty-five cents apiece 
 for cross ties, and two dollars per rod for mechanical work, in- 
 cluding laying of the iron, making the cost of the superstruc- 
 ture for that part of the road $55,993.60, or $2,153.60 per 
 mile. 
 
 J. S. T. Stranahan, mentioned above, was the first successful 
 contractor on the Erie, and did much toward getting the work 
 started towards completion. He was one of those who, nine 
 years later, made the extension of the Erie west from Bing- 
 hamton possible at that time. He became one of the distin- 
 guished men of this country, and died in 1898, aged nearly 
 ninety years, known all over the land as " The First Citizen 
 of Brooklyn," in which city a splendid bronze monument 
 perpetuates his memory. 
 
 TROUBLE ABOUT A CHANGE OF ROUTE. 
 
 As early as 1836 the people of interior Sullivan County 
 became disturbed by the fear that the route selected through 
 that comity by the original survey of 1834 would eventually 
 be abandoned, and they began to use all the influence they 
 could bring to bear to prevent the choice of a route other 
 than through the interior, although the original survey should 
 be rejected. They requested the Company to make a new 
 survey of routes through the interior, and insisted that one 
 could be found better and cheaper than one through the 
 Delaware ^''alley. Such surveys were made in 1840, under 
 the supei-vision of A. C. Morton, routes through the Delaware 
 Valle}' being run out at the same time. 
 
 Two routes were surveyed through Sullivan County, 
 known as the Thompsonville route and the Bronson route. 
 They were both the same from the Deerpark Gap at Shawan- 
 gunk Summit to Barber's Eddy, on the Neversink, fourteen and 
 one-half miles. There the former route took a direction that 
 brought it near the village of Monticello, and the latter ran 
 
 through Thompsonville, several miles further north. They 
 met in the valley of the Mongaup and were identical from 
 there to the mouth of the Callicoon Creek, twenty miles. 
 Both routes were crooked and of heavy grades, three-fifths of 
 the Bronson route being sixty feet to the mile. The road 
 built on this route, twenty- three and one-half miles, was es- 
 timated to cost $491,833. The Callicoon Creek would have 
 had to be crossed nine times in a distance of twenty miles, 
 and along tunnel made through a rocky point near the mouth 
 of the creek. The entire cost of the road by the Thompson- 
 ville route, which was the preferable one, from the Shawan- 
 gunk Summit to the mouth of Callicoon Creek, fifty-nine 
 miles, it was estimated, would be $987,930. 
 
 The other routes surveyed were known as the Delaware 
 and the Pennsylvania. On the latter only a reconnoissance 
 was made, " but one sufficiently accurate to determine its ad- 
 vantages." The interior routes were not approved by En- 
 gineer Morton, who reported to the Company in favor of the 
 Delaware route. If the railroad had been constructed as 
 proposed on this route, some idea may be had of how pleasant 
 and profitable its building would have been to the Delaware 
 and Hudson Canal Company, and of what sort of a "freak" 
 highway the Erie would have been in the valley to-day, when 
 it is known that it would have been built partially in the chan- 
 nel of the Delaware River, would have crossed the canal 
 seven times within twenty miles, and required at least two 
 tunnels. The historic survey through Sullivan County was made 
 by Allen A. Goodliffe, in the fall of 1839 and winter of 1840, as 
 First Assistant under A. C. Morton. He is still living, aged 
 eighty-seven years, the last survivor of the pioneer civil engi- 
 neers of this country. He began at the age of nineteen, on 
 the Newcastle and Frenchtown Railroad, in Delaware. In 
 1 83 1 he helped survey the Ithaca and Owego Railroad route, 
 and in 1834 was an engineer on the Chenango Canal. In 
 1836 he went to the Long Island Railroad, under James P. 
 Kirkwood, Engineer of that work and some years later Super- 
 intendent of the Erie. In 1837 he became Chief Engineer of 
 the Norwich and Worcester Railroad, and a year later helped 
 locate a route for the proposed New York and Albany Rail- 
 road. Then he made the Sullivan County survey of the Erie 
 route. December, 1840, he completed the survey of the 
 New York and Harlem Railroad, and ran the line for the de- 
 sired eight-mile extension of that railroad to the Hudson 
 River, to connect with the Erie, which great opportunity the 
 Erie rejected. It is to Mr. Goodliffe that the author is in- 
 debted for the records on which that chapter of Erie is 
 written. From 1841 to 1847 Mr. Goodliffe followed his 
 profession on the Boston and Albany, the West Stockbridge, 
 and the Long Island railroads. He rode on the first loco- 
 motive that pulled a train of passenger cars on the latter 
 railroad, October 8, 1844. In 1847 he was appointed Chief 
 Engineer of the Vermont Central Railroad, but declined it 
 at the solicitation of his family, and went into mercantile 
 business. He removed to Wellsville, N. Y., on the Erie, in 
 July, 185 1, where he is still living, a remarkable relic of the 
 pioneer days of railroads, the possibilities of which he foresaw 
 
322 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 and advocated, a generation ahead of his time. Engineer 
 Morton's report on the route was accompanied by a strong 
 recommendation in favor of it, and the Company seems to 
 have thought so well of it that, without waiting for the sanc- 
 tion of the Legislature of New York for the change, it let 
 contracts, in December, 1840, for the grading of the road-bed 
 west of Middletown, and over the new route, as follows : 
 
 Carmichael & King, Sections i, 2, and 3 ; Haggerty & 
 Dimon, Section 4 ; Reeve & King, Sections 5 and 6 ; J. C. 
 Collins, Summit Section ; Bernard Flynn & Co., Summit to 
 Teakettle Brook; James O'Brien, Teaketde Brook to Never- 
 sink River ; O. H. Taylor & Co., Neversink River half-way 
 to Butler's on the Delaware River; Roberts & Sloat, the re- 
 maining half ; Ives, Nelson, Downer & Co., twenty miles, 
 from Butler's to Lackawaxen ; Black, Malone & Co., Lacka- 
 waxen to Cochecton ; ^Vood, Wilkes & Co., Cochecton to 
 Callicoon. This let the road in the Delaware Valley up to 
 the point where the contract of 1835, under President King, 
 ended. These contractors took from one-third to three- 
 eighths of the amount of their contracts in stock. The clear- 
 ing and grubbing on this section were to cost ^50 to $800 per 
 mile ; but the Delaware Valley contracts were not begun with 
 the other work, for, notwithstanding the appeals of the Com- 
 pany, the Legislature did not sanction the change of route. 
 
 Apprehensive that legislative consent would eventually be 
 obtained by the Company to run its railroad over the pro- 
 posed route through the Delaware Valley, the Delaware and 
 Hudson Canal Company filed a bill in the Court of Chancery 
 asking for an injunction preventing the railroad from going 
 there. This was the Erie's first injunction suit, although such 
 proceedings were destined to become a large part of the 
 Company's subsequent history. The answer to this original 
 action against the Erie was drawn by William Kent, and he 
 argued it at Saratoga. He received ^250 as his fee. George 
 Ward was his associate counsel, and received the same fee. 
 William Samuel Johnson was his law partner in New York 
 City. William Kent succeeded Charles G. King as Attorney 
 of the Company, King having been such from the fall of 
 1837 until 1840. King succeeded John Duer, who was the 
 Company's first counsel. The first business Kent had to 
 transact was to call on stockholders for arrearages of stock, 
 and bring suits if they did not pay. Kent secured title to 
 the land requested for the road-bed in Rockland County in 
 1838, and began four suits before the Chancellor for the ap- 
 pointment of Commissioners to appraise damages. He re- 
 ceived in all ^4,000 for his services. One of his bills was 
 cut down to 5i,ooo by the Company. 
 
 The courts sustained all the Canal Company's contentions. 
 The injunction against the Delaware Valley route was granted 
 and made perpetual, and during the year that elapsed before 
 any further work was done on the railroad, circumstances had 
 provided a route through the valley satisfactory to all. 
 
 The Railroad Company could hardly be blamed for trying 
 to find a thoroughfare in the Delaware Valley, even by such a 
 route as Morton's, for by no other means could it have got 
 down off the Shawangunk Summit to the Neversink Valley 
 
 with a locomotive road. By the original survey, which led 
 the route through central Sullivan County, the railroad was to 
 be run from the Shawangunk Summit to Cuddebackville, by 
 crossing the Basheskill Creek. The distance between the 
 summit and Cuddebackville was less than two and one-half 
 miles, and between the summit and the Basheskill only a 
 little more than a mile and a half. The Basheskill was 454 
 feet lower than the Deerpark Gap, and seventy-one feet 
 higher than Cuddebackville, so that the railroad would have 
 had to descend 454 feet within a distance of a mile and a 
 half, and then climb up seventy-one feet the next mile to 
 get to Cuddebackville ! " This was originally deemed the 
 point of greatest difficulty on the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road," said Engineer Morton in his report. "The first sur- 
 vey contemplated grades of 100 feet per mile, and a summit 
 cut of fifty feet. A commission of eminent engineers (Mon- 
 cure Robinson and Jonathan Knight) afterwards recom 
 mended a formidable tunnel at the gap with grades of 100 
 feet, inclined planes with stationary power, and switch lines 
 with culminating points reversing the position of the trains.'' 
 
 It was with the laudable purpose of solving this vexing 
 Shawangunk Summit problem that Engineer Morton sought 
 the route to and through the Delaware Valley which would 
 necessitate the abandoning of Sullivan County by the railroad. 
 But the future was to deal with that problem. 
 
 In the summer of 1841, James Seymour, who was one of 
 Benjamin Wright's assistants in the original Erie survey of 
 1 834, examined the Erie route at the request of the Legis- 
 lative Committee that was investigating the Company's af- 
 fairs. Seymour made a report August 20, 1841. This was 
 before the railroad had been opened to Goshen. " An im- 
 portant circumstance connected with the selection of the 
 Delaware route, and the ulterior views of the Company," said 
 he, " will be found in the fact that the anthracite coal fields 
 of Pennsylvania may be advantageously reached by the con- 
 struction of a branch road, a distance of about forty miles 
 from the mouth of the Lackawaxen, by following up the val- 
 ley of the Wallenpaupack (a tributary of the Lackawaxen) 
 through Cobb's Gap to the coal fields, which may be deemed 
 inexhaustible for many centuries to come. From informa- 
 tion derived from sources I have every reason to consider 
 authentic, I am enabled to state that a company with resources 
 under their control are prepared to commence the construc- 
 tion of a road for that purpose as soon as it is positively 
 ascertained the Delaware route has been adopted. It is 
 within the sphere of judicious calculation to estimate that 
 100,000 tons of coal may be delivered at the mouth of the 
 Lackawaxen during the first year the two roads are in opera- 
 tion. The distance from that point to Piermont is ninety- 
 five miles, and the cost of delivering that amount of coal will 
 not probably exceed ^100,000, as ten cars carrying ten tons 
 each will deliver 100 tons by means of a single train; but 
 say ^150,000, and the Company should charge but $3, they 
 could realize the first year, over and above expenses, $150,- 
 000 by this single operation." 
 
 More than a score of years passed before this remarkable 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 323 
 
 prophecy was fulfilled, but fulfilled it was. The Hawley 
 Branch of the Erie and the Erie and 'Wyoming Railroad 
 cover almost exactly the route Seymour mentioned in 1841, 
 and carry to market twenty times more coal than he calculated 
 would be the traffic. 
 
 Engineer Seymour described the manner in which the rail- 
 road was being constructed on the Eastern Division. " A 
 small portion of the road is constructed on piles, another por- 
 tion upon trestles, but by far the largest portion is graded. 
 A longitudinal sill placed lengthwise of the road, flattened 
 upon two sides, about eight inches thick and twelve wide, 
 with cross-ties transversely across the road, let into the sills 
 sufficiently near to bind them firmly together. The cross- 
 ties are set into the sills from the top, thereby giving the sill 
 an equal bearing from end to end, in order that the frost 
 when acting may act equally, and at the same time preserve 
 as uniform a surface as possible. Upon the centre of the 
 wooden rail superstructure is a heavy iron H-rail weighing fifty- 
 six pounds to the yard, firmly secured by means of spikes. 
 This rail costs, including chain, centre plates and spikes, 
 about $7,000 per mile for a single track." 
 
 This observing engineer examined also into the manner in 
 which stock was agreed to be taken by the contractors. 
 After it was ascertained by the Company who were the lowest 
 responsible bidders, the bidders were invited to a private 
 consultation with the Company's representatives and re- 
 quested to take a certain amount of stock, before they were 
 informed they were entitled to the work. This proposal be- 
 ing assented to on the part of the gentiemen concerned, the 
 work was promptly declared off to them, " a perfectly fair 
 and honorable business transaction, in which the interests of 
 the Company were faithfully consulted," declared Mr. Sey- 
 mour — something, however, about which there seems to have 
 been a different opinion held by others in that day and gen- 
 eration. 
 
 THE UNFORTUNATE ROADWAY OF PILES. 
 
 There are traditions to-day connecting the Erie's early 
 construction vaguely with a causeway of piles, one being that 
 rails of the Erie were originally laid on piling for hundreds of 
 miles, until their decaying compelled the substitution of a 
 solid road-bed by filling in the space between the ground and 
 the rails with rock and earth, which is now the bed the road 
 lies on in the Susquehanna and Alleghany valleys. As a mat- 
 ter of fact, many sections of the old piled road-bed have no 
 connection with the present Erie route in those localities, 
 a;i 1 no rails were ever placed upon it. The story of it was 
 a melancholy one in its day. It may well serve only to 
 amuse in these days of advanced railroad science. 
 
 A piled roadway instead of a graded road-bed was decided 
 on by the Company upon the representations and recom- 
 mendations of Gen. Charles B. Stuart, made to the Com- 
 pany through General Commissioner Samuel P. Lyman, who 
 had asked Stewart's opinion, in January, 1840. General 
 
 Stewart had constructed the Syracuse and Utica Railroad in 
 1839, much of which was built on piles. He wrote to Ly- 
 man that " piled road was an improvement destined to facili- 
 tate the completion of those vast links in the chain of in- 
 temal improvements which have been projected throughout 
 our State and the Union." He recommended its adoption not 
 only in low and marshy lands, but in every instance wherein 
 there was an abundant supply of piling timber, and where 
 the ground would admit of its construction. " But it is not 
 alone in the economy of construction that the advantages of 
 the piling system consists in this Northern clime," wrote Gen- 
 eral Stewart, " It is not liable to derangement by frost ; it is 
 not liable to be obstructed by snow ; it is free from the dan- 
 gers of a graded road in consequence of the washing of the 
 banks by flood and rains, and setfling when set up in soft 
 bottoms, thereby requiring constant expense to adjust the 
 road and replace the earth materials. The interest on the 
 money saved by building a pile road instead of a graded 
 road will renew the piles, if necessary, every five years." 
 The piles and superstructure were to be saturated with salt, a 
 quantity being put into the head of each pile. Eight men, 
 he said, could grade a mile of such road in a month. 
 
 Other recommendations for the piled road-bed were that 
 there would be no expense for ties and repairs, and it would 
 offer no inducements to pedestrians or cattle to walk on the 
 track, thus saving human life from peril, and the Company 
 from responsibility for damages. The strongest argument 
 in favor of piles was that delay in constructing the railroad 
 would imperil the Company's franchise, prompt the repeal of 
 the loan bill, or involve the work in some other legislative en- 
 tanglement ; and that piles, besides being much cheaper, 
 could be set in one-half the time it would take to make a 
 graded road-bed, thus saving time and money to the Com- 
 pany, both of which were of vital importance. Moreover, 
 this road-bed would make a demand for timber along the 
 route and for local labor, thus arousing sectional sympathy 
 and influence in behalf of the railroad, which had come to be 
 none too popular. 
 
 The piled roadway was adopted. Instead of an extent of 
 marsh land in which piles were necessary, the ground was so 
 solid that the patent portable pile-drivers, eight of which the 
 Company employed to do the work, drove the timbers with 
 difficulty, and in some places beds of gravel had to be ex- 
 cavated before the piles could be forced down. They were 
 driven below the frost line, with a space of five feet between 
 them, and projected on the level four inches above the 
 ground. Where there were hollow places on the line, or 
 spots where they were liable to be overflown by water, the 
 projection of the piles above ground was greater, according 
 to circumstances. Such places were to be filled in with 
 gravel. These piles, it was estimated, would continue sound 
 and serviceable from ten to fifteen years, and would be uni- 
 formly secure and steady. A full description of them, and 
 the manner in which they were to be driven, and the frame- 
 work for the rails and cross-ties formed, is contained in the 
 contract specifications, as follows : 
 
324 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 The contract was made February lo, 1840, by Samuel 
 P. Lyman, as Commissioner of the Company, with John P. 
 Manrow, of Rome, Oneida County, and Niles Higinbotham, 
 of Lenox, Madison County, by which they were to grade the 
 road between Binghamton and Hornellsville, and have the 
 load-bed ready for a single track by July i, 1842, for g8oo 
 per mile "for clearing and grubbing for a graded road, 
 through any wilderness that may occur, and the sum of ^425 
 per mile for grubbing for the pile road through any wilder- 
 ness that may occur on the said road, and the sum of Si for 
 grubbing each stump, where the diameter is one foot or more 
 at the base, and for smaller stumps a price proportioned to 
 the size and expense of removal ; also for butting, sharpen- 
 ing, turning, driving, and sawing off, boring and fitting the 
 piles for the superstructure, according to the specifications of 
 a pile road, taking the piles where they are to be delivered 
 by the terms of the contracts for delivery. In all cases 
 where the length of the pile does not exceed fifteen feet, and 
 where the same are sawed off at a distance of three feet and 
 a half from the surface of the road-bed, at the rate of ;?i,iSo 
 per mile. In cases where the length of the pile is more than 
 fifteen feet and less than eighteen, the additional sum of $^0 
 per mile ; and for every additional three feet, over eighteen 
 feet, the further sum of ^25 per mile; and in cases where 
 the piles are sawed off at a distance of more than three and 
 one-half feet, and less than five feet from the surface of the 
 road, the additional sum of ^50 per mile ; and for every ad- 
 ditional five feet over the above-mentioned five feet from 
 the ground, the further sum of ^100 per mile." They were 
 also to frame the sills, and lay the superstructure ready for 
 the iron for $750 per mile. The contract called for the sink- 
 ing of the sills in trenches six inches deep and wide enough 
 to bed the timber evenly and firmly. At the joint of the 
 sills, a plank two inches thick, one foot wide, and two feet 
 long was to be laid on the bottom of the trench, and the 
 ends of the sills on this bearing plank, which was to be sunk 
 in the trench so that its top was even with the bottom of the 
 trench, the plank and sills being pounded down by heavy 
 mauls. The earth removed from the trenches was to be 
 rammed around the sills to prevent water from settling under 
 them ; the cross-ties hewn flat on their bottom their whole 
 length, so as to give a full and true bearing of nine inches 
 longitudinally on the sills, and framed the same as the piled 
 road. The remainder of the superstructure was to be con- 
 structed just like superstructure for piled road. 
 
 The contractors were to receive ^100 for each and every 
 time they had to move a pile-driving machine from one part 
 of the road to another. They were to put on the work six of 
 Crane's patent steam pile-driving machines, and if they 
 needed two more the Company was to pay half the cost of 
 the additional machines, in stated advances of certain sums 
 of money, and was to have a lien on the machines for these 
 advances, the amount to be deducted from money due the 
 contractors on final setdement. The contractors took 5 per 
 cent, of the amount of their contract in stock at par, under 
 their contract, but it was modified July 10, 1841, and they ac- 
 
 cepted one-third in stock. The payments and advances agreed 
 to by the Company were to depend entirely on its ability to 
 raise funds from the subscribers and stockholders along the 
 line of the Susquehanna Division, and from the avails of the 
 stock of the State, and not on the stockholders in the city of 
 New York or elsewhere, the Company to notify the contract- 
 ors a month in advance as to the probable amount of money 
 to be realized in that way each ensuing month, to enable the 
 contractors to determine the amount of labor they might do. 
 If they did more work than there was money raised to pay 
 for, interest was to be paid the contractors until the excess 
 was paid from the avails of the stock, the contractors to use 
 their own option about going on with their contract after a 
 failure to receive all that was due thereon every month. If 
 from lack of funds the contractors were unable to complete 
 their contract by the time agreed, the time should be ex- 
 tended long enough to make up for the delay, and in case the 
 cost of labor, provisions, and materials had increased in the 
 meantime, the difference should be added to the sum agreed 
 to be paid by the Company for the work. 
 
 The piles were to be straight and sound white oak, not less 
 than eight feet long, and not less than ten or more than six- 
 teen inches in diameter at the butt, at least one-half to meas- 
 ure one foot at the butt. The cross-ties were to be white 
 oak or chestnut, perfectly sound, not less than nine or more 
 than thirteen inches at the small end, sawed in lengths of nine 
 and one-half feet. They were to be delivered along the line 
 in piles of from ten to twenty-five. The rail timber was 
 to be sound, square-edged white oak, sawed on four sides, 
 7x8 inches, and to be 16, 20, 24, 28, or 32 feet long, exclu- 
 sive of stub-shot. The sills were to be sound white oak, pine, 
 or hemlock, sawed on two sides to make a stick six inches 
 thick, and not less than twelve inches wide, exclusive of wane 
 on the bottom or wide side, no sill to be less than ten inches, 
 exclusive of wane, on the narrow side, and to be 16, 20, 24, or 
 28 feet long. 
 
 The piles were to be driven four feet apart longitudinally, 
 and six feet apart transversely, from centre to centre, and at 
 least five feet below the surface, and until they reached soUd 
 bottom, or a point where, owing to the firmness of the earth, 
 the piles could not be driven more than two inches at a blow 
 of the hammers of the driving machine. If a pile was not 
 long enough to reach solid bottom, it was to be sawed off, and 
 another pile connected with it by a pin placed in the cen- 
 tre of each at the point, and the two driven until bottom 
 was reached. After reaching bottom, each pile was to be 
 sawed off on a line corresponding with the grade of the road. 
 On the top or upper side of each pile a tenon was to be 
 framed for the notch in the cross-tie, the tenon being two 
 inches high and nine inches thick, and of the same width as 
 the cross-tie, and so made that the tie sheltered the pile from 
 rain and snow ; the lower side of each tie to be framed to the 
 top of the piles by a notch cut across it nine inches wide, and 
 of a depth sufficient for the tenon on top of the pile, and so 
 adjusted that it had a bearing on the tenon of nine inches. 
 In the upper side of the tie notches were to be cut of suffi- 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 325 
 
 cient width for a longitudinal rail 7x8 inches to fit in and 
 be fastened by a wedge eighteen inches in length, four inches 
 wide, and one and one-half inches thick at the large end, the 
 notch to be as deep as the thickness of the tie would permit. 
 Every alternate wedge was to be driven in a direction oppo- 
 site to the other, and the rails chamfered off one inch from 
 the inside line on an angle of forty-five degrees from the top. 
 The iron rails — or bars, as they were called — were to be 
 three inches wide and three-quarters of an inch thick, and 
 spiked to the wooden rail on a line with the chamfered edge, 
 and laid to a gauge precisely six feet, one-quarter of an inch 
 space to be left between the ends of the bars for expansion. 
 The centre of the tie was to be on a line with the centre of 
 the track, and the distance to the outside shoulder of the tie 
 three feet six inches from the centre of the tie, the outside 
 shoulder parallel with the wooden rail, and the inside shoulder 
 framed on an angle to correspond with the shape of the 
 wedge when driven to its place, so that the middle of the 
 ledge would be on a line with the centre of the tie and notch ; 
 the ties to be framed and fitted to the tops of the piles and 
 firmly pinned to them by a white elm tree-rail one foot long 
 and two inches in diameter, and eight-square. A space of 
 twelve feet was to be cleared of timber on each side of. the 
 piled road-bed. 
 
 There were eight steam pile-drivers at work in 1841, each 
 manned with thirteen men, and a horse and cart for drawing 
 water. The hammers weighed from 1,000 to 1,400 pounds, 
 the fall of which was thirty feet by the last blow. The ma- 
 chines averaged a distance of one mile a month each. There 
 were also four hand pile machines, with 2,500-pound ham- 
 mers, driving foundations for bridges. The steam machines 
 combined the action of a pile-driver, locomotive, and saw- 
 mill. They moved on wheels, and each machine drove two 
 piles at a time, after which it sawed them off at a given level. 
 
 RUINS OF THE OLD PILED ROAD-BED, FROM A DRAWING 
 
 is commenced, and is to be finished so that the cars will run 
 the whole distance on the Fourth of July, 1842. At 3 
 o'clock P.M., the hour designated for the commencement of 
 the work, the ground on which the pile-driver had been 
 erected, about one mile east of the village, was thronged with 
 an anxious multitude, from the gray-headed veteran of the 
 Revolution to the stripling schoolboy of six or seven. All 
 were eager to witness the operations of the locomotive mon- 
 ster, which before now was so much sneered at and abused, 
 and well did the machine vindicate its majesty and power ! 
 The first pile which was driven on this occasion was also the 
 first one which was cut, on the 20th of February last, by the 
 agent of the Company, D. O. McComber. 
 
 " In the course of the afternoon the presentation of a flag 
 by the ladies took place. The ladies marched to the ground 
 in procession, preceded by the Nichols Band in a splendid 
 wagon, drawn by six horses. On reaching the designated 
 spot, the ladies were ranged in semi-circular form, the gen- 
 tlemen in a like manner opposite, forming a circle, with the 
 band and a platform for the speaker in the centre. On 
 behalf of the ladies, Mr. I. B. Headley then addressed Mr. 
 McComber, the agent of the Company, closing by presenting 
 him the flag; and Mr. McComber returned appropriate 
 thanks, on behalf of the Company. The flag exhibited on 
 one side our national symbol, the Stars and Stripes, with an 
 inscription on the lower edge, ' Ocular Demonstration.' On 
 the reverse, the corner usually devoted to the stars was occu- 
 pied by the figure of a locomotive on a pile road, on a blue 
 ground. On the lower stripe was inscribed 'July 4, 1842.' 
 " It was hoisted to the peak of the first pile-driver that began 
 operations. The company then returned to the village, the 
 citizens retiring to their respective homes, while the opera- 
 tives attended the machine. Capt. Thomas Sharp, with his 
 men, Albert Savory, Peleg Briggs, George W. Parkhurst, Ben- 
 jamin Wood, Elias Phelps, and \\'illiam 
 Robinson, and the contractor, chief engi- 
 neer and assistants, agents, and a few 
 guests, repaired to the hotel of Mr. Man- 
 ning, and sat down to a sumptuous repast. 
 After the repast several toasts were drunk, 
 appropriate to the occasion. The company 
 dispersed at an early hour, in good spirits, 
 and high hopes for the future." 
 
 THE FIRST PILE DRIVEN. 
 
 First ground for the Erie had been broken at Deposit, 
 N. Y., in 1835. Ground had again been broken at Piermont 
 and Dunkirk in 1838. But these events, important as they 
 were, had but little significance, according to the account of 
 an Owego newspaper of the day, in comparison with the 
 ■" driving of the first pile " at Owego, on Wednesday, May 13, 
 1840. The newspaper's account bore the comprehensive 
 heading, "I^ew York and Rrie Railroad Commenced^ Then 
 it went on to say : " The Susquehanna Division of this great 
 work, extending from Binghamton to Hornellsville, 117 miles, 
 
 Manrow & Higinbotham had four hundred and fifty men 
 and sixty teams at work in 1841, on the Susquehanna Divis- 
 ion. Piatt, Smith & Co., of Albany, had a contract for 
 thirty-six miles. The contracts were let in long sections to 
 few contractors, which led to much complaint against the 
 monopolizing character of the Company in this respect. 
 
 The following donations of land for depots and water-sta- 
 tions were made along the Susquehanna Division : John Hol- 
 lenback, near East Owego, dy^, acres; John R. Drake, at 
 Owego, 9-[«L acres; Charles F. Johnson, at Owego, 15 acres; 
 Harmon Pumpelly, at Owego, 4^ acres ; R. C. Johnson, at 
 
326 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Owego, 4]4 acres ; James Pumpelly and wife, at Owego, 9 
 acies; John Lorimer, at Elmira (east side of river), 9% 
 acres; Dunn & Baldwin, at Elmira (west side of river), 3^ 
 acies; George Gardener, at Big Flats, 8^ acres; Corning 
 Company, at Corning, 34 J4 acres; F. E. Erwin, at Erwin 
 (Painted Post), 10 acres; W. B. Jones, at Addison, 5 acres. 
 Jeremiah Rogers, as agent of the Company, wanted to 
 raise ^20,000 in subscriptions to Erie stock, at and about 
 Binghamton. Hassard Lewis was one of the wealthy citi- 
 zens, but would not subscribe. If he could get Lewis, Rogers 
 believed he might get others. He made an arrangement by 
 which Lewis subscribed ^1,000, but was only to pay I500. 
 Then Rogers got Daniel S. Dickinson, Levi Dimmick, Chris- 
 topher Eldridge, George Pratt & Co., Frank ^^^hitney, and 
 neariy one hundred others. Thomas G. Waterman headed 
 the list of these with ^1,000. 
 
 meeting of June 26 th was Charles F. Johnson and George J. 
 Pumpelly to go to New York and present the resolutions to 
 Mr. Lord. The resolutions adopted were as follows : 
 
 Resolved, That it is very desirable that the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road should be located as near the centre of business in this village as 
 possible ; that the northern route upon which the work is progressing 
 will be, if adopted, exceedingly injurious, if not destructive to the 
 business interests of the village ; that the adoption of the southern 
 route, so called, will not only be essential to the permanent business 
 interests, of the village, but, as we confidently believe, will, on exami- 
 nation, be found equally advantageous to the New York and Erie 
 Railroad Company, and we pledge ourselves to use our efforts to make 
 it so ; that a petition be drawn up and signed by the citizens, asking 
 a change of the location of said railroad, and that a committee be 
 appointed to present the same to the Company ; and that the Com- 
 missioner be respectfully requested to stop the work on the northern 
 line until an answer can be obtained to said petition. 
 
 THE OWEGO STATION-SITE CONTENTION. 
 
 The Pumpellys of Owego were early advocates of the pro- 
 ject of a railroad between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. 
 When, in 1840, the railroad at last seemed to be in close prox- 
 imity to Owego, a bitter strife began there over the location of 
 the depot, although there was not yet a mile of track laid on 
 the entire line. James Pumpelly wanted the railroad to run 
 through the village, either by Temple or Fox Street. Robert 
 C. Johnson proposed to give the Company, on condition that 
 it would spend on the property $20,000 a year for three suc- 
 cessive years, a 30-horse water-power and three acres of land 
 connected with it, and James Pumpelly and Charles F. John- 
 son were to give additional land, amounting to twenty-five 
 acres. The conveyance was made by Robert C. Johnson on 
 condition that the Company should use the water-power for 
 the purpose of machine shops, furnace and engine station, and 
 for building and repairing cars and locomotives for the Com- 
 pany. The grant did not depend on any particular line of road 
 through Owego. This offer was made in the spring of 1840, 
 and the Company engaged to begin work on the improve- 
 ments on the land in the fall of 1 840, but the work was soon 
 discontinued by Engineer C. B. Stuart, on the plea that the 
 building laid out was larger and involved a greater expense 
 than was contemplated. The surveys for a route through 
 Owego were made by ^Villiam Wentz. A meeting of citizens 
 was held at the court-house on the evening of June 26, 1840, 
 at which friends of the different routes were present. George 
 Pumpelly was the leader of the advocates of the southern 
 route, and John R. Drake led the advocates of the northern 
 route, or, more properly, what was understood to be the 
 wishes of the Company, which had accepted the proposition 
 of Judge Drake to take the northern route over land which 
 he donated. The fight was very bitter between the factions. 
 The Pumpelly and Johnson interests charged corruption on 
 the part of Commissioner Lyman in locating the route 
 through the Drake property, and bad faith on the part of 
 President Lord, who, they asserted, had agreed to nm the 
 road through the village. A committee appointed by the 
 
 The Commissioner refused to stop work, although, accord- 
 ing to the committee, he said that route would ruin the 
 business interests of the town. The committee then went to 
 New York and saw Mr. Lord, July 8, 1 840. The resolutions 
 of the meeting and the citizens' petition were submitted to 
 him and the Directors. The committee tendered the Com- 
 pany donations of land and right of way through Temple or 
 Fox Street. President Lord said it was too late. The north- 
 ern route had been decided upon, Mr. Drake having donated 
 the Company land for a depot, and guaranteed obtaining the 
 right of way through the Talcott farm, to which point the 
 route had been excavated and piled. This is the route now 
 occupied by the Erie, and the feeling of bitterness the con- 
 tention gave rise to among Owego families outlasted its 
 generation. 
 
 The following letter will be of interest : 
 
 127 North Avenue, Owego, _/«/)/ 15, 1896. 
 Edward H. Mott. 
 
 Dear Sir : Mr. Leroy Kingman handed me your letter of June 
 i6th, thinking my mother, Mrs. Harriet G. Tinkham, was better 
 informed about the early history of the New York and Erie Railroad 
 than any other person in Owego, being the eldest daughter of Judge 
 John R. Drake, who gave nine and six-tenths acres of land for Erie 
 buildings and road, besides being an advocate and untiring worker for 
 the project until his stroke of paralysis, from the time it was incorpo- 
 rated, April 24, 1832. The project was called visionary, impracticable; 
 and at a public meeting one man said with oaths : " What would the 
 
 old fool be at next ? " When the first passenger train made its 
 
 appearance, this man stood by the side of his carriage on the hillside 
 where Judge Drake had been driven, helpless from paralysis, but re- 
 joicing in the realization of his long hoped-for enterprise. Many 
 persons wished the station located in their part of the town, but Judge 
 Drake's offer was considered best, and was accepted. It was this nine 
 and six-tenths acres that were given " for the road, machine shops, 
 road-houses, water-tanks, or for ground for buildings for the deposit of 
 cars, lumber, and wood for the trade of the road, only, however, for 
 purposes connected with the legitimate business of the New York and 
 Erie Railroad ; that it shall be used only for the purpose of erecting a 
 building or buildings connected with the legitimate running or making 
 of the road." All this has been forfeited by renting to private indi- 
 viduals land for buildings for the retail of wagons, sash and doors, 
 salt, paint, hardware, grain, cement, bricks, boards, etc. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 327 
 
 After the station (Erie) was in order, the Ithaca and Owego Rail- 
 road discontinued running to the river and turned to the Erie station. 
 The land occupied by their track, which is now Central Avenue, from 
 Fox Street to the boundary of land purchased of Judge Drake, with 
 land on both sides of what had been the track belonging to G. I. 
 Pumpelly, was covered with a large building for building bridges for 
 the New York and Erie Railroad. After awhile the Company wished 
 to purchase this land at their own price. Mr. Pumpelly thought it 
 less than the value, and no bargain was made. Then began a gradual 
 removal of anything beneficial to Owego from the conveyance of the 
 land from Judge Drake — tracks taken up and switches removed, round- 
 house taken down, shops taken away, men ordered to live in other 
 places (I believe it is called changing the run of the men), until we 
 cannot help asking why this should be. 
 
 The only remuneration received by Judge Drake was about fifteen 
 hundred dollars, which was for a house and lot that had been con- 
 tracted to a man, and had to be removed and another lot substituted. 
 Not a pass for himself or family, not even honorable mention for his 
 generosity. At one time the country was filled with a pile-driving 
 craze, and for miles a long line of sticks in the mud looked like sen- 
 tinels. Parties of engineers enlivened the towns, and that was all, 
 until the New York and Erie Railroad came, and that, as if by magic, 
 turned the attention of people in this direction, and instead of a jour- 
 ney of three days to Xew York we go in a few hours, and the horses 
 drawing wagons of merchandise are things of the past, thanks to the 
 efforts of the projectors of the New York and Erie. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 Sarah Tinkham Gibson. 
 
 PROGRESS ON THE WESTERN DIVISION. 
 
 The cost for clearing and grubbing on the original ten 
 miles from Dunkirk was from $50 to ^910 per mile, the 
 total cost of that being $4,151. 
 
 The contracts for building the road between Hornelisville 
 and Mud Lake Summit, in Chautauqua County, fourteen miles 
 east of Lake Erie, were let in January, February, and March, 
 1 84 1. The road was piled for more than 100 miles, on the 
 same plan as the work on the Susquehanna Division. Clear- 
 ing and grubbing for graded road-bed through the woods 
 cost $800 per mile, and for piled road ^400. Stumps pulled 
 in fields cost the Company ^1.25 apiece. Putting in the 
 piles cost $900 a mile where the piles did not exceed ten 
 feet in length. Putting in sixteen-foot piles cost $1,300 a 
 mile on this section, the piles delivered costing three and 
 three-quarters cents per lineal foot. To lay the super- 
 structure, including wood and iron (a heavy H-rail), on a 
 continuous timber bearing, was to cost $800 per mile. The 
 contract for the four miles between the terminus of the orig- 
 inal ten miles east of Dunkirk and Mud Lake Summit was let 
 in the fall of 1840. It was a difficult and costly section. 
 The ten miles from Dunkirk were graded and finished for 
 a double track in 1838. Rails were put down on this section 
 in 1841. 
 
 Magee & Cook had the contracts from Hornelisville to 
 Friendship, forty miles. Horace R. Riddle sub-contracted 
 for twelve miles of this. Beyond Friendship, and to Nine- 
 Mile Run, on the Allegany River, thirty-four miles, P. & 
 H. A. Smith & Co. were the contractors. From Nine-Mile 
 Run to Mud Lake Summit, the grading and the super- 
 
 structure from the Run to Lake Erie, were contracted by 
 Cheesebrough, Hassard & Co. These contracts were let at 
 New York in December, 1840, but were not closed until 
 midwinter, 1S41. The contractors took from one- third to 
 three-eighths of the contract price in stock. The ten-mile 
 section east of Dunkirk, which was graded in 1838, was con- 
 tracted for without taking any stock, the contracts not yet 
 having been in that form. 
 
 T. S. Brown was Chief Engineer of the Western Division 
 from July i, 1839, until November, 1840. From the former 
 date until May, 1840, he had charge of the work on the ten- 
 mile contract from Dunkirk eastward, at $5 a day. Novem- 
 ber, 1840, he was appointed Associate Engineer, at a salary 
 of $2,500, and Commissioner of the Western Division, at 
 ^1,000 a year. John H. Allen was appointed Resident Engi- 
 neer, May, 1840. He had held the same place from March 
 to July, 1838. His pay was ^4.50 a day while actually em- 
 ployed, " excluding Sundays." Silas Seymour was chief of 
 surveying party, from 1839 to May, 1840, when he was 
 appointed Resident Engineer, at $4.50 a day. L. I. Stan- 
 cliff, A\'illiam Ingalls, and W. E. Hodgeman were chiefs of 
 parties in 1840, at I3 a day. H. P. Benton was a surveyor 
 at $2.50 a day. Agents for right of way, adjusting land 
 damages, obtaining subscriptions to stock, arranging for 
 fencing, supplying timber, etc., in Allegany, Cattaraugus, and 
 Chautauqua counties, were G. A. French, Walter Chester, 
 and John Griffin. 
 
 The following donations for land for depots, water-stations, 
 and other purposes, ^veie made along this division of the 
 railroad : 
 
 Village of Dunkirk, 425 acres; Cattaraugus County, 50,- 
 000 acres ; Randolph village, loo acres; Allegany Reserva- 
 tion, for depots at stopping places ; Allegany City, one- 
 quarter part ; Hinsdale, 5 acres ; Cuba, 3 to 5 acres ; Wells- 
 ville, 3 to 5 acres. 
 
 The Dunkirk donation was one-fourth of 1,700 acres of 
 land owned by a company controlled by Walter Smith, which" 
 expected that the coming of the railroad would compel a 
 town to rise on the shores of Lake Erie at that spot, which 
 would be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, on the lakes. 
 If the railroad had got to Dunkirk in time, the hopes of the 
 land company might have had some chance of realization. 
 In fact, the far-seeing men of that part of the State knew 
 that all depended on the Erie Railroad connecting Lake Erie 
 with the Hudson at the earliest possible moment, and it was 
 to prompt and urge the men controlling the Railroad Com- 
 pany to every effort to hasten the completion of the railroad 
 that the Land Company offered the handsome bonus of 250 
 acres of land in the heart of the coming cit)-. That land was 
 to be conveyed to the Railroad Company in fee by the land 
 company that owned it, on the completion of the grading for 
 a single trac;k of rails from Lake Erie to the west line of 
 Cattaraugus County by July i, 1842. But it was nearly ten 
 years after 1842 before the railroad was completed to Dun- 
 kirk. Then Dunkirk's opportunity was gone, and the Rail- 
 road Company did not get the land. 
 
;28 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 {From Emory F. Warreii's "Sketches of Chautauqua'' 1S46.) 
 
 The speculations in real estate, which were at their height during 
 this period, affected the village of Dunkirk more seriously than any 
 other point in the county. The termination of the New York and 
 Erie Railroad at this place pointed it out to those most deeply affected 
 with the contagion as a spot on which operations of the kind might 
 be carried on for awhile at least with success. The rage for corner 
 lots and eligible sites was rife, and ran to so high a pitch that men 
 of all pursuits — farmers, mechanics, merchants, lawyers, and even 
 ministers of the gospel embarked upon the wild sea, without rudder 
 or ballast, with nothing to propel them but a whirlwind that soon 
 scattered them in broken fragments upon a lee shore. The result 
 was a stagnation of trade, depreciation in the price of all kinds of 
 property, the ruin and entire prostration of many families who had 
 been in prosperous circumstances and on the high road to competence, 
 and the hopeless bankruptcy of thousands of others. 
 
 The donation of one-quarter part of Allegany City to the 
 Railroad Company was also prompted by the great hopes an- 
 other sanguine city builder had of the advent of the railroad 
 among the hills of Cattaraugus County. In 1837, Nicholas 
 Devereux, of Utica, a large landholder by purchase from the 
 Holland Land Company, believing that the spot would be 
 an important point on the line of the Erie Railroad, selected 
 300 acres on the north side of the Allegany River, a mile 
 southeast of the village of Allegany. The original survey of 
 the railroad passed through the land. Devereux laid it out 
 in streets and lots, and named the site Allegany City. The 
 city was plotted in 1842. Then came the Company's failure 
 and suspension of work on the railroad. When work was 
 resumed the new survey was made, leaving the proposed city 
 far off the line, and the city came to an end. Several large 
 buildings had been erected, one of the largest being a 
 hotel. 
 
 The Holland Land Company also had 50,000 acres of its 
 best land ready to hand over to the Company, on condition. 
 The condition, originally, of the 50,000-acre donation was 
 that the railroad should be built from Dunkirk to the Gene- 
 see River within seven years from July 9, 1835, and the time 
 was subsequently extended sixteen months. If the Com- 
 pany could have complied with all the conditions of these 
 grants, ^1,000,000 at least would have been added to its 
 treasury. 
 
 In September, 1841, on recommendation of Major T. S. 
 Brown, Engineer in charge of that division, a change was 
 made in the piled-road construction, and the distance of that 
 kind of road was cut down to sixty miles on the Western 
 Division. Major Brown did not approve of piled road-bed, 
 except where the ground was swampy. This changed forty 
 miles on the Western Division to grading. 
 
 FIRST RAILS FOR THE ERIE. 
 
 In many accotmts that have appeared in newspapers and 
 other publications from time to time, purporting to tell the 
 story of early railroad building in this country, the statement 
 has been persistently made that the first track of the New 
 York and Erie Railroad was put down with what was known 
 
 as the " strap-rail," a rail of flat iron spiked to the surface of 
 timber fashioned to receive it. This is an erroneous state- 
 ment. On the first railroads constructed the strap-rail was 
 used, because inventive genius had been but recently called 
 to the consideration and development of railroad appliances 
 and equipment, and experience had not yet demonstrated 
 what was best needed for facility, safety, and economy in 
 railroad operation. The inefficiency of the strap-rail soon 
 became apparent, and engineering skill long busied itseK in 
 the finding of a substitute for it that would not only do away 
 with its many defects, but would combine other character- 
 istics to the great advancement of railroad science. This 
 end was accomplished by the designing of what is known as 
 the T-rail, an invention of Robert L. Stevens, but never 
 patented, the nomenclature being due to the resemblance the 
 rail has, as seen in cross-section, to the letter T. This is 
 the rail, in modified and improved patterns — for there are 
 scores of them — which is in universal use on railroads to-day. 
 In early days a variation of it was called the H-rail. 
 
 If the building of the New York and Erie Railroad had 
 proceeded without cessation from the time ground was 
 broken at Deposit, N. Y., in November, 1835, the super- 
 structure of the road would have been strap-iron spiked fast 
 to timbers, but this work was abandoned, and no part of the 
 road-bed was ready for the rails until the fall of 1 840, and the 
 necessity for strap-rail was gone. Although the T-rail was to 
 be used, the science of railroad building had not advanced 
 far enough to discover that these rails could be put down 
 properly without the intervention of longitudinal wooden sills 
 between them and the ground as a resting place to give 
 them firmness and to insure greater smoothness in the run- 
 ning of trains. These sills were sixteen feet long, ten inches 
 wide, and eight inches deep. Cross-pieces were fitted from 
 sill to sill, about four feet apart, making a solid frame of each 
 section of timber put down. The rails were fastened on top 
 of the sills by spikes which were driven into the timber close 
 to the rail, the one-sided projecting heads binding on the 
 lower flanges of the rail, just as rails are secured to ties to- 
 day, the ends of the rails resting in "chairs," a heavy iron 
 platform with a groove into which the end of each rail fitted, 
 and which clasped the flange with sufficient purchase to sus- 
 tain somewhat of solidity and firmness at the joint, the chair 
 itself being spiked to the tie. There were no " fish-plates " 
 then — those stiff straps of iron which in these days of rail- 
 road building are bolted across the joints of rails, between 
 the flanges, thus making of each side of a track practically 
 one continuous rail. 
 
 Early in the summer of 1840, Major Thompson S. Brown, 
 who was then Engineer of the Western Division, was notified 
 by the Company to go to England with Henry L. Pierson, 
 of the Board of Directors, and assist him in contracting for 
 the first rails to be used on the railroad. The following 
 copies of the " documents in the case " tell the story of this 
 mission, and should settle forever the persistent statement in 
 the periodicals of this day that the original rails on the Erie 
 were strap-rails : 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 329 
 
 New York and Erie Railroad Company, 
 
 London, August y, 1840. 
 Memorandtim : 
 
 3,600 tons must be shipped by 5th October. 
 
 1,400 tons as soon after as convenient, 400 of this quantity to be de- 
 livered by 1st November, the other 1,000 any time before April ; more 
 convenient to be shipped to Liverpool than Nevi'port. 
 
 Price at Newport £9 05s 
 
 Ditto Liverpool, from Ruabon 9 '5S 
 
 50 lbs. to the yard ; to be made by pattern. If the pattern proves 
 to be less than 50 pounds to the yard, to be made 50 pounds by adding 
 to the lower part of the stem ; if more than 50 pounds, to stick to the 
 pattern. 
 
 Staffordshire iron out of the question. 
 
 It will be necessary that 450 tons be made each week for eight weeks 
 to come, say : 
 
 Abersychon 280 per week 
 
 Ruabon 1 70 do. 
 
 The quality to be similar to that of other rails, and the rails to be 
 equal to any we have ever made. 
 
 (Signed) A. Wilson. 
 
 H. L. PlERSON. 
 
 T. S. Brown. 
 
 (^Specification for the J?ails.) 
 
 loth August, 1840. 
 
 Rails for the New York and Erie Railway Company. 
 
 The rails to be of the form and dimensions exhibited by the draw- 
 ing supplied, to be manufactured as follows : Good pigs to be selected 
 and well refined ; the refined iron to be well puddled, and the puddled 
 ball to be taken to the hammer and hammered, and then rolled into 
 bars, say No. i, or puddled bar, the bill, say, in about the propor- 
 tion of at least two-fifths No. 2 bar and three-fifths No. i. Puddled 
 bar to be heated and then rolled into rails in such a manner that 
 the lamina of the pile be horizontal throughout. The length of each 
 rail to be iS feet, except that 10 per cent, of the whole quantity may 
 be made in lengths of 12 and 15 feet, the depth of 3^ inches, and 
 the width of the top to be i^ inches, the base 3j<|f inches, and the 
 thickness of the middle of the stem 0.625 of an inch, as per drawing 
 — the weight of the rails being in proportion say about 51^ lbs. 
 per lineal yard. Each bar must be entirely free from warping, 
 perfectly straight, and free from flaws and imperfections, presenting a 
 uniform unbroken surface in every part (or so much as they are made 
 in all these respects at the other first-rate manufactories in South 
 Wales). The ends must be cut square. An inspector may be 
 appointed by the purchasers, who shall possess the right of, and the 
 manufacturer shall at all times give every facility for, inspecting the 
 iron or rail during the process of making, and the said inspector shall 
 have full power to reject such rails as do not conform to the drawing, 
 or to the true intent and meaning of this specification, but it is hereby 
 expressly stipulated that the said inspection and rejection shall be 
 made at the manufactories and nowhere else. 
 
 Signed for the Managing Directors by 
 
 J. H. Havenshaw. 
 
 London, 22ii August, 1840. 
 To the Managing Directors of the British Iron Company : 
 
 Gentlemen : With reference to a memorandum of agreement for 
 5,000 tons of rails to be made by you for the New York and Erie 
 Railway Company, dated 7th inst. , and signed by Major Brown, Mr. 
 Alex. Wilson and myself, in which it was stipulated that 400 tons of 
 rails (in addition to 3,600 tons to be previously supplied), were to be 
 
 delivered by ist November next, I have now to request that in lieu of 
 this 400 tons you will supply 400 tons from your Staffordshire works, 
 to be delivered with the utmost possible despatch in Liverpool, the 
 pattern of which rails you have this day received from Buerly Hill. 
 For these rails I agree on the part of the New York and Erie Railroad 
 to pay £,\o per ton, delivered in Liverpool ; terms of payment as al- 
 ready agreed for the remaining part of this order, the iron expected to 
 be delivered the ist day of September. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 H. L. PlERSON. 
 
 Mr. Pierson had evidently received information from the 
 Railroad Company that made haste in the delivery of the 
 iron of importance. The matter was closed finally as follows : 
 
 Agreement made August 31, 1840, with Messrs. Palmer, McKillup, 
 Dent &= Company, anil Fletcher, Alexander &• Company, Lon- 
 don, for the delivery 0/5,000 tons of iron rails at Liverpool and 
 Newport, England, 
 
 LENGTH OF RAILS. 
 
 From Staffordshire Works 80 per cent 18 feet. 
 
 " " " 10 " " 16 " 
 
 " " " 10 " " 12 to 15 " 
 
 " Ruabon " 90 " " 16 " 
 
 *' " " 10 " " ; 12 to 15 " 
 
 Depth, 3^ inches ; width of the top, 3)^ inches; of the base, ■i'H 
 inches; depth of the top, i3^ inches; thickness of the middle stem, 
 % of an inch. Weight — 2,000 tons, 50 lbs. to the yard ; 3,000 tons, 
 55 lbs. to the yard. 
 
 Price per ton, from Staffordshire Works, goo tons ;^io 
 
 " " " " 900 " 17 OS. 6d. 
 
 " " " Ruabon " per ton 915s. 
 
 " " " Abersychon " " 90s. 5d. 
 
 Commission in England, 2"^ per cent. ; in New York for agency, 
 I per cent. ; in New York on disbursements, 2]/^ per cent. 
 
 Freight per ton from Liverpool, los. to 17s. 6d. sterling ; from 
 Newport, 25s. to 27s. 5d. sterling ; from Bristol, 27s. 6d. sterling. 
 
 All American H-rail, laid down for shipment at Newport, South 
 Wales. 
 
 Investment in stock, $75,000, on which 6 per cent, interest is to be 
 paid by the Company, until the completion of a single track from the 
 Hudson River to Lake Erie. 
 
 The first rails for the Erie thus cost $231,250, of which 
 amount $75,000 was paid in stock of the Company. The 
 contract was made with the British Iron Company, repre- 
 sented by J. H. Havenshaw, the Managing Director, through 
 Palmer, McKillup, Dent & Co., and Fletcher, Alexander & 
 Co., commission men, and the first Erie agents abroad. The 
 stock issued was for and upon the Eastern Division of the 
 railroad, between Piermont and Goshen. The contract was 
 signed, " in presence of H. A. Ince, 1 1 King's Arms Yard, 
 London, I. Peachy, 8 Frederick's Place, Old Jersey, London," 
 by Henry L. Pierson, T. S. Brown, Edward Haley Palmer, 
 Charles D. Bruce, and Christopher Pearce. 
 
 Mr. Pierson also contracted for 200 tons of rail chairs, 
 weighing fifteen pounds each, at £■] per ton, and 100 tons 
 at £l 5s- For negotiating this first transaction for the pur- 
 chase of rails for the Erie, Henry L. Pierson was paid by the 
 Company $4,000. It was an unfortunate transaction for the 
 
330 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 iron company, which accepted so large a part of its price in 
 Erie stoclt at par. The stock was then held at about five 
 dollars a share here. The iron company neglected to come 
 in and take advantage of the reorganization of the Railroad 
 Company in 1845, and lost its stock. So the first Erie rails 
 were a bargain, and the English began early to have their 
 disquieting experiences with Erie shares. 
 
 December 2, 1841, Walter Smith, of Dunkirk, completed 
 a contract on part of the Huron Iron Company with the 
 New York and Erie Railroad Company for 400 tons of cast- 
 iron rails at eighty dollars per ton of 2,340 pounds. One 
 half of the iron was to be delivered at Dunkirk, and the other 
 half at Owego and Elmira. The iron company agreed to take 
 37 per cent, of the cost of the shares in stock. 
 
 ical importance, young Griffis, "just to see how it would 
 look," placed one of the rails upon a sill near the Pier, and 
 spiked it down, thus having "driven the first spike" on the 
 railroad that was eventually not only to unite the Ocean with 
 the Lakes, but be one of the main links in the mighty chain 
 of communication between the Atlantic and the Pacific. In 
 1846 Griffis became General Wood Agent of the Company, 
 a place of much importance, as at that time wood was the 
 sole fuel on the railroad, and the purchasing and distribution 
 of it was entirely in Griffis's hands until 1848, when the rail- 
 road was opened to Binghamton. Then a second agent was 
 appointed, the duties being more than one iTian could attend 
 to. Griffis remained in the service of the Company until 
 1853. He died in Susquehanna County, Pa., in 1896. 
 
 DROVE THE FIRST SPIKE ON THE ERIE. 
 
 Abner Griffis, then a young nnan, and having been two 
 years a member of the engineer corps on the North Branch 
 Canal, a part of the public works of Pennsylvania, came to 
 
 ^' '«^^ 
 
 t***)" 
 
 George E. Hoffman began on the New York and Erie 
 Railroad as Superintending Engineer of the Eastern Divi- 
 sion in 1840, and had charge of the superstructure, of 
 the machine shops, and of the purchase of locomotives 
 and cars. August 20, 1841, he was made Division Engineer 
 of the Central Division, with headquarters at Bingham- 
 ton. While he was in charge of the superstructure, early 
 in 1 84 1, he became seized of a briUiant idea. This was that 
 the wheels of the cars would meet with less resistance from 
 the rails, and secure a better " bite " on them, if the rails 
 were laid so that the wheels came in contact with only a 
 small portion of their surface. He was so much convinced 
 of the correctness of his theory that Camp & Co. were di- 
 rected to lay a mile or two of the sills so hewn on one side 
 that when the rails were spiked on they would be slanting, 
 and present only about an inch of one edge to contact with 
 the wheels. It required the passing of cars over that section 
 of the road but a few times to demonstrate that while the 
 wheels might be escaping more resistance from the rails, the 
 rails were getting just as much grinding from the wheels as 
 ever, and getting it all on a small portion of their surface, so 
 that it would be but a short time before they were worn out 
 and worthless, without having been of any corresponding -■^- 
 vantage as factors in the economy of railroading. Engineer 
 Hoffman's brilliant idea died almost as soon as it was bom, 
 and the slanting rails were quickly set square on the sills. 
 
 ABNER GRIFFIS. 
 
 the Erie in July, 1840, to superintend the work undertaken 
 by Camp & Co., between Piermont and Coffey's. " It was a 
 hard time for money," wrote Griffis to the author in 1895, 
 " and we had a serious time to get along. The Company 
 had exhausted its funds on the grading, and the completion 
 of the grading delayed us much. Great credit is due to 
 H. C. Seymour and S. S. Post, civil engineers, for their mas- 
 terly management. I have always said that they were the 
 Fathers of the Road." No iron rails had been received yet, 
 but some of the first cargo, it having come over from England 
 as ballast in a vessel, was received at Piermont in October, 
 1840. Unofficially, and without much thought of its bistor- 
 
 The engineer corps of 1 840 was organized as follows : 
 Chief Engineer, Edward Miller. Salary, $4,000. Head- 
 quarters at New York. He had a secretary and an archi- 
 tectural and topographical draughtsman. Associate Engineer, 
 Major T. S. Brown, Dunkirk. Resident Engineers : Eastern 
 Division, H. C. Seymour, Piermont; Delaware Division, A. 
 C. Morton, Goshen ; Central Division, G. E. Hoffman, Bing- 
 hamton ; Western Division, T. S. Brown, Dunkirk. Salary of 
 each, $2,500 and expenses. 
 
 Silas Seymour was Major Brown's assistant. S. S. Post was 
 assistant to H. C. Seymour. Hoffman had three assistants, 
 Conover, Starkey, and Morrell. Starkey is now the Bishop 
 of the Newark diocese of the Episcopal Church. T. C. 
 Ruggles was assistant to A. C. Morton. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 33^ 
 
 The members of the Construction Department in 1841, 
 and their salaries, were : 
 
 Edward Miller, Chief Engineer $3,000 per annum 
 
 Samuel P. Lyman, General Commissioner 3,000 " 
 
 EASTERN DIVISION. 
 
 H. C. Seymour, Division Engineer $2,500 per annum 
 
 A. Dallas Green, Resident Engineer 4 per day 
 
 DELAWARE DIVISION. 
 
 A. C. Morton, Division Engineer and Acting Com- 
 missioner $1,500 per annum 
 
 CENTRAL DIVISION. 
 
 George E. Hoffman, Division Engineer and Acting 
 
 Commissioner $1,500 per annum 
 
 A U. Conover, Resident Engineer and Acting 
 
 Commissioner 3,50 per day 
 
 T. A. Starkey, Resident Engineer 3.00 " 
 
 Jeremiah Rogers, General Agent 3.00 " 
 
 SUSQUEHANNA DIVISION. 
 
 Thomas A. Johnson, Commissioner Si, 500 per annum 
 
 C. B. Stuart, Division Engineer 1,500 " 
 
 T. G. Pomeroy, Assistant Engineer 3 per day 
 
 J. Spaulding, Assistant Engineer 3 " 
 
 ■WESTERN DIVISION. 
 
 T. S. Brown, Associate Engineer and Commissioner.$2,Soo per annum 
 Silas Seymour, Resident Engineer and Commis'ner 3.50 per day 
 C. R. Paxton, Resident Engineer and Commis'ner 3.50 
 L. S. Stancliff, Resident Engineer and Commis'ner 3.50 " 
 L. D. Hodgman, Principal Assistant and Superin- 
 tendent of Construction 3.50 " 
 
 G. A. French, Land Agent 4.00 
 
 AValter Chester, Land Agent 3.50 " 
 
 Each of the five members of the ^^''estern Division staff 
 last named was allowed 50 cents a day for horse hire "while 
 in use," and $1 a day for travelling expenses " while em- 
 ployed." 
 
 The Commissioners of the several divisions had each under 
 his charge and superintendence such agents as were neces- 
 sary for the proper care and management of the works, for 
 the protection of the interests of the Company dependent 
 upon the performance of contracts, and for the security of 
 property of the Company distributed along the lines. 
 
 But notwithstanding the show of great activity all along 
 the line, it was in the air that the actual foundation for it was 
 not as substantial as it might be, and rumors that there was 
 irregularity in the management of the work by the Company's 
 agents, engineers, and officers grew into positive charges, 
 to which the New York Legislature at last turned its atten- 
 tion, and an investigation was ordered to be made of the 
 Company's affairs by a committee of the Assembly. This 
 was the first probing of an Erie management by the Legisla- 
 ture, and much capital was made of it by the enemies of the 
 Company, who were many and vindictive. Lr May, 1841, 
 Eleazar Lord resigned as President, although the railroad had 
 so far advanced in building that it was on the eve of being 
 
 opened half way bet\\'een Piermont and Goshen. The inves- 
 tigation did not uncover any serious wrong-doing ; in fact, 
 the reports upon it vindicated the management. Mr. Lord 
 was succeeded by James Bowen. 
 
 THE CARS BEGIN TO RUN. 
 
 "The Building of It" had progressed so well since the 
 spring of 1840 that in the spring of the following year the 
 coming of the locomotive had become a thing expected daily. 
 The rails were laid as far as Ramapo June 17, 1841, and a 
 locomotive, the " Eleazar Lord," was run from Piermont to 
 Ramapo on that day. June 30, 1841, was the day on which 
 the first train-load of passengers that ever travelled on the New 
 York and Erie Railroad was carried. This was from Pier- 
 mont to the heart of the Hudson Highlands. Among these 
 passengers was President James Bowen, Vice-President Henry 
 L. Pierson ; Chief Commissioner Samuel P. Lyman, who had 
 succeeded Eleazar Lord in that office in 1839 ; the Board of 
 Directors of the Company ; Chief Engineer Edward Miller ; 
 a number of guests from New York City, among them James 
 AVatson A^'ebb, and citizens who were taken up at Piermont 
 and other stations along the line. 
 
 The New York guests left that city at 10 a.m. of June 30th, 
 on the steamboat " South America," and arrived at Piermont 
 at 11.30, where the pioneer passenger train was in readiness. 
 The trip through the historic region between Piermont and 
 Ramapo was made in sixty-five minutes. In his very meagre 
 account of this memorable excursion. General Webb, in the 
 New York Courier and Enquirer, had this to say : " It is a 
 well-ascertained fact that heavy trains can only be propelled 
 by very heavy locomotive engines, and, of course, to sustain 
 them, the most durable road is required. The heaviest loco- 
 motive e\'er built, as we are informed, is that which was used 
 on \\'ednesday, and with which we passed up a grade of 60 
 feet to the mile, the distance of four miles, at the rate of ten 
 miles an hour. This locomotive was the ' Rockland,' one of 
 the three original locomotives that were received by the 
 Company, in December, 1840. It weighed 38,000 pounds. 
 At Ramapo the distinguished party ^\-as entertained at his 
 mansion by the venerable Jeremiah H. Pierson, who had 
 been a steadfast and unceasing friend of the Erie project 
 from the start, and was one of the Directors. Men of all 
 parties united in an interchange of congratulation on this 
 truly auspicious occasion, and the day was one of pleasure 
 without alloy. To this city it was a day which will long be 
 remembered when even the names of those who proposed 
 this great work shall have been forgotten." 
 
 The section of railroad thus opened was not put regularly 
 in operation for business, and a delay that seemed unaccount- 
 able to the impatient public ensued in finishing the work to 
 Goshen. The truth was that although the management had 
 had the use of a great deal of money, the Company \Aas in 
 debt to contractors and the treasury was low. It had been 
 semi-officially announced that the railroad would be opened 
 to Goshen in July, but the rails on a large part of the section 
 
332 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 between Ramapo and Goshen were not down yet when August 
 came, and in that month James Seymour, one of the assistant 
 engineers in the original survey of 1834, was employed by 
 the Company to make a tour of inspection of the entire route 
 and report upon it. This was to prepare a way for an appli- 
 cation to the Legislature of 1842 for more aid, the State 
 having already granted assistance to the amount of ^3,000,- 
 000. Seymour's report was most favorable as to the work 
 the Company had done and as to prospects of the railroad. 
 
 THE RAILROAD OPENED TO GOSHEN. 
 
 At last, early in September, the Company was able to make 
 the announcement that the Eastern Division of the New York 
 and Erie Railroad would " be, opened for freight and pas- 
 sengers on Thursday, the 23d of September." This long- 
 expected event was made the occasion of a demonstration 
 commensurate with its importance. Invitations had been 
 issued to national. State, and municipal officials, judges of 
 the Courts and members of the Bar, the clergy, financiers, the 
 Chamber of Commerce and Board of Trade of New York 
 City, the press, and many distinguished private citizens. 
 
 The steamboat " Utica," commanded by Captain Alexander 
 H. Schultz, left New York City at 8 a.m. on the day of the 
 opening. Among the passengers on board were Governor 
 Seward and his civil and military staff ; United States Sena- 
 tor Phelps, of Vermont; Congressman T. Butler King, of 
 Georgia ; Hugh Maxwell, Collector of the Port of New York ; 
 the Mayor and Common Council of the city, and members 
 of the Chamber of Commerce and Board of Trade ; promi- 
 nent judges and lawyers ; several eminent clergymen. Bishop 
 Onderdonk of their number ; and numerous persons con- 
 spicuous in business, society, politics, and journalism. Messrs. 
 Chatfield, McKay, and Graham, of the legislative committee 
 appointed to investigate the affairs of the Company, were 
 guests on the occasion. The boat arrived at Piermont at 
 10.30 A.M., where the party was joined by Washington Irving, 
 who had come over from his Sunnyside home. 
 
 The Railroad Company was represented by the presence 
 of President Bowen, Vice-President H. L. Pierson, Chief 
 Commissioner Lyman, Eastern Division Commissioner H. 
 C. Seymour, Chief Engineer Edward Miller, and the Board 
 of Directors, the members of which present were Charles O. 
 Davis, Richard M. Blatchford, Simeon Draper, Jr., George 
 Griswold, Aaron Clark, Charles Hoyt, Elihu Townsend, Goold 
 Hoyt, W. C. Redfield (the original suggester of a railroad 
 over the Erie route), S. W. Roberts, A. L. Sykes, and Jere- 
 miah H. Pierson. Ex-President Eleazar Lord was also one 
 of the party. 
 
 Two trains of four cars each were in waiting at Piermont 
 to receive the guests, and the number filled them more than 
 comfortably. Only two of these were passenger cars, all the 
 Company had as yet, the rest being platform cars. The 
 locomotive of the first train was the " Orange." The " Ram- 
 apo " drew the second train. The cars sat so low down on 
 their frames, burdened as they were with human beings, as 
 
 to press the wood-work down upon the wheels, the flanges 
 of which ground into it at every revolution. But in spite 
 of this, which would be more than enough to start a panic 
 among a railway excursion party to-day, the excursionists 
 seemed to have had a most enjoyable trip from the waters 
 of the Hudson to the meadows of Orange County, and they 
 arrived at Goshen three hours after leaving Piermont, or 
 about 2 o'clock in the afternoon. The townspeople, the 
 people from the hills and farms and towns for miles around, 
 were there to welcome them with music, flags, and guns, and 
 tremendous cheers. The gathering at the station and about 
 it numbered thousands of enthusiastic and wonder-stricken 
 people. The guests were welcomed in a speech by Gen. 
 George D. Wickham, of Goshen, an early and constant friend 
 of the Erie, and there were hours of feasting and speech- 
 making and toast-drinking. President Bowen made an 
 address in which he said : 
 
 We have met to celebrate the completion of the first division of this 
 great road. It is an event that well deserved this public celebration, 
 for it insures the completion of the whole road, and thereby secures to 
 this State and its commercial capital the trade of the great West. The 
 advantages to result from this road are appreciated but by few ; in- 
 deed, to many of our fellow citizens its existence is unknown, or if 
 known, it is regarded by them as one of the thousand visionary specu- 
 lations that had their rise a few years since, and, like them, it has 
 ceased to be remembered but as another illustration of the folly and 
 credulity of men. You who are here this day can testify that it has 
 not been abandoned, and you can form some estimate of its ultimate 
 benefits when you reflect that you have been transported from the 
 bank of the Hudson through the counties of Rockland and Orange to 
 the border of Sullivan in less than three hours. 
 
 In a few short years, if this road is completed, the fertile hills and 
 valleys of Steuben and Allegany, of Cattaraugus and Chautauqua, 
 now comparatively unsettled, will be covered with a dense population, 
 and amidst these vast solitudes will soon be heard the hum of cities, 
 the abode of prosperous, intelligent, and happy souls. The great 
 Appian Way will become the highway of nations, and their boundless 
 products will be poured through this channel into the lap of our State, 
 enriching it and adding to its power and greatness. 
 
 Speeches were made by Governor Seward, James Watson 
 Webb, Hugh Maxwell, Eleazar Lord, Senator Phelps, and 
 others. Governor Seward's speech was in straight-out advo- 
 cacy of State ownership of internal improvements, including 
 railroads, and a declaration that railroad fares should not be 
 greater than one and a half cents per mile. A grand feast 
 was served to the distinguished guests at Major Edsall's hotel 
 near the depot, the hotel now known as the Occidental. 
 The trains left Goshen at sundown on their return trip to 
 Piermont, and the steamboat " Utica," on which a collation 
 was served, arrived at New York at 10.30. 
 
 THE company's ROLLING STOCK IN PAWN. 
 
 While officially the survey of the Western Division of the 
 route was in charge of EUet, the work was done by George C. 
 Miller, a young engineer, but a year or two past his majority, 
 who ran the line from Binghamton to Dunkirk, and drew all 
 the maps and profiles of the rugged country through which 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 333 
 
 it passed. He completed the work early in the fall of 1834, 
 and returning to Owego, accompanied a delegation of promi- 
 nent citizens of that place, among them the Pumpellys, to 
 Auburn for an interview with William H. Seward, then a 
 coming man in State politics, and who, as State Senator, had 
 persistently opposed the New York and Erie Railroad pro- 
 ject. Mr. Miller explained the result of his engineering 
 work to Mr. Seward, and spoke so encouragingly, from a 
 practical standpoint, of the enterprise, that the future great 
 statesman became interested in it, and ever afterward used 
 his influence in its behalf. Mr. Miller served his apprentice- 
 ship in civil engineering on the Morris Canal, in New Jersey, 
 long before railroads were occupying the attention of the 
 profession. He afterward entered the service of the Mohawk 
 and Hudson Railroad Company, the first railroad chartered 
 in the State of New York. He worked on the drafting of the 
 plans for the now historic locomotive, the " De ^^^itt Clinton," 
 which hauled the first train-load of passengers on that pioneer 
 railroad, in November, i83r. From the Mohawk and Hud- 
 son Railroad Mr. Miller went to the Camden and Amboy 
 Railroad, then building between those two places. In 1834 
 he joined the engineer corps that was to make the survey of 
 the Erie route, under Judge Wright. 
 
 When the letting of the contracts for the superstructure of the 
 railroad were advertised in 1840, Mr. Miller was in New York. 
 He and his brother bid on the section mentioned, and secured 
 the contract. The work was delayed by the slow progress of 
 grading, and they could not get it done. George E. Hoffman, 
 the Company's Engineer of Construction, requested them to 
 relinquish it. It was taken by other contractors. Soon after 
 the railroad was opened to Goshen, the Millers, in 1841, put 
 in a claim against the Company for $17,000, which the Com- 
 pany refused to pay. The contractors threatened to sue, and 
 as there was no doubt but that they would obtain judgment, 
 which was something the Company could not well afford to 
 have known just then, a curious compromise was made by 
 the Company with George C. Miller, who had taken an 
 assignment of his brother's interest in the claim. The Com- 
 pany could not pay the cash, so, in consideration of Miller 
 taking $1,500 of the claim in stock — which would insure the 
 Company §3,000 in State stock. Company stock being worth 
 almost nothing, and State stock par — the Company agreed to 
 give Miller a bill of sale for its rolling stock, the railroad 
 having in the meantime been opened between Piermont and 
 Goshen, as security for the payment to him of $500 a month 
 until his claim was cancelled ; also agreeing to the selection 
 of Talman J. Waters, a former Secretary of the Company, 
 as receiver of certain of the Company's moneys, to apply on 
 the Miller claim. This was, perhaps, the most singular busi- 
 ness transaction in the history of railroads, for through it the 
 New York and Erie Railroad Company had actually assigned 
 its rolling stock to a creditor, and placed itself in the hands 
 of a receiver, without a single process of law or court. The 
 rolling stock was redeemed and the receiver discharged, 
 however, after a few months of this paying of the Company's 
 debt on the installment plan. 
 
 Mr. Miller became a citizen of Goshen, and married a 
 daughter of Henry G. \Visner. Although engaged in business 
 in New York, he continued his residence in Goshen, where he 
 died in 1896, aged 86. 
 
 In 1 84 1 the following donations of land for depots and 
 water-stations were made on the Eastern Division : 
 
 Cornelius J. Blauvelt, at Piermont, 99 acres; Eleazar 
 Lord, at Pascac, i acre ; Ramapo Manufacturing Company, 
 at Ramapo, 2 J/3 acres ; Hudson MacFarland, at Monroe 
 Works, I acre ; Messrs. I'ownsend, at Chester, 2 }( acres ; 
 Gen. G. D. Wickham, at Goshen, 2^ acres. 
 
 HOW THE ERIE PAID CAMP & CO.'s CLAIM. 
 
 Camp & Co., so the record shows, accepted $8,100 of the 
 amount of their contract in the Company's stock, but the 
 record does not tell why they did so. Their reason for tak- 
 ing the stock makes another entertaining story of those 
 pioneer Erie days. 
 
 By the terms of the contract the Company was to have the 
 grading done as Camp &: Co.'s work progressed, so that the 
 timbers and rails could be laid and the material carried on a 
 construction train from Piermont, as the line of work was ex- 
 tended. The contractors found, however, that the grading of 
 the road had not been completed even the ten miles west of 
 Piermont. The Company could not keep its part of the 
 contract, and the contractors were obliged to hire teams to 
 haul and deliver their timber along the line of the work. 
 The timber was hemlock, sawed 8 x ro. It was purchased at 
 Honesdale, Pa., 150 miles distant, and brought to the work 
 by the only available means of transportation, which was by 
 the Delaware and Hudson Canal from Honesdale to Ron- 
 dout, and thence by the Hudson River to Piermont. The 
 sills were sunk in trenches dug for them, and the cross pieces 
 mortised down upon them. 
 
 By the time the first ten miles of the road were finished by 
 Camp & Co., the grading was advancing westward, but the 
 progress was slow. The Company's funds were low, and the 
 prospects looked dark. All payments for labor were made 
 in scrip issued by the Company, and holders of it had to 
 submit to a heavy discount to have it cashed. The Com- 
 pany was in arrears to its contractors, and Camp & Co. were 
 heavily in debt to local merchants for supplies furnished their 
 men. At last, the Company having broken it in various 
 ways, they threw up the contract, and demanded a settle- 
 ment. The Company's affairs were then virtually in control 
 of the Chief Engineer Hezekiah C. Seymour and his assist- 
 ant, S. S. Post. It was the common saying of the day that 
 "Seymour ran the Directors, and Post ran the road." The 
 contractors claimed that they had been compelled to do a 
 large amount of work not called for in their agreement, and 
 the Company disputed the claim. Seymour sent Engineer 
 Hoffman to make an inspection of the work done by Camp 
 & Co. all along the line. The contractors instructed Abner 
 Griffis to go over the work and report an estimate of what it 
 showed as Ijeing due them. 
 
334 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Contractor Camp and Abner Griffis subsequently met Sey- 
 mour and Post at the JNIerchant's Hotel, in Cortlandt Street, 
 N. Y., to discuss the claim. Grififis's estimate was that there 
 was due Camp & Co. from the Railroad Company 124,300. 
 Engineer Hoffman's estimate was several thousand dollars 
 less than that. The Company's representatives refused to 
 pay the claim as Griffis made it out to be. Camp was in 
 need of money, and anxious to get away to carry out other 
 plans he had formed. He said he would leave to Griffis the 
 decision as to what amount he ought to receive. 
 
 " Then," said Griffis, " if you take a dollar less than 1 have 
 made out your claim to be, you will lose money." 
 
 This determined Camp to insist on every dollar of the 
 claim. He declared to Seymour and Post that unless his 
 claim was paid forthwith he would have recourse to the law 
 to aid him in recovering it. A lawsuit was just the thing that 
 the Railroad Company least desired in the situation it was 
 then in. If Camp should sue, others would do the same, and 
 it was more than likely that all would obtain judgments. A 
 judgment against the Company at that time meant a sale of 
 the road to satisfy it. The projectors of the great enterprise, 
 the 'Western Railroad (now the Boston and Albany), which 
 Boston capitalists were then pushing from that city as its 
 eastern, to Albany as its western, terminus, to connect with 
 the Erie Canal and the railroads soon to connect Albany with 
 Buffalo, were watching the New York and Erie Railroad with 
 a jealous eye, and leaving no means untried to cripple and de- 
 lay it. The financial straits of the Erie gave the Boston peo- 
 ple hope that they would at no very distant day have an 
 opportunity to purchase that road and its franchises and put 
 an end to it then and there. The New York and Erie peo- 
 ple knew this, and they knew that in the event of Camp or 
 any one else securing a judgment for so large a sum against 
 the Company, the Boston Company's opportunity might 
 come. So Seymour and Post did not dare to risk the out- 
 come of a lawsuit, and they agreed to Camp's terms. 
 
 " Griffis's estimate is a robbery of the Company," said 
 Seymour, " but we will pay it to save trouble. You will have 
 to raise the money for us, though, iVlr. Camp. We haven't 
 got a dollar." 
 
 This was a novel and startling declaration. The idea of a 
 man being expected to raise money himself to enable his 
 debtors to pay him what they owed him might well have sur- 
 prised Contractor Camp or any other man in his situation. 
 
 " Well, gentlemen," said he, " isn't this rather a new prin- 
 ciple in finance? " 
 
 '■' Perhaps," replied Seymour, "but it is an easy one. All 
 you have to do is to subscribe for 1 10,000 worth of Erie 
 stock. That will entitle us to receive ^20,000 from the 
 State. Then we will pay you ^14,000 in cash out of that 
 $20,000, and the ^10,000 of stock will stand for the balance 
 of your claim. More than that, we will have $6,000 in cash 
 left for the Company's use, and we need it." 
 
 Camp at last agreed to take one-third of the claim in stock, 
 and thus " raised the money to pay his own claim." And 
 thus, also, did the State of New York settle many other 
 
 claims against the New York and Erie Railroad Company, in 
 those early days, to leave a snug balance in cash each time in 
 the hands of the Company's managers. 
 
 After setding his affairs on the line of his late contract, 
 Contractor Camp left New York State to go to Michigan, 
 where he believed there Av-as a great future for men in his 
 business. But he never reached his destination. He left 
 Buffalo on the steamboat " Erie," which went down in a tem- 
 pest on Lake Erie, August 9, 1S42, with nearly every soul on 
 board. Camp was among the victims of the ill-fated 
 vessel. 
 
 WHY THE RAILROAD WENT TO MIDDLETOWN. 
 
 The Western terminus of the New York and Erie Railroad 
 was at Goshen not quite two years, but if the Company had 
 adopted what w-as known as the " Slate Hill route " from 
 that place, Goshen would have continued to be the end of the 
 road at least six years, and the distance between the Hud- 
 son and the Delaware would have been shortened ten miles, 
 and the Company would have saved more than $325,000; 
 but Middletown and Otisville would have been left off the line. 
 The Slate Hill route extended from Goshen, in a south- 
 westerly course, through the towns of Wawayanda, Minisink, 
 and Greenville, and along the eastern base of the Shawan- 
 gunk Mountains. It was run by the engineers in one of the 
 surveys supplemental to the original survey of 1834. As has 
 been stated, the Shawangunk Range was one of the great ob- 
 stacles to the thoroughfare for the railroad that had been 
 found between the Hudson and the Delaware, and no feasi- 
 ble pass was discovered through the range except along its 
 western face, beginning a mile beyond Otisville. This route 
 required miles of deep rock cutting and earth excavation be- 
 fore a bed could be made for the railroad. The Slate Hill 
 route would have carried the road around and away from all 
 those great difficulties, but there were several reasons why the 
 Company did not adopt it. One of these reasons was that 
 the prospect of financial aid, which was greatly needed, was 
 more promising at Middletown than it was along the Slate 
 Hill way. The great obstacle to the southwestern route to the 
 Delaware Valley was, however, that to escape the Shawan- 
 gunk Mountain difficulties of construction the railroad would 
 have to be carried over the State line into New Jersey, and 
 pass for a mile or more through that State to the valley at 
 Carpenter's Point. The Company's charter especially pro- 
 vided that the railroad must be confined to New York State 
 territory. To take advantage of the Slate Hill route, the 
 Company would have been obliged to secure a change in its 
 charter by consent of the Legislature, and the Company was 
 an anxious applicant just at that time for legislation of far 
 greater importance to its future than was the privilege of 
 building its road through a corner of New Jersey. So the 
 present course from Goshen west, with its capricious wind- 
 ings and turnings, and big cuts and heavy grades, was the 
 only one that could be chosen ; and it was the only practical 
 one, at any rate. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 335 
 
 THE HEAVY HAND OF MISFORTUNE. 
 
 Work along the line, under the contracts of 1840-41, was 
 kept going after the opening of the railroad to Goshen, but 
 it was evident that the affairs of the Company were passing 
 beneath a shadow. The story of the efforts the management 
 was making to dispel the shadows, and prevent an impending 
 crisis, is told in detail in the chapter on James Bowen's ad- 
 ministration in the " General History." The colossal error 
 that was fatal to the future of Erie was made before the open- 
 ing of the railroad to Goshen : tire refusal of the management 
 to unite the Erie with the Harlem Railroad, by constructing 
 a branch to that railroad from a point opposite Piermont, by 
 which the Erie would have gained entrance to New York 
 City, and secured its terminus there at what is now the Grand 
 Central Depot of the New York Central Railroad. (" Ad- 
 ministration of James Bowen," pages 52-56.) The people 
 of Middletown, N. Y., viewed with keener apprehension the 
 faltering state of the Company's operations, perhaps, than 
 those of any other locality on the route, for the railroad's 
 western terminus was then but nine miles distant from that 
 place, and at a rival village. The grading between Goshen 
 and Middletown was partially done, but its progress to com- 
 pletion was slow and uncertain. It was still in that condition 
 when the contractors all along the line were notified in No- 
 vember, 1 84 1, that the financial status of the Company was 
 such that if they continued \^'ith their work it would be 
 greatly to their risk. The contractors, however, had faith 
 that the Legislature of New York would come to the aid of 
 the Company at the session of 1842, and many of them kept 
 at work, accepting the Company's obligations for future 
 payment. 
 
 The situation of the work along the line at the close of 
 1 84 1 was this : 410 miles of the road were under contract. 
 The grading between Goshen and Middletown was nearly 
 finished. Forty miles from Callicoon to Deposit, the Com- 
 pany announced, could be ready for the rails in thirty days, 
 although not a stroke of work had been done on that section 
 since 1837 ! The Susquehanna Division, 117 miles, was two- 
 thirds constructed (on piles), exclusive of iron rails. Sixteen 
 miles of the road from Dunkirk, east, was being prepared for 
 superstructure, and rails were on some part of it. Super- 
 structure was being laid between Olean and Cuba. Half of 
 the rest of the Western Division was graded. $4,500,000 
 had been spent so far in the work, and $200,000 worth of 
 roadway had been ceded gratuitously. 
 
 But the Legislature did not come to the Company's succor. 
 There was barely a dollar in the treasury, and default was 
 made to the State on interest due April i, 1842, and the 
 Company placed itself in the hands of assignees. There was 
 due to contractors and for material $600,000. AVork on 
 the construction of the road ceased the entire length of the 
 line, and for four years all was silent and abandoned on the 
 great work in which so many millions had been sunk. The 
 property of the Company was advertised by the State Comp- 
 troller to be sold under foreclosure December 30, 1842. At 
 
 a special session of the Legislature in August, 1842, friends 
 of the Erie succeeded in having the sale postponed six 
 months. 
 
 At the time the assignment was made, there was not a 
 dollar of the State stock in the hands of the Company un- 
 sold, and $439,000 of it was pledged to banks, contractors, 
 and others for $385,908. And the funds of the Company on 
 hand, according to the report of Treasurer Pierson, March 11, 
 1842, were : 
 
 In the Mercantile Bank (New York) $73 46 
 
 In the Bank of Commerce 40 74 
 
 Cash on hand with the Treasurer 87 13 
 
 Total $201 33 
 
 An encouraging prospect, indeed, for the completion of 
 the railroad to Lake Erie ! 
 
 During 1840, 1841, and 1842, the following amounts had 
 been paid to the leading contractors : Manrow & Higin- 
 botham, Susquehanna Division, $383,473.16; Cheesebrough, 
 Hassard & Co., Western Division, $166,400; John A. Tracy 
 & Co., Western Division, $66,350; P. & H. A. Smith, West- 
 ern Division, $103,900; Magee & Cook, Western Division, 
 $273,300; Tracy & Cartright, $24,290.43; Carmichael & 
 Stranahan, Eastern Division, $82,744.44 — a total of $1,100,- 
 458.03. 
 
 THE RAILROAD FINISHED TO MIDDLETOWN. 
 
 Pending the proceedings in the proposed sale of the rail- 
 road, renewed efforts were made to resuscitate and rehabil- 
 itate the Company and prevent the foreclosure. James 
 Bowen retired from the management, and was succeeded by 
 William Maxwell, of Elmira, and an entirely new Directory. 
 The Middletown Association was formed through the efforts of 
 Samuel Denton, Thomas King, William Robinson, and others, 
 and twenty-five citizens of that village made an agreement with 
 the Company to complete the nine miles of railroad between 
 Goshen and Middletown, paying for the work themselves, the 
 amount to be reimbursed to the subscribers to the fund from 
 the earnings of the railroad on that section. This work was 
 done accordingly. The iron necessary for laying the track 
 was taken from the original ten miles laid east from Dun- 
 kirk, as that part of the road was to be abandoned. This 
 iron was transported from Dunkirk, via Lake Erie to Buffalo, 
 thence over the Erie Canal and the Hudson River to Pier- 
 mont, and thence by the railroad to Goshen. This iron was 
 part of a lot purchased from the Huron Iron Company in 
 1840. The extension to Middletown was completed by the 
 end of May, 1843, and opened for business June 7 th. Then 
 Middletown became the Western terminus of the railroad, 
 and remained such three years and a half. 
 
 " The condition of the road in use at that time," the re- 
 port of the Company for 1849 declared (the first report that 
 had been made in four years), " was such as hardly to permit 
 a train of cars to pass over it with safety. * * * Miles of 
 road standing on piles, and high trestle-work in a decayed 
 
i36 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 state, which had to be filled up, requiring in many cases very 
 expensive culverts, with long and heavy embankments. The 
 locomotives, cars, buildings, and machinery in shops were 
 entirely inadequate to the business. The road between 
 Goshen and Middletown, seven miles in length, brought into 
 use in a partly finished state, and belonging to an associa- 
 tion of gentlemen of the latter place, was held by the Com- 
 13any under an agreement to run it. This had to be pur- 
 chased and put in order, like other portions of the road. 
 There had been expended for these objects, and deemed 
 absolutely necessary, the sum of ^695,421. The Company at 
 that time (and for some time thereafter) were entirely de- 
 pendent upon chartering such steamboats and barges as they 
 could procure to do the business connected with their ferry." 
 During William .Maxwell's administration, legislation was 
 obtained postponing the sale of the railroad two years — to 
 April 1, 1845. Horatio Allen succeeded Maxwell as President, 
 in the fall of r843, and made strenuous but futile efforts to 
 lift the Company out of its troubles and resume the work of 
 construction. ("Administration of Horatio Allen," pages 67 
 to 73.) In the fall of 1844 Eleazar Lord was for the third 
 time called to the Presidency of Erie. 
 
 ONE WAY TO COLLECT A DEBT. 
 
 The route of the New York and Erie Railroad was located 
 through several of the finest of Orange County's farms be- 
 tween Goshen and Middletown. With the exception of 
 Adrian Holbert, the owners of those farms gave right of way 
 for the road, some of them also being among the contributors 
 of money toward insuring the extension of the line to Middle- 
 town. Part of the Holbert farm was a wide stretch of low- 
 lying meadows, a mile or so west of Goshen. There was no 
 other course for the railroad to follow, and it was obliged to 
 pass across the Holbert meadows or have its western termi- 
 nus indefinitely at Goshen. The Company, therefore, came 
 to Farmer Holbert's terms, and agreed to pay him his price 
 for right of way through his property. 
 
 The meadows were fertile, and on the surface fair to view, 
 but when the contractors came to the making of a road-bed 
 upon them, they found that the fair surface was but a marsh, 
 concealing alarming instability of foundation. The land was 
 so low that to equalize the grade the railroad was to be car- 
 ried over it on piles driven in the ground. A contract was 
 made with Farmer Holbert to furnish the piling necessary to 
 establish the grade across his meadows. The pile-driving 
 proceeded satisfactorily until the workmen were well afield, 
 when suddenly the bottom seemed to drop out of the land, 
 and the road-building became a repetition, on a small scale, 
 of the experience the contractors had had on the Chester 
 meadows. For a time it appeared as if Adrian Holbert 
 would be unable to fulfil his contract for supplying the piles, 
 but he was of the pushing and determined sort, and hired 
 farmers in all the surrounding towns to cut and deliver to him 
 the necessary timbers. The result was that he put them on 
 the ground within the required time, and the road was built 
 
 across his meadows. This piece of road-bed is to-day a solid, 
 high embankment, apparently as ancient as the hills that rise 
 on the right of it ; but when the rails were placed upon it, in 
 1843, they rode across the meadows on the tops of piling in 
 some places several feet above the surface. These piles are 
 still there, but were long ago hidden by the present solid 
 road-bed, which is the artificial filling in of the space between 
 the piles and the surface of the meadow. 
 
 The railroad was completed to Middletown in June, 1843. 
 Preliminary to opening it for business between that place and 
 Goshen, June 7 th, one of the four locomotives then in the 
 service was attached to a flat car and started from Goshen as 
 an inspection train. Conductor W. H. Stewart had charge 
 of the train. John Brandt, Jr., was the engineer. Super- 
 intendent H. C. Seymour, Gen. G. D. Wickham, and others 
 were on the car. When they reached the Adrian Holbert 
 place they were surprised to see a rail fence, four rails high 
 and three lengths long, built across the track there, and 
 Farmer Holbert himself lying on a cross tie, with his arms and 
 legs tighdy clasped about it. The engine stopped, and the 
 railroad men went forward and demanded an explanation of 
 this placing of an embargo on pioneer travel over the New 
 York and Erie Railroad. Farmer Holbert, who is remem- 
 bered as a man in whom stubbornness predominated, ex- 
 plained matters in decided terms. 
 
 "This railroad can't run cars through my farm," said he, 
 " until the Company settles with me ! " 
 
 The Railroad Company, it seems, had not paid for the 
 right of way across the Holbert fields, and there was an un- 
 settled claim for timber Holbert had furnished. Having 
 failed to get any satisfactory arrangement with the Company, 
 Farmer Holbert resolved to take heroic measures as the best 
 means to bring it to terms. So he had built the fence across 
 the track as a signal that there was no thoroughfare there, 
 and, rightly surmising that it would be no obstacle to the 
 progress of the locomotive, had thrown himself in the way of 
 it, feeling certain that the engineer would not proceed over 
 his dead body. 
 
 Remonstrance, appeal, threats, had no effect on Farmer 
 Holbert, as he lay stubbornly clutching the railroad tie ahead 
 of the locomotive. 
 
 "Tell the Company to come here and settle ! " he cried. 
 "Then I'll let business start up again." 
 
 The engineer ran his engine to within a foot or two of 
 Farmer Holbert, and set it to blowing off steam to the 
 full extent of its power, with the expectation that this would 
 frighten him away. " But," as the late W. H. Stewart re- 
 called the incident for the writer, " he didn't scare worth a 
 cent." Then the railroad men laid hands on him and essayed 
 to remove him by force, but it required three of them to do 
 it, and then only after a severe struggle. " A madder man 
 you never saw," Mr. Stewart said, " when at last we got him 
 loose from the tie, put him on board the car, and took him 
 on to Middletown with us." 
 
 It is scarcely probable that the Erie of to-day would recog- 
 nize as effective methods of the kind Farmer Holbert adopted 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 3i7 
 
 to enforce the settlement of a claim against it, but the Erie 
 of that day recognized them, and without delay. Before 
 Farmer Holbert had perfected his arrangements to proceed 
 again with his barricading of the track, an agent of the Com- 
 pany called at his farm and settled with him in full. 
 
 Such is the account of the Holbert incident as the late 
 W. H. Stewart recalled it, in conversation with the author, 
 and as Jesse A. Holbert, a son of the stubborn farmer, says 
 he remembers his father teUing it. Wilmot M. Vail, of Port 
 Jervis, who was a boy at Goshen then, and remembers being 
 present on the occasion, says that the incident occurred after 
 the railroad was opened to Middletown, and that the cars 
 that Holbert attempted to blockade were freight cars that 
 were being taken to Middletown. Holbert, Mr. Vail says, 
 had simply thrown a few rails across the track, but did not 
 prostrate himself before the cars, which knocked the rails off 
 the track, and went on their way without further molestation. 
 
 It was Adrian Holbert's fate to meet a frightful death on 
 the rail, almost in sight of the spot where this incident oc- 
 curred. One day, in 1884, he was driving across the track of 
 the Pine Island Branch of the Erie Railway, near Goshen, 
 his wife being in the carriage with him. The crossing was a 
 dangerous one, and before the carriage cleared the track it 
 was struck by the locomotive of a train that came along just 
 then. Mr. Holbert was so badly hurt that he lived but a 
 short time. His wife escaped with slight injuries. 
 
 AFTER THE COLLAPSE. 
 
 After the collapse of the Company in 1842, there was left 
 along the line of the railroad, especially in the western part 
 of the Susquehanna and the Canisteo valleys, thousands of 
 dollars' worth of timber which had been furnished by people 
 living along the road for the p'urposes of its construction. 
 Chief among these were white oak, chestnut, and pine, which 
 had been cut and manufactured for piling, cross-ties, rails, 
 and sills. The failure of the Company had left nearly every 
 farmer in the western part of the State, within ten miles of 
 the railroad, a creditor to a greater or less amount, of the 
 payment of whose claims there seemed to be no prospect or 
 hope. The value of the piling alone which had been deliv- 
 ered along the railroad between Binghamton and Hornells- 
 ville amounted to a loss of ^500,000. Work was not re- 
 sumed on this part of the road for six years after it was 
 abandoned, during which time reorganization had been 
 effected, the Company placed upon a substantial financial 
 footing, and the railroad completed and in operation between 
 Piermont and Binghamton. During this time, also, the fal- 
 lacy of building a railroad on piles had been demonstrated, 
 and all the money expended upon it, amounting to nearly 
 ^1,000,000, was entirely wasted. However, if the. plan 
 had been practicable, and if, when work was resumed, it was 
 the intention to use the piling thus left uncared for along 
 the road, such a thing would have been impossible, for of 
 all the pieces of timber originally placed along the Com- 
 pany's grounds, at such expense and labor, but very few 
 
 sticks remained. They had been used for firewood, for 
 fence-posts, and for building purposes, and put to whatever 
 other uses they could be adapted by the people living con- 
 venient to the storage places. Thousands of dollars' worth of 
 dressed stone, which the Company had provided for various 
 purposes in the construction of the road, and hundreds of 
 thousands of feet of dressed lumber which were left in a 
 similar ,state of confusion and neglect, had also disappeared 
 in the interval, and to this day evidences of this material may 
 be seen in the dwellings of people of more or less conse- 
 quence in that part of the State. 
 
 RESUMPTION OF WORK UNDER ELEAZAR LORD. 
 
 The property of the Company was to be sold under fore- 
 closure April I, 1845. Nothing but resumption of work 
 somewhere on the line could prevent the sale. President 
 Lord announced that |6,ooo,ooo would be required to finish 
 the work. In December, 1844, the Company, presuming on 
 favorable legislation at the session of the New York Legisla- 
 ture of 1845, revived a contract made in 1841, for fifteen 
 miles of grading and mason-work on Section i of the road, 
 between Middletown and the Shawangunk Summit, and put 
 men to work upon it. 
 
 The situation of the work at this critical period in the 
 Company's affairs may be seen from the following extract 
 from a statement issued by the Company November r, 1844 : 
 
 The actual outlay upon this work, including the value of dona- 
 tions for roadway and other purposes, may be reasonably estimated 
 at five millions of dollars ; consisting of stock of the Company some- 
 what less than one and a half millions ; debts, chiefly settled by obli- 
 gations at five years, about six hundred thousand dollars ; and three 
 millions furnished by the State. The donations of land furnished for 
 the roadway, depots, stations, and other purposes are deemed to ex- 
 ceed in value the loss incurred on the sale of State stock, and the 
 damages to unfinished work, consequent on suspension and delay. 
 Those best acquainted with the subject, with the amount of labor and 
 materials employed, and the prices paid, deem the work to be well 
 worth all that it has cost ; and are of opinion that were it now to be 
 commenced, taking into view the unavoidable loss of time required in 
 such a case, a greater amount or value of results could not be accom- 
 plished for a less sum. Much more than half of the work necessary to 
 prepare the entire line of the road for the rails has been performed. 
 The work is well done. No part of it requires to be altered, and it is 
 believed to be susceptible of no material improvement. Fifty-three 
 miles of the road on the Eastern Division are in prosperous and 
 profitable operation. On the Delaware, east of Deposit, between 
 30 and 40 miles are graded. Between Binghamton and the lyake, 150 
 miles are prepared for the superstructure, some of which is laid. The 
 timber for the superstructure is provided for about 250 miles. At the 
 Western termination the rails are laid on about 10 miles. 
 
 The Statement, in its declaration that " no part of the work 
 required to be altered," demonstrated that President Lord 
 had not changed his mind in regard to the use of piles as a 
 roadway, 1 10 miles of which had been driven along the Sus- 
 quehanna and Western Divisions, although Chief Engineer 
 Thompson S. Brown had condernned such roadway, and it 
 
338 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 had to be entirely abandoned when work on those divisions 
 was resumed. 
 
 But the tenure of operations, even on the small beginning 
 of 1844, depended on future legislation, and, to a great ex- 
 tent, on the outcome of the agitation for a change of the 
 route from central Sullivan County to the Delaware A^alley — 
 which now, if occupied at all by the railroad, would have to 
 be occupied on the Pennsylvania side of the river — and of 
 the route between Deposit and Binghamton. This question 
 of change of route brought about such serious differences of 
 opinion between a majority of the Board of Directors and 
 President Lord, who opposed the proposed change, that he 
 resigned in the spring of 1845. Legislation that placed the 
 Company on a sound financial basis, by cancelling the debt 
 it owed the State (;?3,ooo,ooo), authorizing it to reorganize — 
 the assignment having been lifted in i S44, it having been de- 
 clared irregular by the New York courts — and to issue bonds, 
 and postponing all foreclosure proceedings six years, had 
 been secured, however, during this third term of Eleazar Lord 
 as President. 
 
 REAL WORK, AT LAST, UNDER BENJAMIN LODER. 
 
 Eleazar Lord was succeeded by Benjamin I^oder, one of 
 whose first' acts was to appoint Major Thompson S. Brown 
 Chief Engineer. 
 
 {From Eleazar Lord 's ''''Historical Revietu of the jVew York and Erie 
 Railroad '' pttblislied in 1855.) 
 
 Before any new track was laid west of Middletown, he (Major 
 Brown) set himself to the task of bringing about a change of gauge, 
 so as to reduce the width from six feet to four feet eight and one-half 
 inches. Such a change would involve the expense of relaying the 
 track on the Eastern Division, and furnishing new cars and engines 
 to suit, but the "benefit" would be realized in the remaining 400 
 miles of road. All the civil engineers in this country, except H. C. 
 Seymour, those associated with him, and perhaps three or four others, 
 and nearly all of those in Europe, were in favor of four feet eight and 
 a-half inches as the width of gauge. That was the reigning and 
 popular theory, and, therefore, it would be wise to change back to 
 that. The six-feet gauge was a feature in the system of management 
 which, in order to meet speedy and complete success, must be promptly 
 and wholly abandoned and condemned. The Directors, of course, sym- 
 pathized with the Major in his views, in opposition to ilr. Seymour, 
 then Superintendent of the Eastern Division. A formal controversy 
 ensued, and was persevered in, at no inconsiderable expense of time 
 and money, for some two years, and ceased only when the resistless, 
 experimental and practical demonstration, established by JNfr. Sey- 
 mour, after years of experience and observation as Engineer and 
 Superintendent, convinced and controlled the minds of a majority of 
 the Directors, notwithstanding that they were violently prejudiced 
 against him, and as violently prejudiced in favor of the pretensions 
 and supposed competency of the Major." 
 
 Pending the resumption of work on the construction of the 
 railroad beyond Middletown, the science of railroad building 
 had made great steps forward, and far-seeing engineers had 
 begun to question the wisdom of a gauge of track six feet 
 
 wide on a railroad that was destined to be the common 
 receptacle of traffic from numerous railroads then building, 
 whose gauge was to be a uniform one of four feet eight and 
 one-half inches, and it came up for serious consideration by 
 the Erie Board of Directors. Hezekiah C. Seymour, who had 
 come to the service of the Company in 1838, and who was 
 the personal friend of Eleazar Lord, had advocated and in- 
 sisted on the six-foot gauge when the subject came up for 
 discussion and settlement in that year, and he had been 
 warmly seconded by S. S. Post, his assistant. Eleazar Lord 
 had also reasons of his own for desiring the adoption of that 
 gauge ("Second Administration of Eleazar Lord," pages 
 39-40), and it was adopted. Chief Engineer Brown having 
 been in England, where the subject of narrowing all railroads 
 to the four feet eight and a-half inch gauge was the all-absorb- 
 ing one among constructing engineers, and where the change 
 was meeting with favor, advocated the change of the Erie's 
 gauge on the section of railroad already finished, and the 
 laying of the remainder of the track to correspond. As above 
 stated by Mr. Lord, the discussion of the important question 
 occupied much of the time of the management, and, although 
 a great majority of the ablest civil engineers of the country 
 decided that the new departure would be one of undoubted 
 wisdom (a fact that Mr. Lord cynically quotes as being 
 something to condemn it, so long as H. C. Seymour did not 
 approve of it), the Board voted at last to retain the broad 
 gauge, a short-sighted decision, and one that cost the Com- 
 pany more than ^25,000,000 before it was forced to the con- 
 clusion that Major Brown's contention was right, and the 
 track was narrowed to the gauge he had advocated nearly 
 forty years before. 
 
 The question of the changes in the route of the railroad 
 was still unsettled when President Loder became the head of 
 the Company, and active operations were confined to the 
 short section of the road between Middletown and the Shaw- 
 angunk Summit. The decision of the Commissioners in 
 favor of the changes in the route was made August 25, 1846, 
 and that may be set down as the date on which actual oper- 
 ations on the line were resumed after the dismal collapse of 
 1841-2. 
 
 The work on the Otisville section was vigorously prose- 
 cuted, and the railroad was opened to that place, sixty-two 
 miles from Piermont, November i, 1846. Construction from 
 Otisville to the Delaware River was immediately begun, and 
 proposals for grading 130 miles between Port Jervis and 
 Binghamton were advertised for. This work was let to 
 twenty-two contractors, and they were compelled to take one- 
 third of the amount of their contracts in stock. They be- 
 gan work at numerous points in New York State and in 
 Pennsylvania, and soon an army of 7,000 men and 3,000 
 teams was engaged on the construction of the road between 
 the Shawangunk Mountains and Binghamton. Contracts were 
 also made for all the iron rails required for the road as far 
 as Binghamton. The grading of the branch from Newburgh 
 to Chester was begun in the spring of 1 846. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 oo9 
 
 IMPROVING A WATER SUPPLY. 
 
 " During the interval of leisure, before they (the Company) 
 were at liberty to commence their improvement on the Shaw- 
 angunk Ridge," wrote ex-President Eleazar Lord in 1855, 
 in his " Historical Review," " their attention was called to an 
 important improvement in respect to the arrangement for 
 supplying water to their engines at Middletown, near Goshen. 
 The story as currently told, comprised the following par- 
 ticulars : When the road was opened to that place some years 
 before, a convenient and ample supply of water was furnished 
 by means of a pump at the side of the track. About that 
 time some unfortunate speculations in land took place. One 
 of the purchasers of an elevated piece of land nearby gave 
 a mortgage on his purchase for an amount greater than could 
 afterward be obtained for the premises. Being threatened 
 with a foreclosure, he conceived the idea of forming an arti- 
 ficial pond on the side hill at an elevation somewhat above 
 that of the top of an engine, filling it with rain water 
 from the surface of the higher grounds, and selling it at a 
 round price to the Railroad Company for a living spring, 
 whence the water required for the engines might be conveyed 
 in pipes, and a saving made of the expense of pumping. 
 He formed his plan and carried it into effect. Having ex- 
 cavated a basin of considerable capacity, and lined it with 
 clay to prevent a loss of surface water conducted into it, and 
 having by means of slight ditches filled it to the brim with 
 water, he hurried off to the city to have an interview with the 
 officers of the Company. No sooner had he explained the 
 economical advantages to be gained by purchasing his spring, 
 and announced that if paid immediately he would take the 
 moderate price of §2,500 for it, than it was perceived that 
 the purchase would be a great improvement, as it would be a 
 change from the use of a pump, and therefore an improve- 
 ment on what had been done before. The subject was of 
 the greatest importance, since, without water, the engines 
 could not move, and if they stood still the road would not be 
 worth the cost of construction. The Major (Chief Engineer 
 Brown), the President (Mr. Loder), and others repaired to 
 Middletown to examine the spring, which was about 200 rods 
 from the railroad. They were satisfied by the inspection of 
 the spring. The bargain was closed, and a deed of the spring 
 was taken. The ;?2,5oo was paid ; iron pipes, at the expense 
 of about the same amount, were laid from the spring to the 
 railway ; an elevated tank was prepared ; the valves were 
 opened. The contents of the basin were exhausted in a few 
 minutes. No further supply appeared, and the use of the 
 original wooden pump was necessarily resumed. But the end 
 was not yet. Some good-natured citizen shortly after in- 
 formed the Company that the land they had bought with the 
 dry spring was covered by a mortgage on the whole lot ; 
 that the part which they had bought for $2,500 had not been 
 released, and would soon be sold, together with the iron 
 pipes, in case the latter were not instantly removed. The 
 responsible officers of the Company, having relied on the 
 friendly feelings and good faith of the mortgagor, and having 
 
 forgotten to inquire whether or not any incumbrance existed 
 on the premises, and the affair having become somewhat 
 notorious, sent up a competent force and had the pipes ex- 
 humed and placed beyond the reach of the sheriff." 
 
 RAILROAD BUILDING IN THE SHAWANGUXK 
 MOUNTAINS. 
 
 In building the railroad as far as Otisville, the original 
 plan of superstructure Avas adhered to — the laying of rails 
 on longitudinal sills, supported by countersunk cross-pieces. 
 The new era of railroad building began with the work from 
 Otisville westward. It had been demonstrated to railroad 
 engineers that the placing of sills between the rails and the 
 ground was foolish, unnecessary, and detrimental, as well as 
 costly. No sills were used beyond Otisville, and rails were 
 placed upon cross-ties as at the present day, except that at 
 the joints they rested in chairs instead of being firmly held 
 by the continuous joints of to-day. This abandonment 
 of primitive methods in railroad building developed a new 
 industry along the line of the railroad : the getting out 
 and supplying the Company with ties. These were cut 
 in the woods contiguous to the railroad, and delivered to the 
 Company's agents at stated points. The railroad between 
 Otisville and Port Jervis passed down the west side of 
 the Shawangunk Mountains, through a country where, up to 
 that time, the land had been considered barely worth the 
 taxes paid upon it. This applied particularly to the territory 
 on either side of the railroad, covering an area of perhaps a 
 mile wide and twelve miles in length. It was a thick growth 
 of chestnut and oak, of small size. Wood was the fuel used 
 then by the Company for its locomotives, and this stretch of 
 Shawangunk country was particularly desirable as a posses- 
 sion. Its timber furnished the best of firewood, and its con- 
 venience to the railroad rendered the obtaining of it easy and 
 economical. AVhen the agent of the Company, however, 
 attempted to purchase this hitherto worthless land, it had as- 
 sumed a sudden value. Tracts that could have been pur- 
 chased for three dollars an acre were held at fifty dollars, 
 and land that the tax-assessor had in vain sought an owner 
 for, was claimed by some of the most prominent farmers in 
 the Neversink Valley. Instead of purchasing to any large 
 extent of the Shawangunk land, the Company bought the 
 cordwood of its owners, to be cut by them and piled along 
 the road. East and west of this stretch of woodland were 
 some of the richest farmers in Orange County. During this 
 time the laborers employed by the contractors on this sec- 
 tion of the road were Irish. On Sunday hundreds of 
 them swarmed through the adjacent country, despoiling the 
 orchards of apples, digging the farmers' potatoes, stripping 
 the fields of their crops, and helping themselves to e^-ery- 
 thing which struck their fancy. Resistance on the part of 
 the farmers was useless, and during the year the railroad was 
 built down the Shawangunk Mountains, the farms of that 
 part of the country adjacent to the work were almost as bar- 
 
340 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 ren of good to their owners as if the land had been stricken 
 with famine. 
 
 One feature of the road on the Shawangunk Section was a 
 rock cut three miles east of Port Jervis, and a wall of sohd 
 rock, of which the mountain was entirely composed, was 
 necessary to be cut through before the road could reach the 
 Neversink Valley. The rock was on the farm of a wealthy 
 old Dutch farmer named Van Fleet, who lived nearby. 
 
 The Company had already paid him well for right of 
 way across his property, the whole extent of ground over 
 Avhich the railroad passed not being worth fifty dollars, and 
 the contractors did not suppose that he would charge them 
 much for cutting a way through the solid rock on the edge of 
 his farm ; but he was asked how much it would be. His 
 reply was : 
 
 " Veil, the rock is not vort much. I von't sharge you much 
 for dat." 
 
 The workmen reached the point where the excavation of 
 the rock was to be made, and the contractors put their men 
 upon it. They were soon waited upon by the farmer, who 
 told them they would have to settle before they went on with 
 the work. After much argument with the contractors he 
 was finally induced to set his price. 
 
 " Veil, dan," he said, " it is vort one hundred dollars an 
 acre." 
 
 It was too late to have appraisers appointed to condemn 
 the property, for the railroad must be completed to Port 
 Jervis by a certain time, and the old farmer stubbornly in- 
 sisting upon his price, there was nothing to do but pay him 
 for it. Of the area of rock necessary the least he would 
 sell was two acres, the price of which was more than he could 
 have received for his best meadow land. 
 
 The making of this cut through the rock was not only ex- 
 pensive in itself, but the consequential damages were con- 
 siderable. The flats, one hundred feet below the cut, were 
 occupied by residences and buildings of farmers. In blast- 
 ing, large pieces of rock frequently were hurled on and among 
 them, sometimes crashing through the roofs of houses and 
 buildings, and now and then alighting in the fields among the 
 cattle with disastrous results. All these had to be paid for, 
 and the farmers' bills were never light. 
 
 A correspondent of the New York Herald, December 1 8, 
 r847, wrote as follows of the Erie work at that interesting 
 period : " Only to think of a force fully as large as our army 
 that stormed and took the Mexican capital, and still holds it, 
 battling away here among the rocks, with picks, spades, hoes, 
 hammers, axes, and all manner of instruments, not excepting 
 . even the celebrated ' excavating machine,' patented by Otis 
 F. Carmichael." 
 
 THE SHIN HOLLOW WAR. 
 
 President Loder being extremely anxious to have the road 
 through to Port Jervis by January i, 1848, the contractors 
 were offered handsome bonuses to hasten the work. The 
 
 laborers, newly arrived in this country, were mostly of 
 that class known as "Wild Irishmen," and all of them 
 had the factional hatreds and belligerent traditions of their 
 native land still as alive in their breasts, and as ready to 
 prompt them to action, as they were among the bogs and on 
 the green turf of Erin. It happened that those two bitterly 
 opposed factions, the Far-downers and the Corkonians, were 
 largely represented among these laborers. This was particu- 
 larly the situation on the section of the work of which Shin 
 Hollow was the centre. 
 
 Shin Hollow was, and is, a considerable stretch of flat land 
 lying between the western face of the mountain range and 
 the foothills, four miles east of Port Jervis. The old Kingston 
 and MiHord turnpike, which crossed the mountain from 
 Finchville, passed through Shin Hollow, and the course of 
 that long-forgotten highway is yet visible there. 
 
 The locality has been known as Shin Hollow longer than 
 the oldest inhabitant can remember, but what the origin of 
 that name was no one can tell. The grading for the railroad 
 required the making of a cut a mile or more long through the 
 western side of Shin Hollow, and the cut had necessarily to 
 be made so deep that when the railroad was done and the 
 cars were running, the surface of the Hollow was so far above 
 the tops of the cars that, although the county maps showed 
 Shin Hollow as on the line of the railroad, passengers in the 
 cars who might be on the watch to see what sort of a place it 
 was, could see nothing but a forest-clad mountain front on 
 one side, and a blank rise of earth on the other ; and that is 
 all they can see of Shin Hollow from the cars to-day. Not 
 that there is much to see of Shin Hollow, even if one should 
 be curious enough to find his way to the top of the cut and 
 take a look at the spot. There is nothing there but a lonely 
 opening in the hills, with a couple of melancholy farms occu- 
 pying some of the space, and a discouraged-looking house or 
 two squatting on them, seemingly wondering what they are 
 there for. But fifty years ago, when the railroad was building 
 through that way. Shin Hollow, was a lively place. It was the 
 headquarters of Carmichael & Stranahan, contractors for 
 making a big section of that costly part of the railroad. They 
 had in their employ about two hundred men, a force com- 
 posed largely of the Corkonian element of the Irish, but 
 comprising also a small contingent of quiet, plodding, unob- 
 trusive Germans, famiharly and derisively known to the Irish 
 as the " dom Dootch." The contractors had a big store at 
 Shin Hollow. Wood & Shute had another one, and for 
 awhile Blizzard & Clark ran one. Thomas O'Brien was the 
 sub-contractor who was cutting the way for the railroad 
 through the great wall of rock a mile west of Shin Hollow, a 
 passage known then as the Blue Rock Cut, but which modem 
 nomenclature has transformed into Black Rock Cut. He 
 had as foreman one James O'Brien, who labored to increase 
 his income by keeping a boarding-house at Shin HoUow. 
 Carmichael & Stranahan also kept a boarding-house. So did 
 a German named Volmer. All those buildings were rude but 
 commodious shanties, the boarding-houses having lofts, or 
 galleries, around the sides, which were held up by posts, and 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 341 
 
 ^here the boarders slept. Besides these structures there were 
 many smaller shanties scattered about in the Hollow, and also 
 on the side of the mountain, in which certain laborers 
 " boarded themselves," or where buxom " widdies " sought 
 to turn an honest penny by catering to the railroaders in the 
 ways of pork and " peraties," or a kindly " drop of the 
 craythur." Thus the Shin Hollow of fifty years ago might 
 ha^■e boasted of a steady population of at least 200, and, on 
 occasion, of a floating population of a hundred or so more. 
 
 In searching for the impelling cause of the Shin Hollow 
 A\'ar, fifty )-ears after it occurred, with no written record to 
 guide him, the historian is confronted with the testimony of 
 tradition, and the uncertain memory of a few who were 
 among those living in the locality when the noisy riot oc- 
 curred, and who live there still. The pay of railroad laborers 
 on the Shawangunk Mountains section of the New York and 
 Erie Railroad had been fixed at seventy-five cents a day. 
 ■One story is that the Corkorian sons of the Green Isle came 
 first upon the work, and established a precedent by accepting 
 that pay as sufficient and satisfactory. Later, the Sham- 
 rocks, or Far-downers, began to respond to the call for men, 
 and their rich and hot blood soon rebelled at seventy-five cents 
 a day, although Jim O'Brien is reported to have declared, in 
 an early burst of confidence, that " Divil a wan o' dthem was 
 afther eamin' dthe likes o' dthat in six days on dthe ould 
 sod, bad 'cess to dthem ! " Another version is that the 
 trouble began with the boarding-houses at Shin Hollow 
 " skimping " the men in their rations, and with the con- 
 tractors' clerks cheating them in settling, and overcharging 
 them at the stores for their supplies. Still another account 
 fixes the responsibihty of the Shin Hollow War on the hiring 
 of the Germans by the contractors, and putting them on the 
 work. But the weight of evidence is that the number of 
 Far-domiers after awhile became much greater along the line 
 than that of the Corkonians, and that at last the Old Adam 
 got the better of them, and they felt that they would not be 
 true to their traditions if they did not rise up and break an 
 occasional Corkonian head. 
 
 At any rate, about the middle of January, 1847, the Far- 
 downers began to be aggressive. Fights with groups of the 
 other faction of their countrymen became of daily and nightly 
 occurrence, anywhere between Otisville and Shin Hollow. 
 Saturday, January 30th, a large body of Far-downers formed 
 near the top of the mountain, and marching to a section of 
 Carmichael & Shanahan's contract, attacked the Corko- 
 nians there with clubs and stones, wounding several severely, 
 and compelling the gang to throw away their tools and take 
 an oath that they would leave the work. The following Mon- 
 day a still stronger force of the belligerent Far-downers, many 
 of them armed with guns which they had in some manner got 
 possession of, proceeded to another part of Carmichael & 
 Shanahan's section, surrounded the laborers, fired a volley 
 over their heads, and declared that they would riddle them 
 with shot if they did not quit work. The Corkonians threw 
 down their tools. Their foes then drove them before them 
 to Shin Hollow, where they forced the contractors' agent to 
 
 pay the men off and discharge them. In this assault many 
 of the assailed were knocked down and badly beaten, and it 
 was said, and is still believed by many, that one man was 
 killed in the mel^e. 
 
 After deaUng thus with that gang of Corkonians, the tri- 
 umphant Far-downers marched, with fierce yells and dire 
 threats, upon that part of the work where the Germans were 
 employed, vowing that they would show the " Dootch " no 
 mercy. They were not prepared for the reception that 
 awaited them. The Germans, although few in numbers, had 
 cool heads among them, and they received the confident 
 Irish with such vigor and determination that the latter were 
 soon flying from the field, bearing with them two or three of 
 their number whose ardor was not proof against the sturdy 
 blows of the resolute Germans. 
 
 These raids of the Far-downers created a panic among the 
 other laborers, and work was almost suspended along the 
 mountain. The Germans were the only ones that did not 
 lose a day. The Irishmen who' had been driven from their 
 jobs still loitered about Shin Hollow. All remained quiet 
 along the line after the affray until the evening of Wednes- 
 day, February 3d. The rumor had spread that the Corkonians 
 had resolved to return to work. Early on the evening of 
 February 3d, firing of guns was heard at frequent intervals 
 in the woods at different points between Shin Hollow and 
 the Hog-back, as the summit of the Deerpark Pass was 
 called, and through which the railroad was being constructed. 
 These shots seemed in the nature of signals of some kind, 
 but they ceased at last, and everything was quiet. The Cork- 
 onians at Shin Hollow had climbed to their bunks in the 
 boarding-house lofts, and the stores and shanties were closed 
 for the night. 
 
 It is to be presumed that Shin Hollow was wrapped in 
 profound slumber when, at midnight, the Far-downers, in a 
 body one hundred strong, and armed, marched into the 
 place, divided their forces, and proceeded half to one board- 
 ing-house and half to another. The inmates of the houses 
 were ignorant of the presence of their enemies until they 
 were awakened by the smashing of windows and doors, the 
 discharging of guns and pistols through the breaches thus 
 made, and the wild yells and cries of the assailing party. 
 The Corkonians seemed to have been but poorly armed, for 
 they made but a weak resistance to the attack. At O'Brien's 
 boarding-house, where most of the men -were in the lofts, 
 they hastily pulled up the ladders by which they climbed to 
 their bunks, and huddled down, as they supposed, out of 
 harm's way. The Far-downers swarmed into the place and 
 quickly beat into subjection such of the inmates as were to 
 be got at. The men in the lofts refusing to come down and 
 meet with similar treatment, the attacking party hunted up 
 axes, and quickly chopped down the posts that supported 
 the lofts, and brought the latter and their frightened occu- 
 pants crashing into a heap on the floor. After hammering 
 the Corkonians until there were few unbroken heads, or noses 
 that were not bloody, the rioters made their victims swear, at 
 the gun's muzzle, that they would quit that locality forthwith. 
 
342 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 A similar scene was enacted at the other boarding-house, 
 although there it was not necessary for the rioters to chop 
 down the posts to make the objects of their wrath " come 
 down." One Corkonian, who was especially obnoxious to 
 the Far-downers, was shoved into a big Dutch oven, and im- 
 prisoned and left there by his captors with the cheering as- 
 surance that they would return when they got time, build a 
 fire under the oven, and bake him. This gang of rioters 
 compelled every one of their victims to get on his knees and 
 swear that he would leave the place, after which he would be 
 helped to his feet by a vigorous kick from the heavy brogan 
 of some lusty Far-downer. 
 
 Having dealt to their satisfaction with their Irish fellow- 
 citizens, some one of their number raised the cry : 
 
 " To hell wid dthe Dootch ! " 
 
 This was a signal for a rush to the German quarter of Shin 
 Hollow. Race hatred was augmented by the recollection of 
 the victory the Germans had won over the Irish a few days 
 before, and the latter dashed forward to a new attack upon 
 the Germans, confident this time of inflicting severe punish- 
 ment upon them, and forcing them to fly from the Hollow. 
 But the Germans, being more calculating and methodical 
 than their Irish fellow-workmen, had suspected the possibility 
 of such an outbreak as this, and were prepared for it. They 
 had a leader named Wisler. He had quietly obtained guns 
 and ammunition from Port Jervis, Otisville, and Middletown. 
 The uproar made by the attack on the Irish quarter had 
 aroused the Germans, and they were drawn up in line in the 
 darkness, under orders from \Msler, ready for action when the 
 wild Irish detachment came whooping and yelling to the 
 assault. The Irish were within a few yards of the German 
 quarter, when just ahead of them a streak of fire punctured 
 the darkness, and they felt and heard shot rattling upon and 
 about them. They halted in confusion. Before they could 
 recover and make a second rush, another streak of fire 
 showed them a momentary gleam of determined Teuton faces, 
 and the Irish forces broke and fled toward the woods. The 
 Germans pursued them, and captured one prisoner, who had 
 been filled with shot from his neck to his heels. 
 
 The most intense excitement prevailed at Shin Hollow the 
 rest of the night. The Far-downers bombarded the place 
 from the woods, whither they had fled from the Germans. 
 The contractors now concluded that it was time to take some 
 action toward putting an end to the troubles, for their work 
 was being seriously delayed by the unsettled condition of af- 
 fairs. A man was sent to Otisville with instructions to de- 
 spatch a message to Sheriff ^Velling, at Goshen, by the train 
 that left Otisville early in the morning. The sheriff with a 
 posse arrived at Shin Hollow during the forenoon, but being 
 unable to quell the riot or arrest any of the rioters, he called 
 on the Deerpark Militia to aid him. Every town main- 
 tained a company of militia in those days, and Capt. Peter 
 Swartwout summoned his company, and led it from ' Port 
 Jen'is to the scene of the Shin Hollow War. In responding 
 to this call to duty, the Deerpark Guards made their rendez- 
 vous at Hilferty's Hotel, at Carpenter's Point, and marched 
 
 up the old Finchville road, under the high rocks, and, as 
 High Private M. C. Everitt says, " If there had been three or 
 four old women, with their aprons full of stones, on top of 
 those rocks, and had bombarded us just at that time, I think 
 they would have routed us." 
 
 There were twenty-five or thirty men in the company, 
 most of them subsequently prominent in the affairs of Port 
 Jervis and the surrounding country, but only two or three of 
 them surviving. Among the volunteers, besides Mr. Everitt, 
 were Charles St. John, afterwards Congressman, and Charles 
 S. Ball, son of Dr. Ball, a man of more than local celebrity. 
 Young Ball was one of the engineer corps then in charge of 
 the railroad work west of Port Jervis. As the company ap- 
 proached the scene of the disturbance they were divided into 
 squads by Capt. Swartwout, for the purpose of reconnoitring 
 and investigating the shanties that were scattered about in 
 the woods. About this time a man came out of one of the 
 shanties and ran for the better security of the woods. As he 
 did so. Private Ennis, another of the Erie engineer corps, 
 stepped forward from the ranks, and bringing his gun to his 
 shoulder, cried out : 
 
 "Shall I shoot?" 
 
 Capt. Swartwout, true to the dignity of his office, and re- 
 solved on maintaining discipline, smote Ennis a resounding 
 blow with the flat of his sword across the seat of his trousers, 
 and shouted . 
 
 "Fall in here and wait for orders, or I'll shoot vt?// .' " 
 
 This the Captain could not well have done without con- 
 fiscating for the moment some comrade's gun, for on leaving 
 Hilferty's he had let High Private Everitt take the rifle he 
 himself had started with, Everitt having no gun of his own, 
 the Captain being content to march with his sword alone. 
 Ennis fell back into the ranks without shooting, and the cam- 
 paign was resumed. The Shin Hollow combatants, fright- 
 ened at the advance of this formidable army of military, 
 moving as it did M-ith such amazing tactics, shut themselves 
 up in such shanties as they could get into, or fled to the 
 woods. The Deerpark Volunteers, nothing daunted, scoured 
 the locality, and took many prisoners. These, the Company 
 re-forming in double line for the purpose, were marched to 
 the office of the paymaster of the contractors, where they 
 were paid off and promptly discharged, and warned to leave 
 the neighborhood. For fear that they would not leave, and 
 that more trouble would ensue, two of the Deerpark com- 
 pany, Samuel Smith and " Case " Caskey, were left on the 
 grounds with a cannon to maintain the peace, and the re- 
 mainder of the company returned home, covered with some 
 glory, but not enough to suit a number of the volunteers, 
 among them Charles S. Ball. He was " spoiling for a fight," 
 and actually did fire at one man, but whether disastrously or 
 not was never known. Smith, his comrade, and the cannon 
 remained a week or so at Shin Hollow, when, it being appar- 
 ent that the trouble was over, they returned home. 
 
 " If the rioters had only known it, though,'' says High 
 Private Everitt, in recalling the incidents of the war for the 
 ■writer hereof, " they could have had a great deal of fun with 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 343 
 
 that battery of artillery, for neither Smith nor Caskey knew 
 any more about loading or firing a cannon than if he had 
 never seen one." 
 
 This somewhat Falstaffian detachment of militia was ac- 
 companied by Oliver Young, Esq., lawyer and influential 
 citizen. He addressed the rioters as the Deerpark Guards 
 advanced, admonishing them that they were in serious con- 
 tempt of the law, and that the whole power of the State 
 would be called upon to suppress and punish them if neces- 
 sary. Some of the prisoners taken were turned over to the 
 Sheriff, who escorted them to Goshen, where they ^^'ere given 
 a hearing and heavily fined. They were then taken back to 
 Shin Hollow, and the contractors settled with them and dis- 
 charged them. 
 
 This did not entirely quell the riotous spirit of the Irish. 
 A squad of militia was kept on the grounds for nearly a 
 month, by which time the ringleaders were found out, sum- 
 marily discharged, and warned out of the region. These 
 guards were from Middletown or Goshen. Unlike the Port 
 Jervis Militia, they had sought the seat of war clad in their 
 dress parade unif onus, which included white trousers and fine 
 boots. They were transported on a car run from Otisville, in 
 charge of Conductor W. H. Stewart. He stopped the car 
 about a mile from the scene of hostilities, and unloaded the 
 "troops." The ground was covered with snow and slush to 
 the depth of several inches, through which the dapper home 
 guards were forced to march, much to their disgust and 
 discomfiture. But peace was gradually restored, and the 
 Shin Hollow War passed down into history as an engagement 
 in which much blood was shed, but no lives were positively 
 known to have been lost, although legend insists that the 
 Germans killed three of the Irish in that night attack, and 
 buried them in the woods. 
 
 THE LOCOMOTIVE CROSSES THE NEVERSINK. 
 
 During 1847, the thirteen miles of railroad between the 
 Shawangunk Summit and Port Jervis were completed. Pres- 
 ident Loder had divided the road into sections, for the com- 
 pletion of which he had fixed certain dates, the finishing of 
 the work on such dates being provided for in the contracts, 
 a failure being attended with cost to the contractor. Thus, 
 December 31, 1847, was the day on which the locomotive 
 was to enter Port Jervis. The extraordinary character of the 
 work to be done may be imagined from a brief description 
 of some of it. At the summit of the mountain, near Otisville, 
 was a rock cut upwards of fifty feet deep in the deepest 
 place, and extending with some interruption over a length 
 2,500 feet. The contractor for this work was Thomas King. 
 A little more than a mile beyond was a heavy embankment, 
 to be supported on the lower side by a retaining wall more 
 than fifty feet high, and several hundred feet in length. 
 This was followed immediately by a heavy thorough cut in 
 the rock, 1,000 feet long and thirty feet deep. Half a mile 
 further on was another enormous embankment, to be sup- 
 ported on the lower side by a wall fifty feet high. These 
 
 sections were in the hands of Charles Story. At Shin 
 Hollow, about half way between Otisville and Port Jervis, 
 was a cut upwards of three-fourths of a mile long and more 
 than forty feet deep, in the contract of Carmichael & Stran- 
 ahan. Beyond that was an embankment upwards of fifty 
 feet high, and 1,500 feet long. Immediately adjacent to 
 this embankment was another enormous thorough cut in rock 
 upwards of fifty feet in depth. 
 
 In those early days of railroad building such an undertak- 
 ing as this cutting of a roadway along the rocky side of that 
 wild mountain pass was something that required more cour- 
 age, endurance, and perseverance than a work many times as 
 formidable would in these days of advanced constructive 
 science ; but the work was pushed forward with all possible 
 facility by the contractors, under the persistent spurring of 
 Silas Seymour, the Constructing Engineer. 
 
 The rails that were to be put down from Otisville west 
 were the first American T-rails for which any actual order 
 for extensive use of them had ever been given. Up to that 
 time England supplied this country with rails. These for 
 the Erie were rolled at Scranton, Pa., and were delivered to 
 the Company by means of the Delaware and Hudson Canal 
 Company's gravity railroad and canal. (" Administration of 
 Benjamin Loder," pages 90-91.) 
 
 The 31st day of December, 1847, came. The rails were 
 all laid between Otisville and the east bank of the Neversink 
 River, and were ready on the Port Jervis side of the river. 
 But the trestle bridge was not yet completed to carry the 
 rails across and make connection so that cars could be run 
 to what was to be the Port Jervis, or Delaware, station. 
 People from the " Port,'' and from all about, had flocked to 
 the aid of the railroad laborers for days, helping in the laying 
 of lails and the construction of the trestle. Daniel Hilferty, 
 who kept a hotel at Carpenter's Point, threw open his house 
 to the workers, and refreshments and good cheer of all kinds 
 were free. The big-hearted boniface said afterward that the 
 demand for these was so great that railroad mud from the 
 feet of thirsty and hungry helpers covered his floors three 
 inches deep by the time the trestle was completed. 
 
 A locomotive and two flat cars, loaded with railroad men 
 and citizens, left Otisville in the afternoon, to be the first 
 train to run into Port Jervis on the stipulated time. Knowing 
 the situation, bets were freely made at Otisville and Port 
 Jervis that the train could not get to its destination in time. 
 This construction train arrived at the east end of the un- 
 finished trestle, and added its complement of men to the 
 crowd that was already straining every nerve to get the bridge 
 in shape to carry the locomotive and flat cars over. It was 
 late at night when the woodwork was ready, and the rails had 
 yet to be put down. At a few minutes before eleven o'clock 
 the track was all down with the exception of a gap of one 
 rail, and that rail had to be cut to fit the space. Whether it 
 was a rail of extraordinary toughness, or whether the excite- 
 ment and suspense were so great that the workmen and the 
 bosses lost their heads, it is impossible to say, but it is known 
 that it took them one hour to cut the rail and spike it to its 
 
344 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 place. Then, with a tremendous shout, all of the crowd that 
 could do so clambered upon the flat cars, and the locomotive 
 put on steam, crossed the Neversink, and ran to the Port Jervis 
 terminus of the road, arriving there just seventeen minutes 
 before the advent of January i, 1848. What few people 
 there were in the hamlet of Port Jervis were on the spot, and 
 were wild with joy and excitement. Silas Seymour was 
 among those who rode in on the construction train. The 
 uproarious crowd lifted him from his feet and carried him on 
 its shoulders to the Union House, on the canal, nearly a mile 
 from the railroad, and there tendered him all the honor and 
 homage that shouts and revelry, continued long into the 
 night, could be made to be the sponsor for. The hotel was 
 kept by S. O. Dimmick. It is there yet, and has the distinc- 
 tion of being the scene of the first celebration of the com- 
 pletion of the New York and Erie Railroad between the 
 Hudson and the Delaware, a celebration none the less hearty 
 and historic because it was impromptu and informal, and 
 unofficial. 
 
 The late William H. Stewart had charge of the construction 
 train as conductor, and the engineer was " Dutch John " 
 Zeigler, who had been Eleazar Lord's coachman, but who 
 was promoted by Mr. Lord, during his control of Erie affairs, 
 to the railroad service, where he culminated as a locomotive 
 engineer. The locomotive was the " Eleazar Lord." 
 
 The official opening of the railroad to Port Jervis was on 
 Thursday, January 6, 1848. The SuUivati County Whig, a 
 newspaper then published at Bloomingburg, near Middletown, 
 thus described the features of the occasion, in its issue of 
 January 14, 1848 : 
 
 " On Thursday last the Directors and a party of invited 
 guests took an excursion upon the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road from Piermont to the limit of its extension on the Del- 
 aware, a distance of seventy-four miles. This was the first 
 train of cars that had passed over the road from Otisville to 
 Port Jervis. 
 
 " On arriving at the latter place the party, numbering over 
 an hundred, sat down to a sumptuous dinner prepared at the 
 hotel of Samuel Truex, after which the President, Benjamin 
 Loder, made an address, in which he congratulated all inter- 
 ested in the successful completion of that portion of the road, 
 notwithstanding the great obstacles that had to be overcome. 
 He spoke of the proximity of the road to the States of Penn- 
 sylvania and New Jersey, and invited their citizens to share in 
 its advantages and benefits. Mr. Loder then proceeded to 
 give a brief history of that portion of the road just com- 
 pleted, which he considered by far the most difficult and 
 expensive portion on the entire route to Lake Erie. He read 
 from a memorandum prepared by Mr. Silas Seymour, Super- 
 intending Engineer, the following interesting statistics : In 
 the construction of the road from Otisville to Port Jervis, a dis- 
 tance of thirteen miles, 317,000 pounds of powder had been 
 consumed, 210,000 cubic yards of solid rock and 730,000 of 
 earth excavated, 14,000 yards of sloping wall constructed, 
 300,000 days' labor bestowed upon it by 3,000 laborers, and 
 
 30,000 days' labor by horses. He further stated that from 
 this point to Binghamton, a distance of about 130 miles, 
 nearly every section is being worked, and a large portion will 
 be ready for the superstructure by the month of June or July; 
 and before the first of January next, unless unexpected diffi- 
 culties shall occur, the Directors intend to have the cars 
 running to Binghamton, if not further. 
 
 " The section between Otisville and Port Jervis has been 
 mainly constructed since June last. The President having 
 determined to complete the work by the ist of January, 
 3,000 laborers were sent over their road gratuitously. 
 
 "The contractors, Carmichael & Stranahan, C. Story, and 
 Thomas King, deserve credit for the energy and enterprise 
 with which they have fulfilled their contracts. The grading 
 alone between Otisville and Port Jervis cost about ^30,000 a 
 mile. The rails were manufactured at the Lackawanna Iron 
 Works, in the Wyoming Valley." 
 
 The progress of the Erie at this time inspired the poet of 
 the New York Herald, in a " carrier's address " for January,. 
 1 848, to this burst : 
 
 Get off the track ; — five hundred pounds of steam 
 
 To each square inch don't make a trifling team. 
 
 Patent greased lightning only could begin 
 
 To run beside this iron horse and win. 
 
 Whizz ! how she travels ! coppers hot, each one ! 
 
 We may get " busted," but we'll have our fun. 
 
 Hands off the brake ! — Chain down this valve ! Hurra ! 
 
 We're through by daylight ! Yes, Sir-ee ! We are ! 
 
 Get off the track! Whe-w-w! Hear that whistle scream! 
 Hard down the brake! There, quick! Shut off the steam! 
 Jump! Turn that switch! Chuff! Choof! Ch-e-o-u-gh! Hurraf 
 We're through by daylight! Yes, Sir-ee ! We are ! 
 
 Hundreds of people from the surrounding country thronged 
 the village. Cannon boomed, and bunting floated in the 
 breeze. The hotel mentioned as being the scene of the- 
 official feast was called the New York and Erie Hotel, and. 
 was on the southwest comer of Pike and Main streets. The 
 Union House, on the corner of Main street, near the Dela- 
 ware and Hudson Canal, was the scene of another jubilation 
 in honor of the event. This hotel was kept by Samuel 
 O. Dimmick, still living at Port Jervis. Silas Seymour, the 
 Constructing Engineer of the railroad, gave Mr. Dimmick an. 
 order to cater to all who might participate in the celebration 
 at his house — gave him carte blanche, in. fact, and told him. 
 to send his bill in to the Company and it would be paid. 
 The night of January 6th there was a great " spread " at the 
 Union House. Mr. Dimmick was ill, and not able to be 
 present during the evening. Next morning it was reported, 
 to him that his wine cellar was empty ; that there was not a 
 drop of anything in the bar to begin business with for 
 the day, and that there was scarcely a whole piece of crockery- 
 left in the hotel. The opening of the railroad had been 
 evidently celebrated by the opening of everything openable- 
 in the house; and the first "smash-up" as a result of the 
 railroad was the smash-up of things at the same place. The 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 345 
 
 hotel was replenished, and when Mr. Dimmick saw Mr. Sey- 
 mour he explained matters, and said he thought a bill for 
 ;?6oo would be about right, " and not any too much at that." 
 Seymour said he guessed that would be about right. 
 
 " Make it out as ' for supplies to the Railroad Company,' " 
 said he. 
 
 Mr. Dimmick made the bill out in that Avay, and it was 
 paid. 
 
 Sam Truex, at the New York and Erie House, had many 
 guests, also, as a result of the railroad celebration, besides 
 his official ones, and they enjoyed themselves with the 
 contents of his house in about the same manner that the 
 Union House's guests had with the stores of that hostelry. 
 Truex asked Dimmick what he had charged the Company. 
 Dimmick told him, and Truex put in a bill for the same 
 amount, independent of his bill for the official entertainment. 
 But Truex had had no order from the Company to keep open 
 house on the occasion, and his bill was returned unpaid. 
 And it is unpaid to this day. 
 
 When the Erie was thus opened to Port Jervis, it had 
 seventy-four miles of railroad, ten locomotives, nine passen- 
 ger cars, seventy eight-wheel freight cars, seventy-seven mail 
 and baggage cars, one machine shop (at Piermont), and em- 
 ployed 182 men in its transportation department. There 
 are now forty-two miles of track in the Port Jervis yard alone, 
 and a single freight train frequently consists of sixty cars. 
 To construct the road to Port Jervis from Piermont had cost 
 ^3,276,678. 
 
 THE STORY OF A LITTLE RAILROAD AND A BIG 
 BRIDGE. 
 
 On preceding pages ("Administration of Benjamin Loder,'' 
 pages 89-90) has been told how the further progress of the 
 railroad was threatened by the opposition of the Milford and 
 Matamoras Railroad Company, a local corporation of Pike 
 County, Pa., which had been chartered in 1848, and how 
 that opposition was removed by the Erie agreeing to construct 
 and maintain forever a bridge across the Delaware at Mata- 
 moras, Pa., near Port Jervis, arranged for a railroad and a 
 wagon way, and to build a track across the bridge and from 
 it to the Erie track at Port Jervis, to give the local railroad 
 connection there ; this so that the Erie might be permitted 
 to change its point of entrance into Pennsylvania, as fixed 
 by the Legislature in 1846,10 one more suitable and economi- 
 cal, three miles further up the Delaware, at the present place 
 of crossing, the change being vital to the Company, as with- 
 out it the railroad could not have been progressed sufficiently 
 to get it finished in time (May 14, 185 1) to save the Com- 
 pany's charter and property from forfeiture and foreclosure. 
 
 The truth of history compels the statement that if the 
 New York and Erie Railroad Company was moved to this 
 compromise in a spirit of good faith, that spirit soon became 
 weak, for, although, according to the provisions of the 
 
 act of the Pennsylvania Legislature of 1848, the bridge 
 at Matamoras was to have been completed for use by 
 October i, 1852, ground had not only not been broken 
 on the work in all that interval, but the Railroad Company 
 had sought the intervention of the courts, and exhausted 
 all its persuasive powers before the Pennsylvania Legis- 
 lature, in efforts to abrogate its agreement for building 
 the bridge, but had failed everywhere. A provision of the 
 act granting the change of route was that if the Company 
 neglected to build the bridge according to the provisions of 
 the act, it should pay a tax of one dollar on each passenger 
 passing over the road into Pennsylvania until enough money 
 was raised to build the bridge and the connecting railroad. 
 The Railroad Company having at last exhausted the patience 
 of the Pike County people, measures were set afoot by them 
 to enforce the act. Then the Company began work on the 
 bridge, and it was completed in 1854. It cost ^80,000. 
 This bridge had a history that connects it closely with the 
 career of the Erie. 
 
 The Milford and Matamoras Railroad Company was organ- 
 ized in January, 1854, but no work was done toward the build- 
 ing of a railroad until many years afterward. The project 
 lay dead until 1870. 
 
 The Pennsylvania Legislature granted a charter in 1868 for 
 a railroad from the Lehigh coal regions to the Delaware River 
 at Matamoras. This charter was secured by individuals who 
 organized, in 1869, the Lehigh and Eastern Railroad Com- 
 pany, for the purpose of building such a railroad. This 
 alarmed the Milford and Matamoras Railroad Company, 
 whose charter was on the eve of lapsing, and it revived itself, 
 reorganized, and went to work with some activity toward 
 making its long-neglected railroad. Contracts for grading 
 the road were about making, in the winter of 1870, when, in 
 March of that year, the Erie bridge at Matamoras, which had 
 been waiting twenty years for the railroad to come up from 
 Milford and cross it, was destroyed in a gale. This did not 
 disturb the Milford and Matamoras Railroad Company, 
 though, for under the act of Legislature granting the Erie 
 Company the right to enter Pennsylvania at Sawmill Rift, that 
 Company was bound to maintain a bridge at Matamoras for- 
 ever, under penalty of forfeiture of all its rights in that State, 
 including light of way. So the Milford and Matamoras Rail- 
 road Company notified the Erie Railway Company, which 
 was then under the management of Jay Gould, that the 
 Matamoras bridge was down, and that the Erie would be ex- 
 pected to put a new one there without delay. The Erie Rail- 
 way Company made no move to rebuild the bridge, and after 
 waiting until July, a committee of directors of the Milford and 
 Matamoras Railroad Company went to New York and had 
 audience with Gould. Fisk was also present. The visitors 
 inquired of Gould as to his intentions toward the bridge. 
 
 "Bridge?" said Gould, as if surprised. "What bridge, 
 gentlemen? " 
 
 "Your bridge across the Delaware at Matamoras," the 
 committee's spokesman repUed. 
 
 "Our bridge across the Delaware at Matamoras?" said 
 
546 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 (jould, still apparently in a quandary. " Fisk, have we a 
 bridge across the Delaware at Matamoras?" 
 
 " We did have a bridge across the Delaware at Matamoras," 
 replied Fisk, " but it tumbled down last spring." 
 
 " That's the one ! " the committee's spokesman said. 
 " Vou know the Erie is bound by law to keep a bridge there, 
 and we came to tell you that if you do not replace that 
 bridge forthwith we shall have recourse to the law, and shut 
 you out of Pennsylvania." 
 
 "Why, that's the bridge that we sold all our right, title, 
 and franchise in to the Lamonte Mining and Railroad Com- 
 pany, a few weeks ago, isn't it, Fisk? " said Gould. 
 
 "That's the bridge," replied Fisk. "Yes, gentlemen," 
 said Fisk to the committee, " we have no rights at all in that 
 bridge any more. It belongs to the Lamonte Mining and 
 Railroad Company. See them. They'll talk to you about 
 it." 
 
 The surprised committee returned home and began a 
 search for the Lamonte Mining and Railroad Company, of 
 which they had never heard before. They discovered that 
 such a company had been chartered by the Pennsylvania 
 Legislature, March 26th of that year, a few days after the 
 Matamoras bridge blew down. By that charter the company 
 was empowered to purchase all the right, title, and franchises 
 of any bridges on the Delaware that wanted to sell. Further 
 than that no sign of the existence of the Lamonte corpora- 
 tion could be discovered. There was no record at Harris- 
 burgh to show by whom the bill had been introduced in the 
 Legislature. It was learned that a representative of the 
 Erie Railway Company had been some time at Harrisburg, 
 about the time the bill was passed, and that he had said to 
 member of the Legislature Keene, of one of the coal counties, 
 upon bidding him good-by on leaving Harrisburg : 
 
 " I had ^15,000 in this satchel when I came here. I 
 haven't got it now." 
 
 The representative from the Pike and Wayne district in 
 the lower house of the Legislature, where this mysterious bill 
 originated, was William H. Dimmick, a young Honesdale 
 lawyer. He was called to attend a meeting of indignant 
 stockholders of the Milford and Matamoras Railroad Com- 
 pany at Milford, and explain how it was that his constituents 
 stood thus betrayed. He attended the meeting, and his ex- 
 planations were not entirely acceptable to the people until he 
 made a revelation that came as another surprise from the 
 Legislature. 
 
 The same Legislature that smuggled the mysterious Lamonte 
 Act through passed another bill appropriating from the State 
 Treasury to the Milford and Matamoras Railroad Company 
 for ninety-nine years the ^10,000 annual bonus the Erie 
 Railway Company was obliged to pay the State for right of 
 way through Pike County, and authorizing the local railroad 
 company to issue its bonds to the amount of Si6o,ooo, thus 
 virtually giving to such bonds the State's guarantee. The 
 legislator for Pike County assured his constituents that the 
 Lamonte bill was unconstitutional, and would be so declared 
 as soon as it was brought before the Supreme Court ; so the 
 
 Milford and Matamoras Railroad was looked upon as being 
 as good as built. The Company was reorganized, the bonds 
 were immediately issued and placed, and the first installment 
 of the Erie State annual bonus of ^10,000 collected. But 
 in the reorganization of the Company, which was controlled 
 by \y. H. Dimmick, many of the old stockholders were left 
 out, and the result was that, although contracts were let for 
 grading the road-bed, and much of the grading was done, the 
 opposition of the old stockholders was so great and persist- 
 ent that it resulted in the repeal of the act appropriating the 
 Erie ^10,000 bonus to the Milford and Matamoras Railroad 
 Company, in response to a special message from Govemor 
 Geary to the Legislature, early in the session of 1871. Suit 
 was brought against the Erie Railway Company in that year, 
 through the Attorney-General of Pennsylvania, to have the 
 Lamonte Mining and Railroad Company legislation declared 
 unconstitutional, and to compel the Erie Railway to build the 
 Matamoras Bridge, but pending the proceedings a private 
 bridge company purchased the charter of the Lamonte Com- 
 pany — which was a company only in the minds of the Erie 
 managers — and proceeded with the building of a bridge, 
 known as the Barret Bridge, across the Delaware at the foot 
 of Pike Street, Port Jervis. Although this bridge was a very 
 long way below the original bridge, assurances were made to 
 the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania that it was satisfactory, 
 and, much to the surprise of the people of Pike County, the 
 Attorney-General withdrew the proceedings against the Erie. 
 That the people would have established their contention, and 
 the Erie Railway Company been compelled to rebuild the 
 bridge that had given them the right to change its route, save 
 it half a million of money, and many weeks of invaluable 
 time, the best lawyers have but one opinion. 
 
 The Milford and Matamoras Railroad remains still unbuilt, 
 although a corporation known as the Milford, Matamoras and 
 New York Railroad Company constructed, in 1898, an iron 
 railroad bridge on the foundations of the old Erie bridge, 
 and built a railroad from Port Jervis across it to certain slate 
 gravel beds below Matamoras, the avowed intention being to 
 some time extend the railroad to Milford. 
 
 THROUGH THE DELAWARE VALLEY. 
 
 Pending the dispute over the change of the route for the 
 railroad from Matamoras to Sawmill Rift, the Company was 
 not idle in the Delaware Valley. The herculean task of hew- 
 ing a way for the rails along the rocky edge of Pike County 
 was in the hands of Ives, Farrell & Co., a member of which 
 firm was J. S. T. Stranahan. In constructing the road on 
 this difficult section, between what is now Parker's Glen and 
 Handsome Eddy, and other places, where the rocks rose 
 almost perpendicularly from the river's edge, it was necessary 
 to suspend the laborers from the brow of the lofty ledges in 
 baskets at the end of stout ropes, while they drilled holes for 
 blasting, and tamped in the powder and fuse. When a fuse 
 was lighted, the men would be drawn up by fellow-workmen 
 to the summit. Life frequently depended on the security of 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 347 
 
 those fastenings as the workmen dangled high in midair, and 
 on the activity of the men operating the windlass at the top. 
 The blasts frequently hurled great masses of rock across 
 the Delaware River and into the Delaware and Hudson 
 Canal, much to the interruption of navigation during the open 
 season, and to the damage of the canal property. Not a few 
 boatmen refused to run on the canal during the season of 
 
 1847, and numerous suits for damages were brought by the 
 Canal Company against the Railroad Company. Whenever 
 " railroader " and " canaller " met, an)rwhere between Lacka- 
 waxen and Port Jervis, rich Irish blood was sure to flow. 
 This antagonism between the employees of the two companies 
 has been put on record all these years as having been the 
 cause of the Callaghan-Kays tragedy at Lackawaxen, Pa., in 
 
 1848, but such is not the fact. 
 
 THE CALLAGHAN-KAYS TRAGEDY. 
 
 The bridge for the railroad over the Lackawaxen River at 
 Lackawaxen, a structure 400 feet in length, was being built 
 in December, 1848. Henry Dutcher was foreman of one 
 side of the bridge, and Jacob Dunkle of the other. On the 
 east side of the river was a heavy embankment for nearly a 
 quarter of a mile, under contract by Clark & Carman, who 
 had about two hundred Irishmen at work on it. When the 
 bridge was ready to be raised, the chords had been stretched, 
 and the runways laid for running in the timber. The Irish 
 railroad laborers gave a great deal of trouble by insisting in 
 going across the bridge to the hotel at the mouth of the river 
 for whiskey, frequently a dozen or more at a time. They 
 were afraid to walk the single plank used for a runway, but 
 would get down on their hands and knees and creep across. 
 This was done sometimes twenty times a day, much to the 
 annoyance and loss of time of the bridge men. To do away 
 with it a substantial foot bridge was constructed a few rods 
 above the railroad bridge, but the Irishmen would not use it. 
 They persisted in crossing on the runways. One day, when 
 about a dozen of them went on the bridge, Dunkle, who was 
 an impulsive, quick-tempered fellow, took up an iron bolt 
 three feet long, and swore that if they did not get off he would 
 break their heads. They got off, but as they did so they swore 
 vengeance on Dunkle, calling him " a damned black Dutch- 
 man," and declaring that they would get even with him. 
 Henry Dutcher, who had the good will of the laborers, 
 advised them to use the foot bridge, and they took his advice, 
 but that night, out of revenge toward Dunkle, they invaded 
 his side of the bridge and carried off one of the main braces, 
 twenty-five feet long, and two oak keys, three feet long. The 
 next morning Dunkle missed his timber, and at once mis- 
 trusted where it had gone. He took a good man with him 
 and went over among the Irish shanties. There he found a 
 man cutting up the brace for firewood. Procuring a warrant 
 from Justice Thomas J. Ridgway, who lived close by, Dunkle 
 had the fellow arrested and taken before the Justice. The 
 Irishmen supposed they had taken him to Dutcher's tavern, 
 where most of the bridge men boarded. Bent on revenge, a 
 
 dozen or more of them went over the river to the tavern. It 
 was then about half-past eleven in the forenoon. They were 
 there when the bridge men went to dinner, had been drink- 
 ing freely, and were ready for a fight. The men had to pass 
 through the bar-room to get to the dining-room. One of 
 them began to talk to the Irishmen, calling them names. 
 Henry Dutcher collared him and shoved him into the dining- 
 room. Dutcher was the first to finish dinner. " I went 
 down in the room where the Irish were," says he in relating 
 this, " talked with them a few minutes, passed out, and went 
 to Joel Shannon's store, about two hundred yards above the 
 tavern. I had just got into the store when I heard some one 
 crying : 
 
 " ' Catch him ! He has stabbed a man ! ' 
 
 " I rushed to the door in time to see a man running by, 
 with James Salmon close at his heels. Salmon got near 
 enough to strike the man in the back of the neck, knocking 
 him several feet clear off the ground. As he struck the 
 ground his head went under a bunch of shingles. We 
 secured him and took him back to the tavern, where he was 
 held until a warrant could be procured. The rest of the 
 Irishmen had fled in all directions. 
 
 " I found the man who had been stabbed lying dead upon 
 one of the benches. His name was George Kays. He was 
 one of the quietest and most peaceable men on the bridge 
 job. The name of the man that stabbed him was Patrick 
 Callaghan. It was a deliberate and unprovoked assault. 
 Kays had not spoken a word to Callaghan or to any one else, 
 but was in the act of pulling off his pea-jacket preparatory to 
 going to work, when Callaghan plunged a knife into his left 
 breast, just below the nipple. The knife must have struck 
 the heart, for Kays was dead in less than five minutes. The 
 stabbing had been preceded by an altercation and loud 
 words between some of our men and the Irishmen. 
 
 " We took the body of Kays into an upper room and noti- 
 fied the Justice of the Peace, who acted as Coroner. He 
 summoned a jury and held an inquest. The jury returned a 
 verdict that George Kays had come to his death at the hands 
 of Patrick Callaghan. 
 
 " The funeral of the murdered man had to be arranged 
 for. There was no coffin to be had except at Port Jervis, 
 N. Y., or Honesdale, Pa., either place twenty-five miles dis- 
 tant. I told the men that I would make the coffin if they 
 would find the lumber. There was no lumber nearer than 
 Holbert's mill, three miles up the valley. By this time it was 
 dark, and the men were afraid to go after the lumber, so I 
 started up the track alone, went to the mill, selected the 
 lumber, and sent a team after it. Returning, I went over the 
 river to our tool-house, near where the Irish shanties were, 
 got my tools, and worked until 2 o'clock in the morning, in 
 an open shed near the tavern, and could not get a man to 
 hold a light for me, they were all so afraid of the Irish. 
 The next day I finished the coffin, and in the afternoon we 
 had the funeral, I reading the burial service over the grave. 
 
 " The next thing to do was to take the prisoner to Milford 
 jail. To do this we selected eight men, arming them with 
 
348 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 muskets and revolvers, to accompany the Sheriff, for they had 
 to go right past where the Irishmen were at work, and they 
 expected that the latter would try to rescue the prisoner. 
 This was not an ungrounded fear, for as soon as the posse had 
 driven past where the Irishmen were at work, the laborers 
 started with picks and shovels to make a raid on the wagon 
 the prisoner was in. Butx)ur men sprang out, made a mark 
 across the road, and covering the advancing body of men 
 with their guns, retreated about fifty feet, and told them that 
 the first man who put his foot over that mark would be a 
 dead one. The Irishmen wavered, halted, held a short con- 
 sultation, and turned back. It was well for them that they 
 did. Our men had a hundred pounds of ammunition, and 
 were in dead earnest." 
 
 The prisoner vas safely lodged in Milford jail, was indicted, 
 tried, found guilty, and sentenced to be hanged, but Governor 
 Johnson, of Pennsylvania, refused to sign his death warrant, 
 and the next Governor, William Bigler, held that it was the 
 duty of his predecessor to sign all death warrants of those 
 convicted of murder during his term of office, and he re- 
 fused to sign it ; so Callaghan was never hanged, but lay in 
 MiKord jail five years, and was then pardoned and discharged. 
 Callaghan afterward went to Port Jervis, and worked as brake- 
 man on the Delaware Division of the Erie for twenty years. 
 He was killed by being run over by the cars not many miles 
 from the spot where he had murdered poor George Kays 
 twenty-five years before. 
 
 At the time of the construction of the Erie, the building of 
 railroad bridges was in its infancy, or experimental stage. 
 The bridges were all of wood. The design first in use was 
 the Bunn, the bridges being covered. Later the Company 
 adopted the Fowler and the McCallum. In constructing a 
 bridge of either of the two latter designs, a level platform as 
 long as the bridge, and at least twenty-five feet wide, was 
 erected, on which the whole broadside of the bridge was 
 drafted. Then the outside posts of the bridge, after having 
 been framed for the chords and arches, were put in place 
 and firmly fastened ; the braces were framed and fitted in 
 position ; the chords and arches (there was an arch to each 
 span of the bridge), were placed in position, and the top 
 posts and braces were framed and similarly placed. Thus a 
 whole broadside of the bridge was completed. This had to be 
 all taken apart and piled by itself, and the other broadside 
 constructed in the same way. The building of a large bridge 
 of this kind made a long, heavy job, requiring the handling 
 of several thousand tons of timber at least seven times over, 
 besides the work of framing. 
 
 THE FIRST SIGHT OF THE ENGINE. 
 
 The first locomotive on the Delaware Division was the 
 " Piermont." It was dismantled at Piermont, loaded on a 
 canal boat, taken up the Hudson River to Rondout, and thence 
 by the Delaware and Hudson Canal to Lackawaxen. There 
 
 it was set up, and used to distribute iron and ties to lay the 
 track on the Delaware Division. This was in the summer of 
 1848. The engine was in charge of William Van de Graff, 
 as engineer. Along in October of that year it became neces- 
 sary to go to NarrowsbuTg with the engine. The news got 
 circulated around, and the result was that, from a long dis- 
 tance about, men, women, and children came out of the 
 backwoods settlements, two or three hundred strong, to see 
 the iron horse. The locomotive was run up in front of the 
 station and stopped, and in a few minutes some of the more 
 courageous ones began to examine the "critter," as they 
 called it, and not a few climbed upon the engine. Suddenly 
 Engineer Van de Graff, full of mischief, sounded a full blast 
 on the whistle. The effect of that may be more easily imagined 
 than described. It was a "very hurrying time of year" just 
 about then. Those on the engine tumbled off like a lot of 
 mud-turtles dropping from a log. Some fell ; others yelled, 
 and tumbled over each other in their haste to get at a safe dis- 
 tance. Van de Graff was so convulsed with laughter that he 
 rolled on the footboard to ease himself, and the experience 
 was his favorite " stove committee " tale for many a long day. 
 
 HUNTERS AND THE LOCOMOTIVE. 
 
 The region through which the Delaware Division ran, fifty 
 years ago, was almost a wilderness, and there were few who 
 then lived in the region who were not in profound ignorance 
 in regard to the locomotive ; and being accustomed to the 
 hunt and the ways of the forest, it was but natural that they 
 should associate the sound of the steam whistle with the cry 
 of. some wild animal, especially when the whistle was heard 
 at a distance of a mile or two. To not immediately set 
 themselves to work to capture the animal responsible for that 
 noise would have been contrary to their nature. 
 
 A short time after the locomotive " Piermont " created the 
 excitement at Narrowsburg by its first arrival, it was neces- 
 sary to go with it to Callicoon. The track being new and 
 not ballasted, the run was very slow, not more than six or 
 eight miles an hour. The whistle was blown at short inter- 
 vals. Some of the famous hunters of the Pike Pond region, 
 back in the mountain, hearing the whistle and taking it for 
 the scream of a panther, which fierce beast still lurked in 
 these hills, started with dogs and guns in hot pursuit toward 
 Callicoon in an effort to head off the " varmint," and if pos- 
 sible capture it. The locomotive beat them several lengths, 
 however, but had been standing but a short time at the sta- 
 tion when three or four men rushed out from the bushes 
 just across the track, their clothing all in tatters, covered 
 with mud, and soaked from wading streams and swamps. 
 The men were nearly exhausted, for they had run miles 
 through the woods and swamps and across streams to inter- 
 cept their game. Their surprise and chagrin to find that the 
 object of their pursuit was not a wild animal, but a locomo- 
 tive, standing quietly on the track in front of the station, 
 may be imagined. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 349 
 
 TRAPPING A LOCOMOTIVE. 
 
 Another hunting incident occurred in connection with the 
 early locomotive, in which John Quick was the chief actor. 
 He lived about five miles from Milford, in Pike County, Pa., 
 at a place called Schocope, and about as far from Carr's 
 Rock, now Parker's Glen. The locomotive had been in use 
 distributing ties and rails along the line from Shohola toward 
 Port Jervis for some time. Quick, hearing the shriek of the 
 whisde one day, thought it was the scream of some wild 
 animal. He was a great trapper, and he at once got out his 
 bear traps, shouldered as many as he could conveniently 
 carry, and started for the woods. After travelling four or 
 five miles to the head of the glen leading down to Carr's 
 Rock, he set his traps, and every two or three days would go 
 to look them over, and see if he had caught the beast that 
 yelled so. At last, while visiting his traps one day, he heard 
 the scream of this animal. The sound came from toward 
 the river, two miles away. He cautiously started in that 
 direction, his rifle ready to send a bullet into the beast 
 the moment he sighted it. Frequently he heard the same 
 screech repeated. He kept on until he came in sight of the 
 railroad. Then, to his disgust, he found that for a month or 
 more he had been trapping for a locomotive ! 
 
 Quick was a famous hunter and trapper, and for years 
 afterward he enjoyed telling this story. 
 
 GETTING OVER THE RANDOLPH HILLS. 
 
 During 1848, the Company completed and had in use 200 
 miles of railroad, and was vigorously prosecuting its further 
 extension. Work was under contract from Binghamton to 
 Corning, a distance of seventy-six miles. The grading be- 
 tween Binghamton and Owego was finished, and the railroad 
 was completed between Piermont and Binghamton. The 
 difficulty of getting over the dividing ridge between Deposit 
 and Binghamton was great. The original route of 1834, via 
 Nineveh and Bettsburgh, was forty-five miles long, and had 
 two summits, 905 and 1,200 feet high, with grades as steep 
 as eighty-two feet. Another route was reconnoitred, via 
 Windsor, which was sixteen miles shorter, with two rises of 
 728 feet. Another via Windsor had grades sixty-six feet, and 
 required three tunnels, 700, 3,400, and 2,600 feet long. 
 This route was thirty-seven miles in distance, with a rise of 
 1,840 feet. Benjamin Wright, James Seymour, Edwin F. 
 Johnson, H. C. Seymour, C. B. Stuart, T. S. Brown, nor 
 George E. Hoffman could succeed in discovering any better 
 route than either of these. In making the surveys in 1840, 
 the remarkable glen at GuK Summit, between the waters of 
 Cascade Brook, going to the Susquehanna, and McClure's 
 Brook, going to the Delaware, was discovered. Passing be- 
 tween the towering rocks, just wide enough for the road, an 
 engineer named John Anderson traced a line from Deposit to 
 Lanesboro in 1S41. It was continued by Hoffman to Great 
 Bend and Binghamton, thirty-nine miles. The grade of this 
 route was sixty-six feet on the Delaware side and seventy 
 
 feet on the Susquehanna side, a distance of sixteen miles. The 
 original hne of 1834 ran one mile and a half from Bingham- 
 ton, and was unsatisfactory to the people. This Anderson 
 line passed directly through that village, and, after the legis- 
 lation authorizing the Company to go into Pennsylvania, it 
 was the route chosen between Deposit and Binghamton — the 
 route of the present day. 
 
 THE BIG ROCK CUT AND CASCADE BRIDGE. 
 
 One of the most difficult and expensive tasks in the mould- 
 ing of the way for the railroad westward was at the summit 
 of the Randolph Hills, beyond Deposit. This was the cut- 
 ting through the vast wall of rock that barred the passage of 
 the mountain there — the last desperate stand that obstructing 
 Nature made against the persistent and plodding engineer in 
 his determined fight to force a place for this great highway. 
 This formidable barrier was half a mile in width, the left wall 
 being 200 feet high from road-bed to summit. To carve a 
 road-bed through that beetling obstacle cost the enormous 
 sum of $200,000, and then the passage was only wide enough 
 for one track. Time did not permit of building the railroad 
 for the future when this work was being pushed forward, 
 fifty years ago. Until the time came, years afterward, when 
 this cut was widened to make room for a second track, a 
 strong current of air was constantly sweeping through its 
 narrow confines, and the temperature on the hottest days of 
 summer was uncomfortably cool, while in winter old Boreas 
 howled along the corridor between the high walls of the arti- 
 ficial canyon, a very demon of frigidity. In the early days of 
 railroading on the Erie, snow blockades were sure to be met 
 with in that cut whenever wintry storms swept over that moun- 
 tain's riven pinnacle. 
 
 Few train-men in active service on the Erie Railroad to- 
 day remember the Cascade Bridge, and no traveller born less 
 than a generation and a half ago ever saw that remarkable 
 structure. Indeed, no traveller over the Erie, no matter how 
 long ago he may have travelled, ever did see the Cascade Bridge 
 unless he alighted from his train for the purpose of getting 
 a view of it. This bridge, in its day, was regarded as one of 
 the engineering wonders of the world. When the engineers 
 finally located the route the railroad was to follow over the 
 range of hills that divided the Delaware Valley from that 
 of the Susquehanna, they came to a deep ravine, well dowii 
 the western escarpment of the range. Exact measurements 
 of this great chasm in the rocks gave its depth as 184 feet 
 and its width 250 feet. The walls were of solid rock. A 
 small creek flowed at the bottom of the guK, on which, a 
 short distance above the spot where the railroad must cross if 
 it were to proceed on its way farther, the water tumbled over 
 a broken precipice thirty feet high, and, just below, leaped 
 sheer down the face of a lesser cliff. The gloom of the 
 ravine was deepened by a dense growth of hemlocks that 
 found strange tenure on its sides from base to summit. To 
 fill in this yawning gulf so that a foundation for the railroad 
 might be made was deemed a task too stupendous to even 
 
350 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 spend time in considering. Eminent bridge engineers and 
 builders of that day were consulted, and John Fowler, inventor 
 of the Fowler truss bridge, agreed to undertake the throwing 
 of a bridge across the Cascade Gulf that would successfully 
 solve the serious problem that confronted the Company at 
 the brink of that mighty chasm. 
 
 The work on the Cascade Bridge was begun in the spring 
 of 1847, and was a year and a half in building. It consisted 
 of a solitary arch of 250 feet span, with a rise of fifty feet. 
 The abutments were the solid rock that formed the sides of 
 the ravine, each leg of the great arch being supported on a 
 deep shelf hewn into the rock. The arch was constructed of 
 eight ribs of white oak, two feet square in the centre, and 
 two feet by four at the abutments. These were interlaced 
 with wood and iron braces so as to combine strength and 
 lightness in the airy structure. The width of the bridge was 
 twenty-four feet, the surface of its material being protected 
 by a coating of cement and gravel. This bridge became 
 famous as the longest single-span bridge constructed of wood 
 in the world. In spite of the difficulty and risk that attended 
 clambering down to the bottom of the Cascade Gulf, from 
 which point alone a satisfactory view of the bridge could 
 be obtained, this really remarkable structure, hanging high 
 in the air, like the thread of some huge spider-web, became 
 such an attraction that scarcely a train arrived at Sus- 
 quehanna, during the years the bridge was a part of the rail- 
 road, from which tourists did not alight for the purpose of 
 visiting the ravine and the bridge that spanned its dizzy sum- 
 mit — Susquehanna being the nearest stopping place. Once, 
 in those early days of Erie, Gen. Winfield Scott was a pas- 
 senger on a train that was stopped at Cascade Bridge to 
 enable the passengers to view the bridge from this chasm. 
 General Scott, after gazing at the airy structure from the 
 depths of the gulf, exclaimed : 
 
 " The man who could throw a cow-path like that over this 
 gulf deserves a crown ! " 
 
 The bridge cost ^72,000. In 1854 there were rumors that 
 the Cascade Bridge was showing signs of weakness, and the 
 Railroad Commissioners of New York State sent an engineer 
 to examine it. He reported that the bridge was safe. The 
 Board of Railroad Commissioners inspected the bridge them- 
 selves in 185s, and they were satisfied with its condition. 
 But the Company in that year decided that, owing to the 
 possibility of the bridge being destroyed by fire, which would 
 practically stop all operations on the railroad until a substi- 
 tute could be provided, it would be wise to cross the gulf by 
 changing the route, filling in the ravine, and making a cul- 
 vert for the creek. This work occupied five years, being 
 completed during the receivership of Nathaniel Marsh, in 
 i860, and the wonderful Cascade Bridge was abandoned and 
 demolished, and is now only a memory. 
 
 A man named Lewis, of Canandaigua, was a workman on 
 the Cascade Bridge. One day he fell from the trestle work 
 to the bottom of the ravine, more than 100 feet, and alighted 
 in such a way that, incredible as it may seem, he escaped 
 with so little injury that he returned to his work the same 
 
 day. In 1854, the Fowler bridge across the Susquehanna 
 River west of Susquehanna Station was ordered replaced b)- 
 a McCallum bridge, and Lewis was one of the men employed 
 on the work. The height of the bridge above the island on 
 which one of its piers rested was not more than fifteen feet. 
 Lewis fell from the bridge one day and was killed. 
 
 THE STARUCCA VIADUCT. 
 
 The valley of the Starucca Creek, about two miles beyond 
 Cascade Gulf, was the next difficulty in the way of the rail- 
 road — a sudden, deep, and wide depression in the hills, a 
 hundred feet or more below the lowest elevation the road- 
 bed could find. This valley was more than a quarter of a 
 mile wide, and there was no way around it. At first it was 
 proposed that this broad and deep stretch should be graded 
 up to the level of the road-bed by constructing an embank- 
 ment across it, but the plan was abandoned on the score of 
 cost and the great length of time that would be required to 
 raise that enormous mound of earth. The crossing of the 
 valley by a viaduct was then decided upon. The great work 
 was begun about the time the Cascade Bridge was begun, but 
 it was dragging, and threatened to defeat the efforts of the 
 Company to get the road through to Binghamton by the end 
 of 1848. Three different contractors had failed and thrown 
 up the work. 
 
 James P. Kirkwood was a Scotchman, and learned civil 
 engineering on the Boston and Albany Railroad, an early 
 work from which a number of engineers and contractors came 
 to the Erie when it was building. He was a brother-in-law 
 of Julien \\'. Adams, who was a leading contractor and bridge- 
 builder on the Erie, his great work being the above described 
 wooden bridge over Cascade Gulf. In the spring of 1848, 
 Contractor Adams was appealed to by the Company's repre- 
 sentatives. 
 
 " ^^'ho can build that viaduct? " he was asked. 
 
 " I know of no one who can do it," he replied, "unless it 
 is Kirkwood." 
 
 The matter was presented to Kirkwood. He visited the 
 spot, investigated the facilities for getting stone and material, 
 and reported. 
 
 " I can build that viaduct in time,'' he said, " provided you 
 don't care how much it may cost." 
 
 He was told to go to work at it regardless of cost. He 
 did so. The quarries from Avhich the stone for the work was 
 obtained were three miles up the Starucca Creek. Kirk- 
 wood put down a railroad track on each side of the creek, 
 from the quarries to the work, and brought the stone in on 
 cars. The labor was all done by the day, and every available 
 man in that vicinity was employed. In May, 1848, at the 
 viaduct and quarries, 800 men were employed. The false 
 work was in thirteen tiers, and extended across the Starucca 
 Valley. Operations on this remarkable structure were pushed 
 night and day, and with such system and method that the 
 viaduct was ready for use long before its use was required. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 351 
 
 ', This engineering feat gave Kirkwood great prestige with the 
 Company, and resulted in his being selected as General 
 Superintendent to succeed H. C. Seymour in 1849. 
 
 James P. Kirkwood was a native of Edinburgh, and came 
 to America in 1834. He was a graduate of Edinburgh 
 College, and a civil engineer. In 1835 he became Assistant 
 Engineer of the Stonington Railroad, and in that year surveyed 
 the route for the Long Island Railroad, and had charge of the 
 construction of that road until operations were stopped by the 
 panic of 1837. Kirkwood later was engaged on the Boston 
 and Albany Railroad. He left the Erie to go to the south- 
 west to construct railroads, and he made the first survey for 
 the Pacific Railroad west from the Mississippi to the Rocky 
 Mountains. 
 
 The Starucca Viaduct was at the time it was built the 
 greatest work of railroad bridge masonry in the United 
 States, and is to-day a conspicuous example of that branch of 
 engineering science, even among the stupendous feats of 
 modern bridge construction. The viaduct is 1,200 feet long, 
 no feet high, and has eighteen arches with spans of fifty 
 feet each. It was wisely constructed for a double track, and 
 was made thirty feet wide on top. The cost of the structure 
 was $320,000, the most expensive railroad bridge in the 
 world at that time. 
 
 The views of Starucca Viaduct and Cascade Bridge, between 
 pages 94 and 95, were made in the spring of 1851. 
 
 WHEN THE LOCOMOTIVE FIRST CAME AMONG 
 THEM. 
 
 {From the Binghamton Democrat^ November 17, 1848.) 
 
 Great numbers of our citizens have been attracted to the railroad to 
 see the first locomotive on the track. Some who have often seen this 
 spirited animal before, and been conveyed by its wonderful speed, 
 are delighted to witness his antic gambols among the hills of Broome. 
 Others who have never ventured beyond the limits of the " sequestered 
 counties ' are amazed at the gigantic power of the steam horse, while 
 he snorts and snuffs the fresh breeze of our valleys, and vanishes away 
 to the morning fogs of the Susquehanna. The boys throng the track 
 to see which way the ^«//gine is coming. All are exceedingly grati- 
 lied to realize the beginning of the long-waited-for completion of the 
 New York and Erie Railroad. 
 
 This locomotive was the " Orange," and it was taken on that 
 section of the railroad to aid in and hasten the construction 
 eastward. ("The Turning of Its Wheels," pages 391-393.) 
 
 FIRST TRAIN OVER THE DELAWARE DIVISION. 
 
 The Company had announced that to celebrate the com- 
 pletion of the railroad to Binghamton special excursion trains 
 would be run between Piermont and that place Wednesday, 
 December 27, 1848. The track along the Upper Delaware 
 Valley was yet in an unfinished condition, and Major T. S. 
 Brown, Chief Engineer of the work, decided that it would be 
 wise to run a preliminary train over that part of the track, 
 
 from Port. Jervis to Deposit, a few days before the regular 
 excursion trains were to pass, in order that their safety might 
 be insured and all cause of delay removed. The Rev. Henry 
 Dutcher, now of Warwick, Orange County, N. Y., then an 
 employee of the Company, was one of those who made that 
 initial trip over the Delaware Division, and he thus relates 
 his reminiscences of it to the compiler of this history : 
 
 " The train consisted of an engine, one passenger car, and 
 two flat cars. Among those aboard were Major Brown ; H. 
 C. Seymour, General Superintendent ; Silas Seymour, Major 
 Morrell, W. H. Sidell, of the engineer corps ; H. O. Beckwith, 
 William A. Dutcher, a man of the name of Rice, myself, and 
 others, making fourteen in all, besides a gang of laborers with 
 pails, picks, and shovels. We started from Port Jervis at 
 two o'clock P.M. on Friday, December 22, 1848. At Lacka- 
 waxen the engine ' Piermont ' was attached ahead of our en- 
 gine. We proceeded to Narrowsburg, arriving about seven 
 o'clock. After supper we started on. It had been snowing all 
 afternoon, the snow being from six to eight inches deep. It 
 continued to snow as we proceeded, so that our progress was 
 very slow. When about two miles above Cochecton, six 
 miles from Narrowsburg, our locomotives ran out of water. 
 We stopped at a creek, the embankment being some thirty 
 feet above it, and forming a line, passed six hundred pails 
 of water up to the engines. Some of the men froze their 
 fingers. Proceeding on our way, at daylight next morning 
 we found ourselves about a mile above Hankins Station, hav- 
 ing travelled about twenty miles during the night. At this 
 point we came to a dead stop. We found a mile and a half 
 of track not laid, and no iron nearer than Narrowsburg with 
 which to lay it. The snow was badly drifted. There were 
 from two to three feet of snow on the road-bed. We got the 
 trackmen out and set them to shovelling, and sent one engine 
 back to Narrowsburg after iron to fill the break. Leaving 
 orders to proceed with the engines as soon as the track 
 could be laid, fourteen of us, without any breakfast, started 
 to tramp it up the track through the snow, which was in 
 many places to our hips. At about two o'clock in the after- 
 noon we arrived at Long Eddy. 
 
 " ' Now,' said Superintendent Seymour, ' we will have 
 something to eat.' 
 
 " He leading the way, we all followed, ravenous, having 
 eaten nothing since seven o'clock the night before, and hav- 
 ing toiled incessantly all that time. The house he took us to 
 was kept by John Geer. And another such a place ! The 
 bed-room, kitchen, sitting-room, parlor, up-stairs, and down- 
 cellar were all in one room, and not a very large one, nor a 
 very clean one, at that. Seymour told the old lady of the 
 house that we were as hungry as wolves and wanted some 
 dinner. She took a box from her dress pocket, treated her- 
 self to a large pinch of snuff from it, wiped her fingers on 
 her apron, and replied that she did not know how it wpuld 
 be, but she would do the best she could. Lifting a trap-door 
 in the floor, she descended to an apology for a cellar, and 
 brought up a loaf of bread, a plate of butter, and a dish of 
 honey. The honey un;!oiibte;lly was clean, but the butter 
 
BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 had the appearance of having been sprinkled with pepper 
 and salt. The bread, while it looked good on the outside, 
 showed layers of dirt through it when cut, as though it had 
 been kneaded on the floor. In addition to the above, she 
 brought from a cubby-hole at one side of the old-fashioned 
 chimney a dish of potatoes that had been warmed o\'er at 
 some time, and a dish of beans, both frozen, and a plate of 
 fried pork, and another of mackerel, each of which looked as 
 though it had been picked at by the hens. These were all 
 put upon a bare table, with knives and forks, but no plates — 
 and our dinner was ready. 
 
 " ^Ve mechanically went through the motions of eating, but 
 it was a miserable failure. Our dispositions were to eat, but 
 our stomachs would not agree with our dispositions, and we 
 did not eat a sixpence worth. After resting ourselves for a 
 few minutes, Major Brown asked the old lady how much we 
 were indebted to her. After taking another pinch of snuff, 
 she said she could not tell. 
 
 "'It wasn't much of a dinner, anyway,' she said, and we 
 thought her judgment correct. Major Brown handed her a 
 twenty-five-cent piece for himself, and asked her if she 
 thought that would be about right. She thought it would ; so 
 we each handed over a quarter, thus paying three dollars and 
 a half for what would not have fed a chicken. From there 
 we went to the Company's shanty, opposite Big Equinunk, 
 where we got our supper at about five o'clock. From that 
 point we proceeded two miles farther to Jeremiah Lord's, 
 where twelve of the party hired Lord to take them to Han- 
 cock that night. It being Saturday night, Ray Clark and 
 myself concluded to stay with Lord over Sunday. Monday 
 morning we got Lord to take us to Hancock, where we found 
 the others waiting for the engine. This did not make its 
 appearance until four o'clock Monday afternoon. We found 
 that between Hancock and Deposit there were three miles of 
 track not laid, so that there was no way to get further with 
 the cars until that breach was filled, and the iron had to come 
 from the other direction — from Susquehanna. Major Brown 
 decided that he must go through to Binghamton at all haz- 
 ards. The rest of the party resolved to go no farther, but I 
 told the Major I would stick to him as long as there was 
 a button on his shirt. The trouble was to get to Deposit. 
 We found a lumberman who was going there, but he had no 
 better accommodation than a pair of bob sleighs. Turning 
 one up over the other to make a seat, we rode the thirteen 
 miles without buffalo robe or blanket ; and what a bitter cold 
 night it was ! When we reached Deposit we found Engineer 
 Joshua P. Martin, with the locomotive ' Orange,' with which he 
 had brought the iron to lay the three miles of track, and was 
 waiting for us to take us to Binghamton, forty miles distant. 
 After getting our supper we boarded the engine, with nothing 
 to shelter us. There were no cabs on the engines yet. 
 Facing a strong northwest wind, with the mercury at zero, we 
 rode Qver that bleak country, arriving at Binghamton at half- 
 past eleven o'clock Monday night — three days, nine hours 
 and a half getting over the division. But we succeeded in 
 getting the road in order so that the excursion train on the 
 
 following Wednesday passed over the division without acci- 
 dent or delay.'' 
 
 OPENING OF THE RAILROAD TO BINGHAMTON. 
 
 This event was celebrated by the running of two excursion 
 trains from Piermont to Binghamton, filled with distinguished 
 guests. The party left New York Tuesday evening Decem- 
 ber 26, 1848, on the steamboat "Oregon," Captain St. John, 
 engaged for the occasion. The boat arrived at Piermont at 
 ten o'clock, where the party remained all night. The trains 
 left Piermont at five o'clock Wednesday morning, the 27th. 
 The trip, owing to the early hour and the darkness, was un- 
 eventful until the excursion- approached the Delaware Valley. 
 AVhen near the bridge where the line crosses the Delaware 
 and Hudson Canal, the engine of the first train got off the 
 track, and there was a detention of nearly an hour in a blind- 
 ing snow storm. 
 
 Near Lackawaxen happened the only unpleasant event of 
 the excursion. Orders had been given to keep everything off 
 the track throughout the new line until the special trains had 
 passed. After the passage of the first train, some workmen, 
 probably ignorant that a second train was on the road, had 
 replaced their dirt car, and were leisurely riding upon it, in 
 advance of the second train, which, in spite of every attempt 
 to avoid such a catastrophe, came in collision with it. Most 
 of the workmen had jumped off the car, but of those who 
 were unable to do so, two (John Faust and George Hines) 
 were seriously hurt, the former receiving a severe fracture of 
 the hip joint, which it was feared might prove fatal, and the 
 latter a deep flesh wound in the thigh from the cow-catcher, 
 and a fracture on one or more of his ribs. A collection 
 amounting to $196 was made for them, and President Loder, 
 on behalf of the Directors, promised that they should be 
 well cared for until they recovered. 
 
 At Narrowsburg a cold collation was provided. The train 
 again pushed on, battling with the storm and pushing off the 
 accumulating snow, which had reached a considerable depth. 
 An incident of the passing of this pioneer passenger train 
 over the Delaware Division occurred at Callicoon and is 
 worthy of note. A large number of people had gathered 
 there to greet the train on its arrival. A banner presentation 
 had been arranged for, but the train did not stop. It ran at 
 a very slow speed, however, and as the last car came along, 
 Peter Traynor seized the banner and handed it up to the 
 brakeman on the rear platform. On it was inscribed the 
 following : " The iron horse from the Hudson is Welcome to 
 drink of the waters of the Callicoon." 
 
 It was between eight and nine o'clock in the evening before 
 the train arrived at Deposit, so desperately had the trains to 
 fight their way over the almost untried road, through the oppos- 
 ing obstruction of the drifting snow. A large concourse had 
 assembled to greet the arrival of the party at Deposit. Across 
 the railroad was thrown a large and beautiful arch, gaily deco- 
 rated, and bearing in mammoth letters formed of evergreens 
 the welcome word "WELCOME" ; on the top of the arch 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 353 
 
 stood a noble deer, which, with others, was presented to the 
 Directors. " One could not help a passing thought of sad- 
 ness," said one of the excursionists afterward, " as this first toll 
 of a wild and sportive race to the stronger power of man sug- 
 gested the coming destruction which henceforth awaits them 
 in their native woods. Here, too, in the gorge of the moun- 
 tains, cannons roared and bonfires flashed and threw their 
 glare upon thousands of human faces." 
 
 While this courageous excursion party was struggling on its 
 way through the wild, snow-swept Delaware Valley, on that 
 memorable 27 th of December, this was what was transpiring 
 at Binghamton : 
 
 " Early in the morning," wrote John R. Dickinson in the 
 Binghamton Democrat, " the inhabitants of this and the ad- 
 joining counties began coming into the village. About ten 
 o'clock a snow storm came on, which continued all day and 
 through the night. Notwithstanding the severity of the storm, 
 thousands continued to assemble. About four o'clock p.m., 
 the multitude, men, women, and children, assembled at the 
 depot, and awaited the arrival of the first train of cars from 
 New York to Binghamton. Hundreds were promenading the 
 depot grounds through the mingled storm. Hundreds more 
 surrounded a large and powerful locomotive, that had come 
 in from Port Jervis with a train of freight cars in the early 
 part of the day, and were expressing their admiration of its 
 iron muscle, and their surprise at its wonderful power and 
 speed. At another point the cannon were stationed, about 
 which a multitude of men and boys were congregated, ready 
 to touch off the guns at the first sound of the whistle of the 
 train. 
 
 " The large room of the depot-house was filled to overflow- 
 ing — the adjoining room was reserved for the exclusive occu- 
 pancy of the committee of arrangements, with a doorkeeper 
 to keep out the common people. The car-house, which was 
 located about fifty rods east of the depot-house, was well 
 warmed and lighted, two tables spread there extending its 
 entire length (150 feet), with the best the Phenix Hotel 
 could provide. Near the middle of the car-house a platform 
 was elevated, upon which Littlewood's band was stationed. 
 
 " From four o'clock, hour after hour passed away. Some 
 becoming impatient left for their homes. The clock struck 
 nine, ten, eleven. A large portion of the crowd had gone. 
 Anxious speculations as to the safety of the first train from 
 New York were passing among the remaining crowd, when, a 
 little before twelve, midnight, the sound of a distant whistie 
 came booming down the line. Bang ! bang ! went the can- 
 non, and suddenly all was excitement. Many who had gone 
 home and retired to rest arose and repaired to the depot 
 grounds. The cooks and waiters set themselves to the final 
 arrangements at the long tables. The firing of cannon con- 
 tinued. The whistle sounded nearer and louder, and the 
 long pent-up hurrahs of the crowd becoming more enthusi- 
 astic, altogether greatly marred the usual midnight stillness 
 of our quiet village. At this moment the stately train, drawn 
 by the panting locomotives, approached and halted at the 
 car-house, where the refreshments were in waiting. From 
 
 300 to 400 passengers alighted and entered the car-house, 
 and began at once the discussion of the merits and bounties 
 of the table. The honorable committee in the meantime 
 were in waiting down to the depot-house, under the charge 
 of doorkeepers, preparing to receive the distinguished guests 
 from the city. It was evident from the lofty bearing of many 
 of them, and the precautions taken by the doorkeepers to 
 prevent a contact with the common people, that they had 
 screwed themselves up to sufficient dignity to receive with ap- 
 propriate demonstration the Honorable the Mayor, and the 
 Common Council of the City of New York, the President 
 and Directors of the Erie Railroad Company, and other dis- 
 tinguished guests. After waiting a while and learning that the 
 New Yorkers were partaking of the repast at the car-house, 
 the committee, evidently disappointed in not being permitted 
 to take that conspicuous part in the reception they had antici- 
 pated, followed up to the car house and joined in the festivi- 
 ties of the occasion. 
 
 " After the cloth was removed, Mr. Loder, the President of 
 the Railroad Company, was called for, and entertained the 
 assemblage with remarks embracing a history of the affairs of 
 the Company and interesting facts and statistics, touching 
 the commencement, progress and completion of the road to 
 Binghamton, and its future prospects, which were received 
 with great applause. Calvin E. Mather then arose on behalf 
 of the committee, and addressed the assemblage with great 
 spirit and animation. Toasts were given, after which William 
 E. Dodge made appropriate remarks. He was followed by 
 the Hon. Zadoc Pratt, Chief Engineer Brown, and others. 
 The guests then retired to lodgings at public and private 
 houses in town which had been tendered to them. 
 
 " About nine o'clock in the morning all assembled again at 
 the depot grounds to see the train go out, and tender to our 
 guests a cordial expression of our thanks for their visit and a 
 wish for their safe return. While the preparation to start was 
 going on the crowd assembled in the car-house and were ad- 
 dressed by Mr. Franklin, Mr. Dodge, Mr. Davies, Mr. Fol- 
 som, Mr. Diven and others, in spirited and interesting 
 speeches, which were received with enthusiastic applause. 
 The best of feeling prevailed, and the citizens of New York 
 and Binghamton greeted each other as friends and neighbors, 
 separated only by a few hours' ride. 
 
 " At twelve o'clock, m., the two trains went out, amidst the 
 hurrahs of the thousands assembled to witness their depart- 
 ure." 
 
 GETTING THE RAILROAD BEYOND BINGHAMTON. 
 
 The contract for building the railroad from Binghamton to 
 Corning was taken by John Magee and Constant Cook, of 
 Bath, N. Y. ; John Arnott, of Elmira ; Charles S. Cook, of 
 Havana, N. Y., and John H. Cheddell, of Auburn, N. Y. 
 ("Administration of Benjamin Loder," page 92.) This was 
 an easy portion of the railroad to build, lying as it did in 
 and along the fertile flat lands. and in the thickly settled por- 
 tions of the Susquehanna and Chemung valleys, and each 
 
 23 
 
354 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 contractor made a large fortune out of the arrangement with 
 the Company. The locomotive " Orange " did duty in the 
 work of construction on that part of the railroad. J. S. T. 
 Stranahan, Joseph White, and Horace G. Phelps did much 
 of the work as sub-contractors on the road between Elmira 
 and Corning. 
 
 The railroad was so far complete between Binghamton and 
 Owego on June i, 1849, that an excursion train from New 
 York, bearing distinguished guests, was run as far as Bing- 
 hamton on May 31st, and on to Owego the next morning. 
 This first passenger train arrived at Owego at ten o'clock 
 A.M., June I, 1849. Church bells were rung and cannon 
 were fired. Considerable preparation had been made to 
 celebrate the occasion so long waited for. Hon. Thomas 
 Farrington was President of the day ; Hon. John M. Parker, 
 E. S. Sweet, Esq., Hon. John J. Taylor, and Franklin Slosson, 
 Vice-Presidents ; Col. N. W. Davis, Marshal. A dinner for 
 the invited guests was spread in the big dining-room of the 
 depot (Owego having been designated as a dining station), 
 and a public feast on platforms outside, by S. B. Dennis, 
 proprietor of the Tioga House. President Farrington de- 
 livered a speech of welcome to the distinguished guests that 
 arrived on the train. It was responded to by William E. 
 Dodge, President Loder not being present. After dinner, 
 speeches were made by Shepherd Knapp ; William E. Robin- 
 son, of the New York Tribune ; Hon. James Brooks, of the 
 New York Express, and E. S. Sweet, and Hon. S. B. Leonard, 
 of Owego. 
 
 There was no general jollification made over the opening 
 of the railroad to Elmira, the first train from New York on 
 which occasion arrived at Elmira on the morning of October 
 2, 1849. It was welcomed suitably and joyously by the El- 
 mira people. 
 
 As the railroad approached Corning, the people of the 
 Canisteo Valley, in Steuben County, through which the orig- 
 inal route of the railroad was surveyed, became greatly 
 alarmed over rumors that the people of the Cohocton Valley, 
 especially at Bath, where the influential Magees and Cooks 
 dwelt, had brought such arguments to bear upon the Company 
 that it was considering the propriety of diverting the railroad 
 between Corning and Hornellsville from the Canisteo Valley 
 to a route that would follow the Cohocton Valley instead, by 
 the way of Bath. 
 
 To protest against this, and to show the Company how 
 unwise it would be to make such a change as that, a great 
 meeting of all that excited country was held at Mrs. 
 Jones' Tavern, Cameron, Steuben County, July 28, 1849. 
 Jeremiah Baker was chairman ; John K. Hale, secretary. 
 William M. Hawley, Nathaniel Finch, Thomas J. Reynolds, 
 William R. Smith, and F. C. Denninny drafted, as the sense 
 of the meeting, a memorial, which was printed in a pamphlet. 
 The committee reported to a meeting of people held at 
 Buck's Hotel, Addison, August 24th, following. Gen. Ran- 
 
 som Rathbone was chairman of the meeting and Nathaniel 
 Finch read the memorial, and William R. Smith, Gen. Ran- 
 som Rathbone, and James Alley were appointed a committee 
 " to go to New York, and present to the President and Chief 
 Engineer, and each of the Directors, and to such others as 
 they may deem expedient, a copy of the same." Eloquent 
 speakers, representing the Company's interest, chief among 
 them being Asher Tyler, of Elmira, addressed the meeting, 
 assuring the people that the Company would take its railroad 
 to that route that gave it the most encouragement, and thus 
 secured many a Canisteo Valley farmer's hard-earned dollars, 
 grants of land, and rights of way in behalf of a railroad that 
 was bound to go that way, anyhow, for the light of subsequent 
 events showed that there had at no time been any probability 
 of the route being diverted from the Canisteo Valley. 
 
 The Hon. Asher Tyler was a man of much consequence 
 in the Southern Tier of New York, as well as elsewhere, in 
 his day. He was born at Bridgewater, Oneida County, 
 N. Y., May 10, 1798, and was graduated from Hamilton 
 College, in that county, in the class of 181 7. He studied 
 law, not for the purpose of a general practice, but that he 
 might apply it as agent of the Devereux Land Company, that 
 had considerable real estate in Cattaraugus and Chautauqua 
 counties. He was a member of Congress f rona the Cattarau- 
 gus district in 1843-45, and was contemporary there with 
 some of the most distinguished men of the country. He 
 became friends with them and retained their friendship as 
 long as he lived, corresponding with many, and being visited 
 by them at his Elmira home. He conducted the purchase of 
 the land for the Erie in all of the counties east of Broome, 
 examining titles and getting clear rights. His judgment was 
 of the best, and there is no record of its ever having gone 
 astray. During this period of his life he lived at Ellicott- 
 ville, Cattaraugus County. In 1848 he went to Elmira to 
 live, and spent the remainder of his days there. He died at 
 the age of more than eighty years. His wife was the daugh- 
 ter of John Youle, an ironmaster of the city of New York. 
 The Youles were of English origin, and the family, in the 
 early part of the century, was one of the highest in social 
 standing in the city. The rare Tyler homestead in Elmira is 
 occupied by his daughters, ladies of high culture and accom- 
 plishment. 
 
 Nathaniel Finch, of Hornellsville, succeeded Asher Tyler as 
 General Land Agent, and was made a General Attorney of the 
 Company. He was a native of Greenwich, Com. and setded 
 at Hornellsville in 1837. He was a lawyer, and was employed 
 by the Erie as early as 1841, to secure right of way for the 
 railroad through the Canisteo Valley and along the West- 
 ern Division. He subsequently became the Erie's attorney 
 and claim agent for that section. He remained in that 
 service until his death in 1866. He was succeeded by his 
 son, John M. Finch, who had been his father's assistant since 
 the age of eighteen, and who held the place until 1869, when 
 he retired. 
 
 Much of the route of the old piled roadway of 1841, in the 
 Canisteo Valley, was abandoned for a more feasible one, and 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 355 
 
 as Lite as 1895 long rows of piles could be seen on the flats 
 on the lower side of the Canisteo River, melancholy remind- 
 ers of one costly folly in the building of the Erie. 
 
 Among the contractors on the work between Corning and 
 Hornellsville were Benjamin Folsom, \\'ells & Butcher, Henry 
 A. Fonda, Peter C. ^^'ard, and M. McMahon, the father of 
 the present Gen. Martin T. McMahon, of New York. The 
 civil engineers were : L. D. Hodgeman, Thomas A. Emmet, 
 and Messrs. Stancliff, Pumpelly, and Stoddard. 
 
 Under date of Monday, August 26, 1850, President Ben- 
 jamin Loder wrote from New York to a friend : " I want to 
 go West this week as far as Hornellsville, as we hope to open 
 to that place Monday. Shall have no jollification over forty- 
 one miles of railroad." 
 
 Miss Susan Kress, a young woman of Dundee, Yates 
 County, N. Y., was the first female to ride over the Sus- 
 quehanna Division from Corning to Hornellsville, which she 
 did on a construction train, Saturday, August 31, 1851. 
 Miss Kress became the wife of H. E. Buvinger, who has been 
 for more than forty years a prominent employee of the Erie 
 at Hornellsville. 
 
 The first locomotive crossed the Canisteo River into Hor- 
 nellsville on Sunday, September i, 1851. The locomotive 
 was the celebrated "Orange.'' The day was cold and rainy. 
 When the " Orange " and its pioneer load of passengers for 
 Hornellsville arrived at the Canisteo Creek, east of Hornells- 
 ville, it was found that the bridge was not yet ready for the 
 rails. The party was obliged to wait several hours in the 
 drizzling rain for the bridge to be finished, and the last rail 
 laid. It was dark when the locomotive at last was permitted 
 to cross, and entered Hornellsville whistling shrill responses 
 to the loud shouts of the assembled populace. The whistle 
 of the locomotive reached the ears of people who were at 
 church, and the pastor of at least one church (Rev. Horatio 
 Pattengill, of the Presbyterian church) praised God and dis- 
 missed his congregation, who flocked to see the iron horse, 
 whose coming had been awaited so many years. President 
 Loder was among those on the flat car. 
 
 BLOODY AND FATAL FACTION FIGHTS. 
 
 At Alfred, eighteen miles west of Hornellsville, where the 
 railroad route wound round the hillside; as it rose to the 
 summit of the Alleghany Mountains, there were heavy cuts 
 to be made through the obstructing banks, and deep gullies 
 to be filled to the level — one of these a mile or more long, 
 the longest and deepest fill on the entire work. The con- 
 struction on that section was in charge of Contractor Henry 
 A. Fonda, who had a small army of Irish laborers in his 
 employ. Three factions of these sons of the Green Isle were 
 represented among them : the Far-downs, the Tipperaries, and 
 the Corkonians. Naturally, as had been the case elsewhere 
 on the work, the ancient feuds of these factions were bound 
 to take on vim and vigor whenever the only thing in common 
 with these diverse feUow countrymen, love of the insidious 
 " potteen," was indulged in overmuch, or even when one 
 
 faction could find the slightest excuse for attacking another, 
 and then violent " ructions " were sure to follow. 
 
 In June, 1850, John Pardon, a Far-down, while passing 
 through Alfred with his family, on his way to Andover, was 
 attacked by aggressive members of both the Tipperary and 
 Corkonian factions, but was rescued and sheltered by Paris 
 Green, a citizen. This enraged the attacking Irishmen, 
 and they collected in a large mob, determined to prevent 
 the Pardon family from proceeding on its way. The out- 
 break became so serious that the militia of the towns of 
 Alfred, Andover, and Almond were called out, and two con- 
 stables' posses, one from Alfred and one from Andover, were 
 organized. The Andover posse escorted the Pardon family 
 on their journey, while the Alfred posse arrested a number of 
 the mob leaders and took them to Alfred Centre, two miles 
 distant, for trial. While the trial was in progress the Justice 
 of the Peace had warning that the mob was approaching in 
 force, armed with all manner of weapons, to rescue their 
 friends from the officers of the law. The militia had a six- 
 pound brass cannon in their possession. This was loaded to 
 the muzzle with chains, nails, scraps of iron, and such other 
 missiles as could be obtained, and the gun placed in the road 
 where it could be trained on the rioters when they appeared 
 around the curve, just below. But the battery was not called 
 into action. When the leaders of the advancing forces 
 turned the curve and suddenly faced the frowning gun, a 
 retreat began, not a dignified and orderly one, but such a 
 one as has been seldom witnessed in the ordinary tactics of 
 war. Neither fences nor other obstacles checked the fleeing 
 mob, as it scattered in every direction leading to the woods, 
 leaving hats and motley weapons behind. Thus this riot was 
 quelled without bloodshed, but brawls ending in murder were 
 of frequent occurrence. 
 
 In October, 1850, during a row in a shanty one night. 
 Contractor Fonda and his foreman, a man named Kent, were 
 called in to quiet it. As they entered the shanty the lights 
 were extinguished, and a free fight followed. When it was 
 over, two young Irishmen were dead, shot through the heart, 
 and Kent was unconscious from a blow on the head. He 
 did not regain consciousness, and died in a few days. It was 
 never known who was responsible for any of the killing. 
 
 The next day after this broil the Company hired fifteen of 
 the militia to act as guards. It was their duty to seize all 
 firearms found on the laborers, and to confiscate all whiskey 
 brought into the village. This prevented any further serious 
 outbreaks, but occasionally the factions would come together 
 in battle, with fatal effects on one another, and the big fill 
 just below the station at Alfred, so tradition insists, contains 
 the bodies of many missing natives of the Emerald Isle, who 
 fell in these affrays, and were secretly buried to prevent un- 
 pleasant official investigation. 
 
 CHANGING THE ROUTE. 
 
 In 1838 Maj. Thompson S. Brown had located the 
 western section of the road, surveying east from Lake Erie, 
 
356 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 placing it through the Conewango Valley to Randolph, 
 thence over Cold Spring Summit to the Alleghany River south 
 of the present site of Salamanca, thence up the river to 
 Olean. The contracts for building the road were let in 
 1840-41 over this route, as we have seen, and piles had 
 been driven the greater part of this distance, when the 
 failure of the Company in 1842 stopped the work. In 1849, 
 Silas Seymour, having succeeded Major Brown as engineer of 
 that part of the work, was instructed to find a shorter and 
 better route. The result was the abandonment of the route 
 as located by Brown, and the present route through the 
 Alleghany Valley and thence to Dunkirk was adopted, and 
 the hundreds of thousands of dollars that had been expended 
 in railroad building over the old route were added to the 
 other sums similar railroad making in the Susquehanna and 
 Canisteo valleys had absorbed. The disappointed people of 
 the Conewango Valley, who were to be left at last without a 
 railroad, after all their long years of waiting and efforts in 
 behalf of the Erie, by this abandonment of the route of 
 1839, made a strong endeavor to have the decision of the 
 Company reconsidered, and succeeded so far that another 
 engineer was sent to examine the different routes, his report 
 to be final. This engineer was McRae Swift, and if ever a 
 man was wined and dined and treated with marked consider- 
 ation, Engineer Swift was, during the time he was studying 
 the merits of those two routes from the Alleghany Valley to 
 Lake Erie. He at last confirmed Silas Seymour's judgment, 
 and that was the end of all the hopes of Conewango Valley 
 in the railroad between Lake Erie and the Hudson River. 
 
 WHAT THE LAND WAS GOOD FOR. 
 
 The right of way for the railroad was obtained at different 
 times, as work on the road progressed, and much the greater 
 part of the right was donated by the land-owners. One 
 notable exception to this occurred on the Seneca Indian 
 Reservation in Cattaraugus County. The railroad had neces- 
 sarily to pass for several miles through the Indian lands in 
 the Alleghany Valley. The land needed was of no great in- 
 trinsic value, and the Company's representatives in the secur- 
 ing of right of way hoped to find thoroughfare through the 
 reservation for very small remuneration, if not entirely free 
 highway. They were much taken aback, therefore, when 
 they had placed the matter before the Indian Council at 
 Bucktooth (now Salamanca), to be informed by the President, 
 a hard-headed and worldly-wise Seneca, that the Reserva- 
 tion required 1 10,000 for right of way through its lands. 
 The spokesman of the Right of Way Committee argued long 
 and eloquently with the Council, explaining the great benefit 
 the railroad would be to the Reservation and its occupants, and 
 how they could well afford to donate right of way for the 
 road the entire distance through the lands. 
 
 " The land we want," said he, " is of no actual use to you. 
 You cannot raise corn on it ; you cannot raise potatoes on it. 
 What is it good for, then? It isn't good for anything." 
 
 The wily and long-headed President of the Indian Coun- 
 cil simply grunted and said : 
 
 " Him pitty good land for railroad T' 
 
 That closed the argument. The Railroad Company had 
 nothing left to do but pay the $10,000 before it could get 
 title to right of way through the Reservation. This money 
 was paid in cash, and the President of the Council placed it 
 in a leather bag and took it to his house. The next day he 
 reported to the Council that some one had broken into his 
 house during the night and stolen the bag and its valuable 
 contents. The robber was never found, and to this day there 
 are Indians on the Reservation who have their opinion about 
 the loss of the money. 
 
 DRIVING THE LAST SPIKE. 
 
 The work was pushed forward, in both directions, on the 
 Western Division, and by February, 185 1, the rails were down 
 as far west from Hornellsville as Cuba Old Station, a mile 
 east of the present station at that place. February 5 th, 
 William A. Kimball, the second engineer to run regularly on 
 the Western Division, ran the first train on the Erie from 
 Hornellsville west. He had Hinkley engine No. 70, and a 
 train consisting of a. passenger car, a baggage car, and 
 thirteen flat cars loaded with railroad iron. The road was so 
 new and unstable that the clay of the road-bed was forced up 
 by the weight of the train — or, rather, the rails were pressed 
 down so in the clay that it came over the rails and stalled 
 the train. One of the brakemen on the train lay on the foot- 
 board of the engine and put sand on the track out of a 
 bucket, there being no sanding attachment to the locomotives 
 then. Kimball was nine hours getting his train to the top of 
 the grade west of Hornellsville, thirteen miles. Trains were 
 run as far as Cuba, principally freight, passenger trains being 
 merely an incident, until the railroad was completed to Dun- 
 kirk and opened. May 14, 1851. There was a depot, a water- 
 tank, and a turn-table at Cuba. Here, April 19, 185 1, eleven 
 years after the first spike was driven at Piermont, in October, 
 1840, the last spike was driven in the last rail that made of 
 the New York and Erie Railroad a continuous track between 
 the Hudson and Lake Erie. The strokes of the sledge 
 hammer that sent this spike home were delivered by Silas 
 Seymour, who had seen the first shovelful of dirt thrown out 
 at the breaking of ground for the railroad at Deposit, N. Y., 
 November 7, 1835, and who had followed the continuous 
 construction of the railroad step by step since it was started 
 down the Shawangunk Mountains, west of Otisville, in 1846 — 
 having located the western end years before. 
 
 April 19-20, i85r, previous to the grand opening, the 
 officers and Directors of the road, with a few invited guests, 
 made a trip over the line from Piermont to Dunkirk, remain- 
 ing over night at Elmira. They reached Dunkirk amid the 
 booming of cannon and the wildest enthusiasm of the 
 people. Soon after that, Charles AV. Tuffts, who came from 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 357 
 
 Boston to Dunkirk in the latter part of 1850, to help set up 
 •" No. 90," the first locomotive on the western end of the 
 road, and who subsequently went to Hornellsville to run 
 Engine No. 73 on a construction train, was with the latter 
 locomotive at Tip-top Summit. Suddenly, without a moment's 
 warning, the locomotive, track and all sank in the swamp, 
 and were almost entirely submerged. A track was built 
 around the sink, for the use of trains, and the locomotive 
 was extricated after a week's hard labor. 
 
 The grand triumphant completion of the railroad to Dun- 
 kirk and the monster celebration of the event at Dunkirk 
 on May 15, 1851, are described in graphic detail on pages 
 94 to 109 (''Administration of Benjamin Loder"). The 
 ocean was indeed at last united with the lakes. 
 
 OPENING OF THE NEWBURGH BRANCH. 
 
 It may truly be said that, aside from its value and impor- 
 tance as one of the many ramifications of the present Erie 
 system, the Newburgh Branch stands as a perpetual reminder 
 of a great crisis in the history of the Erie. If no railroad had 
 been assured to Newburgh in 1845 (" Third Administration of 
 Eleazar Lord," pages 76 to 83), the Company and its work 
 would have gone down in pitiful collapse, and what the un- 
 fortunate fate of Erie might have been no one may now con- 
 jecture. For that reason the opening of this branch was an 
 ■event of much moment in the history of Erie. 
 
 Ground was broken for the Newburgh Branch July 4, 1846, 
 on land donated by Captain Robinson, in the village of New- 
 burgh. The work shared in and suffered from all the subse- 
 quent vicissitudes that made of the construction of the main 
 line such a desperate struggle. It was completed, and the 
 branch was opened January 8, 1850. 
 
 i^Froni the Newburgh Gazette^ December 15, 1849.) • 
 
 A Locomotive, with a Passenger Car attached, passed over the 
 Newburgh Branch on Wednesday, December 15th. They arrived in 
 Newburgh about 4 o'clock and remained an hour. Mr. Loder, the 
 President of the Company, and several other gentlemen came as 
 passengers. The appearance of the Locomotive excited much in- 
 terest, and its entrance into the village was welcomed by a large con- 
 course of citizens. It is said that the regular passage of freight 
 trains will be put on the road early in January — perhaps next week. 
 
 The citizens of Newburgh held a public meeting on the 
 evening of December 20, 1849, ^iid made arrangements to 
 ■celebrate the opening of the branch in fitting manner. 
 Samuel J. Farnum was President of the meeting. A com- 
 mittee consisting of J. J. Monell, Enoch Carter, C. C. Smith, 
 Robert A. Forsyth, David Morse, Richard A. Southwick, 
 Samuel J. Farnum, James Belknap, Hiram Falls, John K. 
 Lawson, Charles U. Cushman, Isaac S. Fowler, and W. L. 
 Warren, was appointed to arrange the programme for the 
 ■celebration, which they did. 
 
 January 8th was the anniversary of the battle of New Or- 
 leans, a day celebrated with much enthusiasm, especially by 
 the Democratic party, half a century ago, and as that division 
 of the State of New York was Democratic then, the opening 
 
 of the Newburgh Branch was made by many the occasion of 
 a double celebration, individually, although officially only the 
 railroad celebration was recognized. 
 
 The sleighing was fine, which brought hundreds of people 
 in from all the surrounding country. The multitude assem- 
 bled at the Newburgh depot and filled all the neighboring 
 approaches, to await the coming of the train bearing the 
 officers and Directors of the Company and their guests, who 
 were to be the guests of Newburgh. 
 
 At one o'clock p.m. the train signalled its approach, 
 and it was greeted with the booming of cannon and the 
 vociferous cheering of the people. President Loder was 
 prevented by illness from being present. The officers and 
 Directors and their guests were conducted to the station 
 platform, where F. J. Belts, Esq., welcomed them in a long 
 and eloquent address. William E. Dodge, who seems to 
 have been the Coinpany's spokesman on occasions of this 
 kind, on behalf of the officers and Directors responded in a 
 felicitous speech. 
 
 The public repast was spread in the Company's round- 
 house. The guests of honor were taken to the United States 
 Hotel, where 200 sat down to dinner. Toasts were drunk, 
 and congratulatory speeches made. The prominent speakers 
 of the day were Gen. Joseph Hoxie, Shepherd Knapp, \\'ill- 
 iam E. Dodge, and others. 
 
 The public feast at tiie engine-house lasted during the en- 
 tire day. It consisted of one ox, roasted whole, weight 761 
 pounds; four sheep, roasted whole and stuffed, weight 500 
 pounds ; 600 pounds of pork and beans ; 400 pounds of 
 ham; 256 pounds of a-la-mode beef; 231 pounds of corned 
 beef; 160 pounds of beef tongues; 400 pounds of head 
 cheese ; i hog, roasted whole, weight 400 pounds ; i deer, 
 roasted whole, 256 pounds; 300 loaves of bread, besides 
 two loaves that weighed 150 pounds apiece; 12 two-bushel 
 baskets of sandwiches ; vegetables and fruit by the barrel. 
 No intoxicating drinks were permitted to be served at the 
 barbecue, but no such restriction was placed upon the dis- 
 tinguished guests at the hotel. 
 
 The manner in which this barbecue and feast was served 
 attracted such wide and favorable comment that a similar 
 entertainment, on a much larger scale, was decided upon by 
 the citizens of Dunkirk to be one of the features of the cele- 
 bration which was to occur at that place the following spring, 
 upon the opening of the railroad between the Hudson River 
 and Lake Erie, and the caterers who had prepared the New- 
 burgh affair were engaged to take charge of the great Dun- 
 kirk barbecue. Their chief was Enoch Carter. The engine- 
 house in which the public feast was given was a structure 
 150 X 75 feet, with a dome, or arched way, covered with 
 heavy plates of tin. It was at that time the finest railroad 
 building of the kind in the country. 
 
 EXPERIENCES OF PRESIDENT LODER. 
 
 The following extracts from private letters from President 
 Loder, written during the construction of the railroad from 
 
358 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Port Jervis toward Dunkirk, although brief, tell more elo- 
 quently a story of self-sacrifice and of the magnitude of the 
 task than a volume of detail could : 
 
 BiNGHAMTON, 'id May, 1847.— I arrived here yesterday (Sunday) 
 morning at three o'clock, having travelled nearly all night, which, to- 
 gether with a severe journey on horseback over an almost intolerable 
 road of about 100 miles up the Delaware River, and a bad cold and 
 headache, confined me to my bed nearly all day. I shall leave during 
 the day for Owego and Cayuga Lake. 
 
 Narrowsburgh. 2'id Feb., 184S.— I have just arrived at this 
 place after a fatiguing journey on horseback — on foot — on lumber 
 wagon — &c. Yesterday all day on horseback, riding through snow, 
 rain, hail and slush — to-day warmer and pleasant overhead — snow 
 about three inches ; muddy and disagreeable under foot. I feel quite 
 well, though, and shall continue on this afternoon on horseback, and 
 hope to reach a shanty about seventeen miles ahead by night. I will 
 write again from some convenient point during the week. 
 
 BiNGHAMTON, lith Feb., 1848. — After a tedious travel on horse- 
 back and on foot over the whole line of our road, I have brought up 
 here, where I remain for a few hours — shall leave in a few moments 
 on a similar tour of some fifty-eight miles, and hope to be home on 
 Saturday next. This morning is cold and snowing slightly, with ap- 
 pearances of a regular old-fashioned storm. 
 
 Hinsdale, Cattaraugus Co., 6 a. m., Nov. id, 1849. — After three 
 days' heavy dragging through deep mud, snow and ice, and cold, 
 rainy atmosphere, we have arrived at this place. We have now 
 seventy-seven miles of the same kind of travelling to reach Lake Erie, 
 which will require two more days of hard travelling. 
 
 Dunkirk, Monday, 6 a. m., Nov. ^tJi, 1849. — We arrived at this 
 place on Saturday evening after six days' hard travel through mud, 
 snow and rain. . We are just about leaving on our return ; 
 
 roads bad and raining hard. From appearances we shall have very 
 hard work to reach Elmira in four days. 
 
 New York, ibth August, 1850. — I want to go West this week 
 as far as Hornellsville, as we hope to open to that place on Monday 
 — shall have no jollification over forty-one miles of railroad. 
 
 New York, 17//; September, 1850. — I intend to start to-morrow 
 morning for Hornellsville — from thence, by carriage across the coun- 
 try to Attica. A railroad is about being built between these two 
 points, and I have been written to, and pressed from so many quar- 
 ters to come up and go over the line that I must go. I shall go on 
 to Buffalo. 
 
 Dunkirk, \btk Oct., 1850. — I have just arrived here this evening, 
 after a long and tedious journey over the road. It has been one of 
 the most important visits that I have ever made, finding a vast 
 amount of business requiring attention. My visits have heretofore 
 been in reference to generals, this time more in reference to details. 
 I have walked over the most difficult parts of the line, sometimes 
 through gulfs of great depth — difficult of descent and more difficult of 
 ascent — through bushes, briars, over logs, stumps and brush — some- 
 times almost impassable, and from ten to twenty miles per day. But 
 we have arrived here to-night in good health, making six days from 
 New York, besides Sunday. I find more difficulties, and doubt of 
 getting through by May next, than I had expected, but still I hope to 
 accomplish it, feeling heavily and deeply the great responsibility I 
 have assumed, or rather what has been placed upon me by the Board 
 
 of Directors, in placing the whole business in my hands, viz. : to 
 carry the work through by the 14th of May next, the time limited by 
 law. Here I find a week's work on hand, and negotiations with other 
 railroad companies of the most important character. 
 
 Dunkirk, ibtk Jan., 1851. — I arrived here to-day about eleven 
 o'clock, A. M., and entered Dunkirk on a locomotive which came out 
 from Dunkirk to meet us. . . I find in coming over the line 
 
 that a vast amount of work is yet to be done, to get our road through 
 by the 14th May next. Mr. Allen leaves to-morrow morning on his 
 return home, and will be the bearer of this letter. I found on my 
 arrival here, several letters, and one from Mr. Marsh, Secretary, 
 urging me to go to Albany to meet difficulties threatening us there. 
 I have got to attend to business of much importance here before I 
 leave. Hope to get through to-morrow, so as to set my face home- 
 ward on Saturday — and to get to Buffalo that night. 
 
 HOW IT SECURED THE JERSEY CITY TERMINUS. 
 
 The act of the New Jersey Legislature incorporating in 
 perpetuity " The President and Directors of the Paterson and 
 Hudson River Railroad," was passed January 21, 1831. The 
 incorporators named were John Colt, Robert Carrick, Abra- 
 ham Godwin, Jr., Richard R. Morris, A\'illiam S. Buckner, 
 Elias B. D. Ogden, and Andrew P. Hopper. The capital 
 stock was fixed at ^250,000, the railroad to be built from 
 Paterson to Weehawken, and from thence to any other suit- 
 able place on the Hudson River, opposite the city of New 
 York, within fifty feet of high-water mark, with power to hold 
 real estate at each terminus not to exceed two acres at either 
 place, and not to approach either of the ferries at Hoboken, 
 Weehawken, or Jersey City nearer than fifty feet, the com- 
 pany being prohibited from establishing any ferry for the 
 carrying of passengers or freight. The railroad was to be a 
 public highway, free for the passage of any railroad carriage 
 thereon, upon payment of tolls, which were six cents per 
 mile 'per ton for "property," and six cents per mile for 
 each passenger, in the company's carriages, and half 
 those rates for property or passengers carried in the carriages 
 of others. The railroad was to be begun one year from July 
 4, 183 1, and completed within five years, or charter forfeited. 
 By an amendment to the charter, passed November 18, 
 1 83 1, the company was authorized to "form a tunnel under 
 the Weehawken or Bergen Hill," and as that "would add 
 greatly to the expenses of working their road, and be of 
 great public accommodation," the company was empowered, 
 in case the tunnel was made, to charge for passing through 
 the tunnel twelve and a half cents for each passenger and 
 for every ton of freight ten cents, additional to the tolls 
 already provided for. By an amendment passed February 
 27, 1835, the provision compelling the completion of the 
 railroad within five years from July 4, 1831, was repealed, 
 and provided for the use by the company of the track of the 
 New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Company, then 
 building through Bergen Hill to the Hudson River. A 
 supplement to the charter, passed March 3, 1837, increased 
 the capital stock of the company ^250,000. January 18, 
 1844, the company was authorized to issue bonds to the 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 359 
 
 amount of Sioo,ooo to purchase iron for improving the rail- 
 road. 
 
 Ground was broken for the raihoad July 4, 1831, at Pater- 
 son. November 4, 1832, the railroad was opened to the 
 junction of the Newark turnpike, at the Bergen Hill. The 
 Hackensack River was crossed by a drawbridge, the first 
 railroad drawbridge ever built. Ex-Governor Philemon 
 Dickerson was the first president of the company. The 
 equipment of the railroad was " three splendid and com- 
 modious cars, each capable of accommodating thirty passen- 
 gers, draivii by fleet and gentle horses." Connection was 
 made with the New Jersey Railroad at " 'West End," which 
 was the west end of Bergen Hill. The cars were drawn by 
 horses until 1834, when a locomotive, built by George 
 Stephenson in England in 1833, was put on the railroad and 
 did the work for several years. 
 
 The Paterson and Ramapo Railroad Company was incor- 
 porated by the New Jersey Legislature March 10, 1841, which 
 named as incorporators Elisha B. Clark, Cornelius G. 
 Garrison, Abraham Godwin, David Roe, Jacob M. Ryerson, 
 Cornelius S. Van Wagoner, John S. Van AVinkle, John G. 
 Ackerson, Charles Kinse\', Henry B. Hageman, Francis 
 Salmon, Jacob H. Hopper, Lauriston Hall, William G. 
 Hopper, John Ward, Christian A. 'Wanmaker, to construct 
 a railroad from " a suitable place in or near the town of 
 Paterson to some suitable point or points in or near the 
 division line between the township of Franklin, in the 
 county of Bergen, and the State of New York." The rail- 
 road was to be begun within two years and completed at the 
 expiration of six years after July 4, 1843, and to be free 
 for the passage of any railroad carriage thereon, on pay- 
 ment of the prescribed tolls, five cents per mile for each 
 ton of freight and three cents per mile for each passenger, 
 the tolls in the company's cars being ten centsper mile per 
 ton and six cents a mile for passengers. The time for begin- 
 ning the railroad was extended February 21, 1843. The stock 
 sufficient to organize a company not having been subscribed, 
 the Legislature authorized organization February 15, r844. 
 The time for completing the railroad was extended February 
 5, 1847, for five years from July 4th of that year. 
 
 The railroad was completed in October, 1848, and the first 
 train was run over it November rst of that year. 
 
 September i, 1852, the Union Railroad Company was or- 
 ganized under the General Railroad Law of New York, its 
 purpose being to build a railroad from the terminus of the 
 Paterson and Ramapo Railroad, at the State line, to connect 
 with the New York and Erie Railroad, at Suffern, about one 
 mile. 
 
 October 10, 1834, the Paterson and Hudson River Rail- 
 road Company made an agreement with the New Jersey Rail- 
 road and Transportation Company to use the tracks of the 
 latter from Bergen Junction, west of Bergen Hill, to the 
 terminus at Jersey City, paying for the privilege six cents per 
 
 passenger and ten cents per ton of merchandise carried over 
 those tracks. September 9, 1852, the Union Railroad Com- 
 pany leased the Paterson and Hudson River Railroad and 
 the Paterson and Ramapo Railroad, with all the rights and 
 privileges granted by their charters and by agreements with 
 the New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Company, which 
 leases were assigned to the New York and Erie Railroad 
 Company September 10, 1852, and on the same day that 
 Company leased the Union Railroad. This virtually made of 
 the New Jersey Railroad and the Union Railroad a part of the 
 Erie main line. The leases and assignments and agreements, 
 of which there were thirteen in all, were signed by Benja- 
 min Loder and Nathaniel Marsh, President and Secretary of 
 the Erie ; Gouverneur Morris and John Hopper, President 
 and Secretary of the Paterson and Ramapo Railroad Com- 
 pany; Robert Bayard and John J. Zabriskie, President and 
 Treasurer of the Union Railroad Company ; John Colt and 
 A. S. Pennington, President and Treasurer of the Paterson 
 and Hudson River Railroad Company, and J. Phillips 
 Phoenix and \V. A. Whitehead, President and Secretary of 
 the New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Company. 
 
 The rolling stock obtained by the Erie by the lease of the 
 Paterson and Hudson River Railroad was as follows : 
 
 2 8-wheeled passenger cars, 60 seats, $800 $1,600 
 
 3 8-wheeled passenger cars, 56 seats, $500 1,500 
 
 2 8-wheeled old cars, $300 600 
 
 2 4- wheeled short cars, $200 400 
 
 3 8-wheeled baggage cars (good), $525 i,575 
 
 4 8-wheeled platform, $275 1,100 
 
 27 4-wheeled box cars (short), $85 2,295 
 
 21 4-wheeled open cars, $70 1,470 
 
 2 4-wheeled short gravel cars, $200 and $170 370 
 
 Paterson engine 3,000 
 
 Passaic engine 3, 500 
 
 Whistler engine 1,200 
 
 McNeal engine , goo 
 
 $19,510 
 
 February 21, 1856, the New Jersey Legislature authorized 
 the New York and Erie Railroad. Company to extend the 
 Paterson and Hudson River Railroad, and to make a railroad 
 from any point on the same to the Hudson River at some 
 point opposite New York, and purchase and hold in its own 
 name land necessary for the use of its terminal business. 
 The Governor, Chancellor, Attorney-General, Treasurer, and 
 Secretary of New Jersey, the Justices of the Supreme Court, 
 and the Judges of the Court of Errors of the State, and the 
 Members of both houses of the Legislature were permitted to 
 travel free of charge over the railroad included in the New 
 Jersey leases. 
 
 The Long Dock Company was incorporated by the New 
 Jersey Legislature February 26, 1856, the incorporators be- 
 ing Peter Bentley, Mary Bell, Abraham O. Zabriskie, Charles 
 G. Sisson, Homer Ramsdell, and Stephen D. Harrison. 
 The capital, stock was $800,000. Peter Bentley, Hoiner 
 Ramsdell, David S. Manners, Abraham O. Zabriskie, and 
 
360 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Charles G. Sisson were the first directors. It was em- 
 powered to improve the Long Dock property, south of the 
 centre line of Pavonia Ferry, in the Fourth Ward of Jersey 
 City, and to purchase other lands, under and above water, 
 and to establish a ferry at or near Pavonia Avenue, to be 
 located between South Second and North Fourth Streets, 
 Jersey City. Work had to be begun within two years, and 
 $100,000 expended within five years from the date of the 
 act. 
 
 The contract for boring the great tunnel through Bergen 
 Hill, so that the completing and perfecting of the scheme 
 for the Erie terminals at Jersey City might be accomplished, 
 was let to Stanton, Mallory & Co., of Newburgh, N. Y., 
 and the work was begun June i, 1856. The locomotive 
 " Eleazar Lord," Henry Shimer, engineer, hauled away the 
 first load of stones and earth, on the track built for that pur- 
 pose, and dumped them in the Hudson River, where all the 
 excavated debris from the Bergen Hill was to be dumped, to 
 aid in making the water-front now owned by the Erie at Jersey 
 City, particularly at Pavonia Ferry. 
 
 The financial troubles of the Erie hindered the progress of 
 the work on the tunnel seriously, and in October, 1857, the 
 contractors were forced to abandon the work for lack of 
 funds. Operations were not resumed for a year and a half. 
 Work was rushed, and August 2, 1859, the workmen met in 
 the two ends of the drift, and let daylight through the hill. 
 
 The contractors were again in financial straits, and the 
 two semi-monthly pay days having been passed in September, 
 1859, without the men receiving their wages, they quit work 
 September i6th, to the number of 500, and began rioting. 
 They blockaded the Erie west of the tunnel by turning gravel 
 cars upside down upon the tracks, and piling the road high 
 with rocks and other obstructions. The barricades were 
 guarded by scores of the rioters, and all efforts of the Com- 
 pany to clear the tracks prevented. After traffic on the road 
 had been suspended for a day, the Company was compelled 
 to charter a steamboat and carry passengers to Piermont, 
 which place for the time became once more the eastern 
 terminus of the railroad for all through trains. On the third 
 day of the insurrection, the workmen refusing to come to 
 terms, the Company appealed to the authorities of Jersey 
 City. They were unable to quell the riot or clear the tracks, 
 and the New Jersey militia was called out. Sunday morn- 
 ing, September igth, a large military force, under Brigadier- 
 General Hatfield, accompanied by hundreds of citizens, 
 marched to the scene of the disturbance. Two large field 
 pieces, mounted on a flat car, were carried to the spot, but 
 the rioters welcomed the soldiers and the cannon with fierce 
 derision. They hooted the efforts of a priest to quiet them. 
 A strong force of police first marched upon them. They 
 beat the police back with many broken heads. General Hat- 
 field then ordered his men to charge the crowd with fixed 
 bayonets. The mob gave way before the soldiers, and was 
 soon flying in all directions. A large number of them were 
 captured, many of them ring-leaders. They were taken to 
 
 Hudson City and lodged in jail. The tracks were cleared, 
 but toward evening the rioters began gathering again. Gen- 
 eral Hatfield again marched against them, and captured thirty 
 more of the mob. After that, quiet was restored. Work in 
 the tunnel was not resumed, however, for a long time. Then A. 
 B. Seymour assumed the contract, and operations once more 
 began. The tunnel was completed early in 1861, and was 
 formally opened to traffic February 6, 1861. From March, 
 1859, until June, i860, the work was in charge of John 
 P. Gumming, contractor, and J. P. Kirkwood, chief engineer. 
 It was completed by A. B. Seymour, contractor, under the 
 supervision of John Houston, engineer. Eight shafts were 
 sunk eighty feet in depth. The tunnel was cut through solid 
 rock 4,300 feet of the distance, or more than half way. Its 
 height was twenty-three feet, width twenty-eight feet. The 
 average number of men employed daily on the work was 700. 
 Fifty-seven persons were killed during the tunnel construc- 
 tion. The opening of the tunnel was made the occasion of 
 a great celebration, the first train through being an excursion 
 train. 
 
 MAKING PAVONIA FERRY. 
 
 January 7, 1733, George II. granted to Archibald Ken- 
 nedy, Esq., the sole right to run ferry-boats or scows, and to 
 erect wharves for same, between " a place called Pavonia, 
 aUas Ahasimus," on the New Jersey side of the Hudson, and 
 the New York side of the river. Kennedy did not act upon 
 his privileges, and forfeited them. March 23, 1753, citizens 
 petitioned the Common Council of New York for a ferry 
 from " the west end of Pearl Street to Harsimus." Nothing 
 came of that. May 3, 1765, Archibald Kennedy and Will- 
 iam McAdam tried to get the exclusive right to run a ferry 
 from New York to the New Jersey shore, but failed. April 
 13, 1818, another petition of citizens of New York City was 
 made for a ferry between Chambers Street and Harsimus. 
 Nothing further was heard of it, and there was no Pavonia 
 Ferry until the completion of the Bergen Tunnel for the 
 Erie by the Long Dock Company in 1861, although a Pa- 
 vonia Ferry Com^pany had been incorporated February 28, 
 1849. The Erie Railway Company revived and established 
 the Pavonia Ferry. It began business May i, 1861, with 
 three old boats, the " Niagara," " Onalaska," and " Onala," 
 which were obtained from the Brooklyn ferries. The early 
 new ferry-boats of the Erie were the "Pavonia," 1861; 
 "Susquehanna," 1864; "Delaware," 1865. The Twenty- 
 third Street Ferry was estabhshed in May, 1868, and the 
 Company built the following new boats : the " Jay Gould," 
 1869; "James Fisk, Jr.," 1869; "Erie," 1873. 
 
 HOW IT GOT TO BUFFALO AND ROCHESTER. 
 
 The steady advance of the New York and Erie Railroad 
 into Western New York aroused intensely the people living 
 to the north and south of it who were without any railroad 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 361 
 
 connection, and a general desire for the building of railroads 
 to form junctions with the Erie prevailed. The region be- 
 tween Corning and Buffalo and Avon and Rochester were 
 particularly exercised, because they had, until 1849, enter- 
 tained strong hope that the New York and Erie Railroad 
 would be permitted to follow the Cohocton and the Gene- 
 see valleys, and from the Genesee proceed directly to Buifalo, 
 and make that place its western terminus, a route having 
 been surveyed over that course and found feasible. Roch- 
 ester was then to obtain connection with such a road by the 
 building of a railroad from that city to Avon. But the Erie 
 took the route from Painted Post through the Canisteo Val- 
 ley westward to Dunkirk, the chartered terminus. Then the 
 people between Buffalo and Hornellsville took steps to have 
 an independent railroad to connect with the Erie at Hor- 
 nellsville. The Attica and Hornellsville Railroad Company 
 was organized, there being already a railroad between Attica 
 and Buffalo. When it came to the building of the road, 
 however, the Attica and Hornellsville enterprise languished, 
 and at last seemed to have passed into a state of total col- 
 lapse. Then the people in the Genesee and Cohocton val- 
 leys resolved to have a railroad that would connect Buffalo 
 with the New York and Erie Railroad for their sole benefit. 
 A route for one was surveyed, and also for a railroad to con- 
 nect with it at Avon and extend to Rochester. The engi- 
 neer's report being favorable (the connection with the Erie 
 to be made at Painted Post, N. Y.), John Magee, of Bath, 
 with others interested, consulted with the directors of the 
 Attica and HomellsvUle Railroad, for the purpose of learning 
 whether that company intended to proceed with its road, for 
 it was not possible that the aid of Buffalo could be obtained 
 for two railroads from that city to connect with the Erie. 
 The result was that it was agreed to abandon the Attica and 
 Hornellsville Railroad in favor of one by way of Painted 
 Post, and citizens of Buffalo agreed to raise one-third of the 
 cost of a railroad over that route. July 25, 1850, the Buffalo 
 and Cohocton Valley Railroad Company was incorporated 
 with a capital of ^1,400,000. John Magee was elected Pres- 
 ident; Orson Phelps, Vice-President; Edward Howell, Jr., 
 Secretary ; A. D. Patchin, Treasurer. In September follow- 
 ing, however, the project of the Atdca and Hornellsville 
 Railroad was revived. This discouraged some of the prime 
 movers in the Cohocton Valley route, but citizens of Living- 
 ston and Genesee counties declared at public meetings that 
 the road from Batavia to Painted Post could be built inde- 
 pendently of Buffalo, and went to work to do it. Many hum- 
 ble citizens along the route mortgaged their homes and 
 farms to get money to put into the stock, the mortgagees 
 being in some cases officers or directors of the company. 
 
 The work was put under contract, and progressed steadily. 
 March 3, 1852, the name of the company was changed to 
 that of the Buffalo, Coming and New York Railroad'Com- 
 pany. The total cost of the railroad was to be ^1,706,000 
 without equipment, or ^1,950,000 with equipment. The 
 construction cost was covered by the stock subscriptions, of 
 which nearly I5 00,000 had been paid in. Early in April, 
 
 1852, for the declared purpose of raising funds to pay for 
 the equipment of the railroad, the directors of the company 
 mortgaged its property and franchises for J?i, 000,000, to se- 
 cure the payment of bonds for that amount to be issued by 
 the company. The railroad was opened for operations be- 
 tween Painted Post and Kennedyville, at the Livingston 
 County line, April r3, 1852, a distance of forty-five miles. 
 The issue of bonds had filled many of the stockholders along 
 the line with apprehension. This feeling was made stronger 
 when, in March, 1853, the directors executed a second mort- 
 gage upon the franchises of the corporation for ^600,000 to 
 secure an issue of bonds to that amount. The road was 
 completed to Batavia in 1854, when work ceased. 
 
 October i, 1855, the company defaulted in the interest on 
 its first mortgage bonds, and December i, 1855, on the 
 coupons of the second mortgage bonds. Proceedings in 
 foreclosure were begun. Many of the stockholders believed 
 that this default was utterly uncalled for, and the result of 
 collusion, for the purpose of throwing the company into 
 bankruptcy and giving the bondholders, chief among whom 
 were directors of the company, an opportunity to profit 
 themselves by the sale of the road, regardless of all stock- 
 holders' rights. Charges to that effect were made against 
 the managers and directors, and the Board of Railroad Com- 
 missioners was petitioned to investigate them. An investi- 
 gation was ordered, and was begun August 13, 1856. A gen- 
 eral denial was entered by the accused. 
 
 No report was ever made by the Railroad Commissioners 
 as to their finding in this investigation. The reason for that 
 was this : The Board of Railroad Commissioners, which had 
 been in existence for two or three years, had proved to be 
 extremely harassing to the railroads of the State, especially 
 to the Erie and the New York Central. The Commissioners 
 were clothed with much power, and were authorized to make 
 close inquiries into all the details of railroad management in 
 this State, and report to the Legislature and recommend 
 legislation which seemed to them necessary to correct and 
 improve such management. This was at times very incon- 
 venient for boards of directors and railway officials, as it had 
 a tendency to keep the public too well informed in regard to 
 their ways and means. Dean Richmond was then the power 
 in the New York Central Railroad Company, and Alexander 
 S. Diven was a potent factor in the affairs of the Erie. In 
 the fall of 1856, Richmond, in an interview with Diven, sug- 
 gested that it would be a good thing to do away with the 
 inquisitive Railroad Commission, and intimated that he had 
 a plan for repealing the act under which they were organized. 
 The Commissioners were paid good salaries by the State, and 
 it was not at all Hkely that they would sit idly by while they 
 were being shorn of their comfortable perquisites. Richmond 
 suggested to Diven that the latter draft a bill that would re- 
 peal the Railroad Commission Act, have it presented at the 
 coming session of the Legislature, and he would do the rest. 
 The bill was drafted, and during the ensuing session was in- 
 troduced in the Assembly. No one appeared in opposition 
 to it, much to the surprise of the legislators, and it was passed. 
 
362 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 was signed by the Governor, and the Board of Railroad Com- 
 missioners passed out of existence. Dean Richmond had 
 offered the Commissioners 335,000 not to oppose the repeal. 
 A bird in the hand being worth two in the bush, the Commis- 
 sioners accepted the bribe and were content. The New York 
 and Erie Railroad Company refunded to the Central one- 
 half the purse of consolation. This was about the time that 
 Commissioner Swain was taking testimony in the Buffalo, 
 Corning and New York Railroad investigation. Before the 
 work was entirely done he had been legislated out of office, 
 and there the matter rested. And there it rests to this day. 
 
 The stockholders of the Buffalo, Coming and New York 
 Railroad Company sought to prevent the foreclosure sale of 
 the property in the courts, but the courts sustained the con- 
 tentions of the bondholders. October 31, 1857, the railroad 
 and all its franchises were sold for $3,000,000 for the benefit 
 of the bondholders. Every dollar that had been invested 
 along the line in the stock of the Company was swept away 
 by that proceeding, and hosts of the small subscribers to the 
 stock were ruined — the homes of not a few being sold under 
 mortgages that had been given to obtain money to take stock 
 in the railroad — the larger stockholders having exchanged 
 their stock for bonds, thus not only saving themselves from 
 loss but making money on the transaction. 
 
 The company that purchased the Buffalo, Coming and 
 New York Railroad was the Buffalo and New York City Rail- 
 road, the original Attica and Hornellsville, which was reor- 
 ganized October 29, 1857, as the Buffalo, New York and Erie 
 Railroad Company. October i, 1858, this company leased 
 the Rochester and Genesee Valley Railroad, extending from 
 Avon to Rochester, eighteen miles, and which had been 
 opened in 1854, connecting with the Buffalo, Corning and 
 New York Railroad. 
 
 The Attica and Hornellsville Railroad had been originally 
 chartered May 14, 1845, to build a railroad from Attica to 
 Hornellsville, which charter was extended in 1849, with a 
 provision that other railroad companies could take stock in 
 the company. As stated above, work was begun on such a 
 railroad in the fall of 1850. April 15, 1851, the name of the 
 company was changed to that of the Buffalo and New York 
 City Railroad Company. The railroad was opened between 
 Hornellsville and Portage, thirty miles, January 22, 1852, and 
 owing to want of locomotives the company was able to run 
 but one train a day each way. That train was drawn by the 
 locomotive " Orange," the famous Erie locomotive, which 
 had been purchased from the Erie in October, 185 1, for the 
 work of construction on the new railroad. A new locomotive 
 was received March 2 2d, and then the " Orange " was put to 
 work hauling iron for the rest of the road. July 26th the 
 railroad was finished to Attica, ninety miles. Trains had be- 
 gun running in connection with the Erie at Hornellsville, May 
 3, 1852. 
 
 A brilliant feat of engineering was performed in carrying 
 this railroad over the great chasm through which the Genesee 
 River passes at Portage, a chasm 250 feet deep and 900 
 feet wide. How to bridge it was a puzzle to the engineering 
 
 science of that day, and not until a congress of engineers 
 was called was the definite plan of building this one-time 
 wonder of the world in bridge architecture decided. It was 
 built entirely of wood, in fifty-foot spans, with a height of 
 230 feet above the river. The bridge was nearly two years 
 in building, and took the product of over 300 acres of closely 
 grown pine lands, amounting to 1,600,000 feet of timber, 
 106,280 pounds of iron, and cost $175,000. The bridge 
 was completed August 9, 1852. The locomotive " Orange,'' 
 which had been used in the construction of the railroad, drew 
 the first train across — four cars filled with people. Among 
 them were Governor Hunt and Lieut.-Govemor Patterson, 
 of New York ; Benjamin Loder, President of the Erie ; and 
 President He)'wood, of the Buffalo and New York City Rail- 
 road. The event was made a great celebration. This bridge 
 was used until the spring of 1875, when it was destroyed by 
 fire. In forty-seven days from the burning of the old bridge 
 trains were passing over the present spider-like iron structure. 
 This bridge, 850 feet in length, is broken up into spans 
 varying from ir3 feet to 50 feet. The Portage Bridge is one 
 of the famous attractions to the tourist over the Erie, and 
 to the local pleasure excursionists. 
 
 The Buffalo and New York City Railroad had a hard time 
 to exist. Early in 1854 the financial condition of the com- 
 pany was such that a committee representing the bond and 
 stockholders and creditors of the company was appointed 
 to investigate its affairs and report some plan by which it 
 might be placed on a substantial footing. Pending the 
 result of this investigation, the committee learned that Aaron 
 D. Patchin, president of the- company, had been made the 
 lessee of the railroad and its property by the board of direct- 
 ors, May 20, 1854, he having purchased, March 21st pre- 
 viously, the rolling stock, which was sold under foreclosure 
 of a chattel mortgage, and which had cost $275,000, for 
 $10,000, and held it in his own name. The Erie had been 
 operating the road, and improved it greatly. By the terms 
 of Patchin's lease he was to pay to the company monthly 
 what was left of the gross receipts of the railroad after he 
 had paid himself 10 per cent, from them, and all the ex- 
 penses of the railroad. This arrangement discouraged the 
 investigating committee, and December 11, 1854, the rail- 
 road was sold under foreclosure, and the property was pur- 
 chased by Patchin, who continued to run the railroad during 
 1855. In 1856 the Erie operated the road again, and spent 
 $75,000 in repairs. January i, 1857, the railroad was sold 
 under foreclosure, and was purchased by Patchin again. At 
 the last reorganization, when the company became the Buf- 
 falo, New York and Erie Railroad Company, in October, 
 1857, and purchased the Buffalo, Corning and New York 
 Railroad, it seemed to have a future. It finished that rail- 
 road from Batavia to Buffalo, and ran it as a connection of 
 the Erie, in a haphazard, unsatisfactory manner, until 1863, 
 when the Erie Railway Company leased it for 450 years, at 
 a rental guarantee of the interest on its bonds at 7 per cent 
 per annum, the leasing Company to stock, operate and main- 
 tain the road at its own expense. The Erie also leased the 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 2>^?> 
 
 Rochester and Genesee Valley Railroad, and thus the new 
 acquisition became known as the Rochester Branch of the 
 Erie, and xintil the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Rail- 
 road Company extended its line through that country to 
 Buffalo and Rochester, in 1880, and became a competitor of 
 the Erie for rne traffic of that region, the Erie conducted the 
 Rochester Branch in a manner better calculated to drive 
 patronage away from it than to attract business to it. The 
 railroad came into the possession of the Erie by the reor- 
 ganization plan of 1895, and is now part of the property of 
 the Erie system, with the official designation of the Rochester 
 Division. 
 
 In 1 86 1, however, the Buffalo, New York and Erie Rail- 
 road, between Hornellsville and Attica, had become perma- 
 nently a part of the Erie system {" Administration of Nathaniel 
 Marsh, Receiver," page 134), and the Erie, by its lease of 
 the railroad between Painted Post and Buffalo, secured a ter- 
 minus at Buffalo for all time, and any hope that Dunkirk 
 might have had of being eventually made great by the Erie 
 disappeared forever. 
 
 The first superintendent of the Buffalo, Coming and New 
 York Railroad was Jared A. Redfield ; of the Buffalo and 
 New York City Railroad, Silas Seymour. 
 
 THE NYPANO. 
 
 In 1836, in anticipation that the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road would be constructed, and that it would pass through 
 the valley of Casadaga Creek, in Western New York, citizens 
 of Chautauqua County obtained a charter for a company to 
 build a railroad from a point near the junction of the Casa- 
 daga Creek and the Chautauqua Lake outlet, upon the line 
 of the New York and Erie (which had been surveyed to run 
 near the village of Jamestown), to the western boundary of 
 the State, in the direction of Erie, Pa., a railroad being then 
 in contemplation from the State line through Pennsylvania to 
 Erie Harbor. But the troubles of the New York and Erie 
 Railroad Company at that early stage of its existence dashed 
 the Western New York people's hopes of the coming of the 
 railroad from the East, and that pioneer project for a rail- 
 road to give the Erie a link toward connection with the West 
 was abandoned. 
 
 The opening of the Erie to Dunkirk in 185 1, however, 
 aroused interest anew for railroad communication, the later 
 surveys of the Erie route having left Jamestown thirty-four 
 miles distant from that railroad, although the first meeting to 
 urge the building of a railroad between the Hudson River 
 and Lake Erie was held at Jamestown in r83i, and the first 
 notice of application for a charter for such a railroad was 
 adopted at that meeting and pubUshed. The result was the 
 organizing of the Erie and New York City Railroad at James- 
 town, June 30, i85r, to build a railroad from what is now 
 West Salamanca, through Randolph and Jamestown, to the 
 Pennsylvania State line. The work was not begun until May r 9, 
 1853. It was abandoned January 5, 1855, for lack of funds. 
 
 Before this project of the Erie and New York City Rail- 
 road had developed, however, Marvin Kent of Franklin, 
 Trumbull County, Ohio, conceived the idea of connecting 
 the then nearly or quite constructed Erie with the embryo 
 Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, by one direct six-foot road. 
 He was proprietor of a glass works, a woollen factory, a flour- 
 ing factory, etc., at Franklin, and was then constructing a cot- 
 ton factory. He wanted railroad connections, and March 
 ID, 1851, procured a charter from the Ohio Legislature for a 
 railroad he had in mind. \Vhen the charter was introduced 
 in the legislature, the tide of the proposed railroad was given 
 as " The Coal Hill Railroad," a ruse to repel the lobby 
 sharks, whom a revelation of the real nature and extent of 
 the enterprise might have summoned to impede or blackmail 
 the undertaking. Nobody cared about or thought of " The 
 Coal Hill Road," but on its third reading, and just before 
 its passage, the name was quietly changed to " The Franklin 
 and Warren Railroad Company." This was one of the very 
 last charters granted under the old Constitution of Ohio and 
 it gave authority to build a railroad from Franklin to Warren, 
 in that State, and to extend it eastward to the State line, and 
 southwesterly to Dayton. Under this charter the Franklin 
 and Warren Railroad Company was organized. Work on 
 the railroad was begun in July, 1853. Henry Doolittie and 
 W. S. Streater were the contractors. In September the Com- 
 pany, under authority of an act of the General Assembly of 
 Ohio (January 12, 1853), changed its name to The Atlantic 
 and Great Western Railroad Company. Marvin Kent was 
 the first president. 
 
 The ultimate object of the projection of this work was 
 communication with New York and Eastern markets by con- 
 nection with some through line in that State. The Erie was 
 open between Dunkirk and New York, and the New York 
 Central had come into existence on the consolidation of the 
 five local railroads between Albany and Buffalo. But to 
 form any connection with either of those trunk lines it 
 was necessary that the Ohio interests should have a rail- 
 road through Pennsylvania, and that was not an easy thing 
 for a foreign corporation to secure in those days. The 
 Pennsylvania Railroad was completed from Philadelphia to 
 Pittsburg, and work was in progress from Pittsburg to 
 Cleveland. The Sunbury and Erie Railroad was projected 
 from Sunbury to Erie Harbor, and the Pittsburg and 
 Erie Railroad from Pittsburg to Erie. Neither of these 
 lines was yet built. There was no railroad across the State 
 of Pennsylvania between Ohio and New York, and such 
 transit was jealously guarded against by the selfish interests 
 of Philadelphia, Pitfsburg, and Erie. Railroad charters in 
 Pennsylvania could only be granted by legislative enactment, 
 and all legislation was controlled by the united interests of 
 those cities. Many attempts had been made to pass the 
 barrier by open and covert attempts in the legislature, without 
 avail. The decision had gone out that all land commerce 
 to and from the East, through Pennsylvania, must pass by way 
 of Pittsburg and Philadelphia. 
 
 This was the embarrassing dilemma the projectors of the 
 
364 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Atlantic and Great Western undertaking were in, when it was 
 found that under the hberal privileges of the Pittsburg and 
 Erie Railroad Company's charter as to the construction of 
 branches of the main line, a branch could be constructed 
 from the Ohio line, near Kinsman, across Pennsylvania to a 
 point in Warren County at the New York State line. To 
 further the interests of its own railroad project, the Phila- 
 delphia and Erie Company was willing to permit the building 
 of such a branch by Meadville interests under its charter. 
 
 October 8, 1852, a meeting of representatives of various 
 railroad interests was held at the American Hotel, Cleveland. 
 The Mahoning Railroad Company was represented by Jacob 
 Perkins, president ; the Clinton Line Railroad by Prof. H. N. 
 Day, president ; the Franklin and Warren Railroad Company 
 by Judge Kinsman, Marvin Kent, Dr. Earle, and Mr. Boyer ; 
 the Cleveland and Ashtabula by Judge Humphreys ; the 
 Erie and New York City by Judge Benjamin Chamberlain ; 
 the Pittsburg and Erie by Dr. William Gibson, David 
 Garver, and E. Sankey ; and the Meadville interests by 
 William Reynolds and D. A. Finney. The object of the 
 meeting was the consideration of the proposition of the 
 Philadelphia and Erie as to the branch through Pennsylvania. 
 As the New York connection naturally was to be by way of 
 the New York and Erie Railroad, a committee consisting of 
 Prof. H. N. Day, E. Sankey, Henry Doolittle, Judge Church, 
 and William Reynolds of Meadville, was appointed to confer 
 with President Loder of the Erie. The conference took 
 place October 26th. As a result, the Erie made, at its own 
 expense, a preliminary survey in Pennsylvania to ascertain 
 the character of the route of the proposed branch, which was 
 so vital to the interests involved. Thus it was that the Erie's 
 association with the Atlantic and Great Western began even 
 before that railroad itself had a beginning. The report on 
 the route was satisfactory. On August 19, 1853, ground 
 was broken with much ceremony at Meadville, and work was 
 begun. This contract was abandoned after a few miles had 
 been graded. The Erie had held out the hope that it would 
 be able to give some financial aid to the enterprise, but its 
 own financial straits prevented. April 3, 1857, the Mead- 
 ville Railroad Company was chartered by the Legislature of 
 Pennsylvania to build a railroad from Meadville to Erie, Pa., 
 and was vested with the right to receive from the Pittsburg 
 and Erie Company a transfer of the latter's branching 
 privileges. This opened a way for the route from Ohio to 
 New York. July 13, 1857, the Company was organized. 
 William Reynolds was chosen president. July 23, 1857, the 
 Pittsburg and Erie Company made sale and transfer of its 
 branching privileges to the Meadville Railroad Company for 
 $400,000. July 27 th, the transfer \\'as ratified by the Mead- 
 ville Railroad Company, and a contract made with A. C. 
 Morton, for the construction of the railroad. August 31st, 
 Morton made a construction contract with the Erie and New 
 York City Railroad, and he and Henry Doolittle went to 
 Europe to push negotiations for money and iron. A deed 
 of trust was executed for that purpose, and bonds prepared 
 to the amount of $2,500,000. Then the memorable panic 
 
 of 1857 came on, and the money was not forthcoming. 
 Morton and Doohttle returned home. Morton was unable to 
 go on with his contract, and it was cancelled; and April 16, 
 1858, another one was closed with Henry Doohttle and W. 
 S. Streator. 
 
 April 15, 1858, by a supplement of the charter of the 
 Meadville Railroad Company, the name was changed to the 
 Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company of Penn- 
 sylvania. The infant project of 185 1 was taking on pro- 
 portions that required stupendous effort to sustain it. 
 Investors at home were timid. Foreign money and in- 
 fluence alone could keep the project alive. Recognizing this 
 necessity, the Ohio and Pennsylvania companies appointed 
 C. L. Ward, Henry Doolittle, and William Reynolds to visit 
 Europe, with full powers to negotiate for the sale of bonds 
 and the purchase of iron. Ward and Doolittle went to 
 England, and there made contracts with James McHenry to 
 furnish money and iron for the contract. Such was the 
 coming of McHenry into the enterprise, the future of which 
 was to involve him and it and the Erie in such a labyrinth 
 of costly trouble, and to feed the great lawyers and courts 
 and legislatures and money lenders with millions that should 
 have either been left in the pockets of confiding investors 
 or over in the treasuries of the companies concerned. 
 
 The arrangement made with James McHenry was condi- 
 tional, the condition being that T. W. Kennard, an eminent 
 railroad engineer connected with the house of McHenry, 
 should, on examination, approve the enterprise. In November, 
 1858, Kennard came to America as the representative of 
 McHenry and other European interests. He went over the 
 entire line of the railroad, and made a favorable report to 
 London. In July of that year Salamanca, of Madrid, a 
 Spanish nobleman, placed one million of Atlantic and Great 
 Western bonds in that country. 
 
 In 1859 the company saw the necessity and advantage of 
 a greater consolidation of interests. It had as yet no organi- 
 zation in New York ; so, under the provision of the general 
 railroad law of the State, such an organization was perfected 
 May 7, 1859, under the name of the Atlantic and Great \\'est- 
 em Railroad Company of New York. William Reynolds, of 
 Meadville, Pa., was elected president by a strong Board of 
 Directors, among them Gaylord Church, James J. Shryock, 
 John Dick, A. V. Allen, and William Hall. The first impor- 
 tant move of this company, after executing a contract of 
 mutual guarantee of the bonds of the three separate com- 
 panies, was the purchase, by legislative authority, of the line 
 of the Erie and New York City Railroad, and the making of 
 a contract for construction with Henry Doolittle and W. S. 
 Streator, James McHenry contracting to make sale of the 
 bonds of the company. Work was begun in May, i860, and 
 the road opened to Jamestown September 11, i860, and to 
 Corry May 7, 1861. But then financial difficulty obtruded 
 itself again in the way of the work, and further operations 
 along the line were suspended. The Civil War had come 
 upon the country, absorbed popular interest, and disarranged 
 plans in general. Another call for foreign aid for the rail- 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 365 
 
 load was decided upon, and in August, 1861, Henry A. 
 Kent and William Reynolds were appointed by the three 
 companies, with T. W. Kennard, to visit Europe to solicit 
 such aid. The Committee visited London, and, with James 
 McHenry, went to Paris to see tV-e bankers of Duke Rien- 
 zares and Queen Christina, and thence to Madrid to see 
 Salamanca, in the interest of the mission. All questions were 
 satisfactorily adjusted for renewal of the work on the rail- 
 road, when the cloud of war with England raised by the 
 seizure of the mail steamer Trent by Commodore Wilkes 
 again brought matters to a stand, and it was far into 1862 
 before work was resumed. 
 
 March 12, 1862, for greater convenience of the companies, 
 the general control was placed under a central board of two 
 directors from each of the companies. It was made up as 
 follows : The Ohio Board, Marvin Kent and W. S. Streator ; 
 the Pennsylvania Board, William Reynolds, John Dick ; the 
 New York Board, A. F. Allen, 'T. W. Kennard. William 
 Re5aiolds, President of the Board. 
 
 During this same year the line to FrankKn was contracted 
 for by James McHenry. This was subsequently extended to 
 Oil City, to which place it was completed in June, 1864, 
 being the first railroad into the oil regions. 
 
 In February, 1863, Sir Morton Peto became interested 
 with James McHenry in the affairs of the Atlantic and Great 
 Western. 
 
 In July, 1863, the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad was 
 leased for ninety-nine years by the Atlantic and Great \Vest- 
 em, and an additional rail laid thereon, so as to give the lat- 
 ler a broad track into Cleveland. 
 
 The opening of the Atlantic and Great Western Railway 
 to Cleveland, " completing the broad-guage connection be- 
 tween the Atlantic and the lakes," was celebrated at Cleve- 
 land November 18, 1863. 
 
 Great embarrassment was, of course, constantly present in 
 the prosecution of the work, as a result of the war and the 
 great premium on gold ; yet, in the face of all the difficulties, 
 the work was brought to a successful termination, and the 
 last spike was driven connecting the Atlantic and Great 
 Western with the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad 
 at Dayton, June 20, 1864. On this memorable occasion the 
 three companies- were represented by their officers, and a 
 banquet was given by S. S. L'Hommedieu, president, and A. 
 McLaren, superintendent, of the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and 
 Dayton. 
 
 The completion of the Atlantic and Great Western made 
 a broad-gauge connection from New York to St. Louis, a six- 
 foot gauge having been laid on the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and 
 Dayton to Cincinnati. 
 
 President Reynolds's connection with the enterprise was 
 terminated October i, 1864, after the work of twelve years. 
 He resigned because of the desperate financial condition of 
 the Company, and the impossibility of controlling the expen- 
 ditures of the European parties at interest. During the early 
 years of the enterprise the control was with the American 
 boards, and the business was carefully managed, but as the 
 
 work progressed the European association found increasing 
 difficulties in negotiating securities, and, in contravention of 
 express instructions, hypothecated large amounts of the 
 bonds. This was the beginning of a perpetual financial 
 trouble. The war, the stoppage of specie payments, the 
 high rate of exchange and price of gold, were factors 
 which had not been taken into account at the commence- 
 ment of the work. However this may have been, the com- 
 panies were not satisfied with the manner of expenditures, 
 which they regarded as in many cases extravagant. But as 
 the" foreigners were furnishing all the money it was a difficult 
 matter to control. 
 
 William Reynolds was succeeded as president of the At- 
 lantic and Great Western Railroad Company by James Robb, 
 formerly a New Orleans banker. He was in office but three 
 months, when he resigned, for the same reasons that had led 
 President Reynolds to resign. He was succeeded by S. S. 
 L'Hommedieu, but the burden of the foreign contingent was 
 too great to be borne, and the Company went into the hands 
 of a receiver, April r, 1867. The receiver was Robert B. 
 Potter, of New York. The railroad was operated under his 
 direction until December, 1868, when the Erie Railway Com- 
 pany leased it for a term of twelve years, the minimum 
 annual rental to be ^1,800,000, which was to be increased by 
 whatever sum 30 per cent, of the net earnings of the railroad 
 would yield. Jay Gould was then President of the Erie. 
 James McHenry brought another suit for foreclosure, but he 
 was now dealing with men who were past masters in the art 
 of legal manipulation when it came to receiverships, and be- 
 fore McHenry had moved beyond the preliminary steps in his 
 suit. Judge Barnard, in April, 1869, had acted on the motion 
 of Gould, and appointed Gould and \V. A. O'Doherty re- 
 ceivers of the Atlantic and Great Western. This receivership 
 was transferred to Reuben Hitchcock, of Cleveland, in No- 
 vember, 1869. In February, 1870, a second lease of the 
 railroad was made to the Erie, pending foreclosure. The sale 
 under foreclosure occurred October 2, i87r, and the property 
 was purchased by Gen. George B. McClellan and ^^'illiam 
 Butler Duncan, with others. The company was reorganized 
 under the name of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad 
 Company of New York. November 7, 187 1, it was consol- 
 idated with the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Com- 
 pany of Pennsylvania, under the name of the Atlantic and 
 Great Western Railroad Company of New York and Penn- 
 sylvania. November 20, 1871, these were consolidated with 
 the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company of Ohio, 
 under the old name of the Atlantic and Great Western Rail- 
 road Company. 
 
 In the organization General McClellan was elected presi- 
 dent. He was succeeded by J. H. Devereaux, of Cleveland. 
 The property had now virtually passed into the absolute 
 possession of McHenry and foreign bankers, and it was the 
 power they possessed through it that led to the " rescue " of 
 the Erie Railway Company from the control of Jay Gould, in 
 1872. While Peter H. Watson was President of the Erie, 
 and near the close of his administration, in May, 1874, 
 
;66 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 McHenry succeeded in leasing the Atlantic and Great 
 Western Railroad to the Erie for ninety-nine years, on terms 
 generous to the lessor. This lease was repudiated by Presi- 
 dent Jewett, who succeeded Watson at the head of Erie. 
 December lo, 1874, the Atlantic and Great ^^'estern went 
 into the hands of a receiver again — J. H. Devereaux — and 
 the long, tedious, costly Jewett-McHenry, McHenry-Jewett 
 litigation came, to make scandalous chapters in the history 
 of both companies. 
 
 In January, 1880, the property was again sold at fore- 
 closure to five trustees, who represented the old security 
 holders, and who organized the New York, Pennsylvania and 
 Ohio Railroad Company. By this arrangement the Company 
 was controlled by the bondholders in England. 
 
 J. H. Devereaux was elected president of the new com- 
 pany, and the offices were removed from Meadville to Cleve- 
 land. In 1880 the gauge of six feet was changed to the 
 standard gauge. The capitalization in 1875 was ^108,687,602, 
 or ^228,000 per mile. In 1880 it was ^132,500,000, or 
 ^3r3,i28 per mile. In 1894 it was ^169,473,168, or ^395,000 
 per mile. 
 
 March 6, 1883, the railroad was leased by the Erie, under 
 Hugh J. Jewett (" Administration of Hugh J. Jewett," page 
 262), Jarvis M. Adams then being president of the lessor 
 company, and February 24, 1896, the property was sold 
 under foreclosure, at Akron, O., by Receiver John Todd, 
 and was purchased by representatives of the Erie Railroad 
 Company, to which company it was transferred (" Adminis- 
 tration of Eben B. Thomas," page 283), and it began, with 
 the Erie, an unharassed career at last. 
 
 James McHenry was the son of a well-known physician of 
 Lame, Country Antrim, Ireland, who came to this country 
 in 1817 when James was but six weeks old. He settled at 
 Philadelphia, where he practised his profession successfully 
 for many years. The son grew to manhood in that city. 
 While yet a youth he became clerk to a large mercantile 
 house there, and in time a member of the firm. The death 
 of his father in 1845 placed him in possession of resources 
 ample to set in operation a scheme he had long contem- 
 plated — the establishing in Great Britain of a market for the 
 sale of American products in that country. He pushed the 
 project without delay, and founded a house at Liverpool. 
 He is credited with having been the first to import to Eng- 
 land American butter and cheese. The venture was so 
 successful that consignments from this country to the house 
 of McHenry & Co. frequently reached the enormous quan- 
 tity of twenty shiploads a day. But notwithstanding the 
 apparent prosperity of the house, financial disaster over- 
 took it within a year, and its creditors compromised at a 
 very few cents in the dollar. McHenry engaged in other 
 pursuits, and was so successful that within a few years he paid 
 the debts of McHenry & Co. in full, although he was not 
 legally bound to do so. 
 
 '\\^hen the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, whose 
 subsequent career had so much to do with the difficulties 
 
 and scandals that are a large part of the history of Erie, was 
 projected, James McHenry became interested in it, and had 
 no difficulty in inducing abundant English capital to invest 
 in the enterprise. He took the contract for the construc- 
 tion of the railroad on such terms that he was able, sub- 
 sequentiy, to acquire absolute ownership of it. His idea 
 throughout was to make it a necessary possession of the Erie 
 Railway Company on conditions that would relieve him of 
 its complications. The story of the results of his efforts 
 toward accomplishing such an end is told in the chapters on 
 the administrations of Jay Gould, Peter H. ^\'atson, and 
 Hugh J. Jewett. 
 
 The Duke of Salamanca, the financial adviser of Queen 
 Isabella of Spain, had subscribed largely, at McHenry's 
 request, toward the building of the Atlantic and Great 
 Western Railroad. After the Spanish Revolution, Queen 
 Isabella and her son Alfonso found refuge at McHenry's 
 splendid home, Oak Lodge, Kensington, London. It was 
 through McHenry's efforts that Henri Bischoffscheim, the 
 London banker, became financially interested in the resto- 
 ration, and the two men provided the funds which helped 
 place Alfonso to the Spanish throne. 
 
 There also existed a strong friendship between McHenry 
 and Emperor Napoleon III., and when the Empress Eugenie 
 and the Prince Imperial fled to England, after the downfall 
 of the Empire in 1870, it was at Oak Lodge that they found 
 welcome shelter and unbounded hospitality. The Prince 
 Im]3erial was educated at Woolwich, and McHenry willingly 
 became interested in schemes looking toward the restoration 
 of the Empire, with the young prince at its head. These 
 schemes were in progress when the final blow to the restora- 
 tion was given by the death of the Prince Imperial in Eng- 
 land's Zulu war. 
 
 James McHenry numbered among his close friends many 
 distinguished Americans as well as foreigners. His nature 
 was generous and sympathetic. It was in a burst of gen- 
 erosity that he purchased the magnificent estate at Glen 
 Cove, L. I., and presented it to his then friend and adviser, 
 S. L. M. Barlow, later so conspicuous in the Erie-Atlantic 
 and Great Western entanglements. 
 
 In personal appearance James McHenry was not unlike 
 that of his persistent foe, Hugh J. Jewett! A prominent 
 nose, heavy jaws, and firmly set lips gave to his smooth- 
 shaven face an appearance of unusual strength. His manner 
 was earnest at all times, but courtesy marked it through- 
 out. He died March 27, 1891. 
 
 THE BRADFORD BRANCH. 
 
 The Buffalo, Bradford and Pittsburg Railroad Company 
 had its origin as the Buffalo and Pittsburg Railroad Company, 
 which was organized at the Tifft House, Buffalo, N. Y., 
 October 13, 1852, under the general railroad law of New 
 York State. Orlando Allen was elected president. The pur- 
 pose of the company was to construct a railroad that would 
 connect Buffalo with the semi-bituminious coal fields of 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 367 
 
 Northern Pennsylvania. Contracts for grading a section of 
 the road between ElKcottville and the Pennsylvania line into 
 the valley of the Tunungawant, and for the road from ElKcott- 
 ville to Buffalo, fifty miles, was let, but the work was soon 
 abandoned. • March 14, 1856, the Buffalo and Bradford 
 Railroad Company was chartered by the Pennsylvania Legis- 
 lature, to build a railroad from the New York State line, in 
 the valley of the Tunungawant Creek, up the valley to the 
 coal mines in Lafayette township, McKean County, Pa., with 
 the privilege of constructing lateral lines in the counties of 
 McKean, Elk, and Clearfield, and to intersect with the 
 Sunbury and Erie Railroad and Allegheny Valley Railroad, 
 the railroad to be begim in ten j'ears. Daniel Kingsbury, 
 who owned large tracts of what he believed to be valuable 
 coal lands in that region, which was then an undeveloped 
 wilderness, was the projector of and principal stockholder in 
 the company, which was organized with Kingsbury as presi- 
 dent. Frank WiUiams was chief engineer. Augustus W. 
 Newell, still living in Bradford, was of the engineer corps of 
 that pioneer railroad in Northern Pennsylvania. His remi- 
 niscences of the work, as related to the author of this history, 
 are interesting : 
 
 " We commenced the survey very early in the spring of 
 1856, the snow in the hemlock swamps, the heavy down tim- 
 ber, and dense underbrush rendering the work almost impos- 
 sible. There were very few settlers, and of very little means, 
 living in small log houses, except in the villages. The roads 
 up the valley were almost impassable, and a bob-sled drawn by 
 a pair of oxen was a conveyance common in summer as well 
 as winter. I was assistant engineer ; or, in other words, I did 
 the work. Every centre stake and every level was set by me 
 from Erie Junction, now Carrollton, to Bradford. Our first 
 contractors were King & Loomis, and afterward John S. 
 King, who graded the road to Bradford and seven miles up 
 the \\''est Branch. 
 
 " We got the rails laid to Bradford. The ' Orange ' was 
 the first locomotive. W'e had an engineer, fireman, express 
 car, and one or two brakemen, and I think several con- 
 ductors. The receipts did not pay the running expenses, and 
 the trains were discontinued after a few weeks. I did not 
 get my pay for services on the road (and never did). 
 
 " The road was abandoned for a time, and briers and weeds 
 grew up the whole length of it. I bought a hand-car and 
 tried to make a living that way, and that was work. Then I 
 took a set of wheels and boxes from a gravel car and made a 
 covered platform car. Upon this, after much difficulty, I 
 placed a little five-inch single-cylinder engine, formerly used 
 in driUing oil wells, connecting it by a belt to a pulley on the 
 axle. To the surprise of all, I made it work, and I made it 
 pay. I ran this engine about one and a half years. I was 
 ' busted,' a bankrupt, and mighty few friends ; but |io a day 
 and upwards that I made running my train soon brought 
 them back and brought the road into notice. 
 
 " My old friend Charles Minot, Superintendent of the Erie, 
 I took over the road. He enjoyed the trip heartily. He and 
 his friends in the Erie bought out the company, putting me 
 
 in as one of the new directors. We then changed the road 
 to its present location. I continued to operate the road on 
 shares for a year or more, employing my own men, until my 
 contract expired, when a conductor named Kerr took the 
 train. Joe Haggerty was engineer. He was a brother-in-law 
 of H. G. Brooks. 
 
 " Daniel Kingsbury was an uncle of mine, and was the sole 
 owner of the road at the time the Erie, or its officers, rather, 
 bought it. The present coal beds now owned and worked 
 by the Erie were a part of his lands. He failed to get an 
 outlet during his lifetime." 
 
 In 1859 the Buffalo and Bradford Railroad and the Buffalo 
 and Pittsburg Railroad companies were consolidated under 
 the title of the Buffalo, Bradford and Pittsburg Railroad 
 Company. In 1863, the railroad then being built as far as 
 the hamlet Littleton (now the city of Bradford), Samuel 
 Marsh, Vice-President of the Erie ; Charles Minot, Superin- 
 
 newell's pioneer train (interior and exterior), 
 drawn from a sketch by mr. newell. 
 
 tendent of the Erie ; John Arnott, Dorman B. Eaton, and 
 others interested in the Erie management, believed there 
 was a future in the wilderness railroad, and purchased it for 
 a song from Daniel Kingsbury. They extended the road to 
 Buttsville, Pa., and leased the operating of it to A. W. Newell, 
 the Erie furnishing the rolling stock, as above stated by Mr. 
 Newell, and with the result mentioned. In 1866 the pur- 
 chasers of the railroad, the expected developments in coal 
 and mineral not having been made, and all of the proprietors 
 being Directors in the Erie, disposed of the property by per- 
 petual lease to the Erie, on terms that netted them a small 
 fortune each. How the stock of the road was used by Dan- 
 iel Drew in his Erie stock manipulations is told on page 149 
 of this history. In 1873 the large purchase of coal lands in 
 the region was made by the Erie, and in 1875 the Bradford 
 region became the Mecca of oil producers, and for ten years 
 was the petroleum centre of the world. The Bradford Branch 
 of the Erie at once became the most valuable collateral 
 property the Erie had. Under the Jewett administration the 
 railroad was extended to Johnsonburg; the great Kinzua 
 Viaduct was built in 1882, and the railroad that was alone in 
 an unbroken wilderness a few years before, became the main 
 
368 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 thoroughfare in a region populous and productive. It enjoys 
 the dignity now of being a division of the Erie (the Bradford 
 Division) with a Superintendent all its own. 
 
 A RAILROAD WITH A MISSING LINK. 
 
 The Honesdale Branch (which is the nine miles of railroad 
 between Hawley and Honesdale, in Wayne County, Pa.) and 
 the Jefferson Division of the Erie are parts of a railroad 
 for the building of which a company was chartered by the 
 Pennsylvania Legislature April 23, 185 1. What should be 
 another part of the railroad never got any farther along than 
 the survey between the Lackawaxen Valley at Honesdale and 
 the headwaters of the Starucca Creek, between Carbondale 
 and Lanesboro, Pa. Why the railroad should be called the 
 "Jefferson Railroad," there being no county or town or 
 stream or locality through which it runs or was intended to 
 run that bears or ever did bear the name of Jefferson, is fre- 
 quently a source of curious inquiry, and no one who ever 
 made the inquiry has had his question answered, for the 
 reason that for years only one person living has known the 
 answer to it, and he never happened to be the person of 
 whom the inquiry was made. As the history of the Jefferson 
 Railroad is virtually a part of the early and later history of 
 Erie, its story, in itself interesting, belongs to this chronicle. 
 
 When the necessity for the Erie to enter Pennsylvania with 
 its railroad became apparent to the Company more than fifty 
 years ago (" Administration of Benjamin Loder," pages 87 
 to 90), the people of Wayne County, Pa., knowing that the 
 Susquehanna Valley could be reached by a much shorter 
 route through the interior of that county than by the one 
 from Lackawaxen through the Delaware Valley, made vigorous 
 effort to induce the Company to adopt that route, the saving 
 in distance being estimated at from seventeen to twenty miles. 
 Meetings of the people were held and addressed by prom- 
 inent men, to awaken an interest in the matter that would 
 have its influence on the Erie and on the Legislature. For 
 reasons then misunderstood, the Delaware and Hudson Canal 
 Company opposed the movement. It sent its friends and 
 employees to the various meetings, and by them every plan 
 that ^^■as proposed in favor of the Erie route was voted down, 
 thus giving the meetings an appearance of hostility to the 
 measure. By this means the first apphcation of the Erie, in 
 1845, for right of way through Pike County, Pa., was rejected 
 in the Legislature, the Senator from the AA'ayne and Pike 
 district being the Hon. William H. Dimmick, who was also 
 the attorney of the Canal Company. Charles S. Minor, a 
 leading lawyer of Honesdale, saw the advantage to that 
 region of the coming of the railroad into and through it, and 
 resolved to bring it about if it could be done. In 1846, 
 however, the opposition by the Canal Company to the Erie 
 getting entrance into Pennsylvania was withdrawn. The en- 
 abling act was passed, but permitted the railroad to be built 
 only through a part of Pike County, which would carry the 
 railroad on up the Delaware. Mr. Minor was still determined 
 to help the Erie to a way through AVayne County if possible. 
 
 ^^'hen the term of Senator Dimmick expired, Mr. Minor drew 
 up a charter for a company to be known as the Jefferson 
 Railroad Company, and the reason he called it the " Jeffer- 
 son " Company was to avoid all opposition to the measure, 
 having taken his idea from the Washington Railroad Com- 
 pany, which had been then recently chartered. " I believed," 
 says Mr. Minor, who is still (1898), although an octogenarian, 
 in the practice of his profession at Honesdale, " that if the 
 people in this section saw a notice of the bill they would 
 think it appertained to Jefferson County ; while if the people 
 of Jefferson County noticed it they would see that it was 
 nothing that affected them ; and thus the bill passed without 
 attracting any attention." 
 
 But by the time the charter was passed the Erie had been 
 extended through the Delaware Valley into the Susquehanna 
 Valley, and was well on toward completion to Dunkirk. A 
 survey of the route from Honesdale to the Susquehanna was 
 made and found feasible, there being no grade exceeding 
 fifty feet to the mile, and the distance between Lackawaxen 
 and Susquehanna being twenty miles shorter than the Dela- 
 ware Valley route. President Loder, of the Erie, having 
 verified the survey, declared to Mr. Minor and Francis B. 
 Penniman, who had waited upon Mr. Loder to ascertain 
 whether the advantages of the Wayne County route would 
 not warrant the Erie in building the railroad anyhow, that if 
 the Erie could have gone through Wayne County originally it 
 would have been greatly to its advantage. " But the road is 
 now built along the Delaware," said he, " and we have no 
 money to build another through Wayne County. At some 
 time in the future, however, it will probably be desirable to 
 build a road on that route." 
 
 It was necessary to raise money to pay the tax on the 
 Jefferson charter, in order to obtain articles of incorporation, 
 and under the circumstances there was some doubt in the 
 minds of its sponsors whether the charter was worth it. The 
 Hon. Thomas H. R. Tracy was a man of considerable local 
 authority in the management of the Delaware and Hudson 
 Canal Company then, and Messrs. Minor and Penniman 
 resolved to consult with him on the subject. It is generally 
 the belief to this day that the Canal Company fought the 
 coming of the Erie into that region because it feared the 
 railroad as a rival in the coal traffic, but, according to the 
 revelation made by Judge Tracy to Minor and Penniman, 
 such was not the actual cause of that opposition. When the 
 custodians of the Jefferson charter asked Judge Tracy whether 
 it would be advisable to pay the tax on it, he said : 
 
 " By all means ! And if the amount of the tax is any con- 
 sideration, the Canal Company will pay it, for we shall have 
 occasion to use the road to send off coal one of these days. 
 We were never opposed to the railroad. When the Erie road 
 proposed to come into the Etate we were afraid the idea 
 would go forth that it was aiming at the coal fields, and that 
 would put up the price of coal lands. All we wanted was 
 one year in which to buy coal lands, so we fought off the 
 Erie the first year, bought coal lands, and then withdrew all 
 our opposition. We are in favor of your road." 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 369 
 
 Mr. Tracy paid the tax on the account of the Canal Com- 
 pany, and from that time that company was friendly to the 
 enterprise, but nothing was done toward it, and the charter 
 lapsed. 
 
 The ^^^ashington Coal Company charter of 1849 was a 
 revival of a charter granted by the Pennsylvania Legislature 
 in 1839 (April 13). At the same time the Pennsylvania Coal 
 Company was chartered, and the two companies combined. 
 The name was changed to that of the Pennsylvania Coal 
 Company in 1850, and the gravity railroad from Pittston and 
 Dunmore, Pa., tc Hawley, Pa., was built for the transporta- 
 tion of coal from the Company's mines. For years the coal 
 Avas transported to market from Hawley in the boats of the 
 Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, resulting in the f re- 
 cjuent clashing of interests between the two companies, and 
 in a lawsuit that was twenty years in the courts and cost 
 each company many hundreds of thousands of dollars. To 
 have its business on a more profitable and independent basis, 
 the Pennsylvania Coal Company began the building of a 
 railroad from the terminus of its gravity road at Hawley to a 
 connection with the Erie at Lackawaxen, sixteen miles. This 
 was in i860. The railroad was opened December, 1863, and 
 was leased by the Erie, and became part of that system under 
 the name of the Hawley Branch. This connected the Penn- 
 sylvania Coal Company's mines with its storage docks at 
 Newburgh, via the main line of the Erie and the Newburgh 
 Branch. In 1884 the gravity railroad was abandoned, a 
 locomotive railroad, the Erie and Wyoming, having been built 
 by the Pennsylvania Coal Company between Hawley and 
 Dunmore (Scranton), to connect with the Erie and take the 
 place of the gravity railroad. 
 
 The first coal car on the Hawley Branch was loaded De- 
 cember 14, 1863. Passenger cars were attached to the two 
 coal trains that were run. James Frantz was the engineer 
 and Charles Gorham conductor of the first train into Hawley 
 with passenger car attached, in December, 1863. 
 
 The building of the Hawley Branch of the Erie had the 
 effect of arousing interest in the long-forgotten Jefferson 
 Railroad scheme. March 13, 1863, the charter was revived, 
 with an amendment authorizing the building of a branch from 
 a point on the original survey at the Starucca Summit in 
 Wajme County south to Carbondale — Lanesboro, Pa., having 
 been the point of junction of the railroad with the Erie fixed 
 in the charter. Authority was given the company in 1864 to 
 make junction, also, with the main line elsewhere if desired. 
 That portion of the Jefferson Railroad between Hawley and 
 the terminus a mile below Honesdale was built in 1867-68, 
 and opened for business July 13, 1868. The building of that 
 part of it from Carbondale to the Erie main line was begun 
 April 15, 1869, under an arrangement by which the Delaware 
 and Hudson Canal Company was to provide the funds to build 
 it, and the Erie was to operate it after it was built. Henry 
 A. Fonda was the contractor (" Administration of Peter H. 
 Watson," page 216), and he changed the original route of the 
 railroad so that the intent of the projectors of the road was 
 lost, or made difficult and improbable. This was the building 
 
 24 
 
 of the link from Honesdale to the Summit, at the headwaters 
 of Starucca Creek in Wayne County. The protests of the 
 directors of the Jefferson Company were of no avail, for the 
 contractor had the support of Thomas Dickson, President of 
 the Canal Company, and the Canal Company was furnishing 
 the money to build the road. The railroad was made of 
 greater length, crooked, and of very heavy grades by this 
 change. Among the other costly and delaying obstacles 
 encountered was the " sink-hole " near Ararat Summit. The 
 rails had been put down, and cars had run over that stretch 
 of track, when one night a quarter of a mile of the track and 
 road-bed disappeared entirely, and a great quagmire occupied 
 the place. Into this pit 10,000 carloads of gravel — about 
 100,000 tons — and 500 large hemlock trees, branches and 
 all, were thrown without having any perceptible effect toward 
 forming a bottom upon which a new road-bed could be 
 founded. Then four piles, each forty feet long, were driven 
 down, one on top of the other, before solid bottom was 
 reached, showing the depth of the unstable spot to be r6o 
 feet. A row of piles was driven, in the manner of the test 
 piles, on both sides of the space required for the road-bed. 
 They were driven close together, so close that the work 
 required nearly 8,000 of them. These prevented the escape 
 of anything dumped into the enclosure. For four months 
 gravel, rocks, and forest trees entire, were thrown into the pit 
 before the all-absorbing morass was overcome. Acres of 
 hemlock forest were levelled to supply the trees, of which 
 1,500 from 50 to 100 feet high, and with a spread of 
 branches sometimes of twenty-five feet, were used. An ad- 
 jacent gravel hill, fifty feet high and covering four acres, was 
 levelled to obtain material for building up this remarkable 
 road-bed, and rocks weighing many tons each were tumbled 
 into the depths before a solid way was made across it. 
 
 The railroad was completed in October, 1870, and by an 
 arrangement made with the Delaware and Hudson Canal 
 Company and Jefferson Railroad Company the same year, 
 the Jefferson Railroad passed into the possession of the Erie 
 by purchase of the stock, the Erie to reimburse the Canal 
 Company for its advances in building the railroad, and the 
 Erie is now the owner of the road by such stock control. 
 The Jefferson Railroad proper is legally the line from Lanes- 
 boro, Pa., to Starucca, and that from Starucca to Carbondale 
 is a branch, and the track from Jefferson Junction to Sus- 
 quehanna is another branch, although the line from Susque- 
 hanna to Carbondale is the actual Jefferson Division of the 
 Erie. The Delaware and Hudson Railroad runs over this 
 railroad from Lanesboro to Carbondale, that link being part 
 of the Pennsylvania Division of that railroad. 
 
 So the Jefferson Railroad, which might have been a portion 
 of the Erie main line to the Erie's profit and advantage, is to 
 this day an incomplete railroad. It never even got all the 
 way to Honesdale from Hawley, but stopped a mile or more 
 below that place, running a spur up to the coal shutes. At 
 the time the Erie was negotiating for the purchase of the 
 Jefferson Railroad, its managers entered into a contract 
 to extend the railroad all the way to Honesdale^ but as the 
 
370 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Jefferson franchises passed into their possession immediately, 
 they regarded the contract as one made by themselves A\-ith 
 themselves, and the extension never was made. During the 
 presidency of Jay Gould, early in the winter of 1872, Gould 
 ordered a survey of the route from Honesdale over the old 
 Jefferson route to the Starucca Creek, and finding it entirely 
 feasible, he agreed that if the people of 'Wayne County would 
 raise $40,000, or furnish its equivalent in right of way, he 
 would complete the Jefferson Railroad by building the Hones- 
 dale link. Coe F. Young, then General Manager of the 
 Delaware and Hudson Canal and that company's railroad sys- 
 tem, assured Gould that the condition could readily be com- 
 plied with, and it was decided to begin work on the railroad 
 as soon as spring opened. Before that time came, Gould 
 was no longer in control of Erie, and the Jefferson Railroad 
 is still a railroad with a missing link. 
 
 A. Reeves Hankins was the first conductor on the Hones- 
 dale Branch, and William Aumick the first engineer, they nm- 
 ning the passenger train. Coal trains began running over the 
 branch in November, 1868. 
 
 The firs ttrain over the Jefferson Railroad was a special, 
 on which were Jay Gould, Thomas Dickson, president of the 
 Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, and other prominent 
 railroad men. It was nin October 23, 1870, and was in 
 charge of A. T. Palmer as conductor, now superintendent of 
 the Union Pacific Railroad at Kansas City. Early in No- 
 vember, 1870, the first traffic train — a coal train — was run 
 over the railroad, George DeWitt conductor and Sid Luckey 
 engineer. 
 
 It was in anticipation of the control of this new and im- 
 portant outlet for the coal traffic that the Gould manage- 
 ment of Erie began laying its plans to extend and widen the 
 field of Erie's influence and power in an entirely new terri- 
 tory. This ambition, laudable in itself, was not entirely 
 aided toward attainment by the condition of the Erie's affairs 
 and the methods of its procedure at that time, and led to 
 what was known as 
 
 THE ALBANY AND SUSQUEHANNA WAR. 
 
 The Albany and Susquehanna Railroad was opened Janu- 
 ary 12, 1869. It connected Binghamton with Albany, and 
 became a link, together with the Erie and the Boston and 
 Albany Railroad, in a chain of railroad communication be- 
 tween New England and the West that seemed to bear prom- 
 ise of great importance. It also held the key, through pro- 
 jects then going forward, to the entrance of the coal traffic of 
 the upper Lackawanna anthracite field to markets theretofore 
 inaccessible. The Albany and Susquehanna consequently 
 filled the eye of both the Erie management and that of those 
 in control of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, and 
 much of future importance in railroad ownership was builded 
 upon it. Much of the stock in the Albany and Susquehanna 
 Company was owned by towns along the line, and in July, 
 1869, Jay Gould, acting on the suggestion of AValter S. 
 
 Church, a leading director in the company, who was opposed 
 to the rule of James H. Ramsey, president of the company, 
 quietly sent out agents to buy up the stock of the different 
 towns, with the intention of getting a majority of the holding, 
 so that he might control the next election for directors, and 
 thus get possession of the railroad in the interests of Erie. 
 The movement came to the knowledge of Ramsey, who be- 
 gan a counter-campaign to checkmate Gould. The courts were 
 kept busy for months issuing injunctions and counter-injunc- 
 tions, appointing receivers, etc. By September, 1869, there 
 were seven injunction suits pending, before almost as many 
 different judges, Judge Joseph G. Barnard being always at 
 the beck of Gould and Fisk ; and the interests of Ramsey, or 
 what was known as the " Albany interests," seeming to be 
 well taken care of by Judge Rufus H. Peckham, Judge 
 Clute, and Judge Murray. August 6 th, Judge Barnard ap- 
 pointed James Fisk, Jr., and Charles Coulter receivers of the 
 Albany and Susquehanna Railroad. When they went to Al- 
 bany to take charge of the property, they found that on the 
 evening of August 6th Judge Peckham had appointed Robert 
 H. Pruyn receiver. This led to further complicated litiga- 
 tion, in which both sides were enjoined from doing anything. 
 Fisk and Coulter took possession of the railroad at Bingham- 
 ton, however, and Receiver Pruyn enforced his authority at 
 the Albany end. Both sides essayed to run the railroad, 
 which resulted in a clash at arms, during which rails were 
 torn up and bridges destroyed. On August nth, the Bar- 
 nard receiver appealed to Governor Hoffman to take charge 
 of the property in the name of the State, as it was being 
 ruined. The Governor did so, placing it in control of 
 Colonel Banks and a force of military. This was the situa- 
 tion when the election came on at Albany on September 
 7 th. Scenes of violence ensued at the election, and two sets 
 of directors were elected, one in favor of the Erie interests 
 and the other in the interest of the Ramsey, or Albany, con- 
 tingent. Neither board could act, and the Attorney-General 
 brought suit against all the parties at interest to have it de- 
 cided which was the regular board. The case was fixed for 
 argument before Judge E. Darwin Smith at Rochester, No- 
 vember 29, 1869. November 23d, Judge Murray, at Delhi, 
 Delaware County, granted an order in a suit brought by 
 Ramsey against Gould, Fisk, and other Erie Directors, sus- 
 pending them as Directors and officers, and appointing 
 David Groesbeck general receiver of the Company. These 
 proceedings were subsequently set aside, and in December 
 Judge E. Danvin Smith decided against the legality of the 
 directors elected in the Erie interest. The situation now 
 was such as to bring about a fierce renewal of the contest for 
 ultimate possession of the railroad, but before either side had 
 gained any victory, the Delaware and Hudson Canal Com- 
 pany, which previously had a hand in the fight only by 
 implication as a supporter of Erie, leased the Albany and 
 Susquehanna Railroad, February 24, 1870. The lawsuits 
 between Ramsey and the Erie managers were in the courts, 
 however, nearly two years longer before this long and bitter 
 battle of the Gould regime came to an end. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 ;7J 
 
 THE NEWBURGH SHORT CUT. 
 
 The Newburgh and New York Railroad was projected in 
 1 86 1, and surveys were made by William Sneeden, at that 
 time superintendent of the Northern Railroad of New Jersey. 
 The expense of the survey was paid by Newburghers and the 
 Erie. Nothing was done until 1864, when Robert H. Berdell 
 came in as President of the Erie. John Houston, an Erie 
 civil engineer, was directed to make a permanent location of 
 the route. Nothing further was done until 1866, when the 
 project was revived. An attempt was made to bond New- 
 burgh and other places in aid of the road, but failed. Then 
 Homer Ramsdell took the matter up. He was a Director in 
 the Erie, and through his influence that Company took hold 
 of the New York and Newburgh road. In 1868 it was put 
 under contract by the Erie to Peter \\'ard of Newburgh and 
 Valentine Levy of Hudson City, N. J. Ground was broken, 
 April 10, 1868. The road was completed, and turned over 
 to the Erie, August 23, 1869. It cost ^550,000, and brought 
 Newburgh within sixty-two miles of New York. 
 
 The opening of this Newburgh Short Cut was made the 
 occasion of a celebration the like of which had not been 
 seen since the opening of the railroad to Dunkirk. Saturday, 
 August 14, 1869, the citizens of Newburgh extended invita- 
 tions to the officers and Directors of Erie to be their guests 
 on the opening of the railroad. 
 
 An excursion train left Newburgh at 9.45, in charge of 
 Conductor Thomas 'Wright and Engineer Henry Gaylord. 
 There was firing of cannon at every station. The excursion 
 train from New York was met at the junction. On this train 
 were James Fisk, Jr., Comptroller of Erie ; the Directors, the 
 Secretary and Treasurer ; Hugh Riddle, General Superin- 
 tendent ; A. P. Berthoud, Superintendent of the Eastern 
 Division ; James H. Rutter, General Freight Agent ; Gov. 
 John T. Hoffman, A. Oakey Hall, Mayor of New York, 
 Mayor Peddie of Newark, Hon. Charles H. Wjnfield of 
 Jersey City, and many other distinguished guests. 
 
 The train was gaily decorated. Edward Kent was the en- 
 gineer, and Chauncey Hale the conductor. A procession 
 nearly a mile long paraded the streets of Newburgh, where 
 there were hours of speech-making. Fisk made a famous 
 speech in response to the address of welcome. Three hearty 
 cheers and a " tiger" were given for him and Jay Gould, and 
 the band played " Hail to the Chief," at the conclusion of 
 the speech. A great banquet was given at Moore's Opera 
 House, for which the citizens of Newburgh had subscribed 
 |io a plate. The railroad was but sixteen miles long, but it 
 was an event, and those were the times of Gould and Fisk. 
 
 THE WAR OF THE GAUGES. 
 
 When the Erie was completed to Dunkirk in 185 1 there 
 was no railroad connecticfn farther west. The Cleveland, 
 Ashtabula, and Painesville Railroad was being extended east- 
 ward, with the intention of connecting with the Erie or the 
 
 New York Central Railroad by means of local roads across 
 the northeast corner of Pennsylvania, known as the Triangle, 
 and bordering on Lake Erie, the distance across that portion 
 of Pennsylvania, between the New York and the Ohio lines, 
 being fifty miles. The borough of Erie (now city) occupied 
 the vantage point in that corner of the State on Lake Erie. 
 A railroad known as the Erie and Northeast Railroad had 
 been chartered, April 22, 1842, to be built from Northeast, 
 a Pennsylvania village near the New York line, to Erie, about 
 twenty miles. Nothing was done toward building the rail- 
 road until 1849, when, events seeming to indicate that the 
 New York and Erie Railroad was certain to reach Lake Ene, 
 the Erie and Northeast Company saw the importance of its 
 railroad as a link in a chain of rail communication between 
 the East and West and began work upon it. The railroad was 
 completed January r9, 1852, the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road having then been open between New York and Dunkirk 
 the better part of a year. In 1848 Pennsylvania capitalists 
 obtained a charter from their State Legislature for the Erie 
 and Ohio Railroad Company, to build a railroad from luie 
 to the Ohio line. This would have assured the completion 
 of a line across the Triangle, but, unfortunately, the indi- 
 viduals interested in the project were dilatory in taking 
 advantage of their charter, and in 1849 it was repealed in the 
 interest of the Pennsylvania Central Railroad, which was then 
 building to connect Philadelphia and Pittsburg, and which 
 was determined to harass the New York trunk lines in ob- 
 taining thoroughfare through Pennsylvania. 
 
 In 1844 the Pennsylvania Legislature had chartered the 
 Franklin Canal Company, with authority to repair the Franklin 
 Division of the Pennsylvania Canal, and the privilege of 
 constructing a railroad on the towpath north to Erie and 
 south to Pittsburg, or on a route the company deemed most 
 advantageous. Construing this concession somewhat liber- 
 ally, the Canal Company located a railroad between Erie and 
 the Ohio State line, which would complete a connection by 
 rail A\ith the Erie and Northeast Railroad, and give a direct 
 line to the New York lines to Cleveland. 
 
 Under the New York railroad law of r849, ^ company en- 
 titled the Buffalo and State Line Railroad Company was 
 organized to build a railroad from Buffalo westward along 
 Lake Erie to the State line, the purpose being to make a 
 connection with the Erie and Northeast Railroad, and thus 
 control, with that railroad and the proposed Ohio connection, 
 the traffic to and fro between the East and West and the 
 railroad then terminating at Buffalo, which was destined soon 
 to become part of the present New York Central system. 
 The original intent of the Erie and Northeast Railroad 
 Company was to make the gauge of its railroad six feet, and, 
 in fact, it had an understanding with the New York and Erie 
 Railroad Company to that effect, being also under the im- 
 pression that the Buffalo and State Line Railroad was to be 
 of that gauge. The influences that subsequently combined 
 the five local New York railroads between Albany and Buffalo 
 into the one New York Central were then at work, and it 
 was evident the Central was to be of the four-foot-eight-and- 
 
372 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 a-half -gauge, and also that the Buffalo and State Line Rail- 
 road was in existence in the interests of the Central, for the 
 same gauge was adopted by the State Line Company. 
 
 The New York and Erie, as well as the Central, knew the 
 importance of a connection that would give it thoroughfare 
 across that comer of Pennsylvania, and under the New York 
 General Railroad Law of 1850 the Dunkirk and State Line 
 Railroad was organized to build a railroad from the Dunkirk 
 terminus of the Erie to the Pennsylvania line, with a gauge 
 of six feet, to meet the Erie and Northeast connection there 
 with the same gauge. This, of course, was in the interest of 
 the Erie, and would give it a line toward the ^^'est without 
 breaking bulk. This aroused the Buffalo and State Line 
 Railroad Company, or, rather, the interests in the Central 
 that controlled it, and they so harassed the Erie in its Dun- 
 kirk and State Line project that the Erie was weak enough, 
 early in 185 1, to consent to a compromise with the Central, 
 instead of insisting on having its independent connecting 
 line, the building of which it abandoned. The Buffalo and 
 State Line Railroad was originally laid out to go via Fredo- 
 nia, three miles from Dunkirk. By the compromise with the 
 Erie the route was changed, and the railroad was built via 
 Dunkirk, to give the Erie connection with it, and a neutral 
 gauge, known as the Ohio gauge, was adopted by the local 
 railroad, the Erie and Northeast Railroad agreeing to lay the 
 same gauge, the width of which was four feet ten inches. 
 Then the Erie subscribed $250,000 to the stock of the Buffalo 
 and State Line Railroad, to aid in its construction, and placed 
 itself ever after at the mercy of its great rival, which never 
 hesitated to assert its supremacy in that connecting line 
 whenever Erie interests might be damaged by so doing. The 
 Buffalo and State Line is now part of the Central's Lake 
 Shore and Michigan Southern system. The four-foot-ten 
 gauge necessitated a breaking of freight bulk and changing 
 of cars by passengers by the Central at Buffalo, and by way 
 of the Erie at Dunkirk. 
 
 But the Pennsylvania Central Railroad's influence and the 
 influence of the borough of Erie now appeared again. By 
 the arrangement between the Buffalo and State Line and the 
 Erie and Northeast railroads, the two New York trunk lines 
 were to obtain a highway across Pennsylvania, which the 
 Pennsylvania Central Railroad determined to prevent; and 
 the borough of Erie discovered that passengers and freight, 
 east and west bound, would pass through that place without 
 changing cars or breaking bulk there, and thus disappointing 
 citizens of Erie who had calculated on making money by 
 such a break in the gauge. Responsive to the demands of 
 those influences, the Pennsylvania Legislature, March 11, 
 185 1, passed a law establishing the legal gauge for all rail- 
 roads west of Erie to the Ohio line at four feet ten inches, 
 and prohibiting all railroads east from that borough from laying 
 track except of a f our-f oot-eight-and-a-half or a six-foot gauge. 
 
 The Erie and Northeast Company, standing on what it 
 claimed was its charter rights, refused to comply with the 
 law, and laid its tracks at the neutral or Ohio gauge, but 
 when the work of laying the track through Erie borough was 
 
 attempted, the rails were torn up and the workmen dispersed 
 by infuriated Erie people. The cry was, " Break gauge at 
 Erie, or no railroad ! " The riots were fierce and bloody, and 
 guns and pistols were the order of the day ; and orders of the 
 Pennsylvania courts, and even the authority of the United 
 States court, were defied. During this lawless outbreak many 
 lives were lost. The Governor of the State refused to use his 
 authority to restore order. The Erie and Northeast Company 
 was determined. It abandoned the route through Erie, and 
 attempted to build its railroad around the place, but the 
 tracks were torn up and bridges destroyed by the Erie 
 rioters. 
 
 From 1853 until 1855 the War of the Gauges was waged by 
 the people of Erie, supported by the State government and 
 politicians, and in defiance of the courts. Passengers and 
 freight, during the winter, when the lake was closed, had to 
 be transferred by wagon from a point east of Erie as near as 
 the people of that place would permit the cars to come on that 
 side, to a point west of the borough, where the cars from 
 that direction were stopped, and vice versa. The hardships of 
 this were great, especially to emigrants, who were travelling 
 westward in great numbers. This was called " Crossing the 
 Isthmus." The War of the Gauges forced the Erie to abandon 
 one of its through passenger trains, and a freight and a stock 
 train, for many months, resulting in heavy loss. 
 
 In 1855 the State of Pennsylvania, to punish the Erie and 
 Northeast Railroad Company for its determination to aid in 
 advancing the general transportation interests of the country 
 in face of the opposition of the Pennsylvania Central Rail- 
 road and of the selfish lawlessness of the people of Erie, re- 
 pealed its charter, confiscated its railroad, and placed it in 
 charge of State agents. This resulted in a compromise. The 
 Erie and Northeast agreed to build its railroad into Erie and 
 to the harbor, and to subscribe $400,000 to the stock of the 
 Pittsburg and Erie Railroad, the Buffalo and State Line Com- 
 pany subscribing a like amount — a condition of the blackmail- 
 ing settlement being also that the Cleveland and Erie Rail- 
 road should subscribe $500,000 to the stock of the Sunbury 
 and Erie Railroad, another projected Pennsylvania line — and 
 the gauge law was repealed. The charter rights of the Erie 
 and Northeast Railroad and its property were restored to the 
 Company, and the disgraceful, high-handed, and lawless War 
 of the Gauges was over. In 1857 the Erie and Northeast 
 Railroad passed into the possession of the New York Central, 
 and the Erie management soon discovered how foolish it 
 had been in succumbing to the Central interests in the mat- 
 ter of the Buffalo and State Line Railroad (" Administration 
 of Homer Ramsdell," page 121). 
 
 The Bergen County Railroad was incorporated in 1875. 
 It is known as the " Short Cut " from Rutherford to Ridgwood 
 Junction, and was virtually built by the Erie. It was added 
 to the system in 1880. It is about ten miles long. The 
 Chicago and Atlantic Railroad became the property of the 
 Erie August 31, 1887 ("Administration of John King,'' 
 pages 270 to 272). Other connections of the Erie system, 
 owned, leased, and operated, are listed on pages 286 and 287. 
 
THE TURNING OF ITS WHEELS. 
 
 1841-1898. 
 
 The Story of the Time-tables — Erie's First Official Time-tables not Printed, but Made with Pen and Ink on Note Paper — Later, Printed in 
 a Countr)' Printing- Office — Some Rare Old Time-tables in Facsimile — Development of Traffic — Henry Fitch, First General Pas- 
 senger Agent — Beginning of Milk Transportation — Original Locomotives — The Strange Career of "The Orange" — Joe Meginnes 
 and Other First Erie Engineers — Queer Engines — Story of the " Diamond Cars," Sleeping Cars Built for the Erie Nearly Sixty 
 Years Ago^Worden, the First Conductor — " Poppy " Ayres and " Ilank " Stewart — First Superintendents — Erie's First Tragedy 
 of the Rail and Its Sequences — Amusing Incidents, Strange Accidents — Story of How the Erie Brought the Telegraph into Service 
 for the Running of Trains — Original Railroad Telegraph Operators — Notable Strikes on the Erie, and Historic Accidents — The 
 Side-tracking of Piermont and Dunkirk — Erie Operative System and Equipment of To-day. 
 
 STORY OF THE TIME-TABLES. 
 
 The first official time-tables (1841) for the information and 
 legulation of employees on the Erie were not printed. They 
 were arranged by S. S. Post, who enjoyed the distinction of 
 being the Company's original " Superintendent of Trans- 
 portation." After he had drafted them they were copied on 
 half -sheets of note paper by his clerk. As it was necessary 
 to provide each engineer and conductor, each station agent, 
 and the heads of operating departments with a copy, the 
 clerk was obliged to make as many as nine copies of the first 
 official time-table. There were a superintendent, a super- 
 intendent of transportation, a master mechanic, two con- 
 ductors, two engineers, and two station agents, one at Chester 
 and one at Goshen, each to be supplied with a time-table. 
 The body of it was written with black ink. The names of 
 " tuni-out " stations or points were indicated by being written 
 with red ink. These were places where a train going in one 
 direction was to turn out, or lie on a siding, until an ex- 
 pected train, going in the opposite direction, should pass. The 
 original turn-outs were at Monsey, the Y at Ramapo, and at 
 Turners and at Chester. Written time-tables were in use until 
 too many copies were required to stock the employees, and 
 then printed ones came in. The public was kept informed 
 of the movements of trains and the changes in time by hand- 
 bills and announcements in New York newspapers and the 
 two Goshen newspapers — the Independent Republican and the 
 Democrat. At the time the railroad was opened in 1841, 
 and for years afterward, there was not a newspaper on the 
 line between New York and Goshen, and none between 
 Goshen and Binghamton, on the route over which the rail- 
 road was later to proceed west from Goshen. One of the 
 •original official time-tables, made with a pen, would to-day be 
 of priceless value as a relic of pioneer railroading, and a 
 printed copy of one would be of scarcely less intrinsic worth 
 as a curiosity in the history of railroad operating, but not one 
 
 of either is in existence. The oldest handbills announcing 
 changes in the running of trains on the Erie and giving 
 information as to passenger rates and regulations, that the 
 author has been able to find, were issued in the spring of 
 1847. Older than that by two years is the freight schedule 
 he unearthed, which was issued in June, 1845. They are 
 both reproduced in facsimile on pages 375 and 381. Any- 
 thing rarer than these, in this day of relics of pioneer 
 railroading on the Erie, it would be impossible to obtain. 
 They will appeal with peculiar interest to traffic managers in 
 this advanced age of transportation science, fixing indisputably 
 on the records, as they do, the ideas of those early directors 
 of Erie's operating departments as to the best methods and 
 plans for conducting railroad traffic according to the lights 
 they had, and to popularize the railroad and make business 
 for it. The schedule of freight rates for 1845 is peculiarly 
 valuable, as showing the commodities of traffic that yielded 
 the early freight earnings of the railroad. The Erie has 
 2,271 miles of railroad now. It had fifty-four miles when 
 those schedules were promulgated. Every shipper, and, it 
 may almost be said, every passenger, was personally known 
 to the management then — a situation now hardly possible of 
 belief. 
 
 The first official Erie printing office, after the railroad was 
 opened to Goshen, was the Goshen Democrat office, and 
 there the original time-tables and announcements of the 
 Company were printed. The work was done on a hand-press, 
 and the printer was Charles Meade, the Democrat being 
 published by Meade & Webb. In 1850 the Company estab- 
 lished its own printing office in the Erie Building, foot of 
 Duane Street, New York, and Charles Meade was called 
 there to take charge of it. R. C. S. Hendrie, foreman of his 
 Goshen office, went with him. Meade remained at the head 
 of the printing department of the Company until the death 
 of his brother-in-law and partner, W'ebb, when he returned 
 to Goshen to take the affairs of the Democrat concern in 
 
374 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 hand. He was succeeded in the management of the Erie 
 printing office by his old foreman, Hendrie, who conducted the 
 establishment until it >vas sold, in December, 1874, to Lange, 
 Little & Co. of New York. No better work of the kind is 
 done to-day in any modem printing office than these early 
 Erie printers executed. The report to the stockholders for 
 1 85 5) a pamphlet of r8o pages, issued from the Erie printing 
 office, is a particularly fine specimen of press-work and supe- 
 rior skill in difficult typographical execution. It bears the 
 imprint, " Press of the New York and Erie Railroad Com- 
 pany, R. C. S. Hendrie, Printers." David D. Osmun was 
 an employee of the original Erie printing office at Goshen, 
 and put in type some of the very first Erie time-tables. He 
 is still living at Chester, N. Y. 
 
 January i, 1841, in anticipation of a much earlier open- 
 ing of the railroad than actually occurred, the Company began 
 running a steamboat from the foot of Cortlandt street to the 
 depot at Piermont. "The new enterprise," said the news- 
 paper announcement, " commences with the steamer ' Utica,' 
 under the command of Capt. Alexander H. Shultz, late of 
 the steamer ' Independence,' on the Philadelphia line, than 
 whom there is not a more capable or gentlemanly commander 
 on our waters. It is intended, in connection with this com- 
 pany, to open a line of travel to Albany this winter. When 
 the arrangements are all completed, passengers a^iU leave New 
 York in steamboats and take the railroad at Piermont to Goshen, 
 and thence to Albany by stages, by which route the difficult 
 and dangerous travel through the Highlands may be avoided." 
 
 The first official Erie time-table ever published was incor- 
 porated with the announcement of the opening of the railroad 
 to Goshen. The late A. S. Whiton, then a clerk in the office 
 of the superintendent of transportation, made the copies of 
 it that were sent to the newspapers, from the original schedule 
 as decided upon, after long consultation at the Piermont 
 offices by Superintendent H. C. Seymour, Superintendent of 
 Transportation S. S. Post, and Alexander Main, who was 
 cashier, paymaster, and auditor of the Company. The sched- 
 ule was approved by the President and Directors, and was 
 as follows : 
 
 THE EASTERN DIVISION 
 
 OK THE 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAIL ROAD, 
 
 AVill be opened for freight and passengers on Thursday, the 23d of 
 September, and until further notice the trains will run as follows : 
 
 FROM GOSHEN 
 
 A Passengkr Train Daily, 
 
 except Sundays, leaving the Depot at 7 A.^I., and stopping at any of 
 the following places where passengers may desire to be left or taken 
 up, viz. : Chester, Monroe Village, Turners, Monroe Works, Raraapo 
 station, Sufferns, Pascac, Blauveltviile, and Piermont, arriving in the 
 .Steamboat Utica, at New York, at 12, M. 
 
 A Freight Train Tri-Weekly, 
 
 leaving the depot at 3 P.M., on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, 
 stopping, if required, at Chester, Monroe Village, Seaman-ville, 
 Turners, Monroe Works, Ramapo station, Sufferns, Pascac, Green- 
 bush, Blauveltviile, and Piermont, arriving at New York, by the 
 Company's steamboat and freight barges, at 10 P.M. 
 
 FROM NEW YORK. 
 A Passenger Train Daily, 
 
 excepting Sundays, leaving the foot of Albany St., in the steamboat 
 Utica, Captain A.. H. Shultz, at 8 A.M., and arriving in Goshen at 
 I P.M. 
 
 A Freight Train Tri-Weekly, 
 
 leaving the foot of Cedar street, at 4 P.M., on Jlondays, Thursdays 
 and Saturdays, and arriving at Goshen at 10 P.M. Stopping places 
 the same as in the trains from Goshen. 
 
 Passengers by the morning trains are informed that no breakfast 
 will be furnished on the boat or on the road. They are requested to 
 purchase tickets before taking seats in the cars, as all persons from 
 New- York, or from any depot where tickets are sold, will be charged 
 as way passengers, if they neglect to purchase tickets before taking 
 their seats. 
 
 For freight or passage, inquire at the Company's dock in New 
 York, at the foot of Albany street, or at the various depots along the 
 route. 
 
 IT. C. Seymour. 
 
 Sitperiuteiident and Eni^'nwer East. Division^ 
 
 Xew York ^^ Erie Railroad. 
 
 This wzs, a modest announcement, and it was not entirely 
 satisfactory to Seymour and Post. It did not seem to be 
 comprehensive enough, so they went into earnest consulta- 
 tion again, and produced the schedule and accompanving 
 paragraphs of instruction to the public as shown below. It 
 appeared one week after the opening of the railroad to 
 Goshen : 
 
 THE EASTERN DIVISION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NEW YORK &L ERIE RAIL-ROAD 
 
 Is now open for freight and passengers and until further notice the 
 trains will run according to the following 
 
 NEW ARRANGEMENT: 
 
 FROM GOSHEN. 
 
 A Passenger Train Daily, 
 
 except Sundays, leaving the depot at 7 A.M., and stopping at any 
 of the following places where passengers may desire to be left or taken 
 up, viz.: Chester, Monroe Village, Turners, Monroe Works, Ramapo 
 station, Sufferns, Pascac, Blauveltviile, and Piermont, thence by the 
 Steamboat Utica, Capt. A. H. Shultz, to New York, landing at the 
 foot of Albany street. 
 
 FROM NEW YORK. 
 A Passenger Train Daily, 
 
 excepting Sundays, leaving the foot of Albany St., in the steamboat 
 Utica, Captain A. H. Shultz, at 8 A.M., and proceeding immediately 
 on the arrival of the boat at Piermont, to Goshen, stopping at the 
 above-named places. 
 
 A F R E I G H T & P A S S E N G E R T R A I X , 
 
 daily (.Sundays excepted,) will leave 
 
 GOSHEN 
 
 at 3 o'c P.M., stopping at Chester, Monroe Village, Seaman-ville, 
 Turners, Monroe Works, Ramapo station, Sufferns, Pascac, Green- 
 bush, Blauveltviile and Piermont. Thence, (on Mondays, Tuesdays, 
 Thursdays, and Fridays,) by steamboat Union and barges to New 
 York, landing at the foot of Chambers St., and on Wednesdays and 
 .Saturdays by the steamboat Utica, touching at the foot of Chambers 
 street, where all market freight will be delivered on board the barges. 
 
 FROM NEW YORK. 
 
 Leaving the foot of Chambers street, on Mondays, Tuesdays, 
 Thursdays and Fridays in the steamboat Union, and the foot of 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 375 
 
Z7^ 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Albany street on Wednesdays and Saturdays, in the steamboat Utica. 
 Stopping places the same as in the trains from Goshen. 
 
 Passengers by the morning trains are informed that no Breakfast 
 will be furnished in the boat or on the road. They are requested to 
 purchase Tickets before taking seats in the cars, as all persons from 
 New York, or from any Depot where Tickets are sold, will be charged 
 as Way Passengers if they neglect to do so. 
 
 For Freight or Passage, apply at the Company's Transportation 
 office, at the corner of Liberty and ^\'est streets, near the Albany 
 ]Jasin, or at any of the Depots along the route. 
 
 It is indispensably requisite that all freight intended to be forwarded 
 the same day, should be at the Depot at least one hour previous to the 
 starting of the trains. 
 
 Returning, leave Xew York — • 
 
 First train at 7 o'clock, P. JI. 
 Second do. 5! " A. M. 
 
 Fare through (for this day only), $1.00. 
 
 Passengers by the morning train from Goshen, will have an oppor- 
 tunity of witnessing the opening of the Croton Aqueduct and other 
 civic festivities. 
 
 (E^^ The Goshen and Mount Hope Bands will accompany the 
 morning train from Goshen, and return in the evening train from 
 New York. H. C. Seymour, Siip't. 
 
 PASSENGER CHARGES. 
 
 FIRST CLASS CARS. 
 
 From Goshen to Chester, & vice versa $0.12^ 
 
 
 
 Monroe, " 
 
 0.25 
 
 
 
 ' Turners, " 
 
 o.37i 
 
 
 
 Monroe Works, 
 
 o.62i 
 
 
 
 ' Ramapoo, 
 
 1. 00 
 
 
 
 ' Sufferns, 
 
 1. 00 
 
 
 
 ' Pascac, 
 
 ' 1.12^ 
 
 1.25 
 
 
 
 Blauveltville, 
 
 
 
 ' Piermont, 
 
 1.25 
 
 " 
 
 New-York, 
 
 1.50 
 
 
 SECOND CLASS CARS. 
 
 
 From Go 
 
 shen to Chester, & vice versa So. 10 
 
 
 ' Monroe, " 
 
 0.20 
 
 
 Turners, " 
 
 0.25 
 
 
 Monroe Works, 
 
 0.50 
 
 
 ' Ramapo&vicinity 
 
 ' 0.62 J 
 
 
 ' Sufferns, 
 
 0.75 
 
 
 ' Pascac, 
 
 o.So 
 
 
 Blauveltville, 
 
 o.S7i 
 
 
 ' Piermont, 
 
 0.87* 
 
 
 ( i 
 
 New-York, 
 
 ' 1. 00 
 
 H. C. Seymour, 
 
 Superintendent and Engineer Hast. Division^ 
 
 New York 6^ Erie Railroad. 
 
 Albany Street, Nevi' York, extended from Greenwich Street 
 to the North River, between Thames and Carlisle (now 
 Rector) streets. Albany Basin was the river between Albany 
 Street and Cedar Street. 
 
 Trains were run by this schedule until December 30, 1841, 
 when the " Winter Arrangement " was inade. It had been 
 discovered that there was not business enough for a daily 
 freight train, and it was reduced to tri-weekly trips, leaving 
 " each termination on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, 
 at about the same time as the passenger trains." The rates 
 of fare remained the saine. 
 
 The running of cheap pleasure excursions over the Erie is 
 to-day a feature of its passenger traffic, and a profitable one. 
 Nearly sixty years ago (1842), the first experiment in this 
 class of special passenger business was tried on the Erie, per- 
 haps the first experiment of the kind on any railroad. The 
 announcement for this initial pleasure excursion was as 
 follows : 
 
 FOURTH OF JULY ! 
 NEW YORK & ERIE RAILROAD. 
 
 Two trains of Passenger Cars will leave Goshen for New York, 
 July 4th, starting as follows : 
 
 First train, at 6 o'clock, A. M. 
 Second do. \\ o'clock, P. M, 
 
 This first opportunity for the people along the line to have 
 a cheap trip to and from the metropolis on a particularly 
 interesting and memorable occasion was not taken advantage 
 of with an enthusiasm that warranted the Company in trying- 
 any further experiments in special pleasure excursions at that 
 period of its existence, for two cars were all that were neces- 
 sary to carry the excursionists, including the bands. There 
 were not more than 100 persons aboard. This pioneer Erie 
 pleasure excursion train was in charge of Eben E. Worden, 
 conductor. The engineer was James Newell. The locomo- 
 tive was the " Ramapo " (No. 3). 
 
 During 1842 but little change was made in the running ot 
 trains, except that the New York terminus was removed from 
 Albany Street to the foot of Duane Street, and daily trips of the 
 freight trains were resumed. The " Winter Arrangement," 
 made December 12, 1842, announced that the cars, on and 
 after that date, would " run in connection with the steamboat 
 'Arrow' (Capt. A. H. Shultz), daily except Sunday." The 
 freight train was again made tri-weekly, leaving " the foot of 
 Duane street Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday of each week 
 at 3 o'clock P.M.," and departing from Goshen " on the same 
 days, at 8 J^ A.M." From the time-table: "N.B. — A sub- 
 stantial Ice Boat will be in readiness for use whenever the 
 state of the river shall require it. The Western Stages con- 
 nect with the Cars at Goshen." 
 
 Before the Erie was opened to Goshen, travel between New 
 York City and the West, particularly for that then almost un- 
 known land of attractive nomenclature, " the Lake Country," 
 was by stage coaches from New York, via Hoboken, thence 
 across the State of New Jersey to the Delaware River, a mile 
 below Milford, Pa. The river was crossed by ferry, and at 
 Milford the route was over the Milford and Owego Turnpike, 
 across the northeastern corner of Pennsylvania, much of the 
 way through the wilderness, to the State of New York again, 
 and Owego, whence other coach connections carried the 
 traveller on toward his destination. Passengers for this line 
 were booked at the Commercial Hotel, kept by John Patton, 
 at the foot of Cortlandt Street, or at John Ball's, foot of 
 Barclay Street, New York. They took the ferry to Hoboken, 
 whence stages departed from Van Buskirk's Hotel ev»ry 
 Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at a a.m. 
 
 The opening of the railroad to Goshen made that place for 
 the time the eastern terminus of the through coach lines, and. 
 also brought into existence a project for improving travel be- 
 tween New York and Albany, as indicated by the following; 
 announcement : 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 zn 
 
 NEW YORK AND ALBANY STAGE LINE. 
 
 ON BOTH SIDES NORTH RIVER. 
 
 Office at the Old Stand, Western Hotel, g Courtlandt Street. 
 Fare %b. 
 
 The line on the west side of the river is from New York to Pier- 
 mont on Steamboat " Utica," from Piermont to Goshen by the railroad, 
 and thence to Albany by stage. 
 
 Passengers by this line may leave New York any morning (Sundays 
 excepted) at 8 o'clock, and arrive in Albany next morning by g. 
 
 This is the shortest, quickest, and cheapest route to Albany. The 
 railroad cars are large, commodious, and warmed by stoves. 
 
 The line on the East side will be by steamboat daily as far as the 
 ice will permit. E. Beach. 
 
 i^" Passengers for Newburgh and Paltz may secure passage at 
 this office by steamboat and railroad to Turner's, i6 miles this side of 
 Newburgh, where stages will be in readiness to convey them to the 
 above named places. 
 
 New York, Dec. 25, 1841. 
 
 This project, however, did not prove to be a success. 
 
 As the railroad slowly advanced westward, the stage-coach 
 terminals at the eastern end moved with it, until the line was 
 at last opened to Bingham ton in 1849, when stage-coach 
 travel from the east to the " Lake Country " became a thing 
 of the past, and the romantic days of travel — romantic de- 
 spite its delays, discomforts, and hardships — are now but a 
 memory, and a living memory to but few, for the ante-railroad 
 days were a long, long time ago. The genius of that long- 
 forgotten time is pathetically expressed in the following 
 poem, written more than a generation ago by the late Peter 
 A\^ells, of Port Jer\-is, N. Y., and inspired by the passing 
 away of the stages that was made necessary by the coming 
 of the Erie cars : 
 
 THE OLD STAGE COACH. 
 
 The good times when our fathers rode 
 
 In safety by the stage. 
 Have passed before the onward march 
 Of this progressive age ; 
 
 And now no goodly coach-and-four 
 Draws up beside the stage-house doon 
 
 How rang the laugh, the jest, and joke. 
 
 As all together rode. 
 Coached up in friendly jollity 
 Like boys of one abode ;■ 
 
 The weary miles seemed shorter, then. 
 As thus we rode o'er hill and glen. 
 
 Full half the pleasure of the way 
 
 Was appetite and fare — 
 This gathered from " mine host's" full board. 
 That from the mountain air. 
 
 O ! then we went life's flowery ways ! 
 They ended with our staging days. 
 
 O, that was music ! when at morn. 
 
 As, winding round by yon old mill. 
 The driver blew his sounding horn. 
 And echo answered from the hill. 
 
 Now, echoing horn nor prancing team 
 Is heard amid this age of steam. 
 
 But drawn beneath some sheltering shed 
 The old stage-coach neglected stands ; 
 Its curtains flapping in the wind — 
 The ghost of ruin's waving hands ; 
 
 While on the wheels the gathering rust 
 Proclaims the mortal, " dust to dust." 
 
 While in the fields their scattered bones. 
 
 Or on the common turned to die ; 
 Their " trips" all o'er — their " routes " all run — 
 The wheelers and the leaders lie ; 
 
 The driver's pride and labor gone. 
 And he " like one who stands alone.'' 
 
 In the time-table adopted April 3, 1843, the milk traffic 
 was first mentioned, that item of traffic having within a few 
 months become so important — an entirely new commodity 
 for transportation, as it was — that it had commanded distinct 
 attention. " An accommodation line," the new schedule 
 announced, " for Passengers, Milk, &c., will also be run daily, 
 leaving Goshen at 6 p.m., and the foot of Duane street at 
 7 A.M." One regular passenger train still served to transact 
 the business of the railroad. 
 
 An important event in the history of the railroad occurred 
 the last week in May, 1843.' This was the making public of 
 the fact that the line would be opened to Middletown, eight 
 miles beyond Goshen, the following week. This was the first 
 official time-table between New York and Middletown : 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD 
 
 EXTENDED TO MIDDLETOWN. 
 
 On and after June ist, the regular trains will run between New 
 York, Goshen and Middletown daily (Sundays excepted) as follows: 
 
 For Passengers — Leave New York (from the foot of Duane street) 
 at y/z P. M., by steamboat Arrow, Capt. A. H. Schultze, taking 
 the cars at Piermont, and arrive at Goshen at Sj^ and at Middle- 
 town at g o'clock P. M. 
 
 Returning — Leave Middletown at 6 A. M., and arrive at New York 
 at II A. M. 
 
 An accommodation line for Freight and Passengers, leaves New York 
 as above at 6 A. M., and arrives at Goshen at 12 o'clock, noon, 
 and at Middletown at I o'clock, P. M. Returning, leave Mid- 
 dletown at 5^ P. M., and arrive in the city at 12. 
 
 For Freight — Leave New York at 6 A. M., and arrive at Middle- 
 town same day. Returning, leave Middletown at i P. M. and 
 arrive in New York same night. 
 
 H. C. Seymour, Sup't. 
 May l^th, 1843. 
 
 The railroad was not opened to Middletown, however, until 
 June 7, 1843. 
 
 In the time-table that went into effect August i, 1843, it 
 was announced that " the fare upon the passenger lines will 
 be reduced 
 
 Between New York and Middletown to $1,25 
 
 Goshen " 
 
 1,12 
 
 Chester 
 
 1,00 
 
 Monroe " 
 
 95 
 
 Turners ' ' 
 
 85 
 
 Monroe W'k's 
 
 75 
 
 Ramapo " 
 
 60 
 
 Monsey " 
 
 40 
 
 Clarkstown " 
 
 30 
 
 Blauveltville " 
 
 25 
 
 Piermont 
 
 20 
 
378 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 The business warranted the continuance of the two passen- 
 ger trains. Thus the time-table : 
 
 Passenger Trains will leave Middletown daily (Sundays excepted) 
 at 6 o'clock a. m., and at 5>^ o'clock p. m., and arrive in New York 
 at II a. m. and about 12 at night. 
 
 The steamboat Arrow will leave New York daily (except Sundays) 
 at 6 a. m., and 3)^ p. m. — Taking the cars at Piermont, passengers 
 will arrive at Middletown at i o'clock p. m. , and g p. m. 
 
 It^" Freight Trains will, as heretofore, be run daily (except Sun- 
 days) leaving Middletown at i o'clock, p. m., and no freight except 
 Milk will be taken by the Passenger trains, Barges will be taken in 
 tow by the steamboat leaving N. York at 6 o'clock a. m., and from 
 I'iermont to N. Y. by the Evening Passenger boat. 
 
 'Stages for Milford, Honesdale, Carbondale, Binghamton and 
 Owego, will run from the Cars on their arrival at Middletown. 
 
 This schedule was changed December 18, 1843, for the 
 "Winter Arrangement, 1843-4." One passenger train was 
 taken off and the freight line made tri- weekly. The " freight 
 cars" were advertised to leave Middletown at 10 a.m. Tues- 
 days and Thursdays, and at 2 p.m. on Saturdays. The pas- 
 senger train carried the milk as theretofore, " leaving both 
 Middletown and foot of Duane street at 8 o'clock a.m." 
 
 During the winter of 1 844 the Company made great prep- 
 arations for increased patronage against the opening of 
 spring. The first time-table for that season was issued April 
 ist, for the " Summer Arrangement." An additional passenger 
 train each way, daily except Sunday, was put on the road. 
 This was the first time-table published by the Erie on which 
 the hours of arrival of passengers at the terminals of the rail- 
 road were announced, passengers from New York being 
 scheduled to arrive at Middletown at 12.30 and 9.30 p.m., 
 and those from Middletown to arrive at New York at noon 
 and 9 P.M. 
 
 {Fro?n the Time-table.') 
 
 The Company have placed on the route a new and splendid Steam- 
 boat of the larger class, which will run without a Barge, and exclu- 
 sively in connection with the Passenger trains, enabling residents of 
 the country to remain in the city four hours, and return the same day. 
 
 It^" Hours of receiving Freight in New York, from 9 o'clock a. m. , 
 to 5 p. ra. only. 
 
 LINES OF STAGES 
 connecting with the Railroad at Middletown. 
 
 The People's Line for Owego, via. Port Jervis, Milford, Cherry 
 Ridge, Honesdale, Carbondale, Dundaff, Lenox, Brooklyn, Montrose 
 and Friendsville ; leaves Middletown immediately upon the arrival of 
 the evening train from New York. Returning, arrives in Middletown 
 in time for the evening train for New York at 4 p. m. 
 
 Middletown and Owego Line, via. Bloomingburgh, Wurtsboro', 
 Monticello, White Lake, Bethel, Fosters, Cochecton, Rileyville, 
 Mount Pleasant, Gibson, New Milford, Great Bend, Binghamton 
 and Union ; leaves Middletown at 5 a. m. Returning, arrives at 
 Middletown in time for the evening train for New York. 
 
 Eagle Line for Carbondale, via. Mount Hope, Otisville, Cudde- 
 hackville, Forestburgh, Narrowsburgh, and Honesdale ; leaves Mid- 
 dletown on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, at 4 a. m. Return- 
 ing on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, arrives in Middletown at 
 8 p. m. 
 
 Middletown and Milford line, via. Mt. Hope, Port Jervis and 
 Finchville, leaves Middletown on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fri- 
 days, upon the arrival of the morning train from New York. Return- 
 ing on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, arrives in Middletown in 
 time for the evening train for New York at 4 o'clock, p. m. 
 
 The above, except the last mentioned, are regular mail lines. 
 
 The business of the railroad was governed by the seasons 
 in those pioneer days, and November 18, 1844, the Company 
 decided that one regular passenger train each way and an 
 accommodation train would be sufficient to do the passenger 
 business of the road until further notice. The leaving time 
 from New York was fixed at 8 a.m., and from Middletown 
 at 6.30 a.m. — this until the close of navigation in the Hud- 
 son River, when the leaving time would be 8 o'clock a. jr. at 
 both terminals. The accommodation train was run in con- 
 nection with the freight boats, leaving New York at 3 and 
 Middletown at 3.30 p.m., "until further notice, or the close 
 of navigation." 
 
 {From the Time-table^ 
 
 For Freight — Leave New York at 3 o'clock p. m., and arrive in 
 Middletown the next afternoon. Leave Middletown at 10 o'clock a. m., 
 and arrive in New York the same night, except during the close of 
 the River, when it will arrive in New York about noon or a little after, 
 the ne.xt day. 
 
 Live stock will be taken only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Satur- 
 days. The special rates of charges advertised April i, 1844, will cease 
 on the close of the River, when the full rates of toll, as published July 
 I, 1843, will be charged. 
 
 ^W Freighters will take the same days as heretofore, and have their 
 loading ready at least half an hour before starting time. 
 
 H. C. Seymour, Superintendent. 
 
 It would seem that competition had all to do with the reg- 
 ulation of the cost of railroad transportation, even in the be- 
 ginning, for the Erie had two schedules of rates — one marked 
 low, so that the Hudson River navigation (from which busi- 
 ness was largely drawn when the railroad was opened between 
 Goshen and the Hudson) would have no advantage over it, 
 and the other based on the principle of " what the traffic will 
 bear," after river navigation was suspended by the close of 
 the river by ice. 
 
 " Freighting " was a business peculiar to that era of railroad 
 communication between New York and the only markets then 
 having an outlet to the city by rail — Orange, Pike, Sussex, 
 Rockland and Sullivan counties. " Freighters " were a class 
 of middlemen who transacted business between the farmer, 
 the railroad, and the New York dealer in farm produce, and 
 his presence in the traffic was the beginning of the great com- 
 mission business of New York to-day. The freighter re- 
 ceived, loaded, and took to New York all kinds of goods 
 placed in his charge. He found a market for them, sold 
 them, and returned the proceeds to his customers, less a 
 commission. He hired cars of the railroad company for his 
 purpose, and was independent of any interference on the 
 part of the Company in the loading of them. These cars 
 were in charge of men who were dignified by the title of 
 Captain, and, indeed, many of them had been Hudson River 
 skippers, whose business the railroad had ruined. Their 
 headquarters were chiefly at Chester, Goshen, New Hamp- 
 ton, and Middletown. 
 
 The first freighters to appeal to the public for business 
 were John M. Cash & Co., of Goshen, who announced, Octo- 
 ber 8, 1 84 1, two weeks after the railroad opened, that they 
 
TIfE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 379 
 
 were ready to take and forward all kinds of produce to market 
 by the New York and Erie Railroad, sell the same, collect the 
 money for it, and settle with the farmer less the commission. 
 Cash & Co. were quickly followed by others. Prominent 
 among the pioneers who laid the foundation of the Erie's 
 freight business were : 
 
 At Chester: H. Barnes & Co., Capt. Cornelius B. Wood; 
 Tuthill & Seely, Capt. G. L. Roe ; Feagles & Leeds, Capt. W. 
 H. Leeds ; Yelverton & Thompson, Capt. William B. King. 
 
 At Goshen : C. W. Reevs, Capt. A. S. Trimble ; Sears & 
 Brown, Capt. Daniel E. Brown ; Jennings & Thompson, Capt. 
 James W. Thompson. 
 
 At New Hampton . Dolson, Dunning & Co., Capt. G. L. 
 Dolson ; T. B. Denton & Co., Capt. Nelson W. Hoyt. 
 
 At Middletown : Stacy Beakes, Capt. D. A. Blake ; Cole- 
 man & Finch, Capt. George Coleman ; S. Denton & Co., 
 Capt. C. J. Stephenson. 
 
 These freighters, or some of them, provided pasture or feed 
 for cattle, and storage for grain and produce, to accommo- 
 date drovers and distant dealers who brought their live stock 
 or goods to Erie stations for shipment. They also had their 
 own freight houses, the Railroad Company simply being trans- 
 porters. All this business, before the opening of the railroad 
 to Goshen, had its common shipping centre at Newburgh. 
 It was drawn from as far as the Delaware Valley on the west, 
 and all the intermediate country, and all the region lying in 
 Sullivan and Ulster cour^ties within fifty miles, and a large part 
 of Rockland County. The farmers and produce dealers carted 
 their goods by wagon to Newburgh, whence it was carried to 
 market by the Hudson River transportation lines that made 
 Newburgh's importance as a commercial centre. The open- 
 ing of the railroad to Goshen cut off that great source of 
 trade from Newburgh and Chester and Goshen ; and later, 
 Middletown, Otisville, and Port Jervis became the points of 
 shipment for all that great area of country. For a long time 
 after the railroad was put in operation between Piermont and 
 Goshen, Newburgh produce dealers and transportation lines 
 made desperate efforts to divert business from the railroad 
 and the freighters by sending agents through the producing 
 country to buy butter, grain, pork, cattle, and whatever went 
 to make up the sum of the freight business, at prices higher 
 than the producers would net through the freighters and the 
 railroad. Although this succeeded in taking a great deal of 
 business to Newburgh, it was to the constant financial loss of 
 those who were engaged in the fight against the railroad, and 
 was at last abandoned as a foolish and childish attempt to 
 sustain antiquated methods in competition with the advent 
 of modem and progressive ones in transportation. 
 
 With the making of the "Summer Arrangement" for 1845 
 the additional passenger train was restored to the service. 
 The Company was being reorganized, and great expectations 
 were indulged that work in pushing the railroad on its way 
 westward was soon to be resumed, it having been in suspen- 
 sion ever since the spring of 1842. The public was informed 
 by the time-table that " the new, commodious, and fast-sailing 
 
 steamboat ' St. Nicholas,' in connection with the passenger 
 trains, will run entirely independent of the barges and freight 
 trains. The time of running between Middletown and New 
 York will be five hours." One treight train was run daily each 
 way. " The manifests will be closed at the time specified for 
 leaving, at the depots above named, and all articles entered 
 for transportation after these hours will be forwarded next 
 day," as shippers were officially notified by Superintendent 
 H. C. Seymour. 
 
 By the " Winter Arrangement " for 1845-6 one regular pas- 
 senger train was taken off and the accommodation train put 
 on in connection with the freight boats, " until further notice 
 or the close of navigation above the Highlands." Shippers 
 were notified that no one could ship live stock except on 
 Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. April i, 1846, a time- 
 table containing some noticeable announcements was adopted. 
 The fare was reduced to attract travel that might go to the 
 Hudson River boats at Newburgh. Two passenger trains and 
 a freight train were run each way daily. 
 
 {Fro7ii the Time-table!) 
 
 Breakfast may be had on board the steamboat by passengers leaving 
 New York at 7 a. m.; also, Supper and Berths on the evening trip to 
 New York. 
 
 Tickets to New York can be purchased at the several offices, and 
 of the conductors upon the trains ; and Tickets from New York will, 
 be sold at the captain's office on the steamboat. 
 
 E;^" Persons who do not procure Tickets, will be charged as way 
 passengers, at rates not exceeding 2!^ cents per mile. 
 
 U^" No commutation, either by the year or quarter ; but Tickets, 
 not transferable, will be sold at reduced rates, by the several ticket 
 agents, in packages of 12, 24, 36, &c., with the names of the persons 
 to whom sold inserted therein. 
 
 Up to this time there had been no General Ticket Agent 
 in charge of that department of the Company's business, but 
 one had now been provided, in the person of Henry Fitch. 
 As will be seen by the above notes to the time-table, he had 
 begun to put some system into the conduct of the passenger 
 business, and system in that line was a new thing in railroad- 
 ing, for as yet the freight and passenger business in railroad 
 traffic had not been governed by any special rules apart from 
 each other, more than to separate the earnings from each 
 department in the accounting and book-keeping. Mr. Fitch, 
 as the first General Passenger and Ticket Agent of the Erie, 
 had no precedent to guide him in formulating a system out 
 of which was to gradually grow and develop the stupendous 
 machinery required to conduct the passenger business of the 
 Erie to-day, and was obliged to originate and experiment. 
 
 Henry Fitch was educated at Yale College. In 1846 he 
 was a preceptor in the Academy of Goshen, N. Y., and 
 retired to take charge of the Erie's passenger business. He 
 remained with the Erie until 1853, when he resigned to 
 accept the position of purchasing agent of the Louisville and 
 Nashville Railroad. He subsequently became a bridge con- 
 tractor, and made a fortune. This he increased as a broker 
 in Wall Street. He died April 19, 1895, aged 76 years, his 
 death following by a few hours that of his wife. 
 
38o 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 In September, 1S46, Capt. "Alec" Shultz, who owned 
 the Hudson River steamboats that ran in connection with 
 the trains at Piermont, and who seems to have been a man 
 with no inconsiderable " pull " in Erie transportation affairs, 
 conceived the idea of an excursion over the railroad, and 
 down the river and bay to Coney Island, then a sand barren, 
 except at its northern extremity, where famous clam bakes 
 were served. The idea meeting with the approval of Super- 
 intendent H. C. Seymour and his lieutenant, S. S. Post, the 
 event was announced : 
 
 TO NEW YORK BAY. 
 
 The citizens of Orange County are notified that arrangements have 
 been made for an excursion 
 
 On Thursday, the 17TH inst. 
 
 The Excursion Train will leave Middletown at 6 3-4 A. M., and 
 stop at New Hampton, Goshen, Chester, Oxford, Monroe, Turners, 
 Monroe Works, Ramapo Station and Monsey ; and will return, stop- 
 ping at the same places, about the usual time of the Regular Evening 
 passenger Train up. 
 
 The steamer will proceed immediately down to Coney Island, 
 passing the Dutch Fleet of War ; the Quarantine ; the Forti- 
 fications on the Narrows, &c. 
 
 After landing at Coney Island, now well fitted for the reception of 
 visitors, and partaking of Clam Chowder, &c. , the party will return 
 by way of the new channel and obtain a fine view of Col. Steven- 
 son's Regiment of California Volunteers, now encamped on the 
 shore of Governor's Island. 
 
 . The Boat will then run up the East River as far as Hurlgate, 
 passing near the Navy Yard, and in full view of the numerous Ves- 
 sels of War, now there. 
 
 The proposed trip will present to the observation of Ladies and 
 Gentlemen some of the most interesting scenes and scenery in the 
 world. 
 
 Music will be provided on the Boat, and every effort made to 
 render the occasion pleasant and joyous. 
 
 Fare for the excursion only One Dollar. 
 
 September 11, 1846. 
 
 Like its predecessor of July 4, 1842, this early Erie pleas- 
 ure excursion was not a success. Only about 200 persons 
 were attracted by the features of the occasion. This was in 
 a great measure due to the fact that the horror of the disaster 
 that had befallen an excursion party on the railroad only six 
 weeks before was still fresh in the minds of every one in all 
 the country then tributary to the Erie, and people were timid 
 about riding on the cars, particularly on such an occasion. 
 This disaster was the first serious accident in the history of 
 the railroad and it had carried mourning to many families. 
 (Page .) 
 
 This first Coney Island excursion was a failure in more re- 
 spects than one. The most conspicuous of these was the 
 fact that it failed to go to Coney Island. A former resident 
 of Goshen, who was one of the excursionists, and who lives 
 to-day (1898) to tell about it, had such little faith in the 
 sponsors of the affair that he declares it to be his belief that 
 they never intended that the excursion should go to Coney 
 Island. The steamboat, which was the "St. Nicholas," went 
 no further down the bay than the Battery, but did take the 
 excursionists up the East River to Hell Gate, where she 
 turned immediately and sailed back to the Erie pier at the 
 
 foot of Duane Street, and lay there from 2.30 until 4.30 P.M., 
 when she started for Piermont. The train arrived at Goshen 
 at 9.30 P.M., " the band," says this surviving excursionist of 
 indignant memory, " making a last effort to play ' Home, 
 Sweet Home '—and such music ! Terrible ! " (Wilmot M. 
 Vail, Port Jervis, N. Y.) 
 
 ^^ 
 
 •^ 
 
 j^ 
 
 HLNKY FITCH. 
 
 Work on the railroad was resumed toward the beginning of 
 1846, and when the next time-table of the Erie appeared it 
 announced : 
 
 THE (-""/" I I.LE EXTENSION 
 
 MF THE 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD, 
 
 will be opened to the public on Tuesday, November 3d., when the 
 following change of hours will be made : 
 
 For Passengers : 
 
 Leave New York (foot of Duane st.) at 8 o'clock a.m., and 4 
 
 o'clock p.m. 
 Leave Otisville at 6-| a.m., and 4^ p.m. 
 Fare between New York and Otisville, $1.50. 
 
 For Freight ■ 
 
 Leave New York at 5 o'clock, p.m., and arrive in Otisville in the 
 
 afternoon of the next day. 
 Leave Otisville at 11 o'clock, a.m. ; Middletown at 12 m. ; Goshen 
 
 at I p.m. ; and Chester at l|-p.m. ; arriving in New York same 
 
 night. 
 
 But little change in this time-table was made during the 
 winter, except that a " through " freight line was established 
 between Otisville and New York, running Tuesday, Thurs- 
 day, and Saturday, and stopping only at Middletown, Goshen, 
 and Chester. A way freight train left Otisville at " 7.45 a.m. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 38^ 
 
 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, arriving at Piermont the 
 same day, and New York the next day." Freight was re- 
 ceived on board the barges " Samuel Marsh " and " Henry 
 Suydam, Jr." 
 
 In March, 1847, the first time-table ever published by the 
 Erie giving schedule time for trains at aU stations was issued 
 
 milk trains being authorized to " take along and deliver" 
 certain articles of merchandise at an advance in the regular 
 rate. The question of the right of jjassengers to carry par- 
 cels and bundles into the cars, which has only within the past 
 year or two disturbed the amicable relation of suburban pa- 
 trons with the railroads on which they travel to and from 
 
 THE SPRING ARRANGEMENTS OF THIS LINE WILL COMMENCE ON 
 
 APRIL M, When the Cars and Boats will run as follows : 
 
 Leaye NEW-TORK cf< 
 Leave OTISVIII.I: at 6 A. Mj 
 
 " OOSHEN ''•'•'"" 'x'"< 7 "&5 
 
 II 
 
 L«avs tTEW-YOJtK {tn, 
 Leavs OTZSVllXB at 101 A. m., I 
 
 lORlPlSSEICERS: 
 
 <»i.so at 7 o'clock A. M. and 4 o'clock F. H.' 
 ai41 6 P. M. mSSLETOWN at < 1-2 A. M. & 6 1-2 P. H. 
 b.ib^6" CHESTER "71-4 " & 6 1-4 " 
 
 R FREIGHT: 
 
 ■I Duane St) every day (i-ii-cpi SundijO at 5 o'olook P. K. 
 
 iiij GOSHEN I2i and CHESTER at 1 o'olook P. 1 
 
 BU >DL£TOWN 1 
 
 m mmi m\ u, 
 
 A change will b^ made in tite time of leaving Otisrille for New Tori; by the Passenger Trains, 
 
 ^ lyHEN THE REGULAR ' '^ 
 
 SVnCllIfiR ARRABTGISniEiMT 
 
 WUI go ESIo opeiatiDD, and an cQtire SepintlOQ Of thO PjElSSENOER a&d T/Ttl.ir TnlnS ^ni\ he Effected- 
 
 Trains lor Kew York will then leareas follows : 
 
 FOR FABSENOERS>: 
 
 ou«t<:ic 
 
 6MA.M.»wHI&PM. " 
 
 Ho-cllj, 
 
 6 Id " " 4 28 " . 
 
 M«J(U<lt,«D, 
 
 700 " "440 " I 
 
 yiw MuDplao, 
 
 7 10 " " 4 62 - r. 
 
 
 7 22 " '■ & » " ■• 
 
 
 7 35 " " 6 19 " '. 
 
 (Word,' 
 
 7 4ft ", " & 30 '■ •! 
 
 Hdbim 
 
 
 
 806 " "BW ":" 
 
 
 6 20 " ■• 6 06 " ; 
 
 
 Bunap9Woifcie46A.KAd6SSP H. 
 
 60 * - 6 35 - 
 
 Mddej* 906 - - «60 " 
 
 10 " " 6 66 •• 
 
 
 30 " '■ 7 IB ■. 
 
 Pianaal 9 40 " f 7 26 - 
 
 AninliN«rY<i*tl 30A.M,>iidSIBP. H.I . 
 
 
 FOR 
 
 MILE: 
 
 Oliirille, 
 
 530l.M.and630PM. 
 
 Ho"«l)., 
 
 
 ., " 6 45 " 
 
 
 
 ■1 " 6 00 " 
 
 New HAmplco, 
 
 fi 12 
 
 1. u 6 12 " 
 
 
 6 25 
 
 .. u 6 25 " 
 
 0[[rrk.ll. 
 
 6 as 
 
 „ u 6 39 - 
 
 
 6 45 
 
 '■ " 6 45 '■ 
 
 Oiloti, 
 
 6 bS 
 
 '. ■. 6 66 " 
 
 
 7 US 
 
 ■' " 7 05 •< 
 
 ToiMn, 7 15 
 WaiM, 7 25 A. H. unI 7 25 
 
 •M. MonioeWoiki,738A.M.Mid7»P.ll 
 (■■ Soflom. 8 10 " " Bio - 
 
 
 " 7 55 
 
 
 ■"835 
 
 Spnns VaLer. fi 40 " " 8 40 - 
 " P^rSmt, ' 9 10 " " 9 10 - 
 
 
 
 Airiieiu 
 
 Ne-Vo* 
 
 11 30 A. M. and 4 00 A. H. 
 
 le rreigfet Trains and the Passenger Trains from Jlew- 
 
 T4rk,'will contione to leave at the 'time stated abore. The retura' Milk 'Trains will leaTe 
 PichnoDt half ao boar behind the Passenger Traias, and will take along, and deliver at the a< 
 boT^ named Depots'and Stations, all the Packages, Parcels and light artrclea of Freight, which 
 mav^ be regolnrly marked add directed, and put in charge of the Agents of the Company for 
 that, purpose. Frefght df^c. by this line will be charged 25 per cent in addition to the regular 
 odvdrtised rates. | 
 
 c^Ho Fraleht, Boxotfin tnakxt ezospt Bacgasa fiotulitliig of Taaxisg Ap] 
 
 to ba uieo bj Puwogcn, ..lU bv kllbwed npoD lbs Fuungn Tnins, udIoi bf tpedal ^reonnr tAd poyr 
 Ubi ITweighjAgaare ihanHIb.J Ir weighing Icoi iban bO lbs. a chugt or 2& cenu will be made. For 
 
 aifg**> a Wd B, PBlMTilB8,..D«noont ftlwUg Oflloa, Ooalun. 
 
 il, and snoh artlolsa aa outom naiuU7 peimltf to 
 
 madt in aJamtc, wbea ibe cbaigea mU be al the lalc of GO coal* par 
 daliog to Dtighl An, eaqoire ofS. S. Foar, Supt TiaaapoT. 
 
 SETMODR, Saperintendentas. 
 
 FACSIMILE OF OLD ERIE TRAIN SCHEDULE, ONE-QUARTER SIZE OF ORIGINAL. 
 
 GOSHEN, N. y. 
 
 ORIGINAL LOANED BY FRANK DRAKE, ESQ., 
 
 in the form of a handbill. This is historically very valuable, 
 and is reproduced in facsimile as above. As will be seen, 
 by this arrangement " an entire separation of the passenger 
 and milk trains " was effected, thus fixing the date when the 
 milk traffic had asstimed proportions demanding distinct at- 
 tention from the Company. This time-table, also, would seem 
 to mark the beginning of the railroad express business on 
 the Erie, as indicated by the paragraph relating to the return 
 
 their homes, the right being disputed by the companies, was 
 very positively denied by this Company half a century and 
 more ago, as witness the testimony to that effect by this rare 
 and incontrovertible witness from the pioneer days of rail- 
 roading on the Erie. 
 
 The next event, the importance of which finds no demon- 
 stration in the cold record of the time-tables, was this : 
 
362 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 NEW YORK & ERIE RAILROAD 
 
 EXTENDED TO 
 
 PORT J E R V I S . 
 
 WINTER ARRANGEMENT. 
 
 Until further notice, the different trains will run once each way 
 daily, [except Sundays] as follows ; 
 
 For 
 Leave New Vo.-k, 
 
 " Otisville, 
 
 Middletcwn, 
 " Goshen, 
 " Chester, 
 
 Passengers : 
 
 by steamboat, [Fool Duane 
 street] at 7A o'clock A.M. 
 
 7' 
 74 
 7i 
 
 8 
 
 stopping each way at the several intermediate passenger stations. 
 
 IC^No Packages, Parcels, Trunks, (or baggage except personal, 
 consisting of clothing, not exceeding 50 lbs.) will be taken by the 
 Passenger Boat or Trains, unless by special agreement and payment 
 made in advance, in which case the charges will be at the discretion 
 of the Agent, not exceeding double the published Freight rates. 
 Applications in New York must be made to Mr. J. F. Clarkson, agent, 
 at the office on the Pier at the foot of Duane St., upon which receipt 
 articles will be received upon the steamboat and forwarded by the 
 Passenger train. The Company will be responsible for no article 
 whatever sent by the Passenger Boat or Trains, unless it be receipted 
 for by an agent duly authorized ; except personal baggage which is 
 put in charge of the Baggage Masters. 
 
 F'OR Freight • 
 
 Leave New York, at 3 o'clock P.M., per Barges Samuel Mars/i, 
 Henry Suyda,n, Jr.^ and Dunkirk. 
 
 Leave Port Jervis at 7 o'clock A.M., Otisville at 8, Middletown at gi, 
 Goshen at loi, and Chester at 11. 
 
 AN ACCOMMODATION & MILK TRAIN 
 
 will run in connection w^th the steamboat which tows the Freight 
 Barges, leaving New York at 3 o'clock P.M. and ordinarily arriving 
 at Piermont in time for the train to start from 6 to 7 o'clock for Port 
 Jervis and all the intermediate stations. Leave Port Jervis at i-| 
 P.M., Otisville at 2, Middletown at 2+, Goshen at 3, Chester at 3I, 
 Turners at 4, Monsey at 5 o'clock, and arrive at Piermont at 6 o'clock 
 P.M ; thence leaving for New York by a comfortable steamboat, as 
 soon as the milk is put on board and the barge is in readiness. 
 Good Berths will be provided on board at 25 cents, and Meals at 37^ 
 cents each. 
 
 N. B. — Persons having articles lost, damaged or unnecessarily de- 
 layed, are requested to communicate the fact in writing immediately, 
 to .S. S. Post, Superintendent of Transportation office at Piermont, 
 For other information, enquire of the several Depot Agents, the Supt. 
 Transportation, or the undersigned. 
 
 H. C. Seymour, Superintendent. 
 
 Piermont, January i, 1848. 
 
 Port Jervis was the terminus of the Railroad from January, 
 1848, until January, 1849, when the hne was opened to Bing- 
 hamton. The only change made in the running of .trains 
 during that time was the putting of a jDassenger train on the 
 line between Port Jervis and PieriTiont, January S, 1848, and 
 a second one March i, 1848. One left Port Jervis at 6 .a.m. 
 and the other at 3 p.m., and New York at 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. 
 The milk train was discontinued in March, 1848, the milk 
 being transported, " until further notice," by the passenger 
 trains, morning and evening. The milk trains were put back 
 May 1st following, one leaving Port Jervis in the morning and 
 the other in the evening. 
 
 A coming event of great iinportance to the Erie was 
 
 foreshadowed in the fall of 1848 by this announcement in the 
 local newspapers : ■ 
 
 RAIL-ROAD NOTICE. 
 
 THE I'ATERSON & RAMAPO RAIL-ROAD 
 
 being finished, the cars will commence running regularly on Wednes- 
 day, the 1st of November, leaving New York by the Jersey City Ferry 
 Boats, foot of Cortlandt street, at 8 o'clock A.M. and 5 o'clock P.M., 
 and Suffern's Depot (on the Erie Rail-Road,) on the arrival of the 
 cars which leave Port Jervis at 6 A.M. and 3 P.M. 
 
 The AccoJi.MODATioN Train 
 
 will leave Suffern's Depot at 7 A.M., and Cortlandt st. Ferry, New 
 York, i before 3 P.M. 
 
 The Train to and from Paterson. 
 Leave Paterson at %\ A.M., \\\ .4.M. and 3 P.M. 
 Leave New York at g^ A.M., I2| P.M. and 4P.M. 
 
 ^^ Passengers are requested to be at the Ferry five minutes previ- 
 ous to the hours of starting. 
 
 October 30, 1S48. 
 
 Not that such an event was unexpected, for the Ramapo 
 and Paterson Railroad had been gradually pushing its way 
 from Paterson, N. J., up through the Paramus Valley toward 
 the Ramapo Valley for three years or more, and it was well 
 known that there was nothing to warrant the expense of such 
 an undertaking except that its northern terminus would be 
 not far from the Erie's track at Sufifern, and that, as at its 
 southern terminus the track of the Paterson and Hudson 
 River Railroad began and ran directly to a point on the 
 North River opposite New York City, this would bring 
 travellers over the Erie an hour nearer the city than the 
 regular Erie route via Piermont and the Hudson River boats. 
 Naturally the projectors of the new railroad argued this 
 would divert a large part of that travel to the Ramapo and 
 Paterson line. To such an extent was this expectation 
 realized that the sale of tickets to Suffern at Erie stations 
 increased in astounding degree, and the demand for tickets 
 to New York decreased proportionately. Although the rail- 
 road was then in operation as far west as Port Jervis, the 
 travel that left the Erie at Suffern, to make the rest of the 
 journey to New York over the New Jersey line, grew to 
 such proportions that the companies operating that line 
 were in a short time warranted in improving their accom- 
 modations, as the following time-table shows : 
 
 RAMAPO & PATERSON, PATERSON & HUDSON RIVER 
 RAIL-ROAD. 
 
 Express Trains 
 
 Will leave the Depot at Suffern regularly on the arrival of the 
 Passenger Trains from the West, and reach Jersey City in about one 
 hour from the time of departure. 
 
 Returning, 
 
 (until further notice) will leave New York, foot of Cortlandt street, at 
 8 o'clock a.m. and 5 o'clock p m. — always arriving at Suffern in time 
 to meet the Passenger trains going west via Piermont. 
 
 These trains will stop at the following places only : Ramsev's, 
 Hohokus, Rock Road, Paterson, Aquackanonk and Bergen. 
 
 Personal baggage conveyed to and from the office of the Com- 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 383 
 
 pany, 75 Cortlandt St., N. Y., free of charge. Passengers are 
 requested to be at the Ferry a few minutes before the hour of start- 
 ing. 
 
 December 14, 1848. 
 
 The last time-table adopted between New York and Port 
 Jervis, while the latter place was the western terminus, was 
 dated January i, 1849, and it did not show that any very 
 encouraging growth of traffic had followed the railroad's 
 
 above line, leave the foot of Cortlandt street, crossing to 
 Jersey City, one hour after the Erie Railroad boat leaves 
 Duane st., and arrive at Suffern's in time for the Erie cars 
 going west. Those coming East, can leave the Erie train at 
 Suffern's Depot, and by this route arrive in N. Y. at least 
 one hour and a half sooner than by the Erie line. The 
 Ramapo Cars leave Suffern's immediately on the arrival of 
 the Erie train coming East, and always arrive from New 
 
 ^nEas ^aQ[La 
 
 A. 23d, 4prU, 1849. 
 
 N£W YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD. 
 
 •Vo Train will be alloived tinder any circumstances to leave a station before the 
 time specined in this Table, as regulated by the ClocU at the Piermont oMce. 
 
 NAMES OF 
 
 EASTERN TRAINS, 
 
 NAMES OP 
 
 WESTERN TRAINS, 
 
 HAME3 or 
 
 DBFOTS. 
 
 Port Jervis to Xew Vork. 
 
 DEPOTS, 
 
 IVew York to Port Jervis. 
 
 DEPOTS, 
 
 ?TAT10.NS AND 
 
 riSSlDQ PIACES, 
 
 Freight Trains, 
 
 MILK 
 
 PASSENGER TRAINS. 
 
 
 PASSENGER TRAINS. 
 
 MILIt 
 
 Freight Trains. 
 
 
 NIGHT. 
 
 DAV. 
 
 TRAIN 
 
 WAY. IthROUGH Ac'da'n. 
 
 PISSING PUCES, 
 
 WAV. 
 
 THROUGH. 
 
 Ac'Mm'n. 
 
 TRAIN. 
 
 DAY. 
 
 NIGHT. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Leaves 
 
 Leaves 
 
 Leaves 
 
 Leaves 
 
 Leaves 
 
 Leaves 
 
 PiSSUSfl PIA'CES. 
 
 
 
 
 11 15 
 
 11 15 
 
 S 00 
 
 12 00 
 
 
 Morn'g 
 
 Morningr 
 
 Afier'n. 
 
 After'n. 
 4 00 
 
 Morning. 
 
 Even'g. 
 
 
 New York 
 
 New TTork 
 
 7 00 
 
 8 00 
 
 4 00 
 
 
 New York 
 
 Pier 
 
 7 10 
 
 3 10 
 
 9 30 
 
 10 00 
 
 6 40 
 
 9 15 
 
 Pier 
 
 8 30 
 
 U 30 
 
 5 30 
 
 6 05 
 
 6 00 
 
 7 30 
 
 Pier 
 
 Piermont 
 
 7 04 
 
 3 04 
 
 9 26 
 
 9 56 
 
 36 
 
 9 11 
 
 Piermont 
 
 8 34 
 
 9 34 
 
 5 34 
 
 6 09 
 
 6 10 
 
 7 40 
 
 Piermont 
 
 Blauveltville 
 
 6 40 
 
 2 39 
 
 9 15 
 
 946r6 24 
 
 ^8 50 
 
 Blauveltville ,' 8 49 
 
 9 46p 
 
 5 46 '6 24p 
 
 6 40 
 
 8 13 
 
 lilauveltville 
 
 ClarktowQ 
 
 6 14 
 
 2 14 
 
 904p 
 
 9 34 
 
 6 10 
 
 8 46 
 
 Clarksiown 1 Q 04 
 
 9 58 
 
 5 58 
 
 6 47 
 
 7| 10 
 
 846P 
 
 Clarkstown 
 
 Spring Valley 
 
 5 53'' 
 
 1 -57 
 
 8 53 
 
 9 20 
 
 603<- 
 
 8 33 
 
 Spring Valley j 9 12 
 
 10 06 
 
 6 03p 
 
 6 54 
 
 7 35 
 
 9 11 
 
 Spring Valley 
 
 Monsey 
 
 5 44 
 
 I 43 
 
 8 44 
 
 i»i8p 
 
 5 53 
 
 8 24 
 
 Mousey 'SIS'* 
 
 10 11 
 
 6 11 
 
 7 12 
 
 7 60 
 
 9 26 
 
 Monsey 
 
 Sufferns 
 
 5 12 
 
 1 10 
 
 8 22 
 
 TJ03 
 
 5 36 
 
 ,8 01 
 
 SulTerns 9 24 
 
 10 27 
 
 6 27 
 
 7 36 
 
 8 22 
 
 9 58 
 
 Sulferns 
 
 Ramapo W'ks 
 
 5 00 
 
 12 57 
 
 8 13 
 
 8 50 
 
 5 29 
 
 7 50 iRamapo W'ks' 9 31 
 
 10 33 
 
 6 35 
 
 7 50p 
 
 8 37 
 
 10 14 
 
 Ran;iapo W'ks, 
 
 EamapoSta'tn!''4 54 
 
 12 51 
 
 8 08 
 
 8 54 
 
 5 27 i 7 47 jKamapc Sta'tui 9 37 
 
 10 40 
 
 6 42 
 
 8 07 
 
 8 42 
 
 10 20 
 
 Ramapo Sta'tu 
 
 Sloatsburg- 
 
 4 43 
 
 12 38 
 
 &JQi 
 
 8 50 
 
 5 19 V 38 
 
 Sloatsburg j 9 42 
 Monroe W'rks 1004 
 
 10 43 
 
 6 46 
 
 8 18 
 
 8 50p 
 
 10 31 
 
 Sloatsburg 
 
 /tiilomoe W'rks 
 
 4 P3 
 
 11 58 
 
 7 45 
 
 8 33 
 
 4 59 
 
 708p 
 
 C 46 
 
 11 03 
 
 7 08p 
 
 8 37 
 
 1004P 
 
 11 16 
 
 Monroe W'rks 
 
 -.,' Turners 
 
 3 38 
 
 1122P 
 
 7 27 
 
 8 18 
 
 4 41 
 
 Turners 
 
 10 29 
 
 1122 
 
 7 29 
 
 8.55 
 
 10 44 
 
 11 56 
 
 Turners 
 
 Monroe 
 
 3 09x 
 
 |io« 
 
 7 13 
 
 8 07 
 
 4 33 
 
 f, 31 
 
 Monroe 
 
 10 40 
 
 11 33 
 
 7 40 
 
 9 06 
 
 1104 
 
 12 14 
 
 Monroe 
 
 Oxford 
 
 2 50 
 
 7 02 
 
 7 59 
 
 4 24 
 
 i 20 1 
 
 Oxford 
 
 1049 
 
 11 43 
 
 7 51, 
 
 9 16 
 
 11 22 
 
 12 34 
 
 Oxford 
 
 , Chester 
 
 2 24 
 
 10 17 
 
 6 50 
 
 7 49 
 
 4 14 
 
 i 06 
 
 Chester 
 
 11 03 
 
 1165 
 
 8 04 
 
 9 2r- 
 
 lrl55P 
 
 1 04 
 
 Chester 
 
 i Goshen 
 
 150 
 
 9 4p 
 
 6 31 
 
 7 32 
 
 3 58 
 
 5 46 
 
 Goshen 
 
 11 25 
 
 12 12 
 
 8 25 
 
 9 44 
 
 12 40 
 
 1 50 
 
 Gosljen 
 
 New Hampton 
 
 1 10 
 
 9 01 
 
 6_15l. 
 
 ■^ 
 
 3 45 
 
 5 29 New Hampton 
 
 M-p^ 
 
 J2 26_, 
 
 Lfi.^2_- 
 
 10 li 
 
 10 27 
 
 — U— I4.J 
 
 -2-24 
 
 Middletowu 
 Howells 
 
 T Howels 
 
 [i5i-4d 
 12 09 
 
 ' 30 "^ 
 7 59 
 
 '% 03 
 5 45 
 
 1 oa 
 6 54 
 
 3 17 
 
 ^ IB 
 
 4 57 : 
 
 mmoietown 
 Howells 
 
 Tl 58 
 12 13 
 
 12 41 
 
 12 57* 
 
 8 58 
 
 9 13 
 
 1 43 
 
 2 20 
 
 2 64 
 
 3 26 
 
 Otisville 
 
 11 41 
 
 7 31 
 
 5 30 
 
 6 40 
 
 3 00 
 
 4 41 
 
 Otisville 
 
 12 30 
 
 1 12 
 
 9 30 
 
 10 43 
 
 3 OOP 
 
 3 56 
 
 Otisville 
 
 Shin Hollow 
 
 10 45 
 
 6 35 
 
 
 6 18 
 
 ? 39 
 
 4 18 
 
 Shin Hollow ' ]2 49 
 
 1 31 
 
 9 49 
 
 
 ■ 3 ^ 
 
 4 31 
 
 Shin Hollow 
 
 iPort'Jervis 
 
 10 20, 
 
 ^ 10 
 
 
 6 00 
 
 2 20 
 
 ■ 
 
 4 00 
 
 Port Jervis } i QO 
 
 1 50 
 
 10 00 
 
 ; ' 4 00 
 
 5 06 
 
 Port Jervis, 
 
 i 
 
 Leaves 
 
 Leaves 
 
 Leaves 
 
 Leaves Leaves .Leaves 
 
 i ■ i 
 
 
 After-n 
 
 Morning. 
 
 Morn'g 
 
 Morn'glAfter'n.JAfler'n 
 
 ^—- — •■^■•' ■ ■ ■-■■■, ■ .1 ■ ,-- .-.,1; i ■ :■: ■■■-: -; ■ k ;, - r.ai.Ji.aiicjm ■.rr'^.x--? 
 
 I The large figures shew the points of meeting of trains. ;The letter P is addfd where the expected train is a passenger train. 
 
 All passenger trains going East are entitled to the road:; Passenger trains going West, will keep out of the way of the Eastern passenger trains. 
 
 When engines ^re transferred 'from one priiicipal station to another, they shall follow one of the times of this table and be subject hke extra trains to thel 
 
 directions given in the 17th and 18th clauses of the rnstruclions. : 
 
 In regard to gravel grains see the 12th clause nf the Instructions. ,.5 
 
 ; The night freight trains until further notice will leave Piermont on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and will leave Port Jervis for Piermont on Mondays, 
 
 Wednesdays and Fridays. They will only be put on the road whan necessary. 
 
 FACSIMILE OF ORIGINAL, REDUCED ONE-THIRD. ORIGINAL LOANED BY H. A. HORTON, ESQ., OF GOSHEN, N. Y. 
 
 extension to the Delaware Valley, for the afternoon pas- 
 senger train and one milk train were taken off, and the two 
 combined into an accommodation train to run in connection 
 with the freight barge from Piermont, leaving Port Jervis at 
 4 P.M., and New York at the same hour. But the railroad 
 was opened to Binghamton about that time, and immediately 
 after that the Ramapo and Paterson and Paterson and 
 Hudson River Riilroxd lines informed the travelling public 
 that " travellers going West by the Erie Railroad can, by the 
 
 York in time to connect with the Erie train going west. 
 Baggage by this route will be taken to and from the R.R. 
 Office, No. 75 Cortlandt St., free of charge. N. B. — Bag- 
 gage coming East, should be checked to Suffern's.'' 
 
 The facsimile official time-table, as above, is the first one 
 issued in that form under the superintendency of James P. 
 Kirkwood. This one was for the Delaware Division. It is 
 peculiarly interesting as a memento of those ante-telegraph 
 
384 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 nas^a^js^abas 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 ' j^'~D^'*^ '"^^'^ '""^^ ^^'^^^ ^"^ cii;cumstances leave a station before its-time, as specified in the 'i^une Table. 
 
 2d.— Passenger trains shall not ivajt for freight trains, but all Binghamton passenger trains goingin a direction from Piermont, will Iceep out of the way of those 
 going towards i'lermont ; and passenger pains will in no case proceed, where another passenger train 4ving the right to the road is due, until a messaco has been re- 
 ceived from the conductor of that passenger train. j . 
 
 3d.-— A Binghamton passenger train going towards Piermont, will wait ten minutes at a station fvhere another passenger train should pass, if the. expected train 
 has not arrived ; it may then proceed, using all necessary precautions. It will also proceed cantiouslyi when running in the lime of a delayed freight train, until that 
 tram haa been met. ^ '^ •'t » j o > , 
 
 4th. — A passenger train not entitled to the road, will not proceed towards a station where a passAigej; train having|he precedence is expected to be, unless it shaif 
 be able to arrive hve minutes before the tame of leaving of the latter train. » j "- <=» - . 
 
 5lh.— Freight trams will in all casfes wait for passenger trains, and for milk trains, and be kept ^tirely out of their way, never leaving a station on the time of a 
 passenger or milk tram unless 00 positive information received from It. The rate 'of speed is twelve feifiles per hour for freight trains, and enginemen of freight train?: 
 are not at liberty to makeup ^rfe'ays by increasing the speed beyond this rate. A freight train which(is up to time, will wait twenty minutes at the proper passing plape 
 for another freight train which nAy be delayed, h mil ihen proceed at a walk keeping a man ahead '^ith a proper signal, and using every precaution until it meets the 
 other tram or receives a message|fe)m it.; A frei^t train which is behind time^^vill move at a walk. a^M keep a man ahead with a red llag, or red lantern, as the case 
 may be. until it passes the comirg freight tram. This does not apply to passenpjr trains,' a freight trai Jliever being on theroad in the time of a passenger train, unless 
 a message has been received Iroth it. l\^lk trains will in all cases wait for passenger trains— but willtake precedence of freight trains. The rules for freight trainc 
 will apply to milk trains — unle'^s i^hen cSherwise specified. \ 
 
 Glh — In case ot accident to a passenger train, or a freight train, the qonductor shall immediate^* send messengers to the'stations on either side of him, to notity 
 the way agents, and he shallliKward a vyritlen message with the least practicable delay ta.the approacliSig passenger train, — he shall also station men with red flags, ob 
 red lanterns, at some distance on either side ol the spot— he shall also communicate wnththe freight trafe detained by the accident, and every way agent or other officef 
 on the road will promptly assist the conductor in forwarding the necessary information. The way jfcnts at the stations on either side of the accident, shall miiJte i; 
 their business tu notily all approaching trains. T ^ 
 
 7lh. — A red fUg by day, and a veA lantern by night, when shown or swung on the track, are fcgnals nf danger, on seeing which the engineman will stop the 
 train. All signals viulenlly given are also to be considered signals uf danger, and'in cases of uncertainly, a man must always be sent forwards. » ) 
 
 8ih. — Every engineman in approiching a road or switch, should move at a moderate speed, an^see that the wav is clear before he reaches it. If the switch bo 
 not seett lo be right, lie should stop till heis sure. * ^ ' / 
 
 0th.— Engincmen will not start ^e train till they shall be dhcctcd'by the conductor, nor uilil the belt is rung, and ihey will run the train as nearly to' theij- 
 
 time as possible, neither arriving at the sialions too^oon, nor loo, late for the business usually done ther4 -i 
 
 10th. — The enL^inemen are held r^ponsible that iheii* engines are neat and in good working o-ider before they start, that their' spark arresters and wire-netr 
 
 lings are in good condition, that ihey have asulTicienc}-x)f wopd|ari| watar m the tender, and that they^re otherwise thoroughly provided for the work which they hav« 
 
 to perform. Every engineman will not only attend to ewj^^gigB^ and to.kis instructions, bui he willpe vigilant, and cautious while on ihe road, not trusting entirely 
 to signals lor safety. . ^- " ■'' ■ ■^' ' v 7 
 
 nth. — If it shall be found impracticable frpm- ai\y in^rsefin ^ffise for a freight train in pa'^sm* from one station to another, lo reach the station to which it i^ 
 proceeding in season, and another train is expected, Ui^n the^jnJk^tdrjjnhe-coining train is a passei\3ei train, will cau=;e his train lo be backed, keeping a man ahead, 
 to the nearest turn out, and there wait the passing of the l^Tfittr^edio ihe road. If this caiinni lae Done, or if the eNpecled train-ie a fteight train, he will be careftjl 
 to send a man very far ahead wiih a flag by day, or a lant^ern by'mght, t5 give notice of his approach, j&ri[3 the engineman of the train ^hall not proceed if these precatj- 
 tions are not strictly observed- ', '-" '^- ^^^ i-^ ^1 
 
 , , ^^ ^'~:£r^J^ engines x >f gravel tptns, when Icaving' ^ - engn^ ^h ^ or principal station for ihe'-'frwor^i, or when returning to'lhe same, shall always take the .tiqa^ 
 of one ol the regiilar t r n 1 n >;~rmTp?s"Ttrp^'; lui {^^syrfffTili nVjw 1 rffiW H tw ■ nft i ll B4 1 Jf Jii j » I ^i^ ^ , M * m^X)^ .r^j h^- ':z >'*Mlmmr ^ .■^■■i- ; „ ^ i- .>r^ ^ p^ jx. »4> -^ u, a^jj^f ^4- to pr frpm it aL ^ W^k 
 using the greatest precaution. The engines of wood trains shall follow the same rule wherever practicable — liiey shall never be on the road wuliin twenty mmutellyf 
 the time of any <^f the regular trains. 
 
 13th. — Red fla^s or red lanterns shall always be placed at a safe dista,nce on either side of the giocnd where gravel trains are at work, and a man shall remain 
 with them whenever it is advisable for safety. The engineman of the gravel train shall, as well as ilie conductor, and the foreman in charge of the repairs, be held re-, 
 sponsible for the strict observance of this rule, and of every additional precaution which particular circumstances may make necessary to the safety of the road. 
 
 I4th, — Trains in arriving at a turn-out, where a meeting" with another train is intended, will enter upon the nearest end of the turn-out, under all circumstances-^, 
 never passing ahe.ad with the view of backing in upon it. Freight trains when meeting passenger trains will lake the turn-out if practicable. In other cases trains will 
 keep to the right. 
 
 15lh. — If freight trains are at any tjme obligwl lo keep-the main tvack in passing passenger trains, a man with a flag by day or lantern by night, will be always 
 sent in the direction of the approaching train, to give suitable warning for it to approach carefully, and the conductor of the freight train will see that the switches, are 
 right for the passage of the passenger train. 
 
 16th. — A freight train must not leave a station immediately preceding a station where a passenger train is expected lo pass, unless it shall be able to arrive at the 
 latter station by its prescribed rale of running, (which is twelve miles per hour) ten minutes before the time for the passenger train to leave. 
 
 17th. — When a regular train is divided into two or more distinct trains, a red red flag by day and a red lantern by night, will be exhibited in front of the engines of 
 all the trains except the last. 
 
 18th. — Red lanterns must be exhibited at nighl in the rear of all'nighi trains and of all the day trains that may occupy the road after sunset. No excuse will be 
 admitted for any neglect in exhibiting this signal. 
 
 lOih. — In running one train behind anoiher, each engineman must so run as to keep the tram ahead of him out of sight — and in approaching a station, particular 
 caution will be used so to slacken the speed as to avoid the possibility of running into the leading train. No excuse as to being deceived about the distance will be re- 
 ceived for a neglect of ihis rule. In case of obstruction, to the leadmg tram, a man shall immedialely-be sent behind to stop the following train. 
 
 20th. — Every engineman is authorized to require the conductor and br^kemen of his train to be at their posts, and every engineman will be held responsible who 
 proceeds with his train, while any of the instructions detailed here, are neglected or violated. No brakeman will be allowed to leave his post, or to be in a car when 
 the train is running, upon any consideration whatever, 
 
 21st. — Each conductor or as.=;istaot conductor of a freight train will be held responsible for the correct performance of duty of the brakemen of his train. He will 
 require the doors of freight cars always to be closed and locked ; and keep the brakemen at their posts. Whenever delay occurs at a station from freight being im- 
 properly stowed, he is required to report the circumstances on the same day. 
 
 22d. — All engines on approaching a station, toiVZ/Jas^ the switch cautiously ; and in all cases slop at the station — unless otherwise instructed. Way agents are -ex- 
 pressly required to report all violations of this rule. 
 
 23d. — All persons in any way in charge of repairs on the road, are required to procure 'copies of the Time Table, and of the " Instructions." 
 
 24th. — Enginemen wilt allow no person to,ride upon the engine without express authority from a superintendent of the. road. 
 
 25th. — Conductors of freight trams will, when passing over the maximum grades, station themselves on the rear car of the train, and see that all the brake-mea 
 are at their posts. 
 
 26th. — Alt persons when at work upon.the track, are required to give notice of any obstruction caused by their work, by exhibiting red flags, or red lanterns, 
 conspicuously and at a sufficient distance from the obstruction, taking care always to place them beyond a curve, so that they shall be seen upon a straight line in both 
 directions of the road, — and all conductors, enginemen, &c., are particularly enjoined to proceed with extreme caution, when such signal is exhibited, until the obstruc- 
 tion shall be passed — and in all cases where the obstruction is such as to prevent the passing of the train, a man shall be sent ahead by the person attending to the re- 
 pairs. With a red flag, or a red lantern, half an hour at least before thetrain shall be due, and remain with it until he has slopped the train. 
 
 27th. — Enginemen will be careful to see that the bell is rung at eighty rods before ci'ossing a highway, and kept ringing until the road 14 crossed. 
 
 28th. — The clock at the Piermont office shall be the standard time, and all conductors and enginemen before leaving Piermont, are required to compare and re- 
 gulate their time by ihat clock, and the conductors of freight trains are required to see that the clocks at all the way stations conform lo the standard time. 
 
 29ih. — The conductors of the passenger trains are required to examine the clocks in the ticket offices at Port Jervis and Binghamton daily, and report there, 
 whatever difference may exist in the times. 
 
 30th. — The conductors and enginemen are required to keep themselves informed, by frequent enquiry at the terminal stations, of any changes in the Time Table 
 or Instructions , and ignorance of any such change shall not be receiyed as a x'eason for delays as accidents. 
 
 AjnU 23d. 1849, J. p. KIRK WOOD, Sup't. 
 
 FIRST CODE OF ERIE TRAIN REGULATIONS. (PRINTED ON BACK OF TIME-TABLE SHOWN ON PAGE 383.) 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 385 
 
 days of railroading, owing to the "instructions" that were 
 printed upon it for the guidance of the engineers, con- 
 ductors, and trainmen, which will be something to amaze 
 the railroader of this day and generation. The code of 
 regulations for trains thus promulgated was the beginning of 
 a system that was but Httle improved until the coming of the 
 telegraph. 
 
 Binghamton was the western terminus of the Erie five 
 months. The official announcement of the opening to Owego 
 was as modest as all previous notices of the kind, and 
 included the first time-table between New York and that 
 place : 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAIL ROAD. 
 Extended to Owego. 
 
 On and after the 1st June, the trains will run as follows, daily, 
 except Sundays : — 
 
 For Passengers — Through Trains will leave New York for 
 Owego, by steamboat, from the Duane street Pier, at 7^ o'clock 
 a.m. and 5 o'clock p.m., stopping at Ramapo Station, Chester, 
 Goshen, ^liddletown, Otisville, Port Jervis, and all the way stations 
 west of the last named place ; and will leave Owego, on and after the 
 4th June, at 6 a.m. and 7 p.m., and Binghamton, on and after the ist 
 June, at 7 a.m. and 8 p.m., arriving in New York at 7j^ p.m. and 
 8)^ a.m., stopping at all the way stations between Owego and Port 
 Jervis ; and, east of Port Jervis, at Otisville, Middletown, Goshen, 
 Chester, Ramapo Station, and Spring Valley. 
 
 W.AY Trains — For Port Jervis and all the intermediate stations, 
 will leave New York, by steamboat " Thomas Powell," from Duane 
 street Pier, at T^i -a.m. and 4 p.m.; and will leave Port Jervis at 6 
 a.m. and 4 p.m. 
 
 jNIilk Trains — K train leaves Otisville at $}4 a.m., arriving in 
 New York about 11. The afternoon milk is taken by the train 
 leaving Port Jervis at 4 o'clock p.m., and arriving in New York about 
 midnight. 
 
 Freight — Freight leaves New York every night for all the regular 
 stations on the road. A freight train will leave Owego every morn- 
 ing at 6 o'clock a.m.; and another will leave Port Jervis as usual 
 every morning at 8 o'clock a.m. with market freight, &c. 
 
 James P. Kirkwood, Sttp't. 
 
 The opening of the railroad to Owego led to the estab- 
 lishing of a passenger and freight route by way of Seneca 
 and Cayuga Lakes and the Cayuga and Susquehanna Rail- 
 road to Owego to connect with the Erie. A market line 
 was established by James Sisk, of Binghamton ; William 
 Whitney, Dresden, on Seneca Lake ; George P. Monell, 
 Dresden ; Nathaniel Ells, Owego. Capt. James Sisk had 
 charge of the line, and had agents at all the points from 
 Geneva, on Seneca Lake, to Hancock, in the Delaware 
 Valley, on the Erie. It was called " Everybody's Market 
 Line." 
 
 The next momentous event in the progress of the railroad's 
 development was the following announcement : 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD OPEN TO ELJWIRA. 
 
 On and after Monday, the ist of October, the passenger train leav- 
 ing New York at 5 p.m. will run through to Elmira, arriving the next 
 morning. 
 
 Freight for Elmira and stations between Owego and Elmira will be 
 received at the Pier foot of Duane Street on and after the 5th of Oc- 
 tober. James P. Kirkwood, 
 
 C<r/. I, 1849. Superintendent. 
 
 The first time-table through to Elmira was this : 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD. 
 Open to Elmira. 
 
 On and after the 8th October, 1849, the trains will run as follows, 
 Sundays excepted ;— 
 
 Passenger Train. — Through Trains will leave New York for 
 Elmira, from the Company's Pier, at the foot of Duane street, at 7 
 o'clock a.m. and 5 o'clock p.m., stopping at all the way stations. 
 
 From Elmira the through trains will leave for New York at 6 a.m. 
 and 5i p.m., stopping also at all the way stations. 
 
 Freight. — Freight leaves New York every night for all the regular 
 stations on the road. A freight train will leave Elmira every morning 
 at 3.20 o'clock. 
 
 Fare from New York to Elmira $5. The intermediate stations in 
 proportion. 
 
 Commutation Tickets at lowest rates for the stations between 
 New York and Port Jervis can be purchased at the New York and 
 Piermont offices. 
 
 The steamboat " Erie " leaves N. Y. for Piermont every day at 3 
 o'clock, and returns on the arrival of the train from Elmira, arriving 
 at New York about 81^- p.m. 
 
 |[[W Stage lines connect with this road at various stations, to wit : 
 At Elmira with Jefferson and Geneva by the Seneca Lake, arriving at 
 Geneva in time to take the express train going west to Buffalo ; with 
 Tioga Point, Corning, &c. ; with Ithaca and Cayuga Bridge, via 
 Cayuga Lake. At Binghamton with Chenango Forks, Green, Oxford, 
 Norwich, &c. At Deposit with Delhi, Bainbridge, Oxford, &c. At 
 Narrowsburgh with Honesdale, Carbondale, Wilksbarre, &c. At 
 Port Jervis with Milford. At Middletown with Wurtsboro, Ellen- 
 ville, &c. James P. Kirkwood, Sup't. 
 
 In the latter part of November, 1849, the Chemung Rail- 
 road was finished, and November 30th the following an- 
 nouncement was made : 
 
 CHEAPEST AND QUICKEST ROUTE TO NEW YORK ! 
 
 By the Railroad recently completed from Jefferson at the Head of 
 Seneca Lake to Elmira, where it strikes the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road. Regular running of trains will begin over this route December 
 5, 1849, thus opening a new route between Geneva and New York, 
 by connection with boats on Seneca Lake at Jefferson, and covering 
 the distance in the short space of Seventeen Hours, at the Moderate 
 Charge of Five Dollars ! More Expeditious and Cheaper than from 
 Geneva to New York via Albany ! 
 
 The arrangement was not completed until the middle of 
 December, when the Erie leased the Chemung Railroad. 
 Jefferson is now the village of Havana. 
 
 December 31st the Erie was opened to horning, with no 
 further announcement than the official time-table, which 
 stated : 
 
 On and after December 31, 1846, the trains will run as follows, 
 Sundays excepted : 
 
 Morning Train for Elmira, Corning, and intermediate places, 
 leaves the Pier at the foot of Duane street, at 7 o'clock a. m., arriving 
 the same evening. 
 
 Evening Train for Elmira, Corning, Jefferson, Geneva, Rochester, 
 Buffalo and intermediate places, leaves at 4 p. m., arriving at Buffalo 
 the next evening. Fare to Geneva $6,50; to Rochester $8,15; to 
 Buffalo $10,35. 
 
 Passengers for Ithaca and Cayuga Lake take the cars of the Cayuga 
 and Susquehanna Railroad at Owego. 
 
 Passengers for Tioga and Lycoming Counties, Pa., take the cars of 
 the Corning and Blossburg Railroad, at Corning. 
 
 Passengers for New York leave Geneva at 5 a. m. and 2 p. m. 
 
386 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Leave Jefferson at 8,25 a. m. and 4,30 p. m. Leave Corning at 4,20 
 p m. Leave Elmira at 9,24 a. m. and 5,44 p. m. Owego 10,50 
 a. m. and 7,35 p.m. Binghamton at 11,39 ^- i"- ^nd 8,27 p. m. 
 Deposit at 1,32 p. m. and 10 p. m. Narrowsburgh at 3,44 p. m. and 
 12,45 3- ™- 
 
 Freight leaves New York for all the regular stations on the road at 
 4 a. m. Leaves Jefferson at 7,55 a, m. and Corning at 11 p. m. for 
 New York. 
 
 Geneva, N. Y., thus became what might be called the 
 western terminus of the Erie. Connection was made there 
 with local railroads for Buffalo and Rochester. 
 
 The first time-table for the Newburgh Branch was pub- 
 lished January 8, 1850. A passenger train ran from New- 
 burgh twice a day, morning and evening, connecting at 
 Chester with trains on the main line. One freight train was 
 run, but had no schedule time. 
 
 Corning was the western terminus of the Erie until Sep- 
 tember, 1850, and no change was made in the running or 
 number of through trains. In that month the railroad was 
 opened to Hornellsville, but Geneva was still the main ob- 
 jective point, and the time-table of December 2, 1850, was 
 headed, "New Route to Buffalo and the West." The 
 steamer "Thomas Powell" carried the passengers from New 
 York. For the West there was an express train at 7 a.m., 
 arriving at Geneva at 10 p.m. ; a way and mail train at 7 a.m. 
 for Elmira, stopping at every station, and " arriving at Elmira 
 the same evening " ; a way train at 3 p.m. for Otisville'; and 
 a night express at 4 p.m., stopping at principal stations to 
 Binghamton, and at all stations west of Binghamton. By the 
 7 A.M. express train, "Passengers for Rochester, Buffalo, 
 etc.," the time-table stated, "can lodge at Geneva, or on 
 board the boat on Seneca Lake, where comfortable berths 
 are provided, and take the Express Train from Albany next 
 morning, arriving at Rochester and Buffalo at the same tiiTie 
 as passengers via Albany, with the advantage of a night's 
 rest." And by the 4 p.m. express they "proceed to Geneva 
 and take the train, arriving at Buffalo the same evening." 
 Eastward, an express train (boat on Seneca Lake) left Geneva 
 at 4 A.M., and Hornellsville at 5.40 a.m., arriving at New 
 York at 9.14 p.m. ; a way and mail train left Elmira at 5.50 
 A.M.; a night express train left Geneva at i p.m., and 
 Hornellsville at 2.20 p.m., arriving at New York at 8 a.m., 
 and a way train left Otisville at 6 a.m., arriving at New York 
 at II. 
 
 April 14, 185 1, the following announcement appeared : 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD. 
 
 In anticipation of the opening of the road, the Directors of the 
 Company have made arrangements to ticket passengers and check 
 baggage through to Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Toledo and other 
 places on the Lake. On the arrival of the trains at Dunkirk, the 
 steamers " Chicago," " Queen City " or " Keystone State " of the De- 
 troit line — the " Empire," "Saratoga" or " Alabama " of the Cleve- 
 land or Toledo line, will be in readiness to convey passengers directly 
 through to those places. The steamers " Albany," " Diamond " and 
 " Fashion " will also form a line between Dunkirk and Cleveland, 
 landing at the intermediate ports. — These steamers are all first-class 
 
 vessels, are fast sailers, and have superior accommodations. When 
 these arrangements are completed, it is intended to convey passengers 
 from this city to Dunkirk in sixteen hours (night line eighteen hours) ; 
 to Cleveland in twenty-six or twenty-seven hours ; to Detroit in thirt)"- 
 six hours ; to Cincinnati in forty hours, and to Chicago in forty-eight 
 or fifty hours. 
 
 The benefit which these arrangements will confer upon the travelling 
 community cannot be estimated, and the Company feel confident that 
 their efforts to accommodate the public will meet with a liberal 
 reward. 
 
 ERIE TERMINUS, DUNKIRK HARBOR, 185X. 
 
 May 15, 1851, the road was open to Dunkirk, and the first 
 through official announcement for business published in the 
 newspapers was dated May 19th. This was it : 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD. 
 1851. 
 
 For Dunkirk, Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, and other ports on 
 Lake Michigan and St. Louis. 
 
 From New York to Detroit in 35 hours, direct from Dunkirk with- 
 out landing ; to Chicago in 50 hours ; to Jlilwaukee in 60 hours. 
 
 Time saved is money earned. 
 
 One of the following new low-pressure steamers — " Keystone State," 
 Capt. W. P. Stone, "Niagara," Capt, A. Walker, "Queen City," 
 Capt. T. J. Titus — leave Dunkirk daily at ir o'clock a.m., or on the 
 arrival of the Evening Express Train from New York, in connection 
 with the Michigan Central Railroad. 
 
 By leaving New York at 6 p.m., passengers arrive at Dunkirk next 
 morning, take one of the above steamers direct for Detroit, arriving in 
 time for the Day Express Train over the ilichigan Central Railroad 
 and arrive in Chicago same evening, 12 hours ahead of the Albany 
 route. Baggage checked from New York to Detroit free of por- 
 terage. 
 
 By leaving New York same time, via Albany & Buffalo Railroad, 
 arrive in Detroit at evening, and Chicago the next morning, with a 
 night's ride over the Michigan Central Railroad, and 12 hours longer 
 time. 
 
 Three other lines of first-class steamers connect with the Road at 
 Dunkirk, viz.: Sandusky Line, Toledo Line, and Walbridge's Line, 
 running in connection with the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati 
 Railroad, Sandusky and Cincinnati Railroad, Michigan Southern 
 Railroad and Ohio and Indiana Canals at Toledo, and Michigan Cen- 
 tral Railroad at Detroit. 
 
 [See small bills of each steamboat line for time connections, fare, 
 &c.] 
 
 Fare from New York to Dunkirk, $8.00. 
 
 The fare will be given in a few days from New York through to 
 Detroit and Chicago. 
 
 Through tickets can be obtained at the office of the Company. 
 
 New York office, foot of Duane street. 
 
 Chas. Minot, Superintendent. 
 
 The railroad was opened for regular business Monday, May 
 19, 1851, and this was the first official time-table of trains 
 from New York : 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 387 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD. 
 
 On Monday, the 19th instant, the following; trains will leave New 
 York from Duane Street Pier, till further notice : 
 
 For Dunkirk — Express Trains at 6 A. jr. and 6 p.m. Mail Train, 
 via Piermont, at 8 p.m. 
 
 The Evening Express Train connects at Dunkirk with the splendid 
 steamers Niagara, Keystone State and Queen City, one of which 
 leaves immediately on the arrival of the train, for Detroit direct, run- 
 ning through in about thirty-six hours from New York to Detroit, and 
 forty-three to Chicago. 
 
 The Morning Express Train connects with splendid steamboats for 
 Cleveland direct, and with other boats for Erie, Sandusky, Toledo, 
 &c. Passengers by this line arrive at Cleveland in about twenty-three 
 hours from New York. 
 
 Passengers from Buffalo can take either Express Train and arrive 
 by the Morning Train at Geneva at half past 7 p.m., and at Buffalo the 
 same night ; by the Evening Train arrive early the next morning and 
 proceed direct to Buffalo. 
 
 ^Vay Trains for Otisville at 8.30 P..M., via Piermont, and at 6.10 
 P.M., via Jersey City. 
 
 N. Marsh, Secretary. 
 May 19, 1851. 
 
 The first train from Dunkirk came through in seventeen 
 hours, and brought 100 through passengers. It arrived at 
 Jersey City at 11 p. m., Monday, May 19. 
 
 The first freight train to come East over the Erie from 
 Dunkirk left that place Monday morning, May 19 th. It 
 arrived at Piermont Tuesday evening, May 20th. It con- 
 tained a car of live stock which was consigned to Powell, 
 Ramsdell & Co., of Newburgh, by William Lisle. Some of 
 the cattle were sent to New York, and were the first trans- 
 ported over the Erie to arrive at that city. 
 
 Following is the initial schedule of trains to New York : 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD. 
 
 New Route to New York City, via Dunkirk 
 
 and the Erie Railroad, connecting with first-class Steamers on Lake 
 Erie, the Michigan, Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati, Cleveland & 
 Pittsburgh, and Sandusky & Cincinnati Railroads, and Steamers on 
 the. Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and the Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsyl- 
 vania Canals. 
 
 Trains leave Dunkirk as follows : 
 
 ist. Morning Express Train at 6 A.M. 
 
 2d. Morning Mail Train at g A.M. 
 
 3d. Evening Express Train at 4 P.M. 
 Fare from Dunkirk to New York, $8. 00. 
 Second Class Fare will be given in a few days. 
 
 The Express Freight and Cattle Train, leaves Dunkirk daily at 4 
 A.M., to which a Passenger Car is attached for the accommodation 
 of way Passengers and Drovers. 
 
 Particular attention paid to the shipment of Stock and Freight of 
 every description. The gauge being 6 feet wide, gives this route 
 great advantages over narrow Roads, in the transportation of stock 
 and all other Freight. 
 
 Additional Trains will be put in commission in a very .short time. 
 
 Freight Tariffs distributed, giving full particulars in regard to the 
 prices of Freight 
 
 Freight carefully shipped at Dunkirk, and each of the following 
 Freight stations : Forestville, Smith's Mills, Dayton, Cattaraugus, 
 Little Valley, Great Valley, Allegany, Olean, Hinsdale, Cuba, and all 
 other Eastern Stations. 
 
 C. MiNOT, Superintendent. 
 J. Nottingham, Agent. 
 
 Dunkirk, May 19, 1851. 
 
 The following was an interesting event in the early history 
 of the Erie as a through line : 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD. 
 Excursion Tickets. 
 
 In order to afford the Stockholders an opportunity to visit and 
 examine the road, the Directors have resolved to issue Excursion 
 Tickets to Stockholders, from the present time till July 10, 1851, at 
 the following low prices : 
 
 From New York to Dunkirk and back $8.00 
 
 From New York to Dunkirk 5.00 
 
 The tickets to Dunkirk and back will be good for ten days from 
 their date, and those to Dunkirk only, three days from their date, af- 
 fording an opportunity to stop at any of the stations on the road and 
 resume the journey at pleasure, within the time limited. The tickets 
 will be sold only at the office. No. 45 Wall St., New York. 
 
 Nathaniel Marsh, Secretary. 
 New Yo&k, Juttc 5, 1851. 
 
 The next through Erie time-table tells how completely 
 travel to and from the ^Vest had been revolutionized by the 
 completion of the Erie, and was but the foreshadowing of 
 the time of universal rail communication on the continent, 
 the great idea of which was born of the impulses that created 
 and carried forward to success the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road, the first link in that now perfect chain of transconti- 
 nental communication. On this Erie time-table the " Emi- 
 grant Train " first finds a place among the listed trains of the 
 road. The schedule was the "Fall Arrangement for 185 1." 
 Three through trains were run between New York and Dun- 
 kirk, each way, and the " suburban " traffic required two 
 trains from, and one to. New York. Following is the sched- 
 ule : 
 
 1. Day Express Train, at 6 am. (Sundays excepted) for Dunkirk, 
 there connecting without delay with first class steamers for Cleveland, 
 running in connection with the express train from Cincinnati ; and 
 with first class steamers for Toledo and Monroe, running in connec- 
 tion with the Michigan Southern Railroad. Dinner at Deposit, and 
 Supper at Hornellsville. Passengers by this train take the Canan- 
 daigua Railroad at Elmira, and arrive at Rochester and Buffalo the 
 same evening. 
 
 2. Mail Train, at 8 am. (Sundays excepted) stopping at all the sta- 
 tions. This train remains over night at Elmira, and goes on next 
 morning at 7:30, arriving in Dunkirk at 4:55 pm. (Dinner at Nar- 
 rowsburgh.) 
 
 3. Way Train, at 3 pm. (Sundays excepted) for Piermont and Suf- 
 fern. 
 
 4. Way Train, at 5 pm. (Sundays e.xcepted) for Sufferns, Delaware 
 and intermediate stations. 
 
 5. Evening Express Train, at 6 pm. for Dunkirk, and there con- 
 necting with first class steamers for Detroit direct ; and also for Erie, 
 Ashtabula, Cleveland, Sandusky, Toledo and Monroe. On Saturdays 
 this train runs only to Elmira. (Supper at Turner's, breakfast at 
 Hornesville.) 
 
 6. Emigrant Train at 6 pm. (Sundays excepted) for Dunkirk. 
 Trains to New York. — i. Day Express Train leaves Dunkirk at 6 
 
 am. (Sundays excepted) arriving in N. York same evening. Passen- 
 gers from Buffalo and Rochester take this train at Canandaigua. 
 
 2. Way train leaves Delaware at 5 am. (Sundays excepted) stop- 
 ping at all stations. 
 
 3. Mail train leaves Corning at 6:43 am., stopping at all stations 
 (Sundays excepted). 
 
 4. Mail train leaves Dunkirk at 10 am. (Sundays excepted). Pas- 
 sengers by this train can stay over night at Corning, Elmira, Owego 
 or Binghamton, and proceed next morning by Express or Mail train 
 to New York. 
 
 5. Accommodation train leaves Dunkirk at li pm. (Saturdays and 
 Sundays excepted). 
 
 6. Evening Express train leaves Dunkirk at 5 pm. and Canan- 
 daigua atgipm., taking passengers from the Night Express train 
 from Buffalo and Rochester. 
 
388 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Takes Effect'-Monday,No»<an'b-er 2i, ISol. 
 
 TRAINS MOVING EAST- 
 
 THIRD CX.4SS. 
 
 "WAY 
 FR€I&HT,: 
 
 '5.05 PMI 
 4.35 « 
 
 -'ZM ." 
 
 2..1B « 
 'i:4l « 
 12,3S 'Jm 
 
 .11.55 AM 
 
 *11.18" 
 
 ,10.58" 
 
 1 ■*-10.33 " 
 
 ''lO.U." 
 
 11.20 « 
 tt).46 « 
 
 8.5*7 '• 
 
 8.00 
 
 7:22' 
 
 -¥0.32 
 
 ^.10 
 
 ■^•05 
 4:35 
 S'.45 
 
 *3.15 
 
 .2.55 « 
 *2.30 « 
 
 ■IM « 
 ,ie.30 AM 
 
 - CCTTLE 
 fRETGtiT. 
 
 12.40 PM 
 
 *r-a.23 
 
 'U.SBam 
 
 •10.J>3 " 
 
 *9.43 « 
 
 8.42 " 
 
 7.46 "■ 
 
 P7.10 " 
 
 •6.27 « 
 
 5.56 " 
 
 5.12" 
 
 •4.42 " 
 4.20 " 
 3.15". 
 
 »2.38 " 
 
 •2.20 « 
 
 •2.00 " 
 
 1:00 " 
 
 12.01 AM 
 
 FIRST CI.ASS. 
 
 ACCOM' D'NlNI&HT EXP 
 
 PASSENGER 
 
 3.03 
 2.51 
 
 '2.-38 
 
 PASSENGER 
 
 .*2.00 
 1.41 
 
 1.25 
 1.10 
 
 12.57 ■ 
 12.42 
 12.10 PM 
 11.52 aw 
 
 ^11.28 
 
 10.57 
 
 10.27 
 
 10.16 
 
 10.02 
 
 9.44 
 
 9.26 
 
 •9.07' 
 
 8.57 
 •8.47 
 8.15 
 
 7.45 
 
 10.15 
 
 *10.04 
 
 •9.54 
 
 •9.35 
 
 Western Dxvisiott.^ 
 
 *9.29 
 
 9.14 
 
 *9.02 
 
 8.45 ■ 
 
 *8.3a 
 
 •8.U 
 
 *7.58 
 
 ^7.42 
 ■•7.1-5 
 •6.56 
 6.48 
 
 •6.36 
 
 6.24 
 
 *6.02 
 
 !'5.44 
 
 U 
 
 ■crit 
 u 
 
 ITA^BS OF 
 
 -STATIONS 
 
 Passiig JPlaces. 
 
 TRAINS , MO VINO ,WEST 
 
 ArHornelLsville, Dep. 
 Dep... Almoijid, 
 
 Alfred, - 
 
 Jjjdover, 
 
 Shoemaker's C'uer, - 
 ^ ' Genesee, ■ 
 
 PhiHipsville, • - 
 
 Belvidere, 
 Friendship, 
 Ctiba, 
 Hinsdale, 
 
 Jlean, 
 ■ Great Valley, 
 
 Bucfetocfth, 
 
 Littl| Valley, 
 
 ©atlkri^gus, 
 
 Tiirnout, 
 
 D&yton, 
 ^ Cooper's Corner, - 
 
 Forestville, 
 t>^., Dflakirk, Ar. 
 
 ^ 
 
 ■^Ti^ns do not stop at those Stations indicated^ » -^.anresi-fecesKaTv. in the cases reftrred to in ^xHeHi. 
 l:^ T St^ 5 minutes; % Stop 10 minutes; li Stop 15 minute^; :^ ii.np2Q Siinutes 
 
 S^^^^«J-W^f^J^''Si^^.'^^^^'^'^^^''^.^'^^Wfi ev.ery dayl *<Tpa„g Snridays at' 2.25 am. 
 ^•^■X. *^^-? * '■"'^'Jt- ^"^f^ T ""^ r^^"" ^l-^- ft^5^P#"S » '■•^^^•the end of their Division, when accidentally delayed.), 1»(L 
 ■^«y-'^ll?^^' ■;' .^ °'^^'' ^^X^. ^'°'^ ^^9^ ^?^ "^ i\imxPviis»^^hM) .^'^^ ^0 the fact, whether or iot the Way Frei^t TraW'tSe^ 
 .*cy«eeBt Division has previously arrived. --^ ^1 -^ . ■.. j. . ~-b " • 
 
 ;.^''.'^?!^!!'^^'■'i,_*°™l'"'^y^'^?«■^* andt-hK/Iattle J'rei»i|^oi»3,3l»o«ld pass at Cuba. 
 
 - lI qrJ'f ":*ork : and from N»w-Toi-!f to lElmira every 6t,i w.opting Sou- 
 ■""M^of SatQidayn from Duniirk, wSFtun only *o .Etofra BriT^S-tA.. 
 , .Md from BonkirlC to Elmlra, every .day excepttag'Baniaya. 
 
 Th'* .i.ftnandaign a Express Passenger Train will ^un 
 plays. ^y".Thc'N.ight Exjrfiss Passenger ^raua-will rjia 
 accomnDodation-Train -will run frotn Ehnira to Dunkirlt^ 
 
 Wv^C. -TA'TLOB; Divfeion Ag«t._ 
 
 CHA'S _MINOT, &ip't 
 
 EARLY OFFICIAL TIME-TABLE, IN FACSIMII,E. ORIGINAL OWNED BY H. E. GILPIN, ESQ., SUPERINTENDENT ALLEGANY 
 
 DIVISION, HORNELLSVILLE, N. Y. 
 
 (These Erie relics are very rare, and this one's value was greatly lessened by some former owner of it cutting- off the official heading in 
 order to make it fit a frame. This time-table is historically important as showing the early beginning of the running of trains on Sunday on 
 the Erie, something which was strongly protested against.) 
 
 A^L-wbiirg Branch. — Trains run daily, (Sundays excepted) as fol- 
 lows ; Leaving Newburg at 6:05 and 9:45 am., and 5:15 pm. Leave 
 Chester at 7:25 and 10:47 am., and 6:35 pm. 
 
 Freight Trains. — Leave from pier foot of Duane street, at 6 pm., 
 for all stations on the road, and for Canandaigua, Rochester, Buffalo, 
 and all Western states. Chas. Minot, Snpt. 
 
 The railroad from Canandaigua to Jefferson (Havana), at 
 the head of Seneca Lake, had been completed, and was under 
 lease to the Erie, making, with the Chemung Railroad from 
 I'^imira, a line of railroad by the use of which the Erie had 
 as yet the only means of reaching Buffalo or Rochester. With 
 the coming of the Canandaigua Railroad the steamboats on 
 Seneca Lake to Geneva ceased to be a portion of the Erie's 
 " through line." The Chemung Railroad and the Canan- 
 
 daigua line are now parts of the Northern Central Railroad, 
 and belong to the Pennsylvania Railroad system. 
 
 As a matter of historical importance, the following time- 
 table is incorporated with this chronicle of the regular Erie 
 first schedules, as this railroad is now part of the Erie (the 
 Buffalo Division). 
 
 BUFFALO & NEW YORK CITY RAIL-ROAD. 
 
 That portion of the Buffalo & New York City Rail-Road between 
 Hornellsville and Portage, will be opened to the public on and after 
 Thursday, 22d Jan., 1852. 
 
 Trains will run daily (except Sundays) for Passengers and freight, 
 leaving Hornellsville at 7 A. M., or after the Arrival of the N. Y. & 
 E. R. R. Night Express Train from New York, and returning leave 
 Portage at 4 P. M., arriving at Hornellsville in time for the night 
 Express Train for New York. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 389 
 
 The standard Time for the Road will be Ten Minutes slower than 
 the N. V. & E. R. R. time, at the Hornellsville Station. 
 
 The rates of fare will be Three Cents per Passenger per Mile. 
 The rates of Freight to or from Stations on the N. Y. & E. R. R. 
 «ast or west of Hornellsville, will be for three classes corresponding 
 to the classification upon the New York and Erie Railroad, and as 
 follows : 
 
 1st Class, 6 cents per Ton per Mile. 
 2d " 5 " " " " " 
 3d " 4 " " " " 
 No charge will be made less than twenty-five cents, and no package 
 •will be estimated at less than fifty pounds. 
 
 "Will run in connection with the Trains from and to the following 
 points : 
 
 Dansville, JMt. Morris, Geneseo, Avon, Rochester, Castile, Perry, 
 ■Gainesville, Warsaw, \Vyoming, Attica, Pike, Arcade, Yorkshire, 
 Springville, Ellicottville, Franklinville, Farmersville, Rushford, Bel- 
 fast, Cold Creek, Mixville, &c. S. Seymour, 
 
 E.ugiuet'r ^ Superintendent . 
 
 Hornellsville, _/««. 14, 1852. 
 
 A terminus at Buffalo was a consummation that the Erie 
 "managers had long seen to be a necessity if they might com- 
 pete successfully for \\"estern traffic, for there was no longer 
 any doubt that Dunkirk was a mistake. They built much 
 hope on this railroad from Hornellsville to Attica as being 
 the means by which they could get their cars into Buffalo. 
 The beginning of operations on that road did not strengthen 
 that hope, however, for passengers bound from New York to 
 Buffalo and the West by the Erie and the Hornellsville and 
 Attica route, according to the time-table of July 26, 1852, if 
 they left New York by the Erie mail train at 8 a.m., "re- 
 main over night at Binghamton, Owego, Elmira or Corn- 
 ing, and reach Buffalo the next evening, in time for boats 
 .going up the Lake ; or leaving New York by the 6 p.a[. ex- 
 press, reach Buffalo at the same time, and have an opportunity 
 to spend several hours at the Falls and High Bridge at Port- 
 age. Passengers from Buffalo leave at 8 a.m. and connect at 
 Hornellsville either with the Erie mail train, which remains 
 •over night at either of the above places, and reach New York 
 next evening, or with the night express, which reaches New 
 York at 12.30 next day." 
 
 The Buffalo and New York City Railroad became a vital 
 part of the Erie property years later, but only after much 
 tribulation, disappointment and expense to the Company. 
 ("The Building of It," pages 360-363.) 
 
 There was no increase in the number of through passenger 
 trains on the Erie for many years after the opening of the 
 road to Dunkirk. Until 1854 those trains were known as the 
 Night Express, the Day Express, the Mail Train, and the 
 Emigrant. There were express freights and stock expresses, 
 .and local trains had been put on the different divisions as the 
 way traffic increased. In 1854 the through express trains 
 began to be known as the New York Express, the Cincinnati 
 Express, the Dunkirk Express, and when a regular division 
 of trains began to be made at Hornellsville for the Buffalo 
 -connection, the Buffalo Express came into existence. This 
 was in 1854. It was not until i860, after the return of 
 Charles Minot to the general superintendency, that Erie 
 
 trains began to be designated by numbers, which is their 
 universal designation to-day, whether the train is No. i or 
 No. 617. On the time-table adopted January 18, i860, the 
 west-boimd through trains became No. i (Dunkirk Express), 
 No. 3 (Night Express), No. 5 (Mail). The east-bound trains 
 were No. 2 (New York Express), No. 4 (Night Express), 
 No. 6 (Accommodation), No. 16 (Cincinnati Express). No. 
 15 was a Fast Freight. No. 8, now one of the fastest and 
 most sumptuous express trains on the road, was a Stock Ex- 
 press. Nos. 2 and 4 connected at Chester for Newburgh. 
 The other through trains scheduled for passengers were No. 
 13 (Express Freight), No. 17 (Way Freight), No. 18 (Fast 
 Freight), and No. 20 (Way Freight). No. 3 ran only to 
 Elmira on Saturdays, and No. 5 remained over night there. 
 There was no emigrant train scheduled on this time-table. 
 In the meantime there had been no material change in the 
 trains or the running of them, except that the local traffic 
 required the putting on of a way passenger train between 
 New York and Port Jervis, and it was scheduled on the time- 
 table adopted November 19, 1858, the train that became 
 known as the Orange County Express, and is so known to 
 this day. Until February 6, 1856, the night express from 
 New York and the night express from Dunkirk were run on 
 Sundays. On that date all Sunday trains were withdrawn 
 from the road, except that the milk and freights ran as usual. 
 Even the Cincinnati Express, which did not start on Sunday, 
 but had been run to its destination on that day, was stopped 
 at Corning Saturday night and held there until Monday morn- 
 ing, taking the place of the night express on Monday. " The 
 effect of the halt of this through train at Corning," a news- 
 paper account of the change said, " will be beneficial to that 
 thriving town." No Sunday trains were run on the Erie for 
 more than a year, and, in fact, were not entirely resumed 
 until i860, after the return of Charles Minot. 
 
 The first " pocket time-table " of the Erie was issued to 
 the public June 11, 1866. It was for the Eastern (now New 
 York) Division and branches only. It was printed on a card 
 itY^.y^zY'^ inches in size, which folded in the middle, the 
 east-bound schedule appearing on one side, and the west- 
 bound on the other. There were eighteen trains scheduled 
 west-bound, and seventeen east-bound, of which nine each 
 way ran only to Paterson. One ran each way between Suf- 
 fem and Jersey City, one each way between Middletown and 
 Jersey City, and one (the milk train) to and from Otisville. 
 Port Jervis had two local trains each way. This time-table 
 scheduled three trains each way between Warwick and New- 
 burgh, a connection for one of them being for Goshen. 
 There was but one local Sunday train each way over the Di- 
 vision. Of the Paterson trains two ran on Sunday from New 
 York. To New York, the train that left Port Jervis week 
 days at 6.30 a.m. ran from Paterson on Sundays. The time- 
 table bore the names of H. Riddle, General Superintendent, 
 and W. R. Barr, General Passenger Agent. 
 
 The schedule of trains for the New York Division, in the 
 pocket time-table for December, 1898, occupies four closely 
 printed pages 7>^ X4 inches in size. 
 
390 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 The increase of trains has been steady since the days of 
 Gould and Fisk. There are now four through express 
 trains from New York over the Erie, seven days in the 
 week — Day Express (No. i), Pacific Express (No. 3), Ves- 
 tibuled Limited (No. 5 ; vestibuled in 1887), and Buffalo 
 and Cleveland Express (No. 7). The Day Express does not 
 run over the old Erie main line west of Hornellsville. There 
 are five through express trains to New York, four of them 
 seven days in the week — Day Express (No. 2), Vestibuled 
 Limited (No. 8), New York Special (No. 10), Atlantic Ex- 
 press (No. 12), and Local Express (No. 14). The Day Ex- 
 press does not run over the old Erie main line west of Hor- 
 nellsville, and none of the through trains runs to or starts 
 from Dunkirk, the legal western terminus of Erie, and only 
 one of them (No. 3) connects for Dunkirk from the East, and 
 only one (No. 12) has a train connection from Dunkirk, the 
 other passenger service on the old Erie main line to and from 
 Dunkirk and Salamanca being one local train each way daily. 
 On what the Erie designates as its through time-table of 
 trains, Dunkirk is not mentioned, nor does the other legal 
 terminus of the Erie, Piermont, find a place on any schedule 
 of the Erie to-day. 
 
 There are on the New York Division and branches thirteen 
 local passenger trains westward, and ten eastward, six days a 
 week, and five special Sunday trains. These local trains are 
 independent of the 140 or more trains between New York 
 and Paterson, and between Paterson and other suburban places 
 on the old Paterson and Hudson River and Paterson and 
 Ramapo railroads. There are three local trains each way 
 over the Delaware Division ; five west and seven east on the 
 Susquehanna Division ; three west and four east on the Alle- 
 gany (formerly ^Vestern) Division ; five each way six days a 
 week, and one each way Sunday, on the old Erie main line 
 between Piermont and Suffern ; and four each way over the 
 Newburgh Branch, six days a week, and one each way Sun- 
 days — making 100 passenger trains over the Erie line, that 
 began through business in 185 r with three passenger trains, 
 one live-stock train, one through freight, one way freight, and 
 a local milk train each way daily except Sunday ; while the 
 Erie freight trains to-day are numbered by the score daily. 
 On the Erie's acquired lines and branches there are nearly 
 300 passenger trains constantly passing to and fro, many of 
 them every day in the week. 
 
 The original official Erie time-table for May, 1851, could 
 easily have been printed on a single page of this history. 
 The time-tables for the railroad and its branches to-day 
 would fill fifty of these pages ! 
 
 THE ORIGINAL STARTING PLACE. 
 
 Piermont, the original starting point of the Erie, was 
 twenty-four miles from New York. The trip from New York 
 up the Hudson River to the cars had its inconveniences, but 
 it also had its pleasures in fine weather. On a bright sum- 
 mer morning, with a grateful, refreshing breeze, it was a de- 
 
 lightful sail. It was this trip on the river that was used for 
 years by those opposed to the changing of the terminus to 
 Jersey City as the argument in favor of maintaining the origi- 
 nal arrangement. The river trip, it was urged, was so restful 
 and healthful a diversion from the tedium of travel by rail, 
 that its benefit to the travellers was greater than the saving 
 of time by the New Jersey route would be ; but the travellers 
 and the Company failed to look at it in that way. 
 
 In the original days of Erie, as now, the view of Piermont 
 from the river was very beautiful. The village made a pretty 
 show, while the steep heights above were dotted with neat 
 cottages amid gardens and cedar groves. To the left, the 
 hillside sloped suddenly to a glen, up which lay the course of 
 the railroad. The great pier, one mile long, and 300 feet 
 wide at the river extremity, where there was a spacious basin 
 and dock for the accommodation of the Company's boats, 
 was covered with tracks. All the space occupied by the de- 
 pots and the freight and car-houses — in fact, by all the shore 
 terminal facilities — was made ground, the river having been 
 filled in over an area of ninety acres ; otherwise there would 
 not have been room for a single track to run along the river 
 shore. The shops were on the north side of the Company's 
 grounds. They were large for those days, and for years were 
 the main building and repair shops of the railroad. They 
 employed more than 200 men in r85i, when the railroad 
 was opened to Dunkirk. The round-house at Piermont had 
 stalls for thirty locomotives in 1851. The repair shops were 
 continued at Piermont until the summer of 1 869, when the 
 work was transferred to Jersey City, and the abandonment of 
 Piermont by the Erie, so far as it could abandon the place, 
 was complete. While it was the terminus of the Erie, Pier- 
 mont was a place of much importance. The village was 
 divided into two parts, on the north side of the' railroad be- 
 ing the business section. The home of Eleazar Lord, Erie's 
 first President, was there, and there he died. The great pier 
 was a constant scene of bustle and activity, where scores of 
 men were employed transferring, loading, and unloading 
 freight from the cars to the boats. The pay-roll of the Com- 
 pany at Piermont amounted to many thousands of dollars a 
 month. The pier is now abandoned except as a storage 
 place for coal, with here and there a man at work upon it, 
 and the passenger trains that are run to-day over that part 
 of the original Erie, to and from that former hveliest railroad 
 terminus in the country, are scheduled to depart from and 
 arrive at Sparkill, a station a mile from Piermont, and un- 
 known when the railroad first went through. 
 
 As the time when the railroad between Suffern and 
 Piermont was the main line is now only a memory, and as 
 locomotives and cars were an old thing in that section years 
 before they were new fifty miles farther west, reminiscences 
 of the pioneer Erie days along that stretch of road are inter- 
 esting and important. 
 
 David P. Demarest kept the Red Tavern, at what is now 
 Nanuet, and in 1839 began supplying the railroad with ties, 
 and subsequently with fuel. Railroad laborers to the number 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 391 
 
 of thirty-five boarded at the tavern, and his young wife at- 
 tended to all the work alone, having also two young children 
 to care for. In 1849 he was appointed agent of the Com- 
 pany, and the station was named Clarkstown. With the com- 
 ing of the railroad he constructed two water tanks to supply the 
 locomotives with water. They were filled by hydraulic rams, 
 driven by water power from the Naurashank Creek. These 
 required his constant attention. He was station agent at 
 Nanuet until his death in 1881. He- was succeeded by his 
 son, Joseph G. Demarest, the present agent (1898). The 
 station is in part of the house built by D. P. Demarest in 
 1849. Tickets were not sold at Nanuet until 1852, and the 
 station and date were written on them in ink by the agent. 
 The station was known as Clarksto^vn until 1856, when it was 
 changed to Nanuet, which is said to have been the name of 
 an Indian chief who once lived in the vicinity. 
 
 Tallman's came into life through the building of the rail- 
 road, and was named for Tunis I. Tallman. It was known 
 to the first Erie railroad men as the fifteen-mile turnout, it 
 being fifteen miles from Piermont, and a long switch had 
 been made to enable one train to " turn out " for another. 
 
 When the Erie was surveyed through this locality the pres- 
 ent station of Monsey was a wet swamp and tangled morass. 
 The Company drained it. Eleazar Lord, while President of 
 the Company in 1840, purchased eight and a half acres of 
 land there with the intention of making an important water 
 station. A platfonn was built for passengers to stand on 
 while waiting for trains, and the word Kakiat was cut on it 
 by a contractor named Jessup, that word being the Indian 
 name for the surrounding country. It was afterward named 
 JNIonsey, in honor of an old Indian chief. In 1841, ■\\'hen the 
 railroad was opened, Angus McLaughlin put up a shanty or 
 shed where the present depot stands, for a refreshment 
 saloon. It was patronized by railroad men and train men. 
 Aaron Johnson bought the Lord tract in 1843, and became 
 first station agent at Monsey. At the opening of the railroad 
 a log pump was sunk by the Company in a brook just east of 
 the Spring Valley station. A platform was built around it, 
 on which two men stood and pumped water into the tank of 
 the locomotives. Subsequently a well was dug at Monsey 
 which was fitted with a pump so arranged that the en- 
 gine of the train, by adjusting its driving wheels to wheels 
 placed in the track, could pump its own water. This was 
 succeeded by a tank which was filled by hand pumping from 
 the well. This remained until 1855, when the tank building 
 burned. 
 
 "Where Spring Valley now is was only a crossing at a farm 
 road when the railroad was built. The farmers thereabout, 
 believing that Eleazar Lord had given undue preference to 
 Monsey because he owned land there, protested that trains 
 should be stopped at the crossing for their better convenience 
 as shippers, and soon after the road was opened to Goshen 
 they held a meeting and prepared a petition to that effect. 
 The Company replied that if the farmers would build a de- 
 pot, freight trains would be stopped there, but no promise 
 would be made to stop passenger trains. The farmers built 
 
 a depot, which consisted of a board shanty on a platform 
 10x12 feet, which was promptly taken in possession by 
 Henry Iseman, who started a store in it. The railroad 
 named the station Pascac, but the name was subsequently 
 changed, at the suggestion of Isaac Springsteel, a prominent 
 farmer, to Spring Valley, and a board with that name on it 
 was nailed to a cherry tree stump near the "depot." When 
 trains began stopping there, soon afterward, Iseman was 
 forced to move his store elsewhere. 
 
 WHEN THE LOCOMOTIVE CAME. 
 
 By authority of his office as constructing engineer, George 
 E. Hoffman made the contracts for the first Erie locomo- 
 tives and cars. He first got the estimate of Rogers, Ketchum 
 & Grosvenor, of Paterson, N. J., for the building of three 
 
 ERIE LOCOMOTIVE, TYPE OF 1 846 ; CAB AND PILOT ATTACHED 
 IN 1849 ; SKETCH MADE AT SUSQUEHANNA IN 1852. ORIGI- 
 NAL LOANED BY MINISINK VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 eight-wheel locomotives, four of them driving-wheels. That 
 firm bid ^9,000 for each locomotive, and would take none 
 of the Company's stock to apply on the payment. Hoffman 
 then went to Philadelphia and consulted the locomotive 
 builders of that city. WiUiam Norris was willing to make 
 the machines for ^8,000 apiece, and to take 13,000 of the 
 price of each engine in Erie stock — Erie stock then being 
 quoted at a little better than nothing. Then the Paterson 
 builders said they would furnish the engines for ^8,000, but 
 the pay must be all in cash. Hoffman gave Norris the con- 
 tract. This was May 12, 1840. The locomotives were 
 delivered to the Company at Piermont the following Decem- 
 ber. They were shipped by way of the Raritan Canal and 
 Hudson River. One was called the " Eleazar Lord," one the 
 " Piermont," and one the " Rockland," and were numbered i, 
 2, and 3 respectively. The contractors had been greatly delayed 
 in putting down the superstructure for want of facilities for 
 transporting the timber and rails from Piermont forward, 
 and the engines were put at that work. No. i weighed 32,000 
 
392 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 pounds, 22,000 pounds on the drivers; tender, 36,500; out- 
 side connection; 13-inch cylinder, 20-inch stroke. The No. 
 2 was four tons heavier than No. i, but was similar other- 
 wise. No. 3 was a 16-ton engine, and like Nos. i and 2 in 
 other respects. In the spring of 1841 two more Norris 
 engines came on the road, the " Orange " and the " Ramapo." 
 There is no record of their cost, and as to the " Orange," or 
 No. 4, there seems to be no ofificial record at all. The 
 " Orange " became famous in many ways on the eastern 
 end of the railroad, from the opening in i84r to 1846, and 
 later on western sections of the road. Her first engineer 
 
 JOSEPH WIDROVkf MEGINNES ("JOE "). 
 
 was Joe Meginnes, and her career has no parallel among the 
 pioneer locomotives of the Erie or any other railroad. Here 
 are some historic incidents in that career. 
 
 As A Newspaper Special. — In 1842 the regular mail 
 route between New York and Albany was a stage-coach line 
 through the counties of the east side of the Hudson. This 
 was long before the day of the telegraph, and the newspapers 
 of that time had to depend on the mails or special couriers in 
 obtaining the news. Presidents' and governors' messages 
 were then considered the most important items of news that 
 a newspaper could give its readers, and in 1842 the New 
 York Sun resolved to place before its readers the message 
 of Governor Seward for that year in advance of any of its 
 rival journals. The New York Herald resolved that the Sun 
 should do no such thing, although the Sun had arranged with 
 the New York and Erie Railroad Company to aid it in the 
 undertaking. There was a stage line between Goshen and 
 Albany, and it had hopes of becoming the popular one to 
 and from the capital, in connection with the Erie. The Sun 
 arranged to have a copy of the Governor's message deUvered 
 to it by means of the railroad and the Goshen- Albany route. 
 The Herald believed a copy could be delivered in New York 
 sooner by a courier over the regular stage line east of the 
 
 Hudson, and arranged to have one delivered over that route. 
 The Railroad Company was intensely interested in the result 
 of this race, for if it proved that the distance between New 
 York and Albany could be made quicker by way of the rail-; 
 road and the Goshen and Albany stage route, the fact would 
 go far toward making that route the popular one, it was be- 
 lieved, largely to the benefit of the railroad. Hence the 
 management made every arrangement to facilitate the delivery 
 of the Governor's message. 
 
 Joe Meginnes, with his locomotive " Orange," was chosen 
 to make the flying trip between Goshen and Piermont with 
 the message when it should be delivered to him. The pro- 
 prietor of the Albany and Goshen stage line had provided 
 reliable post-riders for this occasion, and the best of horses 
 at ten-mile relays, to carry them to Goshen with all speed. 
 The Hudson River line had made similar arrangements for 
 its route. When Governor Seward's message was delivered 
 to the Legislature at its meeting in January, 1842, a copy 
 of it was delivered to each of the post-riders, and away they 
 sped. Joe Meginnes had his engine all ready to start from 
 Goshen on the word. The " Orange " stood at the old Goshen 
 depot, pufifing and snorting, as if with impatience. No post- 
 rider came. By and by there was danger of the engine's 
 steam getting low, and Joe ran her up and down the track, 
 while his fireman (Daniel Sutherland, of Owego, says he was 
 the fireman) stoked her and kept her boiler full of water. 
 An hour passed, then the sound of the horse's hoofs Avas 
 heard on the hill, and a minute later the panting horse came 
 dashing up to the station. The message was handed over to 
 the custody of the engineer, and he pulled out immediately 
 for Piermont. " He pulled out so suddenly," says David 
 D. Osmun, of Chester, N. Y., who was present on the occasion, 
 " that the locomotive actually rose from the rails, like a rearing 
 horse, and then came down upon them again with a ' chug.' " 
 Joe Meginnes always declared that he would have arrived at 
 Piermont at least a quarter of an hour sooner than he did if 
 Master Mechanic Brandt had not been on the engine with 
 him. Brandt was afraid to ride as fast as Joe was inclined 
 to run, and the engineer had to obey his superior officer. 
 
 A steamboat was waiting at Piermont, all ready to com- 
 plete the trip, and it was quickly steaming down the river. 
 The wide awake Sun editor had put aboard this boat a force 
 of printers, with type and tools, who were set at work imme- 
 diately putting the message in type. By the time the steam- 
 boat reached New York the message was ready to go to press 
 as soon as the type could be carried to the Sun office and 
 placed in the forms. The result of all this haste and enter- 
 prise was that when the rider reached New York, bearing the 
 Herald'' s copy of the message, the Sun had been an hour on 
 the street with its reproduction of the document. A great 
 deal of money was won and lost on the result of this great 
 race. But the result of the race did not have the effect of 
 making the Albany and Goshen connections of the Erie the 
 popular route between New York and Albany, and the stage 
 line was soon abandoned. 
 
 Wilmot M. Vail, of Port Jervis, who, as a boy, was present 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 393 
 
 on the occasion, says that the engine that carried the message 
 from Goshen was the "Ramapo," and that the "Orange" 
 followed as a tender, the " Ramapo " being run by Engineer 
 Newell. At Sloatsburg the " Ramapo " burned out a flue and 
 was unable ■ to proceed further. She was put on 'the Y at 
 that place, and the message was transferred to the " Orange," 
 and Joe Meginnes took it on to Piermont. 
 
 Travelling West ahead uf the Railroad. — Joe 
 Meginnes ran the "Orange" until 1846, when the new loco- 
 motive "Sussex," or No. 6, was given him. Joshua P. 
 Martin came from the Lancaster and Columbia Railroad in 
 that year and took charge of the " Orange." He ran her 
 between Piermont and Otisville ; and when the railroad was 
 opened to Port Jervis, ran to and from that place until the 
 summer of 1848, when the "Orange" was ordered to Bing- 
 
 JOSHUA p. martix, of "the orange" and "OLD 71." 
 
 hamton to help in the construction of the railroad east from 
 that place. Martin was ordered to Binghamton also, to take 
 charge of her there. He went by stage with his family and 
 his fireman, John Meginnes, Joe's brother. The " Orange " 
 was forwarded by Hudson River from Piermont to Albany, 
 thence by Erie Canal to the junction with the Chenango 
 Canal, and down that canal to Binghamton. The engine was 
 five weeks on the way. After the railroad was finished be- 
 tween Binghamton and Port Jervis, Martin and the " Orange " 
 helped build it on to Hornellsville, which place that pioneer 
 locomotive was the first to enter. The " Orange " was sold 
 to the Attica and Hornellsville Railroad Company in 1851, 
 and it was the only engine belonging to that company for 
 more than a year, doing all the work of construction between 
 Hornellsville and Portage. 
 
 Joshua P. Martin, who had charge of the " Orange " during 
 the construction period on the Susquehanna Division, had his 
 
 choice of divisions of the railroad to run on when the road 
 was opened to Dunkirk. He chose the Delaware Division, 
 and made his famous record with " Old 71." (" Administra- 
 tion of Benjamin Loder," pages 98-101.) He was appointed 
 master mechanic of the Buffalo, Corning and New York 
 Railroad (now Rochester Division of the Erie), and later 
 returned to the Erie as master mechanic and engine de- 
 spatcher between Dunkirk and Susquehanna. When he was 
 running on the Delaware Division, nearly fifty years ago. Josh 
 Martin was held up by the moon. The Delaware Division is 
 very crooked. One night, as Josh was booming along, the 
 moon was shining nearly at his back. A few minutes later 
 he saw what he thought was the headlight of a locomotive on 
 the track directly ahead of him. He shrieked for brakes and 
 reversed his engine. The train came to a stop. Then he 
 discovered that he had turned a sharp curve in the road and 
 come face to face with the moon. Martin died at Jersey City, 
 February 24, 1883. His son, William K., is an Erie engineer 
 at Hornellsville. 
 
 In its issue of December 3, 1851, the Hornellsville Tribune 
 announced that " the locomotive ' Orange ' has been placed 
 on the Hornellsville and Attica Railroad, preparatory to the 
 opening of the road from this place to Portageville, and has 
 been put in fine running condition by her engineer, W. J. 
 Hackett." 
 
 The "Orange" drew the first train of passenger cars on 
 that railroad, January 22, 1852. June 5, 1852, she was taken 
 ^part and ferried across the Genesee River at Portage, the 
 bridge across the great chasm being unfinished, and was set 
 up on the track on the opposite side of the river, June 7 th, 
 the track having been laid part of the way to Warsaw. Thus 
 the " Orange " was the first locomotive to sound a whistle in 
 that part of the Genesee Valley, and she hauled the iron to com- 
 plete the track from Warsaw to Attica. More than ten years 
 later, although in 1853 she was described as "worn out," she 
 became the pioneer locomotive on the Buffalo, Bradford and 
 Pittsburg Railroad, now the Bradford Division of the Erie. 
 Since that time the historic old engine seems to have been 
 lost track of, the impression among old railroad men being 
 that she was taken to Susquehanna to be broken up and sent 
 to the scrap heap. 
 
 The first Erie engineers and freight conductors had a life 
 of much hardship in cold or stormy weather. There were no 
 such things as cabooses, and the locomotives had no cabs. 
 The conductors had to ride on the locomotives. There was 
 no protection from snow, or ice, or wind, or rain. It was 
 not uncommon to see the engineer covered with ice like a 
 coat of mail. "Joe" Meginnes, who, according to his 
 daughter, Mrs. Mary B. Freeman, of New London, Conn., 
 was one of five engineers who were the first to run on the 
 Erie, was the first engineer to have a cabbed Erie engine. 
 Joe Meginnes, whose full name was Joseph Widrow Meginnes, 
 came to be known in after years as the " Dandy Engineer." 
 He had more the appearance of a man of letters than that 
 
394 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 of a locomotive engineer. He was dainty in his dress, even 
 on his engine, and never appeared anywhere with oil or the 
 grime of his engine on his hands or face. He was a most 
 competent man, and his instincts were so fine that when, on 
 a trip over the New Jersey Railroad, he saw for the first time 
 a locomotive with a cab, he became so dissatisfied with his 
 engine that he made a demand on the Company for a cab to 
 it. Time passing, and no cab having been provided for 
 Joe's engine, he called on General Superintendent H. C. 
 Seymour and informed him that unless the cab was furnished 
 forthwith he would leave the road. The locomotive was 
 fitted with a cab without delay, and that was the beginning 
 of cabbed engines on the New York and Erie Railroad. 
 This was in 1848. Engineer Meginnes always had his choice 
 of locomotives from new ones that came on the road. He 
 quit the locomotive service in 1857 to take charge of the 
 railroad dining saloons at Port Jervis and Narrowsburg. He 
 died at Port Jervis in 1859, aged 42. He came to the Erie 
 from the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. 
 
 In 1846 the Company added locomotives No. 6 and No. 7 
 to the road. They were named the "Sussex" and the 
 " Sullivan." It was the idea of the Con' 5any to name its 
 locomotives after the counties through /hich the railroad 
 ran and those contiguous to it. Engines 6 and 7 were 
 20-ton machines, Rogers make, with 5 -foot drivers, and they 
 were called the "giant engines" by the amazed people along 
 the line. Next year, however, the Company put on two 
 Baldwin locomotives, Nos. 8 and 9, and called the " New 
 York" and the "Monroe," which were a greater curiosity. 
 They had six 3-foot 9-inch drivers, and tall, straight smoke- 
 stacks. After that, as the railroad progressed westward, new 
 locomotives became frequent on the road, and of patterns 
 that would excite much wonder in the railroad engineer of 
 this generation. They were named for the counties until the 
 list of counties was exhausted, when the names of towns and 
 railroad officials were bestowed. But the locomotives early 
 came to be known by their numbers only, and every division 
 of the road had its favorite engine and engineers, whose 
 memory and the memory of whose exploits will be forever 
 green — John Brandt, Jr., Joe Meginnes, James McAlpin, Isaac 
 Lewis, Joshua P. Martin, Onderdonk Merritt, Ben Hafner, 
 \y. C. Arnold, Garry Iseman, James McCann, William Schrier, 
 James Davis, Charles Rooney, Henry Hawks, Henry Green, 
 Sam Walker, William Thomas, Sam Wood, D. E. Carey, John 
 Donohue, Horatio G. Brooks, W. D. Hall, Reub Hamlet, Sam 
 Veasey, Captain York, Luther Pitcher, James Salmon, " Old 
 Tripp," Ed Kent, A. N. Judd, Dan Kenyon, Mel Rose, Tom 
 Tenant, William Ingram, Sylvan Merritt, Sam Tyler, Lou 
 Springstein, Nathaniel Taft, Gad and William Lyman, Ellis 
 Bart, " Old Drake," John Meginnes, Charles Mygatt, John 
 Kinsella, Ben Gardiner, Dan Shaver, Tim Murphy, Charley 
 Coffey, Amos Beatty, Dave Henderson, Jimmy Frantz, and 
 the hosts of other brave and good men who mounted the 
 footboard when the Erie was still young (some of whom are 
 still on duty), and when the locomotive was part of the man 
 
 and the man part of the locomotive, seemingly with one soul, 
 one heart, one body. 
 
 The first master mechanic on the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road was John Brandt. He was a German, and came from 
 the Georgia Railroad. He had been the superintendent of 
 motive power on the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad in 
 1836, a Pennsylvania State road, and the original portion of 
 the present great Pennsylvania Railroad system. From 1838 
 to 1840 Brandt was superintendent of motive power on the 
 Georgia Railroad, which he left to enter the service of the 
 Erie in 1840. He was one of the pioneer locomotive engi- 
 neers of this country. He brought with him to the Erie, or 
 was the means of their coming, the first engineers that ran 
 
 BENJAMIN HAFNER (" THE FLYING DUTCHMAN "). 
 
 on the Erie. Fred Hamel was one of the earliest of the 
 Erie engineers. 
 
 Of the engineers who came on the Erie while there was 
 still no railroad beyond Port Jei'vis, only one is alive to-day, 
 and he is still in the service of the Company — Benjamin 
 Hafner, known the country over among railroad men as the 
 "Flying Dutchman." He came on the Erie in 1848, having 
 been nine years on the Baltimore and Ohio. His first loco- 
 motive on the Erie was the " Susquehanna," a Rogers engine. 
 There were then lesa than 200 men on the pay-roll of the 
 Company, and a majority of them Avere freight handlers at 
 Piermont. Ben Hafner left the Erie in 1854, and ran on 
 the Illinois Central Railroad, but returned to the Erie in 
 1858. He has been buried under his locomotive five times 
 so that it took houfs to dig him out, and he never got a 
 scratch. Once, at Ramsey's, the train running at fifty miles 
 an hour, he collided with a coal car. The train was behind 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 395 
 
 time, and he had already made up forty minutes between 
 Port Jervis and that place — a run of about fifty-five miles. 
 His engine turned upside down, and some of the cars were 
 wrecked. Mrs. James Gordon Bennett was a passenger on 
 the train. A brakeman was badly hurt. Mrs. Bennett took 
 up a collection for him among the passengers, contributing 
 liberally herself. 
 
 In 1869, while Jay Gould was President of the Erie, he 
 ordered a locomotive made at tlie Brooks Locomotive Works 
 at Dunkirk, which he named the George G. Barnard, after 
 the famous Judge of that name. It was the handsomest 
 locomotive ever made up to that time. It was decorated by 
 paintings in oil, on every spot where one could be placed, by 
 the late Jasper F. Crapsey, the artist. There were fourteen 
 coats of varnish on the boiler. Gould selected Ben Hafner 
 to be the engineer of the locomotive. The first trip Jay 
 Gould ever took behind this locomotive with Ben at the 
 throttle he was in a special car, bound for Susquehanna, 104 
 miles from Port Jervis. Gould told Hafner to go pretty fast. 
 He went so fast that before they had gone many miles over 
 the crooked Delaware Division Gould sent his colored porter 
 ahead to tell Ben to go slower, much to the disgust of Ben. 
 Ben Hafner got the name of the " Flying Dutchman " in 
 this way: One day in the summer of 1871 No. 8 was late 
 when he took that train at Port Jervis. He had orders to 
 make the run to Jersey City in as short a time as he could. 
 The distance was eighty-nine miles. Hafner made the run 
 in just two hours, including seven stops, one of which was 
 fourteen minutes at Turner's for supper. The passengers 
 were badly frightened at the speed of the train. When the 
 train reached Jersey, one of the passengers passed Ben as he 
 was leaning out of his cab, and yelled at him : 
 
 " Say, I'd rather sail in the ' Flying Dutchman ' than ride 
 after you ! " 
 
 From that day to this Ben Hafner has been the " Flying 
 Dutchman" to all railroad men. In 1893 Hafner retired as 
 an engineer after more than half a century on a locomotive, 
 and since then has been depot master at Port Jervis. He is 
 hale and hearty at seventy-six. 
 
 When the railroad was opened to Dunkirk in 185 1, there 
 were locomotives on the line of the makes of Norris, Rogers, 
 Baldwin, Swinburne, the Boston Locomotive Works, Taunton 
 Locomotive Works, the Amoskeag Co., and Ross Winans. 
 There were two of these latter, Nos. 88 and 89, intended for 
 freight, and were remarkable in having eight 3-foot 7-inch 
 drivers. A historic Erie locomotive of the period previous to 
 the opening to Dunkirk was the No. 90, named " The Dun- 
 kirk." It was one of the Hinkley, or Boston, locomotives. 
 They were mostly hook-motion, with independent cut-off. 
 This locomotive was brought from Boston in the fall of 1850, 
 by Horatio G. Brooks. It was transported on a vessel to 
 New York, and from there sent up the Hudson River to 
 Albany, thence to Buffalo on a boat on the Erie Canal, and 
 from Buffalo to Dunkirk on the schooner " Commodore 
 Chauncey." The engine was landed at the Erie dock and 
 
 depot at the foot of what is now Washington Avenue, Dun- 
 kirk, November 7, 1850. It was used in the construction of 
 the road from Dunkirk east, and after the road was open was 
 run by Brooks on a regular passenger train on the Western 
 Division. Brooks was the first engineer on that division. 
 He became superintendent of it, and afterward master me- 
 chanic of the entire line. He suggested, while holding that 
 office, many of the improvements that began to be made 
 during the administration of R. H. Berdell. In 1868, when 
 the Erie abandoned its shops at Dunkirk, he founded the 
 Brooks Locomotive Works, and was president of that com- 
 pany at the time of his death, April 21, 1887. 
 
 Among the pioneer engineers who came to the Erie in 1851 
 was William D. Hall, who began his railroad life as fireman on 
 the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1843, when he was twenty 
 
 v^*M* 
 
 i^ 
 
 WILLIAM D. HALL, OF " HINKLEY, 99." 
 
 years old, having served two years in the machine shop of the 
 Boston and Providence Railroad. In less than a year he was 
 promoted to be an engineer. He came to the Erie in Feb- 
 ruary, 1851, and ran a train between Hornellsville and Cuba. 
 May 5, 185 1, he took the special car containing the officers 
 and Directors of the Company from Hornellsville to Dunkirk, 
 this being the first car through from Piermont to Dunkirk. 
 He was engineer over the Western Division of the second 
 section of the great excursion train that celebrated the open- 
 ing of the railroad. May 15, 1851, his engine being a Hink- 
 ley, No. 99. He ran that engine on a regular passenger train 
 between Hornellsville and Dunkirk until 1856, when he quit 
 the Erie service, two weeks before the big strike. He has 
 been running an engine on the New York Central twenty-two 
 years, and is still in the service, at seventy-six years old, at 
 Buffalo. He ran the first link-motion locomotive ever built. 
 
396 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 and has run engines built by every locomotive builder in the 
 United States. 
 
 Another of the engineers who came from the Boston and 
 Maine Railroad was Charles H. Sherman, where he had run 
 two years as engineer. He was one of the engineers who 
 came on the road at the solicitation of Superintendent Charles 
 Minot, while the AVestern Division was being finished. Sher- 
 man was the engineer of the locomotive that hauled the first 
 section of the great excursion train from Hornellsville to 
 Dunkirk on the opening of the railroad, May 15, 185 1. In 
 1852 he became engine despatcher at Dunkirk, and remained 
 as such seventeen years. He was afterward travelling fore- 
 man and road inspector, and later, and until his death in 
 1897, foreman of the engine house at Dunkirk. 
 
 
 CHARLES H. SHERMAN 
 
 There are two engineers who came on the Erie from the 
 Boston and Maine Railroad in 1851, still in active service on 
 the Western Division, where they have been running nearly 
 fifty years. They are David E. Carey and Samuel Veazey, of 
 Hornellsville. Both are long past three-score years and ten, 
 with clean records, and apparently as well equipped for ser- 
 vice as they were when they began. W. A. Kimball, who ran 
 the first train between Hornellsville and Cuba, is still living at 
 that place, but he retired from railroad service years ago. 
 
 Among the curious locomotives that came on the road in 
 185 1 (July) were two from the Boston Locomotive Works, 
 two single-driver engines, designed for speed — Nos. 87 and 
 112. They were totally different in action. The former was 
 a mass of machinery ; hook-motion, and independent variable 
 cut-off. The latter was a full crank, direct-acting, without 
 rocker arm ; a link-motion. With a train suitable to their 
 
 capacity, they were very quick, not costly to maintain, and 
 easy on the track. The engineers took great pride in these 
 machines, which were put in use upon the Susquehanna 
 Division. Luther Pitcher had charge of No. 112, and John 
 Donohue of No. 87. In the light of the present it was folly 
 to purchase such motive power, not to mention the purchase 
 of the two engines nicknamed " Plank Roads," with seven- 
 foot drivers, and cylinders 15x20, outside-connected, and 
 fire-box not much larger than an ordinary cooking range. 
 The cylinders were placed aft of the smoke arch and steam 
 pipe, out of doors, between the dome and steam-chest. 
 There was a running board from the back end of the foot- 
 board entirely around to the other side. They were built by 
 Norris, and came on the road in the winter of 1851. They 
 were Nos. 84 and 85. With two or three coaches, on the 
 Susquehanna Division, after getting under headway, the engi- 
 neers would make good time with these ; but it took a mile 
 start to get them under way. They were a failure, of course. 
 No engineer wanted to run them, and the last one in train 
 service (No. 84), on its very last trip, was ripped to pieces 
 by Mike Barnwell, its engineer, who, it was said, stopped his 
 train just after passing Gulf Summit, west bound, took a 
 wrench and loosened up set-screws and pins, and whistled off 
 brakes, whereupon the whole of her machinery was cleaned 
 off. The boiler and one pair of drivers are in use at the Sus- 
 quehanna shops as stationary power — or were in such use a. 
 few years ago. May 17, 1853, the Cincinnati Express, drawn 
 by No. 84, made the run from Susquehanna to Hornellsville, 
 145 miles, in 161 minutes, which beat the record up to that 
 time. The No. 85 was used as a switching engine in the 
 Port Jervis yard for several years, but went to the scrap heap 
 in the '60s. 
 
 From 185 1 on, the Essex Company, Danfortl., Cook & Co., 
 the NeM- Jersey Locomotive and Machine Co., Seth Wilmarth 
 (who made twenty thirty-five-ton engines for the Company in 
 1854, Nos. 167 to 187), and the Taunton Locomotive Works, 
 added their styles to the lot ; while later came the Grant, 
 Brooks, and other makes to jumble the equipment, so that in 
 1870 there were eighty-five different patterns. 
 
 Running on freight trains between Suffern and Jersey City, 
 at the time the Erie began to run between those points, in 
 1 85 1, were two of the original type of locomotives, named 
 the "Whistier" and " McNeal." They were hook-motion, 
 single driver, and worked steam at full stroke, no " cut-off." 
 The steam-chests and slide-valves were perpendicular between 
 the cylinders. There was an extension on the forward end 
 of the valve yoke, which came through the steam-chest and 
 ran into a guide. The bell was on the back end of the 
 boiler, inside the cab, and was without a " clapper," being 
 operated by strokes of a soft hammer in the hands of the 
 engineer. The fuel used was wood, and was cut in about 
 eight-inch lengths. The heating surface, or fire-box, was very 
 small, so that if the engineer had to drop down a grade and 
 rise another, he would stop at the top of the hill, put in a good 
 fire, spread his slide-valves so as to allow steam to pass 
 through the cylinders and create artificial draught to ignite 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 397 
 
 the fuel, and when sufficient steam was generated, open his 
 " butterfly " throttle-valve, rush down the one hill and prob- 
 ably just raise the other, accomplishing wonderful results for 
 that day. The freight cars were four-wheeled and barn-door 
 style, with a bar across them. 
 
 The story of how Rogers engine, " No. loo," failed to 
 make a record for herself and her engineer. Gad Lyman, on 
 the historical 14th and 15 th of May, 1851, when the Erie 
 was opened to Dunkirk, is told on preceding pages (" Admin- 
 istration of Benjamin Loder," pages 98 to 100). Gad Lyman 
 was so much disappointed and chagrined over the failure of 
 his favorite on that occasion that he soon afterward quit the 
 Erie's service. The " 100 " was taken in charge by Gad 
 Lyman's brother ^^'illiam, who ran her on the Eastern 
 Division until April 13, 1852, when, while she was making 
 her stop at Chester, the crown sheet blew out with frightful 
 results. The locomotive was thrown completely over back- 
 ward and rolled down an embankment. The fireman, Robert 
 Irving, was in the tank at the time and was blown more than 
 fifty feet away. He was instantly killed. Engineer Lyman 
 was buried in the wreck. His leg was cut off by the latch 
 of the door of the fire-box. He lived but a short time. The 
 headlight of the locomotive was picked up more than an 
 eighth of a mile distant. This explosion was one of the first 
 of the kind in this country. The Rogers Locomotive Works 
 called in all their engines of that make and strengthened their 
 crown sheets. 
 
 In March, 1858, an experiment was made on the Erie with 
 Cumberland (soft) coal as a substitute for wood as fuel for 
 locomotives, xllthough it was reported that the experiment 
 showed a saving of forty-eight per cent, in cost of fuel, no 
 movement was made toward adopting the substitute until 
 December, 1861, when Hinkley engine " 99," Taunton 
 engine " 117," and Rogers " 64 " were rebuilt to burn coal, 
 and this was the beginning of coal-burning locomotives on 
 the Erie for regular service. It was not until 1872, however, 
 that coal entirely replaced wood on the road, and if an 
 engineer of the present generation of Erie trainmen should 
 by any circumstance happen to see one of the old wood- 
 burners, even of the most modern type, he would wonder at 
 it ; and what would be the speech of one of the dead and 
 gone Erie engineers who passed their days on the cabless, 
 pilotless machines that first came on the Erie, if he might 
 come back and see the marvellous and monster Erie engines 
 of to-day? 
 
 For several years of its later-day operations the Erie has 
 had in use a type of remarkably large engines. The class S 
 engines weigh 200,550 pounds each. They are used for 
 hauling freight trains on the Susquehanna Division. At the 
 time of the World's Fair this was the largest style of engine 
 built. 
 
 In 1 899 the Company placed on the road what are claimed 
 to be the fastest locomotives in any service. They are of the 
 
 compound passenger "Wootten Atlantic type. They are used 
 for hauling the fast mail and express trains, and for the pas- 
 senger service over two or more divisions between New York 
 and Chicago, and were designed by A. E. Mitchell, superin- 
 tendent of motive power of the Erie. The railroad men claim 
 that the trains have made over eighty-two miles an hour, with 
 six vestibuled cars. The trains have made an average of bet- 
 ter than sixty miles an hour. These engines were built by the 
 Baldwin Locomotive Works, of Philadelphia. 
 
 The engines are not as heavy as the former modem 
 engines, and are much neater in appearance. The cab is 
 about half way back on the boiler, making it near the centre 
 of the engine. The fireman remains behind on the tender, 
 and can at all times see the engineer at his post in the cab. 
 The total weight of these engines is 151,240 pounds. They 
 have 76-inch drivers. The weight on the drivers is 81,320, 
 and on the trailing wheels 30,710 pounds. The cylinders are 
 13 X26 inches in diameter and 26-inch stroke. 
 
 THE ORIGINAL CARS. 
 
 According to an official statement made in i84r, George 
 E. Hoffman ordered the first Erie cars. Pond, Higgins & 
 Co., of Utica, wanted $2,500 each for passenger cars, and 
 $1,500 each for freight cars, and would take 20 per cent, of 
 the amount in stock. Davenport & Bridges, of Cambridge- 
 port, Mass., were willing to make the passenger cars for 
 $2,000 each, and the freight cars for $900 each, and take 
 25 per cent, in stock. Hoffman closed a contract with them 
 for four passenger cars, and with Bush & Lobdell for six 
 freight cars. The passenger cars were eight-wheel cars, with 
 bodies 36 x 11 feet, six feet high in the clear inside, with a 
 capacity of thirty persons each, and they were to be made in 
 the best and most substantial manner. The freight cars were 
 eight- wheel cars, the wheels weighing 500 pounds each, 
 chilled, and equal to those used in Norris locomotives. The 
 axles weighed 300 pounds each, and were swelled axles of 
 hammered iron. The cars weighed ten tons each, fitted with 
 axles and everything complete. 
 
 The first rolling stock received by the Company was six 
 freight cars, on September 5, 1840, before any rail had been 
 laid on the road. They were built by Bush & Lobdell, at a 
 cost of $900 each. The builders took $1,400 of the total 
 cost of the cars in stock. These cars were twenty-five feet 
 long, ten feet wide, and six feet high, with four wheels. On 
 September 17, 1840, Rogers, Ketchum & Grosvenor, of Pater- 
 son, contracted for eight similar cars at the same price, tak- 
 ing $1,800 in stock, and on September 25, 1840, contracted 
 to build six more, and four passenger cars, two at $2,000 
 each, and two " for ladies," at $2,050 each. The passenger 
 cars were to be thirty-two feet long, eleven feet wide, and 
 six feet four inches high. On the same date Davenport & 
 Bridges contracted to furnish two platform cars " thirty-one 
 feet long, same width and height of the passenger cars, that 
 carry the 'baggage crates,' at a cost of $750 each, and ten 
 ' baggage crates ' at $75 each. This order for rolling-stock 
 
398 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 cost $15,750, of which $3,900 was paid in stock. This, with 
 the three locomotives, made an agreed expenditure for roll- 
 ing-stock, before a rail was laid, of $52,350." 
 
 The Erie baggage car was flat. " Baggage crates " were 
 closed trucks on wheels into which the baggage was placed, 
 and then rolled on the flat cars. 
 
 SLEEPING CARS ON THE ERIE FIFTY-SIX YEARS 
 
 AGO. 
 
 George M. Pullman nor Webster Wagner is any more en- 
 titled to the right of being called the inventor of the sleeping 
 car than the man in the moon is entitled to be called the in- 
 ventor of the sewing machine. As to Pullman (being of 
 Erie interest), his chief claim to the monopoly in the sleep- 
 ing-car patent was founded on his control as assignee of pat- 
 ents issued to Eli Wheeler, of Elmira, September 20, 1859, 
 which patents Rudolph Dirks, of Sumneystown, Pa., claims 
 were his ; but even the Wheeler patents were antedated by 
 the Charles McGraw patents more than twenty years — De- 
 cember 10, 1838, being the first one. Sleeping cars were in 
 use years before Pullman or Wagner was ever heard of, and 
 among the very earliest of railroads to have them was the 
 Erie, which had two in 1843, although the railroad was only 
 three hours' journey in length. These cars were two of six 
 cars of extraordinary size, built by John Stephenson, one of 
 the pioneer car builders of the country. The models of the 
 cars were made by Thomas Brown, of the Stephenson works, 
 then in Harlem. They were not intended as sleeping cars, 
 as the term is now known, but to be used by passengers if 
 they chose, for reclining and sleeping during their journey. 
 Railroads were not long enough in those days to require much 
 night travel. But these cars, according to the positive state- 
 ment of John Stephenson himself, were built with the idea 
 that they were to be slept in, and for that purpose. 
 
 These pioneer sleeping cars were known by the name of 
 " the Diamond Cars," from the fact that the sides of the 
 frame of the cars were built trestle form, thus making the 
 spaces for the windows diamond-shaped, so that the windows 
 were necessarily of that shape. The frames of the seats were 
 stationary, two seats being placed back to back, causing each 
 pair of seats to face each other. The cushions were loose 
 from the frames of the seats, and a rod or bar could be slid 
 from under one seat, across the opening between two facing 
 seats at the front or aisle-side, and fitted in a hole in the 
 frame of the other seat. The aisle ends of the seat cushions 
 were laid upon this bar, the other ends resting upon the 
 truss plank at the wall side of the car, the cushions being 
 pushed forward over the foot space, and supported as above. 
 The back cushions were moved down to take the place of the 
 seat cushions, thus making a platform or bed. The bar had 
 a little lip on it, so that when in the hole in the other seat it 
 could not get out without being raised, and the ends of the 
 seat cushions abutted against the forward ends of the arms 
 so they could not slip out into the aisle. There was a 
 partition against which the back cushions rested, forming 
 
 head and footboards between the beds. AVhen the cushions 
 were in place they made two facing seats. The passengers 
 occupying the seats manipulated the bar and changed the 
 seats into a bed at pleasure. There were t«'o of these cars. 
 Six seats or beds were on each side. There were no bed 
 clothes or pillows. The cushions were black hair cloth. 
 There was a large diamond-shaped window opposite each seat, 
 and one in the middle between each pair of seat backs, and 
 a small window in each door. The cars were eleven feet wide. 
 
 Archippus Parish was car-builder foreman of the car shops 
 at Piermont in 1S43, when the two diamond cars came to the 
 road from Stephenson's car works at Harlem. They were 
 dehvered at Piermont from a ferry-boat. Parish had them 
 taken off the boat and superintended the putting of the trucks 
 under them. The cars were named " Erie " and " Ontario." 
 The " Ontario" for a time was run on a train known as the 
 "Thunder and Lightning Milk Train," which ran between 
 Otisville and Piermont. Parish afterward went on the road 
 as conductor, and ran between Piermont and Otisville from 
 1846 to 1847. 
 
 These curious forerunners of the ii xurious sleeping cars of 
 the present day were soon found to be too heavy for practical 
 use on the railroad at that day, and they were placed aside, 
 to be used only in emergencies. 
 
 A necessary adjunct of the railroad for years was £ wood 
 train, which passed over the line gathering up wood as it was 
 brought in from the woods and ranked up at con-'enient 
 places, and delivering it at points where it was needed for 
 fuel. The men in charge of the wood train made applica- 
 tion to have one of the diamond cars, but Superintendent of 
 Transportation S. S. Post said he could not spare either of 
 them, as the Company was short of rolling stock, and he fre- 
 quently had to put them on passenger trains to help out. 
 The end of the diamond cars was that they became boarding- 
 house cars for track laborers. In 1850 the " Erie" was on a 
 siding at Piermont, and the " Ontario '' at Suffern, and grad- 
 ually fell to ]:)ieces and disappeared years ago. They were 
 sleeping cars, however, and when, in 1879, ^^^ Pullman Com- 
 pany brought suit against the Wagner, or New York Central, 
 Sleeping Car Company, to recover damages for infringement 
 on the Pullman patents, Pullman was so nonplussed at the 
 revelations made in regard to the Erie diamond cars of 1843 
 that a halt was called in the proceedings, and both Pullman 
 and Wagner wisely concluded that it would not be well to go 
 any further in the legal test of their "rights," and agreed to 
 a compromise, by which they both continued to share in the 
 profits of an invention which was old long before either of 
 the claimants had thought of making it his own. 
 
 About the time of the coming of the diamond cars on the 
 railroad, the first cars with swinging-back seats were put on. 
 They were made by Eaton & Gilbert, of Troy, N. Y. 
 
 {Fro?n the Goshen Independent Republican^ June 19, 1847.) 
 
 The New York and Erie Railroad Company have been treating 
 their patrons and themselves to some new and elegant cars. The old 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 399 
 
 ones are pretty good, but the new ones are perfect "dazzle eyes." 
 The seats are mahogany, trimmed with figured crimson velvet. The 
 stiles of the body inside are also of mahogany and the panels curled 
 maple. The windows are protected by blinds, and the cars are lighted 
 and ventilated in the most perfect manner. Altogether, they are fine 
 specimens of utility, taste and elegance. 
 
 About the time the Erie began running its trains through 
 to Jersey City, a man with some genius originated a chair 
 seat for passenger coaches. The prevailing seat was the plain 
 kind, with low back ; a comfortable seat, but unless a person 
 could have a full seat in which to recline, a night journey was 
 anything but pleasurable. The chair referred to was reversi- 
 ble, and much higher in the back, and provided with a head- 
 rest very similar to those in use upon barbers' chairs. These 
 chairs were most highly appreciated. Persons intending to 
 take the night train would go or send to Jersey City early, 
 buy a ticket, and secure a night chair, thus enjoying the 
 greatest luxury in traveUing then known. Prior to the intro- 
 duction of this chair, " fakirs " haunted the station with a de- 
 vice to aid the passengers to enjoy sleep. It was an upright 
 piece of steel that would reach from the middle of the back 
 of the head to a point below the shoulder blades. Crossing 
 this horizontally were four other pieces of steel. When put 
 in use, the appliance was placed between the back of the 
 person and the back of the seat, with the passenger's head 
 resting on the top cross-piece and the point where it was 
 riveted to the upright piece. Thus the head rested upon a 
 spring, and responded to the jar or motion of the car. These 
 contrivances sold "on sight" at ^i each. 
 
 In 185 1, after the Erie ha,d arranged with the Paterson 
 and Ramapo and the Paterson and Hudson River railroads 
 for transfer of its passengers, mail, express, and baggage be- 
 tween SufEem and Jersey City, D. H. Conkhn was sent to 
 Suffern as telegraph operator, and to put the instruments in 
 the waiting room of the other railroads. The situation was 
 too much exposed, and Superintendent Minot gave him per- 
 mission to take the body of an old baggage car that stood on 
 a siding at Chester Junction. This was ordered to Stiffem, 
 and was placed at the side of the Erie track as an office. 
 This car had a cupola in its centre, and a colonnade or gang- 
 way entirely around it. At the time this old car had been 
 placed in service the railroad probably had no time-card, or 
 if it had, the train arriving first at a given point waited a 
 stipulated time and then proceeded, running by " sight," with 
 a man seated in the cupola, whose duty it was to watch for 
 the train against which they were running. The brake wheel 
 of the car was in the cupola. It is only within very recent 
 years that a caboose with cupola and brake wheel therein 
 was introduced on railroads, and claimed as a new idea. 
 
 COMING OF THE FIRST CONDUCTOR. 
 
 Eben E. Worden was the first Erie conductor. He was a 
 slight, delicate young man, and was noted for his polite 
 manners. He had been a member of the firm of Thomas & 
 
 Worden, who had a contract for a section of the first grading 
 of the railroad in 1S40, the cut through Piermont Hill being 
 a part of their work. The Railroad Company being in finan- 
 cial straits, the firm lost money. According to the reminis- 
 cences of \V. H. Stewart, it was understood that one John 
 S. AVilliamson, who had influential friends in the Company, 
 was to be made conductor as soon as the road was opened. 
 Williamson lived at New York. In consequence of Worden 
 having been unfortunate in his dealings with the Company, 
 Superintendent H. C. Seymour appointed him to be the 
 conductor on the opening of the railroad to Goshen. He 
 came from Cayuga County. He had been a contractor on 
 the Erie Canal, and had a large claim against the State, which 
 was disallowed. He then took the contract on the Erie, in 
 1840. He remained with the Erie two years as conductor, 
 when broken health compelled him to resign. He died of 
 consumption in the fall of 1844, and was buried at Sennott, 
 Cayuga County. He married a Miss Smith, of Goshen, but 
 left no family. (The author made diligent effort to obtain a 
 portrait and biographical data of this first Erie conductor for 
 reproduction here, but was unable to obtain either, much to 
 his regret.) 
 
 The appointment of Worden as conductor created a great 
 deal of feeling among the friends of Williamson, and they not 
 being disposed to let the matter pass without an effort to 
 secure him the conductorship, in spite of the fact that Wor- 
 den had it, Williamson was offered the place of Receiver of 
 Freight on the New York dock, as a compromise. He ac- 
 cepted the offer, but with the understanding that when the 
 Company employed another conductor he should be the man. 
 Capt. A. H. Shultz, or Capt. "Aleck" Shultz, as he was 
 more generally known, had command of the steamboat that 
 ran between Piermont and New York, in connection with the 
 railroad. A man named Evans was ticket clerk on the boat. 
 This man evidently had influence with Captain Shultz, and 
 Captain Shultz must have been influential at railroad head- 
 quarters, judging from what happened. Evans had a relative 
 by marriage named Henry Ayres, who was working for the 
 Harlem Railroad Company. The Erie had to have a freight 
 conductor, and Evans put in a word for Ayres to Captain 
 Shultz, and Captain Shultz talked it up at the Erie offices, 
 and Ayres was chosen as conductor to take charge of the 
 freight train on the road between Goshen and Piermont, thus 
 becoming the second conductor on the Erie. This appoint- 
 ment caused another disturbance, and the friends of ^Villiam- 
 son tried to have Ayres' appointment reconsidered, but with- 
 out success. 
 
 This Conductor Ayres became part of the history of the 
 Erie, for he was more than thirty year's the dean of the fra- 
 ternity of Erie conductors, and, as " Poppy " Ayres, was 
 known the country over for years after he ceased to be a 
 railroad man. Henry Ayres was a native of Boston. In 1820 
 he was in the United States Army, and was under General 
 Eustis when that ofiicer took possession of St. Augustine, 
 Fla., July 4th of that year. In the spring of 1837 he began 
 work as a conductor on the Harlem Railroad, running from 
 
400 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 New York to Morrisania, and in September, 1841, com- 
 menced running on the Erie. He continued as conductor 
 until May, 1869, when he left the road, and became propri- 
 etor of the Central House at Owego, to which place he had 
 removed in 1848. He was subsequently for a time United 
 States Mail Agent on the Erie Railway, and was afterward in 
 the sei-vice of the Company at Elmira. When he left the 
 road he was retired on half pay, which continued until his 
 death. 
 
 Captain Ayres, whose title of Captain was given to him by 
 his friends many years ago, was one of the most genial of 
 men, and his fund of good humor was inexhaustible. He 
 was known affectionately everywhere as " Poppy " Ayres. He 
 was a very large man, weighing about 300 pounds. He had 
 to squeeze his way through the car doors sidewise. In winter 
 he wore a fur-trimmed overcoat and coon-skin cap. He died 
 at Owego, October 5, 1880, aged eighty years, leaving a wife, 
 and a son and daughter by a former marriage. 
 
 The history of the Erie is rich in reminiscences of Captain 
 Ayres, of which these are samples : 
 
 assuming a theatrical and mysterious manner, and passed on, 
 leaving the old lady gazing at the rope in open-eyed wonder- 
 ment. The telegraph had not, as yet, been put in operation, 
 but a line was in course of construction through that country, 
 and the talk of the people was of that as much as it was of 
 the railroad, which had itself only just come among them. 
 Conductor Ayres knew that if the old lady had left her um- 
 brella on the steamboat he would iind it in the baggage-car, 
 for it was the rule for the stewards of the boat to go through 
 the saloons after passengers had left them at Piermont, and 
 if any articles had been left there by absent-minded travellers 
 they were taken on board the train and placed in the baggage- 
 car, that they might be restored to their owners. So Poppy 
 Ayres went into the baggage-car, found the umbrella, and. 
 
 An Umbrella that Came by Telegraph. — In the 
 summer of 1 849, a worthy old lady living at Lordville, in the 
 Delaware Valley, resolved to make a trip to New York, 
 where she had relatives, and see the great sights of Gotham. 
 She had been out of sight of her native place but once 
 in all her life, and that was when she went one time " down 
 the river " on a raft with her husband. For her New York 
 trip she had boxes and bundles a-many. Among these be- 
 longings was an ancient umbrella, a family relic. It is pre- 
 sumed that she enjoyed her visit, but she had much tribulation 
 on her return trip. In coming up the Hudson River on the 
 steamboat, she became so nervous from fear that the cars 
 would leave Piermont without her that she forgot all about 
 her much-prized umbrella, and left it on the boat. She did 
 not miss it until the train had reached Cochecton, which was 
 well on toward her own stopping-place. " Poppy " Ayres 
 was the conductor. In passing through the cars after the 
 train left Cochecton, he saw the old lady swaying back and 
 forth in her seat, wringing her hands and making a great ado. 
 
 " What's the matter, mother? " the kindly conductor im- 
 mediately asked her. " Are you sick? " 
 
 " No. Not sick ! " sobbed the old lady. " But I've left 
 my umbreir (sob) aboard the steamboat ! That umbrell' 
 (sob) has been in our family fer more'n forty year (sob), and 
 now it's gone ! Oh, oh, oh ! That's worse than (sob) bein' 
 sick ! Boo-o-o-o, woo-0-0-0 ! " 
 
 " Oh, mother, mother ! " said Poppy, consoUngly, patting 
 the old lady on the back. " Don't cry ! We'll get your um- 
 brella for you. We'll send for it on the telegraph. It'll be 
 here in a minute or two." 
 
 The old lady cheered up instantly. She dried her tears, 
 but could not disguise the surprise the conductor's assurance 
 gave her. Ayres reached up, took hold of the bell- rope — then 
 only a recent adjunct, and one that " Poppy" had himself 
 introduced, as is told elsewhere. He wriggled the rope. 
 
 capt. henry ayres ("poppy"), at 75. 
 
 taking it under his arm, started back through the train. 
 When he came to the car where the old lady was, he took it 
 to her and exclaimed, as if in great triumph : 
 
 " There, mother ! I told you we could get your umbrella 
 by telegraph ! And here it is ! " 
 
 The owner of the umbrella was speechless with joy for a 
 time over the recovery of the prized relic. She looked at it, 
 and then gazed at the smiling conductor. At last she ex- 
 claimed : 
 
 " For the land sakes alive ! Who'd ever 'a' thunk it? I've 
 heern o' letters and papers bein' sent by telegrapht, but 
 who'd 'a' thunk they could send umbrell's? " 
 
 And in the exuberance of her joy she rose quickly to her 
 feet, threw her arms around Poppy Ayres's neck, and hugged 
 and kissed him repeatedly before he could release himself, 
 much to the delight and amusement of the other occupants 
 of the car. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 401 
 
 Hf. Sued " Poppy " Ayres. — One day, in the summer of 
 1856, a fussy old gentieman, named John Beebe, bought a 
 ticket at Newburgh for Addison, Steuben County, N. Y. When 
 the train he was on reached Deposit, which was far less than 
 half the way on his journey, Mr. Beebe was tired, and he got 
 off the train and remained over night at that place. Next 
 morning he resumed his journey on the emigrant train. This 
 train was not pleasing to Beebe, but he stuck to it until it got 
 as far as Great Bend, Pa. At that station he deserted the 
 emigrant train and waited for the day express. The day 
 express was a " swell " train at that day, and its conductor 
 was " Poppy " Ayres. He passed through his train after leav- 
 ing Great Bend, and came to traveller Beebe, who handed up 
 his ticket. The conductor glanced at it and handed it back 
 to the passenger. 
 
 " Ticket ain't good ! " said " Poppy " Ayres. 
 
 "Isn't good?" exclaimed Mr. Beebe, flaring up. "I'd 
 like to know why it isn't good." 
 
 " Been punched once for this division," replied Poppy. 
 
 " I don't care if it's been punched for this division, or that 
 division, or the other division," retorted the excited passen- 
 ger. " I paid for it, and I'm going to ride on it.'' 
 
 " You'll have to pay your fare on this train," said the con- 
 ductor, quietly. 
 
 " I'll bet you I won't ! " declared Mr. Beebe, with much 
 emphasis. "You'll take this ticket or nothing." 
 
 " Poppy " Ayres would not take the ticket, and Mr. Beebe 
 would not pay his fare, so the train was stopped and the stub- 
 bom passenger was put off. That did not cool him down a 
 particle, however. He brought suit in Broome County, not 
 against the Company, but against Conductor Ayres, to recover 
 damages for being put oiif the train. Judge Balcom, who 
 was afterward called to act in far more serious but much less 
 creditable Erie litigation, heard the case, and directed a ver- 
 dict for the plaintiff. The jury gave him a judgment for ^250 
 against " Poppy " Ayres. As the conductor had simply carried 
 out the orders of his superiors in ejecting Beebe from the train, 
 it is to be presumed that the Company made good the judg- 
 ment against him. He never would say whether such was 
 the fact or not. At any rate, the case was not appealed. It 
 may be that this was because the Company had then pending 
 an appeal in the case of Ransom against the New York and 
 Erie Railroad Company, the lower courts having awarded the 
 plaintiff, who had been injured by a train at Chemung, a 
 judgment of ^15,000. If the Company was awaiting the 
 result of that case before trying its chances in any other ap- 
 peals it acted wisely, for a few weeks after the Ayres verdict 
 the Ransom judgment was affirmed. Ransom had been hurt 
 July 4, 1853. Interest and costs increased the original 
 amount to ^20,000. 
 
 INVENTION OF THE BELL-ROPE. 
 
 Captain Ayres was the inventor of the present bell-rope 
 system on railroads. The history of the first use of the bell- 
 rope, as related by himself, is as follows : When he com- 
 26 
 
 menced running on the Erie the locomotive had no cab for 
 the engineer. There was no way to go over the cars, nor for 
 the engineer to communicate with the conductor when the 
 train was in motion. In those days, instead of the conductor 
 running the train, as at present, the engineer had entire 
 charge, and the conductor was a mere collector of fares and 
 tickets. Previous to about this time railroads had been used 
 chiefly for transporting freight, and there was no occasion for 
 communication between the engineer and the conductor. 
 Captain Ayres' engineer was a man named Hamel, a German, 
 and the original Erie engineer. In the sprmg of r842. Cap- 
 tain Ayres rigged a strong cord to run from his car to the 
 engine. At the end of the cord at the locomotive he tied a 
 stick of wood. The cord extended thence up over the frame- 
 work and back over the train. He told the engineer that 
 when he wanted to signal him he would pull the cord, which 
 would jerk the stick up and down. Hamel did not like this 
 interference with his powers as master of the train, and as 
 soon as the cars started he cut the cord and threw away the 
 stick. This was repeated. Finally, one day, as they were 
 about to start from Piermont, Captain Ayres, as he attached 
 a stick to the cord, told Hamel that if the wood was missing 
 from the cord when they reached Turner's they would fight, 
 and thus decide who was to run the train. At Turner's the 
 stick was missing. Captain Ayres removed his coat, and in- 
 formed Hamel that he was about to make good his words. 
 Instead of coming down to meet him, the engineer climbed 
 to the other side of his locomotive. Captain Ayres followed 
 and seized him, whereupon Hamel showed the white feather, 
 and said if he was not whipped he would not remove the 
 stick again. He was thereupon released. This settled the 
 question of running the train, and from that day to the pres- 
 ent the conductor, instead of the engineer, has had entire 
 charge of running the train. The gong was afterward substi- 
 tuted for the stick of wood, and the bell-rope went into gen- 
 eral use on the few railroads that had then been constructed. 
 There are other versions as to the manner and time of Cap- 
 tain Ayres' introduction of the bell-rope, but this one is his 
 own, and therefore authentic. 
 
 William H. Stewart, one of the pioneer conductors of the 
 Erie, ran the first through train between Piermont and Dun- 
 kirk, and the first train ever run on telegraphic orders (which 
 was in the fall of 185 1), and was employed on the Hudson 
 River boat that carried the first freight to New York that was 
 ever run over the Erie after the road was opened to Goshen, 
 September 23, r84i. Stewart was the fourth conductor to 
 be employed, being preceded by Eben E. Worden, Henry 
 Ayres, and Henry Watson. 
 
 Mr. Stewart was in time promoted to first-class conductor, 
 and followed the road as it advanced to all its various ter- 
 mini between Piermont and Dunkirk. He was conductor 
 until r854, with the exception of a few months in 1848, when 
 he was station agent at Port Jervis, his health having failed. 
 He took the late Captain Lytle's place as station agent here, 
 and Lytle took his place as conductor. In 1854 he resigned 
 
402 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 as conductor to take the contract for delivering the train bag- 
 gage from Jersey City to the Company's depot at the foot of 
 Duane Street, New York, the Company then having no ferry 
 of its own. He also had the contract for delivering the mails 
 at Cortlandt Street. He was obliged to give the contracts up 
 to a friend of the Assistant President of the Company in 
 1858. Mr. Stewart then retired from railroad life. He died 
 at Waverly, N. Y., December 18, 1897, aged eighty-six. 
 
 Hiring a Conductor. — In the early days of railroading 
 on the Erie, practical joking was a favorite pastime with many 
 of the well-known employees. None, perhaps, enjoyed a 
 wider reputation in that line than W. H. Stewart, better 
 known as " Hank." While he was agent at Port Jervis, one 
 
 W. H. STEWART ("HANK"), AT 83. 
 
 day a tall, lean, lantern-jawed, spindle-shanked native of the 
 " Wilds of Sullivan " went to that place to get a job on the 
 railroad. He called on Stewart at the ticket office. 
 
 " Kin I git a job runnin' on this here railroad ? " asked the 
 unsophisticated applicant. 
 
 "Why, yes. I think it's more than likely," replied Stew- 
 art, sizing up the calibre of his man at a glance. " ^Ve're 
 killing off two or three men every day, and are running short 
 of hands. You can have a chance. What kind of a job 
 would you prefer? " 
 
 " Oh, conductor ! " said the Sullivan County man. " That's 
 the job that Pm lookin' fer ! " 
 
 " All right," said Stewart. " There will be a train due here 
 in an hour or so, and if it hasn't any conductor aboard, I can 
 give you a job right away." 
 
 The apphcant's delighted smile was so open that he almost 
 showed his palate. 
 
 " But,'' continued Stewart, with great gravity, "you'll need 
 a little practice before you take the job. We want a man 
 who can walk as erect as a trained soldier, and has a voice 
 that he can shout out the stations with, so it will be heard all 
 through the train." 
 
 "Them's easy ! " exclaimed the grinning backwoodsman. 
 
 "Just come out on the platform, and we'll see," said 
 Stewart. " PU give you a few lessons before the train ar- 
 rives." 
 
 The mischievous agent took his pupil out on the platform, 
 and gave him an illustration of the manner in which an Erie 
 conductor should bear himself while on duty. The aspiring 
 mountaineer copied the example, and with his thumbs in the 
 armholes of his vest, walking as straight as a cock pigeon in 
 a thunder shower, and calling out the names of the stations 
 on the Eastern Division, in a voice that could have been 
 heard iifty rods off, he strutted up and down the platform an 
 hour or more, Stewart praising him extravagantly, and telling 
 him what a iine conductor he would make. The exhibition 
 soon brought half the village to the station, and a more 
 amused crowd of appreciative folk never gathered there be- 
 fore or since. 
 
 The unsuspecting Sullivan County citizen strutted prouder 
 and prouder, and shouted louder and louder, under the 'avish 
 words of praise from his instructor, who through it all was as 
 serious as a preacher at a funeral. At last the expected train 
 came steaming in. The conductor stepped off. 
 
 "Port Jervis! Fifteen minutes for refreshments!" he 
 shouted. 
 
 " Pshaw ! " exclaimed Stewart, snapping his fingers, and 
 turning to his pupil, who stood ready to take his job. 
 "They've got a conductor on this train! Ain't that too 
 bad?" 
 
 Then the crowd, which had suppressed its merriment up 
 to this time, broke loose in one great shout of laughter. 
 
 The backwoods candidate for a conductorship on the Erie 
 seemed then to get the joke through his head. He made 
 tracks for home, satisfied, perhaps, that log-chopping was 
 better than railroading, after all. — (Related to the author by 
 Henry Butcher, of Warwick, N. Y.) 
 
 Giving Him a Job as a Brakeman. — At another time, 
 while Stewart was running as conductor. Assistant Superin- 
 tendent S. S. Post was being bothered by a man who wanted 
 to be a brakeman. Post had become tired of the fellow's 
 importunities. One day, as he was boring the Superintend- 
 ent for a job, Stewart came in. Post, giving him a wink, 
 said : 
 
 " This man wants a job as brakeman. Can you do any- 
 thing for him ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Stewart, " I want a head-brakeman." 
 
 So when Stewart went out with his train that night, he put 
 his man on the front of the baggage car, next to the engine. 
 It was a foggy, drizzly night in the winter, and the position 
 the man occupied on the train gave him the benefit of all the 
 storm, and the ashes and cinders from the engine, so that 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 403 
 
 when he got to Elmira it was difficult to tell whether he was 
 a runaway slave or a Hottentot just landed. He slipped 
 from the train at that place, and was seen no more. 
 
 " He didn't even come back after his pay ! " Stewart said. 
 
 FJRST CONDUCTOR KILLED ON THE ERIE. 
 
 The freight train ran off the track just as it was passing on 
 to the high trestle over the Hackensack River, five miles 
 from Piennont, Saturday afternoon, April 6, 1843. The 
 locomotive and two freight cars were precipitated through 
 the trestle work about fifteen feet to the ground, instantly 
 killing Henry ^^^ Watson, the conductor, who was on the 
 locomotive. The engineer and fireman escaped without a 
 scratch, but were found unconscious, each at his post. One 
 of the cars that fell through was loaded with pig iron and 
 calves. Nineteen of the cah'es were crushed to death by 
 the iron. There were fourteen passengers on the train when 
 it arrived at the turn-out, some distance west of the trestle, 
 and lay there for the evening passenger train to overtake and 
 pass it. When the passenger train came along the passengers 
 were transferred to it from the freight train, and many of 
 them were thus undoubtedly saved from death. 
 
 Conductor ^^'atson was one of the civil engineers who 
 made the final location for the Eastern Division of the railroad 
 and had been retained in the Company's employ, " such was 
 his probity and correct business habits, a compliment which 
 our citizens will bear us witness too many of his associates 
 did not deserve," pointedly remarked a Goshen newspaper 
 in its account of the accident. He was the first Erie con- 
 ductor (or employee) to be killed on the railroad. 
 
 James Lytle came on the Erie as conductor in April, 1843, 
 succeeding Henry W. Watson. He was from Washington 
 County, N. Y. David P. DeWitt, a nephew of Superin- 
 tendent Seymour, was running Conductor \\'orden's pas- 
 senger train at that time, Worden being ill with consumption. 
 DeWitt was a civil engineer. When AVorden died DeWitt 
 was called to the field and Lytle was placed in charge of the 
 train. Lytle ran the train until the opening of the railroad 
 to Port Jervis in January, 1848, when he was made agent at 
 that place, W. H. Stewart taking the passenger train. In 
 April, 1848, Stewart became ill, and Lytle took the train 
 again, Stewart becoming agent at Port Jervis. When the 
 railroad was opened to Bingham ton in 1849 Lytle, Sol 
 Bowles, and Captain Ayres ran trains through. It was a hard, 
 cold winter; the snow was deep, and the fuel was green 
 wood, hard to burn. Lytle asked Superintendent Seymour 
 to give him his old train back. Seymour told him to " run 
 that train or nothing." Lytle quit the road, and was in 
 business in Middletown until his death in 1884. 
 
 Conductors following these pioneers (not in chronological 
 order) were Albert Stone, Isaac Wood, Hank Masterson 
 (who was the first baggage-master), Charley Green, Phineas 
 Thompson, David DeWitt, Tom Houston, Jerome Dennis, 
 Tom Hill, H. C. Chapin, John Sayr, David Doremus, Sam 
 
 Crouch, John Buckhout, Charles Salmon, Solomon Bowles, 
 Henry Smith, Ryerson H. Stewart, Charles Robinson, Ned 
 Chamberlain, A\'illiam C. Clark, Ellis Haring, Ed Haring, 
 Dave Killinger (who afterwards kept the railroad dining 
 saloon at Hornellsville), Ruel H. Chamberlain, Harvey 
 Lamb, Al Larwill, Scott Harris, Lew Stanley, Frank Spring, 
 C. C. Quick (" Lum "), Sam Walley, Jim Westervelt, R. R. 
 Carr, "Hi" Hurty, Mark Ball, Jim Martin, Coe Little, Abe 
 Wandell, Pat Jeffries, Dave McWilliams, W. C. Van AA^ormer, 
 Joe Northrup, A. D. Thompson ("Tone"), George Wooley, 
 I. A. Post, Gabe Writer, A. S. Cobb, Maj. Lee, Dana Crum, 
 and many others of the old school, few of whom are living. 
 David Doremus has been constantly in the service since 
 1857, and is the dean of the fraternity of Erie conductors, 
 being the longest in actual service. He runs trains Nos. 5 
 and 8 between Jersey City and Binghamton. Harvey Lamb 
 runs the milk train on the Delaware Division. Ellis Haring 
 is in the service of the Belt Railroad of Chicago. Henry 
 Smith is running a livery stable at Wellsboro, Pa. " Charley " 
 Salmon has retired, and is living at his ease. Scott Harris is 
 a prosperous boot and shoe dealer at Owego. Uncle Joe 
 Northrup, who ran the milk train on the Eastern Division 
 more than thirty years, is enjoying life, at 80, in retirement 
 at Otisville, hale and hearty. W. C. Van \\'ormer is Erie 
 yard-master at Port Jervis. Few of others of the old-time 
 conductors survive. 
 
 NOTES OF PIONEER RAILROADING. 
 {_Fro?n Reminiscences of W. H. Stewart^ 
 
 There were no ticket agents at first east of Chester, and 
 the conductor was provided with tickets for each station 
 on the road, a square tin box to carry them in, and a bag 
 containing ten dollars in small coin or bills. This was 
 carried in the box and was the conductor's capital for the 
 day. It was to make change with when passengers offered 
 money for their tickets larger than the amount charged. 
 The tin box and its contents were delivered at one end of 
 the run to the general ticket agent at Piennont, who was 
 Henry Fitch. The account was balanced with the con- 
 ductor, and the box returned to him with ten dollars in the 
 bag again for the return trip. All tickets for New York were 
 collected on the boats. 
 
 The Erie freight dock at New York was originally at the 
 foot of Albany Street, but the increase in business was so 
 steady that new and better quarters were soon obtained at 
 the foot of Duane Street. Joseph Hoxie, better known as 
 " Singing Joe " and " Fighting Joe " Hoxie, was freight 
 agent on the dock. There was at first no shelter of any 
 kind there for freight, and consequently butter, cheese, grain, 
 leather, etc., were all dumped in a pile together on the dock, 
 to be sat upon, spat upon, and otherwise befouled by steve- 
 dores and longshoremen until consignees could manage to 
 dig their goods out of the mass and take them away. But 
 Joe Hoxie kept them in good humor by his never-failing 
 repertory of songs and his endless jolly stories. 
 
404 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 There was at first no system of doing business at all. No 
 one in authority seemed to have any idea of railroading. 
 Samuel S. Brown was general freight agent at New York. 
 W. H. Stewart was running on a freight boat between Corn- 
 wall and New York prior to the opening of the railroad 
 between Goshen and Piermont. Daniel Tobias was the 
 captain of the boat. The opening of the railroad destroyed 
 his business, as it did that of many other freighters from 
 Newburgh, and he hired his boat to the railroad company to 
 carry its freight from Piermont to the New York dock, and 
 Stewart and the other hands remained at work on it. When 
 winter set in and shipments fell off, there was no money 
 to pay the employees. Freight Agent Brown discharged 
 Stewart and the other men on the boat, but they went to 
 New York, and Joe Hoxie hired them over again. After a 
 while the Company issued scrip, with which it paid its men 
 and for supphes. A bushel basket of it at the time was not 
 worth, intrinsically, the price of a month's board, but there 
 were men who bought it on speculation at twenty-five cents on 
 the dollar. A large buyer of the scrip was Augustus S. Whiton, 
 the first superintendent of the Eastern Division. He took all 
 he could get, and the result proved that he had judged wisely. 
 The time came when the scrip was redeemed at its face 
 value by the Company, and "Whiton made a snug little fortune. 
 
 It was the custom for some years after the railroad was 
 opened to have boys pass through the cars with cans of water 
 and tin dippers to satisfy the thirst of passengers. These 
 were called " water boys," and a water boy on the railroad 
 was the envy of all juveniles along the line. Like the whale- 
 oil lamps and tallow candles that threw their dim light through 
 the cars at night, the water boys are long-forgotten adjuncts 
 of railroad travel. 
 
 William Skelly, better known as Billy Skelly, was the 
 first newsboy on the railroad. He was a proMg^ of Captain 
 Alec Shultz, a bright boy ten or twelve years old. He was 
 very active and very popular with the patrons of the road. 
 If a train was delayed, he always passed through the cars 
 informing the passengers what the trouble was, how long it 
 was likely to last, etc. He was the pioneer of the railroad 
 news business, and as he grew up increased his facilities 
 ^intil he had a monopoly of the business between New York 
 and Port Jervis, supplying such dealers as there were then at 
 his own prices. Skelly made a snug fortune in the business, 
 and his enterprise led to the establishing of the Union News 
 Company, the present great railroad news agency of this 
 country. The pioneer railroad newsdealer was not as 
 successful in keeping money as he was in making it, and he 
 died penniless. As eariy as r843 Asa Faulkner, a brakeman, 
 sold newspapers on Erie trains. 
 
 Riding on a railroad was a new thing, and it was a long 
 time before people learned that by paying fare from Pier- 
 mont to Monsey, say, they would have no difficulty in riding 
 all the way to Goshen without the conductor discovering the 
 
 fact that they had paid fare only a small part of the distance. 
 A well-to-do and prominent farmer, who lived not far from 
 Goshen, once sought to evade conductor W. H. Stewart on 
 the train by going into the closet when the conductor came 
 through. Mr. Stewart discovered the trick. The station 
 where the man was to get off was Goshen. Before the train 
 arrived at that place the conductor stationed a brakeman at 
 the closet door with instructions to hold it fast and not let 
 the man out. The instructions were obeyed, and the eco- 
 nomical farmer was carried on to Middletown. Then Stewart 
 collected fare from him and let him out. He was obliged to 
 remain all night at Middletown, and pay his fare back to 
 Goshen next day, so that his attempt to ''beat" the railroad 
 company cost him dear. 
 
 The afternoon trains from Middletown, which began run- 
 ning in 1843, carried the milk shipments. No provision was 
 made for Sunday nights, and soon the order came from 
 Superintendent Seymour that the freight conductors must 
 run the milk trains Sunday nights. These were Stewart and 
 Lytle, and they made the run on alternating Sunday nights. 
 All went smoothly until the latter part of the summer, when 
 one night Stewart's train ran over a pony that was on the 
 track at the Ramapo crossing. The night was dark, and the 
 engineer did not see the pony until he was upon it. The 
 highway crossed the track diagonally, and was planked. The 
 engine was the " Rockland," and the engineer W. C. Arnold. 
 The locomotive left the rails and ran fifty yards along the 
 wagon road. In those days the train crews carried their own 
 wrecking tools, consisting of a jack, block and tackle, etc. ; 
 but if a train was four hours late they would make up their 
 minds at the Piermont headquarters that something more was 
 wrong with it than the train men could handle, and a wreck- 
 ing crew would be sent out to look it up and give it a lift. 
 This night, however, no wrecking crew came from Piermont to 
 help this train out of its difficulty, but at daybreak next morn- 
 ing, when Stewart and his gang, by hard work all night, had 
 succeeded in getting the engine back on the track, the wreck- 
 ing crew came in sight. 
 
 About two weeks after this mishap, the same train, -with 
 the same crew, struck a horse and wagon that the driver was 
 attempting to drive across the track ahead of the locomo- 
 tive, at ^\'ard's pond, near Ward's station, one mile north of 
 Sloatsburg. The result was the throwing of the engine, two 
 milk cars, and the passenger car off the track into the pond. 
 The water was very deep, and the locomotive was submerged 
 all except the smokestack. One milk car was out of sight, 
 under water, and the forward end of the other was deep in 
 the pond. The passenger car was at the edge of the pond. 
 
 There being no possibility of the train crew extricating the 
 engine and cars from the pond, Conductor Stewart walked on 
 to Sloatsburg, one mile, where he hired Sloat's son to drive 
 him to Monsey, a station twelve miles further east. There 
 he got a handcar and the " road gang," and started for Pier- 
 mont. There was no frog at switches in these days, and the 
 change was made by a moving bar. The switch east of 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 405 
 
 IBlauveltville was open, and as the hand-car came speedily 
 along, it was thrown from the track. Conductor Stewart was 
 hurled with such force against the bar on the hand-car that 
 two of his ribs were broken, and he was tumbled down the 
 embankment several feet. They got the car back on the 
 track, however, and went on to Piermont, where they got the 
 wrecking crew and returned with it to the scene of the most 
 extraordinary wreck that had ever occurred on any railroad. 
 They arrived there between eight and nine o'clock in the 
 morning. A man named Thomas had a trip-hammer mill 
 nearby, which got its power from Ward's pond. The mill 
 had been idle for a long time, and Superintendent Seymour, 
 who had come with the wrecking train, requested Thomas to 
 •draw the water off the pond, so the men might get at the 
 sunken locomotive and cars, and get them out and back on 
 the track. Thomas started up his mill, and said he would 
 not draw the water off unless the railroad Company paid him 
 S600 for doing it. After a long parley a compromise price 
 for his granting the company's request was agreed upon. 
 The water was drawn off the dam, and the train was got back 
 on the rails about dark, or nearly twenty-four hours after 
 the accident occurred. No one was injured by the smash-up, 
 singularly enough, but two carloads of Orange County milk 
 never got any further toward their destination than Ward's 
 pond. 
 
 The Railroad Company had always been exceedingly ac- 
 commodating to Thomas, stopping at Ward's to take him on 
 and let him off, and taking on and leaving freight for him 
 there. After this experience with him, though, he got no 
 more favors from the Company. He was obliged to go to 
 Sloatsburg, a mile east of Ward's, to get aboard trains, and to 
 ship all his freight from, and receive it at, that station. So 
 he lost a great deal more than he made out of his act of 
 .selfishness. 
 
 The first general superintendent, Hezekiah C. Seymour, 
 came from Oneida County, and got the name on the road of 
 the " Oneida Chief." In 1849 ^ successor to Superintendent 
 Seymour was to be appointed, as he intended to quit the 
 service. S. S. Post was superintendent of transportation. 
 He was in the line of promotion to the general superintend- 
 ency, and as he was very popular with the employees, they 
 were delighted with the prospect of having him as their 
 superintendent. James P. Kirkwood was also mentioned in 
 connection with the place. W. H. Stewart ran what was 
 called the night line, and, in expectation of hearing the 
 news somewhere along the line that Post had been elected 
 superintendent, he had a big transparency, inscribed " S. S. 
 Post, General Superintendent," all ready to light and display 
 on his train. The news came, however, that Kirkwood was 
 the choice of the Directors, and there was great disappoint- 
 ment among the "boys." This was in April, 1849. It is 
 highly probable, though, that S. S. Post's long connection 
 with the Railroad Company, and his popularity, would have 
 secured him the place, if he had not shown an inclination to 
 answer, in a non-committal way, queries put to him by the 
 
 Directors, and a disposition to respond to them by asking 
 questions himself. Superintendent Kirkwood became known 
 among the railroad men as the "Silent Man," from a pecu- 
 liarity of his disposition. His office was at 56 Wall Street, 
 New York. Audience with him was easily obtained, and as 
 the caller entered, the superintendent would look up at him 
 a moment. If the caller did not at once go on to mention 
 the business that had brought him there, Kirkwood would 
 turn his eyes back to his work without a word. Then the 
 visitor might stand or sit there all the rest of the day without 
 the Superintendent paying any more attention to him, or 
 
 H. C. SEYMOUR. 
 
 until the visitor broke the silence himself by speaking and 
 making known his errand. 
 
 For a long time after the railroad was built, all switching at 
 the ends of divisions and elsewhere was done with horses. 
 
 John Bailey was the first station agent at Goshen. He 
 was the father-in-law of A. C. Morton, who was the civil 
 engineer of the road for Orange County. The depot at 
 Goshen was built over the track, or rather the track ran into 
 the depot. When the train came in, the business of the 
 railroad was over for that day. The train and locomotive 
 were locked in the depot, and the agent kept the key until it 
 was time to begin business on the road again next morning, 
 when he would unlock the depot and let the trainmen go 
 in and " fire up." The bell that hung above the platform 
 was rung fifteen minutes before the train was to start. 
 
 Capt. A. H. Shultz, the pioneer Erie steamboat Captain, 
 was born at Rhinebeck. Before there were railroads in Cen- 
 tral and Western New York, he ran stages between Roches- 
 ter and Buffalo. Later he ran a steamboat between Amboy, 
 N. J., and New York. He began in the Erie service January 
 
4o6 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 I, 1841, having been harbor master under Governor Seward, 
 betore the railroad was in operation, and continued until 1844. 
 He was Alderman from the Fifth Ward of New York. He 
 was afterward in the Government service for many years. 
 He died at Philadelphia, April 30, 1867. 
 
 The winter of 1843 'was one of the hardest on record. 
 Capt. Shultz made his two trips on the Hudson River daily 
 between 'New York and Piermont, although the ice was twelve 
 inches thick, missing but one trip. April 28, 1843, i'^ recog- 
 nition of this, the people of Piermont presented him with a 
 solid silver snuffbox, lined with gold. 
 
 THE FIRST FREIGHT SHIPMENT. 
 
 The first shipment of freight on the New York and Erie 
 Railroad to New York, although it was not billed and brought 
 no revenue to the Company, was made May 24, 1841. The 
 track had been put down as far as Spring A'alley, east of 
 Sufiern. Jeremiah S. Pierson hid an order for twenty-four 
 tons of spring steel, to be delivered in New York, from his 
 works at Ramapo. He sent the steel by teams to Spring 
 Valley, where it was loaded on the construction cars, -which 
 carried it to Piermont as they made their trips to and fro, 
 whence it was sent to New York by boats on the Hudson 
 River. Mr. Pierson was a liberal subscriber to, and largely 
 interested in, the Company. He remunerated the men who 
 handled his iron between Spring Valley and Piermont, who, 
 therefore, were the first to profit by traffic on the Erie. 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE TRANSPORTATION OF MILK UV 
 
 RAIL. 
 
 Thomas Selleck, of New York, had the contract for driving 
 the piles across the big swamp at Chester, N. Y., for carrying 
 the track of the Erie over that then unstable stretch of the 
 route, in 1840-41. When the railroad was opened to Goshen 
 in September, 1841, Selleck was appointed agent of the Erie 
 at Chester, thus becoming one of the two original station 
 agents, the other being John A. Bailey, at Goshen. The ex- 
 cellence of Orange County's milk early attracted Selleck's 
 attention. He ^\'as a practical man, and suggested to the 
 farmers that they send their milk to the New York market as 
 soon as the railroad was completed. At that time the main 
 milk supply of New York came from the cows kept by the 
 brewery and distillery stables. In those days, also, it was no 
 uncommon thing for truckmen in the city to keep a cow or 
 two in their stables, which they fed on brewery and distillery 
 refuse. They had their own customers for the milk thus pro- 
 duced. Farmers from Long Island and Westchester County 
 supplied some families with milk from their dairies, but the 
 great supply of the city was from the swill milk stables. The 
 Orange County farmers treated Selleck's idea with ridicule. 
 That milk could be shipped more than fifty miles, especially 
 in hot weather, and subjected to the jolting and jarring of a 
 railroad train, and still be fit for use when it at last arrived at 
 its destination, was regarded as preposterous. At any rate. 
 
 whether the milk-shipping business was feasible or not, the 
 Orange County farmers had built up a highly profitable trade 
 in a certain product of their dairies, and had made a national 
 reputation for it and themselves, and they were satisfied with 
 that. This product was butter. The first butter made for 
 the New York market, as a matter of systematic and regular 
 supply, was manufactured in that portion of Orange County 
 and in the bordering portions of Sussex County, N. J. As 
 Goshen was the centre of that region, the product, in time, 
 came to have the name of Goshen butter. 
 
 The great business in Goshen butter was built up without 
 the aid of railroads. In fact, with the coming of the railroad 
 came the beginning of the end of Goshen butter as a factor 
 in the trade of the country. There were no commission 
 dealers in New York, either, for many years, and the farmers 
 were compelled to place their butter on the market them- 
 selves and be their own salesmen. It was transported from 
 the farms in great covered wagons to Newburgh, where it was 
 put on barges and towed down the Hudson. Some farmers 
 carted their butter all the way to New York. All those in the 
 region lying about Chester, Middletown, Goshen, Unionville, 
 Westtown, Ridgebury, and other villages in Orange County, 
 and about Beemerville, Deckertown, Newton, and Clove 
 Valley, in Sussex County, had an agreement or combination 
 by which they marketed their product on the same day, which 
 was the second Tuesday of November in each year. The 
 long trains of big market wagons, laden with the golden prod- 
 uct of the dairies, passed in almost endless procession over 
 the roads of Orange and Sussex counties annually on that day, 
 all bound for Newburgh and the river. That day was known 
 as " the day of the big trip." The price of butter to the 
 farmer averaged from 125^ to 15 cents a pound. It was 
 packed down in firkins during the winter and summer, and 
 none was marketed until fall. 
 
 When the Erie was opened between Piermont and Goshen, 
 communication with the New York market became a matter 
 of only a few hours instead of the best part of two days. For 
 months the butter trade was the mainstay of the railroad. It 
 may be set down as an important historical fact in the life of 
 the Erie that it was the butter of Orange and Sussex counties 
 that made it possible to keep the road in operation during 
 the first few months of its existence. 
 
 Wedded thus as they were to butter making, the Orange 
 County farmers were not ready to see any reason for the faith 
 of Thomas Selleck in the idea that there would be an in- 
 creased profit for them in abandoning that branch of the 
 dairy business for the simple selling of their milk, and those 
 in control of the railroad were equally indifferent and in- 
 credulous. The railroad had been in operation more than 
 half a year before the first shipment of milk was made to the 
 city. In fact, the trade in butter increased greatly during 
 these months, owing to the quicker and more economical 
 means of transportation the railroad afforded. Selleck at 
 last interested some of the leading farmers of Chester and 
 Oxford in his scheme, among them Philo Gregory, James 
 D\irland, Jonas King, and John M. Bull. He was willing to 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 407 
 
 I NEW YORK AND ERIE RAIL ROAD. ^; I 
 
 I ■ Ticket J%'(i\4'/ . ^ 
 
 lOTlSVILlE TO Nil YCfiK.* 
 
 
 ^; MIDDLETOWN '^^ 
 
 '- 00 Good fill' 2 Uiu-s OTily Irom. ihi lo 00 
 
 ^ 
 
 UiM/}i<rpi-o/v s*) 
 
 A FITCH TICKET — 15 
 
 A GREENOUGH -I'lCKET. 
 
 FT-.' " " 
 
 
 f o .■" '^ \ I' 
 
 Snp't. 
 11^ 
 
 WOOD AGENT S PASS. 
 
 ^ f::.7 /lii;/ & Eult RAIL ROAD, r 
 
 / ^ I 
 
 r - Xo. /^ cfTideissoldtoi 
 
 Sand'is good for one passage between! 
 • New York' alid .j^_,//j^z.c.Z/c^^^. I 
 
 K'^ 
 
 •;i 
 
 
 (Obverse.) 
 
 «F«j!cj^'?T55VJ^?^JSf''3^?^"' ' '^■*»^> iS! •■> S/'ffi-'t'irfi^yVi'-'i?!! 
 
 ■g^is^^iketis-^ttf^ ■■::■. :.ii one yessr, •i' 
 
 "•i>y:-» 
 
 l^'tx-:!'-' r- ■ ..:>-^l.^f-^»- 
 
 
 
 .^Si.j:.^.. .. ■afl 
 
 (Reverse.) 
 
 merchant's special passage ticket — 1848. 
 
 FACSIMILE REPRODUCTION'S OF RARE OLD ERIK TICKETS. FROM THF, COLLECTION OF JOEL C. NORTHRUP, OTISVILLE, N. Y. 
 
 (SHOWING IMPERFECTIONS OF USE.) 
 
4o8 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 open a depot in New York for the introduction of the milk, 
 if he could be assured of shipments to meet the demand 
 which he was positive would soon arise for it. Philo Gregory 
 agreed to make an experimental shipment Qf milk in the 
 spring of 1842. Selleck fitted up a room in the city at 193 
 Reade Street. Gregory thereupon made the first consign- 
 ment of milk ever shipped on a railroad, and the first that 
 ever entered New York City from a dairy to be offered for 
 sale in public market. The milk was shipped in the blue 
 pyramid churns of that day. There were 240 quarts in all, 
 the equivalent of six of the standard cans of to-day. The 
 freight was charged by weight, at twenty cents a hundred. 
 Gregory got two cents a quart for the milk delivered on the 
 cars. This first shipment of Orange County milk arrived at 
 Selleck's depot in good condition, the weather being cool. 
 Selleck had notified many New York families of his intention 
 to have for sale fresh milk from the dairies of Orange County, 
 and the contents of Gregory's churns were not sufficient to 
 supply the first demand. The next shipment was larger, and 
 then other Chester farmers, and the farmers about Oxford, 
 seeing that there was more money in simply shipping their 
 milk at two cents a quart than making it into butter at fifteen 
 cents a pound, began sending their milk to Selleck, and the 
 milk business of the country was born — a business that has 
 alone built five railroads in Orange County, feeders and 
 branches of the Erie, at a cost of $4,000,000, and returned 
 to the county more than $50,000,000. 
 
 It was not long before Selleck's milk depot was unable to 
 supply half the demand for Orange County milk. People 
 abandoned the swill milk dealers, and flocked to Selleck's for 
 pure milk. It was a daily spectacle, on the arrival of the 
 milk from the boat in the morning, to see men, women, and 
 children standing in a line a block long, waiting their turn. 
 Then milkmen began getting their supplies of milk from 
 Selleck, and he was on the point of establishing more depots 
 in the city when his business was purchased by a company 
 known as the Orange County Milk Association, which, fore- 
 seeing the great proportion the business must assume in the 
 city, had been formed to control as much of it as possible. 
 
 The shipping of milk being an entirely untried thing, the 
 farmers and the Railroad Company both had their troubles for 
 a long time. While the weather was cool the milk reached 
 New York in fair condition, if it was not detained on the 
 way ; but when the hot weather came, much of it soured be- 
 fore it reached New York, thus working loss to the farmer 
 and injury to the reputation of Orange County milk. The 
 farmers did not know how the milk could be treated to keep 
 it sweet. It was shipped both morning and evening, but 
 much of it soured nevertheless. The railroad had its troubles 
 in trying to find out how the milk could best be handled in 
 transportation. At first the churns were put on a four- 
 wheeled truck or car, which was in turn run into a freight 
 car. At Piermont, the railroad terminus, this truck was run 
 out of the car on to the Hudson River boat, and the chums 
 were not handled until they arrived at New York. As the 
 business grew, and cans took the place of churns and miscel- 
 
 laneous receptacles, the use of these trucks became impos- 
 sible. It was not until after many months of experimenting- 
 that the cars were designed for carrying milk alone, and the 
 problem of easy transportation was solved. 
 
 But this did not keep the milk from souring in transit, and 
 many farmers abandoned milk shipping and went back to 
 butter making. It was not until the fall of 1842 that it was 
 discovered how to treat the milk to insure its keeping sweet a 
 long time. Farmer Jacob Vail, of Goshen, made up his mind 
 that if the milk was lowered in temperature by sufficient 
 cooling before shipping, it would get to New York all right. 
 He fitted up a hogshead with a coil of one-inch lead pipe- 
 inside. He packed this pipe with ice, and ran his milk 
 slowly through the cooled coil. This expelled all heat from 
 the milk. The weather was very warm, but Vail's milk 
 reached market in prime condition, and remained so until it 
 was all sold. Acting on Vail's discovery, the farmers cooled 
 their milk before shipment, and the trouble ceased. That 
 idea of Farmer Vail was the last blow to the butter business- 
 in Orange County. In less than two years there was scarcely 
 a farmer within reach of the railroad who did not ship his 
 milk to New York, and genuine Goshen butter, as a commer- 
 cial article, became a thing of the past. 
 
 Jacob Vail's appliance for cooling milk, it was soon found, 
 was not only cumbersome and costly, but also entirely un- 
 necessary. All that the milk required was to be cooled 
 sufficiendy, and this could be done simply by placing the- 
 pans and cans in springs of water until the proper tempera- 
 ture was secured. In time the capacity and convenience of 
 the springs were not equal to the demands made upon them, 
 and the farm icehouse came into existence, something that 
 had never been heard or dreamed of in the history of farm- 
 ing. To this day many farmers still cool their milk in their 
 springs, just as their fathers did before them. 
 
 Said the New York Railroad Journal oi July i, 1843, in 
 an article on this revolution in the milk trade : " At this mo- 
 ment fine and wholesome milk is sold all over the city at 
 four cents a quart. The price for swill and adulterated milk 
 was six. This wonderful revolution has been wrought through 
 the agency of the New York and Erie Railroad. Some time 
 since we were informed that if the milk business were to con- 
 tinue as it had commenced it would be found necessary and 
 profitable to run for its accommodation a special train. The 
 following is the mode in which the transportation is performed 
 as related by a resident of Orange County in the Cultivator : 
 The cows are milked early in the morning at Goshen and its 
 vicinity, the milk put into cans containing sixty to seventy- 
 five quarts, into which a tin tube filled with ice is inserted 
 and stirred until the animal heat is expelled. It is theii sent 
 by the railroad, and arrives, a distance of sixty miles, at the 
 milk depots (which are numerous in the city) in four and a 
 half hours. The tube filled with ice is again inserted, and 
 the milk thus kept cool and sweet until sold." 
 
 The condition of the milk business at the end of the first 
 year was briefly recorded in the Goshen Independent Repub- 
 lican in the spring of 1843, thus : 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 409 
 
 " Fifty dollars a day is being received by the railroad as 
 freight on milk. This would give, for the working days, an 
 income of nearly Si 6,000. And should the milk carried by 
 the road come into general use throughout the city, as we 
 have no doubt it will, an annual revenue of some thirty or 
 forty thousand dollars will accrue. By this unexpected busi- 
 ness the freight oirthe road is greatly increased. And while 
 the road by this operation finds its income vastly increased, 
 we presume the interest of the farmer is also advanced." 
 
 The only stations supplying this milk were Middletown, 
 New Hampton, Goshen, Chester, Oxford, Monroe, and Turn- 
 ers. The same paper, at the close of the year r844, stated 
 that during that year there had been shipped over the rail- 
 road " 6,138,840 quarts. The farmers are getting two cents 
 a quart for their milk, and the price of milk in New York to 
 the consumers has been cut from six to four cents, a saving 
 of Si 20,000 for the year to them. It requires twelve quarts 
 of milk to make a pound of butter. This year's shipments 
 of milk would have made 500,000 pounds of butter, worth 
 575,000, or less by 345,000 than what the farmers have got 
 for their milk, and saving dairy labor besides. Orange county 
 milk is driving swill milk from the citj'." 
 
 In the early years of the milk business cans of five differ- 
 ent sizes were used : twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, and sixty-quart 
 cans. This great assortment was thought by the farmer to 
 be necessary to avoid waste, as it was the belief then that 
 what was left over from one milking was unfit to put in with 
 the next shipment for fear it would sour on the way, so the 
 smaller cans were used to hold these broken lots. That idea 
 was in time found to be wrong, and all cans but the forty- 
 quart one were discarded, and that is now the standard milk 
 can the country over. 
 
 In 1842 the milk shipments over the Erie were between 
 600,000 and 700,000 quarts. The next year they were nearly 
 4,000,000 quarts. In 1S45 the receipts of the Company 
 from the freight on milk was nearly two-fifths of its total 
 freight receipts. 
 
 The milk traffic has been one of constant increase on the 
 Erie ; and the Pine Island branch, the Crawford branch, and 
 the Montgomery branch years ago became necessary through 
 its demands. The facilities for transporting and handHng 
 milk have kept pace with the extension of the shipping terri- 
 tory, so that to-day the Erie runs a daily milk train from 
 Hornellsville, 350 miles west of New York. Nearly every 
 station along the line, from as far west as Allegany County, 
 and in Steuben, Chemung, Tioga, Broome, Susquehanna, 
 Delaware, and Pike counties, sends its quota of milk. This 
 train is in addition to the original milk train of Orange 
 County, which also runs daily. From the pioneer shipment 
 of 240 quarts of milk from Chester on the Erie in 1842 the 
 traffic has grown to an average daily transportation of 200,000 
 quarts, or 73,000,000 quarts a year, for which the Erie receives 
 over ^500,000 a year in freight charges. The average num- 
 ber of cars of milk carried over the Erie daily is twenty-five. 
 This business is independent of that brought in by the New 
 York, Susquehanna and A^'estem division of the Erie, and of 
 
 the cream and condensed milk, amounting to many thousands 
 of quarts daily. This department of the freight business is 
 in charge of Henry Adams, milk freight agent, and George 
 W. Fredericks of Chester, milk agent, who has been in the 
 department twenty-eight years. 
 
 FIRST PASSEN(;ER killed on the ERIE. 
 
 The freight train between Goshen and Piermont carried 
 passengers also, in a car at the rear end of the train. A well- 
 known character in Orange and adjoining counties was an 
 Irish peddler, named Patrick Fitzsimmons. He travelled 
 about the country with a pack, a method of trading by which 
 people living at a distance from towns and villages fifty years 
 ago were provided with various kinds of merchandise. Octo- 
 ber 27, 1 84 1, a month after the railroad was opened to 
 Goshen, Fitzsimmons was at Piermont, and boarded the 
 freight train to take his first ride on the " steam cars." When 
 the train was passing up the grade west of the big trestle 
 over the Hackensack River, five miles from .Piermont, it 
 broke in two, and the loosened cars started back down the 
 grade toward the trestle. Fitzsimmons became frightened, 
 and mshed to the platform of a passenger car. The runaway 
 cars were then travelling at great speed. The frightened 
 peddler did not stop to consider the consequences, but leaped 
 from the platform. He was hurled violently down the em- 
 bankment and instantly killed — thus the first passenger to 
 meet death on the Erie. 
 
 FIRST FATAL DISASTER TO A PASSENGER TRAIN 
 ON THE ERIE. 
 
 They were still using cars with but four wheels under them, 
 on the New York and Erie Railroad, in 1846. The wheels 
 were of what was known as the ^^'inans wheel, and were 
 cast with spokes. In 1846 the female seminary conducted 
 by the Misses Watkins at Middletown, N. Y., was a school 
 noted in all that part of the State and the adjacent portions 
 of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. At the close of the 
 school for the summer vacation in the above year, the young 
 ladies attending the institution joined the Misses Watkins in 
 an excursion to the then Mecca of all pleasure-seekers who 
 could make the spot available, the Elysian Fields at Hoboken, 
 whose shady groves, green fields, and pleasant nooks long 
 since fled before the encroachment of railroad tracks, stock- 
 yards, coal-yards, oil-yards, and docks and dock approaches. 
 The day selected for the excursion was Friday, July 24th. 
 Two extra passenger cars were put on the regular morning 
 train on that day to accommodate the excursionists. With 
 these cars the train consisted of four passenger and three 
 milk cars. One of the passenger cars had also an apartment 
 for baggage and the mail. The train left Middletown at 
 6.30 in the morning, with about 200 passengers aboard, in 
 charge of Conductor James Lyde. The engineer was Joseph 
 Meginnes; the engine, the "Orange." The number of 
 excursionists was increased somewhat by others who boarded 
 
4IO 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 the train at New Hampton, Goshen, Chester, Oxford, and 
 Klonroe. About a mile east of Monroe the railroad track 
 was carried across the outlet, or an arm, of Seaman's mill 
 pond by a trestle bridge. The opening thus bridged was 
 twenty feet wide and twelve deep. The water at the bottom 
 was shallow. 
 
 The young ladies of the seminary and their parents and 
 invited guests were in the rear car of the train. The next 
 car was one of the two " diamond cars." This car was 
 larger and heavier than the others. It was filled with pas- 
 sengers, as was the one ahead of it. The combination car 
 was next to the milk cars. Among those in the second pas- 
 senger car was George Stevens, aged seventeen, and his 
 sister. They were from New York and had been visiting 
 friends near Goshen, at which place they got aboard the 
 train to return to New York. Just before the train reached 
 the trestle at Seaman's mill pond, young Stevens went out on 
 the -rear platform. Ogden Hoffman, Jr., son of the famous 
 New York lawyer of that name, and who had also been 
 visiting friends in Orange County; Ogden H. Dunning of 
 Goshen ; Ira S. Crane, son of Dr. John S. Crane of Goshen ; 
 John Hawkins of Hamptonburgh ; John JVIonnell of IVIiddle- 
 town ; and Edgar Monnell of Goshen, had also gone out and 
 were standing between the two cars, some on one platform 
 and some on the other. The train was moving rapidly on a 
 declining grade, when suddenly the passengers in the com- 
 bination car found themselves violently thrown and tumbled 
 about over and imder the seats. Capt. Lytle, who had been 
 through the train collecting fares, was going toward the door 
 leading to the baggage apartment and was hurled forward 
 with such force by the sudden stopping of the car that he 
 was carried bodily through a pannel of the door and thrown 
 in a heap among the mass of disarranged tnmks, hampers, 
 baskets, and other belongings of the passengers. 
 
 Almost simultaneously with the commotion on the com- 
 bination car, passengers in the second car felt it suddenly 
 begin to thump and bound roughly on its way. Occupying 
 one seat in the centre of that car were a little girl, who sat 
 next to the window; Nathaniel Webb, Esq., editor of the 
 Goshen Democrat ; Capt. Israel H. \Vickham of Middle- 
 town, and his little boy. When the thumping began Mr. 
 AVebb glanced ahead out of the window, and saw timbers fly- 
 ing wildly, and water splashing. Then came a tremendous 
 shock, and Mr. Webb felt a violent blow on the left side of 
 the head. Then there was an awful crash, and for a moment 
 all was still, and then from beneath the ruins of the crushed 
 car there issued appalling and heart-rending shrieks. In a 
 minute, having partially recovered from the stupefying effect 
 of the blow on his head, Mr. Webb hastily put the little girl 
 out the window, and disengaging his feet with much diffi- 
 culty from the crushed seats, made his escape by the same 
 window. 
 
 The locomotive and two milk cars were about ten rods 
 beyond the stream, safely on the rails. A little in the rear 
 was a milk car thrown from the track. About two yards in 
 the rear of that was the foremost passenger car, deprived of 
 
 its trucks, and thrown obliquely across the rails. From this, 
 passengers were scrambling through doors and windows. 
 Then came the car from which Mr. \\'ebb had escaped. It 
 was lying directly across the streaiii, with its forward end rest- 
 ing against the bank and nearly on a level with the surface 
 of it, the rear end lying against the opposite bank, about two 
 feet below the level of the railroad, and s<r nearly broken in 
 two in the middle that it nearly reached the water in the 
 shallow stream below. Next came the diamond car, with its 
 rear end resting on the bank even with the track, and about 
 twelve feet of its forward end, the car lying obliquely, resting 
 directly upon the second car, which it had crushed down. 
 The fourth and last car was off the track. It had escaped 
 injury, however, as had its occupants. 
 
 The rear car had struck the fallen car and run through it 
 about half its length, crushing down all in its way. Between 
 the floor of these two cars lay most of the passengers in the 
 second car, imprisoned and crushed ; and it seemed that 
 necessarily most of them must be fatally hurt, so small was 
 the space where they were held. Their groans and shrieks ; 
 their heart-rending entreaties for help, mingling with the wild 
 and frantic cries of those who had escaped but were calling 
 upon the name of a missing child, parent, or friend ; and the 
 sight of blood dripping freely through the broken bottom of 
 the car into the water beneath, all formed a scene of horror 
 to unnerve the stoutest heart. 
 
 After the first panic of the catastrophe was over, and it 
 lasted but a very short time, the hands belonging to the cars, 
 the passengers that were uninjured, and men from the neigh- 
 borhood who immediately repaired to the spot went vigor- 
 ously to work, and by demolishing the car succeeded in 
 releasing the sufferers one by one. This was before the days 
 of the telegraph, and wrecking cars or wrecking crews were 
 things unknown. Conductor Lytle despatched a man on 
 horseback for aid, and to carry the news to Middletown, \\'ith 
 instructions to get a fresh horse at Chester and another at 
 Goshen. He sent the locomotive forward to Piermont with 
 the news. From there word was sent by a fast steamboat to 
 the officers of the Company in New York. 
 
 The only mode of releasing the passengers from the tele- 
 scoped cars was to tear away the sides, or break up the floor 
 of the diamond car, which formed the cover to the death 
 trap. For some time the rescuers lacked tools to do this 
 expeditiously, but at last axes were obtained from neighbor- 
 ing farmhouses. These had to be handled \\'ith care as well 
 as haste, for there was danger in striking a violent blow lest 
 further and perhaps fatal injury should be done to some one 
 of the imprisoned victims. 
 
 Only two of the young men who had stood on the platform 
 when the accident occurred could be found. These were 
 Ogden Hoffman, Jr., and Ogden H. Dunning. Neither was 
 hurt, but Dunning never knew how he came off the cars. 
 The others, Ira Crane, George Stevens, John Hawkins, Edgar 
 Monnell, and Charles Monnell, had been thrust through the 
 end of the car and were wedged in beneath the floors of the 
 two for nearly an hour and a half before they could be ex- 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 411 
 
 tricated. Stevens and Crane had been killed instantly, and 
 were crushed out of all recognition. Charles Monnell was 
 fatally injured, and died next day. Edgar Monnell and Haw- 
 kins were badly hurt, but recovered. 
 
 Gilbert W. Oliver, of Bloomingburgh, Sullivan County, N. 
 v., had one leg. frightfully mangled, but he bound it up with 
 his handkerchief to keep the mangled parts together, and 
 heroically went to work to rescue his fellow sufferers. He 
 persisted in this work until he fell exhausted from pain and 
 loss of blood. 
 
 On following the railroad about twenty-five rods back from 
 the stream, the cause of the accident was discovered. A short 
 distance from the track lay the half of one of the car wheels. 
 The wheel from which this part was broken was one on the 
 last milk car. As the car thus crippled had kept the track 
 for some distance, the broken wheel was not noticed. Just 
 before the car reached the bridge, though, it left the rail, and 
 began to strike and splinter the timbers. As it went over 
 the bridge it tore that structure almost bare of its timbers, 
 but the passenger car just behind it got over the gap in some 
 way, with the exception of its hind truck, which was torn 
 loose on the opposite bank and remained there. The second 
 passenger car also leaped the gap, but its front end struck a 
 little below the surface of the bank and directly against the 
 mass of wreck left by the car preceeding it. The " diamond 
 car" was driven by the impetus of the rear cars violently 
 upon the stalled car, and went crashing halfway through it. 
 As the " diamond car " rushed upon the car ahead of it, 
 the roof of the latter, instead of breaking up, forced its way 
 through the encroaching car, and in a sound state protmded 
 some twelve feet into it, passing over the heads of those sit- 
 ting most forward, but striking with great violence those who 
 sat near the termination of its course. Several of the pas- 
 sengers were here badly hurt. One of these, Mrs. Charles 
 Conkling, had the evening before been married at Otisville, 
 and was in company with her husband on her bridal trip. 
 The sweeping roof of the second car struck her in the neck 
 and breast, and inflicted such a frightful wound that she was 
 carried from the wreck, it was believed, to quickly die. That 
 she did not die instantly is to this day a cause of wonder to 
 all who remember or have heard the story of her dreadful 
 injuries. She lingered for weeks on the boundary of death, 
 but at last recovered sufificiently to get about, although terri- 
 bly scarred. She never fully recovered from the shock of the 
 disaster, however, and died from its effects a year or so later. 
 Dr. Boyd, of Monroe, was soon at the scene of the catas- 
 trophe, and doctors from Chester hastened to the spot on 
 receiving intelligence of the casualty. 
 
 The rear end of the train, which had sustained no injury, 
 was transformed into a hospital. As soon as possible a hand- 
 car was provided, covered with cushions from a passenger 
 car, and on it the dead and badly wounded were removed to 
 Stickney's Hotel at Monroe. The accident happened at 8 
 o'clock. When the messenger on horseback reached Middle- 
 town and told the dreadful news, ^\hich he had also scattered 
 as he rode, church bells were tolled and all the countryside 
 
 was wrapped in gloom. A locomotive being at Middletown, 
 a relief train was quickly made up, and, bearing physicians 
 and groups of anxious and grief-stricken friends of the dis- 
 aster's victims, sped toward the scene of the disaster as train 
 had never sped over the road before. The locomotive 
 sounded its whistle dolefully all along the line. The train 
 arrived at Seamansville at noon. Two hours later it returned, 
 bearing the dead, and all the wounded that could safely be 
 removed, to the homes which they had left but a short time 
 before, happy and buoyant with expectations for the day, to 
 meet but mutilation and death. 
 
 The steamboat that was to have carried the joyous party 
 from Piermont down the Hudson to their destination was 
 despatched instead to New York with the news of the awful 
 fate that had befallen them. President Loder, accompanied 
 by four New York surgeons he had hastily summoned, re- 
 turned to Piermont on the boat, and hastened thence to the 
 wreck by special train. He arrived on the scene soon after 
 the relief train from Middletown got there. On Saturday he 
 despatched a special car to bear the terribly wounded Mrs. 
 Conkling to her home at Middletown. Charles Monnell, one 
 of the injured, died on that day, and his body was taken to 
 Middletown on a special car. President Loder visited per- 
 sonally the homes of all the wounded, to learn what he could 
 do or have done to alleviate their sufferings. 
 
 Another one of the passengers among the seriously injured 
 was Miss Julia Wisner, daughter of Daniel Wisner, of Mid- 
 dletown. Her breast bone was so broken and crushed that 
 its removal was necessary. Miss Wisner never recovered 
 from the effects of her injury. She died a few years later. 
 Her funeral was the largest ever held in Orange County, the 
 procession being two miles in length. 
 
 Following is the list of killed and badly wounded in this 
 first serious accident on the Erie Railroad : 
 
 Killed — Ira S. Crane, aged 19, son of Dr. J. S. Crane, 
 Goshen; George Stevens, aged 17, New York City; Charles 
 Monnell, son of Joseph Monnell, hotel-keeper, Middletown. 
 
 Wounded — Mrs. Charles Conkling, very badly lacerated on 
 her neck and breast ; Mr. and Mrs. Penny ; George Harding, 
 son of Charles Harding — Otisville. Miss Julia A. Wisner, 
 daughter of Daniel Wisner ; Miss Louisa Sweet, daughter of 
 Halstead Sweet ; Nathaniel Cooley ; Jesse Van Fleet ; Miss 
 Sarah Watkins, one of the principals of the Seminary ; David 
 HoUey, one arm broken, the other dislocated ; Mrs. T. C. 
 Royce — Middletown. Gilbert \V. Oliver, very badly cut in 
 the leg ; Miss Miller, daughter of George Miller — Blooming- 
 burgh. Howard Thompson, milk agent at Monroe. Miss 
 Stevens, sister of young Stevens who was killed ; M. New- 
 man ; Mr. Bursell ; Mr. Strand ; Walter S. Corwin — New 
 York City. Edgar Monnell, son of Charles Monnell ; Natha- 
 nierWebb — Goshen. John Hawkins, Hamptonburgh. Others 
 were injured more or less seriously. 
 
 No accident that had occurred upon any railroad up to 
 that time in this country created so wide-spread a sensation 
 as this one caused. It became the subject of pubhc com-, 
 ment not only in this country, but abroad. It was the first 
 
4 12 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 accident of its kind, and revealed new possibilities of danger 
 to life and limb that lay in wait for travellers by rail. It 
 showed, also, the necessity of providing safeguards against 
 the occurrence of similar disasters ; not that the managers of 
 the Erie had not had abundant previous evidence of the 
 defects in the equipment of the road, and the insufiSciency of 
 its construction. That it should have required an awful 
 sacriiice of life and the maiming and mutilating of two score 
 of persons to spur the management to a correction of those 
 faults presented a subject for much indignant and bitter 
 comment by the press of the country, although the people to 
 whom the results of the disaster came directly home with 
 crushing force put it on record, at a pubhc meeting held at 
 Middletown three days after the accident, that they exoner- 
 ated the railroad company from all blame. The chairman 
 of this meeting was Capt. Israel Wickham, who, with his little 
 boy, was among those who had to be dug out of the ruins of 
 the second car, and whose escape with scarcely a scratch was 
 one of the miraculous ones of the catastrophe. 
 
 This railroad accident led to the prompt abandoning of 
 the use of the Winans spoke car wheel, not on the New 
 York and Erie Railroad alone, but on every railroad where 
 cars were equipped with such wheels, and to the adopting 
 of solid wheels. It led to the replacing of four-wheeled 
 by eight-wheeled cars on the Erie. From it grew the 
 system of testing car wheels at intervals during a train's 
 trip by tapping them with a hammer to detect by the sound 
 a defective wheel, a system that soon became, and is yet, 
 universal on railroads the world over. It led to the imme- 
 diate beginning of the work of filling in and strengthening the 
 trestles of the division of the Erie then in operation, and to 
 the ordering that particular care be observed in building 
 similar work on the sections then under construction. At- 
 tention was at once especially given to the long and high 
 trestle wall which carried the railroad over the Hackensack 
 River, and its deep valley near Nanuet. This was a slight- 
 looking elevation of timber nearly seventy feet high, and its 
 apparent insecurity had been the source of much loss to the 
 Company in traffic, as a large portion of the travelling public 
 was afraid to risk passing over the lofty structure. This 
 feeling was intensified by the falling of a freight train through 
 the trestle in 1843, ^'""i the killing of a conductor. The fill- 
 ing in of this great gap required over 340,000 cubic yards of 
 earth, and the building of a stone arch or culvert, 140 feet 
 long and thirty-foot span, for the passage of the river through 
 the embankment. This was at that time one of the most 
 expensive pieces of work the Company had encountered. 
 It was completed in May, 1847. 
 
 The accident at Seamansville, aside from the death and suf- 
 fering it caused, was a costly mishap for the Company ; for, 
 notwithstanding the public declaration that the community 
 did not hold it blameworthy, the Company soon found itself 
 defendant in a host of suits brought to recover heavy dam- 
 ages, the settlement of which, together with the other costs 
 of the accident, compelled an outlay of more than 1 100,000. 
 
 Mrs. Pronk, widow of James A. Pronk, Esq., of Middle- 
 
 town, was one of the young ladies on that historic train. C. 
 W. Dimmick, now of Washington, D. C, was also a pas- 
 senger. 
 
 ORIGIN OF REDUCED RATES TO PREACHERS. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Robert McCartee was pastor of the Presby- 
 terian church at Goshen, N. Y., from 1840 to 1849. After 
 the completion of the Erie Railway to Goshen, Dr. McCartee 
 became a frequent passenger, going to the city every week, 
 and sometimes twice a week. One of his trips A\as in the 
 spring immediately after a heavy rain, and when the frost 
 was coming out of the ground. The combined action of the 
 rain and frost, in connection with a newly constructed road, 
 resulted in covering the track in some of the deep cuts with 
 a heavy deposit of dirt and stones, which seriously interfered 
 with the passage of the trains. The train was delayed some 
 hours, much to the discomfort and annoyance of the passen- 
 gers. There was great murmuring and complaint among 
 them, and at length a paper was drawn up and signed by 
 several, in which the company and its officials were severely 
 censured for the condition of things. 
 
 The good Doctor did not fall in with the current of feeling 
 that had set in, but took a sensible view of the situation — 
 that it was one of those things that could not have been pre- 
 vented, and for which the Company was not responsible. Pie 
 concluded, therefore, to endeavor to stay the tide. He kept 
 quiet and waited until the proper time. This soon came 
 when he was asked to sign the paper. He replied that he 
 would do so if they would change the phraseology and in- 
 sert a preamble that he would suggest, somewhat as follows : 
 
 " Whereas, The recent rain has fallen at a time ill suited to our 
 pleasure and convenience and without any consultation with us ; and, 
 
 " Whereas, Jack Frost, who has been imprisoned in the ground for 
 some months, has become tired of his bondage and has determined 
 to break loose, and his head may already be seen coming out ; there- 
 fore, 
 
 " Resolved, Thus and so." 
 
 I'he effect was that the whole thing was turned into ridi- 
 cule ; the leaders in the indignation movement abandoned 
 their effort, the paper was destroyed, and many of those who 
 had signed it joined in a hearty laugh over the affair, and 
 were glad that it terminated as it did. 
 
 The train was in charge of Captain Ayres. He had a vein 
 of humor himself, and enjoyed the affair immensely. Ever 
 afterward he refused to take any fare from the Doctor when 
 on the train, because of the good service which he had ren- 
 dered to him and the Company. The custom at that time 
 was very largely for passengers to pay their fare to the con- 
 ductor instead of purchasing a ticket at the ticket office. 
 
 Dr. McCartee, however, was not content to be regarded as 
 the exclusive recipient among the clergy of a favor of this 
 kind, and after a while suggested it would be a good thing to 
 extend it to all the ministers, which was eventually done. At 
 first for a short time the Company issued tickets to ministers 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 413 
 
 free of all charge, but soon after the half-rate fare was 
 adopted. This was the origin of the reduced fare to minis- 
 ters so far as the Erie is concerned, and dates back to 1843. 
 The author's authority for the Dr. McCartee incident is the 
 Rev. Dr. S. G. Mills of Port Jervis, who had it from Dr. 
 McCartee's lips many years ago. 
 
 "I was coming home for the w;inter vacation of 1842, 
 while I was in the seminary," says Dr. Mills, relating another 
 incident of early Erie travel. " I came up from New York 
 on the boat. There was a cold storm. Rain and sleet froze 
 as fast as it fell, so that the rails were coated with ice. That 
 was the time when they used wood for the engines, and it 
 was difficult to make steam. We started out from Piermont 
 about twelve o'clock noon, and were from that until nine 
 o'clock at night getting eight miles out from Piermont and 
 back again, where we remained until one o'clock the next 
 day, when we started again, and were until nine o'clock at 
 night getting to Goshen. Captain Ayers was conductor." 
 
 FIRST AID IX ACCIDENTS FIFTY YEARS AGO. 
 
 In February, 1849, after the railroad had been opened to 
 Binghamton, two passenger trains came into collision near 
 Narrowsburg, N. Y. Both locomotives were disabled. It 
 was necessary to have other locomotives before the trains 
 could be moved. The work was of course simple, and there 
 was as yet no telegraph. There was no locomotive nearer 
 than Port Jervis, thirty-five miles away. W. H. Sidell, who 
 had charge of affairs on that part of the railroad, at once had 
 a horse saddled, and summoning his chief and only clerk 
 and general assistant, Charles J. Sackett, despatched him to 
 Port Jervis over the mountains of Sullivan County, N. Y., 
 with orders for the immediate forwarding of two locomotives 
 to the scene of the accident. Six hours later the loco- 
 motives arrived, and the trains were enabled to resume their 
 trips. 
 
 At another time the engine of a freight train was disabled 
 between Narrowsburg and Cochecton. This blocked the track 
 and it became necessary that the train should be got back to 
 Narrowsburg and placed on the switch in order that the 
 passenger train, which would be due in the course of three 
 hours, might pass. A man was sent back to Narrowsburg 
 on foot through the snow, to have all the teams he could 
 procure sent to the scene of the blockade. The teams 
 hauled the train back in sections, and the passenger train 
 was detained only an hour. 
 
 BEFORE THE TICKET PUNCH. 
 
 In the early days of the passenger business on the Erie the 
 cost of passenger tickets was no inconsiderable item, hence 
 heavy card tickets from and to the various stations were 
 used. The signature of the general ticket agent was at- 
 tached, and they were taken up by the conductor, returned 
 
 to the general ticket office, and sent out to agents for resale 
 so long as they remained undefaced. 
 
 After a time an important discovery, seriously affecting 
 the revenue of the Erie, was made. A resident of Andover, 
 on the Western Division, will be used as an illustration. He 
 purchased a ticket to New York. The conductors mn by 
 divisions. The passenger's ticket was examined and honored 
 by the conductor between Andover and Hornellsville, Hor- 
 nellsville and Susquehanna, Susquehanna and Port Jervis. 
 At the latter station the passenger pocketed his through 
 ticket and purchased a ticket from Port Jervis to New York, 
 which was taken up by the conductor on the Eastern Divi- 
 sion. Returning, the passenger bought his card ticket from 
 New York to Andover. At Hornellsville he bought a ticket 
 from that station to Andover and retained his through 
 ticket. After the foregoing description, it will be clear that 
 thereafter that person could travel between Andover and 
 New York as often as he might desire, paying fare only 
 between Port Jervis and New York, east bound, and between 
 Hornellsville and Andover, west bound. 
 
 This fraud on the Company was in existence a long time 
 before it was discovered. Then a system of cancelling the 
 tickets by divisions by the conductors was adopted. At first 
 they were simply marked with a pencil. This was not a 
 success, and the emergency led to the making and introduc- 
 tion of the ticket punch. 
 
 THE FATAL FIRST IRON BRIDGE. 
 
 Iron railroad bridges, although a modern thing in railroad 
 construction as regards their universal use, were introduced 
 as an experiment on the New York and Erie Railroad as 
 early as 1849. Three bridges of that material were built in 
 that year, the largest one being the one across Westcolang 
 Creek and its deep ravine, a short distance east of Mast 
 Hope, Pa., on the Delaware Division. Those bridges were 
 all removed and replaced with wooden bridges in the summer 
 of 1850, because of a bad accident that happened to a train 
 while crossing the Westcolang bridge, July 31st of that year. 
 
 The train was a live stock and freight train of seventeen 
 cars, besides the engine and tender. At the time the train 
 approached the bridge it was going at an ordinary rate, but 
 the engine had but just got fairly off the solid track when the 
 engineer heard a loud cracking sound, and felt something 
 giving away. He put on all the steam possible, and suc- 
 ceeded in getting the engine, which was a very powerful one, 
 upon the other side, but just as he had cleared the bridge it 
 went down with a crash, carrying the tender with it. The 
 cars following tumbled into the abyss, one after another, until 
 fifteen of them, with their contents, were piled up in the gap. 
 The engineer and his fireman saved themselves by jumping 
 off on either side of the engine. The brakeman, Adam Tice, 
 and J. L. Clapp of Ohio, a drover's helper, aged 19, M'ent 
 down with the cars. George Randall, the drover, was pre- 
 cipitated over the embankment with the car he was in. Two 
 other men, who were on the sixteenth car, discovered that 
 
414 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
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 A MORAN FREE PA.SS— 1859. NORTHRUP COLLECTION. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 415 
 
 something was wrong in time to save themselves by jump- 
 ing. 
 
 The scene just after the accident had occurred was piteous 
 in the extreme. A hundred head of cattie were writhing in 
 torture, and making the whole mass active by their throes, in 
 the vain endeavor to extricate themselves, some with their 
 horns broken off, and some held fast by means of the ruin 
 ]Diled upon them. Their cries were heart-rending. Some of 
 the poor creatures, mad with pain, their eyes starting from 
 their sockets, seemed bent on wreaking vengeance on what- 
 e\-er object was nearest to them. Others, subdued by their 
 sufferings, moaned piteously, and gazed about as if imploring 
 release. 
 
 The imprisoned sheep that were alive simply bleated plain- 
 tively, while a few of their companions that had happened to 
 escape and clamber from the wreck went quietly to nibbhng 
 grass by the roadside, indifferent to the misery of their fel- 
 lows. The swine that were part of the writhing, moaning 
 mass were belligerent, after their kind, and those beneath the 
 ruins fought with each other as long as there was life left in 
 them, while the more lucky ones that escaped made for the 
 woods as if flying from some impending danger. As soon as 
 the momentary panic had subsided, the men who had escaped 
 injury set to work to relieve their companions. It was soon 
 ascertained that the drover Randall and the brakeman Tice 
 were near each other, both alive, and by no means despair- 
 ing. Soon Randall's voice was heard. He was discovered 
 buried among the fragments of the cars, and directly beneath 
 a large ox, which was still alive, and at tinaes greatly dis- 
 tressed the helpless drover by kicking him on the breast. 
 Randall was perfectly sensible, and gave directions as to how 
 he could best be removed. He thought he could endure the 
 weight of the ox until it could be taken away piecemeal. 
 The ox was therefore shot, but in its dying struggles kicked 
 Randall so violently in the breast as to deprive him of life. 
 Immediately before his death he spoke much of his life, stat- 
 ing that he had a wffe and four children. The same ox lay 
 partly across Tice, the brakeman, who died before he could 
 be extricated from his frightful situation. 
 
 There was no telegraph in use along the railroad yet, al- 
 though a line was being put up. A man was sent on horse- 
 back to Lackawaxen, four miles east of the scene of the 
 accident, to inform John M. Williamson, the Company's 
 agent at that point. ^Villiamson despatched a messenger to 
 Port Jervis, down the tow-path of the Delaware and Hudson 
 Canal, twenty-three miles, to carry the news to Division 
 Superintendent Power. The Superintendent at once started 
 for the scene of the accident with a rehef train. Agent 
 W'iUiamson hastened to Mast Hope. Clapp, the other drover, 
 had been found and taken from the wreck in the meantime, 
 alive, but terribly mutilated. By the time Superintendent 
 Power arrived. Agent AVilliamson had ordered the wounded 
 cattle, sheep, and hogs shot. All the dead beasts were buried 
 in a vast trench, but the task was a long and tedious one ; so 
 long, in fact, that, the weather being intensely hot, the car- 
 casses began to putrefy before the work was done, adding 
 
 new unpleasantness to the already accumulated horrors. 
 Coe Little was the conductor of the train, and Nat. Hatch 
 engineer. 
 
 BRINGING THE TELEGRAPH INTO USE FOR RAIL- 
 ROADING. 
 
 The Erie, through Charles Minot, and through his succes- 
 sor, D. C. McCallum, attracted the eyes of the whole country 
 to the value of the telegraph as a vital agent in the manage- 
 ment of railroads, the running of trains, and the safety of 
 passengers. What was known as the New York and Erie 
 Telegraph Line was begun in August, 1847. It was not a 
 work of the New York and Erie Railroad Company, as its 
 tide might imply. Ezra Cornell was the projector of the line, 
 and while he was constructing it through the southern New 
 York counties, taking the wagon roads for his route, Charles 
 Minot was watching him. Minot early saw the value of the 
 tilegraph to railroads, and how it might be employed to direct 
 the movement of trains at every point along the road. He 
 induced the Railroad Company to construct a line of tele- 
 graph poles and wires along the margin of the railroad, with- 
 out reference to patents, and without determining the 
 machinery to be employed. It was constructed by the rail- 
 road workmen. Mr. Cornell supplied insulators and also 
 Morse machinery for the offices to be opened. The insulators 
 were of brimstone, enclosed in iron pots, and of but small 
 value. On the completion of the Erie telegraph line. Super- 
 intendent Minot offered to purchase for the Erie the Morse 
 patent on fair terms. Mr. Smith, one of the owners of the 
 patent, refused to sell. He invited the New York and Erie 
 Railroad Company to become stockholders in the Telegraph 
 Company, and thus acquire the right to use the Morse in- 
 struments. By this time, however, the Cornell line had so 
 shown its unreliable character that Mr. Minot declined the 
 invitation. He wrote, also, very placidly to Mr. Smith that 
 his notion was that, after its completion, " our Company 
 would make arrangements with the New York and Erie Tele- 
 graph Company to work it for us." After a short struggle 
 against circumstances the wire of the Cornell line was, in 
 1852 and 1853, transferred from the poles along the turn- 
 pikes to those of the Railroad Company, and by gradual 
 processes the line became massed with and faded into the 
 property of that Company. In 1852 the title of the company 
 was changed to The New York and Western Union Tele- 
 graph. 
 
 In 185 1 the New York and Erie Railroad Company, hav- 
 ing constructed its telegraph line, placed it under two super- 
 intendents. L. G. Tillotson was intrusted with the section 
 between Owego and New York, and Charies L. Chapin with 
 the section from Owego to Dunkirk. In 1852 Tillotson was 
 made sole superintendent. Luther G. Tillotson was but 
 nineteen years old when he became superintendent of the 
 Erie Telegraph. He was born in Ithaca, N. Y., March i, 
 1834. His father was a friend of Ezra Cornell, and became 
 a telegraph constructor. At the age of fifteen Luther began 
 
4i6 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 to learn telegraphy under his father, and in less than a year 
 was an expert for that day. He entered the service of the 
 Erie in 185 1. In 1862 he began dealing in railway and tel- 
 egraph supplies, and in 1865 established the house of L. G. 
 Tillotson & Co., in New York, and remained at its head until 
 his death, January 31, 1885. He was an authority on tel- 
 egraph and telegraph construction. 
 
 \A'illiam J. Holmes, who had been in the service of the 
 Erie Telegraph Department since 1856 (as operator at Mast 
 Hope) until 1859, was in that year appointed division opera- 
 tor of the Delaware Division, with jurisdiction over all the 
 offices on that division. In 1862 he was transferred to head- 
 quarters in New York, and on the retirement of Mr. Tillotson 
 he was made general superintendent, which place he still 
 holds. He is also district superintendent of the Western 
 Union Telegraph Company. 
 
 The route of the original Cornell line was along the public 
 roads from New York through Harlem, White Plains, Sing 
 Sing, Peekskill, Newburgh, Goshen, Middleto\\n, Honesdale, 
 Montrose, Binghamton, Ithaca, Danville, Nunda, and Pike to 
 Fredonia. 
 
 The first telegraph instrument of the Cornell line on the 
 line along the Erie was put up in the bar-room of a hotel at 
 Goslien, N. Y. (now the Occidental), and its wonderful trans- 
 mission and receipt of messages amazed the people. This 
 was in 1849. Cornell subsequently made an arrangement 
 with Lebeus Vail, who had a bookstore, book-binder}', and 
 printing establishment on the opposite side of the street, to 
 have the telegraph office in a corner of his store. Vail had 
 three sons with him in the store, Hector J., Nathaniel, and 
 A\'ilmot M. Hector and Nathaniel soon learned to operate 
 the instrument, and Hector became the first regular operator. 
 The line worked badly. The first telegraph station west of 
 Goshen was Port Jervis. 
 
 Hec. Vail went to Port Jervis early in 185 1, to take charge 
 of the office there, and his brother Nat. was put in charge of 
 the Goshen office. At that time the Railroad Company's 
 telegraph line came into the same offices. The railroad men 
 soon learned that they could find out where the " mail train " 
 or any other train was by asking at Vail's, so they could go 
 on their way if it was late, and save time. But they did it 
 without any authority. They were simply " wildcatting " 
 without orders, on the strength of what the telegraph said. 
 It was nearly a year after that before the Company began to 
 appreciate the advantage of the telegraph, and led to Charles 
 Minot's adopting it on the road. 
 
 Ezra Cornell \\'as so poor at that time that when he came 
 to Goshen, if there was no money in the office, Vail would 
 advance him some, so that " Old Bones," as he was irrev- 
 erently called, might get something to eat. A few cakes, or 
 a slice of bread and a morsel of cheese, sufficed him. 
 
 Henry O'Reilly, one of the pioneers of telegraphy in this 
 country, wrote as follows, under date of July 17, 1852 : 
 
 Though railway telegraphing- is attempted to a very limited extent, 
 even the partial experiment on one of the most profitable railroads in 
 
 America (although that experiment employed little of the organized 
 system here proposed) will probably fully sustain the assertion which 
 I hazarded when commencing the establishment of the telegraph sys- 
 tem by individual enterprise seven years ago, that a well-arranged 
 telegraph for railroad purposes would, each and every year, render to 
 a railroad company sufficient benefits to counterbalance the whole 
 cost of construction. 
 
 He dwelt upon the feasibility of telegraph messages in the 
 operating of railroads, instancing that signals could be given 
 from any point at any time of night or day to alarm and in- 
 form any and all stations, along the whole extent of the line, 
 of delays, accidents, or other matter essential to safety of 
 passengers and property. Not only every station, but every 
 train while in motion, he declared, could be signalled and 
 cautioned whenever necessary, by the ringing of bells by 
 electricity, or displaying signals along the line on jDosts be- 
 tween stations, to warn engineers and conductors of any 
 difficulty or irregularity which might result in mishap. 
 
 These suggestions were placed before the New York Legis- 
 lature in 1853, the Legislature having, in 1852, discussed the 
 subject of the seemingly undue prevalence of railroad ac- 
 cidents, and propounded to the railroad companies of the State 
 a number of questions in relation to the matter, for official 
 answer. The Erie made no reply to any of the questions. 
 If it had, there might have been a record of the date on 
 which the experiment by Superintendent Charles Minot of 
 running a train by telegraphic order was tried — which exper- 
 itnent proving successful, the system was regularly adopted 
 by the Company, and it became, as to-day, universal on rail- 
 roads. As it is, there is no such record. The late William 
 H. Stewart, the Erie conductor who ran the train thus first 
 moved under telegraphic instructions, did not remember with 
 certainty the year or the month. He thought it was in the 
 fall of 1852 ; but as Mr. O'Reilly, in his deliverance to the 
 Legislature in July, 1852, mentions the fact that railroad 
 telegraphing was then in use " on one of the most profitable 
 railroads in America," meaning the Erie, the first telegraphic 
 train order must have been given before the time mentioned 
 by Mr. Stewart, probably in the fall of 185 1. At any rate, 
 the use of the telegraph as an invaluable adjunct of railroad 
 operation was suggested, if not advocated, by Mr. O'Reilly 
 at least six years before it had practical demonstration on the 
 Erie at the hands of Superintendent Minot. 
 
 But years before the telegraph was used for any purpose 
 in this country, not to mention its application to railroad 
 operation, the Cooke and Wheatstone "magnetic telegraph" 
 had been in use upon several English railroads, and Superin- 
 tendent McCallum's declaration, made in 1855, that a single 
 track railroad with a telegraph connection was much superior 
 to a double track railroad without such connection, was 
 anticipated as early as 1836, when the editor of The New 
 York Railroad Journal, referring to the Cooke and ^^'heat- 
 stone telegraph, wrote in his periodical that " a single track 
 of railroad of any length can be made as effective and as safe 
 by means of this auxiliary as any double track can be, and 
 this, too, at an original outlay of about the sum required to 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 417 
 
 keep annually a track in repair. The advantages to railroads 
 of this important invention can easily be understood by those 
 familiar with railroad management, and if to these we add 
 the profit to be derived from the transmission of intelligence, 
 we certainly think there is ample inducement for its employ- 
 ment upon every railroad in the United States." 
 
 Ih September, 1839, the Great Western Railroad Com- 
 pany was operating a " magnetic telegraph " on the line of 
 railroad between Paddington and Dryton, England. Infor- 
 mation as to how many passengers left Dryton or Paddington 
 by each train, and similar intelligence, was what the tele- 
 graph was utilized in communicating. A question sent would 
 be answered in two minutes, the distance being 133^ miles. 
 The alphabet was on a dial, and the indicator pointed out each 
 letter under the manipulation of the operator at the other 
 end. 
 
 The London and Blackwell Railroad was opened in Sep- 
 tember, 1840. It was three miles long, and the cars were 
 run by stationary engines at each end of the line — possibly a 
 pioneer cable line. Speaking of this railroad at the time, a 
 London newspaper said : " The telegraph invention of Cooke 
 and ^\'heatstone enables parties at each end to converse. 
 The telegraph is in a neat mahogany case, and it rings a small 
 bell to announce when a train is to be put in motion. There 
 is one at each intermediate station to enable the servants of 
 the railway to communicate with the engineer at the termini. 
 If there is any impediment or casualty, news can be conveyed 
 in the short space of three seconds." 
 
 One of the first to learn telegraphing on the old Cornell 
 line was D. H. Conklin, who was a printer's apprentice at 
 Peekskill, N. Y., in 1S48. In 1850 he went to Williamsburg 
 to work at his trade. The telegraph line the New York and 
 Erie Railroad Company was building was completed between 
 the end of the pier at Piermont and Goshen in the latter part 
 of that year, but had not been put in operation. West of 
 Goshen portions of the line were up, but there were many 
 gaps in it to be closed before a thorough connection could be 
 obtained. At the pier a battery had been put in, but no 
 operator was placed there, and the battery had failed. Super- 
 intendent Minot, at the suggestion of Ezra Cornell, sent for 
 young Conklin to go to Piermont and see what the trouble 
 was. The Erie general offices were then at 35 Wall Street, 
 and one day in the latter part of December, 1850 — the day 
 of the month is now not known — Conklin received a letter 
 from Superintendent Minot. It stated that Conklin had 
 been recommended to the writer in flattering terms as a skil- 
 ful telegraph operator ; that it had been decided that the 
 telegraph would be useful in operating a railroad, as it was 
 hoped that it could be utilized not only by showing the loca- 
 tion of trains at all times but in the movement of trains ; that 
 the work of erecting the Erie line was dragging, which was 
 exceedingly annoying to the writer, as he had been the prin- 
 cipal in advising its adoption ; that the line from Piermont 
 to Goshen had not been worked, and that Mr. Cornell had 
 advised that Conklin be sent for to go up to Piermont and see 
 
 what the difficulty was. The letter asked Conklin to call at 
 Superintendent Minot's office in Wall Street for an interview. 
 
 The result of all this was that the young printer-operator 
 went to Piermont. He found a main battery the like of 
 which he had never seen before. It was known as the 
 " Dutch Battery." Conklin had never handled any except 
 the " Grove." After nearly two days' work, however, he got 
 it in order. Then the whole business was blocked because 
 the Goshen operator could not be " raised." Hector J. Vail, 
 familiarly known as " Hec " Vail, was the operator for the 
 Cornell line at Goshen, and the Erie wire was in the same 
 office, as before stated. Vail was supposed to answer the 
 latter wire in case it were called, but operator Conklin 
 called for him all day, January 3, r8si, and could get no 
 response. Next day he went to Goshen on the first train to 
 see if he could not induce " Hec " to give him and the Erie 
 wire a show for a test. " Hec " consented to do so. Conkhn 
 returned to the Pier, called up Vail, and a thorough test of the 
 wire proved that it was working satisfactorily. Conklin re- 
 turned to New York and reported his success to Superintend- 
 ent Minot, with the intention of resuming work at the case in 
 the Williamsburg printing office. But he did not return to 
 his case. Superintendent Minot's satisfaction over the suc- 
 cessful working of the telegraph line was great, and he had 
 little difficulty in impressing Conklin with possibilities that 
 awaited him in the service of the Erie Telegraph Depart- 
 ment. 
 
 " You must return to Piermont at once," said he. '' We 
 must have your services there as operator. I can't say just 
 at this moment what your wages will be, but that will be ar- 
 ranged to your satisfaction. You must return to the Pier ! " 
 
 The young man severed his connection with the printing 
 office, and returned to Piermont to take charge of the tele- 
 graph office there. He remained there until the telegraph 
 was completed and opened as far as Port Jervis, in the winter 
 of 1851. The division agent (W. H. Power), as the division 
 superintendent was called in those days, advanced him money 
 from time to time — sometimes as much as $10 — for his ex- 
 penses. When the line was opened to Port Jervis, Superin- 
 tendent Minot brought up the subject of Conklin's salary. 
 
 "You know," said he to Conklin, "we will have to employ 
 about ninety operators when the line is completed, and the 
 pay-roll will be heavy, and a large addition to the operating 
 expenses. Now you are an expert. The amount we fix for 
 your salary will govern the salaries of the others. I hope, 
 therefore, that you will accept ^30 a month as your pay, and 
 when the wire is all in good working order I will give you the 
 best office on the line." 
 
 The offer was accepted, with hopes for the future, and 
 thus D. H. Conklin became the first telegraph operator to 
 receive a salary from a railroad company. He assisted in 
 stringing the first insulated wires under the drawbridges on 
 the Paterson and Ramapo and Paterson and Hudson River 
 railroads, and opened some of the Erie telegraph offices on 
 the Susquehanna and Western divisions. In the spring of 
 185 1 he succeeded Joseph W. Guppy as operator at Susque- 
 
4i8 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 hanna Depot, then the most important office on the line, it 
 being known as a " repeating station." 
 
 In those days passengers, baggage, and express and mail 
 pouches were transferred between Piermont and the foot of 
 Duane Street, N. Y., by steamers. The principal steamer 
 Avas the " Erie." Dave Lampman was captain of this boat; 
 Henry Kipp was clerk. There was also an official corre- 
 sponding to steward or purser, in the person of " Billy " Skelly. 
 All the freight, live stock, etc., was transferred to and from 
 the cars and barges at Pier, and the work required a 
 small army of men. Coming out of New York there were 
 clerks upon the barges that worked at billing goods from 
 
 Uses for the telegraph wire developed slowly. The em- 
 ployees, being unacquainted with the telegraph, had but little 
 confidence in it. While at the Pier, Conkling frequently 
 urged those in authority to use the wire, and make inquiries of, 
 and give directions to, their subordinates through that means. 
 For a long time after communication was first made by 
 wire, the message began with " Dear Sir," and closed with 
 " Yours respectfully." 
 
 The first benefit to the railroad derived from use of the 
 telegraph was in handling freight. It was the custom to load 
 the holds of the barges or boats and leave a certain large 
 portion of the decks clear for live stock expected upon a train 
 
 .y-A^ .^ .ii«»-^^ ^^^Z-^t^ li^^^ZX^ '^^ /^Z^^<^^ '^it^c^ 
 
 ^--•^-i;^-^*' ^— ~ 
 
 
 CLsi^^e^ 9^ ^Sat'-x.-^'^^..,..J^2S^ , 
 
 
 ^^A 
 
 ■ir-^iii-^^ 
 
 iML 
 
 -Mi^m:Sii^.-_ 
 
 AN ERIE FREE PASS OF 1845. ORIGINAL OWNED BY MISS ANN PRESTON, MIDDLETOWN, N. Y. 
 
 (Pass the bearer Paul Preston Esqr from New York to Middletown per Steamboat & cars. 
 
 Eleazae Lord Prest New York and Erie Rail Road Co 
 To the Capt & Conductor. New Yk 25 Ap 1845) 
 
 duplicate shipping receipts, and upon arrival at the Pier the 
 work was transferred to the freight office, a building several 
 hundred feet long, where the work of billing was completed. 
 When passenger trains arrived from the West, a large number 
 of men were on hand to transfer baggage, express, etc., to the 
 boats. Before the telegraph line was put in operation, the Pier 
 gang would be on hand at the time set for arrival of trains, 
 and all would " throw the peaks of their ears " inshore toward 
 Piermont. The word would pass : " There she comes ! " All 
 would jump to their feet and be in readiness. Then would 
 follow : " No ; it ain't her ! " and there would be a general 
 settling down again. Perhaps, by next boat from New York, 
 notice would be received that the expected train had met 
 with an accident on the western part of the road, as an- 
 nounced by telegraph around through the northern part of 
 the State. 
 
 due at about lo p.m. The hitching-rack for cattle was just 
 outside the rail, to which they were led up and tied by " bull 
 ropes." As the number of head of cattle coming was always 
 an unknown quantity, but litde of the decks was loaded, and 
 the men were laid off, or otherwise employed, until the 
 arrival of the train and the transfer of the cattle to the barge 
 or barges was made. Then loading was completed, and the 
 steamer started with her barges for New York. 
 
 One day it occurred to Operator Conklin that the wire 
 could be used to the great saving of time and expense in this 
 matter, and he arranged with the conductor of the stock 
 train the next night to let him know by telegraph the number 
 of cattle he would bring in and what he might pick up at 
 "blind stations." This the conductor did. Conklin went 
 to the platform and saw the foreman, Jimmy Hagen, and 
 sorting out the number of " bull ropes " to accord with his 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 419 
 
 knowledge of the cattle to arrive, told Jimmy he need not 
 stop his men as they could load up to the space as indicated, 
 so that when the stock train arrived the boat and barges 
 could get off in thirty minutes instead of being detained for 
 loading the balance of the deck space after the cattle were 
 driven aboard. He also went to Captain Lampman, told 
 him what he had done, and assured him that the fires under 
 his boiler need not be " banked," because he would be able 
 to get away at the time mehtioned, thus arriving at New 
 York much earlier, saving fuel, and enabling his men to get 
 more rest. 
 
 Conklin's proposition caused much discussion, participated 
 in by Captain Lampman, Agent Sabin, Division Agent 
 Taylor, and others, and much distrust was expressed, but 
 Conklin insisted, and his unheard-of innovation was finally 
 so far agreed to as to give it a trial. He paced the long 
 platform waiting for the whistle of the train, and was in a 
 very nervous state when the train came in. The tally proved 
 correct with the telegraphed information. The stock was 
 driven to the barges, which were started for New York 
 sooner than any Erie barges had ever started before after 
 the arrival of a train. As related by Superintendent Minot, 
 who went to Piermont on the next morning's boat, the 
 barges arrived at New York several hours ahead of the 
 usual time, and the stock was taken off and driven to " Bull's 
 Head," the then live-stock market of New York, before 
 business commenced. The streets being unoccupied, less 
 risk and trouble were encountered. Minot, who slept in the 
 Company's building at the foot of Duane Street, arose to go 
 to the pier to see the barges come in, as was his custom, 
 when to his surprise he found them already in, the stock at 
 Bull's Head, and the work of unloading the barges going on. 
 He took the morning boat, went up to the Pier, and was 
 delighted with the evidence of the usefulness of his telegraph 
 scheme. 
 
 From this beginning the use of the telegraph spread until 
 anything and everything was expected from it. The where- 
 abouts of every train upon the division was inquired for 
 about every minute. Lying in bed one night (Conklin 
 roomed at the end of the pier), Charley Pike, the night 
 watchman, came to his room to know where a certain over- 
 due train was. Just as he came in, some office was reporting 
 the train. Conklin told Pike to keep quiet, and he read to 
 him the report. But the watchman was not, as he said, to be 
 fooled in that way. 
 
 "You can't fool me," he said, "by pretending to read 
 what the telegraph is saying while you are in bed." 
 
 So Conklin was forced to get up, go to the instrument, 
 and get the information from the tape. 
 
 As to the inauguration of train-despatching, there was but 
 one opinion among the men who ran on the trains. They 
 deemed it unsafe and unwarranted by rules governing operat- 
 ing. Engineers, in solemn conclave upon theii '■ hunkies " 
 in the round-house, discussed the subject, and resolved that 
 they would not act upon an order sent by wire, and would 
 not run their trains against a ruling time-card train. When 
 
 and where the issue was made is told elsewhere, and thereupon 
 Superintendent Minot issued a circular authorizing and direct- 
 ing that orders given by wire by certain officials therein 
 named be obeyed. This opened the way, and thereafter 
 "orders" were in demand. Not a conductor or engineer, 
 arriving behind schedule time, failed to show the despatcher 
 where he (the despatcher) had been neglectful of duty. 
 " Had we been run to a certain point for a certain train," 
 they would say, " we would have arrived on time." 
 
 About the time Conklin first went to Pier, Ezra Cornell 
 had conceived the idea of working a cable across the Hudson 
 River from Pier to Dearman. The steamer " Gold Hunter," 
 which had been used as a ferry-boat between Fishkill and New- 
 burgh, was employed to run the wire from a reel. The size 
 of wire was No. 9, and it was covered with layers of sheet 
 gutta-percha. There were weights composed of lead clamped 
 around the wire, which it was supposed were sufficiently 
 heavy to anchor and keep the wire from moving with the 
 tide. Unfortunately the weights were too light, and the wire 
 being carried up and down the river by the tide, the cover- 
 ing or insulation was destroyed and the work resulted in 
 failure. This was undoubtedly the first attempt to work a 
 telegraph cable line. 
 
 D. H. Conklin left the Erie service to go with the Delaware, 
 Lackawanna and Western Railway Company as operator at 
 Sand Cut, or Gouldsborough. In 1868 he became a train 
 despatcher for the Delaware Division of the Erie at Port 
 Jervis. Early in the 70's he went to Illinois, where he sub- 
 sequently became president and manager of a railroad 
 company, and remained at its head several years, his home 
 being at Decatur. He retired from active railroad service a 
 few years ago, and in 1894 was elected mayor of Decatur. 
 He is still a resident of that city. 
 
 The first report of an accident on the railroad to be sent 
 by telegraph was sent over the wire by Wilmot M. Vail. 
 The exact date of the incident is not known, but it was 
 some time in 185 1, before the Erie had adopted tele- 
 graph signals. Hector Vail was then the operator of the 
 Cornell line at Port Jervis-. His brother Nathaniel had 
 charge of the office at Goshen. As stated, this office was in 
 the Vail store. Wilmot Vail had not learned to operate, but 
 from hearing and seeing his brothers working at the primitive 
 Morse machine he had unconsciously obtained some insight 
 into its manipulation. The day in question Nathaniel Vail, 
 the operator, had gone to New York, leaving the Goshen 
 office uncovered. The day express from New York, while 
 making the run between Chester and Goshen, ran off the 
 track and into the ditch at Otterkill Creek, two miles east of 
 Goshen. The run-off was a serious one. An hour or more 
 having passed beyond the time the train should have arrived 
 at Port Jervis, the officials there began to want to know 
 something about the train and what was the matter with it, 
 and Hector Vail began to call Goshen. He did not know his 
 brother Nat was absent. At Goshen they knew all about the 
 accident to the train. AVilmot Vail heard the call on the 
 
420 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 machine, but telegraphing not being in his hne he let the call 
 go on. He knew it was his brother Hec calling from Port 
 Jervis, and naturally imagined that he wanted information 
 about the day express. The calling kept on at short intervals 
 for hours, the train not having yet been put back on the track. 
 At last ^^■ilmot Vail began to think the matter over, and made 
 up his mind that he could respond to the call himself. He 
 studied the alphabet awhile, and then pounded off on the 
 key the news about the wrecked train. He was a long time 
 doing it, and the message got to Port Jervis in rather disabled 
 form, but near enough correct for Hec Vail to make out its 
 purport. Although Hec got the news he had been hours 
 calling for, he was not pleased with the way it came in, and 
 after receiving it he telegraphed back to Goshen this ungrate- 
 ful but altogether forcible inquiry : 
 
 "What d n fool sent this in? " 
 
 And that is the way the first report of an accident on the 
 Erie, or on any other railroad, was sent over the telegraph 
 wire. 
 
 To Charles Minot belongs the honor of having made the 
 first practical application of the telegraph to railroading, 
 either in this or any other country, by his adopting it in the 
 early autumn of 185 1, as near as the date can be now fixed, 
 to the running of a train by telegraphic order, which led to a 
 system that was adopted by railroads throughout the world, 
 and remained the standard signal and reporting system on 
 railroads until the block system began to take its place, 
 ten years or so ago. Up to the time of Minot's initial ex- 
 periment with telegraph orders, trains on the railroad were 
 run on what was called the " time intei-val system." The 
 rule was that a ruling train had right of one hour against the 
 opposing train of the same class. Trainmen were anxious to 
 get through. As an instance of this, once Conductor Henry 
 Ayres had lost his hour at Pond Eddy. He took the switch, 
 and after waiting ten minutes, as was the rule, and the op- 
 posing train not being in sight or hearing, he started a brake- 
 man with a red flag, and giving him twenty minutes start, 
 foUovxed with his train. A little west of Shohola he caught 
 the flagman, who had stopped on enough straight line to 
 make it safe. The exhausted man was taken aboard the 
 train and a fresh man started on with the flag, which opera- 
 tion was repeated until the train expected was met at Calli- 
 coon, thirty-four miles from Pond Eddy. Captain Ayers 
 used to say that he had flagged the entire length of the Dela- 
 ware Division more than once. 
 
 W. H. Stewart was running the west-bound express train 
 on the day when Superintendent Minot made his astounding 
 innovation in railroading, he happening to be going over the 
 road on that train. The train, under the rule then existing, 
 was to «"ait for an east-bound express to pass it at Turner's, 
 forty-seven miles from New York. That train had not ar- 
 rived, and the west-bound train would be unable to proceed 
 until an hour had expired, unless the tardy east-bound train 
 arrived at Turner's within that time. There was a telegraph 
 office at Turner's, and Superintendent Minot telegraphed to 
 
 the operator at Goshen, fourteen miles further on, and asked 
 him whether the east-bound train had left that station. The 
 reply was that the train had not yet arrived at Goshen, 
 showing that it was much behind its time. Then, according 
 to the narrative of the late "\V. H. Stewart, given to the author 
 in 1896, Superintendent Minot telegraphed as follows, as 
 nearly as Stewart could recollect : 
 
 To Agent and Operator at Goshen . 
 
 Hold the train for further orders. 
 
 Chas. Minot, Superintendent. 
 
 He then wrote this order, and handed it to Conductor 
 Stewart : 
 
 To Conductor and Engineer, Day Express: 
 
 Run to Goshen regardless of opposing train. 
 
 Chas. Minot, Superintendent. 
 
 " I took the order,'' said Mr. Stewart, relating the incident, 
 " showed it to the engineer, Isaac Lewis, and told him to go 
 ahead. . The surprised engineer read the order, and, handing 
 it back to me, exclaimed : 
 
 " ' Do you take me for a d n fool? I won't run by that 
 
 thing ! ' 
 
 " I reported to the Superintendent, who went forward and 
 used his verbal authority on the engineer, but without effect. 
 Minot then climbed on the engine and took charge of it him- 
 self. Engineer Lewis jumped off and got in the rear seat of 
 the rear car. The Superintendent ran the train to Goshen. 
 The east-bound train had not yet reached that station. He 
 telegraphed to Middletown. The train had not arrived there. 
 The west-bound train was run on a similar order to Middle- 
 town, and from there to Port Jervis, where it entered the 
 yard from the East as the other train came into it from the 
 West." 
 
 An hour and more in time 'had been saved to the west- 
 bound train, and the question of running trains on the Erie 
 by telegraph was at once and forever settled. 
 
 \\'hen the system of running trains on the Erie by telegraph 
 was well established, a code of signals or signs for stations 
 was adopted, such as "PO" for Port Jervis, "XN" for 
 Lacka waxen, and so on. With some modifications this ab- 
 breviated nomenclature is in use to-day. 
 
 The novelty and importance of applying the telegraph to 
 the running of its trains, by the Erie did not begin to attract 
 general attention until 1855. In his report for that year, 
 John T. Clark, New York State Engineer, referred to this 
 innovation at length. As his statements describe accurately 
 the system of operation on the Erie that had gradually de- 
 veloped under the telegraphic adjunct, and which, modified 
 and improved by Superintendent Minot and his successor, 
 D. C. McCallum, eventually became the standard system on 
 railroads everywhere, they are reproduced here as interesting 
 and valuable historic data : 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 421 
 
 The telehjraph has been in use on the Erie since 1852 [meaning 
 practically]. By the concurrent testimony of the superintendents of 
 the road, it has saved more than it cost every year. There is an opera- 
 tor at every station on the line, and at the important ones day and 
 night, so placed that they have a fair view of the track. They are 
 required to note the exact time of the arrival, departure, or passage of 
 every train, and to transmit the same by telegraph to the proper officer. 
 On each division there is an officer called train despatcher, whose duty 
 it is to keep constantly before him a memorandum of the position of 
 «very train upon his division, as ascertained by the telegraphic reports 
 from the several stations. The trains are run upon this road by 
 printed time-tables and regulations. When they become disarranged, 
 the telegraph is also used to disentangle and move them forward. 
 When trains upon any part of this road are delayed, the fact is imme- 
 diately communicated to the nearest station, and from there by tele- 
 graph to every station on the road. Approaching trains are thus 
 warned of the danger, and accidents from this cause are prevented. 
 
 When one or more of the trains from any general cause, like that of 
 ■snow storms, etc., have been retarded and are likely to produce delays 
 on the other trains, the train despatcher is authorized to move them 
 forward by telegraph under certain rules which have been arranged for 
 that purpose. Having before him a schedule of the time of the pas- 
 sage of each train at its last station, he can determine its position at 
 any desired moment with sufficient accuracy for his present purpose, 
 and can adopt the best means of extricating the delayed trains and of 
 regulating the movement of all so as to avoid any danger of collision 
 ■or further entanglement. He then telegraphs to such stations as are 
 necessary, giving orders to some trains to lay by for a certain period, 
 ■or until certain trains have passed, and to others to proceed to certain 
 stations and there await further orders. 
 
 To prevent any error or misunderstanding between the despatcher 
 and the conductor of the train, he is required to write his order in the 
 telegraph operator's book. The operator who receives the message is 
 required to write it upon his book, and to fill up two printed copies, 
 one of which he hands to the conductor of the train, and one to the 
 engineman. The despatcher then transmits a message to the conductor, 
 asking him the question : " How do you understand my message?" 
 To which the conductor must make reply in his own words, repeating 
 the substance of the message as he understands it, to detect any error 
 •which may be made by the operator, or of his own understanding of 
 it. If this is satisfactory to the despatcher, he telegraphs, " All right, 
 go ahead ! " and until this final message is received, no trains can be 
 moved on the road by telegraph. 
 
 Time is saved by using abbreviations for stations and messages, 
 trains, etc. 
 
 In this way, if a passenger train is delayed an hour or more, all 
 freight trains which would be held by it at the several stations under 
 the general rules are moved forward to such other passing places as 
 they are certain to reach before the delayed trains could overtake 
 them, and thus it frequently happens that in a single day the trains 
 which would otherwise be delayed, are moved forward by telegraph, 
 the equivalent to the use of two or three engines and trains. 
 
 Engineer : You will run to Station regardless of 
 
 train bound (east or west). "31." 
 
 , Division Superintendent. 
 
 per , Despatcher. 
 
 Received by , Operator. 
 
 The figures " 31 " meant, " How do you understand? " The 
 conductor and engineer to vs^hom such a despatch was ad- 
 dressed were under obligation, by the rules, to reply to it at 
 once, and in doing so would telegraph : " 32," which meant, 
 
 " I understand that I am to ," and then a repetition of the 
 
 order followed. " Blank A " was an order those in charge of 
 trains never cared to be under the necessity of receiving. It 
 was as follows : 
 
 (A) 
 
 From Station to , Conductor, and , 
 
 Engineer, at Station : 
 
 You will run (east or west) ahead of Train, conditioned 
 
 as follows : Should you, from any cause, be unable to make your run- 
 ning time, you will, as soon as you discover such to be the case, leave 
 your Flagman to warn the approaching train, ahead of which you 
 have been ordered to run, and you will put your train upon the first 
 switch you reach, and there remain until you have received special 
 orders to proceed, or until you can go ahead in accordance with the 
 right of your train, as per printed instruction, March 6, 1854. The 
 responsibility of an accident resulting from the violation of any par- 
 ticular contained in Rules 14 and 15 of Supplementary Instructions 
 of April 2, 1855, will rest upon you. This order will remain in force 
 until countermanded. "31." 
 
 , Division Superintendent. 
 
 per , Train Despatcher. 
 
 Received by , Operator. 
 
 The order contained in Blank A was not telegraphed entire, 
 but was printed and in stock at the telegraph offices, and 
 conductors and engineers were simply ordered by telegraph 
 to run their trains so and so, " by Blank A," which was en- 
 tered by the operator on the printed blank and delivered to 
 the trainmen it was intended to instruct. 
 
 This system, with but little change or modification, remained 
 the system under which operations were conducted on the 
 Erie for thirty-five years, when the block system of the Penn- 
 sylvania Railroad was finally put in force, in December, 1888. 
 Old-time Erie men still cling to the memory of the original 
 system, and declare that it was a better one than the modern 
 block system ; but such is not the opinion of the public or of 
 present-day railroad managers. 
 
 The blank orders that were the basis of telegraphic run- 
 ning of trains originated with Superintendent McCallum, in 
 1854. They became famous as "Blank 31," " Blank 32," 
 and "Blank A." The use of Blank 31 came under Rule 12 
 of the McCallum code, which was that " when a meeting 
 place is to be made for trains moving in contrary directions, 
 the right to run shall be made certain, positive, and defined, 
 without regard to time," and this form of order was pre- 
 scribed ; 
 
 From 
 
 Station to , Conductor, and 
 
 Charles W. Douglas was the first telegraph operator to 
 ignore dependence on the printed slip of the receiving instru- 
 ment in taking a regular train order to be delivered to a con- 
 ductor, and to take the message by sound as the instrument 
 clicked it off in impressing the characters on the tape. Mr. 
 Douglas started in life as a printer. After learning his trade 
 in the office of the Advertiser at Angelica, Allegany County, 
 N. Y., he started on foot in the pursuit of fortune. He had 
 as companions at one time in his tramp through the country 
 Mark M.'Pomeroy, afterward known to fame as "Brick" 
 Pomeroy, and David R. Locke, who made a great reputation 
 
422 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 and much money in after years as " Petroleum V. Nasby." 
 Early in 185 1 young Douglas found himself at work in 
 the office of the Record, at Dundee, Yates County, N. Y. 
 About that time Ezra Cornell had got a branch of his tele- 
 graph working along the line of the railroad then but recently 
 constructed through that way, and an office was fitted up in 
 the Record office. Douglas at once developed a tendency 
 toward the telegraph. The mystery of the insignificant little 
 instrument that clicked messages away and received messages 
 with other clicks, fascinated him, and he resolved to master 
 it. By stealthy nightly intrusion into the room where the in- 
 strument was — it was not worked at night — and by means of 
 the operator's key alphabet book, and persistent practice on 
 the keyboard, he, in the course of time, believed that he had 
 
 C. W. DOUGLAS. 
 
 made himself as proficient as need be to adopt telegraphing 
 as a profession, and he threw up his job in the Dundee print- 
 ing office, went to Elmira, where the headquarters of the 
 Erie telegraph had recently been established, in charge of L. 
 G. Tillotson as superintendent, and solicited a situation as 
 operator. The telegraph had not yet been utiKzed in the 
 running of trains under telegraphic orders. The railroad had 
 been opened through to Dunkirk only a few weeks. The 
 young tyro in his business succeeded in satisfying Tillotson 
 that he was equipped for a place, and he was employed. He 
 was sent to take charge of the office at Addison, N. Y. 
 Douglas's confidence in himself was not misplaced. He 
 manipulated the instrument well from the start, and soon 
 became expert. 
 
 While Douglas was at Addison, the Erie adopted the tele- 
 graphic order system of running trains. By this time Douglas's 
 
 ear had become so nicely adjusted to the clicking of the re- 
 ceiving instrument that he found he could take a message 
 just by the sounds of the instrument, without spelling it out 
 on the tape. One day an order came from the despatcher's 
 office at Elmira for a conductor who was waiting for it at 
 Addison. Douglas wrote the order as it was clicked off the 
 wire, and handed it to the conductor. The latter, noticing 
 that Douglas had not copied the message from the tape reel, 
 emphatically refused to accept it until the operator, who 
 protested, had taken it from the tape. The incident seemed 
 to the conductor to be so fraught with danger to the running 
 of trains that he reported Douglas to Superintendent Tillot- 
 son, who was aghast at such trifling on the part of an operator, 
 and immediately called the offender to Elmira, and repri- 
 manded him severely for such an unheard-of act. Douglas 
 insisted that if an operator could understand by the sound of 
 his instrument the call of his office from another office, there 
 was no reason why he should not learn the sound of every 
 character in the alphabet, and read them by ear correctly in 
 any combination they might come off the wire, and proved it 
 by practical demonstration. Still Superintendent Tillotson 
 was skeptical, and it was not until Douglas had succeeded in 
 every test the superintendent and the Elmira operator could 
 put him to, during an all-afternoon's experimenting of the 
 severest kind, that they began to believe in the practicability 
 and safety of taking telegraphic messages by sound. It was 
 not, however, until Tillotson had sent Douglas back to Addi- 
 son and wired him a long message as fast as it could be put 
 on the wire, with instructions to take it by sound and repeat 
 it to Elmira, and the message began to come back to Elmira 
 from Addison almost before the last word had left the Elmira 
 office, that the superintendent was entirely satisfied, and from 
 that day taking messages by sound began to be the best 
 qualification of an operator, and the days of the old tape reel 
 were numbered. Douglas was called from the little wayside 
 office at Addison and installed as manager of the Elmira 
 office. From that Mr. Douglas filled many responsible 
 places in the service of the Company, until he became chief 
 train despatcher on the Delaware Division, under Superin- 
 tendent Hugh Riddle. January i, 1865, he was himself ap- 
 pointed superintendent of that division, to succeed Mr. 
 Riddle, who was promoted to the general superintendency. 
 In this position Mr. Douglas speedily took front rank among 
 railroad superintendents. In 1869 he dismissed an employee 
 of the Company at Port Jervis for what he considered good 
 cause. Jay Gould ordered reinstatement. Mr. Douglas 
 decUned to obey the order, and was forced to resign. General 
 Superintendent Riddle supported Mr. Douglas in the matter, 
 and his resignation was also demanded. The employee over 
 whom the controversy arose was reinstated by President 
 Gould. 
 
 After leaving the Erie Mr. Douglas became general super- 
 intendent of the Southside Railroad of Long Island, and sub- 
 sequently general superintendent of the Oswego and Midland 
 Railroad, now the New York, Ontario and Western. In 1874, 
 he having been successful as a railroad contractor in 1870 in 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 423 
 
 building the Goshen and Deckertown Railroad (Pine Island 
 Branch of the Erie), Mr. Douglas took the contract for build- 
 ing the Corpus Christi, San Diego and Rio Grande Railroad, 
 from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Lareto, on the Rio Grande 
 River. This is now a part of the International Railroad. After 
 completing that work, Mr. Douglas took charge of the New 
 York and Greenwood Lake Railroad, and later of the New 
 York and Sea Beach Railroad, on Long Island. \\'hen the 
 Erie dissolved its relations with the United States Express 
 Company, and assumed charge of the express business over 
 its railroad, Mr. Douglas was appointed route agent of the 
 Erie Express Company, which place he held until the business 
 was taken by Wells, Fargo & Co. For nine years thereafter 
 Mr. Douglas A\'as in the employ of the West Shore Railroad 
 Company, retiring to engage in the business he started out 
 in life in, and became an employing printer at Syracuse, 
 N. Y. He sold out his establishment in the spring of 1898. 
 
 This copy of a blank of a train order in use soon after the 
 opening of the railroad to Bingham ton, in 1849, will give an 
 idea of how operations were conducted before the days of 
 the telegraph. H. C. Seymour was then superintendent : 
 
 Conductor , with engine No. . . . , will leave the 
 
 Delaware Station at 6 o'clock a.m., on the .... day of ... . His 
 
 train will consist of Box and Flat Cars, and which he will 
 
 distribute as follows : {Blanks for inst^-ttctions.) — He will take a sup- 
 ply of water for the engine at and On 
 
 arrival at the Callicoon he will expect to meet .... train from the 
 
 West, which train he will wait for until , when, if the train 
 
 has not arrived, he will proceed carefully, expecting to meet it at 
 any point. Upon arrival at Binghamton he will report to Agent 
 
 , and receive order for his return. 
 
 Supt. 
 
 extraordinary accident to conductor coe 
 little's stock train. 
 
 In the early days of Erie, live-stock transportation was one 
 of the railroad's big items of traffic. Trains half a mile long, 
 loaded with homed cattle, horses, sheep, and hogs, used to 
 pass over the road two or three times a day. Such a thing 
 as a live-stock train is almost a curiosity nowadays. Coe Lit- 
 tle was conductor of one of the stock-trains between Susque- 
 hanna and Port Jervis. He left Susquehanna one night with 
 a long train of cattle cars. Those trains were next to pas- 
 senger trains in class, and were run over the road a-humming. 
 Conductor Little delivered his train at Port Jervis on time, 
 and handed in his way-bills, which he had received at Sus- 
 quehanna, and on which the number, character, and con- 
 tents of every car in his train were recorded. When the 
 agent at Port Jervis compared Little's train with his voucher, 
 one car was missing. The car was entered on the way-bill 
 as having left Susquehanna all right. Its place, according to 
 the bill, was near the middle of the train, but it was not in 
 the train at all at Port Jervis. 
 
 Conductor Little declared that every car was in the train 
 
 when he left Susquehanna, for he had checked the number 
 of each one on the way-bill himself. He certainly had not 
 delivered the missing car to anyone on the way, and he 
 couldn't see how anyone could have sneaked in and stolen 
 it, especially as the train had been on the move pretty much 
 all the time between Susquehanna and Port Jervis. A tele- 
 gram was sent to the agent at Susquehanna, asking for infor- 
 mation about the missing car. The reply was that nothing 
 was known there that could throw any light on the subject; 
 quite the contrary, for the agent corroborated Little's report. 
 When the train left Susquehanna the missing car was part 
 of it. 
 
 During the efforts of the puzzled railroad men at Port 
 Jervis to solve the mystery of the lost car, someone discov- 
 ered that the car that should have been behind the missing 
 one was coupled to the car that should have been just ahead 
 of the lost car, and without the aid of a coupling pin at that, 
 the link being broken in such a way that it had become a 
 hook, which was fast in the pin-hole in the coupler of the 
 other car. This certainly did not help matters. It deepened 
 the mystery. 
 
 They were still absorbed in efforts at Port Jervis to solve 
 the problem, and a car-tracer was about to be sent back over 
 the road to search for the car, when a telegram came from 
 Chauncey Thomas, the agent at Shohola, sixteen miles west 
 of Port Jervis. Agent Thomas said, in effect, that somebody's 
 cattle car was astray in a field along the Delaware River just 
 west of Shohola station, and that he had better come and 
 look after it. The wrecking gang was sent up from Port Jer- 
 vis, and, sure enough, in the middle of a field, 100 feet or 
 more from the railroad, stood the missing cattle car, right as 
 a trivet, except that its doors were open and its cattle gone. 
 To get where it was the car had run down a ten-foot embank- 
 ment, across a wagon road, and through a stout rail fence. 
 
 There was only one way to explain the freak of the car in 
 quitting its train so unceremoniously. Going east along that 
 part of the Erie, the track is down grade. Just before reach- 
 ing Shohola the coupling-pin that held the car to the one 
 ahead of it must have broken. This divided the train in two 
 parts. The head car of the rear part jumped the track, and 
 breaking the link that held it to the car behind it, went down 
 the bank, getting out of the way of the cars following on the 
 track. When the leading section of the divided train got to 
 the foot of the grade, its speed slackened. The following 
 section caught up with it and ran into the rear car, but not 
 with force sufficient to do any damage or attract attention. 
 The broken link, then a hook, happened to fall into the pin- 
 hole of the coupler ahead of it. The train was thus re- 
 coupled, and went on to Port Jervis without the loss of a car 
 from its very centre having been discovered by anyone. 
 
 Whether the doors of the fugitive car were broken by the 
 jar and jolt of its trip down the bank, through the fence, and 
 across the lot, or whether the cattle inside had kicked them 
 open, does not matter. The doors were open, and the cat- 
 tle were gone. It was winter, and the Delaware River, only 
 a short distance away, was filled with running ice. The cat- 
 
424 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 tie must have been in a panic, for they had plunged into that 
 icy flood and made their way across the river into Sullivan 
 County, N. Y. Searchers, accompanied by the drover who 
 owned them, found and recovered them all, and not one had 
 received injury. 
 
 There is no parallel to this one in the record of mishaps 
 to railroad trains, and it never ceased to be a wonder to the 
 old-time Erie trainmen. 
 
 THEY FORGOT THE BABY. 
 
 One evening in the summer of 1850, as the train west was 
 leaving Barton Station, on the Susquehanna Division, Con- 
 ductor C. L. Robinson saw a man and a woman, who had 
 left the train at Barton, running wildly after the train. They 
 yelled : 
 
 " Stop ! stop ! for God's sake ! We've forgotten our baby !" 
 
 The conductor pulled the bell-cord and the train stopped. 
 
 The man rushed into one of the cars, and there, sure enough, 
 
 on one of the seats lay a chubby baby, all unconscious of the 
 
 fact that its parents had left the car and forgotten it. 
 
 OLD-TIME ERIE GRATITUDE. 
 
 One day in the spring of 1854, Mrs. Silas Horton, living 
 near Owego, waved a pair of red flannel drawers and saved 
 the mail train on the Erie from being dashed to pieces by 
 running over a tree that had fallen across the track. Pres- 
 ident Ramsdell wrote as follows to Mr. and Mrs. Horton, 
 expressing the thanks of the Company, and transmitting a 
 dress for Mrs. Horton, together with a life pass for each over 
 the road : 
 
 Office of the K. Y. & E. R. R. Co., ) 
 New York, June 20, 1854. ( 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Silas Horton . 
 
 My attention has been called to an article in the Binghamton Rc- 
 publican, which is corroborated by the officers of this Company, rela- 
 tive of the noble and humane conduct evinced by you, on an occasion 
 when the lives and safety of the persons travelling; on our mail train 
 were jeopardized by an obstruction on the road, and but for your 
 active and prompt action, in all probability, much suffering and loss 
 would have ensued. 
 
 In view of the above facts, and for the purpose of evincing our 
 gratitude and appreciation of the valuable services rendered, 
 and as a slight testimonial of the respect and esteem of this Com- 
 pany, I have the pleasure to forward herewith a pass for each of 
 you, and a dress for Mrs. Horton, and respectfully request your 
 acceptance of the same. 
 
 Allow me to express the hope that in your journeys over the 
 road and through life, you may find friends as zealous in guarding 
 you from danger as you were others on the occasion referred to. 
 Yours respectfully. 
 
 Homer R.^^msdell, President. 
 
 DAMAGES WERE PROMPTLY SETTLED FOR, FORTY 
 YEARS AGO. 
 
 One day, just before the Christmas hoHdays of 1856, a 
 Miss Belknap, on her way to spend the festive season with 
 
 friends in New York, was a passenger on an Erie train from 
 Newburgh. She had her wardrobe in a large carpet bag 
 (they were not grips or satchels in those days), which she 
 placed in the rack over her seat, and not far from one of the 
 ventilators. During the trip there was a smell of burning 
 cloth in the car that could not be accounted for, although it 
 elicited considerable inquiry. On arriving at Jersey City, the 
 lady reached for her carpet bag, when she found that instead 
 of her presumably rich silk robes and fine laces and snowy- 
 white night gowns, she had a bag of ashes and a mass of 
 black cinders. The whole of her wardrobe was burned, but 
 so confined had been the fire that the cloth had charred with- 
 out blazing ; but the ruin was complete, and the lady declared 
 that her visit was spoiled, as well as her clothes. Upon ex- 
 amination, the conductor concluded that the accident had 
 been caused by a spark from the locomotive entering at the 
 ventilator. He calmed the lady's disturbed mind by assuring 
 her that he thought the Company would make good her loss, 
 and asked her to prepare a list of her destroyed property,, 
 with an estimate of its value, which she did. She placed 
 the damage at ^60. The conductor made a report of the 
 case, and the documents were presented at the Company's 
 office in the Erie building, at the foot of Duane Street. The 
 claim was approved forthwith, and it was paid, the claimant 
 being delayed but a few minutes. 
 
 A CONSIDERATE AND GENEROUS BOARD OF DI- 
 RECTORS. 
 
 One day early in August, 1856, a girl named McGraff, 
 through her own carelessness, was injured by a locomotive 
 near Sloatsburg, Rockland, N. Y. Her parents being poor, 
 the attention of President Ramsdell was called to her case by 
 a citizen of Goshen. President Ramsdell, at the next meet- 
 ing of the Board of Directors, mentioned the incident, and a 
 number of the Directors made up a purse of $45 out of their 
 own pockets and forwarded it to the McGraff family, with a 
 letter expressing their regrets for the mishap. If a board of 
 railroad directors of to-day should be moved to such an act 
 as that, people could go to bed assured that the millennium 
 had dawned. 
 
 McCALLUM AND THE BAGGAGE SMASHERS. 
 
 D. C. McCallum was general superintendent of the New 
 York and Erie Railroad in 1856. According to the local 
 papers of that day, the "baggage smasher'' was even then a 
 terror to the travelling public, and Superintendent McCallum 
 had the temerity to issue an order that employees of the 
 Company must handle the baggage of passengers with the 
 utmost care, under pain of instant dismissal if the order was 
 disregarded, travellers being requested to call the attention 
 of the superintendent to any case of " baggage smashing " 
 that came under their notice. Such an order as that to-day 
 would be considered as a good cause for a general indigna- 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 425 
 
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 A RIDDLE FREE PASS — 1865. NORTHRUP COLLECTION. 
 
426 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 tion meeting of baggage handlers, and as an infringement of 
 their rights, warranting them to strike in a body and demand 
 redress. 
 
 LET THE CARS CUT HIS HEAD OFF. 
 
 Charles Ellison, a young man living in the town of IVIonroe, 
 Orange County, N. Y., August 20, 1857, stepped into Tur- 
 ner's Hotel, at Turner's Station, intoxicated. He called for 
 liquor. It was refused him. 
 
 ■yti^mi- 
 
 ernment contract for carrying the mails, and a mail agent 
 travelled on the railroad from New York to look after them. 
 The first agent, in 1841, was James H. Reynolds, who was 
 succeeded by Leander IMillspaugh. Tickets were sold in 
 New York over the railroad and the stage line. 
 
 In October, 1845, the Erie itself made a contract for 
 
 carrying the mails. The first agent's name was Robinson. 
 
 The cars then ran only as far Middletown. The agent's 
 
 duties were to receive and mail letters deposited in the car 
 
 at the different stations, and deliver mail on which 
 
 postage was prepaid at all regular stopping places. 
 
 This was the beginning of railway mail service on 
 
 '^ the Erie. 
 
 THE ORIGINAL ERIE BUILDING AND DOCKS — I 
 
 FROM AN 
 
 " If you don't let me have a drink," he said to the bar- 
 tender, " I will kill myself ! " 
 
 He was still refused. He walked out to the railroad track, 
 waited until a train approached, and when it was near, placed 
 his neck across the rail. His head was severed from his body. 
 
 BRAKEMAN JOHN GRAy's TERRIFIC FLYING LEAP. 
 
 November 29, 1859, as a freight train was passing over the 
 Conawacta Bridge, at Lanesboro, Pa., an axle on one of the 
 cars broke, and nine of the cars became detached from the 
 locomotive and plunged from the bridge, fifty-two feet, to 
 the ground below. John Gray, of Port Jervis, a brakeman, 
 was the only person on that part of the train. He was 
 standing on the top of the last car that left the bridge, and 
 jumped from it at the instant it was going over. He landed 
 on the ground fifty feet beyond where the car fell, and one 
 hundred feet from the point where he made the leap — a 
 frightful flying leap through the air. Instead of being in- 
 stantly killed, he lived five days with both arms broken, his 
 shoulder dislocated, and his body terribly mangled. 
 
 FIRST RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE. 
 
 Stephen Sweet, of Middletown, was agent of the stage 
 company that ran in connection with the railroad, taking care 
 of the mails and passengers. The stage line had the gov- 
 
 THE ORIGINAL ERIE BUILDING. 
 
 For twenty years the Erie's general offices were 
 quartered amply in the building that occupies the 
 block at \Vest, Duane, and Reade streets, New 
 York. That ground \\as leased from the city by 
 the Company, January i, 1848, for a term of 
 ninety-nine years. The building, and the docks 
 along the water front, were finished the same year. 
 
 THE GORGEOUS GOULD AND FISK 
 QUARTERS. 
 
 OLD PRINT. The original Erie Building was occupied by 
 the general offices of the Company until 1869. 
 November 7, 186S, Gould and Fisk purchased Pike's Opera 
 House, then recently erected, at the corner of Twenty-third 
 Street and Eighth Avenue, New York, and the next year 
 began fitting the building up for the Erie headquarters and 
 leased it to the Company. " For months past," as a New 
 York newspaper of August 25, 1869, declared in a descrip- 
 tion of the new quarters, " workmen have been industriously 
 preparing the place. There are two entrances to these 
 offices, the main one being on Twenty-third Street. The 
 public passing by on Eighth Avenue will be struck by the 
 magnificence of these. The ceilings are high, and, as well 
 as the walls, are admirably frescoed. 
 
 " Going up the Twenty-third Street entrance, the visitor 
 finds the staircase grand. The woodwork and the walls of 
 marble are elaborate. Arriving upon the second floor a huge, 
 admirably carved door swings open upon such a spectacle as 
 was never before witnessed in any business place ; in fact, 
 there are but few palaces wherein so rich a co//J>e d'' ceil could 
 be presented as that of the main offices of the Erie Railway 
 Company. The carved woodwork, the stained and cut glass 
 of the partitions, the gilded balustrades, the splendid gas 
 fixtures, and, above all, the artistic frescoes upon the walls 
 and ceilings, create astonishment and admiration at such a 
 blending of the splendid and practical. On this main floor 
 are the private offices of Mr. Fisk, Comptroller ; Mr. 
 Gould, President ; Mr. Otis, the Secretary of the Company. 
 There is a large, handsome room for the Board of Directors. 
 The Yice-President and his clerks, the Counsellor of the 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 427 
 
 Company, and the General Superintendent and his clerks 
 occupy rooms on the same floor. The private offices of 
 Mr. Gould, Mr. Fisk and Mr. Otis are fitted up superbly. 
 In each are every possible requirement — telegraphic com- 
 munication with all parts of the house — such desks as a 
 coquette might desire for her boudoir, so ornamented and 
 tastefully arranged are they — furniture of the most com- 
 fortable description, and elegant mirrors, statuary, etc. The 
 room for the Board of Directors is also comfortably and 
 splendidly furnished. The woodwork and furniture were 
 made by Marcotte, and are rich and costly. 
 
 " On the third floor are the offices of the General Freight 
 Agent and Ticket Agent. These rooms are elegantly arranged. 
 
 " On the fourth floor is the Auditor's Department and the 
 Engineer's Department. There are back of these pubhc 
 offices, on the fourth floor, the rooms for the janitors and 
 those of the servants who reside in the building. The 
 kitchens, store-rooms and pantries are back of these. Even 
 up to the top of the house the rooms are airy and very large 
 — the high ceilings all appropriately frescoed. 
 
 " There are in the basement very large and complete print- 
 ing offices, storage rooms, telegraphic departments, steam 
 engines, boilers for heating the house and running the ma- 
 chinery. A most important feature of these new offices is 
 the safe, which has cost over §30,000. It is seven stories 
 high, each totally unconnected, and is built upon a solid 
 foundation of granite. Rising to the very roof of the main 
 building, this immense safe is so constructed that were the 
 Grand Opera House to be burned to the ground, the safe 
 would stand. It is reared within the house, but in no wise is 
 connected mth it. 
 
 " Throughout the new offices are the most complete arrange- 
 ments for the comfort of those who will occupy them. The 
 managers have a dining-room, the employees have theirs, and 
 a trAef de cuisine of acknowleged capacity will provide their 
 daily meals. Dumb waiters will go from the kitchen to every 
 floor. In short, nothing has been overlooked in rendering 
 these new offices as commodious as they are magnificent. 
 
 " On the decorations of the rooms the highest praise can 
 be bestowed. Garibaldi, who executed the frescoes, is well 
 known here as an artist of rare talent. In the Academy of 
 Music, in Booth's Theatre, in the Grand Opera House, he 
 has given evidences of this fact, but nowhere more so than on 
 the ceihngs and walls of the new Erie offices has he proved 
 how very artistic he can be. Mr. Fisk, who planned and has 
 superintended the arrangement of the palatial offices in 
 question, has certainly reason to be proud of the result, there 
 being nowhere in this country or in Europe anything of the 
 kind to compare with these splendid rooms." 
 
 In those palatial quarters the Erie offices were housed until 
 December, 1875, when H. J. Jewett had come to the control 
 of Erie, and he removed the offices back to the original old 
 Erie Building in \\'est Street. In 1880, the quarters being 
 too much cramped for the increase in force made necessary 
 by the increase in railroad and railroad business, the com- 
 pany leased five floors in the Coal and Iron Exchange Build- 
 
 ing,^ at Church and Cortlandt Streets. The Erie general offi- 
 ces are still in that building, although much more modestly 
 housed than in President Jewett's time. 
 
 In 1872, when Gould made his " restitution " to the Com- 
 pany, he included the Opera House in the property turned 
 over to the Erie,'Fisk's widow having relinquished the half 
 interest her husband had in the property at Gould's request. 
 The property was reconveyed to Gould in December, 1881, 
 by the Company at a valuation of ^700,000, being more than 
 ;?Soo,ooo less than the Company had allowed him for it in 
 1872. The consideration was a transfer to the Company of 
 all Gould's interest in the Erie coal properties. 
 
 FIRST ERIE DINING-STATION.S. 
 
 The first building intended to be used for dining pur- 
 poses along the line of the Erie was built at what is now 
 Sterlington, about twenty miles from Piermont, before the rail- 
 road was yet finished as far as that. It was put up by specu- 
 lative persons connected with the Company, on the belief 
 that after people had travelled twenty-four miles by boat 
 and twenty miles by rail, they would be hungry, and welcome 
 a spot where they could get something to eat. The building 
 was a pretentious affair architecturally, but not large. But it 
 proved that travellers did not seem to have taken on appetite 
 enough after a trip of that distance to patronize the pioneer 
 dining-place, and it was never used for the purpose for 
 which it was built. The Peter Turner place, at Turner's 
 Station, some miles further on, was apparently just the 
 right distance from New York to have whetted the appetite 
 of the patrons of the road, and their demands made of this 
 place the first dining-station to come into existence along 
 the railroad. For years the wants of the travelling public 
 were catered to so sumptuously and excellently, that Turner's 
 became famous the country over as a dining-station, in spite of 
 the unpretentious, homely appearance of the caravansary where 
 the meals were served ; and all through trains, east and west, 
 that arrived there anywhere near a suitable meal time, stopped 
 there for meals. Peter Turner died, and his son James suc- 
 ceeded to the famous old dininaj-saloon. During Nathaniel 
 Marsh's administration, the building of an immense dining- 
 station at Turner's was begun by the Company, and it 
 was completed during the administration of President Ber- 
 dell. It was of brick. It was three stories high and 400 
 feet long, situated between the east and westbound tracks, 
 fifty yards east of the old Turner's dining-saloon. The rail- 
 road offices were also in the building, which was fitted up 
 sumptuously as a hotel as well as a dining-saloon. The 
 dining-room would seat 200 guests, and the lunch- counter 
 was of proportionate capacity. There was not another such 
 place on the line of any railroad in the country. Experi- 
 enced hotel men at various times leased it and conducted it, 
 but never at a profit. It was a favorite retreat of James 
 Fisk, Jr.'s, who, with special train-loads of boon companions, 
 chiefly of the gender sex, was wont to entertain lavishly 
 there in his palmy days in Erie. The place was called the 
 
428 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Orange Hotel. After the days of Gould and Fisk, the glory 
 of the famous dining-place began to wane, and it was rapidly 
 becoming a spot of solitude amid splendor, when, on the 
 night of December 26, 1873, it was completely destroyed by 
 fire. The building and its furnishings had cost ^350,000. 
 For years its charred ruins disfigured the landscape there- 
 about, and, during Jewett's time, were at last cleared away. 
 To-day the spot is covered with railroad tracks, and not a 
 thing remains to remind this generation of the splendor and 
 folly that once ruled there. 
 
 The second dining-saloon on the Erie was at the Port 
 Jervis station. It was started soon after the railroad reached 
 there. Its first proprietors were J. W. Meginnes and James 
 Lytle. Lytle retired from the firm, and Meginnes ran it 
 until 1857, when he died. His widow conducted it a short 
 time, when S. O. Dimmick took it and ran it until Port Jervis 
 was abandoned as a regular dining-place in 1869. 
 
 Narrowsburg became a dining-place when the railroad 
 was opened to Binghamton. It was conducted by Major 
 Fields, and acquired much fame by the fact that the grand 
 excursion over the railroad. May 14, 185 1, on the occasion 
 of the opening to Dunkirk, dined there en route, on that 
 day. At that dinner. President Fillmore and members of his 
 cabinet, Daniel Webster among them, and scores of other 
 notable men of that day, sat down, and made the wayside 
 dining-hall echo with their after-dinner eloquence. Narrows- 
 burg became a famous Erie dining-place, and was conducted 
 later by Commodore C. Murray and afterward by his sons, 
 C. H. and H. C. Murray, for many years, when the Company 
 abandoned Narrowsburg as a regular dining-station. 
 
 Later, Deposit became a dining-station, and Owego, 
 Elmira, Hornellsville, Olean, and Dunkirk had large depot 
 dining-saloons for many years after 1851. Susquehanna was 
 made a leading and regular dining-place early in the 60s, 
 and the Company erected the immense and costly station 
 building there. This dining-saloon was one of the notable 
 ones of the country for more than a quarter of a century. 
 The Erie dining-saloon at Hornellsville also became famous, 
 and is remembered to this day by travellers for its delicious 
 waffles. 
 
 The coming of the dining and hotel cars on the road 
 destroyed the general usefulness of the station dining-saloons. 
 They became unprofitable, and the greatest of them now 
 depend chiefly on their lunch counters. 
 
 EVOLUTION IN THE PASSENGER SERVICE. 
 
 In May, 1852, Henry Fitch resigned as general ticket 
 agent of the Erie. He was succeeded by George L. Dunlap. 
 In 1857 Mr. Dunlap retired from the railroad business and 
 went to Chicago, where he made a fortune in real estate, and 
 where he still lives. He was succeeded by C. B. Greenough. 
 In 1862 Mr. Greenough left the Erie, and went to Brazil, from 
 the government of which country he had obtained liberal con- 
 cessions for constructing street railways. He made a fortune 
 there, but died in Rio Janeiro. Following Mr. Greenough 
 
 came William R. Barr. "When he came to the Erie, Mr. 
 Barr was and had been for several years general agent at 
 Buffalo of the Buffalo and Erie, the Cleveland, Painesville 
 and Ashtabula, the Cleveland and Toledo, and the Michigan 
 Southern and Northern Indiana railways, the independent 
 lines that were subsequently consolidated as the Lake Shore 
 and Michigan Southern. He remained at the head of the 
 Erie passenger department until June, 1872, when he was 
 succeeded by John N. Abbott, who had been assistant general 
 passenger agent since 1869. 
 
 The general passenger agents were not much in evidence 
 as factors in the management of the Company's business 
 until the time of Barr. There had been several serious rate 
 wars since the opening of the railroad to Dunkirk, but the 
 general' passenger agent's name never appeared to indicate 
 that the head of that department even so much as made a 
 suggestion. The president, the secretary, the general 
 superintendent, or frequently some prominent director, 
 usually figured as the one in charge of the business of fixing 
 rates or originating methods of conducting the passenger 
 department. The general passenger agent's name had never 
 appeared on an official time-table until the Barr incumbency 
 of the office. Under Barr the individuality of the passenger 
 department was brought out so that it stood publicly in 
 stronger contrast to the operating department, with an indi- 
 cation that it was not subordinate to that department. 
 
 It was not, however, until Mr. Barr's successor, John 
 N. Abbott, had been appointed, that reform principles and 
 methods of conducting the immigrant business were intro- 
 duced and made effective in improving the revenues of the 
 Erie Company, safeguarding the immigrants and commer- 
 cially protecting the interests of the port of New York against 
 unfair competition through other ports for this valuable 
 traffic. This was accomplished by a master stroke on the 
 part of Mr. Abbott in negotiating contracts with the leading 
 transatlantic steamship lines, in 1873, under which immi- 
 grants should be carried from their old homes in Europe to 
 their new homes in America upon as favorable fares and 
 conditions via the port of New York as should exist from 
 time to time through any other Atlantic seaport, and 
 were consigned to and placed under the protecting care 
 of the Erie Company in Castle Garden, where they were 
 shielded from the wiles and solicitations of runners and 
 sharpers, and, when ready to start for the West, instead of 
 being loaded upon baggage wagons or compelled to find 
 their own way to the railway station, were carried in a com- 
 modious emigrant barge direct from Castle Garden to the 
 Erie immigrant station and trains at Jersey City. 
 
 The Commissioners of Emigration of the State of New 
 York adopted resolutions commendatory of this new, humane, 
 and protective system after it had been successfully 
 inaugurated. 
 
 The details of these arrangements were efficiently admin- 
 istered by Nicholas Muller, who was appointed emigrant 
 agent of the Erie in 1873. This alliance between the Erie 
 and the steamship lines continued until the emigrant busi- 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 429 
 
to- 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 ness of all the railroad lines was pooled in 1883, and the other 
 lines may be said to have had, during all those years, only 
 such of the immigrant traffic as the Erie could not carry. 
 
 Emigrant Agent MuUer was succeeded in 1880 by John W. 
 Romaine, who remained in office until the pooling arrangement 
 took the direct and independent management of the busi- 
 ness out of the charge of the passeirger departments in 1883. 
 
 Improvement in the local or suburban passenger traffic was 
 begun under the administration of Mr. Abbott, but his efforts 
 were not seconded with any degree of earnestness by any of 
 the managements until that of John King. Since then it has 
 been made a special point of attention, and under the man- 
 agement of D. I. Roberts, who became general passenger 
 agent in 1891, this branch of the Erie's passenger traffic has 
 been brought to a degree of importance that makes it of 
 unvarying and increasing profit to the Company and benefit 
 to the public. 
 
 James Buckley belongs peculiarly to the history of the 
 passenger department of the Erie. He has been in its 
 service more than a generation, and for twenty-five years has 
 been its general Eastern passenger agent, with headquarters at 
 New York. 
 
 Pullman cars first came on the Erie June i, 1872, under 
 the Dix administration, among them hotel dining-cars. Pre- 
 vious to that the sleeping and drawing-room cars were of the 
 Erie's own make. 
 
 Air brakes were introduced on the Erie August 14, 1869. 
 They were the Guthrie vacuum brakes, and were experimented 
 with successfully on the local train known as the " Middle- 
 town Way." This was the forerunner of the present system 
 of safety brakes. 
 
 Lighting the cars with gas was begun June 15, 1881, when 
 an experiment with the Pintsch system was successfully made 
 on a special train run from Jersey City to Turner's. 
 
 The original Erie passenger trains consisted of never more 
 than three cars. The regular through passengers trains on the 
 Erie to-day 1898) average seven cars, and seventeen cars 
 m a train are not unusual. 
 
 FIRST TRAIN-WRECKERS. 
 
 During the last week in November, 1862, the track-walker 
 on the section of railroad near Andover, N. Y., on the 
 Western Division, found obstructions on the track, so placed 
 and at such an hour that it was evident they had been put 
 there to wreck a passenger-train. This being reported, a 
 watch was set, and about 9 o'clock on the night of Friday, 
 November 26 th, a few minutes before the express train, 
 moving east, was due, two persons were discovered going 
 on to the railroad, one of them carrying a log-chain. Near the 
 track was a portion of a wrecked gravel car, having one pair 
 of wheels attached. The men placed this on the track over 
 a culvert, on a curve in the road, and fastened it to the ties 
 with this log-chain. The citizens who were on the watch 
 pounced upon the men and arrested them at once. They were 
 committed to jail at Angelica. They proved to be George 
 Palmer, a cabinet-maker, and Samuel Allen, a blacksmith. 
 
 Palmer and Allen were tried and convicted on the charge of 
 train- wrecking, February 3, 1853, before County Judge Lucien 
 P. \Vetherby. They M'ere sentenced to four years in the Au- 
 burn Penitentiary. Palmer was twenty-five years old, and 
 Allen, twenty-one. This was the first attempt at delibera., 
 train-wrecking on record in this country. 
 
 MEMORABLE AND DISASTROUS STRIKES. 
 1854. 
 
 D. C. McCallum, superintendent of the Susquehanna 
 Division, drafted a code of rules regulating the running of 
 trains, which he submitted to the Directors of the Company 
 early in 1854. They were pleased with it, and officially 
 adopted it as supplementary to the existing rules. Charles 
 Minot was then the general superintendent. The McCallum 
 rules were adopted March 6, 1854, and Minot was directed to 
 put them in force. He did not approve of some of them. 
 He refused to promulgate the new code, and resigned. 
 
 Charles Minot had succeeded James P. Kirkwood as 
 general superintendent May i, 1850. He was born at 
 Ha-s-erhill, Mass. His father was a judge of the Massachusetts 
 Supreme Court. Charles Minot was educated for the law, 
 but his mind was of a more practical bent, and he learned to 
 be an engineer on the Boston and Maine Railroad, of which 
 railroad he subsequently became superintendent. He was 
 one of the first to learn telegraphy, and his knowledge of that 
 new science stood him well in his career as superintendent of 
 the Erie, as we have seen in the account of his adapting the 
 telegraph to the use of the railroad. He came to the Erie 
 from the Boston and Maine Railroad. The Erie was then in 
 operation as far west as Elmira. 
 
 Charles Minot was a large, fleshy man, very democratic in 
 his manner with his men, meeting them always on an ap- 
 parent equality. He was a bluff and rude man in his speech, 
 and hasty of temper. A peculiarity of his character was that 
 if he summoned any of the men to his office to " blow them 
 up," he would deliver his pent-up feelings on the first person 
 who happened to come in, although that one was in no w^iy 
 concerned in the trouble on hand, and perhaps knew nothing 
 about it. Minot's mind relieved, all would be serene again, 
 and when the man he had summoned came in, he would be 
 dismissed without a word. 
 
 Superiiitendent Minot was continually travelling over the 
 road. He had no special car or retainers, such as general 
 superintendents of to-day are sumptuously equipped with. 
 "Any car is good enough for me,'' Minot used to say. He 
 frequently travelled ^^'ith the pay car, to save expense. Until 
 one day in the summer of 1853, he invariably travelled with 
 his car ahead of the engine. He acknowledged that this 
 was a dangerous thing to do, but he said " he could see things 
 better." On the day in question, the car jumped the rails 
 near Almond on the Western Division, at a high embank- 
 ment there. With him on the car was President Homer 
 Ramsdell and H. G. Brooks. Minot was a powerful man. 
 He was standing on the platform as the car left the track. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 431 
 
 President Eamsdell and Mr. Brooks rushed for the door to 
 escape, but they never would have got out but for Minot, 
 who seized the president with one hand and Brooks with the 
 other, dragged them through the door, and jumped from the 
 car with them just as it toppled over the bank. That was the 
 last trip Minot ever took over the road with his car in front 
 of the locomotive. 
 
 The democratic manner of Superintendent Minot had 
 made him objectionable to a number of the Directors long 
 before he declined to enforce the McCallum rules, among 
 them President Ramsdell, so although he had proved himself 
 
 Trouble was not long in following. The engineers objected 
 to the new order of things, particularly to Rule 6 of the Mc- 
 Callum code, which declared that every engineer would be 
 held responsible for running off a switch at a station where 
 he stopped, whether he should run off before or af';er receiving 
 a signal to go forward from a switchman or any other person. 
 The engineer, under this rule, was expected to see for himself 
 whether the switch was right or not, and take no person's 
 authority for the same at stations where trains stopped. The 
 engineer, however, had a right to run past stations where he 
 did not stop at a rate he was willing to hazard on his own 
 
 CHARLES MINOT AND STAFF 
 
 H. B. SMITH, 
 Supt. Susq. Div. 
 
 S. BOWLES, 
 SMj>t. Buff. Div. 
 
 H. C. FISk J. W. GUPPY, 
 
 Supt. Roch Di'u, Asst. Gen. Supt. 
 
 CHAS. MINOT, 
 
 Gtn. .Supt. 
 
 H, RIDDLE, H. HOBBS, 
 
 Supt. Del. Di-v. Siipt. Bast. Di-v. 
 
 H. G. BROOKS, 
 Supt. H^est. Div. 
 
 a capable railroad man, his withdrawal in favor of the strict 
 disciplinarian, McCallum, ^^-as agreeable to that element in the 
 Board in more ways than one — but it was costly to the Erie. 
 Minot went from the Erie to the Michigan Southern Railroad, 
 as general manager, a place he held until December, 1059. 
 Then he was recalled to the general superintendency of the 
 Erie. He remained at the head of the operative department 
 until December 31, 1864, when he was succeeded by Hugh 
 Riddle. For a time Mr. Minot held an office with the Com- 
 pany known as consulting engineer, but he retired from that 
 and returned to his native place, where he died. 
 
 D. C. McCallum took charge as general superintendent 
 May r, 1854, and his new rules were at once put in force. 
 
 account, the Company reserving the right to decide whether 
 such running was reckless or not. " The road must be run 
 safe first and fast afterward," the management declared. 
 
 The engineers also protested against the alleged " posting 
 rule " of the Company, under which notices of dismissal of 
 engineers was at once posted with other railroad companies 
 to the injury of the men. 
 
 An abrogation of the distasteful rules was requested, June 
 15 th, by a committee, consisting of John Donohue, William 
 Schrier, and John C. Meginnes. Superintendent McCallum's 
 explanation and reply not being satisfactory, the engineers 
 struck on June 17th — the first strike in the history of the 
 railroad. The Company gave notice to all the men that all 
 who returned to work within three days after June 20th would 
 
432 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 be retained in the Company's employ. All others would be 
 dismissed from the service. So few returned to work, and , 
 the Company not being in condition to maintain a struggle 
 with its engineers, and the business of the road being at a 
 standstill, June 24th Superintendent McCallum addressed 
 this letter to the strikers' committee : 
 
 New York axd Erie Railroad, 
 Office of General Superintendent, 
 New York, June 24, 1854. 
 To John Donohney IVin. Scht-ier, John C. Afeginncs, Committee. 
 
 Gentlemen: I have explained Rule 6, Supplementary Instructions 
 of May 15th, as follows : 
 
 The rule simply means this, that the engineer is responsible for the 
 running- off at a switch at a station where his train stops, whether he 
 shall run off before or after receiving a signal to go forward from a 
 switchman or any other person. But no engineer shall be discharged 
 under such circumstances, without a full hearing of the case, or 
 unless it can be clearly shown that he ran off through his own careless- 
 ness. 
 
 By reference to what I called the Posting Rules I would again say 
 that it has not been extended except to the several divisions of this 
 road, in all of which this Company has a financial interest, and that 
 we have no intention of extending it further. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 D. C. McCallum, 
 General Superintendent. 
 
 To which the committee replied : 
 
 Susquehanna Depot, June ibth. 
 D, C. McCallum, Esq., General Superintendent N. V. &' E./?. Ji.. 
 
 At a meeting of the engineers of the New York and Erie Railroad, 
 held at the United States Hotel, to hear the report of the committee, 
 upon hearing which report and reading the letter of D. C. McCallum, 
 it was unanimously 
 
 Resolved, That the letter of D. C. McCallum, Esq., to this com- 
 mittee, as read before our committee this day, in addition to the 
 verbal statement of Mr. McCallum to the committee, we decide 
 satisfactory. 
 
 Resolved, That we present to our committee our warmest thanks for 
 the constant manner in which they have performed all the arduous 
 duties imposed upon them. 
 
 Resolved, That we make every effort to resume our work. 
 
 Resolved, That the committee immediately inform Mr. McCallum of 
 our action at this meeting. 
 
 John Donohue, ) 
 
 Wm. Schrier, K Committee. 
 
 John C. Meginnes, ) 
 
 It was an easy matter to return to work, and thus the first 
 strike on the Erie was settled after ten days' paralysis of the 
 business of the railroad, and a loss of many thousands of 
 dollars to the Company. 
 
 The engineer over whose case the strike resulted was Ben- 
 jamin Hafner of the Eastern Division. On the evening of 
 June loth he ran off a switch at Turner's. He was dismissed. 
 After he was dismissed Hafner was sent for by Superintend- 
 ent McCallum to talk about the incident. Hafner refused 
 to go unless he was reinstated first. McCallum declined to 
 reinstate him without a consultation. The matter was taken 
 up by all the leading engineers on the Delaware and Eastern 
 divisions, with the above result. 
 
 Some of the engineers did not join in the strike, among 
 them Joe Meginnes. \^ . H. Power was then superintendent 
 of the Delaware Division (division agent, it was then called), 
 and he himself acted as engineer in efforts to run a train 
 over that division, and succeeded in doing so in spite of the 
 strikers, who assembled in crowds at the Port Jems station, 
 and had compelled every engineer who attempted to go out 
 to dismount from his engine, except Joe Meginnes, who 
 stuck to his engine through it all. He was opposed to 
 strikes on principle. 
 
 1856. 
 
 Notwithstanding the assurances Superintendent McCallum 
 had given the engineers in settling the strike in 1854, they 
 professed to see strong evidences that he was not keeping 
 faith with them. During a little more than two years follow- 
 ing the strike twenty-nine engineers had been discharged for 
 running off switches, which convinced the engineers that 
 Rule No. 6 was being enforced in a way that violated the 
 understanding of 1854. At last, one day about the middle 
 of September, 1856, Samuel Tyler, an engineer on the 
 Western Division, while in the Hornellsville yard with his 
 engine, was given the " all right " signal by a switchman, and 
 moving his locomotive in answer to this signal, found the 
 switch wrong and backed off of it. Samuel Jillson, super- 
 intendent of the Western Division, chanced to be there, saw 
 the mishap, and discharged Tyler on the spot. This 
 brought the feeling of dissatisfaction among the engineers to 
 a climax. A meeting at which delegates from each division 
 were present was held at Hornellsville September 19th, to dis- 
 cuss the situation. The result of the meeting was the draft- 
 ing of a bill of grievances, and the appointment of a com- 
 mittee to go to New York and lay it before the Board of 
 Directors. The members of this committee were William 
 Schrier, John C. Meginnes, John Hall, E. F. Whalen, H. G. 
 Brooks, Henry Belden, Joseph York, I. C. York, Edward 
 Tinney, and J. F. Olmstead. 
 
 They went to New York September 24th, and met six of 
 the Directors, who asked for a week's postponement. The 
 committee went the second time, October ist, and were re- 
 ceived by other Directors. Besides the obnoxious Rule 6 of 
 the McCallum code, the engineers had a grievance in the 
 fact that their pay while their engines were in shop under- 
 going repairs had been stopped under the McCallum super- 
 intendency, although they were ready for duty, and they 
 asked that it be restored. They also asked that engineers 
 from other railroads travelling over the Erie be allowed the 
 same privilege as was allowed conductors of other railroads, 
 which was free transportation when satisfactory credentials 
 were shown to the train conductors. The engineers likewise 
 took up the cause of their firemen, and asked that their pay 
 be advanced to $1.50 a day. 
 
 The document setting forth the grievances of the engi- 
 neers was discussed at a meeting of the Board of Directors, 
 and referred to a committee consisting of Richard Lathers, 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 433 
 
 Don Alonzo Cushman, William E. Dodge, Cornelius Smith, 
 and E. J. Brown. 
 
 October 3d they made a volmninous report to the Board, 
 disapproving of the petition of the engineers, and refusing 
 their requests, " the most emphatic of which," said the re- 
 port, " seems to be the abrogation of Rule 6, supplementary 
 to general instructions of March 6, 1854, said demand being 
 made by the persons upon whom it is intended to operate, 
 which is as follows : ' Every engineer will be held account- 
 able for running off at a switch at any station where his train 
 stops, but will not be held responsible for running off at a 
 switch at a station where his train does not stop.' " 
 
 In giving their reasons to the Board why no concessions 
 should be made to the men, and in defending the rule com- 
 plained of, the committee said that under the rule " the en- 
 gineers were instructed that switchmen were placed at stop- 
 ping stations for their convenience only, and were not to be 
 relied upon for the safety of the train, and that engineers 
 would be expected, in all cases, to see that the switches were 
 right before they passed over them, and were also especially 
 enjoined to take all the time necessary to run safe ; in other 
 words, to ' run safe first, and fast afterwards ; ' that they 
 should always run into stopping places under the assumption 
 that every switch was out of place, and a train standing on 
 
 the main track In view of this state of things 
 
 we beg leave to advise that you instruct our general super- 
 intendent to immediately discharge from the company's 
 service the ten engineers representing themselves as a com- 
 mittee in this act of insubordination, and to fill their places 
 with men who are willing to obey rules, and leave to the 
 proper authority the duty of making them ; and also to 
 cause to be discharged all employees who refuse to serve the 
 Company under and in complete obedience to the rules as 
 they are, filling their places in like manner." 
 
 The report of the committee and the following were made 
 public on the same day : 
 
 New York and Erie Railroad, 
 Office of General Superintendent, 
 October 4, 1856. 
 Wanted — One hundred and fifty Locomotive Engineers, imme- 
 diately. Applications to be made to the several Division Superin- 
 tendents, or at this Office. 
 
 D. C. McCallum, 
 
 General Superintendent. 
 
 The grievance committee being promptly discharged, they 
 telegraphed the fact to the different divisions, and most of 
 the engineers along the line quit work. The striking en- 
 gineers published a reply to the report of the committee of 
 Directors. The following extract from it throws much inter- 
 esting light on the methods of railroading on the Erie forty- 
 five years ago : 
 
 First, of rule sixth, they say this is a rule of safety, etc. Now let 
 us say, as engineers, that this rule has not made the least particle of 
 difference in our speed in approaching a station. We have shut off 
 our steam at the same points, and, so far as we know, the brakemen 
 
 have applied their brakes just the same as before this rule went into 
 effect. We ask you to look into this matter carefully, and see if this 
 rule faithfully executed would not involve the Company in some hard- 
 ship, if it did not the engineers. We will take some stations vi-here 
 there are from six to ten switches. It is night, and in the winter. 
 The switch lights have gone out and we cannot see the targets. The 
 first switch is a mile or three-fourths of a mile from the station. We 
 stop still at that switch and get off our engines if we cannot see the 
 rail (which, of course, we cannot, if there is from six inches to a foot 
 of snow on it), and feel to see if the rails are right. After satisfying 
 ourselves of that fact, we jump on to our engines again and jog along 
 • to the next switch, and go through with the same performance, and 
 so on till we get within the limits of the station. 
 
 Will some practical man inform us whether we are allowed the time 
 that this fol de rol would take up on the time-tables issued by the 
 superintendent? And further, if this were done, or if we were to run 
 slow enough over all switches at all stations between Jersey City and 
 Dunkirk to stop our trains from running off the track, providing those 
 switches were wrong, what kind of connections should we make with 
 the Western trains at Dunkirk? We mean, of course, all stations 
 where our trains stop. For it would be preposterous to suppose that 
 passengers should get injured if our trains should run off at the rate 
 of fifty miles an hour, at stations where our trains do not stop. 
 Therefore, there being no danger of getting hurt at fifty miles an 
 hour, we are not held responsible. There is no road in this country 
 where this rule coul:' be lived up to in the light Mr. McCallum holds 
 us responsible, without ruining the business of the Company. Now 
 we ask a fair and impartial answer to this question. Do the public 
 really think that passengers would be likely to be injured any less by 
 running off the track forty or fifty miles an hour at stations where our 
 trains do not stop, than they would by running off five to twenty miles 
 an hour at stations where our trains do stop ? 
 
 This reply was signed by twenty-five of the leading en- 
 gineers of the Western Division, eight from the Buffalo Divi- 
 sion, and twenty-five from the Susquehanna Division. So 
 few of the men remained at work that traffic on the railroad 
 came to a standstill, contrary to the expectation of the Erie 
 management. On the 6th of October, Superintendent Mc- 
 Callum advertised that the Company would pay a bonus of 
 $25 to every engineer who would resume work, and to en- 
 gineers who would come new on the railroad. Very few re- 
 sponses were received to this offer. The result was that soon 
 the engines were in charge of all sorts of artisans — stationary 
 engineers, firemen apprentices, and any who had the least 
 smattering of knowledge of a locomotive. Some competent 
 men came from other railroads to take the places of the 
 strikers, but not many. The striking engineers and their 
 friends harassed the Company in many ways. There was 
 developed a number of water supphes that were so impreg- 
 nated with grease, soap, sal soda, or other substances so en- 
 tirely at variance with the heated surface of the fire-box and 
 flues as to be incapable of being kept in contact therewith, 
 and being repelled therefrom, took the form of ether; in 
 short, the boiler "foamed," and if the engine was in charge 
 of an inexperienced man, the crown-sheet and flues would be 
 ruined, while if the attempt, at that period of affairs, to in- 
 ject water into it was successful, it was an almost certain 
 thing that the boiler would be blown into fragments. An- 
 other peculiarity, not noticed before, was developed : a ten- 
 dency on the part of bolts and nuts to work loose where 
 
434 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 they were most needed to be tight and snug on the locomo- 
 tives. This failing particularly affected the set-screws of the 
 eccentrics, so that an engine would rarely travel over one or 
 two miles before being incapacitated. Almost every locomo- 
 tive with which the Company attempted to run trains, for a 
 long time, the strikers managed to disable in some such way, 
 in spite of the watchfulness of those who were put in charge 
 of the Company's interest, until "able-bodied" engines 
 were the exception. The cost to the Erie in this damage to 
 property was enormous. 
 
 After a time, the Company persisting in its strike, although 
 its railroad was nearly paralyzed at a critical time otherwise 
 in the Company's affairs, many of the old and best engineers 
 went to other railroads throughout the country, where they 
 gave the Erie a name that cost it thousands of dollars in loss 
 of patronage. One of the prime movers in the strike was 
 Horatio G. Brooks. He went to the Ohio and Mississippi 
 Railroad as master mechanic, and when Charles Minot re- 
 turned to the Erie as superintendent in 1859, Brooks came 
 back also, and became later superinteirdent of the Western 
 Division, and subsequently master mechanic of the entire 
 road. Most of the other old engineers returned when Minot 
 was reappointed. It may be said that the strike never was 
 settled, but after six months of almost constant disturbance 
 and interruption to traffic. Superintendent McCallum re- 
 signed. The loss to the Company in actual outlay because 
 of this strike was nearly half a million dollars. The damage 
 to the Company by loss in traffic was incalculable, and was 
 one of the main causes of its bankruptcy in 1859, it never 
 having recovered from the direct and collateral consequences 
 of the unfortunate conflict. 
 
 Daniel Craig McCallum was born at Renfrewshire, Scot- 
 land, in 1814. His father, Peter McCallum, who was a tailor, 
 emigrated to this country in 1822, and settled in Roch- 
 ester, N. Y. Not liking his father's trade, he left home with 
 his entire wardrobe tied up in a handkerchief. He walked 
 his way to Lundy's Lane, where he apprenticed himself to 
 learn the trade of carpenter. He became a skilful architect, 
 designing St. Joseph's Church, Odd Fellows Hall, the Man- 
 sion House Block, the Waverly Hotel, the House of Refuge, 
 and other prominent buildings in Rochester. He developed 
 a strong taste for mechanical engineering, and made rapid 
 strides in his profession. He invented an inflexible arch 
 truss for bridges, the use of which on various railroads brought 
 him later an income of $75,000 a year. 
 
 He entered the employ of the New York and Erie Rail- 
 road Company in 1848, and was appointed superintendent 
 of the Susquehanna Division in October, 1852. As stated 
 above, he was made general superintendent in May, 1854. 
 February 25, 1857, he tendered his resignation, because "a 
 respectable number " of the Directors differed with him in re- 
 gard to " the discipline that hid been pursued in the superin- 
 tendence of the operations of the road." The resignation was 
 accepted, but the Board of Directors gave him a letter of re- 
 gret at parting with him, and President Ramsdell addressed 
 
 him a long personal letter, assuring him, in substance, that he 
 was not one of the number in the management that did not 
 approve of his discipline. 
 
 Ex-Superintendent McCallum devoted himself to his pri- 
 vate business until 1862, when, February ist of that year, he 
 was appointed by Secretary Stanton mihtary director and 
 superintendent of the military railroads of the United States, 
 with authority to take possession of all railroads and rolling 
 stock that might be required for the transportation of troops, 
 arms, military supplies, etc. He ranked as a colonel. He 
 found only one railroad in possession of the Government — 
 the one running from ^Vashington to Alexandria. He speed- 
 ily changed the state of affairs. His work in establishing 
 the network of railroads that forwarded so materially the 
 efforts of McClellan, Burnside, Hooker, Meade, and Grant, 
 respectively, in the Peninsular campaign, at Fredericksburg, 
 Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and other fields, belongs to the 
 history of the Civil ^Var, where it is amply recorded. Dur- 
 ing his memorable work of hurrying troops forward to the 
 rescue of Grant when he was cornered at Chancellorsville, 
 he placed Gen. Carl Schurz under arrest for officious med- 
 dling with his plans. McCallum saved Grant at Chancellors- 
 ville, and was made a Brigadier-General by Stanton as a re- 
 ward for his services on that occasion. General McCallum 
 built 2,105 miles of new railroad and twenty-six bridges, and 
 rebuilt 640 miles of old railroad, to meet the necessities of 
 the Union army during the war, besides confiscating and 
 opening to the service of the Northern generals the great net- 
 work of old railroads without which our armies would have 
 been powerless against the enemy. He expended ^42,000,- 
 000 of the Government money in his work, and accounted 
 for every cent of it. 
 
 After the war, in 1865, he retired to private life, making 
 his home at Glen Mary, at Owego, a place made famous by 
 Nathaniel P. ^Villis, who lived there at one time, and where 
 he built an elegant residence. 
 
 General McCallum was a poet of no mean order, one of 
 his poems being " The Water Mill," known everywhere as a 
 perennially popular one, the rendering of the refrain of which, 
 " The mill will never grind again with the water that is past," 
 has brought fame and dollars to many an elocutionist. When 
 the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad was building he 
 became consulting engineer. He subsequently removed to 
 Brooklyn, where he died, December 27, 1878. The intro- 
 duction of iron bridges had relegated his wooden truss bridge 
 to practical uselessness in railroad construction, and his in- 
 come from that source had been reduced to a small amount 
 during the later years of his life, and he left but a modest 
 fortune to his family, which consisted of four sons and two 
 daughters. 
 
 1857. 
 
 Tuesday, December i, 185 7, by order of President Charles 
 Moran, a reduction of wages and salaries of employees went 
 into effect, owing to the hard times and the critical condition 
 of the Company's affairs. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 435 
 
 
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 OLD ERIE FREE PASSES. NORTHRUP COLLECTION. 
 
436 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 There were 250 laborers at the pier at Piermont, handUng 
 freight. They were divided into night and day gangs, and 
 were known as laborers, checkers, tally clerks, porters, and 
 stowers. Their pay had been $1 per day. It was reduced 
 to 90 cents for eleven hours' work. Six hours were reckoned 
 half a day's work. Steady men could make from $25 to ^30 
 a month at the old wages. President Moran was getting a 
 Salary of !S25,ooo a year, and it was current all along the 
 railroad that, owing to financial straits the Company was in, he 
 Was taking no chances, but was collecting his salary, /w ra/a, 
 fevery day. AVhen his order to reduce wages and salaries was 
 issued, inquiry was made by the men as to whether the presi- 
 dent had submitted to a reduction in his own great stipend. 
 When it was learned that he had not, the feeling was bitter, 
 and the laborers at the Piermont docks protested against the 
 cut in their wages and quit work. The brakemen on that 
 division of the railroad joined the laborers, as did the laborers 
 along the division. Traffic came to a standstill. 
 
 Up to Saturday afternoon, December sth, 200 carloads of 
 freight from the AVest had accumulated at and above Piermont. 
 A few straggling trains only departed for the West. They 
 had to be loaded by the agents, clerks, and other non-striking 
 employees. Only three or four cars were sent by each train, 
 so that they could be easily controlled by the engineer, the 
 conductor and flagmen acting as brakemen. Hugh Riddle, 
 superintendent, and Dispatcher AVatson themselves went 
 out on trains as brakemen to help get them through. 
 
 The laborers, and those whose interests were closely con- 
 nected with them, such as boarding-house keepers, grocers, 
 etc., constituted nine-tenths of the population of Piermont, 
 and there was such a combination among them that no new 
 force that might be sent there to take the places of the 
 strikers could find a night's lodging or a meal. The exposed 
 situation of the dock, built out, as it was, a mile from the 
 shore, with its freight sheds and offices at the extreme end, 
 and a railroad track running the entire length, put it in the 
 power of a disorderly and evil-disposed gang to inflict almost 
 irreparable injury on the Company. 
 
 Wednesday evening, December 2d, the steamboat " Erie " 
 was seen coming up the river, and a rumor was circulated 
 that a new gang of laborers was on board. Immediately a 
 fish-horn was sounded, and 300 men swarmed down upon the 
 pier to prevent them from landing. It proved to be 300 
 emigrants bound AA'est. The clerks and agent, assisted by the 
 crew of the boat and such miscellaneous help as was at hand, 
 transferred the baggage to the cars while the strikers stood by 
 and jeered them. The train started on its way M'est, but it 
 had proceeded only as far as the water-station, where it 
 encountered a railroad bar spiked across the track, which 
 threw the locomotive off and down a steep enbankment, 
 wrecking it badly. The cars narrowly escaped a similar fate 
 by the breaking of the coupling, and as there were 300 emi- 
 grants on the train, many of them women and children, this 
 narrow escape saved many lives. 
 
 A force was collected by the Company along the line of the 
 road and sent to Piermont, ostensibly to take the places of the 
 
 strikers, but really for the purpose of frightening them into 
 submission. No provision was made for their protection, 
 and the result was that the)- had no sooner landed on the pier 
 than they were attacked and driven off. Some were thrown 
 off the pier into the river, and would have drowned but for 
 the aid of men in boats who were spectators. The Compan}- 
 called upon the sheriff of Rockland County to protect its 
 property and disperse the strikers. He summoned the 
 Piermont Guards, who turned out to the number of twenty- 
 five, in citizens' dress, with bayonets fixed and supphed with 
 ball cartridge. Friday evening, December 4th, the steamer 
 " Esquimaux " arrived at the pier from New York \\ith about 
 100 men, escorted by twentN'-five Metropolitan policemen. 
 The sight of this force ahead and the military in the rear had 
 the effect of cowing the strikers, but to avoid a collision the 
 police remained on board the boat all night. Saturday- 
 morning they landed and were joined I)}' the Piermont Guards. 
 The martial array had the desired effect. About half the 
 men returned to work at once, and at noon nearly all of 
 them were back. The police, however, were detained over 
 night, and the Piermont Guards slept on their arms. The 
 brakemen held out until Saturday night, when they gave in 
 and went to work. The emigrants who had been taken to 
 Piermont by the police to replace the strikers were returned 
 to New York Sunday. One thing that had its effect in con- 
 ciliating the strikers was the declaration that President Moran 
 had been removed by the Directors, which the men believed. 
 The strike cost the Company half a million dollars. 
 
 1859- 
 
 March 15, 1859, the dock laborers at Piermont struck, not ■ 
 for an advance in ^^■ages nor against a reduction, but because 
 they had not received any pay at all for three months. They 
 were not the only employees that were months in arrears, but 
 none of the others joined the strike. The Company, not 
 caring to have a repetition of the costly experiences of 1857, 
 and the strike being in every way justifiable, raised money 
 enough to restore a measure of content to the men, and 
 they resumed work after being idle only two "days. But for 
 the fact that the Company went into the hands of a receiver 
 the following August, President Moran retiring, a strike in 
 which the great body of employees all along the line would 
 have joined, could not have been avoided much longer. 
 There were then employees who had not received any pay 
 for seven months. The recei^-ership restored confidence 
 and hope. No disturbance of relations occurred, and within 
 three months all arrearages for labor, amounting to I5 00,000, 
 were paid. 
 
 1869. 
 
 May loth, one brakeman of the three that made up 
 the force of brakemen on each freight train on the Eastern 
 Division was discharged by order from headquarters. The 
 discharged men, and their S}'mpathizers among the men who 
 were not discharged, prevented the making up and get- 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 437 
 
 ting of trains out of the Port Jervis yard so effectually that 
 operations on the di\ision were practically suspended until 
 IMay 13th, when the objectionable order was rescinded and 
 tlie discharged men were reinstated. A large number of the 
 "brakemen urged the opportunity as a good one to continue 
 the strike until wages were advanced to $2 a day from Si. 75, 
 but it was not agreed to by the majority. 
 
 The men who had urged this strike for increased wages 
 continued to agitate the subject until they carried the day, 
 and on May 28th the brakemen petitioned the company for 
 an advance in pay to S2 a day. No reply having been received 
 to the request by June 6th, the men struck. June 7th, the 
 brakemen on the Delaware Division joined them. This soon 
 lilockaded the Port Jer\'is yard with freight and coal trains. 
 Superintendent Hobbs endeavored to replace the strikers 
 with new men, but failed. The situation threatened became 
 ;so serious to the Company that June 8th the demands of 
 the men were acceded to and work was resumed. Before 
 the news of the settlement of the strike reached the other 
 division, the brakemen on the Susquehanna and Western 
 di\isions telegraphed that they had struck for $2 a day, too. 
 The Company granted the demand at once. 
 
 The brakemen claimed that the management also promised 
 not to discharge any of the men who had been engaged in the 
 strike ; but early in November, ho\\'ever, a number of brake- 
 men were discharged, and the men believed it was because 
 they had been concerned in the strike of the previous May. 
 The action was resented, and the Eastern Division brakemen 
 struck in a body, November 8th, demanding the reinstate- 
 ment of the discharged men. The usual blockade of freight 
 quickly followed. There was no detention to passenger 
 traffic. Gould and Fisk both went to Port Jervis to look after 
 the Company's interests, and several hundred men were 
 taken along to replace the strikers in the Company's employ. 
 They also sent a strong force of men from New York, many 
 of them notorious " toughs," who, as special deputy sheriffs 
 in the employ of the Erie, acted in a manner that brought 
 about collision between them and the strikers, and the peace 
 of the community was greatly disturbed. The unfortunate 
 situation continued until the latter part of November, the old 
 men being gradually replaced by new, when the strikers were 
 iorced to submit. The strike came to an end November 
 30th, and the result was the usual one — a great loss of wages 
 to the men, without gaining any point, and damaging dis- 
 turbance of the Company's business for many days. 
 
 October i6th, the men in the Port Jervis shops stmck 
 against the irregular manner in which they had been paid 
 their monthly wages, and demanded that the pay-day be fixed 
 for the 15 th of every month and their pay received on that 
 day. The men in the Jersey City, Susquehanna, and Buffalo 
 shops joined the strike. The strikers were discharged. The 
 ■Company soon found that this was an unwise and costly 
 policy, and after the shops had been idle ten days, President 
 Gould held a conference at Port Jervis with a representative 
 from each shop, and the demands of the men were acceded 
 to, with a proviso that if by any cause it should happen that 
 
 it was impossible for the Company to pay at the isth, it 
 should be allowed ten days' grace, which the men agreed to. 
 This satisfactory ending of what threatened to be a cbstl}' 
 strike for both employer and employee was due to the 
 dignified and cool-headed management of the employers at 
 Port Jervis : Gen. Thomas Holt, Stott Mills, and \\'alter 
 Harvey. 
 
 January 12, 1870, the paymaster did not appear at the 
 Jersey City shops. The men did not wait until the " days of 
 grace" were up, but struck on the 13th. The time was un- 
 fortunate for them, and they were compelled to return to 
 their work, such of them as the Company would take back. 
 
 1874. 
 
 During the winter the mechanics at the Susquehanna shops, 
 more than t ,000 in number, had been working on three-quar- 
 ter time. Their pay was much in arrears, and there was no 
 fixed time for paying. February 3d the men struck for their 
 back pay and a regular pay-day, and the matter was quickly 
 settled by the Company fixing the isth of every month as 
 pay-day in the future, and agreeing to give the men their 
 February pay March 15 th. The men resumed work. A^'hen 
 March 15 th came, notice was posted at the shops that in con- 
 sequence of embarrassment into which the Company had 
 temporarily fallen in New York, it could not pay until March 
 
 25 th. With the 25 th of the month came a second notice, 
 this one to the effect that the paymaster had begun paying 
 elsewhere, and that those along the line who were paid first 
 the previous month would be paid last the current month, 
 and vice versa. A meeting of the men was called on March 
 
 26 th, and the voice of the meeting was that work in the shops 
 should be suspended. It was. The mammoth steam-gong 
 was sounded, bells were rung, and within fifteen minutes every 
 sound of labor was hushed, and the great buildings were de- 
 serted. 
 
 The demand made by the men was the old one of a regu- 
 lar pay-day, and the further one that regular apprentices be 
 employed in the shops instead of unskilled labor, as was then 
 the case, to do the work of mechanics. They also demanded 
 their pay up to date, and time-and-a-half for overtime. 
 
 The monthly pay roll at Susquehanna amounted to ^50,000. 
 The entire population of the place depended on the earnings 
 of men employed in the Erie's shops, hence the S}'mpathy 
 for the strikers was universal. 
 
 The Company refused the demands of the men, and they 
 proceeded to compel acquiescence by practically stopping all 
 traffic on the railroad. They took possessesion of the trains 
 as they came into Susquehanna, dismantled the locomotives, 
 and refused to permit any trains to go either East or West. 
 All the Company's efforts to break the blockade were useless, 
 and by the end of the month there were many disabled 
 engines in the roundhouse, and 1,000 cars idle on sidings. 
 The strikers had seized ^200,000 worth of the Company's 
 property, and declared that they would hold it until the 
 company came to terms. The sheriff of Susquehanna County, 
 
438 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 M. B. Helme, was called upon to restore the property to the 
 Company and suppress the insurrection. He was powerless, 
 as the populace was in entire sympathy with the strikers. 
 The situation was such on the 28th of March that the sheriff 
 telegraphed Governor Hartranft for troops. The men re- 
 jected all the propositions made by the Company, and con- 
 tinued to hold possession of its property and prevented the 
 running of trains. Governor Hartranft ordered the First 
 Regiment of State troops, Col. Dale Benson, of Philadelphia, 
 and the Fourth Division, under command of Gen. S. D. Os- 
 borne, of Wilkesbarre, to the scene of the disturbance. The 
 Philadelphia troops, 400 men, arrived at Susquehanna on the 
 29th. On the 30th, General Osborne's command of 1,000 
 men arrived. Martial law was declared. The Company's 
 grounds were cleared of all strikers, and no person was per- 
 mitted to enter upon them without a pass from the com- 
 manding officer of the troops, countersigned by Superin- 
 tendent of Transportation P. P. Wright. The strikers were 
 awed by the presence of the military, and the railroad was 
 once more in possession of the Company. The strike was 
 broken. The men were all paid oif and discharged. Business 
 had been suspended on the railroad five days. The Com- 
 pany found forty of its locomotives disabled in the yard, 
 with the missing parts in possession of the strikers. The loss 
 to the Company by the strike was more than $1,000,000. 
 
 This was under the ^Vatson administration, which had 
 declared the railroad to be so prosperous in its hands that 
 dividends had been paid on the alleged earnings. This had 
 aggravated the unpaid strikers the more, and turned sympa- 
 thy more generally toward them and their cause. 
 
 During the Susquehaima strike the Company was also 
 greatly harassed by a strike of the freight handlers at New 
 York and Jersey City, which was to secure an advance in pay 
 from seventeen and a half cents an hour to twenty cents an 
 hour, and twenty-five cents an hour overtime. This brought 
 freight shipments to a standstill. The Company put new 
 men on under protection of the police, and on the 28th, the 
 new men having begun to do the work fairly well, the strikers 
 surrendered. The Company took back some and discharged 
 others, retaining many of the new men. 
 
 1877. 
 
 July ist the brakemen, yardmen, and trackmen's wages 
 were reduced 10 per cent. A committee representing the 
 men was sent to headquarters with grievances, and requested 
 a restoration of the wages to the former rate. President 
 Jewett ordered the discharge of the members of the com- 
 mittee from the Company's employ. A meeting of the 
 employees concerned was held at Hornellsville at midnight, 
 July 19th, and a strike was ordered. It began immediately. 
 The men demanded S2 a day for brakemen, 12.25 for head 
 switchmen, .'5i.5ofor yard lirakemen, 51.40 for section track- 
 men, a restoration of the monthly passes to brakemen and 
 passes for switchmen and trackmen, and free occupancy of 
 the Company's grounds for dwellings of the men, the Com- 
 
 pany having ordered that rent should be paid for land occu- 
 pied by the shanties of the switchmen and trackmen. 
 
 From the 20th until the 2Sth of July all through business 
 and all local business, except on the Delaware and Eastern 
 divisions, was suspended on the railroad. General Superin- 
 tendent E. S. Bowen and other officers of the Company 
 succeeded in reaching Hornellsville by special train at 9 : 30 
 p.M of the 20th. The Hornellsville yard and shops were in 
 entire possession of the strikers. All trains that had arrived 
 at Hornellsville had been at once taken in charge by the men 
 and side-tracked. The men on the Western Division joined 
 the strike. At Hornellsville 400 strikers congregated. There 
 were 150 at Salamanca. The strike was engineered and man- 
 aged by a httle red-headed, freckled-faced man named Bar- 
 ney J. Donohue, who was not an employee of the Company. 
 The strikers patrolled the Hornellsville yard, and permitted 
 no one to work therein. All trains from Dunkirk and the 
 AVest were stopped at Salamanca. The last train to arrive 
 from the West was got through on the 21st by the strategy of 
 Engineer Dan Chapman. Passengers for the West were sent 
 by the Rochester Division at first, but on the 2rst the men in 
 the Corning yards prevented any other trains going that way. 
 Then the passengers were sent from Elmira by way of the 
 Northern Central Railroad. 
 
 Sheriff Sherwood, of Steuben County, being un■a.u^^^ to put 
 the Company in possession of its railroad and property at 
 Hornellsville, notified Governor Robinson, who ordered the 
 Fifty-fourth Regiment, of Rochester, to the scene. It arrived, 
 400 strong, in command of Col. George E. Baker, Sunday 
 evening, the 21st, at 6 : 30, hooted and reviled by the strikers. 
 The Tenth Battalion, Colonel Smith, and Battery A of the 
 Twentieth Brigade, Captain \\'alker, were ordered from 
 Elmira to Hornellsville, and arrived the same evening. The 
 militia formed and cleared the tracks, and the Hornellsville 
 yard became virtually under martial law. Strong guards were 
 placed about it, with orders to permit no one to enter the 
 lines without a pass. The battery was stationed in Loder 
 Street, commanding the Company's property. It was soon 
 discovered, however, that a majority of the mihtia were in 
 sympathy with the strikers. There being a disposition on the 
 part of the conductors and engineers to aid in getting trains 
 out, Barney Donohue notified them that they would do so 
 at their peril, as the tracks had been " fixed " by the strikers, 
 notwithstanding the presence of the military. 
 
 General Brinker and Gen. J. B. Woodward, and William 
 ^\'allace MacFarland, of the Erie counsel, got through from 
 New York to Hornellsville on the 21st, arriving there at 11 
 o'clock P.M. That day an express train left New York at 11 
 A.M. Gen. D. D. Wiley, Chief of Ordnance, was a passen- 
 ger on the train. The train was abandoned at Elmira. A 
 special train was made up there, and General Wiley, with 
 ammunition and supphes, succeeded in reaching Hornells- 
 ville on it at 3 : 25 on the morning of the 2 2d. An express 
 train from the East, carrying the United States mail, but no 
 passengers, got to Hornellsville at 9 o'clock a.m. of the 21st 
 (Sunday). Superintendent Bowen resolved to send it on 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 439 
 
 West under military escort. The train started at lo o'clock. 
 Captain Sullivan of Company D, One Hundred and Tenth 
 Battalion, was detailed with forty men to guard the train and 
 prevent the strikers from capturing it. A sergeant and four 
 men were placed on the locomotive, and two guards were 
 stationed on the platform of each car. The rest of the 
 detachment were scattered through the cars. The guns were 
 loaded, and the men had orders to fire on any attacking 
 party. The train consisted of two passenger coaches, a bag- 
 gage car and a postal car, and was in charge of Conductor 
 Hiram Hurty and Engineer David E. Carey, whose fireman 
 was Matt Dewey. 
 
 Half a mile west of Hornellsville depot the railroad begins 
 the ascent of a heavy grade. The strikers had covered 
 the rails at that point, and a long way up the grade, 
 with soft soap, and had collected in vast numbers there. 
 There were scores of detained passengers at Hornellsville, 
 and word was sent to them that a train was going out, but 
 only fourteen ventured aboard the train. 
 
 The train pulled out of the yard and was travelling rapidly 
 when the engine struck the soaped rails. Then the wheels 
 slipped, and labored up the grade very slowly. The 500 as- 
 sembled strikers, and their women and children, yelled like 
 demons. They poured on to the track in front of the train, 
 and large torpedoes were placed on the rails to lift the loco- 
 motive and still further check it. Engineer Carey spurted 
 sand and pounded ahead. The strikers swarmed on the 
 locomotive, clambered on the steps of the cars, and clung to 
 the railing in spite of the guards, many of whom were pale 
 with fright. Beyond a feeble attempt at presenting bayonets 
 the soldiers did not resist the strikers at all, and the men, 
 with wild shouts, pushed them aside and soon had posses- 
 sion of the train. Setting the brakes on the passenger cars, 
 they uncoupled them from the baggage car, and the engine, 
 mail car, and baggage car went on. Engineer Carey stopped 
 and backed down again, hoping to be able to recover the 
 rest of his train, but the strikers swarmed about him and 
 told him that if he did not proceed he would never leave that 
 yard again. Seeing that resistance was useless, he went on. 
 The strikers then drove the guards from the car, smashed the 
 brake wheels with axes, ordered the passengers out of the 
 cars, and started the cars down the grade into Hornellsville 
 yard at a terrible rate, regardless of the consequences. 
 Engineer Dan Chapman was in the yard and threw open a 
 switch in time to turn the flying cars off the main track, 
 thus saving a disastrous smash-up at the depot. The strikers 
 took the soldiers prisoners, and marching them back to the 
 yard, delivered them up to their comrades with derisive 
 hoots and jeers. An effort to send a train out over the 
 Buffalo Division under a strong guard of the Fifty-fourth Regi- 
 ment also failed. The strikers, emboldened, captured a loco- 
 motive at the depot, where it was being made ready to make 
 an effort to take a train East, in charge of a posse of deputy 
 sheriffs, and ran it to the bridge east of town, where they 
 drew its fire, and let the water out of the boiler. Barney 
 Donohue then issued an " order " to the yardmaster and 
 
 all conductors and engineers that unless they ceased aiding in 
 the making up of trains their lives would be the forfeit. 
 
 Late Sunday afternoon (the 21st) the Seventy-fourth Regi- 
 ment of Buffalo, 300 strong, in command of Colonel Rick- 
 art, arrived at Hornellsville, after being held up by the strikers 
 several hours near Hornellsville. An order was also issued 
 to the Twenty-third Regiment, of Brooklyn, to proceed to 
 the scene. Governor Robinson issued a proclamation declar- 
 ing the strike a riot, warning all to desist, and calling upon 
 all good citizens, and all authorities, civil and military, to aid 
 in suppressing it. The authorities of Hornellsville issued a 
 proclamation forbidding the sale of intoxicants, and warning 
 citizens to keep aloof from the turbulent scenes. Receiver 
 Jewett posted the offer of a reward of $500 for information 
 that might lead to the arrest and conviction of any one tam- 
 pering with the Company's property. Hornellsville was 
 threatened with a reign of terror. 
 
 A strong detachment of the Twenty-third Regiment left 
 New York under Colonel Rodney C. Ward, at eleven o'clock 
 A.M. of Monday, the 2 2d. No trouble was met until the 
 train arrived at Susquehanna. From that point on the train 
 had to fight its way. When the Twenty-third marched into 
 Hornellsville toward evening of that day, having left the cars 
 at the bridge east of the town, the bearing of the men at once 
 impressed the strikers. There was no hooting. In fact, a 
 strange silence prevailed. The Twenty-third was placed on 
 guard in the Company's yard that night. Strikers attempted 
 to pass through ■ the lines, as they had been doing, unchal- 
 lenged. The first one who attempted it was challenged by 
 the guard. The man paid no attention to it, but kept on his 
 way. Instantly a bullet from the sentinel's gun whistled over 
 his head, and he quickly retreated and disappeared. From 
 that moment a change came over the spirit of the strikers. 
 
 July 23d, Matthew Bemus and Miles W. Hawley, Hornells- 
 ville lawyers, were engaged by the strikers to endeavor to 
 bring about a settlement. A committee, with Barney Dono- 
 hue at its head, requested an interview with Superinten- 
 dent Bowen. It was granted, and was held in the super- 
 intendent's private car. There were present also Mr. Haw- 
 ley, Mr. MacFarland, William Pitt Shearman, assistant to 
 the receiver. Chief Engineer Chanute, and others. Donohue . 
 delivered his ultimatum, which was the original demands 
 of the strikers. Mr. MacFarland called the attention of the 
 committee to the fact that as the property of the Company 
 was in custody of the courts, being under a receivership, they 
 were in serious contempt of court, which was a violation of a 
 strict penal statute. He counselled the men to return to 
 their allegiance and trust to the magnanimity of the Com- 
 pany's officials, as no concessions would be made. As Mr. 
 MacFarland spoke as with the voice of Receiver Jewett him- 
 self, the momentary hope of a settlement was dispelled. 
 
 The strikers had had their headquarters in a hall opposite 
 the Erie depot, but on the 23d changed to the Nichols 
 House, in the central part of the village. While Barney 
 Donohue was at supper that evening at the Nichols House, 
 he was arrested by Sheriff Sherwood on a warrant sworn out 
 
44° 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 by Receiver Jewett, and issued by Judge Donahue of ttie New 
 Vork Supreme Court, on a charge of contempt of court. The 
 arrest was made so quietly that Donohue was in the lock-up 
 before more than half a dozen of the strikers knew it. He was 
 held in default of $2,500 bail to answer the charge, July 27th. 
 
 At 7 o'clock A.M., July 24th, a train with two locomotives 
 and with four picked men from the Twenty-third Regiment on 
 each locomotive, and the rest of the command escorting it, 
 the One Hundred and Tenth Battalion being in the coaches, 
 was started East. It was in charge of Conductor Ryerson H. 
 Stewart, and Engineers DeWitt and Frisbee. The Twenty- 
 third escorted the train four miles and returned. At Corning 
 the strikers had thrown freight cars across both tracks, and 
 spiked the switches. The train arrived there at 12.30, and 
 found a train there from New York, which had fought its 
 way through with 128 more men from the Twenty- third Regi- 
 ment. By the aid of the soldiers the obstructions were re- 
 moved, and both trains got away from Corning after a strug- 
 gle of two hours with the strikers. The west-bound train had 
 to fight its way all the way to Hornellsville, and reached there 
 only by Major Barnes ordering a detachment of the troops, 
 under Captain Williams, to march ahead of the train on the 
 double quick and disperse the strikers who were tearing up 
 the track, with order to fire if resisted. When the strikers 
 were overtaken by the soldiers, and the latter halted and drew 
 up in line, they broke and fled to the woods and did not ap- 
 pear again. 
 
 July 25 th, the strike was settled on the basis of an agree- 
 ment drawn up by Messrs. Bemus and Hawley, which was 
 that the men should acquiesce in the 10 per cent, reduction 
 in wages ; the discharged grievance committee to be reinstated 
 at the option of the superintendents of the divisions where 
 the dismissals occurred ; brakemen to go to work at the wages 
 received previous to July ist ; none of the employees engaged 
 in the strike to be proceeded against or discharged unless 
 they had destroyed property, and the case of Donohue to be 
 left to his counsel and the Erie counsel for settlement. The 
 terms of settlement were agreed to just before midnight, and 
 at daylight on the 26th all military surveillance was removed. 
 There was great rejoicing at Hornellsville over the result, for 
 the place had been cut off from communication with the out- 
 side world since Friday, July 19th, and business had been 
 practically suspended during the strike. 
 
 The condition of affairs on the railroad had never been so 
 blocked and muddled as the one in which the strike left it. 
 The direct cost to the Company was ^300,000, and the loss 
 sustained by the week's suspension of business was over 
 $1,000,000. It was a week after the strike before operations 
 had resumed their regular order. 
 
 Barney Donohue was taken to New York to be punished. 
 During four months Receiver Jewett, or his advisers, made 
 an unnecessary exhibition of Erie in the proceedings that 
 were persisted in against Donohue, always before Judge 
 Donahue. The strike leader, who had none of the qualities 
 of a leader, and was simply an ignorant and entirely incom- 
 jietent man whose assurance alone had made him the head 
 
 of the Hornellsville strike, was lifted into undue prominence 
 by the proceedings, and made a martyr of in the eyes of 
 labor throughout the land. He was ably defended by Roger 
 A. Pryor, and was accorded the dignity of being sent to 
 Ludlow Street Jail for refusing to answer certain questions. 
 He was subsequently released without having answered, by 
 the same judge who committed him. This was on August 
 2 2d, when he was arrested by the Sheriff of Steuben County 
 and taken to Bath Jail. October 13 th, he was indicted on 
 a charge of conspiracy, and December 12th, five months 
 after his arrest at Hornellsville, he pleaded guilty, and was 
 sentenced to three months' imprisonment in the Steuben 
 County Jail. If that rational proceeding had been taken at 
 the start, his punishment would have been more severe, and 
 deservedly so. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES OF INTEREST.' 
 
 Strawberry Trains. — In the early years of the Erie 
 the region in Rockland County, N. Y., and Bergen County, 
 N. J., adjacent to the eastern section of the railroad, made 
 an important trafi&c for the road in the shipment of small 
 fruits, particularly strawberries, that region then supplying 
 largely the demands of New York City in those fruits. In 
 1846 a fruit train was put on during the berry season, between 
 Suffern and Piermont, running between these points with the 
 milk train from Middletown. It carried 400,000 baskets of 
 strawberries that season. In 1847 this train consisted of nine 
 8-wheel cars, and on every trip " was loaded to the top with 
 strawberries and milk. Some trips 80,000 baskets of berries- 
 were carried." Two cars of the train were needed to carry 
 the berry-growers, .who went to New York to dispose of their 
 berries. The business was larger yet in 1848, and was a 
 great factor in the Erie's local traffic until Southern New 
 Jersey and Long Island became the great berry producers. 
 
 Some Memorable Snows and Floods. — Deep snows 
 and disastrous floods were regular disturbers of traffic on the 
 Erie during its early years, particularly on the Western Divi- 
 sion, where the high country of Chautauqux County, between 
 Little Valley and Dunkirk, seemed to constantly invite snow 
 blockades. In the winter of 1852-3 that region had a snow- 
 fall of four feet and a half on the level ; in 1853 three feet 
 and a half, and in 1855-6 six feet and a half. In 1852 the 
 drifts on the western end of the Western Division were thirty 
 feet high. It was not an uncommon thing for passenger 
 trains to be snowbound a week at a time within two hours of 
 Dunkirk. Ten locomotives and 500 men were unable to keep 
 that portion of the track "clear for trains during the second 
 week of January, 1852, and all that time a train-load of pas- 
 sengers lay in the drifts. On one occasion, during the winter 
 of 1855-6, train No. 4, with five engines attached, was nine 
 days getting over the Western Division. 
 
 June 17, 1857, the day express was four hours going from 
 Addison to Hornellsville, because of a sudden and terrific 
 rain which inundated that part of the railroad for twenty-five 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 441 
 
 miles east of Hornellsville, and co\-ered the tracks in many 
 places two or three feet with gravel washed from the hillsides. 
 Captain Ayres was conductor of the train, and De Bruce 
 Goodell engineer. Captain Avers marched ahead of his train 
 a great part of the distance, frequently for a mile or more in 
 water up to his waist, to discover any danger that might lurk 
 in the way. 'When the train reached Hornellsville the passen- 
 gers held a meeting at the Osborne House and passed reso- 
 lutions of thanks to the conductor, engineer, and trainmen. 
 Hon. Benjamin Chamberlain of Randolph, X. Y., was chair- 
 man of the meeting. 
 
 The winter of 1857 was particularly disastrous to the Erie 
 on the Delaware Division. There were extraordinarily deep 
 snows, and heavy ice in the Delaware River. February 2d the 
 ice went out with a big flood, and carried away the railroad 
 bridge east of Xarrowsburg, N. V. The river froze up again, 
 and another flood came February iSth. The railroad bridge 
 that the previous flood had demolished was well along toward 
 restoration, but most of the new one was carried away by the 
 second flood. A. J. Hardenbergh, bridge foreman, was on 
 the work next to the Pennsylvania bank when the flood came, 
 and the timber broke up and crashed away behind him as he 
 ran for the shore, his feet being scarcely lifted from one tim- 
 ber before that timber would fall before the flood. His es- 
 cape was miraculous. Pending the replacing of the railroad 
 bridge below Xarrowsburg, through traffic over the Erie was 
 ^•irtually suspended. Local passengers were ferried across the 
 Delaware. Live-stock was a great item of traffic on the Erie 
 in those days. M'hile the bridge was gone, cattle, sheep and 
 hogs were unloaded at Xarrowsburg and driven through 
 ^Vayne County, Pa., to the junction of the Honesdale and 
 Mast Hope turnpike, sixteen miles, and thence back over that 
 turnpike to Mast Hope, a total distance of thirty-five miles, 
 where they were reloaded on cars in waiting at that place for 
 them. 
 
 March 17, 1875, the great iron bridge '<: SawiU'U Rift, the 
 original point of entry into Pennsylv-una, was carried away 
 by the great ice block caused by t';e imprecedented jam in 
 the Delaware River at Sim's Cliff, below Port Jervis. For 
 Aveeks before the catastrophe, foreseeing the danger. Chief 
 Plngineer Chanute of the Erie had a force of men at work 
 blasting the ice in the gorge with nitro-glycerine, for the pur- 
 pose of weakening it, so that when the great pack from up 
 the river came down it would force a passage through the 
 jam and avert the danger. This was not effected, and the 
 ice coming down from up stream was stopped at the Port 
 Jervis gorge, and piled up thirty to fifty feet high between 
 Port Jervis and the Sawmill Rift bridge, lifting that bridge 
 from its foundations and bearing it away. During the replac- 
 ing of this bridge with the present one, all through traffic of 
 the Erie was by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western 
 Railroad between New York and Great Bend, Pa. 
 
 The great blizzard of March, 1888, blocked the Eastern 
 Division of the Erie so that the traffic was entirely at a 
 standstill five days. Trains were stalled at many points be- 
 tween Jersey City and Port Jervis, all effort to extricate them 
 
 being fruitless, anil much hardship resulted both to passen- 
 gers and employees. The track was covered with drifted 
 snow that was frequently fifty feet deep. Xo early snow 
 blockade in the histor\' of the railroad was as complete as 
 this ; for, with all the modern appliances, greater experience 
 in railroading, and the more powerful machinery, the railroad 
 was utterly at the mercy of the storm and its sequences for 
 nearly a week, and it was a week longer before the demoral- 
 ized and disorganized condition of affairs on the railroad 
 could be restored to its old-time system and order. The 
 blockade was all along the line and its branches for 150 
 miles. At and near Chester, N. Y., five trains were stalled 
 from Monday morning until Friday night, the long, deejD cut 
 at the station being filled with snow from bottom to top, its 
 entire length. The cut is 300 feet long and forty feet deep. 
 The cost and loss to the company of that great obstruction 
 to its business was j! 1,000,000. The blockade lasted from 
 March 12 th to March 17 th, before one train could be moved 
 over the Eastern Division. 
 
 From early Sunday morning, October 3, 1869, until day- 
 light the next morning, rain fell in such incessant torrents in 
 the Delaware Valley that for miles on the Delaware Division 
 of the Erie the track was buried from three to eight feet 
 deep by land and rock slides from the hills. The heaviest 
 slide was at Middaugh's Switch, six miles west of Port Jen'is. 
 Between Hankins and Callicoon 100 feet of the road-bed was 
 washed into the Delaware River, which was a raging flood. 
 Near Pond Eddy two sections of road-bed were washed out, 
 leaving chasms sixty feet wide and fifty feet deep. The 
 east abutment and one pier of the railroad bridge across the 
 Delaware east of Xarrowsburg were destroyed by the flood. 
 The railroad was tied up until October 9. Temporary tres- 
 tles were thrown across the big washouts, and a ferry was 
 established across the river at the wrecked bridge east of 
 Xarrowsburg. Three hundred emigrants and hundreds of 
 passengers were stalled at Port Jervis pending the repairs, 
 and were fed and lodged by the Company. 
 
 some dreadful disasters of the rail in 
 Erie's history. 
 
 At King & Fuller's Cut. — Frank Evans of New York, 
 a survivor of this terrible catastrophe, recalls for the author 
 these recollections of it : " It was about the middle of July, 
 in 1864," says Mr. Evans. " I was in the Union Army, and 
 was one of a guard of 125 soldiers Avho were detailed to 
 take a lot of Confederate prisoners from Point Lookout, Va., 
 to the prison camp at p;;imira, N. Y., which had just been made 
 ready to receive them. There were 10,000 prisoners in all 
 to be transferred, and this lot was the first installment to "be 
 moved. There were about 800 of them. We came on the 
 Pennsylvania Railroad to Jersey City, and the prisoners were 
 transferred to the Erie train by boat. The train was made 
 up of emigrant cars, box cars, and all sorts of odds and ends 
 of cars, and was a long one. Two guards were stationed on 
 the platform at each end of each car. We got started from 
 
44: 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Jersey City about 5 o'clock in the morning. I was one of 
 the guards stationed well back on the train, and a lucky 
 thing it was for me that I was so stationed. AVe passed 
 through the little village of Shohola early in the afternoon, 
 going something like twenty-five miles an hour. We had 
 run a mile or so beyond Shohola, when the train came to a 
 stop with a suddenness that hurled me to the ground, and 
 instantly a crash and roar that rivalled the shock of batde 
 rose and filled that quiet valley. This lasted but a moment. 
 It was followed by a second or two of awful silence, and 
 then the air was filled by most appalling shrieks and wails 
 and cries of anguish. 
 
 " As soon as I recovered from the confusion caused by the 
 shock and the fall, I did not need to be told that our train 
 had met with some frightful mishap. I hurried forward. 
 On a curve in a deep cut we had met a heavily-laden coal 
 train, travelling nearly as fast as we were. The trains had 
 come together with that deadly crash. The two locomotives 
 were raised high in air, face to face against each other, like 
 giants grappling. The tender of our locomotive stood erect 
 on one end. The engineer and fireman, poor fellows, were 
 buried beneath the wood it carried. Perched on the reared- 
 up end of the tender, high above the wreck, was one of our 
 guards, sitting wit.'" his gun clutched in his hands, dead ! 
 The front car of our train was jammed into a space of less 
 than six feet. The two cars behind it were almost as badly 
 wrecked. Several cars in the rear of those were also heaped 
 together. 
 
 " In a very short time a score of people arrived from the 
 village, and the work of removing the dead and rescuing the 
 wounded began. There were bodies impaled on iron rods 
 and splintered beams. Headless trunks were mangled be- 
 tween the telescoped cars. From the wreck of the head car 
 thirty-seven of the thirty-eight prisoners it contained wore 
 taken out dead. The remaining prisoner was found alive 
 and uninjured, surrounded by debris, like a nut kernel in its 
 shell. Three of the four guards on the car were also taken 
 out dead. The fourth one was the one who sat dead on top 
 of the upturned tender. From the wrecked cars thirty-three 
 of the guards were taken, twenty of whom were dead. 
 Fifty or more of the prisoners were killed, and at least 100 
 or more wounded, a number of the wounded dying soon 
 after they were removed from the wreck. The fireman of the 
 coal train was instantly killed. His engineer escaped by 
 jumping. The engineer of our train was caught in the 
 awful wreck of his engine, where he was held in plain sight, 
 with his back against the boiler, and slowly roasted to death. 
 AVith his last breath he warned away all who went near to try 
 and aid him, declaring that there was danger of the boiler 
 exploding and killing them. Taken all in all, that wreck was 
 a scene of horror such as few, even in the thick of battle, 
 are ever doomed to be a witness of. And, as we heard dur- 
 ing the day, it was all caused by a wrong order given to the 
 engineer of the coal train by a drunken despatcher some- 
 where up the road. If we could have got at him we would 
 ' have made short shrift of him. 
 
 " We were until night getting the dead and wounded out 
 of the wreck and things in shape to proceed on our journey. 
 A coroner held an inquest, and the dead were all buried in 
 one great trench dug by order of the railroad officials, be- 
 tween the railroad and the river, which was a few hundred 
 yards distant. The bodies were put into pine boxes, each 
 dead Union soldier having a box to himself. The dead pris- 
 oners were buried four in a box. We did not get on our way 
 until next morning, and left many of the wounded at Shohola, 
 taking a number of them with us.'' 
 
 That frightful accident occurred about 2 p.m., Friday, July 
 IS, 1864. The cause of the accident was a drunken tele- 
 graph operator at Lackawaxen, Pa., four miles west of the 
 scene of the disaster. His name was Duff Kent. He had 
 been carousing the night before, and was under the influence 
 of liquor at his post when Conductor John Martin, of a coal 
 train that had come in off the Hawley Branch of the Erie, 
 eastbound, asked him if the road was clear for him to go 
 ahead. Kent said it was, although the train that carried a 
 flag ahead of the extra having the prisoners aboard had left 
 the station on its way west but a short time before, and Kent 
 had been informed that the train bearing the prisoners was 
 on the road. This train should have left Jersey City at 4.30 . 
 A.M., Friday, July isth, but was delayed an hour or more by 
 the captain of the Union guard returning to the vessel on 
 which the prisoners had been brought from City Poiht, to 
 look for three of the prisoners who had escaped. When Con- 
 ductor Martin got the word from Kent, his train started east. 
 It consisted of fifty loaded cars. At King & Fuller's cut 
 (so-called from the contractors who made it), a mile west of 
 Shohola, the train was going at the rate of twelve miles an 
 hour, and in that cut met the extra train, with its load of 833 
 Confederate prisoners and r 50 Union guards, travelling twenty 
 miles an hour. The cut is a long one, on a curve. Neither 
 engineer could see the track fifty feet ahead of him. Neither 
 knew of the other's presence there until they came face to 
 face. The engineer of the coal train, Samuel Hoitt, had time 
 to jump from his locomotive. He escaped with but slight 
 injury. His fireman, Philo Prentiss, was crushed to death. 
 The engineer of the passenger train was William Ingram, 
 whose cool bravery in the face of a horrible death is described 
 above by Mr. Evans. His fireman was Daniel Tuttle. Both 
 were buried in the debris of the locomotive, the fireman being 
 instantly killed. G. M. Boyden, a brakeman on the coal 
 train, was also killed. 
 
 ' An inquest was held at Shohola, by Justice Thomas J. 
 Ridgway and a jury. It exonerated every one from any 
 blame, although the criminal carelessness that had caused the 
 slaughter was well known. Kent was not molested ; but on 
 the very night following the accident, and while scores of his 
 victims lay dead, and scores more were writhing in agony, he 
 attended a ball at Hawley, and danced until daylight. Next 
 day, however, he disappeared, the voice of popular indigna- 
 tion becoming ominous, and he never was seen or heard of 
 in that locality again. 
 
 The trench in which the dead were buried was seventy-six 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 443 
 
 feet long, eight feet wide, and six deep. The official report 
 of the killed that were buried places the number at fifty-one 
 Confederates and nineteen Union soldiers. The wounded, 
 some of whom died later, numbered 123. This, at that 
 time, was the most horrible and disastrous railroad accident 
 on record. The common grave of its unfortunate victims 
 was in time washed away by floods, and the bones of those 
 it contained were carried along, year by year, until at last the 
 ground was left tenantless of its dead. 
 
 At Carr's Rock. — Wednesday morning, April 15, 1868, 
 eastbound express train No. 12 passed Lackawaxen, on the 
 Delaware Division, at twelve minutes past three o'clock. The 
 train was forty minutes late. There were nine cars in the 
 train, the three rear cars being sleeping-coaches. Jasper B. 
 Judd was the conductor, Henry Green the engineer. The 
 Delaware Division had then but a single track. The rails 
 were of iron, and of poor quality, ^^'hen the railroad was 
 built through that region, a wild mountain creek joined the 
 Delaware at the mouth of a deep valley, midway between 
 Shohola and Pond Eddy. A high jutting rock on one side 
 of the valley was knovs'n as Carr's Rock, and the stream was 
 called Carr's Rock Brook. The railroad was carried across the 
 creek and its valley by filling in the latter and by the construc- 
 tion of a culvert of heavy masonry. The embankment ^nd 
 culvert were fifty feet above the creek, the fall being per- 
 pendicular at the culvert, and steep elsewhere, the Delaware 
 River being about 100 feet from the foot of the embankment. 
 The railroad curves sharply at this point. 
 
 The engineer was running to make up lost time. He had 
 passed an eighth of a mile beyond Carr's Rock, when he dis- 
 covered that he had lost part of his train. The conductor, 
 who was in the front passenger car, had made the discovery 
 before that, and going back through the train found that the 
 sleeping-cars were not there. They had been thrown from 
 the track, and hurled over the high embankment and culvert. 
 As was learned later, or as was gathered from the evidences 
 on the track, a rail 250 yards or more west of the culvert had 
 been broken by the locomotive of the train, but the broken 
 rail had kept in place until all the cars but one ahead of the 
 first sleeper had passed over it. When the forward wheels of 
 that car struck it, a section of the broken rail was displaced. 
 Failing to mount the safe rail ahead of it, the truck went off 
 on the ties. The rear truck remained on the rails, however, 
 as did the following cars. The forward truck ran along on 
 the ties 700 feet without the mishap having been discovered 
 by the conductor. or engineer. The passengers in the de- 
 railed car were awakened by its jolting over the ties, and 
 one pulled the bell-rope. If the track had been straight the 
 derailed car would doubtless have followed on safely until the 
 accident had been discovered and the train stopped, but 
 when the wheels of the truck met the beginning of the 
 sharp curve it failed to respond to the change in direction, 
 and kept straight on. The coupling to the car ahead was 
 broken. The cars behind the derailed one followed it from 
 the rails to the verge of the precipitous bank and culvert. 
 
 As the cars hung over the gulf, the coupling of the second 
 and third cars broke. The first one plunged from the culvert, 
 but was carried by its momentum to the far side of the creek, 
 where it crashed in ruin, carrying instant death to many of its 
 helpless occupants. The second car rolled over and over 
 down the steep and rocky slope, its sides splitting open and 
 its roof being torn away in the frightful descent. The third 
 car fell bottom side up to the bottom of the steep, partially 
 in the creek, and the fourth car fell near it. 
 
 "When the discovery that something was wrong was made 
 by the engineer and conductor, and the train was backed 
 to the scene of the catastrophe, the last sleeper was in flames, 
 lighting up fitfully the awful wreck of the other cars, from 
 which rose most appalling shrieks and groans, and making 
 the darkness of the wild surroundings more intense. 
 
 When the first shock of the horrible casualty was over, 
 Conductor Judd and his trainmen, aided by the passengers 
 from the cars that were not wrecked, and such of those as 
 had escaped with their lives from the cars that had plunged 
 from the bank and culvert, hastened to the aid of the 
 injured and to the rescuing of the living who were held fast 
 in the tangled debris of the wreck. The records of the 
 sleeping-car company, as was subsequently learned, showed 
 that berths had been sold to twenty-three persons for that 
 trip in the car that caught fire. But two persons were saved 
 alive from that car, and the charred remains of what were 
 believed to be those of six others were all that were left to 
 show what had become of the reiiiaining twenty-one. In the 
 first car that went into the gulf nearly every passenger was 
 killed. The car that fell into the creek caught fire ; all the 
 part that was out of the creek was burned. 
 
 A train with physicians and other aid aboard was hurried 
 to the scene of the dreadful catastrophe at the earliest possible 
 moment, and the dead and injured were taken to Port Jervis. 
 The injured were cared for tenderly at the various hotels 
 and at private residences, by volunteer nurses, and by the 
 five physicians of the place, and five sent from New York by 
 the Company. The dead were laid out in the ladies' waiting- 
 room of the depot to be identified and taken away by rela- 
 tives or friends. The unidentified remains were buried in 
 one grave in Laurel Grove Cemetery. 
 
 The death list of this most sickening tragedy of the rail is 
 as follows : 
 
 Ephraim Hoyt and wife,. Chenango Forks, N. Y. ; Mary E. 
 Cobb, Honesdale, Pa. ; Eneas Blossom, proprietor of the Erie 
 dining-saloon at Susquehanna, Pa. ; a child of D. B. Tisdell, 
 of Ithaca, N. Y. ; H. Blonvin, Urbana, N. Y. ; I. S. Dunham, 
 Binghamton, N. Y. ; C. K. Loomis, Buffalo, N. Y. ; EHjah 
 Knapp, Jamestown, N. Y. ; Thomas Purinton, New York ; Mrs. 
 A. P. Snow and child, of Iowa ; Tobias Erlich, Hornellsville, 
 N. Y. ; Philip Richter, Hoboken, N. J. ; J. Melvin, Buffalo ; 
 A. E. Brown, Bath, N. Y. ; Ferdinand Sausse, Paris ; Mrs. 
 John Decker, of Binghamton (among those burned to death) ; 
 F. N. Horton of Salem, Wis. ; A. L. Oliver of New York ; four 
 unidentified, and those supposed to have been entirely con- 
 sumed i.n the rear sleeper ; a total of forty dead. 
 
44- 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 The -wonnded were seventy-five, some of ^\■hom never re- 
 covered entirely from the effects of their injuries. Among 
 the wounded were Charles W. Douglas, superintendent of the 
 Delaware Division, and Charles S. Fairman, editor of the 
 El mini Advertiser. 
 
 A coroner's jury held an inquest at Port Jervis, N. Y., 
 July i/th, and another one made a so-called investigation in 
 Pike County, Pa., where the disaster occurred. This latter 
 inquest held nobody nor anything to blame for the catas- 
 trophe. The Port Jervis inquest found that it was due to a 
 broken rail over which the train was being run at too great 
 speed. 
 
 In connection with this accident, the reader will find it 
 interesting to refer to the report of (leneral Superintendent 
 Hugh Riddle, made to the Company some weeks before the 
 Carr's Rock horror (" Administration of John S. Eldridge," 
 pages 156-157)- 
 
 In August, 1869, this most melancholy tragedy was brought 
 sensationally before the public by one of those unusual move- 
 ments peculiar to the Gould and Fisk regime. A number 
 of the passengers injured at Carr's Rock had dechned to ac- 
 cept the terms of settlement offered by the Company, and 
 had brought suit to recover heavy damages. Among these 
 passengers were Stephen S\\'eet, of Middletown, and C'. C. 
 Dyke, of Brooklyn, both of whom had been seriously hurt in 
 the accident. The general verdict that the disaster was due 
 to a broken rail and the reckless speed at which the train 
 was running had not been questioned by any one, either in 
 or out of the Erie management. In the winter of 1868-69, 
 deraihng of trains was so frequent that the management 
 came to the conclusion that it was the work of train-wreck- 
 ers, and the Company offered a reward of ^2,000 for in- 
 formation that would lead to the arrest and conviction of any 
 one concerned in such a crime. May 28, 1869, a half-de- 
 mented, dissolute character, named James Bowen, informed 
 the Erie watchman at Stairway, seven miles west of Port Jervis, 
 that he had surprised a man tampering with the rails at a dan- 
 gerous spot, and recognized him. The watchman went with 
 Bowen to the spot and found a rail loosened. Bo\^'en said 
 the man who had tampered with the rail was James Knight, 
 who. was a -nell-to-do and reputable farmer living in that 
 vicinity. Knight was arrested, and Bowen's charge was found 
 to be groundless, and he was himself arrested on charge 
 of being the one who had tampered with the rail. He was 
 lodged in jail at Milford, Pa., where, on June 2d, as was 
 announced in the New York papers June 23d, he made a 
 confession, declaring that he had chsplaced the rail and made 
 the charge against Knight in hope of convicting him and 
 obtaining the S2,ooo reward. The New York papers also in- 
 timated that Bowen had been guilty of wrecking the train at 
 Carr's Rock in 1868. This intimation was fiercely assailed 
 by the local papers, until it was in turn intimated to them 
 that this opinion was not only shared by the management, 
 but had originated with it, whereupon the broken rail and 
 undue speed verdict of Carr's Rock was rejected and the 
 new theory accepted. The result was that on August iSth 
 
 it was made public that James Bowen's conscience had har- 
 assed him so that he had sent for the local Erie officials 
 and attorney, August 17th, and said that he had something 
 to tell them. They went to JNIilford, where they bethought 
 them that it would be well to have some one else hear what 
 James Bowen had to say, and selected as such witnesses such 
 substantial citizens as the district-attorney of Pike County, and 
 an ex-associate judge and two ex-sheriffs. In the presence 
 of these officers and ex-officers, Bowen confessed that he had 
 fixed the rail that threw the train off the track with such ter- 
 rible results at Carr's Rock, that night in April, 186N. The 
 confession, as given to the press, was an incoherent, ram- 
 bling statement, just such a one as an irresponsible, weak- 
 minded man like Bowen would make, but the substance of 
 it had been suggested to him, and by making it he expected 
 to be lenientlv dealt with by the court, although the Erie 
 officials were particular to announce that, before they knew 
 what Bowen had it in his mind to say, they had warned him 
 that he would say it at his peril, and must not expect any 
 leniency from them. This confession was published, and poor 
 old Bowen (he was then over sixty) was denounced far and 
 wide as " The Fiend Bowen." ^\'hen he came into court to 
 get his expected light sentence. Judge George R. Barrett 
 sentenced him to ten years in the Eastern Penitentiary, and 
 to pay a fine of $10,000. 
 
 But the evidence of this "confession," introduced in the 
 proceedings of Sweet, Dyke, and others for damages against 
 the Erie, to show that the Carr's Rock disaster was the work 
 of a train-wrecker and not the result cf any dereliction 
 of duty, availed nothing. The plaintiffs obtained verdicts 
 against the Company, and collected damages, Sweet for 
 Sio,ooo and Dyke for $20,000. Bowen served out his sen- 
 tence (with the exception of paying the fine) for a crime he 
 never committed, and returned to Pike County, where he died 
 in 1895. Carr's Rock is now known as Parker's Glen, and a 
 sparkling fountain playing in the gulf below the culvert marks 
 the spot where that horror was, more than thirty years ago. 
 
 Ar ;Mast Hope. — On the night of July 14, i86g. Con- 
 ductor Judson D. Brown's freight train, bound west on the 
 Delaware Division, pulled upon the switch at Mast Hope, Pa., 
 to wait for the passing of express train No. 3, which left Jer- 
 sey City at 6 130 p.m., and was due to pass Mast Hope at a 
 few minutes before midnight. The engineer of the freight 
 train was James Griffin. The express train was in charge of 
 Conductor Henry Smith. Charles Coffey was engineer. The 
 train approached Mast Hope at its usual high rate of speed. 
 The engineer sounded his whisde as usual. Mast Hope was 
 not a stopping place for the express. As he was whizzing by 
 the station Engineer Coffey was horrified to see the locomo- 
 tive of the freight train pulling out on the main line directly 
 in his path. He had barely time to think before his loco- 
 motive had plunged into the freight locomotive, and was 
 turned completely round. The collision was frightful. How 
 Coffey or his fireman, Perry Hoyt, escaped instant death is 
 one of the miracles of railroad life. The coals from the fire- 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 445 
 
 box of the locomotive set fire to the wrecked car next to it. 
 The flames spread rapidl}'. The depot building caught fire 
 from the burning cars and was destroyed. Nine persons were 
 burned to death in the cars, among them the Rev. Benjamin 
 B. Halleck, a Universalist minister of New York. He was 
 unhurt by the smash-up, but was held fast under his seat, in 
 plain sight of those who were doing all they could to rescue 
 him. Among these was his brother-in-law, who had escaped 
 from the car. It was impossible to save him. He coolly gave 
 directions as to the best way to extricate him, as the flames 
 closed in about him, and he met his awful death without a 
 muniiur or a groan. The dead, besides Mr. Hafleck, were an 
 unknown family of five^father, mother, and three children, 
 immigrants — Daniel Baer, and three other passengers, who 
 were burned beyond recognition. The number of the injured 
 were ten. 
 
 Engineer Griffin disappeared after the disaster, and was 
 arrested at Salamanca, N. Y., July i6th. He was held by 
 the coroner on the charge of manslaughter. He was unable 
 to explain how or why he pulled his engine out on the main 
 track ahead of the express, except on the theory that he had 
 fallen asleep on his engine while waiting on the switch, was 
 aroused by the whistling of the passenger train, and, Avhile 
 
 yet confused and half asleep, had started his engine un- 
 consciously. He was tried at Milford, Pa., at the Septem- 
 ber term of court following. He was defended by the Hon. 
 George W. ^^'oodward, ex-Justice of the Supreme Court of 
 Pennsylvania, and other eminent counsel, and was acquitted, 
 so gready to the indignation of Judge George R. Barrett, the 
 presiding judge, that he addressed the jury, after its verdict, 
 in scathing terms, discharged it, and declared that its mem- 
 bers were unfit to try causes in any court. 
 
 Engineer Coffey suffered so from nervous shock of the 
 collision that it was years before he could bring himself to 
 run an engine again. He at last conquered his aversion, and 
 is to-day one of the most fearless, as he is one of the oldest-, 
 engineers in the Erie employ. 'He runs an express train on 
 the Susquehanna Division. 
 
 Engineer Grififin was but twenty-five years old when the 
 accident occurred. His hair was very dark. Within a year 
 his hair was almost snow white. Strange as it may seem, he 
 was, after two or three years, taken" back into the Erie's 
 employ, and is in their employ to-day. 
 
 Conductor Judson D. Brown, of the freight train, is a pas- 
 senger conductor on the Erie. Henry Smith, conductor of 
 the fated passenger train, is in business at Wellsboro, Pa. 
 
 rr 
 
 Sim 
 
 s^l 'J. EmE KAiLWAY"E?^PLOYES' TRIP PASS 
 
 \ T ^™' Valid nuly if iised whSiiji TIEKKK I5AVS from cEnie. 
 
 CSl^ w/ Jersey City, Jlim^>nH'^ m$ 
 
 I O -' j ® VoicF imlfsK counter- ^~ yy-' 
 
 O J. U X " Sii]/l Ea?l!Tii jiivisir.ii. i;.'iri'Sii|i'r. 
 
 FROM THE NORTHRUP COLLECTION. 
 
UNDER THE LEGISLATIVE PROBE. 
 
 LAYING ERIE BARE. 
 
 Insinuations and Charges Against the Management Inquired into as Long Ago as 1841— Not Proven, Exoneration Follows — The Search for 
 the Truth in the Days of Daniel Drew that Kept the New Yorl< Legislature Busy— Bribery and Corruption Charged in the Legisla- 
 ture of 1868— How the Action of a Senator Who Had Helped Investigate Erie Led to an Investigation of Himself— The Committee 
 Scores Erie, but the Legislature Changes Its Mind and Passes the Erie Bill— After the Classification Bill in 1S70, iSyr, and 1872— 
 Seeking Truth About the Watson Dividend of 1873— Erie Secrets Come to Light— The Hepburn Investigation of 1879 Throws 
 Light on Various Things. 
 
 1841- 
 
 There having been for months rumors afloat that Erie 
 affairs were being conducted after questionable methods 
 (" Second Administration of Eleazar Lord," page 50), the 
 matter was brought to the attention of the New York Legis- 
 lature, and on February 4, 1841, was referred to the Com- 
 mittee on Railroads, composed of Erastus D. Culver, of 
 Washington County ; Jonathan Aiken, of Dutchess County ; 
 William C. Pierpont, of New York ; Seth C. Hawley, of 
 Erie, and Reuben Howe, of Montgomery County. The 
 matters to be investigated were whether the Company had 
 made contracts or purchases of material at larger prices 
 than the work could have been agreed upon in consideration 
 of the contractors subscribing to the stock ; whether the 
 stock had had any market value during the past year ; 
 whether any cash payment had been made in stock on gen- 
 eral call ; whether the interest on State stocks was paid 
 with money obtained by selling the stock ; whether the 
 Company had sold the State stock loaned to it at less than 
 its par value ; and whether the Company had in any way 
 evaded the fair intent of the law requiring it to expend a 
 certain proportion of its own money before being entitled to 
 the credit of the State. 
 
 The Committee made its report May 8th, exonerating the 
 officers of the Company from the charges and insinuations 
 that brought about the investigation. The report made 165 
 printed pages, and nicluded many tibles and long statements 
 from the various officers. The report was not satisfactory to 
 the opponents of the railroad, and Assemblyman Arphaxad 
 Loomis, of Herkimer County, moved that it be recommitted 
 to the committee, with instructions to bring in a bill to pro- 
 hibit the further issuing of stocks to the Company until the 
 further order of the Legislature. Assemblyman Andrew G. 
 Chatfield, of Steuben County, moved that the matter be re- 
 ferred to a select committee for further action. The matter 
 was finally settled May 24th, by the appointment of a select 
 committee of three, on the following resolution offered by 
 Mr. Chatfield : 
 
 Fdsokr,/, That the report of the Standing Committee on Rail- 
 roads upon the petitions praying for further aid to the New York and 
 Erie Railroad Company, together with the remonstrances against the 
 same, and the petitions for the speedy construction of the New York 
 and Erie Railroad by the State, communicated to this House on the 
 22d of May instant, be referred to a Select Committee of three mem- 
 bers, to be appointed by ballot, who shall have power to send for per- 
 sons and papers, with instructions to inquire into the management of 
 said Company and its officers ; to sit during the recess of the Legis- 
 lature, at such times and places within this State as they shall deem 
 proper, and to report to the next Legislature. 
 
 The select committee of the Assemby thus appointed con- 
 sisted of Andrew G. Chatfield, of Steuben County, chairman ; 
 George G. Graham, of Ulster ; and William B. Maclay, of 
 New York. 
 
 The first meeting of the coinmittee was at the office of the 
 Company in New York City, July 29, 1841, where it exam- 
 ined the books and took the testimony of the officers and 
 agents of the Company. September 23d, the committee 
 met at Goshen, N. Y., where it was in session until October 
 I St, the first meeting day being the day the railroad was 
 opened between Piermont and Goshen. 
 
 October 2d, the committee met at Piermont, and returned 
 to Goshen, October 4th, where it prosecuted its investiga- 
 tion until October 7th, when it adjourned to meet at Monti- 
 cello, N. Y., October nth, remained there two days, and 
 met at Bethel, Sulhvan County, N. Y., October 13th. It was 
 in session there one day, and adjourned to meet at Bingham- 
 ton, October i8th. On the 20th it adjourned to Owego, 
 where the investigation occupied nine days, the chief subject 
 being the difficulty over the location of the route through 
 Owego and the place where the depot was to be. From 
 Owego the committee went to Elmira, where it met on the 
 29th, and continued in session until November 2d. It ad- 
 journed from Elmira to Corning, where its session began 
 November 4th and ended on the 6th, resuining at Addison, 
 N. Y., on the 8th. FroiTi Addison the committee visited 
 Rathbonsville on the 9th; Hornellsville on the iqth and 
 nth; Philhpsburg, Allegany County, the 13th; Cuba and 
 Olean the isth; Randolph the 17th; Dunkirk the 19th and 
 20th. From Dunkirk the committee adjourned to New York, 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 447 
 
 (where it met on December 13th and remained in session 
 until December 30th. 
 
 The committee made its report to the Legislature, Jan- 
 uary 18, 1842. The report was exhaustive, and occupied, 
 with the testimony, exhibits, reports of engineers, etc., 699 
 pages of Vol. III. of Senate Documents for 1842. The com- 
 mittee employed James Seymour, a prominent civil engineer, 
 to pass over the entire route of the railroad and report on its 
 affairs. His report made thirty printed pages. 
 
 The committee's report not only exonerated the manage- 
 ment on all the allegations, but commended it for the man- 
 ner in which it had prosecuted the \\ork, as follows : " The 
 result of this investigation not only exonerates the Company, 
 its officers, and its agents from everything like a charge of 
 fraud or mismanagement or attempt to evade the law, but it 
 proves, on the contrary, that they are justly entitled to the 
 confidence which the Legislature has heretofore reposed in 
 them. Instead of being liable to censure, the Company is 
 entitled to approbation." 
 
 1868. 
 
 A\'hile the contest between Daniel Drew and Cornelius 
 Vanderbilt for possession of the Erie Railway (" Administra- 
 tion of John S. Eldridge," pages 148-160) was at its height, 
 the New York Legislature took cognizance of it. A bill 
 seeking to legalize the action of the Erie Directory in over- 
 issuing stock was introduced in the Assembly, and it was 
 defeated March 31st, by an overwhelming vote. Pending 
 further action on the bill, the Senate had taken hand in Erie 
 affairs on another line of procedure. 
 
 March 5 th, Senator James F. Pierce, of the Second Dis- 
 trict, offered the following preamble and resolution in the 
 Senate : 
 
 Whereas, Grave charges have been made in the newspapers and 
 before the Supreme Court, in reference to the management of the 
 Erie Railway Company, and that the general management of the said 
 Company is controlled by persons who systematically make use of 
 their positions to depreciate and destroy the value of the stock of said 
 Company, and that the Directors of such Company have issued a 
 larger amount of the stock of such Company than such Company is 
 entitled to issue by law, therefore 
 
 Resolved, That a comm.ittee of three Senators be appointed to ex- 
 amine into the condition of such Company and into the said charges, 
 with power to send for persons and papers, said investigation to be 
 conducted without expense to the State. 
 
 On motion of Senator Henry \V. Genet, of New York, the 
 following addition was made to Senator Pierce's resolution : 
 
 Jiesrlved, That said committee be directed to report the testimony 
 taken, and the result of their deliberation, within twenty days from 
 the adoption of this resolution. 
 
 The preamble and resolutions were agreed to. 
 
 March 6th, on motion of Senator Abner C. Mattoon, the 
 number of the committee wis increased from three to five, 
 and such a committee was appointed as follows : 
 
 James F. Pierce, of the Second District; John J. Bradley, 
 of the Seventh District ; Abner C. Mattoon, of the Twenty- 
 first District; Orlow W. Chapman, of the Twenty-fourth 
 District ; W'olcott J. Humphrey, of the Thirtieth District. 
 
 The committee met at 62 Broadway, New York, March 10, 
 1868, and at the Delavan House, Albany, March r3th, 19th, 
 24th, 25th. The witnesses examined were Horatio N. Otis, 
 Secretary of the Company ; J. C. Bancroft Davis, of the Erie 
 Directory ; David Groesbeck, Daniel Drew's broker ; Gen. A. 
 S. Diven, Vice-President of the Company ; Henry R. Pier- 
 son, of the Erie Directory; William G. Edwards, cashier of 
 Bloodgood & Co., of Wall Street ; James M. Cross, a con- 
 tractor of Newark, N. J. Jay Gould, James Fisk, Jr., Homer 
 Ramsdell, Daniel Drew, John S. Eldridge, President of the 
 Erie ; Henry Thompson, Dudley S. Gregory, John S. Hilton, 
 A\'iUiam Belden, of Fisk & Belden ; Henry M. Smith, of 
 Smith, Gould, Martin & Co., were subpoenaed as witnesses, 
 but failed to appear, nor could they be found by the Ser- 
 geant-at-Arms of the Senate. Copies from the minutes of 
 the Board of Directors bearing on the matter to be investi- 
 gated, copies of contracts with Daniel Drew, of the lease of 
 the Buffalo, Bradford and Pittsburg Railroad, the agreement 
 with the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad Company to 
 guarantee the bonds of that company, and of the proceedings 
 that led up to that agreement, and the statement of President 
 Eldridge justifying the matter that had led to the investiga- 
 tion, were also part of the testimony. 
 
 April I St two reports were submitted to the Senate, a ma- 
 jority report signed by Senators Pierce, Bradley, and Mattoon, 
 and a minority report signed by Senators Chapman and 
 Humphrey. The majority report scored the methods of 
 Gould, Fisk, Drew, Eldridge, and the others of the existing 
 Erie management in their manipulating of the Erie stock 
 and its over-issue, declared that they were acting in violation 
 of law and morals, and denounced their acts in scathing 
 terms. " Justice demands," said the report, " that these 
 agents should be removed, but as the courts have ample power 
 over them, the committee have not deemed it necessary to 
 introduce a bill for the purpose. The committee, however, 
 believe that some legislation is necessary to prevent similar 
 practices in future, and they accordingly ask the adoption of 
 the following resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That the frauds and abuses developed by the investiga- 
 tion of the management of the present directors and ofificers of the 
 Erie Railway Company, demand that increased penalties for such of- 
 fences shall be imposed for the protection of stockholders and the com- 
 munity, and that the special committee conducting such investigation 
 be, and they hereby are, instructed to report a bill, making it a feloni- 
 ous offence for any director or ofiScer to fraudulently issue stock of the 
 Company in which he holds such trust, or to convert to his own use 
 or purposes the proceeds of stock or bonds, or to fraudulently take or 
 carry away to another State, or with like intent to keep and retain 
 therein, to evade legal process in this State, the moneys or effects of 
 such Company. 
 
 The minority report, which would have been the majority- 
 report b".t for the fact that Senator Mattoon withdrey/ 'I'S 
 
448 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 consent from it at the eleventh hour and signed the Pierce 
 and Bradley report, simply declared that the charges against 
 the management had not been established, and that it had 
 done no act that it had not the legal right to do. Leave Avas 
 given Senator Chapman to report to the Senate the bill sub- 
 mitted with the minority report, and the bill reported was 
 entitled " An Act in relation to the Erie, New York Central, 
 Hudson River, and Harlem Railway Companies." It was 
 referred to the Committee of the Whole. 
 
 The sensation that these two reports made was increased 
 by an editorial paragraph in the Neia York Tribune, written 
 by Horace Greeley himself, as follows : 
 
 Can Senator Folger really mean to scout investigation as needless ? 
 IJoes he not know that quite a number of his fellow Senators have 
 ■sold their votes in the Drew-Vanderbilt quarrel, some of them more 
 than once ? Can he not lay his hand at once on the Senator who is 
 currently reported to have sold his vote and influence first to one side 
 for $15,000, and then to the other for $20,000, insisting that he must 
 have $1,000 extra for his son? Is he not morally certain that more 
 than $100,000 have been paid to influence corruptly the action of Sen- 
 ators in the premises? 
 
 There could be onl}' one Senator to whom this charge 
 could apply, but before he had taken any public notice of it. 
 Senator Matthew Hale, on April 8th, offered a preamble and 
 resolutions, which, after warm debate, were amended and 
 presented in the following form on April loth : 
 
 Whereas, It has been charged that large sums of money have 
 been improperly and corruptly expended by or on behalf of persons in- 
 terested in the passage or defeat of certain measures relating to the Erie 
 Railway Company, in order to influence or attempt to influence legis- 
 lative action in supporting or opposing such measures ; and, wlicreas, 
 reports are current that said parties, or some of them, have been or 
 are now attempting to influence Senators by corrupt and unlawful 
 means ; and, whereas, such reports, whether true or false, tend to 
 bring this body and the whole Legislature into discredit and public 
 contempt ; therefore. 
 
 Resolved, That this body ought, in justice to its own reputation, 
 and in order that corruption and bribery, if they exist, may be exposed 
 and punished, and that calumny and slander, if such charges and re- 
 ports are false, may be refuted and silenced, to investigate as to the 
 truth or falsehood of such charges and reports. 
 
 Resolved, further. That a committee of three be appointed by the 
 President, with power to send for persons and papers, to inquire and 
 ascertain whether any party or parties interested in supporting or op- 
 posing any measures relating to the Erie Railway Company, had, 
 either in person or by agent, directly or indirectly, paid or offered to 
 pay any member or members of the Senate, during the present session, 
 any money or other valuable thing to influence his or their vote or 
 action, in Senate or committee. 
 
 Senator John O'Donnell, of the Eighteenth District, who 
 championed the Erie interests in this affair, moved to amend 
 by striking out the word " Erie " wherever it occurred, and 
 inserting in lieu thereof the words " railroad companies," and 
 the motion prevailed l)y a vote of 17 to 13. 
 
 April nth, the preamble and resolutions were adopted by 
 a imanimous vote. Senators Matthew Hale, of the Sixteenth 
 District ; Richard Crowley, of the Twenty-ninth, and Lewis 
 
 A. Edwards, of the First, were appointed the special com- 
 mittee to conduct the investigation. 
 
 May ist. Senator Hale submitted the following to the 
 Senate : 
 
 To tite Ifonorable iJie Senate . 
 
 Your Committee, appointed pursuant to resolution adopted April 
 10, 1868, to inquire as to the use of money, etc., to influence the 
 action of Senators upon measures relating to railways, respectfully 
 report : 
 
 That they had commenced such investigations and diligently prose- 
 cuted the same, so far as time and their other necessary duties would 
 permit, but have been unable to accomplish the same. This failure to 
 accomplish the work entrusted to your Committee results in a great 
 measure from inability to obtain the attendance of some witnesses 
 deemed m.aterial in such investigation. Some of those witnesses, your 
 Committee have reason to believe, have left the State temporarily, or 
 concealed themselves within it, for the purpose of avoiding the service 
 of process to compel such attendance, thinking that the approaching 
 adjournment will terminate the powers of your Committee. 
 
 Your Committee are of the opinion that a report of the testimony 
 taken in the present incomplete stage of the investigation would do 
 injustice to some parties referred to by witnesses, and would perhaps 
 defeat the object of the investigation. They are, therefore, compelled 
 to recommend the adoption of the accompanying resolution. 
 
 The resolution was one authorizing this Committee to sit 
 during the recess of the Legislature, with the same powers 
 and effect as during the session, and to report at the next 
 regular session of the Legislature. It was carried by a vote 
 of 24 to I, Senator Genet voting in the negative. 
 
 The action of Senator Hale on April 8th toward the ap- 
 pointment of the special committee of investigation was 
 prompted by occurrences in the Assembly on Wednesday, 
 April I St. Immediately after the vote accepting the report of 
 the Railroad Committee averse to the bill legalizing the acts 
 of the Directors of the Erie Railway Company, Assemblyman 
 Elijah M. K. Glenn, of Wayne County, rose to a question of 
 privilege and offered the following : 
 
 Assembly Chamber, April 1, 1868. 
 To the Hon. the Speaker of the Assembly : 
 
 I, E. M. K. Glenn, a member of this House, from my seat in this 
 House do charge as follows : 
 
 1st. I charge that the report on the Erie Railroad bill was bought. 
 
 2d. I charge that a portion of the vote on this floor, in adopting 
 the said report, was bought. 
 
 3d. I charge that members of this House were engaged in buying 
 their fellow members. 
 
 Mr. Glenn moved by resolution that the Speaker appoint a 
 committee of five to investigate the charges. 
 
 The Speaker appointed Augustus G. S. AUis, of Onondaga 
 County ; James R. Button, of Cattaraugus County ; James D. 
 Lasher, of Oswego County ; Lewis P. Dayton, of Erie County, 
 and Alexander Frear, of New York, as the committee. 
 
 Mr. Glenn asked for and was granted leave of absence for 
 a week. On his return, he presented a communication to 
 the Assembly, April 9th, in which he formally charged As- 
 semblyman Frear, in conjunction with Mark M. Lewis, of 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 449 
 
 Albany, with having offered him $500, on March 27th, to in- 
 fluence his vote on the Erie bill, and asked that Mr. Frear be 
 relie^'ed from serving on the investigating committee. 
 
 Mr. Frear offered his resignation as one of the committee, 
 but the matter was referred to the committee itself to investi- 
 gate, and report whether any action on it was necessary. 
 The committee took immediate action, and April loth re- 
 ported that " the evidence does not furnish any justification 
 for the charges made by Mr. Glenn against Mr. Frear, and 
 Ave ha\e unanimously come to the conclusion that the testi- 
 mony exonerates him from this charge,'' and that his request 
 to be excused from serving on the committee be denied. 
 
 The report was imanimously agreed to by the Assembly, 
 and Mr. Frear addressed the House. In the course of his 
 remarks he said : 
 
 I became satisfied, on investigating tlie facts, that the acts of the 
 confederated Erie Direc'tors — trustees as they were — constituted a high- 
 handed fraud upon the rights of stockholders, and a violation of the 
 common principles of honesty, which, if committed by men of humbler 
 means and station, would have subjected them undoubtedly to punish- 
 -ment at the criminal bar ; and I stood, if I may be allowed to say, 
 prominently among eighty-two members of this House against the 
 audacious attempt of these stock-jobbing conspirators to secure the 
 sanction of legislative aid to such palpable frauds and atrocious viola- 
 tions of trust. . . It is a painful thing to recognize from the 
 testimony that the immediate prompter of this accusation is an old 
 man, who seems to have outlived everything but his malignity. The 
 member from Wayne stands without any justification, except the in- 
 iirmities of mind and body. . . Under other circumstances it 
 might have been due to the dignity of this House that the member 
 fro" Wayne should have been subjected to the judgment of his fellow 
 membc.s for an offence which nothing but his weakness palliates. As 
 it is, I leave his case and mine in your hands, and to the consideration 
 of an intelligent community. 
 
 Assemblyman Lawrence D. Kiernan, of New York, moved, 
 inasmuch as the charges against Mr. Frear had not been 
 established, and had evidently been made wantonly, that Mr. 
 Cilenn be brought before the bar of the House and publicly 
 censured. The resolution was carried, but, on motion of Mr. 
 Frear, all action in the matter was postponed until the final 
 report of the investigating committee had been made. 
 
 April nth Mr. Glenn tendered his resignation as Member 
 ■of Assembly, and the record makes no further mention of the 
 matter. 
 
 The witnesses examined by the investigating committee 
 were Mr. Glenn, who appeared at the morning session, but 
 declined to answer a subpcena to attend in the afternoon. 
 His testimony was rambling, and established nothing ; Mark 
 M. Lewis, of Albany, an optician and lobbyist ; Assemblyman 
 Frear, who denied absolutely the charges of Mr. Glenn ; 
 Assemblyman Henry Ray, of Ontario County ; Assemblyman 
 Luke Ranney, of Onondaga County, and Assemblyman 
 Augustus A. Brush, of Dutchess County. 
 
 April I St Mr. Chapman, from the Senate Committee on 
 Railroads, reported a bill entitled, " An Act in relation to the 
 Erie, New York Central, Hudson River, and Harlem Railway 
 Companies," which was referred to the Committee of the 
 
 2q 
 
 Whole. April nth it was made the special order for Tues- 
 day, April 14th, and to be continued the special order there- 
 after until disposed of. This was an act legalizing the 
 over-issue of Erie stock and the other transactions of the 
 management that had led to the investigation. 
 
 April 17th Walcott J.Humphrey, of the Thirtieth Dis- 
 trict, reported from the Committee of the Whole in favor of 
 the passage of the bill, and the report was agreed to, and 
 April i8th the bill was passed on avote of 17 to 12. Among 
 those who voted for the Erie bill was Senator Mattoon, who 
 had deserted the minority of the Investigating Committee 
 and signed the caustic anti-Erie report of the majority. 
 
 April 2ist, in the Assembly, on motion of William C. 
 Bentley, of Otsego County, the bill went to the Committee of 
 the Whole, and the same day it was reported favorably and 
 passed, the negative votes being "W. S. Andrews, of Kings ; 
 James Irving, of New York ; Alembert Pond, of Saratoga 
 County ; Alpheus Prince, of Erie County ; Robert Stewart, 
 of Madison County. 
 
 Among those voting for the Erie bill in the Assembly was 
 Frear, who had shown such righteous ipdignation over the 
 mere fact that the Erie should have come to the Legislature 
 and asked for aid. 
 
 The Hale Investigating Committee held meetings as 
 follows : 
 
 1868. At the Capitol, Albany, April rSth, 20th, 22d, 23d, 
 29th, 30th; May 28th, 29th, 30th; June 2d, 9th, 12th, when 
 it adjourned subject to call Of chairman. The next meetings 
 were December isth, i6th, 17th, 22d, at Albany. 
 
 1869. At Congress Hall, Albany, January 4th, 2Sth; 
 February i6th, 2 2d. 
 
 The following were the principal witnesses examined by 
 the committee : 
 
 John B. Dutcher, Abram Van Vechten (lobbyist), Hugh J. 
 Hastings, Jay Gould, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr., Charles C. 
 Clark (Treasurer of the Hudson River Railroad Company), 
 Thomas G. Alvord, Dyer D. S. Brown (editor of the Roches- 
 ter Democrat), Horace Greeley, Thomas C. Fields (ex-Sena- 
 tor), Senator Abner C. Mattoon, Ashbel N. Cole, Julien T. 
 Williams, M.D. (ex- Assemblyman), Senator O. W . Chapman, 
 John Van Valkenburg (lobbyist), Senator Abiah W. Palmer, 
 John Flavel Mines (newspaper correspondent), Louis F. 
 Payne (lobbyist and harbor- master). 
 
 May 5 th, Senator Edwards resigned from the Hale Investi- 
 gating Committee, and Senator Asher P. Nichols, of the 
 Twenty-first District, was appointed in his place. 
 
 In the course of the investigation it was brought out that 
 during the interesting legislation on the Erie bill there 
 had been in the employ of the Erie, Hamilton Harris, 
 Lyman Tremain, and Peter Cagger, of Albany, and John 
 Ganson, of Buffalo, as counsel, and Hugh J. Hastings, Julien 
 T. AVilliams, Dyer D. S. Brown, as lobby agents. The Vander- 
 bilt lobbyists were Abram Van Vechten, John B. Dutcher, 
 and John Van Valkenburg. George Bliss, Jr., acted as coun- 
 sel in opposition to the bill. Gen. A. S. Diven, Vice-Presi- 
 
450 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 dent of the Erie, had general charge of legislation in the 
 interest of Erie. 
 
 Jay Gould in his testimony said that the Company had 
 about fifty lawyers employed during the procuring of the 
 legislation on the Erie bill, and that between $25,000 and 
 ;f!5 0,000 had been used by the Company at Albany. He had 
 told all persons who had come to him and said they could 
 influence votes that the bill must be passed on its merits, and 
 that if it did not pass he would go home \A-ithout it. 
 
 Louis F. Payne was introduced to him, he said, by a letter 
 from J. C. Bancroft Davis, who recommended him, and, on 
 Payne's representation of what he had done for the Erie in 
 the legislation of the past winter, and what he could do still, 
 Gould gave him $5,000. One thing that Payne declared he 
 could do was to influence the vote of Senator Abiah W. 
 Palmer, of Dutchess County (in Payne's district), a disposi- 
 tion of himself which Senator Palmer, under oath, declared 
 Payne could not make, and, indeed, would not have dared to 
 attempt. The day after Gould had paid Payne the $5,000 
 he received a letter from headquarters at New York, telling 
 him that they " had sent up this man, who represent'^d that 
 he could do great things,'' and the letter said at the bottom, 
 " Pay him nothing. He has been compensated." Then 
 Gould learned that Erie Director Henry Thompson had 
 already paid Payne $5,000, "and," said he, " I saw I had 
 been swindled. He told me he was making $25,000 or 
 $30,000 a year, and being up here had injured him to that 
 amount. He wanted more than that ($5,000), but I told 
 him $5,000 was more than I could earn in a year." After 
 Gould discovered that he had duplicated Payne's pay, he 
 said he met him at the Delavan House and told Payne that 
 he (Payne) had obtained the money unfairly, and demanded 
 that he return the $5,000. '' He (Payne) said he would be 
 damned if he would." 
 
 Payne in his testimony declared that the amount was 
 for his personal services, and that he had been sent for 
 by Director Thompson of the Erie, and solicited to go to 
 Albany to assist in the passage of the Erie bill, but he refused 
 to do so until he was paid for his past seivices. Thompson 
 paid the amount. Payne said he was unable to say to the 
 committee of just what service he was to be to the Company. 
 
 Febmary r6, 1869, Thomas Murphy, ex-Senator, and 
 subsequently Collector of the Port of New York under Presi- 
 dent Grant, in telling what he knew about Erie afliairs as 
 regarded legislation, swore that one evening, at a meeting at 
 the Union League Club in New York, the object of which was 
 to raise money to aid the Republican party in the campaign of 
 1868, it was stated that the Erie Railway Company had 
 contributed $roo,ooo to the Democratic party. Senator 
 Murphy was deputed by the Republican State Committee to 
 call on Gould and see if he would not help that party, too. 
 AVilliam Belden, James Fisk's partner, accompanied him. 
 He first saw Fisk. He told Fisk the Republican party had 
 saved the Erie in 1868, and asked for $100,000. Fisk said 
 he must see Gould, who soon came in. Gould informed 
 Senator Murphy that Vanderbilt had told him that he (Van- 
 
 derbilt) had not aided either party, and that he (Gould) 
 intended to pursue the same policy. Murphy insisted, and 
 then Gould said he had already given something to the 
 Republican party — $20,000 to Governor Fenton, through 
 Hamilton- Harris. Subsequently Director Henry Thompson 
 told Senator Murphy that he was present when the $20,000; 
 in two checks of $r 0,000 each, was paid to Harris, who said 
 that the Erie bill would be signed within two or three hours 
 from that time ; and it ^^•as. 
 
 This implication that Governor Fenton had been bribed 
 to sign the Erie bill was another sensation in the affair. Jay 
 Gould, on Febmary 2 2d, appeared voluntarily before the 
 committee and denied all of Murphy's story about the pay- 
 ment of $20,000 to Harris for Governor Fenton. James 
 Fisk, Jr., corroborated him, and Hamilton Harris swore that 
 he never received $20,000 or any other amount from Jay 
 Gould for Governor Fenton. That settled the Fenton inci- 
 dent. 
 
 Erie Director Henry Thompson told the committee, 
 February i6th, that Luther Caldwell, of Elmira, who was con- 
 nected with the press of the State, represented that he could 
 render great service to the Erie legislation thereby, and 
 Thompson gave him over $60,000 to be used in such service 
 for the Erie bill. Subsequently Thompson gave Jay Gould 
 an order on Caldwell to repay the money to him at Albany. 
 In regard to this, Gould testified that Thompson had given 
 him a sealed envelope addressed to Caldwell, without stating 
 what it contained. Gould left it at the Delavan House for 
 Caldwell, and never heard any more about it. This was the 
 order for the money Thompson had given Caldwell, and that 
 was the last the money was ever heard of by the Erie man- 
 agers, except that it was refunded to Thompson from the Erie 
 treasury, thus doubling the cost of the transaction to the 
 Company. 
 
 After the defeat of the Erie bill in the Assembly, March 
 31, r868, Gould said the Company had concluded to 
 abandon legislation, but Senator Mattoon came to Jersey 
 City with the report signed by Senators Chapman and 
 Humphrey, and his statement was that it was to be the 
 majority report, and that it would be no more than an act 
 of justice to the committee that some representative of the 
 Erie should go to Albany and explain away the popular 
 prejudice against the Company and the bill it asked for. 
 " That -was one thing that induced me to come up," said Gould. 
 " It was Saturday before the report was made. I got the 
 report printed for him. He said I ought to come up. I 
 came up. I met him .... two or three times. He 
 seemed to be friendly to us. I was perfectly astounded 
 M'hen I heard he had signed the other report. He explained 
 to me that he had not read the other report at the time he 
 saw me, and reading that report had changed his mind." 
 ("Administration of John S. Eldridge,'' pages i52-r55.) 
 
 Senator Mattoon denied all the charges against him. He 
 denied Gould's story of the report, and said he had never 
 had a copy of it in his possession. He went to Jersey City 
 at the request of Daniel Drew simply to give the Erie 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 451 
 
 people advice on the best way to carry their bill, he being in 
 favor of it. He was in favor of the Erie because they had 
 perfected a freight arrangement by which a great reduction 
 in the carrying of flour from Oswego via that railroad had 
 been effected which was beneficial to his constituents. 
 
 General Diven's testimony was that Mattoon came to the 
 office of the Erie Railway Company with a letter of introduc- 
 tion to Auditor Hilton, and was introduced to Directors Gould, 
 Drew, and Thompson, and President Eldridge. Mattoon said 
 the object of moving for the investigation was mercenary, and 
 that he intended to prevent its success. 
 
 Senator Chapman said that he and Humphreys were at 
 Senator Pierce's room at the Delavan, and he read the sub- 
 stance of the report he had drawn. They said they could 
 not subscribe to all it protested, and they subsequently drew 
 up a report embodying their views. This they submitted to 
 Senator Mattoon, and he approved of it, and agreed to sign 
 it, but he afterward signed the report drawn by Senator 
 Pierce, thus making that one the majority report. 
 
 Daniel Drew testified before the Investigating Committee 
 that he had no knowledge of any money being paid out of 
 the treasury of that Company for the purpose of pro- 
 curing legislation ; but he testified that Mr. Eldridge, the 
 President of the road, drew out ^500,000 before the session 
 of the Legislature, ostensibly for purposes of litigation, 
 which was charged on the books of the Company to Presi- 
 dent Eldridge individually, and which had not been ac- 
 counted for when he (Drew) retired from the office of treas- 
 urer of the Company in July, 1868, and that no money 
 other than that had been drawn out of the treasury to pay 
 the expenses of the Company at Albany. 
 
 The committee, in its report made to the Senate March 
 10, 1869, did not seem to agree with Mr. Drew on that sub- 
 ject. " It is evident," the report declared, " that large 
 amounts of money were actually paid for various purposes. 
 Mr. Gould paid ^5,000 to Louis A. Payne, and ^2,000 to 
 some person (he thinks his name was William King) for Mr. 
 D. D. S. Brown, of Rochester, and something more than 
 $25,000, and he thinks less than ^50,000, not including 
 payment by draft, to counsel and agents. Mr. Thompson 
 paid $5 ,000 to Payne, and upwards of ^60,000 to Luther 
 Caldwell, which was refunded to him by the Erie Railway 
 Company. It is clear, therefore, that large sums of money 
 did come from the treasury of the Erie Railway Company, 
 which were expended for some purpose in Albany for which 
 no vouchers seem to have been filed in the office of the 
 Company. The objects of the expenditure cannot be 
 learned from the books of the Company. The testimony of 
 Mr. Drew shows where these funds may have come from. 
 ^\^hether the creation of so large a fund as that intrusted 
 to Mr. Eldridge in this instance, the expenditure of which 
 is left entirely to the discretion of a single individual, and for 
 which no vouchers or accounts are required, is usual with 
 railroad companies, your committee are not informed. Mr. 
 Eldridge being a citizen of and in another State, his attend- 
 ance before your committee could not be compelled. He 
 
 was invited by letter to appear and testify, but the invitation 
 was not responded to. 
 
 " The testimony leaves no doubt in the minds of your 
 committee that large sums of money were, in fact, furnished 
 with the intent that they should be used for the purposes of 
 influencing legislation unlawfully. In the only cases in 
 which your committee have been able to obtain any direct 
 evidence, the moneys so furnished were not, in fact, used for 
 the purpose intended, but went to enrich members of the 
 lobby. Mr. Caldwell himself, after several unsuccessful 
 efforts to procure his attendance, appeared before your com- 
 mittee on the day preceding the commencement of the 
 present session of the Senate. In reply to a question 
 whether he received any money from any officer of the Erie 
 Railway Company to be used in securing the passage of the 
 bill, he answered in the negative. A question whether he re- 
 ceived money from such source for any purpose, he declined 
 to answer ' till he had time for reflection.' The question 
 whether he knew of money being paid by any person 
 interested for or against the bill, to any one for the pur- 
 pose of securing the vote of any Senator, and whether he 
 received money from any party interested in opposing the 
 bill — he said he could decide whether he would answer these 
 questions by the next morning, and the committee adjourned 
 to the next morning to give him the desired opportunity for 
 ' reflection.' Your committee were in attendance the next 
 day at the appointed hour and place, but Mr. Caldwell did 
 not appear, nor has he since been before them, and on in- 
 quiry your committee have been informed that he is spend- 
 ing the season in some of the Southern States. 
 The conviction is forced upon the minds of your committee 
 that some persons interested, both for and against the bill, 
 were furnishing money from some source with the intent and 
 for the purpose of corruptly and unlawfully influencing leg- 
 islation." 
 
 The committee went no deeper into an opinion on the sub- 
 ject than that, and no one was censured nor was any charge 
 reported as legally sustained. The scandals had simply come 
 as delectable morsels for the newspapers to serve to their 
 readers, and as texts for more or less platitudinous editorial 
 corhment. 
 
 1870 — 1871 — 1872. 
 
 The time of the New York Legislature was largely taken 
 up in these years by the discussion and consideration of meas- 
 ures set afoot by the opposition to the Gould management for 
 the purpose of repealing the Classification Act of 1869, as 
 it was impossible to get Erie out of the hands of that man- 
 agement by any regular process so long as that law was in 
 force. ("Administration of Jay Gould," pages 174, 176.) 
 The petitioners for the repeal were defeated in 1870 and 
 1871, so completely had the Erie management the control of 
 the Legislature in hand. Whether the repeal would have 
 been effected in 1872, if it had not been that the dethrone- 
 ment of Jay Gould was accomplished while action on the 
 
452 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 measure was pending in the Legislature that year, is a ques- 
 tion. (" A(hninistration of Jay Gould," pages 182-200.) 
 It was before the committee having the matter in charge in 
 1872 that Thomas G. Shearman, of Erie counsel, made his 
 explanation of how the cost of the old New York and Erie 
 Railroad, the affairs of which had been closed out by the 
 reorganization in 1861, and which cost had been reported 
 for ten years at $38,964,728, was advanced to $86,626, ;^so 
 in 1870. According to Mr. Shearman, the addition of the 
 ^47,66i,6i.>2 was due to the fact that the blanks furnished 
 by the State to railroad companies for making out their 
 annual reports to the State Engineer had no room on them 
 for the auditor to charge the expenses that increase repre- 
 sented, and so he had no recourse but to charge it to the 
 New York and Erie Railroad Company ! " To which," said 
 Mr. Shearman, " it was probably as appropriate, to say the 
 least, as it would be under any other specific item of the 
 account." " The auditor of the Company," remarked Mr. 
 Shearman, " of his own motion, selected as the most reason- 
 able item for this purpose the charge entitled, ' New York 
 and Erie Railroad Company ' ! " 
 
 And so the New York and Erie Railroad Company stands 
 of record as having expended nearly ^40,000,000 more 
 money than it did expend in building and equipping its rail- 
 road, simply because the auditor of the Erie Railroad Com- 
 pan)' had no room on the report blank to indicate what that 
 amount of expenditure really did represent, and there is no 
 record at all of what was actually done with that vast sum of 
 money, or the amount it actually represented in cash. To 
 this day that false charge to the old Erie construction ac- 
 count figures in the Company's reports. 
 
 The Classification Act was repealed March 14, 1872. 
 
 1873- 
 
 Rumors, which the newspapers of the day had given prom- 
 inence to and claimed stability for, that a dividend on Erie 
 stock was to be declared, and that it could not be an honest 
 one ("Administration of Peter H.Watson," pages 219-221), 
 called the attention of the Legislature to Erie affairs again. 
 At the session of 1873, February 17th, in the Assembly, 
 Isaac H. Babcock, of Niagara County, offered the following : 
 
 Wherkas, It is well known that a large majority of the stock now 
 outstanding' against the Erie Railroad Company was, by a corrupt 
 collusion of its officers, fraudulently issued, and that there never was 
 20 per cent, on the par value of such stock paid into the treasury nor 
 expended by it on its property for tlie public welfare, owing to such 
 corrupt action of its ofificers ; and, 
 
 ^^'lIEREAS, The original purchasers of said stock did not pay more 
 than the above-named amount for the same, thereby implicating them- 
 selves with those who perpetrated the fraud ; and. 
 
 Whereas, It has been made public that the Board of Directors of 
 that Company have declared a dividend on the entire amount of stock 
 outstanding against it, which dividend is limited only in consequence 
 of the earnings of its road, and not in consideration of the manner 
 in which such stock was issued ; and. 
 
 Whereas, The practical effect of allowing dividends to be paid on 
 
 such stock would be to recognize and encourage fraud, to paralyze the 
 industries of an innocent people living tributary to the line of the road 
 that Company represents, by imposing additional burdens on them for 
 its use ; to levy unjust and oppressive burdens on the commerce of the 
 city of New York, on whose commercial supremacy the welfare of the 
 State so largely depends ; to increase the cost of living by increasing 
 the cost of transporting the necessaries of life between producers and 
 consumers; and, finally, to enrich adventurers, gamblers, and specu- 
 lators, as against good morals, the welfare of the people, and public 
 policy ; therefore, 
 
 Jicsolvcd (\i the Senate concur), That the Attorney-General of this 
 State be and is hereby authorized and required to commence proceed- 
 ings against the officers and directors of the Erie Railway Company, 
 restraining them from paying said dividend or any other dividends on 
 the fraudulently issued stock of said Company, such proceedings to 
 be brought immediately in any court of competent jurisdiction ; and 
 in case the decision of such court shall be in favor of the payment of 
 such dividend, then such case to be brought immediately thereafter 
 before the Court of Appeals for its adjudication and decision. 
 
 Resolved, That the proceedings instituted under these resolutions 
 shall take precedence over all other cases on the calendar of the court 
 or courts wherein such proceedings are held. 
 
 Resolved, That the Attorney-General be and is hereby authorized to 
 employ such additional counsel as he may deem necessary in prosecut- 
 ing the duties hereby imposed. 
 
 March loth, on Mr. Babcock's motion, the following was 
 substituted for his resolution authorizing action by the Attor- 
 ney-General : 
 
 And, whereas, It has been currently reported and charged in the 
 public prints and elsewhere, that a large and improper expenditure of 
 money was made by the foreign stockholders and officers of the Erie 
 Railway Company in the transfer of the management of that Com- 
 pany, in the year 1872, and that by corrupt contract for the negotia- 
 tion of its bonds the agents of said foreign stockholders have since 
 been indirectly reimbursed out of the treasury of said Company, and 
 that a large sum was used to influence legislation connected with said 
 road in the same year ; and that other gross irregularities on the part 
 of said road and its managers were committed, have 
 
 Resolved, That the Attorney-General of this State be and is hereby 
 directed to report to this House within twenty days, whether in his 
 opinion the dividends so declared upon the aforesaid fraudulently 
 issued stock of said Company can be legally paid out of the treasury, 
 and whether the said Erie Railway Company may not be restrained by 
 the courts from paying such dividends, or any other dividend, upon 
 any stock thus fraudulently created. 
 
 Resolved, That a select committee of five, to be appointed by the 
 speaker, be and they are hereby authorized and directed to investigate 
 said improper and corrupt acts, and to report thereon to this House, 
 within thirty days ; and that said committee be authorized to send for 
 persons and papers. 
 
 The Speaker, March 12th, appointed the following special 
 committee, under the resolution : Isaac H. Babcock, of Nia- 
 gara County ; C\Tello S. Lincoln, of Ontario County ; Wil- 
 liam S. Opdyke, of New York ; Charles Crary, of New York ; 
 Jacob B. Carpenter, of Dutchess County. March 20th, Mr. 
 Opdyke resigned, and Amherst ^^'ight, Jr., of Westchester 
 County, was appointed in his place. 
 
 April 9th, Mr. Babcock presented a partial report, in which 
 he said that the coinmittee had been unable to complete its 
 labors within the time allowed by the resolution, and recou ■ 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 453 
 
 mended the adoption of the following preamble and resolu- 
 tion ; 
 
 Whekf.as, The special committee appointed to investigate the affairs 
 of the Erie Railway Company or its officers, and to ascertain and report 
 whether said Company or its officers have been guilty of any unlawful 
 or corrupt practices with regard to legislation during the year 1872, 
 has fully investigated the present management of said Company and 
 the proceeding upon which the dividend recently declared by said 
 Company, was declared and paid ; but it appears by the books of the 
 Company produced in evidence before the committee, that large sums 
 ■of money were paid out of the treasury of the Company during the 
 years i85..}, 1S70, and 1871, as it is supposed for the purpose of in- 
 fluencing legislation during these )ears, and the committee have reason 
 to believe that evidence can be procured of the payment of large 
 amounts which it is alleged were used to influence the votes of Senators 
 and Members of Assembly during the year 1872, but they have been 
 unable to procure the attendance of witnesses who are said to have 
 direct knowledge of such payments, and it will be impossible to pro- 
 cure such attendance during the time allowed for the investigation ; 
 therefore, 
 
 Resoh'.d, That the committee be and are hereby authorized and 
 instructed to make a thorough investigation regarding all payments 
 made by the Erie Railway Company during the years above named for 
 the purpose of influencing or controlling legislation, whether such 
 payments were made to Senators, Members of Assembly or other per- 
 sons for such purposes, and to ascertain and report with regard to all 
 •other unlawful or corrupt measures, by or on behalf of said Company, 
 its officers, agents, or employees, to influence, control, or defeat legi>- 
 lation, and that the time for such committee to make such investiga- 
 tion and report thereon be extended until further direction of this 
 Assemblv. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Weed, April 23d was fixed as the limit 
 •of the investigation. April loth, Mr. Babcock stated that 
 A\'illiam M. Tweed, Jay Gould, and John B. Butcher had re- 
 fused to pay any attention to subpoenas served on them to 
 appear before the committee and testify, and moved that they 
 be afrested by the Sergeant-at-Arms and brought before the 
 House, and show cause why they should not be punished for 
 ■contempt. Tweed and Butcher were declared in contempt 
 of the House, but, May i6th, on motion of James W. Husted, 
 Butcher was purged of his contempt. 
 
 The committee had meetings as follows : Albany, March 
 i8th and 19th. Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York, March 2rst, 
 22d, 24th, 25th. Erie Railway office. New York, March 2Sth, 
 for the purpose of continuing examination of the books and 
 papers of the Company. Fifth Avenue Hotel, March 28th, 
 during the day ; in the evening at the residence of Frederick 
 A. Lane to take his testimony, he being confined to his room 
 by illness. March 25th, at the Fifth Avenue Flotel and the 
 Erie Railway office, where President ^\"atson and Auditor 
 Bunan were examined. Fifth Avenue Hotel, March 31st; 
 April ist, 2d, 3d, sth, 7th, 8th. Albany, April nth, isth, 
 i6th, 17th. Fifth Avenue Hotel, April 19th, 21st, 22d. 
 Albany, April 23d. Taking of testimony closed that day. 
 Following were the principal witnesses examined : 
 
 Jay Gould, Peter H. A\^atson, President of the Company ; 
 S. L. M. Barlow, Erie Birector and counsel, and counsel for 
 the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company ; Oliver 
 
 Hazard Perry Archer, late Vice-President of the Company, 
 and one of those ^^■ho had joined against Gould in March, 
 1872; Justin B. \Vhite, ex-Treasurer of the Company, and 
 Sylvanus H. Bunan, Auditor of the Company ; \V. Archdall 
 O'Boherty, late close friend of James McHenry ; Homer 
 RamsdeJl, ex-President of the Company and a Birector; 
 Henry Thompson, ex-Erie Birector, who was in the 1872 
 conspiracy against Gould ; Gen. Alexander S. Biven, Erie 
 Birector, ex- Vice-President and ex-General Manager of the 
 Company ; Francis C. Barlow, Attorney-General of the State 
 of New York ; Henn,' K. Sherwood, who succeeded William 
 M.Tweed in the Erie Directory in Becember, 1871 ; Giovani 
 P. Morosini, Auditor of the Company under Gould ; Samuel 
 J. Tilden, who appeared in behalf of himself, to deny that he 
 had ever received a fee of ^^20,000 from the p]rie Railway 
 Company ; A. B. Barber and Abram Van Vechten, lobbyists ; 
 John Taylor Johnston, John J. Cisco, and John V. L. Pruyn, 
 Erie Birectors ; Senator K. M. Madden, of Orange County, 
 who explained that the 584,000 Gould gave him was to pay 
 his election expenses ; Matthew Hale, of Albany ; Chauncey 
 M. Bepevv, then counsel for the New York Central Railroad 
 Company, who admitted ignorance of the inner working of 
 legislation at Albany ; Thomas G. Shearman, who was after 
 Attorney-Cieneral Barlow ; James J. Kelso, Superintendent of 
 Police of New York ; Thomas G. Alvord, Joseph Seligman, 
 Williarn Belden, Colonel Fisk's old-time partner ; Hamilton 
 Harris, of Albany, who, being a lawyer, explained easily why 
 he received so much Erie money ; Gen. George H. Sharpe, 
 ex-United States marshal, who was examined as to his services 
 during the "Sickles coup" of 1872. 
 
 The first matter to be taken up by the committee was 
 whether the dividend declared upon the stock of the Com- 
 pany in February, 1873, was paid out of the net earnings of 
 the road. 
 
 Justin B. White, who had been Treasurer of the Company 
 imtil March r7, 1873, testified that there was no money to 
 pay the interest that had matured (|8oo,ooo), and that the 
 money with which the dividend was paid in February, 1873, 
 came from Bischoffscheim & Goldschmidt, of London, being 
 the proceeds of bonds negotiated by them ; and Giovani I^. 
 Morosini, ex-Auditor of the Company, swore that the net 
 earnings of the Company for the first six months of the 
 year 1872 were $377, 885, although Mr. Watson's auditor, 
 Sylvanus H. Bunan, had reported the earnings for the same 
 six months, upon which the dividend for February, 1873, 
 was inade up, as ,^2,387,610. 
 
 The second subject of investigation was the improper use 
 of money in the transfer of the management of the Com- 
 pany in 1872, and as to reimbursements on that or other ac- 
 counts of such expenses from the Company's treasurv. It 
 had been charged in the public prints that the then Attorney- 
 General, Francis C. Barlow, had been in the pay of the Erie, 
 and that he had then accepted a retainer of $10,000 from 
 Baniel K. Sickles, to which was subsequently added $2,000, 
 to proceed with measures looking to the ousting of the Gould 
 management, and the Heath and Raphael party increased 
 
454 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 the amount by 5 1,500. General Barlow testified that this 
 money was placed in his hands to employ special counsel 
 and for disbursements. 
 
 He had disbursed of the money placed in his hands all 
 but $3,307.19, which he returned by check to General 
 Sickles, although the General solicited him to retain it. 
 The Mr. Smith retained by the Attorney-General was a 
 member of the Legislature, but the Attorney-General swore 
 that he had not employed him because of that. 
 
 Thomas G. Shearman had charged that the Attorney-Gen- 
 eral, while professedly carrying on a suit in the interest of 
 the Erie stockholders, was secretly receiving a large sum 
 from Gould and Fisk, under a mysterious contract by which 
 ?3,ooo a month was to be paid, with the understanding that 
 no harm was to result to them from the proposed suits, and 
 which accounted for the delay in the I-egislature and the 
 courts, and that he had written a letter demanding §100,000 
 from General Sickles for his services in the Erie overthrow. 
 Several witnesses denied this, as did correspondence between 
 Sickles and the Attorney-General — which Shearman declared 
 had originated since the charges were made — and the com- 
 mittee believed the Attorney-General's story, stating in their 
 report that they " cannot resist the conclusion that the whole 
 story (the charges) was a fabrication, and that the parties 
 giving currency to the tale had probably been grossly deceiv- 
 ing one another." 
 
 The committee went also into the matter of the overthrow 
 of the Gould management. 
 
 The third matter that occupied the committee in its in- 
 vestigation was as to payment of money to influence legisla- 
 tion connected with the Company, and other irregularities. 
 " The testimony of several witnesses was taken on this sub- 
 ject," said the committee, " and although the information 
 acquired was not as specific as could be asked, enough was 
 obtained to show that the railroad companies have been in 
 the habit of spending large sums from year to year either to 
 procure or reject the passage of bills. ... It appears 
 conclusive that a large amount — reported by one witness at 
 ^100,000 — was appropriated for legislative purposes by the 
 railroad interests in r872," and Erie's proportion of it was 
 830,000. 
 
 It was in evidence that it had been the custom of the 
 managers of the Erie Railway Company, from year to year in 
 the past, to spend large sums to control elections and to in- 
 fluence legislation. In the year 1868 more than 81,000,000 
 was disbursed from the treasury for " extra and legal services." 
 
 Jay Gould \\'as examined on this point, and admitted the 
 payment, during three years prior to 1872, of large sums to 
 A. D. Barber, William M. Tweed, and others, and also large 
 sums drawn by himself which might have been employed 
 to influence legislation or elections. These amounts were 
 charged in what was known as " the india-rubber account " 
 (probably because of its elasticity). "The memory of this 
 witness was very defective as to details,'' the committee's re- 
 port declared, " and he could only remember large transac- 
 tions ; but he could distinctly recall that he had been in the 
 
 habit of sending money into the numerous districts all over 
 the State, either to control nominations or elections for 
 Senators and Members of Assembly. He considered that, 
 as a rule, such investments paid better than to wait until the 
 men got to Albany, and added the significant remark, in re- 
 ply to a question, that it would be as impossible to specify 
 the numerous instances as it would to call to mind the num- 
 ber of freight cars sent over the Erie road from day to day." 
 According to Mr. Gould, his operations extended into four 
 different States. It was his custom to influence both nomi- 
 nations and elections. " When the Legislature is Republican, 
 I am a Republican," said he. " ^A'hen it is Democratic I am 
 a Democrat, but I am always an Erie man." 
 
 John H. Comer, who had been private secretary to James 
 Fisk (and, after Fisk's death, to Vice-President O. H. P. 
 Archer, who succeeded Fisk in the Erie management), and 
 attorney and agent for Fisk's executrix, Mrs. Fisk, said that 
 Jay Gould made a claim upon him in February, 1872, and 
 renewed it in March after his removal from the Erie manage- 
 ment, to refund from the Fisk estate §2,000, which was one- 
 half of §4,000, he said, that ha.d been paid to Senator E. M. 
 Madden, of Orange County, for influencing legislation. He 
 was present at Fisk's office one time when §2,500 was paid 
 to Van Vechten, and another time when §4,000 was paid to 
 him. 
 
 William Belden, who had been Gould and Fisk's broker in 
 the great gold speculation of 1869 that culminated in Black 
 Friday, in which his services saved them from the most seri- 
 ous consequences, told of a contract he was to have in De- 
 cember, i87r, for transporting coal over the Erie and the 
 storage of it free in the Erie yards, whence he could sell it, 
 because of these privileges, and make 75 cents a ton more 
 than any other dealer ; but as Gould and Fisk were too busy 
 at the time to draw up the contract, they made one with him 
 by which they were to pay him §3,000 a month, in prospect- 
 ive profit on the coal deal, in lieu of the other contract, to 
 compensate him for the loss their lack of time in placing 
 the privileges of the Erie at his service might subject him to. 
 He said he was to perform services for them for the time, 
 but he could not remember any service he ever performed 
 for the §3,000 monthly that he drew regularly, except some 
 errands at the Opera House when the Gould management was 
 under fire, March ir, 1872, and services in connection with 
 bringing about a meeting between Gould and the confidence 
 man. Lord Gordon-Gordon. (" Administration of Jay Gould," 
 pages 183 to 186.) George Hays was a partner with Belden 
 in this remarkable prospective coal contract. Gould, Comer 
 said, claimed that this contract was simply a cover by which 
 the money was paid to Attorney-General Barlow for efforts 
 to keep him (Gould) in power. The Fisk estate paid two 
 monthly installments, and then Comer refused to pay any 
 more, on the ground that if it was to keep Gould in power, 
 Fisk was not a sharer in the success of that, as he was dead 
 and was not liable. Thomas G. Shearman, Gould's confiden- 
 tial counsel, had said to him, on being asked by him whether 
 it was true about the money being for Barlow : 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 455 
 
 " Don't ask me any questions about it ! Pay it ! It is all 
 right ! " 
 
 Ex-Auditor Dunan (the Erie dividend having been de- 
 clared and paid before the investigation began) showed how 
 entirely proper the dividend was ; how it had been honestly 
 earned, producing convincing figures to that effect from the 
 books of the Company. His testimony certainly did not fore- 
 shadow the sensation he was to create a few months later, 
 by officially declaring that the dividend was a cheat and a 
 fraud. ("Administration of Peter H. Watson," pages 223- 
 227.) 
 
 President Watson's statement to the committee defended 
 his policy and showed how he was entirely justified in declar- 
 ing the dividend, because the railroad had earned the money 
 with which it was paid. Mr. Watson threw somewhat of 
 light on the methods of a previous management in the 
 matter of dealing with legislation, by producing some leaves 
 that had been torn from an Erie Railway account book, show- 
 ing disbursements for legal services rendered, which he had 
 found in the office. The leaves bore entries as follows : 
 
 James Fisk, Jr., March to December, 1868, six items, 
 
 legal and incidental $117,400 43 
 
 Daniel Drew, March, 1868, incidental expenses 52,600 00 
 
 Jay Gould, June i, 1868, incidental expenses 24,000 00 
 
 " " March 31st, incidental expenses 21,600 00 
 
 " " " 26th, injunction 1,80000 
 
 " " June loth, legal expenses 20,000 00 
 
 " " July loth, extra expenses 347,00000 
 
 " " " 30th, expenses 10,00000 
 
 " " December ist, legal expenses 7,000 00 
 
 " " " 31st, expenses 50000 
 
 $484,600 00 
 
 1868. 
 
 Hamilton Harris, legal expenses, four items, March to 
 
 December $26,000 00 
 
 Wm. M . Tweed, November 25th, legal expenses 20,000 00 
 
 " " December ist 5 , 500 00 
 
 " " 4th 4,50000 
 
 Peter B. Sweeny 150,000 00 
 
 Taylor's Hotel, April and July $6,410 75 
 
 Henry Thompson, July 30, 1868, extra expenses and 
 
 services $159,000 00 
 
 Wm. H. Vanderbilt, August 5, 1868, expenses 18,950 00 
 
 M. P. Bemus, January 11, l86g, services and expenses. 1,000 00 
 
 A. D. Barber, May 12, 1869, legal expenses 4,000 00 
 
 Hamilton Harris, January to July, 1869, legal expenses 22,443 32 
 
 Wm. M. Tweed, January to June, expenses 27,912 86 
 
 Samuel J. Tilden, January to February, 1869, legal 
 
 services 20,000 00 
 
 A. Van Vechten, March 8th, legal expenses 2,500 00 
 
 " " May I2th, " " 2,50000 
 
 A. D, Barber, March 4, 1870, legal expenses $1,000 00 
 
 " " May 19, " expenses 46,00000 
 
 " " June 9, " " 4,70050 
 
 $51,700 50 
 
 Thos. C. Fields, retainer, December 31, 1869 $500 00 
 
 " " " April 8, 1870 2,50000 
 
 $3,000 00 
 James Fisk, Jr., November, i86g, to June, 1870, legal 
 
 expenses and contingencies $22,000 00 
 
 Jay Gould, October 22, l86g (marked Senator Hum- 
 phrey) $5,000 00 
 
 S. H. Hammond, March 28, 1870 2,500 00 
 
 A. H. Barber, April 23d 2,500 00 
 
 Jay Gould, September 3d (" a Senator ") $r,ooo 00 
 
 " " legal expenses 100,000 00 
 
 " " September gth, legal expenses 50,000 00 
 
 " " " gth, " " 44,00000 
 
 $195,000 00 
 
 Hamilton Harris, December, 1869, to May, 1870 $20,000 00 
 
 James O'Brien, February 24, 1870 $2,500 00 
 
 Delavan House, March 25, " 377 75 
 
 " " June 12, " 347 60 
 
 Wm. M. Tweed, December g, i86g, legal expenses. . . . $25,000 00 
 
 " " April 8, 1870 12,00000, 
 
 " " June 4, " 10,75000 
 
 $57,750 00 
 
 A. Van Vechten, January 21, 1870, legal expenses $2,500 00 
 
 " " April 28 " " " .... 2,500 00 
 
 " " September 5, " " " 2,500 00 
 
 $7,500 00 
 
 Jay Gould, October 4, 1870, legal expenses $1,000 00 
 
 " " " 25, " " " 50000 
 
 $T,5oo 00 
 
 Hugh J. Hastings, April 25, 1868, legal expenses. . . . $15,000 00 
 
 Another significant exhibit that figured in the develop- 
 ment of this uncovering of Erie secrets was a voucher pre- 
 sented on April, 1871, to Justin D. White, Treasurer of the 
 Company, as follows : 
 
 Erie Railway Company, 1871. 
 To Win. M. Tweedy Cr. 
 
 P'or legal disbursements, as per order J. G $35,000 
 
 Approved — James Fisk, Jr., 
 
 Comptroller, for the President. 
 
 Dated April 25, 1871. 
 
 Received of the Erie Railway Company the sum of thirty-five 
 thousand dollars ($35,000) in full for the above account. 
 
 Wm. M. Tweed, 
 
 per A. V. 
 Interest — " Treasurer's Office, paid March 11, 1872. Erie Rail- 
 way Company." 
 
 The conclusions of the committee, after digesting the testi- 
 mony it had obtained, are incorporated, as a matter pertain- 
 ing to the regular story of that management, in Part II. of the 
 " Administration of Peter H. Watson," pages 220, 221 ; but 
 this paragraph from the report, relating to the mysterious dis- 
 
456 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 bursement of money at Albany by the Company's represent- 
 atives, is a particularly fitting closing to this record : 
 
 " To say that no portion of this money luas disbursed to 
 indiindual members would be to attach undue credit to the 
 conversational powers of the men having it in charge." 
 
 1879. 
 
 In response to a memorial adopted by the New York Cham- 
 ber of Commerce, February 6, 1879, and addressed to the 
 Assembly of that State, charging that the managers of the 
 railroads of the State, particularly those of the Erie and the 
 New York Central, were abusing the trusts vested in them by 
 unjust discriminations in rates, by subordinating the rights of 
 stockholders to private interests which the privileges of their 
 companies were employed to enhance, and by other acts in- 
 consistent with the honest exercise of authority in the opera- 
 tion of the public highways, a special committee of five (in- 
 creased to nine, March 12th), was appointed, on motion of 
 Mr. Hepburn, February 28th, to investigate the charges. 
 The committee consisted of A. B. Hepburn, H. L. Duguid, 
 James Low, William L. Noyes, James W. Wadsworth, Charles 
 S. Baker, James W. Rusted, George L. Terry, and Thomas 
 A. Grady. The committee began the taking of testimony at 
 New York, June 12 th. It held sessions also at Albany, Roch- 
 ester, Buffalo, Ogdensburg, Utica, and Saratoga. The inves- 
 tigation was closed December 19th. 
 
 March 26th, the Chamber of Commerce and Board of 
 Trade and Transportation of New York submitted to the 
 committee in detail the charge of maladministration against 
 the railroad managers. This was in response to a letter sent 
 by the committee to those bodies, and to different represent- 
 ative organizations throughout the State, requesting them to 
 appear before the committee and prefer charges in order that 
 it might determine therefrom what course to pursue. The 
 charges of the New York bodies were generally accepted as 
 covering the whole ground. The charges were read by Fran- 
 cis B. Thurber, and were signed by Jackson S. Schultz, Ben- 
 jamin B. Sherman, Francis B. Thurber, Charles C. Dodge, 
 Jacob Wendell, and Benjamin G. Arnold, as a committee. 
 The charges were replied to by Hugh J. Jewett, President of 
 the Erie, and William H. A^anderbilt, President of the New 
 York Central, in a joint letter addressed to the investigating 
 committee, reviewing the charges and taking general issue 
 with them. Upon the issue thus formed the committee pro- 
 ceeded with the investigation. The New York commercial 
 bodies prepared and supplied the evidence, and suggested 
 the witnesses. Their counsel was Simon Sterne, of New York. 
 The manufacturing and agricultural interests in the interior 
 of the State were represented by J. H. Martindale, of Roch- 
 es'ter. Ex- Judge William D. Shipman appeared for the Erie, 
 and Chauncey M. Depew, Frank Loomis, and A. P. Laning 
 for the New York Central. The entire answer of the railroad 
 companies was submitted by George R. Blanchard, First Vice- 
 President of the Erie, and this effort stands to-day as one of 
 the clearest, most cogent, and thorough expositions of the 
 
 transportation question and of the rights and moral powers 
 of railroad corporations, from the corporation standpoint, in 
 the entire literature of railroads. 
 
 The witnesses examined by this committee formed an 
 array of railroad and corporation magnates and celebrities 
 never before summoned to give their testimony in the pres- 
 ence of any body or tribunal The issues that brought the 
 Erie's affairs particularly into the investigation called for the 
 presence and testimony of President Jewett, First Vice-Presi- 
 dent Blanchard, S. L. M. Barlow, Chief Engineer Octave 
 Chanute, Auditor Stephen Little, ex-Treasurer William Pitt 
 Shearman, General Freight Agent Royal C. Vilas, Gen. A. S. 
 Diven, Col. George T. Balch and Joseph W. Guppy, two old 
 ex-employees of the Erie, both of whom had held close con- 
 fidential relations with different managements. Collateral 
 issues which involved the discrimination charge against the 
 railroads were represented as witnesses by John D. Archbold, 
 Jabez A. Boswick, and Henry H. Rogers, all Standard Oil 
 Company magnates, and Josiah Lombard, of Lombard, Ayers 
 & Co., oil refiners. AVilliam H. A'anderbilt, Webster Wagner, 
 of the Wagner Palace Car Company ; James H. Rutter, Vice- 
 President of the Central ; Alexander E. Orr, and Edwin D. 
 Worcester, were other prominent witnesses. 
 
 The testimony, arguments of counsel, and report of thi. 
 committee fill five large volumes of the legislative records of 
 New York State. The testimony of more than 100 persons 
 was taken, that of A'ice-President George W. Blanchard 
 alone making 851 pages, and that of President Jewett 146 
 pages in the report. 
 
 All of the Erie dirty linen of years past was rewashed 
 by the investigation, and it was shown that a large quantity 
 of new had been added to the heap. The history of the 
 most of it is virtually covered in the chapters in this book 
 giving the story of Erie during those years. The committee's 
 report, which was made January 22, 1880, sustained the 
 charges of the commercial bodies, although Senator Grady 
 submitted a minority report embodying the views of the rail- 
 road managers. The result of the investigation was the pass- 
 ing of a law regulating the voting of railroad shares by proxy, 
 so that they must be proxies executed three months before 
 an election ; a law prohibiting discrimination in rates, and the 
 law establishing the Board of Railroad Commissioners, and 
 a law prescribing and regulating the form and substance of 
 reports to be made by the companies to the State engineer, 
 an important and timely enactment has resulted not only 
 in the putting on record of railroad statistics invaluable, but 
 in hedging railroad corporations about by many wise re- 
 strictions. 
 
 Among the testimony in regard to the recent transactions 
 of the Erie management that the Hepburn investigating com- 
 mittee brought out wis that in relation to one of Mr. Jewett's 
 first official acts after taking charge of the Company. Octo- 
 ber X, 1874, so the testimony ran, the Erie became a party 
 with the Standard Oil Company in hauling crude oil from 
 the wells to the Cleveland refineries, 150 miles, and then car- 
 rying the refined oil from Cleveland to New York at the same 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 ^5/ 
 
 rate crude oil was charged from the mouth of the wells — a 
 voluntary haul of 300 miles for nothing. 
 
 Previous to this, in 1872, during the Watson administration, 
 the Erie had agreed to pay a rebate to the South Improve- 
 ment Company, of which the Standard Oil Company was the 
 successor, on all oil shipped, and if any competitor got the 
 same rate, the same reduction was to be made on the net rate 
 of the South Improvement Company, the rates being thus 
 managed so that the rivals would be compelled to pay full 
 rates, or always more than the South Improvement Company. 
 
 August I, 1875, the Erie agreed to let the St:indard Oil 
 Company have the lowest net rate to other parties, and to 
 pay the Standard 10 per cent, rebate on all shipments. The 
 Erie, in 1877, joined hands with the Standard Oil Company 
 to fight the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and force it to 
 close out the Empire Transportation Company, a rival to the 
 Standard Oil Company as a shipper and refiner of oil. The 
 fight lasted until October, when the Standard and its railroad 
 allies won, the great oil company not only crushing its rival, 
 but gaining control of the terminal facilities for oil at Phila- 
 delphia and Baltimore, and becoming dictator to the railroads. 
 In 1879, to harass the Tidewater Pipe Line Company, another 
 projected rival of the Standard, the Erie and the other rail- 
 roads reduced the rates on oil as low as fifteen cents a barrel 
 to the Standard, from the open rate of $1.15, and allowed a 
 mileage that reduced the amount received by the railroads to 
 ten cents a barrel. 
 
 It was also elicited that Jay Gould made a twenty-year 
 lease, February i, 1870, with the National Stock Yard Com- 
 pany at Weehawken to handle all the live stock transported 
 by the Company. Charles S. Robinson was president of the 
 Stock Yard Company, and John H. Comer, Fisk's private 
 secretary, was secretary. The same day Gould made an 
 agreement that the Erie Railway Company would advance 
 such money from time to time as the National Stock Yard 
 Company might require for the purpose of completing and 
 fitting its yards for use. Not more than $100,000 were to be 
 advanced, for which the Railway Company accepted first 
 mortgage bonds issued by the Stock Yard Company. This 
 company also leased stock yards at Deposit, N. Y., and Buf- 
 falo. By an order of Judge Donahue, July 29, 1875, Receiver 
 Jewett was permitted to cancel the contract with the National 
 Stock Yard Company by purchasing all the outstanding stock 
 held by Charles Robinson, at the rate of I5 0,000 worth of the 
 first mortgage bonds of the Stock Yard Company for 3,623 
 shares, also buying 1,822 shares of the Stock Yard Company 
 held by the widow of James Fisk, Jr., for ^5,000 of the first 
 mortgage bonds of that company. January 28, 1876, Re- 
 ceiver Jewett leased all the Company's stock yards and 
 
 facilities to John R. McPherson, of New Jersey (United States 
 Senator), who took charge of the unloading, care, and handling 
 of the live stock transported by the Erie, which paid him 
 yardage charges of forty-five cents per head for cattle, six 
 cents for sheep, and eight for hogs, and from $4$ to S50 per 
 ton for hay, besides $1 per car for unloading. 
 
 The arrangement the Erie had with the Car Trust of New 
 York was also gone into by this investigating committee. 
 This Car Trust was formed in 1878. The parties to it were 
 John Lowber Welsh, of Philadelphia ; Homer Ramsdell, of 
 Newburgh, N. Y. ; John A. Hardenbergh and Cieorge R. 
 Blanchard, of New York, anrl Clement R. Woodin, of Ber- 
 wick, Pa., of the first part, and the New York, Lake Erie and 
 Western Railroad Company of the second part. AVelsh and 
 Ramsdell were Directors in the latter company ; Hardenbergh 
 was its purchasing agent, and Blanchard was its first vice- 
 president. Woodin was a car-builder. The capital stock of 
 the Car Trust was ^^3,000,000. Its purpose was the buying, 
 selling, and leasing railroad cars, to be sold or leased to com- 
 panies owning or operating railroads. The business of the 
 Trust was to be conducted by trustees, who were Edwin D. 
 Morgan and Alfred W. Morgan, of New York. The special 
 business of the Trust seems to have been the leasing of cars 
 to the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad Company, 
 and had leased that Company 3,000 freight cars and 500 
 gondola cars on August i, r879, ^or five years, the rent for 
 them, \\'hich was to be 6 per cent, of the principal of all the 
 shares of the Trust Company then outstanding, besides 
 $69,730, was to be paid in quarterly payments. The Railroad 
 Company was compelled by the lease to keep the cars in 
 good repair, replace at its own cost all that were destroyed, and 
 keep them branded, " Car Trust of New York,'' the Trust to 
 be kept informed by annual statements of the condition of 
 the cars. If the Company made default in payment of its 
 rent, or any part of it, for thirty days after it was due, the 
 Trust Company had power to remove the cars from the pos- 
 session of the Railroad Company, the Company to haul them 
 to any point on its line designated by the Trust as most con- 
 venient for its further disposal of them. 
 
 The declared purpose of this Trust was to furnish needed 
 rolling stock to the Erie, which the Company had not the 
 means to purchase outright, and on terms easy and econom- 
 ical, but the conditions of the arrangement proved to be so 
 much the contrary that in 1884, when the Jewett administra- 
 tion came to an end, the Erie was in default to the Tmst 
 Company $5,666,000, and the Company is to-day paying off 
 that debt, which is for cars supplied to the Erie, some of 
 them nearly a score of years ago, and which were long since 
 worn out and discarded. 
 
FATHERS IN ERIE. 
 
 1829. 
 
 William C. Redfield, who first suggested and mapped 
 out a route and advocated the building of a railroad through 
 the country and over the very ground occupied by the Erie, 
 was born March 26, 1786, at South Farms, Conn. He 
 learned the trade of saddler and harness-maker, and was a 
 born scientist. He announced his plan for a railroad in a 
 pamphlet pubUshed in 1829. ("In Embryo," piges 4-5.) 
 The bridge that carries the Chicago and Rock Island Rail- 
 road across the Mississippi River is located on the exact 
 spot where he marked on his map that such a railroad bridge 
 should be built. More than a quarter of a century passed 
 before the railroad and bridge were built there, and Mr. 
 Redfield was the guest of honor at the opening ceremonies, 
 in 1854. He continued to agitate the subject of the rail- 
 road until the project at last interested others, and resulted 
 in the charter, survey, and building of the Erie. William C. 
 Redfield may then be justly called the " Father of Erie." 
 He was the author of many scientific works, and received the 
 honorary degree of A.M. from Yale College in 1839. He 
 was the first president, in 1843, of the American Association 
 for the Advancement of Science. He died at New York, 
 February 12, 1857, aged 68. 
 
 1831. 
 
 Richard P. Marvin was the author of the first notice of 
 application to the New York Legislature for a charter for a 
 company to build a railroad from the Hudson River to Lake 
 Erie over the route now covered by the Erie, which notice 
 was adopted at a meeting called by him at Jamestown, N. Y., 
 September 20, 1831. He was a conspicuous delegate to the 
 convention at Owego, December 20, 1831, from the delib- 
 erations of which the New York and Erie Railroad resulted. 
 ("Taking Form," pages 10-14.) M!r- Marvin was born at 
 Fairfield, Herkimer County, N. Y., December 23, 1803. He 
 taught school, and studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 
 May, 1829. He settled at Jamestown, N. Y., the following 
 June. He became eminent at the bar. In 1835 he was 
 elected to the New York Assembly, where he was influential 
 in Erie interests. In 1836 he was elected to Congress, and 
 was reelected in 1838. From 1847 until 1871 he was a 
 Supreme Court Justice of the State of New York, and made 
 a lasting reputation for judicial acumen and legal learm'ng. 
 He married, in September, 1834, Isabelle Newland, who bore 
 
 him eight children. He died at Jamestown, at the age of 
 eighty-eight. 
 
 Philip Church drafted, and had it adopted at a meet- 
 ing held at Angelica, N. Y., October 26th, the notice of appli- 
 cation for a charter for a railroad through the Southern Tier 
 counties of New York, from the Hudson to Lake Erie, 
 which notice was the one adopted by the memorialists and 
 petitioners for the charter. He was chairman of the con- 
 vention at Owego, December 20, 1831. ("Taking Form," 
 pages 10-14.) 
 
 Philip Church was a gentleman of the old school, and be- 
 longed to the aristocracy, so far as any aristocracy existed in 
 this country at that day. He was born at Boston, April 14,. 
 1778. His father was an officer in the American Army in 
 the war resulting in Independence. His mother was Angel- 
 ica Schuyler, a daughter of Gen. Philip Schuyler of Albany. 
 Gen. Alexander Hamilton married another daughter of Gen- 
 eral Schuyler, so that Philip Church was a grandson of Philip 
 Schuyler, and a nephew of Alexander Hamilton. He was edu- 
 cated at Eton. In 1798, at the age of 20, he was appointed 
 by Washington a Captain in the United States Infantry, and 
 January 12, 1799, Gen. Alexander Hamilton made him his 
 chief of staff. May 6, 1800, he became the owner of 100,000 
 acres of land in Allegany County, N. Y., through which the 
 Genesee River flowed. He laid out a town which he named 
 Angelica, for his mother, and became a resident there in 
 1805. A large portion of the tract was covered with pine 
 forests of the finest quality, of little value for the want of a 
 market. ^Vhen railroads began to be talked, Mr. Church at 
 once saw how important one would be to him if it could 
 pass through his vast estate, and to the public at large in 
 opening up that then isolated country, and as early as 1830 
 he began agitating the possibilities of such a railroad. He 
 labored incessantly in its interest for many years, having 
 been named in the charter as one of the incorporators of 
 the New York and Erie Railroad Company. (" First Admin- 
 istration of Eleazar Lord," pages 21-22; "Administration 
 of James Gore King,'' pages 34-35 ; " Fighting Its Way," 
 pages 295-296; "The Building of It," pages 310-311.) 
 February 8, 1807, he was appointed by Gov. Morgan Lewis 
 first Judge of the Common Pleas for Allegany County, an 
 office he held fourteen years. February 4, 1805, he was 
 married to Anna Matilda, daughter of Gen. Walker Stewart, 
 of Philadelphia, and took his bride to his home in the Gen- 
 esee wilderness. They had nine children, of whom but two, 
 Maj. Richard Church, of New York, and Mrs. Horwood, of 
 London, survive. Judge Church died January 10, 1861. 
 
THE PRESIDENTS OF ERIE. 
 
 1833-183S; 1839-1841; 1844-1845. 
 
 Eleazar Lord. — Eleazar Lord, A.M., LL.D., was bom 
 September 9, 1788, at Franklin, Conn. His early boyhood 
 was spent among the quiet scenes of that even-tenored rural 
 vicinage, where his elementary education was obtained in 
 the district schools, .^.t the age of sixteen, in 1804, he left 
 home and began life as a clerk in a store at Norwich. In 
 1808 he returned home to prepare himself for college, under 
 the direction of the Rev. Dr. Lee, of Lisbon, of whose 
 church (Presbyterian) he became a member in i8og. After 
 two years of preparatory study, he entered Andover Seminary, 
 and remained there three and a half }'ears. While there he 
 became deeply interested in the subject of Foreign Missions, 
 an interest that remained active with him all his life. He 
 wrote the first pretentious work in the literature of that de- 
 partment of the church ever published in this country : " A 
 History of the Principal Protestant Missions to the Heathen." 
 It was published in 181 3 at Boston. 
 
 In September, 181 2, he was licensed to preach by the 
 Haverhill Association at Salem, N. H. He had no regular 
 charge, but preached acceptably at various places for a year. 
 He entered Princeton College, where for some months he 
 attended the lectures and recitations of that celebrated in- 
 stitution. A serious affection of the eyes compelled him to 
 give up his cherished position in life to devote himself to 
 secular concerns, the exactions of which would not demand 
 the sacrifice of his sight. He engaged actively in commer- 
 cial and financial affairs, and while giving to them necessarily 
 a large part of his time, his inclinations for religious work 
 and its advancement were not permitted to languish in the 
 slightest degree. 
 
 In 1815 he personally called a public n:ieeting of the citi- 
 zens of New York City to consider the subject of Sunday- 
 schools, then an untried branch of church work. He organ- 
 ized the New York Sunday-school Union Society, and 
 became its corresponding secretary. He spent much time 
 in organizing Sunday-schools, and in editing and superin- 
 tending the publication of Sunday-school literature. In 
 1816 he was a member of the convention in New York City 
 that organized the American Bible Society. In March, iSry, 
 his eyes again warning him, he spent nearly a year and a 
 half travelling in Europe. While abroad he met and estab- 
 lished cordial relations with all the prominent reformers of 
 the day, philanthropical, evangelical, and political, among 
 them Wilberforce, Canning, Rowland Hill, Chalmers, Ma- 
 caulay the elder, Sir Thomas Baring, and hosts of others. 
 
 He returned to New York in 181 8. He was instrumental, in 
 1826, in the formation of the American Home Mission 
 Society, of which he was the first corresponding secretary. 
 He wrote the first annual report of this society. 
 
 In 1819 Mr. Lord was selected by the leading merchants 
 of New York City to go to Washington in their interest as 
 an advocate for the adoption by Congress of a protective 
 tariff, which, they held, would be for the general good of the 
 country. The measures he prepared were passed in 1820, 
 but the business men of the East insisted that the tariff was 
 not yet protective enough, and in 1823-4 Mr. Lord was sent to 
 Washington to advocate still further tariff revision. His views 
 were opposed by Clay, Calhoun, and all the Southern and 
 some of the Western statesmen. His arguments were such, 
 however, that Clay finally acquiesced in them, and used them 
 in his subsequent speeches in and out of Congress, whence 
 came his fame as the " Father of the American System." 
 
 In 182 1 Eleazar Lord obtained the charter for and organ- 
 ized the Manhattan Fire Insurance Company of New York, 
 of which he was president twelve years. During the man- 
 agement of Mr. Lord the Manhattan Company paid annually 
 dividends of nine per cent. 
 
 Early in 1827 Dartmouth College and Williams College 
 each conferred the degree of Master of Arts on Eleazar 
 Lord. In that year the banking system then in operation in 
 New York State had shown its utter inefficiency by the de- 
 plorable condition into which the banks had fallen, and Mr. 
 Lord turned his attention toward placing it on a sounder 
 basis. In r828-29 he wrote and published a book entitled, 
 " Credit, Currency and Banking," in which he recommended 
 a system that he claimed would remedy the defects of the 
 one prevailing. His recommendations became the founda- 
 tion of what was known as the Free Banking System, and 
 from 1838 until it was replaced by the national banking 
 law, it remained in force in New York State, and was 
 adopted by others. When, during the emergency that came 
 with the Civil War, the Committee on 'Ways and Means in 
 Congress was devising a method to best sustain the finances 
 of the country, Mr. Lord was summoned by it to give the 
 benefit of his knowledge of and experience in practical 
 finance. In response, he formulated the plan, and made the 
 original draft of the bill authorizing its adoption, on which 
 the present national banking system was established. 
 
 Eleazar Lord was one of the originators of the New York 
 and Erie Railroad Company, and was elected its first presi- 
 dent August 9, 1833. His plan for the construction of the 
 road through the Susquehanna Valley, and the work he did 
 under that plan, may well be wondered at now, as it was 
 
460 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 then, but that his motives were honest, sincere, and intended 
 for the promotion of the best interests of the Company and 
 the hastening of the enterprise to successful issue, not one 
 of his most bitter detractors, if any are living to-day, would 
 undertake to deny. His insistence on the six-foot gauge 
 was also an unfortunate error in judgment. In spite of these, 
 however, the fact remains that Eleazar Lord tided the New 
 York and Erie Railroad Company over some of its darkest 
 days. ("Administrations of Eleazar Lord — First, Second, 
 and Third" — pages 20-31, 48-51, and 74-85.) 
 
 Mr. Lord's busiest years were doubtless those of the Erie 
 Railroad period, yet from 1831 to 1844 he wrote and pub- 
 lished five books on scientific and religious subjects, besides 
 numerous papers for magazines on similar subjects. From 
 that time until 1866 he added to his literary work many vol- 
 umes, having for their subjects finance, general and doctrinal 
 theology, history and science, besides innumerable reviews 
 for magazines and periodicals. During the same time he 
 was in constant correspondence with most of the leading 
 men in this and foreign countries. In 1866 the degree of 
 Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him by the University 
 of New York. In 1855 he published his " Historical Review 
 of the New York and Erie Railroad." 
 
 Mr. Lord married, July 12, 1824, Elizabeth Pierson, only 
 daughter of Hon. Jeremiah H. Pierson, of Ramapo, N. Y. 
 She died May 3, 1833. December 31, 1835, he married 
 Ruth- Thompson, daughter of Deacon Eben Thompson, of East 
 Windsor, Conn. Seven children were born to him by his first 
 wife. None survive but Sarah Pierson Lord Whiton, wife 
 of W. H. Whiton, Esq. This daughter and her husband 
 occupy the Lord homestead at Piermont-on-the-Hudson, 
 where Eleazar Lord died, June 3, 187 1, aged 83 years. The 
 portrait of Mr. Lord which accompanies this sketch was 
 taken from a miniature likeness painted on ivory when he 
 was 36 years old, and which was a gift from him to his be- 
 trothed, in 1824. 
 
 1835-1839. 
 
 James Gore King. — James Gore King was born in New 
 York City on May 8, 1791. He was the third son of the dis- 
 tinguished statesman, Rufus King, and of Mary Alsop, daugh- 
 ter of John Alsop, one of the most eminent of early New 
 York citizens. As a child he spent several years in England, 
 his father being Minister Plenipotentiary of the United 
 States to the Court of St. James. He returned to this country 
 in 1803, entered Harvard College, from which he was gradu- 
 ated in 1810. He studied law and was admitted to the bar, 
 but in 1815 abandoned that profession to enter into the more 
 congenial pursuits of mercantile life. 
 
 In 1 815 he established a commission house in New York 
 City, and in 1818 removed to Liverpool, where he remained 
 in business until 1824, when he returned to New York. Upon 
 the recommendation of John Jacob Astor, he was offered a 
 partnership in the then great banking house of Prime, AVard 
 & Sands, of New York. Of this house and its successor, 
 
 Prime, Ward & King, he remained a leading member until 
 1847, when he withdrew and established the firm of James 
 G. King & Sons. It was while in the enjoyment of the great 
 prestige he had won as a member of the first-mentioned 
 house that he was selected in 1835' as President of the New 
 York and Erie Railroad Company. The story of the difficul- 
 ties he encountered and bravely endeavored to overcome in 
 the advancement of the great undertaking of that Company 
 is told with much detail in the historic chapters of this volume, 
 but it may be mentioned here that the first ground for the 
 Erie Railroad was broken by him November 6, 1835, at 
 Deposit, N. Y. ; that he raised the first money to pay con- 
 tractors for work on the road ; that he was instrumental in 
 negotiating the first State stock of the Company, through 
 Prime, \^^ard & King, so that much-needed money could be 
 obtained without delay ; that he began the first work on the 
 road at the eastern end, at Piermont, in 1838; and that he 
 only ceased his efforts to forward the interests of the strug- 
 gling company, after a few years' term of office, when he 
 found that it was impossible to secure the cooperation of 
 New York capitalists in the great enterprise that meant so 
 much to their welfare and the welfare of the metropolis, and 
 that influences in the Legislature, and within the Company 
 itself, were opposing his plans. ("Administration of James 
 Gore King," pp. 32-47.) 
 
 James Gore King's great financial genius, and the influ- 
 ences he Avielded as an individual in the financial world, are 
 best testified to by his record during the disastrous crisis 
 of 1837. Through his efforts the Bank of England con- 
 sented to advance a large amount of specie to enable the 
 resumption of specie payments in this country, and to restore 
 financial strength and confidence to it. This Mr. King did by 
 his own personal power, winning over to his opinion and wishes 
 the governor of that conservative and powerful institution. 
 
 Mr. King resigned as President of the New York and Erie 
 Railroad Company in 1839. In 1848 he was elected a rep- 
 resentative to the Thirty-first Congress from New Jersey, he 
 being then a resident of that State, living at a beautiful 
 country seat on Weehawken Heights. In 1817 Mr. King 
 was one of the reorganizers of the New York Chamber of 
 Commerce, and was ever afterward one of its most conspicu- 
 ■ous and influential members. In 1841 he was elected vice- 
 president of that institution. In 1845 he was chosen presi- 
 dent unanimously. He resigned in 1847 to go abroad. The 
 next spring, on his return, he was reelected president, Moses 
 H. Grinnell withdrawing in his favor. 
 
 Mr. King married, February 4, 181 3, Sarah, daughter of 
 Archibald Gracie, a distinguished New York merchant of 
 that day. He died October 4, 1853, only a short time after 
 the railroad he had spent so much of his time to carry to a 
 successful issue against overpowering odds, was completed. 
 His portrait, painted at the order of the Chamber of Com- 
 merce, by Thomas P. Rossiter, hangs on the walls of the 
 chamber, among the portraits of the other distinguished 
 members of that body who were in their day potent in the 
 affairs of the commercial world. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 461 
 
 1 840-1 842. 
 
 Gen. James Bowen. — James Bowen was born at New 
 York City in 1808. His father was a merchant of ample 
 means, and the son was liberally educated. He was not 
 trained to any profession or business calling, but he cultivated 
 habits of business voluntarily and intuitively. He was a close 
 and persistent student of public affairs, and among his inti- 
 mate associates were Daniel Webster, Gen. James Watson 
 Webb, William H. Seward, Philip Hone, Moses H. Grinnell, 
 Charles A. Peabody (subsequently of national fame as a jurist, 
 who is the only survivor of that notable coterie), and men of 
 similar cast and bent of mind. Most of them were mem- 
 bers of a society famous in its day as the Hone Club. Its 
 membership was not only exclusive but limited. Healey's 
 celebrated painting of \\'ebster belonged to this club, and 
 a resolution was passed by the club that the painting should 
 pass to the heirs of the last sur^■iving member. James 
 Bowen was that one, and the painting is now in the posses- 
 sion of Gen. Alexander S. AA'ebb, of New York, to whom it 
 was willed by_ him. Early in life Mr. Bowen developed a 
 taste for rural life, and he purchased an estate in Westchester 
 County, which was ever after his home. Railroad affairs 
 attracted his attention while the New York and Erie Railroad 
 was in its earliest struggles, and it was at the request of 
 James AVatson Webb that he took a leading part in the 
 direction of that company. He was elected a director in 
 1839 ; vice-president and treasurer, April 30, 1840, and 
 president pro tern, May 27, 1841, and president in October, 
 1841. ("Administration of James Bowen," pages 52-66.) 
 
 Upon the passage of the act creating the Metropolitan 
 Police of New York City in 1857, James Bowen was ap- 
 pointed by Governor King one of the first Board of Police 
 Commissioners under that act, his associates in the Board 
 being Simeon Draper, James W. Nye (afterward United 
 States Senator), James S. T. Stranahan, and Jacob Chandler. 
 Mr. Bowen was elected president of the Board, and had 
 charge during the exciting and riotous days of Mayor Fer- 
 nando Wood's organized but unsuccessful opposition to the 
 replacing of his police force by the new one. 
 
 During the Civil War Mr. Bowen organized six regiments 
 of volunteers. He ceased to be president of the Police 
 Board at the close of 1862. He was appointed general 
 of the brigade composed chiefly of the six regiments he 
 had enlisted. He went to New Orleans with his com- 
 mand, where he served one year, when he was appointed 
 provost marshal of that department, which embraced Louisi- 
 ana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama, as far as the 
 United States Government had regained control over these 
 States. Just before the war ended General Bowen was com- 
 pelled by broken health to resign from the army. He 
 returned home, and was soon appointed a Commissioner of 
 Charity and Correction of New York City. AVhile he was in 
 office the Legislature increased the salary of these commis- 
 sioners from ^5,000 to $10,000 a year. General Bowen 
 
 declared at a meeting of the Board that the increase was an 
 outrage, and he resolutely refused to receive more than the 
 former salary. The attitude he took in the matter resulted 
 in the repeal of the law that authorized the increase. Gen- 
 eral Bowen served two terms as charity commissioner, and 
 introduced the ambulance system in the hospital service. 
 He greatly improved the standing and efficacy of Bellevue 
 Hospital, by insisting that the best medical skill should be 
 employed there, with the result that to-day a course in the 
 Bellevue Hospital practical schooling in medicine and surgery 
 is considered recommendation sufficient as to the capacity of 
 any beginner in the professional practice of medical science. 
 
 In 1842 James Bowen married Eliza Livingston. .She 
 died in 1872. In 1874 he married Josephine Oothout, 
 daughter of John Oothout, then president of the Bank of 
 New York. He survived her, and married Athenia Livings- 
 ton, a cousin of his first wife. There M'ere no children by 
 either marriage. 
 
 General Bowen died September 29, 1886, at Hastings-on- 
 the-Hudson, where he owned a fine estate, his home being 
 preeminently one of culture and refinement. He was a man 
 of entirely domestic habits, of quiet temperament and fine 
 literary taste. His widow married Judge Peabody, his old- 
 time warm friend and associate. 
 
 1 842-1 843. 
 
 William Maxwell. — Guy Maxwell was the father and 
 founder of the Maxwell family of which AVilliam Maxwell 
 was a scion — a name itself that savours rather of mediaeval 
 lomance than of one who managed banks, dug canals, and 
 was adopted as a chief into a tribe of the Seneca Indians. 
 Guy Maxwell's father, Alexander Maxwell, and his mother, 
 Jane McBrantuey, belonging to the Clan McPherson, left Glas- 
 gow, Scotland, in 1770, to come to this country. The ship 
 was driven on the coast of Ireland by a storm. There, in 
 the County Down, Guy Maxwell was born. Two years passed 
 before the Maxwells at last reached America. They settled 
 near Martinsburg, Va. From Martinsburg had gone, some 
 years before, into the Susquehanna Valley, setding at ^^^ilkes- 
 Barre, Pa., a man of the name of Matthias Hollenback. He 
 was a banker, a farmer, a merchant, and a fighter. He later 
 won the title of colonel in the Revolutionary War. He 
 became the biggest man of his time in Northern Pennsylvania 
 and Southern New York. His operations extended up the 
 Susquehanna and Chemung rivers, and at every " point '' or 
 trading post, all along the valley, he had a store. He 
 opened up the country with his push and his accumulated 
 capital. His was a heroic figure of that time and locality. 
 When Ciuy Maxwell was about eighteen years of age, Colonel 
 Hollenback was down in Martinsburg and met him, and was 
 so pleased with him that he invited the young man to return 
 with him to -what is now Elmira, N. Y., and take charge of 
 the Hollenback enterprise there. Young Maxwell seized the 
 opportunity, and went. It was the making of him and of 
 the locality to which he emigrated. Two years later he 
 
462 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 returned to Martinsburg and married a relative of Colonel 
 HoUenback, taking her with him to the new countTy. 
 
 Guy Maxwell was the first Internal Revenue Officer of 
 that region, a very important office in those days. He was 
 also sheriff of Tioga County, when to be a sheriff was indeed 
 an honor and a dignity in the estimation of the people. He 
 achieved much local distinction in many other ways. In the 
 War of 1812, the "embargo" brought disaster to many of 
 his undertakings. He died less than forty-four years of age, 
 in 1814. 
 
 William Maxwell, Guy Maxwell's third son, was one of the 
 strongest men of his day, politically, financially, and socially, 
 in his own locality and in the State. He was born at Tioga 
 Point, now Athens, Pa., February 11, 1794. His parents 
 removed that year to Newtown Point, now Elmira. He was 
 educated in the schools of that neighborhood, and studied 
 law in the office of Fletcher Mathews, a distinguished mem- 
 ber of the bar at that time. In 1822 he was the District 
 Attorney of Tioga County, of which Chemung County was 
 then a part; in 1829 he was the surrogate of the county, 
 and was a member of the Assembly in 1838 and in 1847. 
 He was a delegate from the county to the State Constitu- 
 tional Convention of 1846. He was always prominent in the 
 public affairs of the town and county, and was connected 
 with the formation of the Chemung Canal Bank, one of the 
 earliest enterprises of the kind in the Southern Tier. At one 
 time most of the land in the Third and Seventh Wards of 
 the city of Elmira, and reaching beyond for two or three 
 miles toward Horseheads, stood in his name. He was a 
 power in the Democratic party in those times in that region, 
 and what he said became the order of things. It was largely 
 through his push and influence that the Chemung Canal 
 was constructed, and hi.5 enterprise and money helped on 
 most of the railroad enterprises centring in Elmira. He 
 early became interested in the project of the New York and 
 Erie Railroad, and was an influential delegate to several of 
 the conventions held to adopt measures looking to the 
 furthering of the prospects of that undertaking. It was the 
 part he took at a convention held at Owego in the spring of 
 1842 that brought him into the prominence in Erie affairs that 
 resulted in his being made president in the fall of that )'ear. 
 He married Zerwiah Baldwin, September 15, 1814, a daughter 
 of William and Azubah Baldwin, pioneers of the Chemung 
 Valley. One son was born to Mr. Maxwell, but died in infancy. 
 They adopted as their daughter a niece of Mrs. Maxwell, 
 Azubah McQuhae, who survives. Mr. Maxwell died at 
 Maxwell Park, Elmira, November 22, 1856. An old-time 
 resident of Elmira (Ausburn Towner, now of Washington, 
 D. C, to whom the author is indebted for this sketch) pays 
 this tribute to William Maxwell : 
 
 " I remember him ever since I can remember anything. 
 He lived in one of the most beautiful spots in the valley, a 
 big brick house, with a great lawn, and lots of trees, that 
 must have belonged to the original forest there. He was 
 very fond of children, and I have played for hours in and 
 about his house. He was fitted by intellect and educa- 
 
 tion to fill any position in the country, from President 
 down." 
 
 1 843- 1 844. 
 
 Horatio Allen was born at Schenectady, N. Y., May 
 10, 1802. His father was professor of mathematics in Union 
 College. Horatio Allen was graduated from Columbia Col- 
 lege in 1820. He became a civil engineer, and entered the 
 service of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, which, 
 in 1825, began the construction of its canal to connect its 
 mines in Northern Pennsylvania with tide-water on the Hud- 
 son. In January, 1828, he was sent by that company to 
 England to purchase three locomotives for use on its railroad 
 at the head of the canal and about the mines. One of the 
 locomotives arrived at New York in the winter of 1828-29. 
 It was called the " Stourbridge Lion." This locomotive was 
 shipped to Honesdale, Pa., the head of the canal and ter- 
 minus of the railroad from the mines, and was set up on 
 the track by Mr. Allen. August 9, 1829, Horatio Allen ran 
 it on a trial trip, and thus became the first engineer on the 
 first locomotive that ever turned a driving-wheel on a track 
 on the American continent. (" Administration of Benjamin 
 Loder," page 107.) As a matter of fact, the running of this 
 locomotive antedated by two months the trip of Stephenson's 
 locomotive " Rocket," from which trip the success of steam 
 power on railroads is dated. This is an important historical 
 fact that has always been overlooked. 
 
 In September, 1829, Mr. Allen became chief engineer of 
 the South Carolina Railroad at Charleston, the first railroad in 
 the world to be projected with the declared intention of its 
 projectors of using locomotives as the motive power upon 
 it, this on the emphatic recommendation of Horatio Allen. 
 Mr. Allen remained in the service of that company until 
 1834, in which year he married a daughter of the Rev. James 
 Dewar Simons. He returned to New York, and became 
 president of the Novelty Iron Works, which constructed the 
 machinery for most of the steamers of the Collins and Clyde 
 lines. He also was an engineer in the construction of the 
 High Bridge across the Harlem River, and the reservoir at 
 Forty-second Street and Fifth Avenue, which (1899) is about 
 to be removed to make room for the great New York Public 
 Library of the Astor, Lenox, and Tilden foundation. He 
 invented the making of car- wheels from paper. In 1844 
 Mr. Allen was called to the presidency of the Erie, at a 
 most critical time in its affairs. (" Administration of Horatio 
 Allen," pages 67-73.) In 1846 he was president of the 
 board of commissioners appointed to resurvey the route of 
 the Erie over the location where changes were proposed (in 
 Sullivan County, N. Y., and west of Deposit, N. Y.), which 
 resulted in a report advising the change, Mr. Allen casting 
 the deciding vote. (" Administration of Benjamin Loder," 
 pages 88, 89; "Fighting Its Way," pages 305-307.) In 
 1849 Mr. Allen was appointed consulting engineer of the 
 Erie, which office he held at the time of the opening of the 
 railroad to Dunkirk, in 185 1. He died at East Orange, N. J., 
 January i, 1890. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 463 
 
 1845-1853. 
 
 Benjamin Loder. — Soon after Benjamin Loder was 
 chosen president of Erie in 1S45, he invited twenty-two of the 
 richest men in New York City to meet him in conference 
 at the New York Hotel. They met, and he at once de- 
 clared to them that among them they must subscribe suffi- 
 cient money to start up the work on the railroad and keep it 
 going, a sum which he placed at $3,000,000. To set an ex- 
 ample to the others, he himself subscribed ^250,000, his 
 entire fortune. Stephen Whitney, the millionaire cotton-mer- 
 chant, was one of the men present at the meeting. He pulled 
 at Mr. Loder's coat-tail to attract his attention, and admon- 
 ished him not to risk his all in the enterprise. 
 
 " It will ruin you," the cautious cotton-merchant whispered 
 in his ear. 
 
 But President Loder shook his head, and refused to with- 
 draw the subscription. Aroused by his confidence in the 
 enterprise, the twenty-two men there and then subscribed the 
 required amount. 
 
 The story of the struggles of Benjamin Loder in pushing 
 the completion of the railroad from Middletown to Dunkirk 
 is graphically told in the chapter on his administration of Erie 
 in this History (also, "The Building of It," page 388). He 
 was bom at South Salem, Westchester County, N. Y., 
 February 15, 1801. He began life as a school-teacher, and 
 later engaged in the wholesale dry-goods trade in Cedar 
 Street, New York. Having accumulated a comfortable for- 
 tune, he had retired from active business life at the age of 
 forty-three, when the reputation he had made as a progressive 
 and successful business man led the struggling New York and 
 Erie Railroad Company, at a crisis in its affairs, to solicit him 
 to take hold of them, and endeavor to save the Company 
 from ruin. He was elected president, August 14, 1845, suc- 
 ceeding Eleazar Lord, and remained at the head of the Com- 
 pany eight years. He retired from the presidency broken 
 in health. A friend, knowing of his large subscription to the 
 stock of the Company, asked him, soon after he had retired, 
 if he lost his money. 
 
 " No," said he, " I neither lost nor made any money while 
 with the railroad." 
 
 As a matter of fact, the money President Loder received 
 for his services, which were given night and day, barely reim- 
 bursed him for his expenses. (" Administration of Benjamin 
 Loder," pages 86-113.) 
 
 In course of time, Mr. Loder's health was restored to 
 somewhat of its old vigor, and he spent the closing days of 
 his life in \Vestchester County. He died at Rye, October 7, 
 1876, aged seventy-five years. He was a modest, able, 
 generous, and honest man. He was survived by two sons 
 and five daughters. The older of the two sons died in 1890. 
 
 1853-1857- 
 
 Homer Ramsdell. — Homer Ramsdell was born in War- 
 ren, Worcester County, Mass., August 12, 1810. His par- 
 
 ents were Joseph and Ruth Stockbridge Ramtdell, natives 
 of the old town of Hanover, Mass., both being representatives 
 of pioneer famihes. He was educated at the Academy of 
 Monson, Hampden County, Mass., and after the close of his 
 educational course, entered the dry-goods trade in New 
 York, where he remained from 1832 to 1840. In 1844 he 
 became one of the freight-forwarding firm of Thomas Pow- 
 ell & Co., of Newburgh, N. Y., and was a member of that 
 firm all the rest of his life. The history of Newburgh for 
 over a quarter of a century has been his history. Thomas 
 Powell died in 1856. Mr. Ramsdell, by purchase and con- 
 solidation, added other forwarding lines to his enterprises, 
 embracing not only those of Newburgh, but those of Pough- 
 keepsie, Fishkill, and Highland, so that at his death he stood 
 at the head of the forwarding and transportation business of 
 the Hudson River. In 1845 Mr. Ramsdell came conspicuously 
 to the front in Erie affairs, and not only was instrumental in 
 restoring them to stability at a critical time, but made the 
 Erie project at the same time subserve the interests of New- 
 burgh. ("Third Administration of Eleazar Lord," pages 76- 
 83.) Later in that year he was elected to the Board of Di- 
 rectors, and, excepting a brief interval, he continued in the 
 board through the various changes of administration up to 
 the coming in of Hugh J. Jewett. In 1845 the question of the 
 change of gauge of the Erie Railroad from six feet to four 
 feet eight and one-half inches was discussed, and Mr. Rams- 
 dell advocated and voted for the narrow gauge. (" The 
 Building of It," page 338.) In June, 1853, he was elected 
 president of the Company. He served four years. (" Ad- 
 ministration of Homer Ramsdell," pages 114-122.) Here- 
 signed in July, 1857. A committee in behalf of the Board, 
 by letter, after expressing for him their personal esteem and 
 their appreciation of other valued services rendered by him 
 to the Company, wrote as follows : " We desire particularly 
 to tender the thanks of the Board for that crowning service 
 of your administration, your original conception and judicious 
 purchase of the Long Dock property, which project, when 
 fully completed and annexed to the Erie Railroad, will con- 
 stitute an unbroken channel of communication between the 
 immense granaries of the productive West and the markets 
 of this great metropolis and Europe, so that while one 
 end of our road terminates at the lakes and rivers of the 
 West, the other end shall discharge and receive its freights 
 and passengers at the wharf shipping at the port of New 
 York, an advantage of location, productiveness, and econ- 
 omy which is without precedent in the history of railroads, 
 and as long as New York continues the great commer- 
 cial centre and distributing point for the commerce of 
 this country, the Erie Railroad must be the great channel 
 of its western transportation. Your project has, there- 
 fore, not only rendered the Erie Railroad a permanent 
 and valuable auxiliary to the commercial prosperity of our 
 city, but it opens at the same time an unfailing resource of 
 income to the Company which must yield a permanent profit 
 to the stockholders." The construction of the Hawley Branch 
 of the Erie Railroad was originated by Mr. Ramsdell. (" The 
 
464 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Building of It," page 369.) Mr. Ramsdell was also active 
 and influential in promoting the construction of the New- 
 burgh and New York " Short-cut " Railroad between Avail's 
 Gate on the Newburgh Branch and Greenwood (now Arden) 
 on the main line of the Erie. Before the introduction of 
 railroads into our system of internal communication, the mi- 
 gration from New England to the more productive lands of 
 the West was largely through Newburgh. To restore this lost 
 trade, Mr. Ramsdell was among the first advocates of a rail- 
 road from New England, and nearly fifty years ago made the 
 first reconnoissance of the country preparatory to such an 
 undertaking, the ultimate result of which was the New York 
 and New England Railroad. 
 
 Mr. Ramsdell was married, June 16, 1835, to Frances E. 
 L., daughter of Thomas Powell, of Newburgh. I'he children 
 of this marriage were Mary L. P., fl'ho died in childhood ; 
 Frances J., wife of Major George W. Rains ; Thomas P., 
 James A. P., Henry P., Homer S., and Leila R. Homer 
 Ramsdell died at Newburgh in 1892. 
 
 1857-1859. 
 
 Charles Moran. — Charles Moran was born at Brussels, 
 Belgium, October 31, 181 1. He came to New York while a 
 young man and engaged in business, becoming in time senior 
 partner in the dry-goods commission and importing house of 
 Moran & Iselin. This firm was dissolved in 1852, Mr. Moran 
 retiring. He had won an enviable reputation as a careful 
 and successful business man, and as his bent was toward 
 finance, he founded the New York banking-house of Moran 
 Brothers. The foreign correspondence of the house was 
 particularly extensive and of high class, which fact gave Mr. 
 Moran extraordinary opportunity for the placing of American 
 loans abroad. It was his success in this way in 1856, with 
 a large Erie loan, that made him a conspicuous figure in rail- 
 road financiering, and turned the attention of the Erie toward 
 him in a time of emergency, and induced it to call him to 
 the management of its critical affairs. He became president 
 of the Company on the eve of the great financial upheaval of' 
 1857, the disastrous effects of which harassed and hampered 
 his earnest efforts in the herculean task he had undertaken, 
 all through his two years' administration. (" Administration 
 of Charles Moran," pages 123-129.) Few men would have 
 faced the obstacles he encountered, much less have attempted 
 \o overcome them. Mr. Moran retired from the Erie 
 management, August, 1859, and gave his entire attention to 
 his banking business. He continued as senior partner of the 
 house he founded until his death, July 22, 1895. 
 
 1859-1861. 
 
 Samuel Marsh. — Samuel Marsh was born in 1786, at 
 Haverhill, Massachusetts, and died in 1872, at the Astor 
 House, New York, at which place he had resided a greater 
 portion of his long and useful life. His New England ances- 
 try, traced back through the b.ndin;; of the Pilgrims in 1638, 
 
 becomes in the twelfth century, not Marsh, but de Marisco, 
 with Marsh quaintly written as a parenthetical alternative in 
 the manuscripts. 
 
 Samuel Marsh came to New York during the War of 181 2, 
 and from that time made the metropoUs his home. After 
 the cessation of hostilities with Great Britain, he travelled 
 long in Europe for the purpose of completing his business 
 education and familiarizing himself with the usages of Euro- 
 pean trade. In 181 9 he established the New York Dyeing 
 and Printing Company, with factories on Staten Island, and 
 was its president until his death. 
 
 The development of the canals of the United States greatly 
 interested him, and in the early part of the century, in con- 
 nection with Erastus Corning, Horatio Seymour, and others, 
 he projected a canal system by which the waters of the Great 
 Lakes and the Mississippi River were to be connected. The 
 name of the enterprise was the Fox River Improvement Com- 
 pany. Many millions of dollars have been expended on it. 
 The project greatly aided the material growth of the State of 
 Wisconsin, although as yet the canal is not available for ves- 
 sels of deep-water draught. 
 
 Mr. Marsh was among the pioneers of railways in America. 
 He was one of the twenty gentlemen who met in 1845, at 
 the New York Hotel, on the invitation of Benjamin Loder, 
 and united in a subscription amounting to three millions of 
 dollars, which was intended to complete the construction of 
 the Erie. 
 
 From 1846 until 1865, Mr. Marsh was vice-president of 
 the Erie Railroad, his incumbency of that position being oc- 
 casionally interrupted by his being called upon to assume the 
 duties of president ad interim. He invariably declined to 
 permanently assume the office of president of the corporation. 
 
 Mr. Marsh engaged with the late Moses Taylor, John I. 
 Blair, and others in construction of railroads in various parts 
 of the country, and until within a few weeks of his death, at the 
 age of eighty-six, he actively superintended the vast interests 
 under his control. Although he never married, his home at the 
 Astor House was a happy one, and many friends were made 
 welcome there, and many of the older New Yorkers spent 
 care-dispelling hours in his company. Mr. Marsh was the 
 ever-watchful adviser and instructor of his nephew, Nathaniel 
 Marsh, as to his duties as secretary, receiver, and president 
 of Erie. 
 
 1 862-1 864. 
 
 Nathaniel Marsh. — Nathaniel Marsh was born No- 
 vember 27, 1 815, at Haverhill, Mass. He entered Dartmouth 
 College at the age of sixteen, graduating at the age of 
 twenty, in 1835. He began the reading of law in the 
 office of the Hon. James H. Duncan, of Haverhill. He 
 did not take kindly to the law, and went to Kalamazoo, 
 Mich., where he became a school-teacher. Soon after- 
 ward he was appointed clerk of one of the courts of Michi- 
 gan, and he abandoned his career as an educator to accept 
 the place. In the fall of 1837, he relinquished his office, 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 465 
 
 went to New York, and joined the staff of the New York 
 Express, then edited by James and Erastus Brooks. Mr. 
 Marsh was associate editor of the Express until 1841, hav- 
 ing, in May, 1839, married Miss Brooks, the only sister of the 
 Express editors. In September, i84r, he was appointed first 
 assistant to the postmaster of New York City, and in 1845 
 he was unanimously chosen to be secretary of the New York 
 and Erie Railroad Company, at the time of its rehabilitation 
 tmder Benjamin Loder. He remained at his post of secretary 
 under all the trying times of the Loder administration, through 
 the darkening and discouraging events of the Homer Rams- 
 dell administration, and during the futile efforts of Charles 
 Moran to stem the tide of misfortune that circumstances had 
 set in upon Erie ; and when the Company succumbed, in 
 1859, to the inevitable, he was appointed receiver. On the 
 reorganization, January i, 1862, he was chosen president of the 
 new Company. This he accepted, and before entering upon 
 the new duties he authorized a settlement of his accounts as 
 recei\er, in which he voluntarily relinquished more than half 
 of the compensation to which he would have been entitled 
 under the ordinary mode of computation in such case. In 
 about a year after the reorganization, he began to show 
 marked signs of failing — signs which he disregarded, notwith- 
 standing the warnings of anxious friends, and he permitted 
 himself to be reelected president a third time in 1864. He 
 was at his desk at the Erie offices daily up to a week before 
 his death. He died July 22, 1864, suddenly, and at an un- 
 expected moment, although his death was known to be im- 
 minent, ikir. Marsh was the only Erie president to die in 
 office. His loss to the Company was fittingly recognized by 
 official action of the Board. 
 
 In April, 1846, jNIr. Marsh lost his first wife. She left in 
 his charge three small children, one but a few days old. 
 One of his sons is Samuel Marsh, Esq., a well-known New 
 York lawyer. He was married a second time in December, 
 1 848, to Miss Julia Townsend, daughter of \\'illiam Townsend, 
 Esq., of Staten Island, by whom he had four children. 
 
 I 864-1 867. 
 
 Robert H. Berdell. — Mr. Berdell had been remark- 
 ably successful in the management of his own private business, 
 against oppressive odds, and had won place and fortune. He 
 became president of the Long Dock Company in 1858, and 
 managed its then critical affairs as successfully as he had his 
 own business, with the result that the Long Dock credit was 
 restored, its stock made one of the most valuable of invest- 
 ments, and its work of completing the Erie terminals at Jer- 
 sey City accomplished. Mr. Berdell became a conspicuous 
 member of the Erie Directory, and was elected president, 
 October 14, 1864, and was reelected in 1865 and r866. Dur- 
 ing the latter year he came into conflict with the Vanderbilt 
 influence in the Board as to the policy of the Company, the 
 plans of that influence being, in his opinion, dangerous to the 
 future of the Company. His following in the Board being in 
 a minority, the opposing influence prevailed, and he retired 
 30 
 
 from the Company in October, 1867. Time proved that Mr. 
 Berdell's estimate of the policy he had refused to sanction 
 \\-as more than true. (" Administration of Robert H. Ber- 
 dell," pages 139-146.) 
 
 Robert H. Berdell was born October i, 1820, near Somer- 
 town, ^^'estchester County, N. Y. Circumstances compelled 
 him early in life to become self-supporting, and while earn- 
 ing his living he managed also to so inform and educate him- 
 self that when he came to man's estate he was well equipped 
 for the serious battle of life. While yet a young man he en- 
 gaged in commercial business in New York City, and such 
 was the natural force of his character, and such was his re- 
 sourcefulness, that in a few years he had established a place 
 among the leading merchants in his line, and acquired a com- 
 petency. Once in his career he was pushed to the wall by 
 the failure of heavy creditors in a time of financial stress, 
 but he quickly recovered his standing, settled his obligations, 
 and in time conquered a higher place in the commercial 
 world than he had ever held. Mr. Berdell made a large for- 
 tune in his business, which he more than once, together 
 with the credit of his name, used in aid of the Long 
 Dock, and subsequently of the Erie, in their hours of 
 trial. 
 
 Mr. Berdell was twice married. His first wife was Miss 
 Elizabeth A. Clowes, of Hempstead, L. I., whom he married 
 in 1843. She died in 1861, and in 1862 Mr. Berdell mar- 
 ried Miss Harriet A. Barnard, of New York. For many years 
 previous to his death Mr. Berdell made his home in New 
 York City, where he died June 25, 1896. He was survived 
 by two sons and one daughter : Theodore Berdell, Charles 
 Prescott Berdell, and Mrs. L. A. Berdell-Miller. 
 
 1 867-1 868. 
 
 John S. Eldridge. — John S. Eldridge was bom in Yar- 
 mouth, Mass., September 23, 1818, and died in New York, 
 March 23, 1876. He was a lawyer by profession, a resident 
 of Canton, Mass., and came to have much experience relating 
 to matters of railroad corporations. At the time of his elec- 
 tion as president of the Erie Railway Company he was presi- 
 dent of the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad Companj', 
 whose road it was then proposed to extend to the Hudson 
 River at Newburgh, and thus give the Erie a New England 
 connection. It was due to the interests desiring this con- 
 summation that he became president of the Erie Railway 
 Company, October 8, 1867. The chaotic condition into 
 which the Drew- Vanderbilt complications threw the Erie 
 greatly disarranged President Eldridge's plans, but they were 
 at last consented to and adopted. The bonds of the Boston, 
 Hartford and Erie Railroad Company having received the 
 guarantee of the Erie, and the influence of Jay Gould in 
 the lattsr Company foreshadowing the predominance it soon 
 afterward assumed, Mr. Eldridge, in July, 1868, resigned 
 as president of Erie, believing that he could serve no further 
 the interest he represented by retaining the position. ("Ad- 
 ministration of John S. Eldridge," pages 147-160.) 
 
466 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 1868-1872. 
 
 Jay Gould was bom at Roxbury, Delaware County, N. Y., 
 May 27, 1836. His father was John B. Gould, who was a 
 farmer, and during his childhood days the future financier 
 and railroad magnate worked on the farm, his spare hours 
 being spent in getting such education as the district school 
 could give. 
 
 Before he was twelve years old he hired out as clerk in a 
 store in Roxbury village, at |i6 a month. At fourteen years 
 of age he entered the academy at Hobart, N. Y., to increase 
 his store of education, keeping the books of the village 
 blacksmith, and receiving private instruction from his elder 
 sisters, out of school hours. He exhausted the course of 
 study at Hobart in six months, and became a clerk in a hard- 
 ware store, devoting his spare time to the acquiring of a 
 knowledge of surveying and civil engineering. His recrea- 
 tion was the reading of history, for which he always had a 
 fondness. To obtain practical knowledge of his chosen pro- 
 fession, he worked at surveying, with borrowed implements of 
 a rude character, and with the aid of village boys as chain 
 and flag bearers, rewarding them for their services by giving 
 them toys that he invented and made himself. At fifteen he 
 was made an equal partner in the firm he was clerking for. 
 He increased the business of the firm, but the business was not 
 to his taste, and in the spring of r8s2 he gave his interest in it 
 to his father, and took up his profession of surveying. He en- 
 gaged with a surveying party that had been hired to make a 
 map of Ulster County. His salary was $20 a month. The pro- 
 jector of this scheme failed, and did not pay young Gould the 
 salary due him, and the latter determined to complete the 
 work himself, which he did, undergoing great physical hard- 
 ship and mental distress while doing it. He had as his asso- 
 ciates in the undertaking a young surveyor named Oliver J. 
 Tillson and a man named Peter H. Brink. The map was 
 completed in December, 1852, and he sold out his interest 
 to Tillson and Brink for $90 and an odometer. In the 
 spring of 1853 he began surveying for a map of Albany 
 County, and completed the survey the following fall. Dur- 
 ing the ensuing winter he finished the map, which he sold, 
 and made several hundred dollars. While he was sur- 
 veying for that map, he made a map of the village of 
 Cohoes, for which he received $600. It wis in that year, 
 also, that he took the contract for building the Albany and 
 Niscayuna plank road. While he was engaged in this work, 
 parties who objected to its passing through their land served 
 a writ on him to appear at Albany three days later and 
 show cause why he should not be enjoined from going on 
 with the work. He asked Hamilton Harris, the Albany 
 lawyer, if there was any law to prevent him working on his 
 contract pending the hearing as to the injunction. Mr. 
 Harris assured him that there was not. Young Gould 
 at once employed all the men he could find, and teams to 
 haul lumber, and kept on with his work, early and late. 
 When the day for the hearing came, he was on hand. The 
 decision was that the injunction should issue, and it was 
 
 issued. When the officer went to serve it, however, he 
 found that there was nothing to enjoin, for the plank road 
 was finished and ready for operation ! 
 
 By prosecuting his surveying and map-making during the 
 next three years, young Gould, at the age of twenty, had ac- 
 cumulated $5,000. In the meantime he had written and 
 published a " History of Delaware County," a remarkably 
 complete work of 450 pages, and exhibiting literary qualifi- 
 cations of a high order. Copies of that history to-day are 
 rare and almost priceless. In 1857 Zadock Pratt, the great 
 Greene County tanner, was attracted to the ability of Gould, 
 and he made him a partner in a big tannery enterprise in 
 Luzerne County, Pa. The Delaware, Lackawanna and 
 Western Railroad was just being built through that region, 
 and a station that had been called Sand Cut was changed to 
 Gouldsboro, in honor of Gould, and it became the station 
 for the tannery the firm of Pratt & Gould erected. This 
 was built under the personal superintendence of young 
 Gould, who himself chopped down the first tree where the 
 clearing was to be made in the wilderness for the tannery 
 and its plant. He built a plank road from the railroad sta- 
 tion, and a settlement so important grew up around the tan- 
 nery that a postoffice was established and Gould was appointed 
 postmaster. The young business man began his career as a 
 financier by aiding in the establishing of a bank at Strouds- 
 burg, the county seat of Monroe County, Pa., of which bank 
 he became a leading director. 
 
 In 1859, Gould, then but twenty-three years old, bought 
 out his partner for $60,000, capital being provided chiefly by 
 Charles M. Leupp, an old-time Erie Director. Upon the 
 death of Mr. Leupp, a few weeks later, his heirs cancelled 
 the arrangement with Gould, and, during his absence in New 
 York, took possession of the tannery property and evicted 
 Gould's employees. When Gould returned he massed his 
 forces, routed his opponents, and regained possession of the 
 property, which he held and operated until an amicable set- 
 tlement of the difficulty was made, and he retired from the 
 tanning business. 
 
 He then went to New York, and soon became interested 
 in railroads. He was placed at the head of the management 
 of the Rutland and Washington Railroad, which was in 
 straits. He succeeded in putting the property on its feet, 
 in the meantime buying up the discredited bonds of the 
 company at ten cents on the dollar until he had control of 
 it. He consolidated it with the Saratoga, Whitehall and 
 Rensselaer Railroad Company, under the latter title, and 
 under Gould's management the securities soon went to and 
 above par. This was Jay Gould's first transaction in rail- 
 roads, and it brought him a capital of no mean amount. 
 With it he established himself in Wall Street. 
 
 At the age of thirty-two- Jay Gould became president of 
 the Erie. When he died, at fifty-six, he was owner of the 
 Pacific Railroad system, the Western Union Telegraph Com- 
 pany, the Atchison, Topeka, and Sante F^ system, the Ele- 
 vated Railroad system of New York, and other princely 
 possessions. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 467 
 
 It has been truly said that in downright dramatic interest, 
 in its exhibition of results achieved through the exercise of 
 intellectual qualities which were themselves an achievement, 
 and in the example which it furnishes of the consistent 
 development of traits which can scarcely be considered as the 
 dower of heredity. Jay Gould's life-story surpasses by far the 
 history of any of his great contemporaries in finance and in the 
 management of stupendous enterprises — and in the genera- 
 tion in which he lived his active and wonderful business life 
 there were such masters of finance and such giants in the 
 management of great affairs as were known in no former 
 epoch of the world's history. 
 
 It was from his connection with the management of the 
 Erie Railway Company that Jay Gould first became widely 
 known as a man of wonderful sagacity, fertility of resource, 
 tenacity of will, and determination of purpose. It was that 
 connection, also, that turned against him the stinging shafts 
 of criticism, which followed him until and (from some sources) 
 after his death, and made it popular to denounce and revile 
 him. If he had chosen, he could have shown in compara- 
 tively few words a defence for his methods in the control of 
 Erie which would have given his critics much food for gentler 
 thought, and blunted the sharp edge of popular malice ; but 
 he remained silent under the storm of distorted statements 
 and positive falsehood with which he was assailed. Thus it 
 was made to appear by such criticism, and in the popular 
 mind to-day it remains disabused by any retraction or modi- 
 fication, that Jay Gould gained control of the Erie Railway 
 Company when its property was in the finest condition as to 
 railroad and equipment, its financial affairs on a secure and 
 enviable basis, and its future bright and promising, and that 
 he left it with its treasury looted of its last dollar, its property 
 in a state of dilapidation and decay, its business gone to the 
 dogs, and its future only bankruptcy and ruin. As a matter 
 of fact, when Jay Gould came into the Directory of the Erie 
 Railway Company, in 1868, the Company's property, rights, 
 and privileges were handled only as cards to be played in the 
 great game of Wall Street speculation. In fact, the influence 
 then dominating Erie affairs had been in control for many 
 years, and in all that time the great corporation had been 
 used and abused as a speculative football. At the time Mr. 
 Gould became connected with the Company as a Director, a 
 desperate battle was on between the dominant power in the 
 Erie management and an antagonist who had been his 
 potent rival in Wall Street speculation and railroad manage- 
 ment for years, and who had now entered the lists to wrest 
 the control of Erie from him and make that property subser- 
 vient to his own transportation line. The success of this 
 bold movement meant the taking of the Erie Railway out 
 of the list of independent and competitive railroads of the 
 country, the diversion of its business, and inevitable ruin and 
 disaster to the region through which it had been constructed 
 at so much cost, and after years of disheartening but per- 
 sistent struggle. To prevent this, and save the Erie to its 
 people and its territory. Jay Gould first brought to bear those 
 quaUties that subsequently made him for a time supreme in 
 
 the Company. Although but one in the Board of Directors, 
 the exciting campaign that resulted during this crisis in the 
 affairs of the Erie was conducted largely on his suggestion and 
 advice, and if it had been continued on these lines, as Mr. 
 Gould's close associates always contended, the end of the 
 battle would have been a success for the Erie, unattended by 
 any humiliating conditions. As it was, after months of legal 
 strife, both in the civil and criminal courts, the controlling 
 influence in the Erie management agreed to buy rather than 
 drive their antagonist out of the fight, and paid his price, 
 amounting to several millions of dollars, out of the Erie's 
 treasury. Against this method of terminating the contest in 
 defence of their own property and rights. Jay Gould earnesi'-' 
 protested. 
 
 The result of this ending of the " Erie War " brought also 
 to an end the life of the regime that had ruled in Erie 
 affairs so long, and placed Jay Gould at the head of the 
 Company. Instead of finding a treasury to be looted, he 
 found one that had to be filled if the Company was to be 
 kept out of absolute bankruptcy, for there was not a dollar 
 in it. Instead of a finely equipped railroad, in superior con- 
 dition, he came into the possession of one not only deficient 
 in the quota of its rolling stock, but with even its available 
 stock in a condition of deplorable dilapidation, and of a 
 road-bed and track sadly and dangerously out of repair. 
 The foes of Erie were still intriguing and working for its 
 downfall. Money, and a large sum of money, had to be 
 raised, and raised at once, if the Company were to be saved 
 from bankruptcy and its railroad put in a condition that 
 would warrant effort on the part of the management to make 
 it the strong competitor of rival roads that it should be. 
 A weak or hesitating man in his place would have succumbed 
 on the threshold of this situation, and all would have been 
 lost ; but Jay Gould was far from being either weak or hesi- 
 tating. He raised money. His method of raising it was 
 undoubtedly a heroic one, and the cliques that had been 
 for months using every trick and game known to Wall 
 Street to destroy Erie, instantly lifted up their voices In 
 tones of pious horror, and roundly denounced the man who 
 had outwitted them by raising money to save the Erie prop- 
 erty from its foes. At any rate, after a long and thorough 
 investigation, set afoot by the influences that had for years 
 striven for the control of the Erie Railway, the New York 
 Legislature approved his act, by an almost unanimous vote. 
 
 The funds in hand, Mr. Gould at once began the recon- 
 struction and building up of the railroad and the equipping 
 of it with rolling stock commensurate with the demands that 
 he foresaw of an increasing business. During his adminis- 
 tration steel rails were introduced in place of rotten iron 
 ones. New and important connections, not only local but 
 through, were secured. Old and insecure wooden bridges 
 were replaced by modern iron structures. Tumble-down 
 depots and freight-houses gave way to substantial new build- 
 ings. Train seiTice was made as perfect as the coaches, 
 appliances, and conveniences of a generation ago could pro- 
 vide. Within two years after Jay Gould became the con- 
 
468 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 trolling power in Erie, the railroad had ceased to be a thing 
 of ridicule and a lj}-\vord to the travelling public, and a route 
 in which the shipper had small confidence, and held a posi- 
 tion second to none in popularity both with travellers and 
 patrons of the freight department. It cannot he denied 
 that under the Gould regime, by the progressive ideas it 
 originated, and the promptness and completeness with which 
 they were carried out, the science of railroad management 
 was advanced many years. 
 
 Mr. Gould accumulated enormous riches, but, to the few 
 who knew him intimately, it was manifest that he enjoyed 
 the possession of riches far less than the acquisition of them. 
 He loved to surmount and circumvent barriers, to make a 
 conquest of adverse forces, to conduct a complicated cam- 
 paign, to apply all his strategic powers to the overcoming of 
 difficulties, to employ all the weapons of aggression and de- 
 fence his armory held, and finally win a victory which he 
 thought worthy of his powers. And then he loved to seclude 
 himself from the public gaze among his flowers and books 
 and pictures, with those he loved about him, and the world 
 at a distance. Of cultivated taste and varied information, 
 yet he was not desirous of imposing or incurring social 
 obligations, nor solicitous of distinction in any sphere of 
 action except the one which he dominated. He was content 
 to be what he was — the most daring, brilliant, and triumph- 
 ant financier of the age in the eyes of the world, and the 
 most loyal and devoted husband and father in the eyes of 
 his wife and children. 
 
 It is a great mistake to suppose that Jay Gould was a mere 
 speculator in properties. He was the most consummate rail- 
 road manager that the country had ever produced. He knew 
 everything about a railway, from the rails to the locomotive, 
 and from the brakeman's duty to that of the general man- 
 ager. He could sit down and write a traffic contract, which 
 is perhaps the supreme test of a railroad manager's perspi- 
 cacity. He was a superb executive officer. He applied the 
 military rule to his subordinates. Results, not processes, was 
 his motto. His great genius was shown in his quick mastery 
 of a thorough knowledge of the value of corporate proper- 
 ties, and in perception of possibihties of consolidation of 
 them. When he acquired properties he bent his energies to 
 develop them, and he had both the will and the strength to 
 defend and protect them. His money was invested inactive 
 enterprises which gave employment to many thousands of 
 men. He frequently engaged in undertakings in which there 
 WIS no prospect of any immediate chance of reward, relying 
 on his efforts and on his faith in the future value of them for 
 his compensation or profit. Faith iii the constant and steady 
 growth of the country, and the consequent prosperity of all 
 legitimate and well-directed projects, was one source of his 
 unexampled success ; and who may say that his efforts in sys- 
 tematizing and combining the great railroad systems of the 
 West and Southwest, and managing them as they should be 
 managed, did not stimulate more than any one thing the 
 groivth and prosperity of that vast area of the country through 
 which those highways have their amazing ramifications? A less 
 
 forceful man than Jay Gould would have been tempted to sit 
 down idly and take his ease on an income from government 
 bonds or other infallible securities, but he was not content 
 except in directing the management of properties retiuiring 
 constant supervision and perfect handling to make them suc- 
 cessful. He, perhaps, wielded more power during the half 
 score or more years preceding his death than any other one 
 man on the continent, and all M'ithout one evidence of osten- 
 tation or display. To no other man or collection of men is 
 due so much the bringing of the railroad transportation S)s- 
 tem to the perfection it has reached in this country ; and the 
 extension of that system so that it reaches the most out-of- 
 the-way corners of the land is due entirely to the remarkable 
 enterprise, sagacity, and organizing genius that he possessed. 
 Through his telegraph and railroad enterprises great distances 
 were narrowed, and isolated communities brought in touch 
 with the outside world as they would not have been other- 
 wise, perhaps, for many )'ears to come. 
 
 Physically, Mr. Gould was a small man. He had a 
 remarkably high and broad forehead, and though his dark 
 eyes sparkled continually there was yet a deeply thoughtful 
 look in them. His manner was exceedingly modest, the 
 tone of his \oice low, and modulated in accents of gentle- 
 ness. He was invariably courteous and natural. Affectation 
 and hypocrisy were entirely unknown qualities in his character. 
 For society outside of his own family circle he cai;ed noth- 
 ing, but at home he was genial, kind, indulgent, affectionate. 
 It was not until the strain of mental toil began to tell upon 
 his physical powers, many years after he had won almost 
 undisputed dominion over the financial world, that he gave 
 any thought to rest or diversion in the directions usually 
 sought by men of vast wealth. Prior to that time his books, 
 his pictures, his flowers, were his chief sources of recreation 
 and pleasure. His putting of a yacht in commission — the 
 splendid and speedy Atlanta — was consequently a source of 
 much comment to the outside world ; but it was not as a 
 sportsman that Mr. Gould sought to enjoy his superb play- 
 thing. 
 
 Jay Gould's secretiveness in his business affairs was pro- 
 verbial, but it was exhibited quite as strikingly in his bene- 
 factions. He never achieved the reputation of one who was 
 in the habit of contributing toward the needs of his fellow- 
 men, but it is nevertheless a fact that few rich men were 
 more charitable than he. Once only did he forego his 
 customary reticence, and then it was in a time of great 
 public calamity. Yellow fever was raging in Memphis, and 
 subscriptions were being taken in all the large cities of the 
 country to aid the afflicted town. Mr. Gould did not pro- 
 crastinate. He telegraphed to the authorities of Memphis to 
 draw on him for all the money they needed. It is said of 
 him, by one who was close in his confidence, that " he was a 
 constant and liberal giver, his benefactions being dispensed 
 through a trustee in whose suggestions and advice in such 
 matters he had every confidence. His invariable condition 
 was that there should be no public blazonry of his benefac- 
 tions." He never sought to delude himself or others with a 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 469 
 
 show of counterfeit philanthropy. He was the most ab- 
 stemious of men, never touching either spirituous liquors, 
 wine (except at his physician's advice), or tobacco. 
 
 Jay Gould died December 2, 1892, at his New York resi- 
 dence. He Was survived by four sons and two daughters: 
 George Jay, Edwin, Howard, and Frank J., Helen M. and 
 Anna. He left a fortune, as taxed by the Surrogate of New 
 York County, amounting to nearly $56,000,000. 
 
 1872. 
 
 Gex. John" Adams Dix. — John Adanis Dix was born at 
 Boscawen, N. H., July 24, 1798. He obtained his early edu- 
 cation in the academies at Salisbury and Exeter, and at a 
 French school in Montreal, where he remained one year. In 
 his fourteenth year he was appointed a cadet at the United 
 States Military Academy, but gave up the appointment to take 
 part in the War of 181 2 and 1815, having received a commis- 
 sion as ensign in the Fourteenth United States Infantry. 
 Within a year he was promoted to be third lieutenant and 
 transferred to the Twenty-first Regiment of Infantry. In 1814 
 he became second lieutenant, and in the fall of the same 
 vear was transferred to the artillerv. He was made adjutant 
 in 1 81 5, and in March, 1819, was appointed aide-de-camp to 
 Maj.-Gen. Jacob Brown, commander-in-chief, becoming first 
 lieutenant in 1818 and a captain in 1825. In 1828 he 
 lesigned his commission, having passed sixteen years in the 
 military ser\'ice of the nation. 
 
 Much of his leisure had been given to the study of law, 
 and upon his return from a trip abroad he settled at Coopers- 
 town, N. Y., and entered the legal profession. Espousing 
 the Democratic cause, he soon became prominent in politics 
 and was a zealous partisan of Andrew Jackson. In 1830 he 
 was appointed adjutant-general of the State of New York. 
 In 1833 he was appointed Secretary of State and superin- 
 tendent of common schools. He was also a member of the 
 Canal Board and one of the commissioners of the canal 
 fund. 
 
 At the expiration of his term he resumed his law practice. 
 In 1842 he was elected to represent Albany County in the 
 Assembly. In 1846 he was chosen United States Senator to 
 fill the vacancy caused by the election of Silas Wright as 
 Governor of New York, in 1845, and served the remaining 
 four years of the terai. In 1853 he was appointed Assistant 
 Treasurer of the United States at New York City, and became 
 Secretary of the Treasury under President Buchanan, January 
 II, 1861, at a memorable crisis in national affairs. It was 
 while holding this place that he wrote the famous message to 
 W. H. Jones, a special agent of the Treasury Department at 
 New Orleans, which, after ordering the arrest of Captain 
 Breshwood, of the revenue cutter " McClelland," concluded 
 with the memorable words : " If any one attempts to haul 
 down the American flag, shoot him on the spot." During the 
 ■Civil War he was appointed a major-general in the regular 
 army. At the conclusion of hostilities he resigned his posi- 
 tion in the army and retired to civil life. 
 
 On the organization of the Pacific Eailroad Company 
 General Dix was elected its president. He was chairman of the 
 convention of the National Union Party held at Philadelphia 
 in 1866. In the same year he was appointed minister to the 
 Netherlands, but declined ; a few weeks later he accepted 
 the post of naval officer for the port of New York, resigning 
 in November to accept the mission to France. On March 
 II, 1872, he was elected president of Erie, succeeding 
 Jay Gould. ("Administration of John A. Dix," pages 201- 
 207.) At the State election of that year General Dix was 
 elected Governor of New York on the Republican ticket. 
 He was renominated in 1874, but was defeated by Samuel 
 J. Tilden. He died April 21, 1879. A son, the Rev. 
 Morgan Dix, rector of Trinity Parish, New York, survives 
 him. 
 
 I 872-1 874. 
 
 Peter H. Watson. — Born in England, 1819, this future 
 president of Erie came to the United States at the age of 
 twenty, and, after some months spent in civil engineering, 
 began the study of the law at Rockf ord, 111. After his admis- 
 sion to the bar he opened an office at Washington, D. C, 
 where he soon took a leading place as a shrewd and success- 
 ful patent lawyer, of which branch of the profession he made 
 a specialty. He made fame and fortune through his promi- 
 nent connection with the noted McCormick Reaper cases in 
 the United States and other courts, being successful in all. 
 He had become a warm personal friend of E. M. Stanton, 
 and when the latter was made Lincoln's Secretary of War, 
 to succeed Simon Cameron, he selected Mr. Watson as his 
 first assistant. Mr. Watson had charge of the Quartermaster 
 General's Department all through the Civil War, performing 
 its duties to the entire satisfaction of the Administration and 
 honor to himself. It is recorded of him, as showing his 
 great capacity for work and extraordinary endurance, that he 
 kept a night and day force of clerks in his department, and 
 personally supervised the ser\'ices of both. 
 
 At the close of the war Mr. Watson returned to the practice 
 of his profession, settling at Ashtabula, O. In Ohio he became 
 interested in railroads, and constructed the Ashtabula and 
 Franklin Railroad, which was subsequently made a branch of 
 the Lake Shore Railroad. He was the originator of the South 
 Improvement Company of Pennsylvania in 1870, having 
 become largely interested in oil transportation in that State. 
 This corporation was later the basis of the present great 
 Standard Oil Company. His bold ideas in railroad manage- 
 ment made him prominent in transportation circles, and 
 when the Erie Railway Company came to need a president 
 to take the place of General Dix, after the stormy Gould 
 times of 1872, Mr. Watson was chosen to fill the place. He 
 remained at the head of Erie until 1874, when, broken in 
 health, he resigned. (" Administration of Peter H. Watson," 
 pages 208-229.) Recovering his health, he again took up 
 active business life, and organized in New York the Fabiric 
 Measuring and Packaging Company, under valuable patents. 
 
470 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 He was president of the company until his death, July 22, 
 1885. Mr. Watson died at the Hotel Albert, University 
 Place and Eleventh Street, New York, and was buried at 
 Ashtabula. He was survived by his wife and four children, 
 one of whom, Edward P., succeeded to the management of 
 the business of the deceased. 
 
 1874-1884. 
 
 Hon. Hugh J. Jewett. — Mr. Jewett, although a native 
 of Maryland, having been born on his father's farm at Deer , 
 Creek, July 1, 1817, settled in Belmont County, O., in 1840, 
 for the practice of law, he having fitted himself for that 
 profession. The Ohio bar was then famous for the surpass- 
 ing genius of its members, and young Jewett soon compelled 
 a position that ma'de him the recognized peer of such rare 
 legal minds as Edwin M. Stanton (later Lincoln's great war 
 secretary). Judge William Kennon, Governor A\'ilson Shannon, 
 Benjamin Cowen, and others equally great in their day and 
 generation. Before he was thirty years of age, in 1848, his 
 reputation as a lawyer had become so wide, and had been 
 followed by such a corresponding increase in his business, 
 that he was obliged to seek a more extensive field, and he 
 removed to Zanesville, which was then one of the most 
 important towns in the State. There he quickly rose to 
 still greater prominence and influence, and his attainments, 
 not only in the law but in financial matters, which he 
 had made a study in his practice, were recognized in 1852 
 by his appointment as president of the Muskingum branch 
 of the Ohio State Bank. 
 
 He had early taken an active interest in politics, and 
 accepted and advocated the principles of the Democratic 
 party. He was a member of the Ohio State Senate in 1854, 
 when he was appointed by President Pierce (whose election 
 he had done much to secure) United States District Attorney 
 for the Southern District of Ohio. 
 
 In 1856 he was the delegate from the Muskingum Valley 
 district to the Democratic National Convention which was 
 held at Cincinnati. Mr. Jewett became largely identified 
 with the banking interests of Zanesville, and became a part- 
 ner in one of the leading banking-houses of that place. 
 
 Railroad building and management had become a leading 
 subject for agitation in Ohio, and Mr. Jewett, seeing not only 
 the present but future importance of railroads, at once gave 
 to them much of his attention. In 1855 he was elected 
 vice-president of the Central Ohio Railroad Company, and 
 his systematic business methods and rare judgment were 
 quickly recognized by his elevation to the vice-presidency of 
 the company, he being at the same time appointed general 
 manager of the road. These promotions were followed in 
 1857 by the election of Mr. Jewett as president of the com- 
 pany. That was a year of historic financial revulsion, and 
 the Central Ohio Railroad, in common with all lines in the 
 country, suffered great reverses and loss of business from the 
 depressed conditions of trade, and it was forced into the 
 hands of a receiver, Mr. Jewett being the choice of the stock- 
 
 holders for the place. The exacting duties of the receiver- 
 ship were discharged so as to meet with the voice of appro- 
 bation from all concerned. For several years thereafter, Mr, 
 Jewett continued to grow in popular estimation and confi- 
 dence, until his reputation as a railroad manager, legal adviser, 
 and financie was national. 
 
 He led his party as their candidate for high office in many 
 hopeless contests, owing to Republican preponderance, 
 although he invariably reduced the regular opposition 
 majority. As the Democratic candidate for Representative 
 in Congress, in i860, he carried Muskingum County, but 
 was defeated in Morgan County by a few votes. In 1861 he 
 was the Democratic candidate for Governor of Ohio, and 
 was his party's choice for United States Senator in 1863. 
 He served in the Lower House of the Ohio State Legislature 
 in 1 868-1 869, and in the latter year was elected president 
 of the Little Miami and Columbus and Xenia railroads- 
 Shortly afterward he was made president of the Cincinnati 
 and Muskingum Valley Railroad Company, and removed to 
 Columbus, where he was elected president and general 
 manager of the Pittsburg, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad 
 Company. In 187 1, Mr. Jewett consented to lead his party 
 in the congressional campaign in the capital district, and, 
 the district being strongly Republican, he was defeated. 
 The same year, the Pittsburg, Cincinnati and St. Louis Rail- 
 road Company and the Muskingum Valley Railroad Company 
 having been consolidated as the Pennsylvania Company, Mr. 
 Jewett resigned from their active management to accept the 
 office of general counsel for the Pennsylvania Company. The 
 following year he was elected to Congress from the capital 
 district. He was gaining still greater distinction for himself 
 in this position, when he was summoned in 1874 to consider 
 the offer of the presidency of the Erie Railway Company. 
 
 At that time, undoubtedly, there was no man in the coun- 
 try, by reason of his thorough practical knowledge of all the 
 branches and intricate details of railroad management and his 
 ripe experience and tried judgment in dealing with their com- 
 pHcated and knotty problems, better equipped to take hold of 
 the tangled affairs of Erie than Hugh J. Jewett. The emer- 
 gency was such that there was no time for him to give to those 
 affairs and the conditions of the property and its prospects 
 such thorough personal investigation and study as he desired 
 in order to have a more perfect understanding of them. 
 The company wanted the services off-hand, and relying on 
 the exhibits and statements made to him, placed before him, 
 and vouched for by persons in whom he had a right to repose 
 every confidence, he accepted the trust, but made his 
 acceptance conditional. His conditions were granted, and 
 he was elected president of the Erie Railway Company. 
 
 Mr. Jewett soon found that the rose-colored statements 
 which had been made to him as to the Erie's condition were 
 without foundation, and that some of the very parties making 
 the statements were planning a wholesale plunder of the prop- 
 erty. He exposed their schemes, and instantly became the 
 target for their hostihty. The affairs of the Company were 
 in reality such that the receivership followed, in May, 1875. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 471 
 
 I^Ir. Jewett was appointed receiver. On tiie 27th of April, 
 187S, the Company was reorganized under the title of the 
 New York, I^ke Erie and AVestern Railroad Company. Mr. 
 Jewett was elected president of the new corporation, and re- 
 ceived a unanimous vote of thanks from the Board of Direct- 
 ors for " his able, wise and energetic management of the 
 affairs of the Erie Railway Company, both as president and 
 receiver," and the Board extended to him the emphatic 
 assurance of their respect and confidence, and denounced 
 "as utterly false, malicious and defamatory, the various 
 loose, vague and general charges of mismanagement and mis- 
 conduct that ha\-e been brought against him in the course of 
 the litigation in opposition to the scheme of reconstruction, 
 and the various newspapers published in London." 
 
 Mr. Jewett continued at the head of Erie affairs until 
 November 30, 1884, when he retired from active business 
 life. (" Administration of Hugh J. Jewett," pages 230-269.) 
 
 At the close of his connection with the Erie, Mr. Jewett 
 retired to his old family homestead and birthplace at Glen- 
 ville, Hartford County, Md. Here, surrounded by his fam- 
 il}-, his books, and his agricultural pursuits, he spent the 
 latter years of his life in the peaceful enjoyment of a leisure 
 which he had certainly fairly earned by a long career of ac- 
 tivity and labor. It was his custom to spend the winter 
 months in New York, where he was a member of the Union, 
 Manhattan, and City Clubs. He died at Augusta, Ga., March 
 6, 1898, in his eighty-first year. 
 
 1 884-1 895. 
 
 John King. — John King was born at Baltimore, Md., 
 April 24, 1832, which, by strange coincidence, was the day 
 and year the Erie charter was granted. His father, John 
 King, and his mother, who was Miss Stauffer, were both 
 natives of Baltimore. John King was educated in private 
 and public schools in Baltimore, which he attended from his 
 eighth year until his seventeenth, when he began life as clerk 
 in a hardware store. A year later he engaged with the late 
 John Hoey in the express business, which he abandoned after 
 two years, and began his railroad career as ticket agent for 
 the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company at Camden, N. J. 
 He rose to be paymaster, auditor, general freight agent, and 
 first ^•ice-president of that company. He was active in the 
 management of the company for twenty-seven years, during 
 which time he was president of the Pittsburgh and Connells- 
 ville Railroad Company, and of the Baltimore and Ohio and 
 Chicago Railroad Company ; and receiver of the Ohio and 
 Mississippi, and the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad Com- 
 panies. In July, 1 88 1, Mr. King retired from active railroad 
 life, and spent three years in foreign travel. He returned to 
 this country in 1884, and August 21st of that year he became 
 •assistant president of the Erie, and president November ist. 
 July 25, 1893, President King was selected to be one of the 
 receivers of the Company. (" Administration of John King," 
 page 274.) He continued as co-receiver two years, when, 
 ■on account of failing health, he resigned his place and went 
 
 abroad, having decided on a tour of the world. Travel did 
 not have the effect of restoring his health, and he died at 
 Beaulieu, near Nice, France, March 17, 1897. 
 
 Mr. King was a Freemason, and a member of the Metro- 
 politan, the Manhattan, the Down-Town, the Lawyers', the 
 Tuxedo, the New York \\'hist, and other clubs. He was an 
 Episcopalian. He is survived by his wife, who was Mary F. 
 Jackson, of Baltimore, and by three children — two daughters, 
 Mrs. Ralph Elliott, of Savannah, Ga., and the Baroness Von 
 Giskra, of Berne, Switzerland ; and one son, Jackson King. 
 
 John Griffith McCullough (Receiver). — John G. 
 McCuUough was born at Newark, Del., of Scotch and AVelsh 
 ancestry. His father died when he was three, and his mother 
 when he was seven years old. Although his means for obtain- 
 ing an education were meagre, his persistence won him his 
 way through Delaware College, from which he was graduated 
 at the age of twenty. He at once went to Philadelphia. 
 
 When he was graduated from the University of Pennsyl- 
 vania, he having, during his attendance there, studied law in 
 the office of one of Philadelphia's ablest lawyers, St. George 
 Tucker Campbell, Mr. McCullough found himself in such 
 critical health that it would have been suicidal for him to re- 
 main in that climate, much less to attempt the practice of 
 his profession, and in 1859 he went to California and settled 
 at Mariposa. Gradually recovering his health, he opened a 
 law office. It was not l9ng before he had built up a prosper- 
 ous business. The political feeling in California that pre- 
 ceded the Civil War was of a particularly disturbing and omi- 
 nous character, and as time went on a strong sentiment in 
 favor of secession developed. Although born in a slave-hold- 
 ing State, young McCullough was opposed to the doctrines 
 that emanated from those States, and used his influence and 
 eloquence to arouse and strengthen the Union feeling in Cali- 
 fornia. He became conspicuous for his persistent resistance 
 to the secession element, and by a union of the Republicans 
 and anti-secession Democracts in 1861, he was elected as a 
 member of the California Legislature. In that body he con- 
 tinued to fight secession, and his earnestness and fearlessness 
 went far toward stemming the tide that at one time threat- 
 ened to carry California with the erring sisters of the South. 
 
 In 1862 he was elected to the Senate, although the district 
 had always been Democratic. As a senator he maintained 
 his attitude of unflinching patriotism. At the end of his 
 term in the Senate he was elected attorney-general of the 
 State by a sweeping majority. 
 
 The political campaign in California, in 1867, was at- 
 tended by a Democratic landslide, which swept every can- 
 didate on that ticket into office. Mr. McCullough had been 
 renominated as the Republican candidate for the office of 
 attorney-general, and was defeated with the rest of the Re- 
 publican ticket. He thereupon established himself at San 
 Francisco, where he became a leader at the California bar. 
 During the five years that he practised his profession at San 
 Francisco he managed important cases that brought him in 
 contact with many of the great railroad minds of the coun- 
 
472 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 try, and he managed these cases so successfully that he won 
 a wide reputation as an astute lawyer and a man of safe judg- 
 ment. Acceding to flattering solicitation, Mr. ^McCuUough 
 closed up his affairs in California and came East to reside in 
 187 1. He at once became interested in railroad affairs. He 
 was vice-president of the Panama Railroad Company from 
 1872 until 1883, and president from 1883 until 1888. In 
 1884, the affairs of Erie being then nearing a crisis, Mr. Mc- 
 CuUough was called in as one of a new Board of Directors, 
 and was subsequently made chairman of the executive com- 
 mittee. He has been prominent in the management of Erie 
 ever since. In 1890 he was elected president of the Chi- 
 cago and Erie Railroad Company on its organization. In 
 1S93 he was made co-receiver of the Erie with President 
 John King, and, owing to the feeble health of Mr. King, 
 practically had charge of Erie affairs during the receiver- 
 ship. 
 
 Mr. McCuUough married, in Vermont, Eliza Hull Park, 
 daughter of Trenor W. Park, the financier and railroad 
 magnate. 
 
 1894 (in office, 1899). 
 
 Eben B. Thomas. — Eben B. Thomas, who came into 
 the service of the Company in 1888, and was made first 
 vice-president in November, 1890, succeeding S. M. Fel- 
 ton, Jr., .was elected to fill the places made vacant by the 
 resignation of president and receiver. John King, November 
 30, 1894. As a matter of fact, Mr. Thomas had been for 
 months performing the duties of president, first vice-presi- 
 
 dent, and second vice-president, the incumbents of the first 
 and latter place being incapacitated by broken health. Pre- 
 vious to his connection with the Erie management, Mr. 
 Thomas had been for several years general manager of the 
 Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad, re- 
 tiring from that high office in 1S85 to become second vice- 
 president and general manager of the Richmond and Danville 
 system. In February, 1888, he was called to the Erie man- 
 agement, having been elected second vice-president of the 
 Company. In December, 1890, he was promoted to the 
 first vice-presidency, and was also general manager of the 
 Chicago and Erie Railroad from September, 1890, to Jan- 
 uary, 1 89 1. November 30, 1894, he became president and 
 co-receiver of the Erie, and on the organization of the Erie 
 Railroad Company, November 14, 1895, was elected presi- 
 dent of the new Company, in which office he has continued 
 ever since. ("Administration of Eben B. Thomas," pages 
 2S2-294.) .'i 
 
 President Thomas ranks among the really great railroad 
 managers of this country. His abilities are not confined to 
 any one particular sphere of railroad work. He is a master of 
 details in all its departments, and has executive capacity of 
 remarkable scope. Although conservative in his methods, 
 Mr. Thomas is broad-minded and progressive in developing 
 the resources of his Company. He believes in maintaining 
 a high standard, and his rare personal popularity with his 
 subordinates in office, and with the great army of employees 
 along the Erie lines, is a significant testimonial as to his 
 character. 
 
THE RULERS OF ERIE. 
 
 1832-1898. 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 Incorporators X'nder the Charter. — Samuel Swartwout, 
 Stephen Whitney, Robert White, Cornelius liarsen, Eleazar Lord, 
 Daniel Le Roy, William C. Redfield, Cornelius J. Blauvelt, Jeremiah 
 H. Pierson, William Townsend, Egbert Jansen, Charles Borland, 
 Abram M. Smith, Alpheus Dimmick, Randall S. Street, John P. 
 Jones, George D. Wickham, Joseph Curtis, John L. Gorman, Joshua 
 Whitney, Christopher Elridge, James McKinney, James Pumpelly, 
 Charles Pumpelly, John R. Drake, Jonathan Piatt, Luther Gere, Fran- 
 cis A. Bloodgood, Jeremiah S. Beebe, Ebenezer Mack, Ansel St. 
 John. .Andrew DeWitt Bruyn, Stephen Tuttle, Lyman Covell, Robert 
 Covell, John Arnot, John Magee, William iL McCay, William S. 
 llubbell, William Bonham, Arthur IL Erwin, Henry Brother, Philip 
 Church, Samuel King, Walter Bowne, Morgan Lewis, William 
 Paulding, Peter Lorillard, Isaac Lawrence, Jeromus Johnson, John 
 Steward, Jr., Henry I. Wyckoff. Richard ]\I. Lawrence, Gideon Lee, 
 John P. Stagg, Nathaniel Weed, Hubert Van Wagenen, David 
 Rogers, John Hone, John G. Coster, Goold Hoyt, Peter I. Nevius, 
 Robert Buloid, Thomas A. Ronalds, John Ilaggerty, Elisha Riggs, 
 Benjamin L. Swan, Grant li. Baldwin, WiUiam Ma.xwell, Darius 
 Bentley. 
 
 Pre\ious to the second election of Eleazar Lord, no 
 salary or compensation was paid to the president for his 
 services, though the duties of that office since 1835 required 
 much time and labor in their performance. On the 2 5 th day 
 of September, 1839, the date of ^Nlr. Lord's second election, 
 the salary of the president was fixed at $3,600 per annum. 
 
 When the Company was organized Goold Hoyt was chosen 
 vice-president, John Duer, counsel, and '\^'illiam G. Buckner, 
 treasurer. These offices were little more than nominal until 
 about the time of the commencement of the work in the 
 Valley of the Delaware in 1S35, and until then they were 
 without salaries. The offices of vice-president and treasurer 
 were filled by Mr. Hoyt and Mr. Buckner until the 4th of 
 February, 1835, when they resigned and Eleazar Lord (having 
 resigned the office of ])resident) was elected to both offices, 
 and his salary as treasurer was fixed at $3,000 per year. He 
 was required to give a bond in the penal sum of $20,000. 
 Lord held these offices until the 14th of September of the 
 same year, when he resigned, and Peter d. Stuyvesant was 
 chosen his successor. Mr. Stuyvesant declined any salary, 
 and was not required to give security as treasurer. These 
 offices he held until December 6, 1836, when he resigned. 
 From that time until November 22, 1838, the office of treas- 
 urer remained vacant, its duties being performed principally 
 by the secretary. November 22, 1838, Elihu Townsend was 
 chosen treasurer. He resigned October 8, 1839, and was 
 succeeded by George S. Robbins. Mr. Robbins served until 
 April 30, 1840, when he resigned, and James Bowen was 
 appointed vice-president and treasurer. He held these 
 offices until the 27 th of May, 1841, when he was elected 
 
 president, and Henry L. Pierson succeeded him as vice- 
 president and treasurer. From the time of the resignation 
 of Mr. Lord as treasurer, in 1835, until the election of Mr. 
 Bowen, in April, 1840, the treasurer had no fixed compensa- 
 tion, nor was there any salary paid during that time, except 
 to Mr. Robbins, who received $1,000 for his services from 
 October 8, 1839, until April 30, 1840. On the election of 
 Mr. Bowen as vice-president and treasurer, his salary was 
 fixed at $3,000 per annum, and that remained the salary of 
 Mr. Pierson. No salary had ever been ]3aid to the vice- 
 president, except as the office was held in conjunction with 
 that of treasurer. 
 
 There was no regularly appointed secretary of the Com- 
 pany until the 14th day of September, 1835, when the Board 
 of Directors established the office. Mr. Talman J. Waters 
 ^\'as, on the nomination of the president, appointed to that 
 office. His salary was fixed at $3,000 per year. This office 
 he held until the 8th of November, 1839, when his resigna- 
 tion, tendered on the 4th of October previous, was accepted. 
 From November, 1838, until the time of his resignation, 
 Mr. Waters received a salary at the rate of $1,250 per 
 annum, he, during that time, being also engaged as cashier 
 in the Custoni House, in New York. Upon the resignation 
 of Mr. Waters, William M. Gould was appointed. From the 
 time of his appointment until October, 1840, Mr. Gould's 
 salary was at the rate of $900 per annum ; on the latter date 
 it was increased to $1,250. 
 
 On the 2d day of October, 1835, the office of comptroller 
 of the Company was established, and Samuel B. Ruggles 
 appointed to that office. Mr. Rugglei held it without salary, 
 except expenses, until the 14th of July, 1838, when the office 
 was, on his motion (he being then a director), abohshed. 
 The tide was revived for James Fisk, Jr., in 1869, but was 
 not used after his time e.xcept in 1883 and 1884, when 
 Stephen Littie was called coiiiptroUer. 
 
 The addition to the number of \-ice-presidents began with 
 Peter H. Watson in 1872. 
 
 No established rules or 1)\ -I nv.5 were adopted for the regu- 
 lation of the business of the different departments of the 
 Company until the loth of September, 1841, when a code 
 of by-laws was adopted. Previous to that time the power 
 and duties of the several officers and agents of the Coin- 
 pany were not specifically defined, but were left to such 
 construction or limits, as were by common consent, or by 
 analogy to the organization of other like chartered insti- 
 tutions, concurred in. 
 
474 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 UNDER THE ORGANIZATION. 
 
 1833-1834. 
 
 Directors. — James Gore King, John Duer, Eleazar Lord, John A. 
 King, Samuel B. Ruggles, Charles Hoyt, Peter G. Stuyvesiint, Stephen 
 Whitney, John A. Stevens, George Griswold, James Boorman, David 
 N. Lord, Elihu Townsend, Aaron Clark, Jeremiah H. Pierson, 
 George D. Wickham, William Beach Lawrence. 
 
 Eleazar Lord, President ; Goold Hoyt, Vice-President ; William 
 G. Buckner, Treasurer ; John Duer, Counsel. 
 
 Directors. — Eleazar Lord, Stephen Whitney, Peter Harmony, 
 John Duer, Goold Hoyt, James Bowman, William G. Buckner, 
 Elihu Townsend, Michael Burham, Samuel B. Ruggles, Benjamin 
 Wright, David N. Lord, Jeremiah H. Pierson, Cornelius J. Blauvelt, 
 George D. Wickham, Joshua Whitney, James Pumpelly. 
 
 1834-1835. 
 
 Eleazar Lord, President (resigned January 5, 1835); Goold Hoyt, 
 Vice-President (resigned January 5, 1835); Talman J. Waters, Sec- 
 retary. 
 
 Januarys, 1835. — James Gore King, President, /;-i7 tern.; Eleazar 
 Lord, Vice-President and Treasurer, pro lem.; Samuel B. Ruggles, 
 Comptroller. 
 
 Directors. — Eleazar Lord, James G. King, John Duer, Peter 
 Harmony, Goold Hoyt, James Boorman, Michael Burnham, Samuel 
 
 B. Ruggles, Elihu Townsend, Stephen Whitney, J. G. Pearson, W. 
 G. Buckner, George D. Wickham, James Pumpelly, C. J. Blauvelt, 
 Joshua Whitney, David N. Lord. January 5, 1835, W. G. Buckner, 
 
 C. J. Blauvelt, James Pumpelly, David N. Lord, resigned. 
 
 Directors Chosen to Vacancies. — Peter G. Stuyvesant, John 
 G. Coster, John Rathbone, Jr., Jeremiah H. Pierson. 
 
 1 839- 1 840. 
 
 Eleazar Lord, President; Stephen Whitney, Vice-President (resigned 
 November 8, 1839, James Bowen chosen to vacancy) ; Talman J. 
 Waters, Secretary (resigned November 8, 1839, William Gould chosen 
 to vacancy). 
 
 Directors. — Eleazar Lord, Stephen Whitney, James Bowen, John 
 A. Stevens, Elihu Townsend, David N. Lord, Charles Hoyt, John 
 A. King, William Beach Lawrence, George S. Robbins, George Gris- 
 wold, George D. Wickham, Isaac L. Varian, WiUiam H. Townsend, 
 Henry L. Pierson, Jeremiah H. Pierson. 
 
 December 27, 1839, John A. Stevens and John A. King resigned ; 
 Robert B. Minturn and Simeon Draper, Jr., chosen to the vacancies. 
 
 January 22, 1840, William Beach Lawrence resigned. 
 
 1 840-1 841. 
 
 Eleazar Lord, President (resigned May 28, 1841, James Bowen, 
 Vice-President, chosen President /re tern.') ; William Gould, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Eleazar Lord, James Bowen, Jeremiah H. Pierson, 
 George D. Wickham, George Griswold, Stephen Whitney, Aaron 
 Clark, Elihu Townsend, David N. Lord, Charles Hoyt, Robert B. 
 Minturn, Simeon Draper, Jr., George S. Robbins, Henry L. Pierson, 
 William H. Townsend, Isaac L. Varian ; one vacancy. 
 
 1835-1836. 
 
 James Gore King, President ; Peter G. Stuyvesant, Vice-President; 
 Samuel B. Ruggles, Comptroller ; Talman J. Waters, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — James G. King, Peter G. Stuyvesant, Samuel B. 
 Ruggles, John Duer, John G. Coster, Stephen Whitney, Peter 
 Harmony, J. Greene Pearson, Peletiah Peret, Elbert J. Anderson, 
 Michael Burnham, James Boorman, John Rathbone, Jr., William 
 Beach Lawrence, Cornelius W. Lawrence, George Griswold, Jeremiah 
 H. Pierson. 
 
 1836-1837. 
 
 James Gore King, President ; Peter G. Stuyvesant, Vice-President; 
 Talman J. Waters, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — J. G. King, Peter G. Stuyvesant, John G. Coster, 
 Samuel B. Ruggles, Charles Hoyt, Stephen Whitney, John A. 
 Stevens, George Griswold, James Boorman, David N. Lord, Aaron 
 Clark, John W. Leavitt, Jeremiah H. Pierson, George S. Robbins, 
 George D. Wickham, William Beach Lawrence, Edwin Lord. 
 
 1837-1838. 
 
 James Gore King, President ; Peter G. Stuyvesant, Vice-President ; 
 Talman J. Waters, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — James G. King. Edwin Lord, Samuel B. Ruggles, 
 Charles Hoyt, Peter G. Stuyvesant, Stephen Whitney, John A. 
 Stevens, George Griswold, James Boorman, John G. Coster, David 
 N. Lord, Aaron Clark, John W. Leavitt, Jeremiah H. Pierson, 
 George D. Wickham, William Beach Lawrence, George S. Robbins. 
 
 April 27, 1838, George S. Robbins and John W. Leavitt resigned ; 
 Eleazar Lord and Elihu Townsend chosen to the vacancies. May 4, 
 183S, John G. Coster resigned ; John A. King chosen to the vacancy. 
 
 1 841-1842. 
 
 James Bowen, President ; Henry L. Pierson, Vice-President ; 
 William Gould, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — James Bowen, Eleazar Lord, Goold Hoyt, Elihu Town- 
 send, George S. Robbins, Aaron Clark, Henry L. Pierson, George 
 D. Wickham, George J. Griswold, John Haggerty, David N. Lord, 
 Charles Hoyt, Simeon Draper, Jr., William H. Townsend, William 
 Kent, Isaac L. Varian, Jeremiah H. Pierson. 
 
 1 842-1 843. 
 
 William Maxwell, President ; James Bowen, Vice-President ; Will- 
 iam Gould, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Samuel Barrett, Benj. Chamberlain, Jesse Engle, 
 Reuben Robie, William Maxwell, Jonathan Piatt, Thomas G. Water- 
 man, John B. Booth, Thomas E. Blanch, Freeman Campbell, Henry 
 L. Pierson, Charles Augustus Davis, James Bowen, William Samuel 
 Johnson, Samuel Roberts, George Griswold, Prosper M. Wetmore. 
 
 I 843-1 844. 
 President ; James Bowen, Vice-President ; William 
 
 Horatio Allen, 
 Gould, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Horatio Allen, James Bowen, Don Alonzo Cushman, 
 Charles M. Leupp, Frank W. Edmonds, Silas Brown, David Austin, 
 Theodore Dehon, Paul Spofford, George Griswold, Anson G. Phelps, 
 Matthew Morgan, John C. Green, A. S. Diven, William Maxwell, 
 Elijah Ridley, Daniel S. Dickinson. 
 
 1838-1839. 
 
 James Gore King, President (resigned September 25, 1839) ; John 
 Duer, Vice-President ; Talman J. W^aters, Secretary. 
 
 September 25, 1S39, Elihu Townsend, President /r<7 tern. 
 
 1 844-1 845. 
 
 Eleazar Lord, President (resigned July 25, 1845 ; James Harper, 
 chosen President pro tern., declined to serve ; Benjamin Loder, chosen 
 President /TO tem.j James Harper, Vice-President ; Nathaniel Marsh. 
 Secretary. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 475 
 
 Directors.— Eleazar Lord, Jacob Little, George Griswold, John 
 C. Green, James Harper, Paul Spofford, Stewart C. Marsh, Henry L. 
 Pierson, Henry Sheldon, C. M. Lgupp, J. W. Alsop, Silas Brown, 
 Robert L. Crooke, Sidney Brooks (declined), Daniel S. Dickinson, A. 
 S. Diven, Elijah Risley. 
 
 July 25th, Eleazar Lord, George Griswold, John C. Green, Paul 
 Spofford, C. M. Leupp, J. ^Y. Alsop, Daniel S. Dickinson, and Eli- 
 jah Risley, resigned ; Benjamin Loder, Stephen Whitney, Homer 
 Ramsdell, Cornelius Smith, Thomas Tileston, Daniel S. Miller, Shep- 
 herd Knapp, and Samuel Marsh, chosen to the vacancies. 
 
 1845-1846. 
 
 Benjamin Loder, President ; James Harper, Vice-President ; Na- 
 thaniel Marsh, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Benjamin Loder, James Harper, Samuel Marsh, Dan- 
 iel S. Miller, Henry L. Pierson, Stewart C. Marsh, Jacob Little, Rob- 
 ert L. Crooke, Henry Sheldon, Henrj' Suydam, Jr., A. S. Diven, John 
 Wood, William E. Dodge, Shepherd Knapp, Homer Ramsdell, Cor- 
 nelius Smith, Thomas Tileston. 
 
 I 846-1 847. 
 
 Benjamin Loder, President ; Stephen Whitney, Vice-President ; Na- 
 thaniel Marsh, Secretar)'. 
 
 Directors. — Benjamin Loder, Stephen Whitney, Silas Brown, 
 Henr)' Sheldon, Daniel S. Miller, Stewart C. Marsh, Henry Suydam, 
 Jr., William E. Dodge, Shepherd Knapp, Samuel Marsh, Robert L. 
 Crooke, A. S. Diven, John Wood, Thomas Tileston, Cornelius Smith, 
 Thomas I. Townsend, Homer Ramsdell. 
 
 1 847- 1 848. 
 
 Benjamin Loder, President ; Stephen Whitney, Vice-President ; Na- 
 thaniel Marsh, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Benjamin Loder, Stephen Whitney, Silas Brown, 
 Henry Sheldon, Daniel S. Miller, Stewart C. Marsh, Henry Suydam, 
 Jr., William E. Dodge, Shepherd Knapp, Samuel Marsh, A. S. Diven, 
 John Wood, Cornelius Smith, Thomas L Townsend, Homer Rams- 
 dell, William B. Skidmore, Marshall O. Roberts. 
 
 I 848-1 849. 
 
 Benjamin Loder, President ; Samuel Marsh, Vice-President ; Na- 
 thaniel Marsh, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Benjamin Loder, .Silas Brown, Henry Sheldon, Daniel 
 S. Miller, Henry Suydam, Jr., William E. Dodge, Shepherd Knapp, 
 Samuel Marsh, John Wood, Cornelius Smith, Thomas I. Townsend, 
 Homer Ramsdell, William B. Skidmore, Marshall O. Roberts, Thomas 
 W. Gale, Charles M. Leupp, Theodore Dehon. 
 
 1849-1850. 
 
 Benjamin Loder, President ; Samuel Marsh, Vice-President ; Na- 
 thaniel Marsh, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Benjamin Loder, John J. Phelps, Henry Sheldon, 
 Daniel S. Miller, Henry Suydam, Jr., William E. Dodge, Shepherd 
 Knapp, Samuel Marsh, John Wood, Cornelius Smith, Thomas L 
 Townsend, Homer Ramsdell, William B. Skidmore, Marshall O. 
 Roberts, Thomas W. Gale, Charles M. Leupp, Theodore Dehon. 
 
 1850-1851. 
 ent ; Samuel M 
 
 Directors. — Benjamin Loder, Henry Sheldon, Daniel S. Miller, 
 
 Benjamin Loder, President ; Samuel Marsh, Vice-President ; Na- 
 thaniel Marsh, Secretary. 
 
 Henry Suydam, Jr., William E. Dodge, .Shepherd Knapp, Samuel 
 Marsh, Cornelius Smith, Thomas I. Townsend, Homer Ramsdell, 
 William B. Skidmore, Marshall O. Roberts, Thomas W. Gale, Charles 
 M. Leupp, Theodore Dehon, John J. Phelps, Norman White. 
 
 1851-1852. 
 
 Benjamin Loder, President ; Samuel Marsh, Vice-President ; Na- 
 thaniel Marsh, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Benjamin Loder, Henry Sheldon, Daniel S. Miller, 
 Henry Suydam, Jr., William E. Dodge, Shepherd Knapp, Samuel 
 Marsh, Cornelius Smith, Thomas L Townsend, Homer Ramsdell, 
 William B. Skidmore, Marshall O. Roberts, Thomas W. Gale, Charles 
 M. Leupp, Gouverneur Morris, John J. Phelps, Norman White. 
 
 1852-1853. 
 
 Benjamin Loder, President ; Samuel Marsh, Vice-President ; Na- 
 thaniel Marsh, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Benjamin Loder, Homer Ramsdell, Samuel Marsh, 
 Henry Sheldon, William E. Dodge, Shepherd Knapp, Cornelius 
 Smith, Thomas I. Townsend, Marshall O. Roberts, Charles M. Leupp, 
 Gouverneur Morris, Henry Suydam, Jr., Thomas W. Gale, Theodore 
 Dehon, John J. Phelps, Norman White. 
 
 1853-1854. 
 
 Homer Ramsdell, President ; Samuel Marsh, Vice-President ; Na- 
 thaniel Marsh, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Homer Ramsdell, Samuel Marsh, William E. Dodge, 
 Shepherd Knapp, Cornelius Smith, Marshall O. Roberts, Charles M. 
 Leupp, Nelson Robinson, Daniel Drew, John Arnot, Ambrose S. 
 Murray, George F. Talman, Don Alonzo Cushman, William B. Skid- 
 more, Louis Von Hoffman, Charles Moran, Ralph Mead. 
 
 1854-1855. 
 
 Homer Ramsdell, President ; Samuel Marsh, Vice-President ; Na- 
 thaniel Marsh, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Homer Ramsdell, Samuel Marsh, Daniel Drew, Will- 
 iam E. Dodge, Cornelius Smith, Marshall O. Roberts, John Arnot, 
 Ambrose S. Murray, Don Alonzo Cushman, William B. Skidmore, 
 Louis Von Hoffman, Charles Moran, Ralph Mead, Richard Lathers, 
 Dudley S. Gregory, John Steward, Edwin J. Brown. 
 
 1855-1856. 
 
 Homer Ramsdell, President ; Samuel Marsh, Vice-President ; Na- 
 thaniel Marsh, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Homer Ramsdell, Samuel Marsh, William E. Dodge, 
 Shepherd Knapp, Cornelius Smith, Marshall O. Roberts, Charles M. 
 Leupp, Daniel Drew, John Arnot, Ambrose S. Murray, Richard 
 Latliers, Don Alonzo Cushman, WiMiam B. Skidmore, Louis Von 
 Hoffman, Charles Moran, Ralph Mead, Dudley S. Gregory. 
 
 1856-1857. 
 
 Homer Ramsdell, President ; Samuel Marsh, Vice-President ; Na- 
 thaniel Marsh, Secretary. 
 
 Directors.— Homer Ramsdell, Samuel Marsh, William E. Dodge, 
 Shepherd Knapp, Cornelius Smith, Marshall O. Roberts, Charles M. 
 Leupp, Daniel Drew, John Arnot. Ambrose S. Murray, Richard 
 Lathers, Don Alonzo Cushman, William B. Skidmore, Louis Von 
 Hoffman, Charles Moran, Ralph Mead, Dudley S. Gregory. 
 
476 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 1857-1858. 
 
 Charles Moran, President ; Samuel Marsh, Vice-President ; Na- 
 thaniel Marsh, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Charles Moran, Samuel Marsh, Cornelius Smith, 
 Marshall O. Roberts, Daniel Drew, John Arnot, Ambrose S. Murray, 
 Don Alonzo Cushman, William B. Skidmore, Ralph Mead, Richard 
 Lathers, Dudley S Gregory, Edwin J. Brown, Herman Gelpcke, 
 George Bruce, Robert H. Berdell, one vacancy. 
 
 1858-1859. 
 
 Charles Moran, President ; S. F. Headley, Assistant President ; 
 Samuel Marsh, Vice-President ; Nathaniel Marsh, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Charles Moran, Samuel Marsh, Cornelius Smith, 
 Daniel Drew, Don Alonzo Cushman, William B. Skidmore, Edwin J. 
 Brown, Herman Gelpcke, Ralph Mead, Robert H. Berdell, Edward 
 H. Alburtis, George T. Cobb, Dudley S. Gregory, John Arnot, 
 Ambrose S. Murray, S. H. P. Hall. 
 
 1 859-1 860. 
 
 Samuel Marsh, President ; Nathaniel Marsh, Receiver ; Henry L. 
 Pierson, Vice-President; H. N. Otis, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Samuel Marsh, Nathaniel Marsh, Henry L. Pierson, 
 H. N. Otis, Daniel Drew, Cornelius Smith, William B. Skidmore, 
 Don Alonzo Cushman, Robert H. Berdell, John Arnot, Ambrose S. 
 Murray, A. S. Diven, Ralph Mead, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Dudley S. 
 Gregory, J. C. Bancroft Davis, Thomas D. Wright. 
 
 1860-1861. 
 
 Samuel Marsh, President; Nathaniel Marsh, Receiver; H. L. Pier- 
 son, Vice-President ; H. N. Otis, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Samuel Marsh, Nathaniel Marsh, Henry L. Pierson, 
 H. N. Otis, Daniel Drew, Cornelius Smith, William B. Skidmore, 
 Don Alonzo Cushman, Robert II. Berdell, John Arnot, Ambrose S. 
 Murray, A. S. Diven, Ralph Mead, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Dudley S. 
 Gregory, J. C. Bancroft Davis, Thomas D. Wright. 
 
 ERIE RAILWAY COMPANY. 
 
 {^Formed tender Articles of Association, April "^o, 1S61.) 
 
 Associates. — Dudley S. Gregory, J. C. Bancroft Davis, Nathaniel 
 Marsh, Samuel Marsh, Daniel Drew, Robert H. Berdell, William B. 
 Skidmore, Don Alonzo Cushman, Henry L. Pierson, Ralph Mead, 
 Cornelius Vanderbilt, Henry A. Taller, Ambrose S. Murray, Thomas 
 D. Wright, John Arnot, Alexander S. Diven, Horatio N. Otis. 
 
 UNDER THE REORGANIZATION. 
 1861-1862. 
 
 Nathaniel Marsh, President ; Samuel Marsh, Vice-President ; Plora- 
 tio N. Otis, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Dudley S. Gregory, J. C. Bancroft Davis, Nathaniel 
 Marsh, Samuel Marsh, Daniel l^rew, Robert H. Berdell, William B. 
 Skidmore, Don Alonzo Cushman, Henry L. Pierson, Ralph Mead, 
 Cornelius Vanderbilt, Henry A. Tailer, Ambrose S. Murray, Thomas 
 D. Wright, John Arnot, Alexander S. Diven, Horatio N. Otis. 
 
 I862-1863. 
 
 Nathaniel Marsh, President ; Samuel Marsh, Vice-President ; Hora- 
 tio N. Otis, Secretary. 
 
 Directors.— Dudley S. Gregory, J. C. Bancroft Davis, Nathaniel 
 Marsh, Samuel Marsh, Daniel Drew, Robert H. Berdell, William B. 
 Skidmore, Don Alonzo Cushman,- Henry D. Pierson, Ralph .Mead, 
 Cornelius Vanderbilt, Henry A. Tailer, Ambrose S. Murray, Thomas 
 D. Wright, John Arnot, Alexander S. Diven, Horatio N. Otis. 
 
 1 863-1 864. 
 
 Nathaniel Marsh, President ; Samuel Marsh, Vice-President ; Hora- 
 tio N. Otis, Secretary. 
 
 Directors.— Samuel Marsh, Daniel Drew, John Arnot, William 
 B. Skidmore, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Robert H. Berdell, Dudley S. 
 Gregory, Ralph Mead, Nathaniel Marsh, Ambrose S. Murray, William 
 Evans, J. C. Bancroft Davis, Don Alonzo Cushman, Alexander S. 
 Diven, Thomas W. Gale, Isaac N. Phelps, Horatio N. Otis. 
 
 1 864- 1 865. 
 
 Samuel Marsh, President /ro few. ; Alexander S, Diven, Vice-Presi- 
 dent ; Horatio N. Otis, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — John Arnot, Robert H. Berdell, Don Alonzo Cush- 
 man, J. C. Bancroft Davis, Alexander S. Diven, Daniel Drew, Will- 
 iam Evans, Thomas W. Gale, Dudley S. Gregory, Samuel Marsh, 
 Ralph Mead, Ambrose S. Murray, Horatio N. Otis, Isaac N. Phelps, 
 Henry L. Pierson, William B. Skidmore, Cornelius Vanderbilt. 
 
 1865-X 
 
 Robert H. Berdell, President ; Alexander S. Diven, Vice-Presi- 
 dent ; Samuel Marsh, Honorary Vice-President ; Horatio N. Otis, 
 Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Samuel Marsh, Daniel Drew, John Arnot, William 
 B. Skidmore, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Robert H. Berdell, Dudley S. 
 Gregory, Ralph Mead, Ambrose S. Murray, William Evans, J. C. 
 Bancroft Davis, Henry L. Pierson, Don Alonzo Cushman, Alexander 
 S. Diven, Thomas W. Gale, Isaac N. Phelps, J. !•'. D. Lanier. 
 
 1 866-1 867. 
 
 Robert H. Berdell, President ; Alexander S. Diven, Vice-Presi- 
 dent ; Samuel JIarsh, Honorary Vice-President ; Horatio N. Otis, 
 Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Robert H. Berdell, Alexander S. Diven, Samuel 
 Alarsh, John Arnot, .Ambrose S. Murray, Henry L. Pierson, Daniel 
 Drew, William B. Skidmore, Dudley S Gregory, William Evans, J. 
 C. Bancroft Davis, Don Alonzo Cushman, Thomas W. Gale, Isaac 
 N. Phelps, J. F. D. Lanier, Franklin F, Randolph, Frederick \. 
 Lane. 
 
 I 867-1 868. 
 
 John S. Eldridge, President ; Alexander S. Diven, Vice-Presi- 
 dent ; Horatio N. Otis, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — John S. Eldridge, Eben D. Jordan, Josiah Bardwell, 
 James S. Whitney, J. C. Bancroft Davis, A. S. Diven, William 
 Evans, James Fisk, Jr., Jay Gould, Dudley S. Gregory, George N. 
 Graves, Frederick A. Lane, Homer Ramsdell, William B. Skidmore, 
 Henry Thompson, Frank Work, Levi Underwood. 
 
 Underwood resigned and Daniel Drew was elected to the vacancy. 
 
 1 868- 1 869. 
 
 Jay Gould, President ; A. S. Diven, Vice-President ; James Fisk, Jr., 
 Comptroller ; H. N. Otis, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Jay Gould, A. S. Diven, James Fisk, Jr., Frederick 
 A. Lane, J. S. Bancroft Davis, William M. Tweed, Peter B. 
 Sweeny, Daniel S. Miller, Jr., Homer Ramsdell, John Hilton, 
 George M. Graves, John Ganson, Charles G. Sisson, O. W. Chap- 
 man, Henry Thompson, William B. Skidmore, George M. Diven. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 477 
 
 1869. 
 
 Jay Gould, President and Treasurer ; James Fisk, Jr., Vice-Presi- 
 dent ; H. N. Otis, Secretary. 
 
 Directors under the Classification Act. — Terms to expire 
 in October, 1870 : Homer Ramsdell, Charles G. Sisson, Justin D. 
 White. Terms to expire in October, 1871 : John Hilton, M. R. 
 Simons, George C. Hall. Terms to expire in October, 1872 ; John 
 Ganson, O. W. Chapman, Henry Thompson. Terms to expire in 
 October, 1873 : Alexander S. Diven, Henry N. Smith, Abram Gould, 
 Horatio N. Otis. Terms to expire in October, 1874 : Jay Gould, 
 James Fisk, Jr., William M. Tweed, Frederick A. Lane. 
 
 1870. 
 
 Jay Gould, President and Treasurer; James Fisk, Jr., Vice-Presi- 
 dent and Comptroller ; H. N. Otis, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Jay Gould, James Fisk, Jr., William M. Tweed, 
 Frederick A. Lane, Alexander S. Diven, Henry N. Smith, Abram 
 Gould, Horatio N. Otis, Henry Thompson, O. W. Chapman, John 
 Ganson, George C. Hall, M. R. Simons, John Hilton, Homer Rams- 
 dell, Charles G. Sisson, Justin D. White. 
 
 1S71-1872. 
 
 Jay Gould, President and Treasurer; James Fisk, Jr., Vice-Presi- 
 dent ; Horatio N. Otis, Secretary ; Mortimer Smith, Assistant Secre- 
 tary. James Fisk, Jr., died January 7, 1872. O. H. P. Archer 
 elected Vice-President. Jay Gould ejected, March nth. 
 
 Directors. — Jay Gould, James Fisk, Jr., Frederick A. Lane, 
 Justin D. White, H. N. Otis," Henry Thompson, John Hilton, O. H. 
 P. Archer, M. R. Simons, George C. Hall, Edwin Eldridge, Homer 
 Ramsdell, Charles G. Sisson, Henry Sherwood, John Ganson, two 
 vacancies. Board changed, March nth. 
 
 John A. Dix, President, March Tith, to succeed Gould; O. H. P. 
 Archer, Vice-President ; Horatio N. Otis, Secretary. Archer was 
 succeeded as Vice-President, June, 1872, by A. S. Diven. 
 
 DiRECi'dRS. — John A. Dix, O. H. P. Archer, George IS. Mc- 
 Clellan, .S. L. M Barlow, W. Watts .Sherman, William K. Travers, 
 H. 1.. Lansing, H. G. Stebbins, Charles Day, Alexander .S. Diven, 
 Jay Gould, Homer Ramsdell, Henry Sherwood, Edwin Eldridge, 
 George C. Hall, F. X. Drake, John Ganson. 
 
 Directors. — Hugh J. Jewett, Herman R. Baltzer, S. L. M. 
 Barlow, William Butler Duncan, R. Suydam Grant, John A. C.Gray, 
 John Taylor Johnston, Edwin D. Morgan, Louis H. Meyer, Fred- 
 erick Schuchardt, Henry G. Stebbins, Marshall O. Roberts, Cort- 
 landt Parker, Lucius Robinson. Homer Ramsdell, Thomas A. Scott, 
 one vacancy. 
 
 September 10, 1875, S. L. M. Barlow and Marshall O. Roberts 
 resigned. James P. Brown and J. Lowber Welsh were elected to 
 the vacancies. 
 
 1875-1876. 
 
 Hugh J. Jewett, President and Receiver ; G. R. Blanchard, Assist- 
 ant to Receiver ; Augustus R. MacDonough, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Hugh J. Jewett, Samuel Sloan, Henry G. Stebbins, 
 George F. Talman, Marshall O. Roberts, John A. C. Gray, Edwin 
 D. Morgan, John Taylor Johnston, R. Suydam Grant, Herman R. 
 Baltzer, John B. Brown, Thomas Dickson, Giles W. Hotchkiss, Asa 
 Packer, Homer Ramsdell, J. Lowber Welsh, Solomon S. Guthrie. 
 
 1876-1877. 
 
 Hugh J. Jewett, President and Receiver ; G. R. Blanchard, Assist- 
 ant to Receiver ; Augustus R. MacDonough, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Hugh J. Jewett, Samuel Sloan, Henry G. Stebbins. 
 Louis H. Meyer, Edwin D. Morgan, Solomon S. Guthrie, John Tay- 
 lor Jo^^nston, R. Suydam Grant, Herman R. Baltzer, J. Lowber 
 Welsh',' Lucius Robinson, Giles W. Hotchkiss, Homer Ramsdell, 
 Cortlandt Parker, Asa Packer, Thomas Dickson, John B. Brown. 
 
 1877-1878. 
 
 Hugh J. Jewett, President and Receiver ; G. R. Blanchard, W. R. 
 Sherman, Assistants to Receiver ; Augustus R. MacDonough, Secre- 
 tary. 
 
 Directors. — Hugh J. Jewett, William Wallace ^SlacFarland, Jo- 
 seph Larocque, William H. Taylor, Henry L. Lansing, Pascal P. 
 Pratt, A. ,S. Diven, Charles Dana, Samuel D. Babcock, A. R. Mac- 
 Donough, Herman R. Baltzer, J. X^owber Welsh, John Taylor John- 
 ston, Cortlandt Parker, Henry G. Stebbins, Edwin D. Morgan, 
 George F. Talman. 
 
 1872-1873. 
 
 Peter H. Watson, President (President Dix retired July 10, 1872) ; 
 A. S. Diven, Vice-President ; Horatio X. Otis, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Peter H. Watson, A. S. Diven, W. 1\. Travers, 
 William Butler Duncan, Charles Day, S. L. M. Barlow, J. .\. Dix, J. 
 V. L. Pruyn, Henry L. Lansing, Homer Ramsdell, \\'illiam W. 
 Shippen, Edwin D. Morgan, Frederick Schuchardt, S. D. Bab- 
 cock, John J. Cisco, George Talbott Olyphant, John Taylor 
 Johnston. 
 
 I 873-1 874. 
 
 Peter H. Watson, President ; A. .S. Diven, Vice-President ; 
 Augustus R. MacDonough, Secretary. June, 1873, Diven retired as 
 Vice-President. September, 1873, G. R. JBIanchard appointed 2d Vice- 
 President ; J. C. Clarke, 3d Vice-President ; Henry Tyson, 4th Vice- 
 President. October, 1873, Lucius Robinson, ist Vice-President. June, 
 1874, Tyson and Robinson retired. 
 
 Directors. — Peter H. Watson, Samuel D. Babcock, Herman R. 
 Baltzer, S. L. M. Barlow, George II. Brown, W. Butler Duncan, 
 John Taylor Johnston, Edwin D, Morgan, Frederick Schuchardt, 
 Giles W. Hotchkiss, William T. Hart, Henry L. Lansing, Cortlandt 
 Parker, Homer Ramsdell, Lucius Robinson, William W. Shippen, 
 one vacancy. 
 
 1874-1875- 
 
 Hugh J. Jewett, President (President Watson retired July 15, 
 1874) ; G. R. Blanchard, 2d Vice-President ; Augustus R. Mac- 
 Donough, Secretary. 
 
 NEW YORK, LAKE ERIE AND WESTERN RAIL- 
 ROAD COMPANY. 
 
 {Formed tmder Articles of Ineorf oration, April 27, 1S78.) 
 
 iNCiiRrouATORS. — Hugh J. Jewett, John Taylor Johnston, R. 
 Suydam (Irani, Solomon .S. Guthrie, Edwin D. Morgan, Cortlandt 
 Parker, Homer Ramsdell, .Samuel .Sloan, Henry G. Stebbins, George 
 F. Talman, J. Lowber Welsh, David A. Wells, William Walter 
 Phelps, Charles Dana, J. Frederick Pierson, Theron R. Butler, James 
 J. Goodwin, Herman R. Baltzer, John B. Brown, Thomas Dickson, 
 -Vsa Packer, Giles W. Hotchkiss, Marshall O. Roberts, Sir Edward 
 William Watkin, M.P., Oliver Gourley Milton, Henry Rawson, John 
 Keyneston Cross, M.P., John Westlake. Q.C., Peter M. Logan, M.P., 
 Benjamin Whitworth, M.P., Thomas Wilde Powell. 
 
 UNDER THE REORGANIZATION. 
 1S78-1879. 
 
 Hugh J. Jewett, President ; G. R. Blanchard, Assistant to Presi- 
 dent ; Augustus R. MacDonough, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Hugh J. Jewett, John Taylor Johnston, Edwin D. 
 Morgan, Henry G. Stebbins, Samuel Sloan, John Frederick Pier- 
 son, George ¥. Talman, Solomon S. Guthrie, Cortlandt Parker, 
 Homer Ramsdell, David A. Wells, J. Lowber \\'elsh, Theron R. 
 Butler, Charles Dana, R. Suydam Grant, James J. (loodwin, one 
 vacancy. 
 
478 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 1 879-1 880. 
 
 Hugh J. Jewett, President ; George R. Blanchard, Assistant to the 
 President ; Augustus R. MacDonough, Secretar)'. 
 
 Directors. — Hugh J. Jewett, J. Lowber Welsh, Theron N. But- 
 ler, Charles Dana, R. Suydam Grant, James J. Gdodwin, John Tay- 
 lor Johnston, James R. Keene, E. D. Morgan, J. F. Pierson, H. G. 
 Stebbins, Samuel Sloan, George F. Talman, Cortlandt Parker, Solo- 
 mon S. Guthrie, Homer Ramsdell, one vacancy. 
 
 I 880-1 88 I. 
 
 Hugh J. Jewett, President ; George R. Blanchard, Assistant to the 
 President ; Augustus R. MacDonough, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Hugh J. Jewett, Theron R. Butler, Charles Dana, 
 Harrison Durkee, R. Suydam Grant, James J. Goodwin, John Tay- 
 lor Johnston, James R. Keene, E. D. Morgan, John Frederick Pierson, 
 Henry G. Stebbins, William L. Strong, J. Lowber Welsh, Cortlandt 
 Parker, Solomon S. Guthrie, Homer Ramsdell, Thomas Dickson. 
 
 1881-1882. 
 
 Hugh J. Jewett, President ; George R. Blanchard, Assistant to the 
 President ; Augustus R. MacDonough, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Hugh J. Jewett, Theron R. Butler, Charles Dana, 
 Harrison Durkee, R. Suydam Grant, James J. Goodwin, John Tay- 
 lor Johnston, Jacob H. Schiff, Francis N. Drake, E. D. Morgan, John 
 Frederick Pierson, Henry G. Stebbins, William L. Strong, J. Low- 
 ber Welsh, Cortlandt Parker, Solomon S. Guthrie, Homer Ramsdell, 
 Thomas Dickson. 
 
 1882-1883. 
 
 Hugh J, Jewett, President ; George R. Blanchard, First Vice- 
 President ; Robert Harris, Second Vice-President ; Stephen Little, 
 Comptroller ; Augustus R. MacDonough, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — Hugh J. Jewett, Theron R. Butler, Charles Dana, 
 Harrison Durkee, R. Suydam Grant, James J. Goodwin, John Tay- 
 lor Johnston, Jacob PL Schiff, Francis N. Drake, E. D. Morgan, John 
 Frederick Pierson, Henry G. Stebbins, William L. Strong, J. Low- 
 ber Welsh, Cortlandt Parker, Solomon S. Guthrie, Homer Ramsdell, 
 Thomas Dickson. 
 
 I 883-1 884. 
 
 Hugh J. Jewett, President ; John King, Assistant President ; 
 George R. Blanchard, First Vice-President ; Edmund T. Bowen, Sec- 
 ond Vice-President ; Stephen Little, Comptroller ; Augustus R. Mac- 
 Donough, Secretary. ^ 
 
 Directors. — Hugh J. Jewett, Theron R. Butler, Charles Dana, 
 Harrison Durkee, R. Suydam Grant, James J Goodwin, John Tay- 
 lor Johnston, Jacob H. Schiff, Francis N. Drake, E. D. Morgan, John 
 Frederick Pierson, Henry G. Stebbins, William L. Strong, J. Low- 
 ber Welsh, Cortlandt Parker, Solomon S. Guthrie, Homer Ramsdell, 
 Thomas Dickson. 
 
 1884-1885. 
 
 John King, President ; Edmund T. Bowen, Vice-President ; Au- 
 gustus R. MacDonough, Secretary. 
 
 DiKECTORS. — John King, William Whitewright, J. G. McCul- 
 lough, Ogden Mills, William A. Wheelock, W. B. Dmsmore, Will- 
 iam Libby, James A. Raynor, George M. Graves, Henry H. Cook, 
 George W. Quintard, WilHam N. Gilchrist, Jacob Hayes, WiUiam 
 L. Strong, J. Lowber Welsh, Cortlandt Parker, James J. Goodwin. 
 
 ;-i886. 
 
 John King, President; S. M. Felton, Jr., First Vice-President; 
 Andrew Donaldson, Third Vice-President ; Augustus R. Mac- 
 Donough, Secretary. 
 
 Directors.— John King, Henry H. Cook, W. B. Dinsmore, Wm. 
 N. Gilchrist, James J. Goodwin, George M. Graves, Jacob Hayes, 
 William Libby, Ogden Mills, Geo. W. Quintard, Wm. L. Strong, 
 Wm. A. Wheelock, Wm. Whitewright, Chas. E. Loew, John G. 
 McCuUough, J. Lowber Welsh, Cortlandt Parker. 
 
 1886-1887. 
 
 John King, President ; S. M. Felton, Jr., First Vice-President; 
 Andrew Donaldson, Third Vice-President ; A. R. MacDonough, 
 Secretary. 
 
 Directors.— John King, J. G. McCullough, J. Lowber Welsh, 
 Cortlandt Parker, Henry H. Cook, William Libby, William A. 
 Wheelock, William Whitewright, George W. Quintard, Ogden Mills, 
 William L. Strong, William B. Dinsmore, Morris K. Jessup, James 
 J. Goodwin, William N. Gilchrist, Josiah Belden, Joseph Ogden. 
 
 1887-1888. 
 
 John King, President ; S. RL Felton, Jr., First Vice-President; 
 
 A. Donaldson, Third Vice-President ; A. R. MacDonough, .Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — John King, Josiah Belden, Henry H. Cook, William 
 
 B. Dinsmore, William N. Gilchrist, James J. Goodwin, Morris K. 
 Jessup, William Libby, John G. McCullough, Ogden Mills,. Joseph 
 Ogden, Cortlandt Parker, George W. Quintard, William L. Strong, 
 J. Lowber Welsh, William A. Wheelock, WiUiam Whitewright. 
 
 1 888-1 889. 
 
 John King, President ; S. M. Felton, Jr., First Vice-President ; 
 Eben B. Thomas, Second Vice-President ; Andrew Donaldson, 
 Third Vice-President ; Augustus R. MacDonough, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — John King, Josiah Belden, Henry H. Cook, W. N. 
 Gilchrist, J. J. Goodwin, Morris K. Jessup, Wm. Libby, J. G. 
 McCullough, Ogden Mills, Cortlandt Parker, G. W. Quintard, W. 
 L. Strong, J. Lowber Welsh, W. A. Wheelock, Wm. Whitewright, 
 Wm. F. Reynolds, S. M. Felton, Jr. 
 
 1 889-1 890. 
 
 John King, President ; S. M. Felton, Jr., First Vice-President ; 
 Eben B. Thomas, Second Vice-President ; Andrew Donaldson, Third 
 Vice-President ; Augustus R. MacDonough, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — John King, Josiah Belden, Henry H. Cook, W. N. 
 Gilchrist, J. J. Goodwin, Morris K. Jessup, Wm. Libby, J. G. 
 McCullough, Ogden Mills, Cortlandt Parker, G. W. Quintard, W. 
 L. Strong, J. Lowber Welsh, W. A. Wheelock, Wm. Whitewright, 
 Wm. F. Reynolds, S. M. Felton, Jr. 
 
 189O-189I. 
 
 John King, President ; Eben B. Thomas, Second Vice-President ; 
 Andrew Donaldson, Third Vice-President ; Augustus R. MacDon- 
 ough, Secretary. 
 
 Directors.— John King, Josiah Belden, Henry H. Cook, W. N. 
 Gilchrist, J, J. Goodwin, Morris K. Jessup, Wm. Libby, J G. 
 McCullough, Ogden Mills, Cortlandt Parker, G. W. Quintard, W. 
 L. Strong, J. Lowber AVelsh, W. A. Wheelock, Wm. Whitewright, 
 Wm. F. Reynolds, Eben B. Thomas. 
 
 189I-1892. 
 
 John King, President ; E. B. Thomas, First Vice-President ;G. H. 
 Vaillant, Second Vice-President ; A. Donaldson, Third Vice-Presi- 
 dent ; A. R. MacDonough, Secretary. 
 
 Directors.— John King, E. B. Thomas, G. H. Vaillant, J. G. 
 McCullough, Henry H. Cook, W. N. Gilchrist, James J. Goodwin, 
 Morris K. Jessup, Wm. Libby, Ogden Mills, Cortlandt Parker, 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 479 
 
 George W. Quintard, William L. Strong, J. Lowber Welsh, W. A. 
 Wheelock, Wm. Whitewright. 
 
 I 892-1 893. 
 
 John King, President; E. B.Thomas, First Vice-President ; G. H. 
 Vaillant, Second Vice-President ; A. Donaldson, Third Vice-Presi- 
 dent ; A. R. MacDonough, Secretary. 
 
 Directors.— John King, E. B. Thomas, J. G. McCullough, 
 Henry H. Cook, W. N. Gilchrist, J. J. Goodwin, A. S. Hewitt, 
 Morris K. Jessup, Wm. Libby, Ogden Mills, Alexander E. Orr, 
 Cortlandt Parker, Geo. W. Quintard, William L. Strong, J. Lowber 
 Welsh, W. A. Wheelock, Wm. Whitewright. 
 
 1 893-1 894. 
 
 John King, President, and J. G. McCullough, Receivers ; Eben B. 
 Thomas, First Vice-President ; G. H. Vaillant, Second Vice-Presi- 
 dent ; Andrew Donaldson, Third Vice-President ; Augustus R. 
 MacDonough, Secretary. 
 
 Directors.— John King, E. B. Thomas, J. G. McCullough, 
 Henry H. Cook, W. N. Gilchrist, J. J. Goodwin, A. S. Hewitt, 
 Morris K. Jessup, William Libby, Ogden Mills, Alexander E. Orr, 
 Cortlandt Parker, Geo. W. Quintard, William L. Strong, J. Lowber 
 Welsh, W. A. Wheelock, Wm. Whitewright. 
 
 I 894-1 895. 
 
 Eben B. Thomas, President, and J. G. McCullough, Receivers ; 
 Andrew Donaldson, Third Vice-President ; A. R. MacDonough, Sec- 
 retary. 
 
 Directors. — E. B. Thomas, John King, J. G. JlcCullough, 
 Ogden Mills, J. Lowber Welsh, A. S. Hewitt, Wm. Whitewright, 
 W. A. Wheelock, A. E. Orr, H. H. Cook, Morris K. Jessup, G. 
 W. Quintard, Wm. Libby, Cortlandt Parker, Jas. J. Goodwin, W. 
 N. Gilchrist. 
 
 ERIE RAILROAD COMPANY, 
 
 Incorporated November 14, 1895. 
 
 Incorporators. — Temple Bowdoin, Charles H. Coster, J. H. 
 Emanuel, Jr., A. H. Gilland, A. B. Hopper, Thomas W. Joyce, 
 Walter S. Kemeyes, J. P. Morgan, Jr., Francis Lynde Stetson, 
 Mortimer F. Smith, W. T. Townsend, J. H. Tierney, E. B. Thomas. 
 
 UNDER THE REORGANIZATION. 
 1 895-1 896. 
 
 E. B. Thomas (President), J. G. McCullough, Receivers ; A. Don- 
 aldson, Third Vice-President ; A. R. MacDonough, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — E. B. Thomas, John King, J. G. McCullough, 
 Ogden Mills, J. Lowber Welsh, A. S. Hewitt, Wm. Whitewright, 
 W. A. Wheelock, A. E. Orr, H. H. Cook, Morris K. Jessup, G. W. 
 Quintard, Wm. Libby, Cortlandt Parker, Jas. J. Goodwin, W. N. 
 Gilchrist. 
 
 I 896-1 897. 
 
 E. B. Thomas, President ; G. M. Gumming, First Vice-President ; 
 William F. Merrill, Second Vice-President ; A. Donaldson, Third 
 Vice-President ; G. G. Cochran, Fourth Vice-President ; J. A. Mid- 
 dleton, Secretary. 
 
 Directors. — E. B. Thomas, C. H. Coster, Samuel Spencer, J. G. 
 McCullough, F. L. Stetson, L E. Williamson, James Galloway, A. 
 E. Orr, A. S. Hewitt, James J. Goodwin, D. O. Mills, G. W. Quin- 
 tard, J. Lowber Welsh. 
 
 1 897-1 898. 
 
 E. B. Thomas, President ; G. M. Gumming, First Vice-President ; 
 William F. Merrill, Second Vice-President ; A. Donaldson, Third 
 Vice-President ; G. G. Cochran, Fourth Vice-President ; J. A. jNIid- 
 dleton, Secretary. 
 
 Directors.— E. B. Thomas, C. H. Coster, Samuel Spencer, J. G. 
 McCullough, F. L. Stetson, L. E. Williamson, James Galloway, A. 
 E. Orr, A. S. Hewitt, James J. Goodwin, D. O. Mills, G. W. Quin- 
 tard, J. Lowber Welsh. 
 
 TREASURERS. 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 William G. Buckner Sept. 10, 1 833 to Feb. 
 
 Eleazar Lord May 11, 1835 " Sept. 
 
 Peter G. Stuyvesant Sept. 14, 1835 " Dec. 
 
 Elihu Townsend Nov. 22, 1838 " Oct. 
 
 George S. Robbins Oct. 8, 1839 " April 
 
 James Bowen April 30, 1840 " May 
 
 Henry L. Pierson May 28, 1841 " Feb. 
 
 Silas Brown July i, 1844 " JIar. 
 
 Thomas J. Townsend. .. .May 10, 1848 " July 
 
 Nelson Robinson July 27, 1853 " Dec. 
 
 Daniel Drew Mar. 14, 1854 " July 
 
 Herman Gelpcke July 20, 1857 " April 
 
 ERIE RAILWAY COMPANY. 
 
 Talman J. Waters April 30, 1861 to Sept. 
 
 John Hilton Sept. 2, 1863" June 
 
 E. W. Brown June 26, 1866 " Oct. 
 
 Daniel Drew Oct. 8, 1867 " July 
 
 Jay Gould July 10, 1868 " Dec. 
 
 J. D. White Dec. 30, 1871 " Mar. 
 
 W. W. Sherman Mar. 11, 1872 " July 
 
 James B. Hodgskin July 23, 1872 " Jan. 
 
 William Pitt Sherman Jan. 14, 1873 " Dec. 
 
 Bird W. Spencer (acting). .Dec. 21, 1876 " April 
 
 4, 1835. 
 14, 1835- 
 
 6, 1836. 
 
 8, 1839. 
 30, 1840. 
 28, 1841. 
 
 11, 1842. 
 10, 1848. 
 
 27, 1853- 
 
 12, 1854. 
 20, 1857. 
 12, 1858. 
 
 2, 1863. 
 
 26, 1866. 
 8, 1867. 
 
 10, 1868. 
 30, 1871. 
 
 11, 1872. 
 23, 1872. 
 14. 1873. 
 21, 1876. 
 
 27, 1878. 
 
 NEW YORK, LAKE ERIE AND WESTERN RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 Bird W'. Spencer Apr. 27, 1878 to Nov. 24, 1884. 
 
 Charles G. Lincoln Nov. 24, 1884. Died in Dec, 1884. 
 
 Edward White Jan. 15, 1885 to Nov. 30, 1895. 
 
 ERIE RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 Edward White Nov. 30, 1895 to Oct. 11, 1898. 
 
 Andrew Donaldson Oct. 11, 1898. (In office, 1899.) 
 
 AUDITORS. 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 (The title of auditor was not actually conferred in the Erie service 
 until 1855, when Benjamin E. Bremner was appointed auditor, the 
 duties having been performed under direction of the secretary until 
 that time, although W. E. Warren, and later Talman J. Waters, had 
 acted as chief accountants during that period.) 
 
 Benjamin E. Bremner 1855 to 1861 
 
 ERIE RAILWAY COMPANY. 
 
 Benjamin E. Bremner 1861 to 1865. 
 
 John Hilton 1865 " 1868. 
 
 John Calhoun 1868 " 1870. 
 
 G. P. Morosini 1870 " 1872. 
 
 Sylvanus H. Dunan 1872 " 1874. 
 
 Stephen Little 1874 " 1878. 
 
 NEW YORK, LAKE ERIE AND WESTERN RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 Stephen Little 1878 to i886. 
 
 Andrew Donaldson 1886 " 1895. 
 
48o 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 ERIE RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 J. T. Wann 1895. (In office, iSgg.) 
 
 GENERAL PASSENGER AGENTS. 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 Henry Fitch May, 1846 to IVIar., 1852. 
 
 Cliarles B. Greenough IVIar., 1852" Aug., 1859. 
 
 George S. Dunlap Aug., J859 " June, 1861. 
 
 ERIE RAILWAY' COMPANY. 
 
 William R. Barr June, 1861 to June, 1S72. 
 
 Jolin N. Abbott June, 1872 " April 28, 1878. 
 
 NEW YORK, LAKE ERIE AND WESTERN RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 John N. Abbott April 28, 1879 to Dec. 16,1886. 
 
 Leslie P. Farmer Jan., 1886 " Aug., 1890. 
 
 W. C. Rinearson Aug. 6, i8go " Dec, i8gi. 
 
 Duncan I. Roberts Dec. 7, 1891 " Nov. 30, 1895. 
 
 ERIE R.AILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 Duncan I. Roberts Nov. 30, 1895. (In office, 1899.) 
 
 GENERAL FREIGHT AGENT.S. 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 Samuel S. Brown Sept., 1S41. 
 
 (No record in the freight department of his immediate suc- 
 cessors.) 
 
 B. W. Blanchard Jan., 1858 to April 30, 1861. 
 
 ERIE RAILWAY COMPANY. 
 
 B. W. Blanchard April 30, 1861 to June, 1S72. 
 
 John M. Osborne June, 1872 " Sept., 1872. 
 
 George R. Blanchard Sept., 1872 " Sept., 1S73. 
 
 R. C. Vilas Sept., 1S73 " April 30, 1878. 
 
 NEW YORK, LAKE ERIE AND WESTERN RAILROAD COMP.^NY'. 
 
 R.C.Vilas April 30, 1878 to May 1,1883. 
 
 Edward Foley May 2, 1883 " Sept. 1,1885. 
 
 John S. Hammond Sept. 2, 1885 " Mar., 1886. 
 
 F. L. Pomeroy Mar., 1886 " Jan., 1893. 
 
 H. B. Chamberlain Feb., 1893 " May, 1895. 
 
 James Leeming May, 1895 " Nov. 30, 1895. 
 
 ERIE RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 James Leeming Nov. 30, 1895. (In office, 1899.) 
 
 ERIE'S OPERATIVE DEPARTMENT. 
 1841-1899. 
 
 These data are a historical review simply of the operative department 
 of the Erie in so far as it relates to the railroad and its outgrowth in 
 the original Erie territory. The Erie proper, its entire length, is now 
 known officially as the Erie Division. The railroads now in the Erie 
 system obtained by the acquisition of the Nypano and Chicago and 
 Erie connections comprise the Ohio Division. Data in relation to 
 them is dealt with on pages 283, 286, 287. 
 
 GENERAL SUPERINTENDENTS. 
 
 Hezekiah C. Seymour Sept. 23, 1841 to April i, 1849. 
 
 James P. Kirkwood April I, 1849 " May i, 1850. 
 
 Charles Minot May i, 1850 " May i, 1854. 
 
 Daniel Craig McCallum. . . . May i, 1854 " Mar. i, 1857. 
 
 (No successor was appointed to McCallum as general su- 
 perintendent. President Ramsdell assumed the duties of 
 superintendent, and April i, 1857, the old system of oper- 
 ating the railroad by four divisions was changed to one that 
 dis'ided the railroad into two divisions : one from New York 
 to Susquehanna, called the Eastern Division, and one from 
 Susquehanna to Dunkirk, called the Western Division. Nei- 
 ther the Rochester nor Buffalo Divisions had as yet come to 
 be parts of the Erie. Hugh Riddle was made superintendent 
 of the Eastern Division, and James A. Hart, of the Western 
 Division. This arrangement was continued under the admin- 
 istration of President Moran, he acting as general superin- 
 tendent. In August, 1859, Charles Minot, having been 
 recalled to the railroad as general superintendent, the old 
 four-division system was restored.) 
 
 Charles Minot Aug. 19, 1859 to Dec. 31, 1864. 
 
 Hugh Riddle Jan. 1,1865" May 1,1869. 
 
 L. D. Rucker May i, i86g " Sept. 18, 1872. 
 
 (September 18, 1872, Peter H. Watson, then president, 
 abolished the office of general superintendent, and created a 
 department of transportation, a department of rolling stock, 
 and a department of roads. Gen. A. S. Diven, vice-president, 
 had charge of them all. H. D. V. Pratt was appointed super- 
 intendent of transportation; Robert M. Brown, superintend- 
 ent of roads, and Myron T. Brown, superintendent of rolling 
 stock. The division superintendents became assistant super- 
 intendents of transportation. Robert B. Cable succeeded 
 Pratt as superintendent of transportation, January 12, 1873; 
 the division superintendents were changed back to their old 
 titles. The office of general manager was created, and James 
 C. Clarke was appointed to the place. August 15, 1874, Hugh 
 J. Jewett, he having come in as president, abolished the office 
 of general manager, and restored the title of general super- 
 intendent. Clarke retired, and Edmund S. Bowen became 
 general superintendent. The office of general manager was 
 revived by President Jewett, January, 1879, and Robert Harris 
 was appointed to perform its duties. He left the Erie ser- 
 vice in 1883, and the title lapsed. It was revived in 1887, 
 when R. H. Soule was made general manager. He was 
 succeeded by Alfred Walters, March i, 1892, who continued 
 in the office until November 22, 1894. There has been no 
 general manager since then.) 
 
 Edmund S. Bowen Aug. 15, 1874 to June i, 1881. 
 
 Benjamin Thomas June i, 1881 " Aug., 18S7. 
 
 W. J. Murphy Aug. 21, 1887 " Mar. 26, 1890. 
 
 J. H. Barrett Jan. 23, i8go " April 19, 1892. 
 
 C. R. Fitch Nov. 1,1892. (In office, 1899.) 
 
 DIVISION SUPERINTENDENTS. 
 Nc~ti York {priginally Eastern) Division and Branches, 
 
 Jersey City to Port Jervis, N. Y., 88 miles ; " Bergen County, 
 Short-cut," Rutherford Junction to Ridgewood, 10 miles; 
 Piermont Branch, Suffern to Sparkill, 16 miles; " Newburgh, 
 Short-cut," Arden to Newburgh, 14 miles; Newburgh 
 Branch, Greycourt to Newburgh, 19 miles; Montgomery 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 481 
 
 Branch, Goshen to Montgomery, 10 miles ; Pine Island 
 Branch, Goshen to Pine Island, 1 2 miles ; Crawford Branch, 
 Middletown to Pine Bush, 26 miles. 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 W. H. Power May, 
 
 Hugh Riddle May 
 
 1850 to May I, 1855. 
 I, 1855 " Apr. 30, 1861. 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD, COMPANY. 
 
 W. C. Taylor, Division Agent, 
 
 Piermont May i, 1850 to Mar. 17, 1851. 
 
 A. S. Whiton _. Mar. 17, 1851 " May, 1852. 
 
 Peter Ward ". May, 1852 " Sept., 1854. 
 
 A. S. Whiton.. Sept., 1854 " Mar. 31, 1857. 
 
 H. Riddle Apr. i, 1857 " Dec. 17, 1859. 
 
 H. F. Sweetser Dec. 17, 1859 " Apr. 30, 1861. 
 
 ERIE RAILWAY COMPANY. 
 
 H. F. Sweetser Apr. 30, 1861 to Nov. i, 1862. 
 
 C. S. Robinson Nov. i, 1862 " Sept. i, 1S64. 
 
 H. Hobbs Sept. 1, 1864 " Aug. 7, i86g. 
 
 A. P. Berthoud Aug. 7, 1869 " Sept. 21,1872. 
 
 G. S. Redington Sept. 21, 1872 " Jan. 7, 1873. 
 
 E. O. Hill Jan. 7, 1873 " Apr. 30, 1878. 
 
 NEW YORK, LAKE ERIE AND WESTERN RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 E. O. Hill Apr. 30, 1878 to Jan. 7, 1886. 
 
 T.H.Barrett Jan. 7, 1886 " Sept. 21,1886. 
 
 W. W. Stearns Sept. 20, 1S88 " May 13, i8gi. 
 
 W. H. Starr (Acting) May 13, 1891 to June i, 1891. 
 
 C. R. Fitch June i, i8gi " Nov. i, 1892. 
 
 M. W. Maguire Nov. i, 1892 " Nov. 30, 1895. 
 
 ERIE RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 M. W. Maguire Nov. 30, 1895 to ilar. I, 1899. 
 
 J. F. Maguire Mar. i, 1899 " date. 
 
 Miles of track in Jersey City yard, fifty-five ; in Bergen 
 yard, thirty-two. Track changed to standard gauge June 22, 
 1880. The third rail was first used from Jersey City Sun- 
 day, December 29, 1878. 
 
 The making of the great Erie terminals at Jersey City was 
 begun in 1856, after the Long Dock Company was chartered. 
 ("Administration of Homer Ramsdell," page 119.) Not un- 
 til the Bergen tunnel was completed in 1 86 1 were they brought 
 to a capacity commensurate with the increase in the traffic 
 of the railroad. Year by year they have grown in greatness. 
 In 1897 the crowning work in their completeness was begun. 
 ("Administration of John King," page 284.) This was the 
 elevation of the tracks at Jersey City. The work was finished 
 Sunday, May 7, 1899, when the change was made, under the 
 direction of Superintendent J. F. Maguire, from the old sys- 
 tem to the new, between the time of train 604, at 9.56 a.m., 
 and the time of train 603, at 10.44 a.m., without delaying 
 either. This improvement does away with all grade cross- 
 ings in Jersey City, and cost ^1,000,000. 
 
 \\'hen Hugh Riddle was superintendent of this division the 
 railroad had been changed from four divisions to two, and 
 Riddle was superintendent of the Eastern Division, Jersey 
 City to Susquehanna. 
 
 At the time G. S. Redington was superintendent of this 
 division, he was also superintendent of the Delaware Division, 
 with the title of assistant superintendent of transportation. 
 
 Delaware Division and Branch, 
 
 Port Jervis, N. Y., to Susquehanna, Pa., 105 miles ; Hones- 
 dale Branch, Lackawaxen, Pa., to Honesdale, Pa., 24 miles. 
 
 31 
 
 ERIE RAILWAY COMPANY. 
 
 Hugh Riddle Apr. 30, 1861, to Jan. x, 1865. 
 
 C.W.Douglas Jan. i, 1865 " Mar., 1869. 
 
 G. S. Redington Mar., 1869 "Jan. 12, 1873. 
 
 B. Thomas Jan. 12, 1873 " Apr. 30, 1878. 
 
 NEW YORK, LAKE ERIE AND WESTERN RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 B.Thomas Apr. 30, 1S78 to June 1,18" 
 
 Chas. Neilson June i, 1880 " Aug. 22,1882, 
 
 W. J. Murphy Aug. 22, 1882 " Nov., 18" 
 
 E. Van Etten Nov., 1884 " Aug., 18 
 
 W.H.Starr Aug., 1887 " Oct. 1,1890, 
 
 W. L. Derr... Oct. i, 1890 " Nov. 14,1895, 
 
 ERIE RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 W. L. Derr Nov. 30, 1895 to Mar. i, 1899. 
 
 Geo. A. Thompson Mar. i, 1899 " date. 
 
 Division agent was the original title of the superintendent, 
 by which \\'. H. Power was known until after the railroad 
 was opened to Dunkirk in 1851. 
 
 Division headquarters at Port Jervis. Division all double- 
 tracked. Miles of track in Port Jervis yard, 42. 
 
 Susquehanna Division. 
 
 Susquehanna, Pa., to Hornellsville, N. Y., 139 miles. 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 First superintendent, or division agent, not on record. 
 
 D. C. McCallum May i, 1850 to June 30, 1853. 
 
 R. N. Brown July i, 1853 " Sept. 30, 1854. 
 
 J.A.Hart Oct. I, 1854 " April 1,1857. 
 
 H. B. Smith April i, 1857 " Apr. 30, 1861. 
 
 ERIE RAILWAY COMPANY. 
 
 H. B. Smith April 30, 1861 to Jan. i, 1865. 
 
 H. D. V. Pratt Jan. I, 1865 " Sept. 21, 1872. 
 
 C.W.Gardner Sept. 21, 1872 "Jan. 12,1873. 
 
 R. B. Cable Jan. 12, 1873 " Apr. 30, 1878. 
 
 NEW YORK, LAKE ERIE AND WESTERN RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 R. B. Cable April 30, 1878 to 1882. 
 
 J. JoUs (Acting) 1882 " Feb. 9,1885. 
 
 R. B. Cable Feb. 9, 1885 " Oct. 1,1886. 
 
 D. H. Blackham Oct. I, 1886 " Feb. 14, 1887. 
 
 A. M. Tucker Feb. 14, 18S7 " Feb. 18, 1888. 
 
 w '^t; ^l^''^"^ (Acting).. . I ^ggg ,. jgg 
 
 W. B. Coffin j ^ 
 
 J. H. Parsons Sept. i, 1889 " Nov. 1,1890. 
 
 W. H. Starr (Acting) Nov. i, i8go " Nov. 10, i8go. 
 
 M. W. Maguire Nov. 10, 1890 " Nov. i, l8g2. 
 
 J. F. Maguire Nov. 1,1892 " Nov. 14, i8g5. 
 
 ERIE RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 J. F. Maguire Nov. 14, 1895 to April I, i8gg. 
 
 W. L. Derr April i, 1899 " date. 
 
 Division headquarters, Elmira, N. Y. The original head- 
 quarters were at Owego. Main shops of the Erie are at Sus- 
 quehanna, Pa., and employ 992 men. Elmira shop (repair 
 shop) employs 123 men. 
 
482 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 H. B. Smith succeeded J. A. Hart as superintendent of 
 the Susquehanna and A\'estem Division, with headquarters at 
 Hornellsville, in 1858, and served until the two-division sys- 
 tem was abohshed in December, 1859. He was also super- 
 intendent of the Northern Division, Elraira to Canandaigua. 
 
 C. W. Gardner was assistant superintendent of transporta- 
 tion for the Susquehanna and Rochester Divisions, from 
 September 21, 1872, to January 12, 1873. 
 
 Division all double-tracked. 
 
 Allegany {originally IVesterji) Division. 
 
 Hornellsville, N. Y., to Dunkirk, N. Y., 128 miles. 
 
 NEW YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 R. N. Brown Aug. i, 1851 to June 30, 1S53. 
 
 T. L. Smith July i, 1853 " Dec. 31, 1853. 
 
 J.A.Hart Jan. i, 1854 " Sept. 30, 1854. 
 
 H.B.Smith Oct. i, 1854 " May 31,1856. 
 
 S. C. Jillson June i, 1856 " Mar. 31, 1857. 
 
 J.A.Hart April i, 1857 " May 31, 1858. 
 
 C. L. Robinson June i, 1858 " April 30, i85l. 
 
 ERIE RAILWAY COMPANY. 
 
 C. L. Robinson April 30, i86i to Oct. 31, 1862. 
 
 H. G. Brooks Nov. i, 1862 " Feb. 28, 1865. 
 
 J. S. Beggs Mar. i, 1865 " Sept. 30, 1872. 
 
 R. G. Taylor Oct. i, 1872 " June 30, 1873. 
 
 J. S. Beggs July i, 1873 " April 30, 1878. 
 
 NEW YORK, LAKE ERIE AND WESTERN RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 J. S. Beggs April 30, 1878 to Nov. 20, 1881. 
 
 W. B. Coffin Nov. 20, 1881 " Dec. 14, 1887. 
 
 E. F. Knibloe Dec. 15, 1887 " June 30, 1888. 
 
 J. H. Parsons July i, 1S88 " Sept. 30, 1889. 
 
 M. W. Maguire Oct. i, i88g " Nov. 9, 1890. 
 
 J. F. Maguire Nov. 15, 1890 " Oct. 3r, 1892. 
 
 H. E. Gilpin Nov. i, 1892 " Nov. 14, 1895. 
 
 ERIE RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 H. E. Gilpin Nov. 14, 1895. (In office, 1899.) 
 
 Division headquarters transferred from Dunkirk to Hor- 
 nellsville, November 20, 1881. Track on the division changed 
 from six-foot gauge to standard gauge, June 22, 1880. 
 Single track, except 6 miles between CarroUton and Sala- 
 manca. Miles of track in Hornellsville yard, 46. Inter- 
 change yard at Dayton, 20 miles of track. 
 
 In 1 85 1, all the plant the Erie had at Hornellsville was a 
 shed that housed two engines. In 1852 additions wer2 made 
 for machinery for repairing engines. From time to time ad- 
 ditions were made until by 1854 the shop was large. In 
 that year ground was broken for a new round-house and shop, 
 which were two years in building. When done, they were 
 dedicated by a grand ball held in the shop, attended by 
 citizens of Hornellsville, and by many prominent railroad 
 men from other points along the line of the Erie. A ban- 
 quet was provided at the Erie depot dining-saloon. January 
 20, 1857, the shops were partially destroyed by fire. The 
 Company thought it never would want any bigger shops, and 
 sold much of the land. The shops and round-houses had to 
 
 be enlarged several times, and in 1878 the Company pur- 
 chased thirty acres on the east side of the yard, near the river, 
 and built the present great shops, round-houses, and offices, 
 erected and first occupied in May, 1882. The original depot 
 was burned November 31, 1879, ^'^^ the present one built 
 in 1880. 
 
 Buffalo Division and Branches. 
 
 Hornellsville to Buffalo, 92 miles; Buffalo to Suspension 
 Bridge, 26 miles; Tonawanda to Lockport, 14 miles; Inter- 
 national Junction to Black Rock, 3 miles ; Buffalo to James- 
 town, 69 miles. 
 
 H. C. Fisk 1859 to 1872, 
 
 O. S. Lyford 1.1872 " 1S73, 
 
 R.G.Taylor 1873 " 1881 
 
 C.W.Gardner 1881 " 1882 
 
 Charles Neilson 1882 " 1884, 
 
 W. J. Murphy 1884 " 1887 
 
 E. Van Etten 18S7 to July i, 1889 
 
 C. A. Brunn July I, i88g. (In office, 1899.) 
 
 While this division, from Hornellsville to Attica, was the 
 Buffalo and New York City Railroad (1852 to 1857) it had 
 as superintendents, Silas Seymour, J. H. Hoyt, and A. D. 
 Patchin successively. ("The Building of It," pages 360- 
 
 363-) 
 
 The broad gauge was changed to standard in June, 1880. 
 Division headquarters at Buffalo. Division all double- tracked. 
 
 Rochester Division and Branches. 
 
 Corning to Rochester, 91 miles; Avon to Mt. Morris, 15 
 miles; Avon to Attica, 35 miles; Conesus Junction to Lake- 
 ville, 2 miles. 
 
 George W. Bartlett Feb. i, 1886 to Feb. 15,1887. 
 
 W. H. Starr Feb. 15, 1887 " Aug. 21, 1887. 
 
 G. A. Thompson Aug. 21, 1887 " Mar. i, 1899. 
 
 W.H.Barrett Mar. 1,1899. (In office, 1899.) 
 
 Division headquarters at Rochester, N. Y. The Roches- 
 ter Division was operated jointly with the Buffalo Division 
 previous to February i, 1886, and at the time of the change 
 was in charge of W. J. Murphy, as superintendent, with head- 
 quarters at Buffalo, N. Y. Track changed to standard gauge 
 in June, 1880. ("The Building of It," pages 360-363.) 
 
 Divisions formerly Erie Branches or Leased Lines. 
 
 Jefferson Division. — Susquehanna. Pa., to Carbondale, Pa., 39 
 miles. George W. Dowe, Superintendent, Carbondale, Pa. 
 
 Tioga Division. — Elmira, N. Y., to Hoytville, Pa., 61 miles; 
 Tioga Junction to Lawrenceville, Pa., 4 miles. F. B. Lincoln, Su- 
 perintendent, Arnot, Pa. 
 
 Bradford Division. — CarroUton, N. Y., to Johnsonburg, Pa., 53 
 miles ; Brockwayville, Pa., to Toby Mines, 12 miles ; Daguscahonda, 
 Pa., to Dagus Mines, 6 miles. C. V. Merrick, Superintendent, 
 Bradford, Pa. 
 
 Greenwood Lake Division. — Jersey City to Greenwood Lake, 
 N. Y., 48 miles ; Caldwell Junction to Essex Falls, N. J., 6 miles ; 
 Forest Hill, N. J., to Orange, 4 miles. Northern Railroad of 
 New Jersey. — jersey City to Nyack, N. Y., 28 miles. T. H. Pin- 
 dell, Superintendent, Jersey City. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 483 
 
 Table Showing, Year by Year, the Growth of the Erie in Mileage of Track Owned and Leased, the Increase in 
 Its Equipment and Traffic, etc., since the Beginning of Operations, September 23, 1841. (The Number of Employees in 
 Round Numbers is Estimated, there being no Return of that Item Made in the Official Reports for those Years.) 
 
 1841. 
 1842. 
 1843. 
 1844. 
 1845. 
 1846. 
 1847- 
 1848. 
 1849. 
 1850. 
 1851. 
 1852. 
 1853- 
 1854- 
 185s- 
 1856. 
 
 1857- 
 
 i860. 
 
 i86i. 
 1862. 
 1863. 
 1864. 
 1865. 
 1866. 
 1867. 
 1868. 
 1869. 
 1870. 
 1871. 
 1872. 
 1873. 
 1874. 
 1875. 
 1876. 
 1877. 
 1878. 
 1879- 
 1880. 
 1881. 
 1882. 
 1883. 
 
 i886. 
 1887. 
 1888. 
 1889. 
 1890. 
 1891. 
 1892. 
 1893. 
 1894. 
 1895. 
 1896. 
 1897. 
 
 
 
 31JH 
 
 46 
 46 
 
 S3 
 53 
 53 
 62 
 62 
 
 74 
 269J 
 
 337 
 445 
 445 
 445 
 445 
 445 
 446 
 446 
 446 
 446 
 446 
 446 
 446 
 459 
 459 
 459 
 459 
 459 
 459 
 459 
 459 
 459 
 459 
 459 
 459 
 459 
 460 
 460} 
 4603- 
 460J 
 460 
 460 
 460 
 460 
 460 
 460 
 460 
 460 
 460 
 446 
 459 
 459 
 459 
 446} 
 446i 
 446J 
 446i 
 445i 
 446* 
 
 o c 
 
 ?i 
 
 H I « 
 a > u 
 
 ca 
 
 19 
 19 
 19 
 19 
 19 
 19 
 19 
 19 
 19 
 19 
 19 
 165 
 165 
 165 
 165 
 165 
 314 
 314 
 314 
 364} 
 
 364i 
 455 
 495 
 495 
 96* 
 96! 
 g6i 
 96J 
 96} 
 
 g6i 
 
 96* 
 
 9ei 
 
 96} 
 96} 
 96} 
 106 
 102 
 102 
 102 
 102 
 I04i 
 I04i 
 I04i 
 108} 
 108} 
 1,024 
 1,021 
 1,015 
 
 
 ^s 
 
 £'2« 
 
 ■(3 rtH 
 
 26 
 26 
 S6 
 56 
 56 
 56 
 
 56 
 56 
 S6 
 94 
 94 
 
 403i 
 
 386} 
 
 399 
 
 400! 
 
 384 
 
 37ii 
 
 37'i 
 
 379 
 
 379 
 
 472 
 
 472 
 
 472 
 
 472 
 
 470 
 
 452 
 
 486 
 
 486 
 
 544 
 
 556i 
 
 556i 
 
 552 
 
 552 
 
 358 
 
 388J 
 
 396 
 
 o a 
 
 ei o 
 
 3 c 
 
 O C4 
 
 P 
 
 9 
 
 ig 
 58} 
 80} 
 2175 
 262 
 269 
 281 
 281 
 281 
 282 
 286 
 286 
 igo 
 320 
 351 
 357 
 379 
 385 
 399 
 4I3J- 
 449!^ 
 508 
 515 
 572 
 641 
 643 
 66o* 
 66g 
 6761 
 759i 
 772 
 
 791 
 
 803 
 
 854 
 
 912 
 
 987 
 
 1,013 
 
 1,019 
 
 1,067 
 
 1,072 
 
 1,091 
 
 1.1391- 
 
 1,187 
 
 1,202 
 
 1,206^ 
 
 1,650} 
 
 1.675 
 
 i,704i 
 
 56 
 
 56 
 
 56 
 
 56 ■ 
 
 56 
 
 56 
 56 to 60 
 56 to 60 
 56 to 60 
 56 to 60 
 56 to 60 
 58 to 72 
 58 to 72 
 58 to 74 
 58 to 74 
 58 to 74 
 56 to 74 
 56 to 74 
 56 to 74 
 56 to 74 
 56 to 74 
 56 to 74 
 56 to 74 
 56 to 75 
 56 to 75 
 56 to 75 
 
 64 
 64 to 70 
 64 to 70 
 64 to 70 
 64 to 70 
 64 to 70 
 60 to 70 
 60 to 67 
 60 to 67 
 60 to 67 
 
 63 
 63 
 63 
 
 63 to 
 60 to 
 60 to 
 60 to 
 60 to 
 60 to 
 60 to 
 S6 to 
 60 to 
 60 to 
 60 to 
 60 to 
 60 to 
 
 63 to 80 
 63 to 90 
 60 to go 
 60 to 90 
 60 to go 
 
 5 
 5 
 5 
 5 
 5 
 7 
 10 
 
 19 
 55 
 65 
 123 
 T42 
 143 
 183 
 203 
 203 
 210 
 210 
 219 
 219 
 220 
 225 
 242 
 249 
 319 
 371 
 371 
 371 
 444 
 440 
 475 
 483 
 497 
 505 
 505 
 505 
 505 
 51S 
 504 
 539 
 545 
 564 
 585 
 584 
 554 
 460 
 48s 
 427 
 515 
 555 
 574 
 623 
 626 
 667 
 666 
 668 
 918 
 903 
 
 
 4 
 4 
 4 
 6 
 6 
 9 
 9 
 24 
 
 33 
 38 
 61 
 75 
 93 
 
 102 
 97 
 
 103 
 99 
 96 
 
 100 
 
 lOI 
 
 105 
 
 120 
 
 178 
 
 igo 
 
 187 
 220 
 220 
 232 
 258 
 250 
 200 
 198 
 241 
 237 
 236 
 =35 
 240 
 230 
 
 255 
 272 
 270 
 268 
 
 275 
 285 
 
 259 
 253 
 241 
 244 
 266 
 343 
 3S6 
 356 
 356 
 434 
 448 
 
 o be 
 
 z 
 
 3 
 3 
 5 
 7 
 17 
 26 
 28 
 28 
 28 
 30 
 42 
 49 
 42 
 40 
 38 
 38 
 40 
 70 
 66 
 60 
 56 
 54 
 54 
 53 
 44 
 44 
 69 
 67 
 67 
 67 
 73 
 68 
 74 
 78 
 79 
 130 
 87 
 86 
 86 
 80 
 go 
 103 
 116 
 113 
 110 
 
 "3 
 111 
 111 
 111 
 152 
 136 
 
 W2 
 
 
 60 
 
 77 
 72 
 12 
 17 
 24 
 43 
 41 
 43 
 43 
 43 
 40 
 45 
 45 
 46 
 44 
 
 61 
 
 68 
 60 
 71 
 71 
 71 
 76 
 81 
 75 
 93 
 99 
 97 
 96 
 
 93 
 107 
 102 
 106 
 158 
 III 
 112 
 109 
 120 
 119 
 135 
 171 
 174 
 174 
 178 
 
 175 
 180 
 180 
 230 
 236 
 
 25 
 39 
 66 
 70 
 383 
 448 
 784 
 
 1.349 
 1,834 
 2,281 
 2,762 
 2,770 
 2,810 
 2,780 
 2,684 
 2.763 
 2,89s 
 2,850 
 3,040 
 3.319 
 3.768 
 5.181 
 5.717 
 5.709 
 6,040 
 
 7.447 
 8,840 
 
 9.779 
 10,638 
 
 10,373 
 10,775 
 11.274 
 11.337 
 11,298 
 
 16,58s 
 16,609 
 23.920 
 28,405 
 37,068 
 29,205 
 29.950 
 28,820 
 29,716 
 30,292 
 30,243 
 31.383 
 30.353 
 30,2ig 
 30,535 
 28,784 
 28,g72 
 28,847 
 40,557 
 42,541 
 
 Sffi 
 
 2 2 
 
 < 
 
 25 
 
 25 
 
 25 
 
 28i 
 
 30 
 
 33 
 
 35 
 
 32 
 
 32 
 
 32 
 
 26i 
 
 27i 
 
 30 
 
 30 
 
 30 
 
 30 
 
 30 
 
 30 
 
 30 
 
 30 
 
 30 
 
 30-40 
 
 30-40 
 
 30-40 
 
 30-40 
 
 30-40 
 
 30-40 
 
 30-40 
 
 30-40 
 
 30-40 
 
 30-40 
 
 30-40 
 
 30-40 
 
 30-40 
 
 30-40 
 
 30-40 
 
 26-30 
 
 32 
 
 35 
 
 35 
 
 35 
 
 35 
 
 35 
 
 35 
 
 35 
 
 35 
 
 35 
 
 35 
 
 35 
 
 35 
 
 35 
 
 •a tuo 
 in ■» B 
 
 >. eft 
 
 24 
 
 24 
 29 
 30 
 26 
 26 
 26 
 26 
 22 
 
 23 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 26 
 
 26-30 
 
 26-30 
 
 26-30 
 
 26-30 
 
 26-30 
 
 26-30 
 
 26-30 
 
 26-30 
 
 26-30 
 
 22-26 
 
 25 
 
 25 
 
 25 
 25 
 25 
 
 25 
 
 25 
 
 25 
 
 25 
 
 25 
 
 25 
 25 
 25 
 25 
 
 11,627 
 
 80,020} 
 
 83.483+ 
 103,288} 
 155.295 
 • 288,069 
 ' 282,662} 
 414.727 
 688,789 
 864,330 
 
 i.i54.437i 
 1,125,123^ 
 
 1.033.392 
 
 1,077,026 
 
 1,016,086 
 
 793.882 
 
 866,841 
 
 g4i.544 
 
 842,049 
 
 859,203 
 
 1,065,752 
 
 1,652,301 
 
 2,036,835 
 
 2,444 935 
 2,245,180 
 2,194,848 
 2,497."3 
 2,275,025 
 3.509.462 
 3.598,988 
 3,992,156 
 4,223,130 
 5,052.855 
 5,032,831 
 4,887,238 
 3,080,242 
 4.894.527 
 S.471.431 
 6,144,158 
 
 6,784,195 
 6,934.724 
 5.385,669 
 5.8gg,757 
 6,261,118 
 6,865, go3 
 8,543.684 
 10,107,306 
 ii,o74,48g 
 ii,677,go2 
 ii,8o5,38g 
 12,452,623 
 11,967,285 
 11,521,997 
 5,692,801 
 14,462,478 
 14.703.426 
 
 O rt 
 
 109,402 
 
 131.312 
 
 250,096 
 
 456,460 
 
 631,039 
 
 743.250 
 
 842,054 
 
 692,488 
 
 978,069 
 
 816,964 
 
 86g,872 
 
 1,139.554 
 
 1.253.419 
 
 1.632,955 
 
 1,815,096 
 
 2,170,798 
 
 2.234,350 
 
 3,242,792 
 
 3,484,546 
 
 3,908,243 
 
 4,312,200 
 
 4.852,505 
 
 4,844,208 
 
 5.564.274 
 
 6,312,762 
 
 6,364.276 
 
 6,23g,g43 
 5,g72,8i8 
 6,182,451 
 4,i28,go6 
 8,212,641 
 8,715,892 
 11,086,823 
 11.895.238 
 11,610,673 
 11,071,938 
 10,253,498 
 12,806,918 
 13,949,260 
 15,174,009 
 15,084,132 
 16,269,656 
 17.339.140 
 18,614,822 
 17,309,188 
 15.305.200 
 12,928,530 
 10,935-779 
 19,443,898 
 22,547.528 
 
 15 
 19 
 23 
 9 
 7 
 17 
 18 
 
 17 
 30 
 26 
 
 137 
 33 
 34 
 58 
 52 
 25 
 
 70 
 32 
 
 55 
 60 
 61 
 57 
 27 
 56 
 65 
 
 76 
 
 6S 
 70 
 90 
 96 
 
 71 
 
 77 
 68 
 70 
 75 
 67 
 58 
 92 
 124 
 
 B 
 
 133 
 
 162 
 
 209 
 
 276 
 
 319 
 
 344 
 
 514 
 
 604 
 
 986 
 
 1,335 
 
 1,800 
 
 2,600 
 
 3,000 
 
 3i5oo 
 4,000 
 4,000 
 4,200 
 4,400 
 4,600 
 5,000 
 5,500 
 6,000 
 6,800 
 7,000 
 7,000 
 7,000 
 7,000 
 7,500 
 8,000 
 8,000 
 g,ooo 
 9,000 
 
 9,500 
 10,000 
 10,500 
 10,000 
 
 T0,000 
 11,000 
 11,000 
 11,000 
 12,000 
 14,000 
 15,241 
 15,963 
 15,212 
 
 i6,35S 
 16,384 
 16,500 
 16,845 
 16,962 
 17,211 
 16,83s 
 14,249 
 14,158 
 21,261 
 19,992 
 21,063 
 
 From 1861 to and includine 1873 the railroads or branches owned and leased were not separated in the reports. 1 t, „ *i, 1 * j 
 
 Coal si fiel for locomotives Tnstead of wood was first tried in 1857. From 1861 the locomotives were gradually changed to coal-burners, the last wood- 
 
 bun^er^d^^^pearm^^dur^^^^^^ Theywere made at Trenton. In the report for .874 the weight of rails began to be stated 
 
 as thatxjf steel and so continued, although as late as 1892 iron rails were reported, weighing 56 to 70 pounds to the yard. . , „. ■ 
 
 fc 1872 Pullman coaches began running on the road, the Erie Sleeping Car Company having provided such cars previously. Sleeping cars were running 
 regularVon the road in 1856 Sleeping cars were introduced as an experiment on the road in .843- (See page 398.) The dining cars on the Srie are owned and 
 operatedb^ Uie Erie Comiaiy. ^ ( reducing the 6-foot gauge to the standard, began in 1874, when 114 miles were put down. It was completed 
 
 between Jersey &i?y and Buffalo so that narrow-gauge cars began running 111 the way through by December 29, 1878. The third rail was taken up m 1880, but 
 in the reoort for 1883 an item of expense for the vear is charged as "for narrow-gauging rolling stock. ..... ^- . .1, . c 
 
 in '»^.f^P°J^'P^i"»»3^° ^'1"^ °'„^^g=„ileage of the main line between Jersey City and Dunkirk is due to Ganges made from time to time m the route. Some 
 reports staTfmafn line Jers^ City to Dunkirk ; others, Piermont to Dunkirk, which is about 446} miles The Soshen Radroad Company was incorporated in 
 i8?7 to sSen the main ifnTand save grade by buildink a railroad 2i miles long over a different route between Goshen, N. Y., and New Hampton. Pending 
 right of way (1898). h.„,„ .1,. pmress transportation business over the Erie. They were succeeded by Rice & Peck. In 1857 the Erie established 
 
 its own e^or^iSjI^V 4lch wal^purdf^^ states Express Company in 18^1. .In .886 the Erit replaced the United States Company by a 
 
 cX"°y o^i^own SiT&ri^ Expr^^ which was purchased by Wells, Fargo & Co. in 1888, and has since conducted this business, paying the railroad company 
 
 40 per cent, of the express gar^^g^^ Express and Inter-State Despatch are independent freight lines running over the Erie, owning the cars in use. 
 
 1 he Urie Uespatcn, commercial express, aim . . •, ,^ 'j-^^^ ^^^^ sperm cand es. Kerosene began to displace the candles in 1865, but they 
 
 The passenger cars were ""S "f"y 'ighted by '^^f^^^^J„^^^^g^"'S^l„a oil are used. The cars were orilinally heated by wood in box stoves. Coal 
 
 were in use as late as 1872. Gas-^lighting °f/?f °" '^^^^'^ heated by steam. (Speed of trains from 1886, in above table, estimated.) 
 
 Total mileage {1898) : single track, 1,857-67 i double track, sidings, and turnouts, 3,570^. 
 
484 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Table Showing the Stock, Bonded and Floating Debts of the Compaxy, the Cost of the Railroad, the Earnings 
 OF THE Railroad, and its Transportation Expenses, for Each Year since the Beginning of Operations, September 23, 
 1841, until the End of the Fiscal Year, June 30, i8g8, as They Appear from the Official Reports of the Company to 
 the Engineer and Surveyor and the Board of Railroad Commissioners of the State of New York. This Table 
 IS Intended to Show the Earning Capacity of the Railroad, and the Expenses Connected with Developing that 
 Capacity, without Regard to Collateral Income or Disbursements of the Company. 
 
 1B41. 
 1842. 
 1843. 
 1844. 
 1845. 
 1846. 
 1S47. 
 1848. 
 1349. 
 
 i3so. 
 1851. 
 1832. 
 1853. 
 1334- 
 1855. 
 1836. 
 1837- 
 1838. 
 1837. 
 18 So. 
 i86r. 
 1862. 
 1863. 
 1S64. 
 J865. 
 i856. 
 1867. 
 
 1870. 
 1871. 
 1872. 
 1873. 
 1874. 
 1873. 
 1876. 
 1877. 
 
 1879. 
 i33o. 
 i33r. 
 i332. 
 1883. 
 1834. 
 1885. 
 18S6. 
 1887. 
 
 1890. 
 1891. 
 
 l8j2. 
 
 1803. 
 1894. 
 
 1S93 
 
 1897- 
 
 ♦Capital 
 
 Stock, 
 
 as by 
 
 Charter. 
 
 5,778,891 
 3,801,286 
 3,992,290 
 7,766,99- 
 10,000,000 
 10,023,958 
 10,023,938 
 
 10,000,000 
 
 11,000,000 
 ir, GOO, 000 
 li,ooo,oco 
 ir,ooo,ooo 
 See note 
 19,973,200 
 19,973,200 
 24,228,800 
 
 24.935.''' 
 
 25,103,800 
 
 25,111,210 
 
 46.302,210 
 
 78,536,910 
 
 83,536,910 
 
 86,536,910 
 
 86,536,910 
 
 86,536,910 
 
 85.536.9io[ 
 
 86,536,910' 
 
 86.536,910 
 
 86,536,910 
 
 86,536,9101 
 
 86,536,900: 
 
 86,536,910 
 
 86,536,910 
 
 Bonded 
 Debt, 
 
 86,536,910 
 86,536,910! 
 86,536,900 
 81,536.900 
 86,536,900 
 86,536.900 
 86.536,900 
 86,336,900 
 86,536,900 
 86,336,900 
 86,336,900 
 86,336,900 
 86,336,900 
 86,536,900 
 86,536,900 
 86,373,600 
 146,000,000 
 146,000,000 
 171,090,300 
 
 None. 
 
 3,000,000 oc 
 
 3,000,000 00 
 
 3,000,000 00 
 
 3,000,000 00 
 
 5,839,918 00 
 
 9,836,36s 
 
 14,303,868 
 
 18,003,868 00 
 
 20,173,868 
 
 22,601,000 00 
 
 24,831,000 00 
 
 24,891,000 00 
 
 24,891,000 00 
 
 26,438,016 00 
 
 25,260,000 00 
 
 26,351,000 00 
 
 See note. 
 
 19.831.500 00 
 20,093,200 00 
 17,822,900 oc 
 18,285,900 00 
 22,368,834 94 
 22,429,920 00 
 23,398,300 00 
 23,398,800 00 
 23,398,800 00 
 26,398,800 00 
 26,398,800 00 
 37,917,142 70 
 45.376,814 00 
 54,271,814 00 
 54,271,814 00 
 54.271,814 00 
 54,271,814 00 
 
 See note. 
 
 66.678.501 10 
 67.173.744 85 
 67,165,665 95 
 70, 26), 137 65 
 75.267,13690 
 75,268,485 10 
 75,268,485 10 
 78,500,385 10 
 78,550.865 10 
 78.567.245 10 
 77.7.59.24s 10 
 77.756.203 10 
 77.643.883 10 
 77,643,885 10 
 77,643,885 10 
 77,643,885 
 77,644,123 10 
 78,800,125 10 
 
 125,404,100 00 
 238,832,100 00 
 238,852,100 00 
 
 Floating 
 Debt. 
 
 None 
 reported. 
 
 2,481,647 41 
 2,475.864 64 
 2.957.376 31 
 1.333,053 55 
 2,683,026 49 
 2,523,669 85 
 
 1.051,540 °3 
 991.068 91 
 
 1,982,482 42 
 732,25786 
 333.703 33 
 
 2,723,62043 
 
 See note. 
 480,663 00 
 
 I 
 
 f 
 
 2,364,238 42 
 3.638,450 29 
 3,524,813 00 
 4.893,73s 81 
 None 
 
 None. 
 
 re- 
 ported. 
 2,517,301 26 
 2,714,103 51 
 
 2.532.203 34 
 
 1,421,641 83 
 
 1,139,060 46 
 
 1,887,216 II 
 
 669,703 77 
 
 400,000 00 
 
 482,763 31 
 
 See 
 note. 
 
 tTotal Cost 
 
 of Railroad 
 
 and 
 
 Equipment. 
 
 16,430,868 00 
 20,823.381 00 
 24,028,838 20 
 27.551.20500 
 31,222,834 00 
 33,439.432 00 
 33,742,317 II 
 33,938,25400 
 34,033,680 16 
 34,058,632 63 
 35,320,907 19 
 35,574,171 97 
 .35,796,901 91 
 89,985,202 03 
 39,328,660 82 
 40,954,463 62 
 45.879.522 28 
 48,507,544 52 
 49,247,769 7° 
 36,486,603 97 
 65,131,959 01 
 73,945,587 02 
 106,904,362 22 
 108,807,687 26 
 111,630,092 26 
 115,075,900 87 
 115,955,946 63 
 117.140,287 47 
 117,445,12054 
 
 117.633.790 09 
 574,122 26 
 
 3,325-369 27 
 
 5.344.575 32 
 
 7,213,614 12 
 
 8,818,86071 
 
 9,352,70493 
 
 11,302,380 63 
 
 12,722,610 64 
 
 12,761,536 52 
 
 15,386,099 42 
 
 14.772,494 27 
 
 160,862.500 74 
 
 161,145,92243 
 
 161,621,092 44 
 
 162,739,413 26 
 
 163.598.371 02 
 
 163.827.791 22 
 164,333.398 37 
 
 No report. 
 274. 300. 131 23 
 271,727,586 49 
 273.587.26241 
 
 Grojs Eaknings, 
 
 Passenger. 
 
 Freight. 
 
 % 
 
 15,165 44 
 
 34,848 00 
 
 33,000 00 
 
 46,178 00 
 
 44.17s 35 
 
 64,754 73 
 
 100,990 74 
 
 125,722 32 
 
 363,209 96 
 
 573.15083 
 
 186,034 21 
 
 ,382,636 87 
 
 1,601,209 71 
 
 1,743,379 72 
 
 ,698,670 15 
 
 ,656,674 66 
 
 1,493,360 96 
 
 1,182,258 27 
 
 1,534-083 53 
 
 1,180,937 53 
 
 1,136,045 73 
 
 1,096,196 60 
 
 1,670,082 58 
 
 2,523,005 50 , 
 
 4,450,209 60 to. 
 
 3,593,966 20 
 
 2,931,833 45 
 
 3,531,503 88 
 
 4,043,048 82 
 
 3,968,899 82 
 
 3.972,064 70 
 
 3.329.346 84 
 
 3,651,354 18 
 
 3,705,574 06 
 
 3,461,304 31 
 
 3,427,626 45 
 
 3,220,089 88 
 
 ,900,045 50 
 
 ,i7o,°75 32 
 
 3,118,943 75 
 
 3,682,951 18 
 
 4.041,267 03 
 
 4,384,509 78 
 
 4,632,229 27 
 
 4,675,871 14 
 
 3,106,707 61 
 
 3-443,771 81 
 
 3.706,164 59 _ 
 
 3,808,390 67 15 
 
 3,894,032 81 13 
 
 5,443,598 16 22 
 5.855.445 09 22 
 5,724,819 90 24 
 5,810,284 35 23 
 5,888,898 61 19 
 5,081,307 15119 
 
 2,475.804 33I 8 
 
 2,861,094 62,11 
 5.365-479 32 21 
 5,570,600 33 23 
 
 tOther 
 Sources. 
 
 3.8: 
 
 14,523 99 
 43,677 °o 
 60,73s 00 
 79,842 00 
 82,169 66 
 120,761 75 
 153,138 681 
 185,190 93 
 425,078 12 
 564,445 15 
 091,388 II 
 ,883,198 76 
 ,337,214 52 
 ,369,390 05 
 653,301 70 
 554,721 86 
 097,610 12 
 843,310 77 
 195,869 57 
 884,343 54 
 351,464 35 
 642,914 63 
 432,234 47 
 853,087 70 
 726,264 33 
 611,023 01 
 204,688 73 
 ,780,975 86 
 583,793 73 
 ,983,347 06 
 
 861,999 74 
 509,745 47 
 015,807 85 
 ,740,042 44 
 287,399 ^^5 
 429,929 70 
 ,647,807 38 
 .087,07s 50 
 '27,414 31 
 .233.4C090 
 
 391,11533 
 979.376 61 
 642,128 38 
 213,621 15 
 773,004 60 
 394,625 00 
 ,808,180 00 
 203,285 88 
 821,210 04 
 87S.347 75 
 454,729 42 
 162,403 30 
 760,488 01 
 ,581,38041 
 187,997 67 
 009,238 28 I 
 .801,435 31 
 919,650 95 
 594,864 26 2 
 030,600 5312 
 
 21,83354 
 1,329 63 
 4,246 33 
 271,930 90 
 180,338 13 
 246,948 91 
 137.321 46 
 146,593 63 
 149.63s 43 
 126,047 39 
 132,196 22 
 115,020 61 
 103,406 52 
 124.861 40 
 143,800 18 
 173.386 89 
 124,100 92 
 167,820 35 
 180,690 96 
 
 64,302 27 
 
 94.657 79 
 227,014 78 
 33,940 72 
 532,795 49 
 ,343,244 48 
 ,153.282 26 
 ,128,13444 
 994,904 99 
 840,9':)2 66 
 463,17396 
 195,191 39 
 589,597 84 
 ,379,697 37 
 ,339,06730 
 
 969.233 45 
 
 956-396 48 
 ,188,360 34 
 
 9S9.123 48 
 ,■358,543 34 
 
 419,242 30 
 ,210,422 13 
 
 843,783 77 
 ,141,490 50 
 
 ,249,397 74 
 ,207,604 50 
 ,246,413 67 
 ,231,847 67 
 
 702.290 82 
 784,396 &i 
 
 697.291 40 
 ,090,666 98 
 
 150,669 23 
 
 Total. 
 
 % 
 
 29,689 
 
 78,525 
 
 93,335 
 
 126,020 
 
 126,343 
 
 183,316 
 
 254,119 
 
 310,913 
 
 810,140 
 
 1,1.39,125 
 
 2,281.668 
 
 3,537-764 
 
 4,318,962 
 
 5,359,958 
 
 5,488,993 
 
 6,349.990 
 
 5,742,605 
 
 5,151,616 
 
 4,882,149 
 
 5,180,321 
 
 3,390,916 
 
 7.863,972 
 
 10,246,117 
 
 12,351,480 
 
 15,300,574 
 
 13,372,809 
 
 14,317,213 
 
 14.376,871 
 
 16,721,500 
 
 16,179,461 
 
 16,868,903 
 
 18,371,887 
 
 20,012,606 
 
 18,598,896 
 
 16,876,858 
 
 15,852,461 
 
 14,708,889 
 
 10,452.296 
 
 3,192,681 
 
 15,942,022 
 
 19,453,763 
 
 21.559,911 
 
 19.995.873 
 22,802,246 
 21,637,436 
 15,490.456 
 22,500,047 
 19,327,692 
 27,217,989 
 27,004,406 
 29,039,818 
 29.263,246 
 31,692,912 
 30,638,078 
 26.308,743 
 25.792,836 
 12,061,636 
 13,477,936 
 29,051,010 
 30.771,297 
 
 Expenses of Transportation. 
 
 Mainte- 
 nance of 
 Way and 
 Real 
 
 Estate. 
 
 Not 
 
 separated 
 
 until 
 
 61,640 44 
 
 127,146 13 
 
 149,524 13 
 
 296,267 26 
 
 471,469 19 
 
 602,786 81 
 
 584,983 93 
 
 641,588 89 
 
 938.603 73 
 
 1,135,56425 
 
 1,049,187 05 
 
 :, 024, 837 16 
 
 1,049,298 48 
 
 1,367,783 90 
 
 1,830,579 56 
 
 ,680,142 04 
 
 3,501,437 79 
 
 3,460,618 39 
 
 3,001,482 82 
 
 3,303,524 .56 
 
 4,248,273 36 
 
 3,689,693 64 
 
 3.432.948 46 
 
 3,686,864 39 
 
 3,717.333 78 
 3,483,662 20 
 
 3,321,37057 
 
 2.630.486 43 
 2,295,529 46; 
 1,503,502 48 
 
 722,790 48 
 2,289,215 67 
 2,187,963 91 
 2,263,532 94 
 
 2,231.877 58 
 2,967,610 86 
 '58,355 79 
 3,403,900 41 
 2,363-359 34 
 2,444,648 79 
 2,083,916 96 
 2,058,543 79 
 2,688,108 84 
 2,864,046 88 
 2,963,990 23 
 2,904,404 37 
 2,738,806 99 
 2,491,866 65 
 1,561.245 01 
 1.515.87941 
 
 2.777.487 48 
 3,095,869 29 
 
 Repairs 
 
 of 
 
 jMachinery, 
 
 Not 
 
 separated 
 
 until 
 
 1849, 
 
 64.030 33 
 
 5S,8i3 64 
 
 230,592 16 
 
 376,364 74 
 
 434.893 88 
 560,582 14 
 
 386.894 90 
 631,17959 
 882,086 30 
 890,274 10 
 609,650 87 
 718,11473 
 808,638 14 
 
 1,063,022 06 
 1,427,043 02 
 1,760,833 33 
 2,602,420 09 
 2,555,288 83 
 2,606,412 73 
 2,843,040 29 
 3,182,63407 
 2,601,691 05 
 2,334,644 97 
 2,294,662 06 
 
 2.562.359 08 
 2,799,102 30 
 2,446,863 53 
 2,664,456 87 
 1,981,059 67 
 1.324,269 85 
 
 330,689 91 
 1,784,304 17 
 1,906,425 90 
 2,207,689 14 
 2,i6o,iig 90 
 2,733,244 73 
 1,899,657 22 
 1,313,702 60 
 2,374,228 63 
 2,393,271 07 
 2,827,296 56 
 2,983,902 28 
 4,369,363 87 
 
 3.795.360 56 
 4,266,890 57 
 
 3,934.334 67 
 3,164,033 54 
 3,273,112 31 
 1,890,871 70 
 2,180,815 58 
 4,030,261 94 
 4,883,910 49 
 
 Operating. 
 
 No report. 
 
 46.793 00 
 
 52.520 00 
 
 66,945 00 
 
 70,217 74 
 
 123,173 97 
 
 172,970 68 
 
 195.508 17 
 
 273,676 12 
 
 440,788 29 
 
 846,095 96 
 
 1,130,498 02 
 
 1,349,635 91 
 
 1,474,239 37 
 
 1,708,449 09 
 
 1,887,629 22 
 
 2,086,198 26 
 
 1,369,228 93 
 
 1,384,331 05 
 
 1,476.743 07 
 
 1.646.534 96 
 2,034,808 23 
 2,446,748 27 
 3,406,014 61 
 4,713,31109 
 5,135,63345 
 4,726,093 94 
 4,996,527 47 
 
 5.828.359 18 
 5,781,626 20 
 6,411,502 73 
 6,612,978 19 
 7,360,949 46 
 7,278,923 82 
 6,910,896 83 
 6.936,258 46 
 
 6.623.230 77 
 4.S53.342 57 
 2,019,268 38 
 7,101,179 II 
 
 7.549.535 34 
 8,784,987 98 
 8,696,096 26 
 
 9.743,721 53 
 8.111,124 75 
 5.692.446 IS 
 7,270,284 86 
 
 8.080.231 77 
 8,188,158 75 
 
 7.878.360 83 
 [1,825,103 27 
 12,623,009 II 
 14-003,837 57 
 13.432.956 53 
 12,223,580 84 
 12,272,897 51 
 
 5,732,909 74 
 7,334,264 18 
 14.473,603 74 
 14,149,044 13 
 
 Total. 
 
 46,793 00 
 52,520 00 
 66,945 00 
 70,217 74 
 
 123,17397 
 
 172,970 68 
 
 195,308 17 
 
 399,347 09 
 
 623,748 06 
 
 1,226,212 25 
 
 1,805,340 28 
 
 2,378,267 59 
 
 2,637,606 94 
 
 2,680,327 92 
 
 3,160,397 70 
 
 3,906,888 29 
 
 3,595,067 30 
 
 3,043,168 97 
 
 3,219,693 56 
 
 3.504,471 58 
 
 4,465,614 19 
 
 5,704,370 83 
 
 7,846,990 18 
 
 10,817,188 97 
 
 11,131,540 67 
 
 10,333,989 49 
 
 11.143.092 32 
 13,259,266 61 
 12,073,010 8g 
 12,199,096 16 
 12,594,504 64 
 13,640,642 32 
 13,563,738 32 
 12,679,130 95 
 12,231,201 78 
 10,016,839 60 
 
 7,363,11490 
 3,272,748 77 
 11,174,698 95 
 11,643,92s 35 
 13,256,230 06 
 
 13.088.093 74 
 15.444.583 12 
 16.358,077 74 
 13.987.329 29 
 16,008,394 60 
 17,022,465 55 
 17,620,257 36 
 17.453.38s 02 
 18,882,775 ,' 
 19.282,616 35 
 21,234,718 37 
 20,271,693 57 
 18,126,441 37 
 18,037,876 47 
 
 9,185,026 45 
 11,030,959 17 
 20,281,353 16 
 22,128,823 91 
 
 Net 
 Earnings. 
 
 31,732 00 
 
 43,215 00 
 
 59,075 00 
 
 56,128 00 
 
 62,343 00 
 
 81,149 00 
 
 1 1 5) 40s 08 
 
 410,796 53 
 
 5^5,377 55 
 
 1.055,456 40 
 
 1,732.424 25 
 
 1,940,549 77 
 
 2,722, TCJ 74 
 
 2,8c8,dC5 39 
 3,189,5^2 45 
 1,835,718 22 
 
 1.556,549 13 
 1,838,980 35 
 1,960,626 14 
 2,086,445 03 
 3.398,358 49 
 4.541,746 38 
 4,704,489 gi 
 4,483.385 88 
 4,221,268 8g 
 3,983-323 65 
 3,233,729 49 
 3,462,233 73 
 4,106,45077 
 
 4,968,509 CO 
 
 5.777,383 16 
 6,371.964 19 
 5,035,16044 
 4,197,72765 
 3,621,258 46 
 4,692,050 32 
 3,089,181 77 
 1,919,932 45 
 4,767,323 63 
 7^833-738 53 
 8,303,681 08 
 6,507.779 87 
 7-357,^63 78 
 5-279,358 34 
 1,403,126 82 
 6,491,453 13 
 ^1.^04,313 92 
 9^597,732 39 
 9.551,02099 
 10,157,042 10 
 9,980.629 58 
 10,458,194 04 
 10,366,383 06 
 8,182,302 58 
 7.754,959 68 
 2,876,610 00 
 4,446,977 80 
 8,769,657 40 
 8,642,473 91 
 
 * The orig-inal capital stock was $10,000,000. The State of New York loaned its credit to the Company for $3,000,000. That and something- over $1,500,000 
 paid in on Company stock comprised the stock debt up to 1845. No statement of the stock account was made in the reports until 1849. " Capital Stock, as by 
 Charter," means both the amount authorized by the original charter and by subsequent legislation. 
 
 t The regular annual statement of construction and equipment expenses did not begin to appear in the reports until 1849. These expenses up to and includ- 
 ing 1848 were $12,070,165, of which $4,360,702 was expended previous to the reorganization in 1845. 
 
 J " Other Sources " applies to the earnings of the railroad from mails, express, and incidental earnings entirely due to the movement of trains. These 
 items were not separated in the reports until 1849. 
 
 Note to 1861. — The property being in the hands of a Receiver, and in course of radical readjustment, no statement of the stock or bond debt was made. 
 For the years succeeding 1861 the preferred stock is included in the reported capital. From 1878 to 1888 these expenses only under reorganization-reported. 
 
 Note to 1868-69-70-71. — See " Administration of John S. Eldridge ''and "Administration of Jay Gould," Chapters XV. and XVI., for the explanation of 
 the increase in stock debt and equipment account. 
 
 Note to 1878. — Report includes last operations of the Erie Railway (Sept. 30, 1877, to May 31, 1878), and first operations of New York, Lake Erie and 
 Western (May 31. 1878, to Sept. 30, 1878). Funded debt awaiting details of reorganization. (" Administration of Hugh J. Jewett." pages 246-251.) 
 
 Note to 1883. — The N. Y., P. and O. Railroad was leased by the Erie April 30, 1883. Since then the operations of that road have been included in the Erie 
 reports— according to the terms of the lease until 1896 ; subsequently as part of the Erie system by ownership. 
 
 Note to 1895. — The report includes the five months from June 30, close of the fiscal year, to November 30, when the Erie Railroad Company succeeded 
 the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad Company. 
 
 Note to 1896. — This report is for the seven months from November 30, 1895, to June 30, 1896, end of the fiscal year. 
 
 Floating Debt.— Since 1880 no statement of a floating debt as a floating debt has been included in the State reports. 
 
 Dividends Paid.— 1848— $143,147 ; 1849— $291,585 ; 1850— $391,855.37 (these were on the basis of an agreed payment of 6 per cent, interest to the stock- 
 holders) ; 1851 — $346,859.04 ; 1852— $416,434.05 ; 1853—1252,660 ; 1854— $700,605.50 ; 1857— $1,000,000 (stock dividend from proceeds of sinking fundi; 1B62— $441,575 ; 
 1863— $1,288,124; 1864— $1,832,623.58; i865--$2,243,oi7.o2 ; t866— $567,304 ; 1867— $567,304.8=; ; 1868— $567,304.85 ; 1869-1567,304; 1872— $1,463,791 ; 1873—^1,569,- 
 437.77 ; 1880— coupons on the income bonds ; 1881— 6 per cent, on the preferred stock and coupons on the income bonds ; 1882—6 per cent, on the preferred stock ; 
 1883—6 per cent, on the preferred stock ; i88g— interest on the Income bonds and i percent, on, the preferred stock. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 485 
 
 Table Showing the Price of Erie Common Stock in Wall Street Each Year from 184S, Lowest and Highest Quota- 
 tions Each Month, and Lowest and Highest Price for Each Year. 
 
 < 
 
 January. 
 
 February. 
 
 Ma 
 
 RCH. 
 
 April. 
 
 M 
 
 \Y. 
 
 June. 
 
 Jl^ 
 i 
 
 LY. 
 
 Au( 
 
 SUST. 
 
 Septemd'r. 
 
 October. 
 
 November 
 
 Dece 
 
 MBER 
 
 For the 
 
 Year. 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 be 
 
 3, 
 
 •a 
 
 si 
 bo 
 
 ^ 
 
 •a 
 
 J5 
 OjO 
 
 xi 
 M 
 
 ^ 
 
 •a 
 
 S 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 ba 
 
 i 
 
 bjO 
 
 i 
 
 ba 
 
 
 ►J 
 
 a 
 
 hJ 
 
 £ 
 
 J 
 
 £ 
 
 K 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 2 
 
 X 
 
 
 ►J 
 
 6ii 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 
 ►4 
 
 X 
 
 
 -1 
 
 X 
 
 2 
 
 X 
 
 S 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 1848.. 
 
 74 
 
 80 
 76 
 
 79S 
 62 
 
 "S9i 
 if 
 
 72i 
 
 60} 
 
 ^\ 
 77} 
 86j 
 
 '1 
 44} 
 
 77 
 62 
 
 69i 
 
 76 S 
 
 67* 
 
 70} 
 
 c? 
 
 70} 
 
 68 
 
 73 
 
 68t 
 
 61 
 
 67* 
 
 01* 
 
 65J 
 
 58* 
 
 61} 
 
 58* 
 
 62} 
 
 60* 
 
 64 
 
 S8J 
 
 79} 
 
 1849.. 
 
 58i 
 
 62} 
 
 F' 
 
 62 
 
 60} 
 
 62J 
 
 60} 
 
 64.1 
 
 59I 
 
 61] 
 
 59* 
 
 61 
 
 6ot 
 
 61* 
 
 59* 
 
 61} 
 
 60* 
 
 62 
 
 58* 
 
 62 f 
 
 57* 
 
 62} 
 
 1850. . 
 1851.. 
 
 84; 
 
 63i 
 
 67.; 
 
 67 
 
 74* 
 
 74 V 
 
 81J 
 
 73 
 
 80} 
 
 73 
 
 78! 
 
 74 
 
 77* 
 
 72* 
 
 8oj 
 
 75 
 
 78 
 
 78* 
 
 79 
 
 77 
 
 90 
 
 564 
 
 90 
 
 ?'i 
 
 82 J 
 
 8it 
 
 91 
 
 83J 
 
 90} 
 
 81} 
 
 85S 
 
 71* 
 
 86 
 
 69I 
 
 76 
 
 71* 
 
 80* 
 
 73} 
 
 85f 
 
 81* 
 
 89} 
 
 79} 
 
 89* 
 
 71* 
 
 93* 
 
 1852 
 
 79: 
 
 8o| 
 
 86j 
 
 86 j- 
 
 90 
 
 86.1 
 
 89S 
 
 87 
 
 89 1 
 
 86.1 
 
 87 
 
 87 1 
 
 89* 
 
 89 
 
 91I 
 
 90I 
 
 91 
 
 91* 
 
 95* 
 
 93 
 
 97* 
 
 76 
 
 97* 
 
 1853- 
 
 93 
 
 94 
 
 80} 
 
 47J 
 
 92,' 
 
 S2t 
 
 88i 
 
 84* 
 
 92J 
 
 87I 
 
 91 
 
 79* 
 
 88f 
 
 76; 
 
 80* 
 
 68 
 
 .78 ■ 
 
 76 
 
 86 
 
 681 
 
 8o» 
 
 73 
 
 83* 
 
 76? 
 
 82} 
 
 68 
 
 92} 
 
 1854 ■ 
 
 7St 
 38I 
 
 6.i 
 
 S21 
 
 75* 
 
 82i 
 
 68 i 
 
 73* 
 
 68 
 
 71* 
 
 6£ 
 
 70 
 
 45? 
 
 63I 
 
 34* 
 
 49* 
 
 29 
 
 49 
 
 43 
 
 465 
 
 31* 
 
 44} 
 
 384 
 
 39 
 
 29 
 
 80} 
 
 1855.. 
 
 47i 
 
 45* 
 
 50} 
 
 48 J 
 
 53 
 
 47I 
 
 5°} 
 
 48 
 
 54* 
 
 50 
 
 53 
 
 51 
 
 54} 
 
 50 
 
 S7 
 
 49l 
 
 56} 
 
 40} 
 
 34* 
 
 44 
 
 52 
 
 38* 
 
 57 
 
 1856.. 
 
 53 
 63 
 
 51S 
 
 59i 
 
 5S| 
 
 58} 
 
 565 
 
 57 
 
 56 
 
 sH 
 
 56i 
 
 S8i 
 
 621 
 
 64 
 
 56 
 
 61I 
 
 58.i 
 
 62} 
 
 60 
 
 62 
 
 57* 
 
 61} 
 
 &* 
 
 61} 
 
 50} 
 
 62S 
 
 1857.. 
 
 52! 
 
 61^ 
 
 53i 
 
 S"** 
 
 52 
 
 s^i 
 
 33 
 
 42 1 
 
 .3°* 
 
 39 
 
 27 
 
 35} 
 
 25* 
 
 34S 
 
 17 
 
 21* 
 
 17} 
 
 13} 
 
 12* 
 
 17 
 
 16 
 
 17* 
 
 12* 
 
 63 
 
 1858.. 
 
 20 
 
 21* 
 
 22J 
 13 i 
 
 37 
 
 25 
 
 34! 
 
 21J- 
 
 =5* 
 
 21} 
 
 25* 
 
 16} 
 
 20 
 
 17* 
 
 18 
 
 16J 
 
 17} 
 
 18 
 
 18} 
 
 14* 
 
 I7i 
 
 15} 
 
 i6| 
 
 17} 
 
 17* 
 
 14J 
 
 37 
 
 iSi9. • 
 
 14!" 
 
 14 
 
 tji 
 
 14 
 
 ^^* 
 
 13- 
 
 II* 
 
 13 
 
 10 
 
 III 
 
 9l 
 
 94 
 
 9 
 
 91- 
 
 8| 
 
 8* 
 
 8 
 
 gi 
 
 7} 
 
 8 
 
 8* 
 
 9* 
 
 7} 
 
 I5i 
 
 j36o.. 
 
 8i 
 
 9 
 
 81 
 
 9J 
 
 SI 
 
 lof 
 
 loj- 
 
 18 
 
 16 
 
 233- 
 
 17 
 
 215 
 
 i8; 
 
 24I 
 
 23 
 
 31 
 
 26} 
 
 43 
 
 27} 
 
 43 
 
 26 
 
 345 
 
 24 
 
 39 
 
 8* 
 
 43 
 
 1861,. 
 
 34* 
 
 40 !■ 
 
 .30 
 
 313 
 
 30 
 
 3| 
 
 17 
 
 32J 
 
 19 1 
 
 23I 
 
 21 
 
 23i- 
 
 22} 
 
 29 
 
 24! 
 
 26} 
 
 24I 
 
 26-i 
 
 25} 
 
 34* 
 
 29} 
 
 35* 
 
 24S 
 
 33 
 
 17 
 
 40* 
 
 1S62. . 
 
 3i| 
 
 36} 
 85i 
 
 33 
 
 35! 
 
 34J 
 
 38 
 
 36 1 
 
 37-i 
 
 .35) 
 
 4°! 
 
 35} 
 
 39* 
 
 33 
 
 37 
 
 33i 
 
 39* 
 
 36I 
 
 495 
 
 49 
 
 65* 
 
 59 
 
 ^■4} 
 
 60 
 
 63} 
 
 31} 
 
 65I 
 
 1863.. 
 
 66 
 
 70 
 
 80} 
 
 74* 
 
 So; 
 
 76 
 
 84* 
 
 84* 
 
 105 
 
 90I 
 
 98 
 
 92* 
 
 1034 
 
 103 
 
 122 
 
 loi 
 
 118* 
 
 i;61 
 
 no; 
 
 99* 
 
 no* 
 
 104* 
 
 109 
 
 66 
 
 122 
 
 1864.. 
 
 io6i 
 
 "3 
 
 '^1 
 
 '24S 
 
 "3 
 
 126.) 
 
 107 
 
 123 
 
 107 
 
 i'7* 
 
 1 10^ 
 
 118 
 
 108 [ 
 
 1.6 
 
 108* 
 
 113* 
 
 93 
 
 109 
 
 86 
 
 98 
 
 93* 
 
 104* 
 
 82 
 
 96} 
 
 82 
 
 126 
 
 1865.. 
 
 66f 
 
 85! 
 
 69! 
 
 77* 
 
 43 
 
 r 
 
 51* 
 
 86J 
 
 7oi 
 
 Sol 
 
 71} 
 
 78* 
 
 78* 
 
 95 
 
 79* 
 
 92* 
 
 86} 
 
 91* 
 
 88* 
 
 93* 
 
 91} 
 
 94* 
 
 92 
 
 97 
 
 45 
 
 97 
 
 1866.. 
 
 8oJ 
 
 93 
 
 70 
 
 85! 
 
 74." 
 
 87 
 
 71} 
 
 79* 
 
 55* 
 
 75 
 
 57* 
 
 65} 
 
 62 
 
 77* 
 
 661 
 
 74} 
 
 68} 
 
 80 1 
 
 8ii 
 
 95 
 
 7°* 
 
 86J 
 
 65* 
 
 74* 
 
 55* 
 
 85* 
 
 1867.- 
 
 52 > 
 
 58 
 
 l^t 
 
 6iJ 
 
 52 
 
 61} 
 
 53 
 
 64 
 
 58J 
 
 65} 
 
 58} 
 
 67* 
 
 6s5 
 
 77* 
 
 664 
 
 76J 
 
 59 
 
 71* 
 
 63} 
 
 76* 
 
 65* 
 
 72* 
 
 71 
 
 74* 
 
 52 
 
 77* 
 
 1868.. 
 
 38 
 
 7BJ- 
 
 67} 
 
 78! 
 
 65} 
 
 81} 
 
 65 f 
 
 75 
 
 68} 
 
 72} 
 
 68 
 
 71} 
 
 67* 
 
 71 
 
 451 
 
 68* 
 
 46 
 
 52* 
 
 39} 
 
 49* 
 
 35* 
 
 54 
 
 37* 
 
 41 
 
 35* 
 
 78* 
 
 i86q.. 
 
 40} 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 27 
 
 42 
 
 29I 
 
 34} 
 
 27 
 
 30 
 
 21 
 
 27* 
 
 27 
 
 40* 
 
 1870.. 
 
 22} 
 
 25 
 
 24J 
 
 281 
 
 24} 
 
 '26! 
 
 '23* 
 
 23} 
 
 '23^ 
 
 '24} 
 
 21.1 
 
 '25} 
 
 2D', 
 
 '231 
 
 '2;* 
 
 24; 
 
 22 
 
 23} 
 
 22 
 
 23} 
 
 22 
 
 25} 
 
 22} 
 
 24} 
 
 20I 
 
 2=} 
 
 1871. 
 
 21} 
 
 23* 
 
 2li 
 
 23I 
 
 i8i 
 
 22J 
 
 20 
 
 22 1 
 
 2 -1 
 
 314 
 
 26 
 
 31} 
 
 27J 
 
 29 1 
 
 28.} 
 
 31'. 
 
 29* 
 
 33 
 
 26J 
 
 32 1 
 
 281 
 
 314 
 
 3°; 
 
 35 i 
 
 70 
 
 35* 
 
 187=.. 
 
 30 
 
 38 y 
 
 30 
 
 ¥1 
 
 32* 
 
 67* 
 
 6oi 
 
 72 
 
 C2 
 
 75.* 
 
 50* 
 
 66} 
 
 50} 
 
 59? 
 
 44* 
 
 ~52i 
 
 47I 
 
 54 
 
 473 
 
 55 
 
 48' 
 
 57* 
 
 51} 
 
 623 
 
 30 
 
 75* 
 
 1873 . 
 
 5^^ 
 
 66 
 
 63 
 
 691 
 
 62i 
 
 66} 
 
 59} 
 
 65} 
 
 6it 
 
 64 1 
 
 58 
 
 65* 
 
 58} 
 
 62 
 
 58* 
 
 62 
 
 50} 
 
 57* 
 
 44! 
 
 53* 
 
 35* 
 
 47 
 
 42* 
 
 47} 
 
 425 
 
 «9l 
 
 1874.. 
 
 46; 
 
 51 
 
 '^^1" 
 
 S=J 
 
 371 
 
 4°J 
 
 34 
 
 40} 
 
 34i 
 
 36} 
 
 264 
 
 34} 
 
 30 
 
 331 
 
 31* 
 
 341 
 
 334 
 
 38} 
 
 27 
 
 36 
 
 26} 
 
 29} 
 
 26 
 
 29 1 
 
 26 
 
 51} 
 
 1S75.. 
 
 23 
 
 3f 
 
 26i 
 
 29} 
 
 26J 
 
 35* 
 
 28} 
 
 32.1 
 
 i61- 
 
 30 J 
 
 I2I 
 
 18} 
 
 13-; 
 
 15I 
 
 14* 
 
 16J 
 
 15I 
 
 20* 
 
 14I 
 
 i8} 
 
 14} 
 
 1S4 
 
 15 
 
 17} 
 
 12* 
 
 35* 
 
 1876.. 
 
 15/ 
 
 18 
 
 16} 
 
 18} 
 
 17* 
 
 23} 
 
 131 
 
 20i 
 
 13 
 
 iSl 
 
 I3I 
 
 15 
 
 13J 
 
 I4i 
 
 8* 
 
 14} 
 
 9 
 
 10} 
 
 9l 
 
 12* 
 
 9} 
 
 II* 
 
 7} 
 
 lol 
 
 9 
 
 23} 
 
 1877.. 
 
 9; 
 
 10} 
 
 7 
 
 9» 
 
 S 
 
 8 
 
 4S 
 
 7i 
 
 61 
 
 7i 
 
 5l 
 
 6} 
 
 6} 
 
 9-J 
 
 8* 
 
 12 ;- 
 
 10 
 
 13I 
 
 11* 
 
 15 
 
 81 
 
 121 
 
 7* 
 
 10* 
 
 5 
 
 13* 
 
 1878-.. 
 
 7; 
 
 10 
 
 9 
 
 9S 
 
 9! 
 
 I-* 
 
 loj 
 
 13* 
 
 11} 
 
 15} 
 
 14* 
 
 17* 
 
 I5i 
 
 18} 
 
 14 J 
 
 iBi 
 
 12} 
 
 14* 
 
 lo* 
 
 144 
 
 14 
 
 2Cj 
 
 17* 
 
 19 
 
 7* 
 
 18} 
 
 1879.. 
 
 2lt 
 
 27f 
 
 24 
 
 27i 
 
 23S 
 
 255 
 
 24t 
 
 27* 
 
 26* 
 
 29I 
 
 26.1 
 
 28) 
 
 27I 
 
 23* 
 
 23 
 
 28; 
 
 23} 
 
 34* 
 
 32J 
 
 431 
 
 32 
 
 49 
 
 37 
 
 44 
 
 21* 
 
 49 
 
 i833.. 
 
 41:' 
 
 4? 
 
 43 i 
 
 47i 
 
 43! 
 
 47* 
 
 41* 
 
 46 i 
 
 30* 
 
 43} 
 
 30 
 
 43} 
 
 3S4 
 
 44! 
 
 37if 
 
 44 1 
 
 .37} 
 
 41 1 
 
 38} 
 
 45* 
 
 42* 
 
 49 
 
 43} 
 
 SI* 
 
 30 
 
 51* 
 
 i83i.. 
 
 *l'; 
 
 52; 
 
 43} 
 
 5oi 
 
 45- 
 
 49J 
 
 44} 
 
 48} 
 
 47 
 
 515 
 
 44} 
 
 5oi 
 
 41* 
 
 47i 
 
 4ii 
 
 44; 
 
 42 
 
 46* 
 
 414 
 
 45* 
 
 441 
 
 48; 
 
 39} 
 
 46* 
 
 41I 
 
 52* 
 
 1882.. 
 
 38 1- 
 
 43 1 
 
 35, 
 
 40} 
 
 34 
 
 38a 
 
 34i 
 
 37* 
 
 345 
 
 36} 
 
 33i 
 
 37} 
 
 358- 
 
 41a 
 
 .38* 
 
 41* 
 
 39* 
 
 43* 
 
 39* 
 
 43} 
 
 34* 
 
 4C} 
 
 3SJ- 
 
 40} 
 
 34 
 
 43} 
 
 1883.. 
 
 37:^ 
 
 40J 
 
 34| 
 
 ''>. 
 
 36* 
 
 3? 
 
 365 
 
 39l 
 
 335 
 
 37* 
 
 35i 
 
 38} 
 
 34* 
 
 37* 
 
 28* 
 
 34} 
 
 29* 
 
 32* 
 
 27I 
 
 3i« 
 
 27* 
 
 3C* 
 
 26} 
 
 31} 
 
 2-1 
 
 40;- 
 
 1884 
 
 24? 
 
 28} 
 
 24} 
 
 27} 
 
 20^ 
 
 26 
 
 I7l 
 
 22} 
 
 13* 
 
 19* 
 
 iri 
 
 16 
 
 12 
 
 ■7* 
 
 IS 
 
 19* 
 
 12 
 
 16* 
 
 12^ 
 
 i5f 
 
 12 
 
 IS* 
 
 13* 
 
 IS* 
 
 12 
 
 28} 
 
 1883.. 
 
 12! 
 
 Mi 
 
 Hi 
 
 I4i 
 
 12 
 
 'i 
 
 iij- 
 
 13 
 
 9't 
 
 12 
 
 9} 
 
 10} 
 
 9} 
 
 I5i 
 
 15* 
 
 i8| 
 
 14} 
 
 17} 
 
 16 
 
 23* 
 
 21} 
 
 27* 
 
 22* 
 
 26* 
 
 9i 
 
 27J 
 
 i886.. 
 
 23 
 
 27? 
 
 24i 
 
 28J 
 
 23J 
 
 28} 
 
 23V 
 
 26J 
 
 22I 
 
 26} 
 
 26* 
 
 29i 
 
 28.1 
 
 33« 
 
 30} 
 
 34} 
 
 31* 
 
 37! 
 
 34 3- 
 
 3S* 
 
 35} 
 
 381 
 
 31} 
 
 38} 
 
 23 
 
 .385 
 
 ^lll- 
 
 30V 
 
 34} 
 
 29i 
 
 34f 
 
 33t 
 
 34» 
 
 33 1 
 
 35» 
 
 33J 
 
 35* 
 
 30S 
 
 344 
 
 28 
 
 32I 
 
 275 
 
 31S 
 
 27 
 
 32 
 
 24* 
 
 29 i 
 
 26* 
 
 3il 
 
 27* 
 
 .30} 
 
 27 
 
 35* 
 
 1888.. 
 
 27> 
 
 29^ 
 
 25 
 
 27J 
 
 22} 
 
 25} 
 
 27! 
 
 27} 
 
 23} 
 
 28} 
 
 22} 
 
 24J 
 
 24 
 
 27I 
 
 26i 
 
 28} 
 
 28 
 
 30^ 
 
 281 
 
 30} 
 
 25 
 
 29* 
 
 24} 
 
 28J 
 
 24 
 
 30* 
 
 1889.. 
 
 26f 
 
 29l 
 
 28i 
 
 30J 
 
 26 i 
 
 30 
 
 27} 
 
 29} 
 
 27J 
 
 29* 
 
 26} 
 
 28; 
 
 25; 
 
 27I 
 
 26 1 
 
 28 i 
 
 28 
 
 30; 
 
 28* 
 
 30 
 
 27* 
 
 29 
 
 2S3 
 
 28* 
 
 253 
 
 304 
 
 1890. . 
 
 26 
 
 27f 
 
 25t 
 
 27i 
 
 23* 
 
 26i 
 
 2)} 
 
 28S- 
 
 27* 
 
 29* 
 
 25} 
 
 29 
 
 25 1 
 
 26J 
 
 24S 
 
 26} 
 
 24} 
 
 26S 
 
 20i 
 
 24f 
 
 16 
 
 215 
 
 I7f 
 
 20 
 
 id 
 
 283 
 
 1891.. 
 
 19 
 
 2li 
 
 I9i 
 
 20i 
 
 I7f 
 
 19* 
 
 i8-f 
 
 22^ 
 
 19 
 
 22i 
 
 18} 
 
 20} 
 
 17I 
 
 19* 
 
 174 
 
 26S 
 
 25 
 
 31? 
 
 28! 
 
 31* 
 
 26} 
 
 3°i 
 
 29} 
 
 34* 
 
 17} 
 
 34* 
 
 1892.. 
 
 29i 
 
 34t 
 
 29* 
 
 34J 
 
 29I 
 
 33t 
 
 2,} 
 
 32i 
 
 27> 
 
 3ii 
 
 25 ! 
 
 23J 
 
 255 
 
 28J 
 
 26* 
 
 29* 
 
 24 J 
 
 26* 
 
 24* 
 
 27I 
 
 24 
 
 27* 
 
 23* 
 
 25 
 
 23! 
 
 343 
 
 ?893.- 
 
 23i 
 
 2« 
 
 20f 
 
 25f 
 
 19 
 
 22i 
 
 lU 
 
 22} 
 
 17; 
 
 20i 
 
 15,' 
 
 18} 
 
 I7i 
 
 173 
 
 10 
 
 IS 
 
 12* 
 
 i6i 
 
 13! 
 
 16 
 
 13 
 
 15I 
 
 I3i 
 
 16 
 
 lO 
 
 26^f 
 
 1894.. 
 
 I3^ 
 
 IS* 
 
 iSl 
 
 16} 
 
 16J 
 
 i8l 
 
 15} 
 
 i8i 
 
 I2f 
 
 16 
 
 "i 
 
 144 
 
 i3i 
 
 14I 
 
 12;- 
 
 16J 
 
 141- 
 
 16} 
 
 12} 
 
 13} 
 
 lo} 
 
 16* 
 
 91 
 
 12* 
 
 10} 
 
 18* 
 
 1895 •• 
 
 9t 
 
 loi- 
 
 Si 
 
 lOf 
 
 7i 
 
 10} 
 
 9S 
 
 I2J 
 
 lO^ 
 
 15* 
 
 Q* 
 
 11} 
 
 9i- 
 
 roj 
 
 8 
 
 10} 
 
 S* 
 
 131 
 
 11* 
 
 134 
 
 9} 
 
 13} 
 
 9* 
 
 :st 
 
 S 
 
 isf 
 
 T896.. 
 
 13I 
 
 i6» 
 
 i6i 
 
 I7i 
 
 14 
 
 I5i 
 
 14* 
 
 I5» 
 
 14 
 
 14} 
 
 13* 
 
 15} 
 
 13 
 
 15 
 
 loj 
 
 125 
 
 12 
 
 14* 
 
 I3I 
 
 IS 
 
 15* 
 
 17} 
 
 14 
 
 15? 
 
 12 
 
 17} 
 
 J897. . 
 
 Hi 
 
 iSt 
 
 14? 
 
 15 
 
 12: 
 
 144 
 
 II* 
 
 I3I 
 
 11* 
 
 12* 
 
 I^i 
 
 IS* 
 
 14+ 
 
 16 
 
 16 
 
 18} 
 
 16* 
 
 19 
 
 14} 
 
 17 1 
 
 13} 
 
 16* 
 
 14} 
 
 IS* 
 
 14} 
 
 18} 
 
 1898,. 
 
 14 
 
 15J 
 
 13s 
 
 i6i 
 
 11^ 
 
 14* 
 
 II 
 
 12} 
 
 12 
 
 I3I 
 
 I3I 
 
 14I 
 
 13 
 
 13* 
 
 13* 
 
 14} 
 
 13} 
 
 14S 
 
 11} 
 
 i3« 
 
 12* 
 
 14* 
 
 13I 
 
 14} 
 
 II 
 
 14* 
 
 Erie stock enjoyed barely a fictitious value until 1846, after the first reorg-anization of the Company, as there was no visible prospect of the Company being 
 able to finish the railroad, and the future of an enterprise which was to cost more than twice the amount of its authorized capital was not a tempting one for 
 investors. The stock advanced rapidly in quoted value, however, as the work of constructing' the railroad proceeded westward, and when it became known that 
 the Company intended to beg'in the payment of 6 per cent, interest on the stock then outstanding, in 18^8, Erie shares began to rise rapidly in the market. It may 
 be said that the regular dealing in Erie began in 1848, and regular daily quotations were first reported in that year. 
 
 Note to 1869.— November ^o, 1868, the Regular Board and the Open Board of Brokers each passed a resolution declaring that after January 31, 1869, it 
 "would not call or deal in any stock a registry of which was not kei)t by its company in some responsible bank or trust company or agency, with public notice of 
 number of shares thus entered for registry, and of any intended increase in the number and of the object for the issue. This action was brought about by the 
 ■secret issue of a large amount of stock in the summer and fall of t868, by which the market was ruinously demoralized (see Chapter XVI., pages 161-172). The 
 E: !:; refused to abide by the resolution, and its stock, both preferred and common, was excluded from the Exchange from January 31, i86g, until September, which 
 "will explain the absence of quotations during that time. 
 
 (For an account of some early transactions in and manipulation of Erie stock, see pages 318-320.) 
 
486 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Table Showing the Market Price of Erie Preferred Stock from June, i86i, when Its Quotations Began, until the 
 
 End op the Year i8g8. 
 
 X 
 
 January. 
 
 Febr 
 
 UARY. 
 
 March. 
 
 April. 
 
 May. 
 
 June. 
 
 July. 
 
 August. 
 
 September. 
 
 October. 
 
 November. 
 
 December. 
 
 For the 
 Year. 
 
 s 
 
 >< 
 
 i 
 
 
 ■: 
 
 fn 
 
 i 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 i 
 
 fr 
 
 i 
 
 be 
 
 i 
 
 fn 
 
 i 
 
 
 i 
 
 •a 
 
 f! 
 
 
 & 
 
 i 
 
 S 
 
 JZ 
 
 bti 
 
 ^ 
 
 ■a 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 hJ 
 
 W 
 
 ►J 
 
 K 
 
 J 
 
 ffi 
 
 ►J 
 
 m 
 
 ►J 
 
 I 
 
 J 
 
 X 
 43 
 
 J 
 
 s 
 
 ►J 
 
 X 
 
 i-i 
 
 iE 
 
 ,4 
 
 K 
 
 ►J 
 
 X 
 
 J 
 
 X 
 
 ►J 
 
 ffi 
 
 I86I.. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 43 
 
 40 
 
 43 
 
 42 
 
 49 
 
 46 
 
 48 
 
 45 
 
 53 
 
 53 
 
 61* 
 
 46 
 
 55 
 
 42 
 
 6i| 
 
 1862.. 
 
 47J 
 
 .58}- 
 
 55* 
 
 59t 
 
 .57* 
 
 62 j 
 
 60* 
 
 62} 
 
 62 
 
 67* 
 
 63t 
 
 67* 
 
 61* 
 
 64* 
 
 62* 
 
 69* 
 
 67* 
 
 83* 
 
 Si* 
 
 93 
 
 88j- 
 
 92* 
 
 93 
 
 97 
 
 47* 
 
 97 
 
 1863.. 
 
 97i 
 
 108 
 
 99 
 
 103* 
 
 95 
 
 lOI* 
 
 96 
 
 103 
 
 102 
 
 III* 
 
 T02 
 
 106* 
 
 102* 
 
 105} 
 
 I02f 
 
 mi 
 
 102 
 
 io8f 
 
 104* 
 
 io5f 
 
 loot 
 
 105 
 
 Id 
 
 103! 
 
 95 
 
 iiif 
 
 1864.. 
 
 TOI 
 
 I04i 
 
 lOI* 
 
 109 
 
 105* 
 
 115* 
 
 107 
 
 116 
 
 106* 
 
 log 
 
 108* 
 
 "3 
 
 107 
 
 "5* 
 
 109* 
 
 112J 
 
 10 1 
 
 109 
 
 99 
 
 104* 
 
 too 
 
 lOb* 
 
 100 
 
 103* 
 
 100 
 
 116 
 
 1865.. 
 
 90 
 
 100* 
 
 90 
 
 93* 
 
 70 
 
 90 
 
 74 
 
 92 
 
 77* 
 
 90 
 
 81* 
 
 85 
 
 85 
 
 88 
 
 80 
 
 87* 
 
 82 
 
 87* 
 
 82 
 
 86 
 
 82 
 
 84 
 
 85 
 
 86 
 
 70 
 
 ICO+- 
 
 1866.. 
 
 81 
 
 m 
 
 80 
 
 82I- 
 
 80 
 
 81 
 
 79 
 
 8oi 
 
 74 
 
 80 
 
 72 
 
 76 
 
 72* 
 
 78J 
 
 72* 
 
 79 
 
 75 
 
 81* 
 
 79* 
 
 87 
 
 82 
 
 86* 
 
 82 
 
 86 
 
 72 
 
 86 
 
 1867.. 
 
 69 
 
 79 
 
 70 
 
 75 
 
 69 
 
 73 
 
 69* 
 
 72 
 
 71* 
 
 73 
 
 72 
 
 75* 
 
 75* 
 
 78 
 
 76 
 
 79 
 
 74 
 
 7t* 
 
 75 
 
 80 
 
 76 
 
 So 
 
 79 
 
 81 
 
 69 
 
 8t 
 
 1868.. 
 
 72 
 
 83 
 
 75 
 
 83 
 
 74 
 
 80S 
 
 69 
 
 75 
 
 74 
 
 77 
 
 75 
 
 76 
 
 76} 
 
 7.5* 
 
 68 
 
 73* 
 
 68 
 
 70* 
 
 bs 
 
 71 
 
 59 
 
 65 
 
 60 
 
 95 
 
 59 
 
 95 
 
 1869.. 
 
 Oli 
 
 04 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 57* 
 
 71 
 
 54 
 
 59* 
 
 42 
 
 53 
 
 39 
 
 46 
 
 42 
 
 64 
 
 I8/D.. 
 
 37 
 
 43* 
 
 40 
 
 45* 
 
 42 
 
 52 
 
 47* 
 
 SO 
 
 46 
 
 50 
 
 45 
 
 4b 
 
 44* 
 
 44+ 
 
 45 
 
 47 
 
 4b 
 
 481 
 
 45 
 
 49* 
 
 47* 
 
 51* 
 
 47 
 
 48 
 
 37 
 
 51* 
 
 I87I,. 
 
 40* 
 
 47* 
 
 44 
 
 40 
 
 44 
 
 46 
 
 45 
 
 46 
 
 47* 
 
 57 
 
 55 
 
 57 
 
 57 
 
 58 
 
 58 
 
 60 
 
 60 
 
 6s 
 
 6o' 
 
 66 
 
 61 
 
 70 
 
 64 
 
 69J 
 
 44 
 
 70 
 
 1872.. 
 
 64 
 
 br 
 
 62 
 
 62 
 
 60 
 
 83* 
 
 79 
 
 84* 
 
 82 
 
 87 
 
 78* 
 
 84* 
 
 73 
 
 80 
 
 68* 
 
 74* 
 
 bq 
 
 71I 
 
 70* 
 
 74* 
 
 71 
 
 74 
 
 73 
 
 79 
 
 60 
 
 84f 
 
 lb,,.. 
 
 77 
 
 80J 
 
 78 
 
 82 
 
 74 
 
 79* 
 
 73 
 
 75* 
 
 72 
 
 74 
 
 73* 
 
 74* 
 
 72 
 
 73* 
 
 72 
 
 73* 
 
 6b 
 
 73* 
 
 64* 
 
 70* 
 
 56* 
 
 67» 
 
 71 
 
 71 
 
 56* 
 
 75* 
 
 187* 
 
 75 
 
 ' 75 
 
 72* 
 
 74I 
 
 64* 
 
 70 
 
 5b 
 
 65 
 
 6i 
 
 61 
 
 55 
 
 55 
 
 47* 
 
 47* 
 
 47* 
 
 48* 
 
 33* 
 
 ■38J 
 
 27 
 
 36 
 
 2bt 
 
 29* 
 
 26 
 
 29* 
 
 26 
 
 74* 
 
 1875.. 
 
 51 
 
 53 
 
 
 
 42 
 
 50 
 
 42* 
 
 44 
 
 25 
 
 41 
 
 20 
 
 24* 
 
 
 
 28 
 
 28 
 
 32* 
 
 40 
 
 35 
 
 36 
 
 
 
 30+ 
 
 32 
 
 20 
 
 53 
 
 1876.. 
 
 30 
 
 354 
 
 31 
 
 3.Si 
 
 35 
 
 39 
 
 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 20 
 
 21 
 
 21 
 
 20 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 20 
 
 16 
 
 16 
 
 16 
 
 17* 
 
 16 
 
 
 1877.. 
 
 26 
 
 30 
 
 20 
 
 26i 
 
 20 
 
 23 
 
 17 
 
 22* 
 
 21* 
 
 26 
 
 22*- 
 
 28 S 
 
 28 
 
 33* 
 
 23 
 
 29* 
 
 26:* 
 
 31* 
 
 20 
 
 30* 
 
 27J 
 
 31 
 
 2r* 
 
 28+ 
 
 17 
 
 33* 
 
 IS78.. 
 
 22 
 
 22 
 
 22 
 
 22 
 
 21* 
 
 24* 
 
 23* 
 
 27* 
 
 26* 
 
 32 
 
 30 
 
 33 
 
 30 
 
 35 
 
 29* 
 
 34* 
 
 28 
 
 28 
 
 22* 
 
 28 
 
 31 
 
 32 
 
 29 
 
 33 
 
 22 
 
 35 
 
 1875.. 
 
 37i 
 
 5li 
 
 43i 
 
 50 
 
 42* 
 
 46I 
 
 45 
 
 494 
 
 48 
 
 54 
 
 49* 
 
 52* 
 
 51* 
 
 53 
 
 44 
 
 53 
 
 45* 
 
 60 
 
 ,6* 
 
 67+ 
 
 60 
 
 78* 
 
 05* 
 
 72 
 
 42,1 
 
 78+ 
 
 iSSd.. 
 
 bvt, 
 
 73t 
 
 70 
 
 73* 
 
 68* 
 
 72i 
 
 63* 
 
 70S 
 
 47 
 
 6,S 
 
 47 
 
 70* 
 
 64* 
 
 72+ 
 
 65 
 
 73 
 
 66 
 
 71* 
 
 70 
 
 76 
 
 72 
 
 82* 
 
 77 
 
 93+ 
 
 
 93* 
 
 i83i.. 
 
 88 
 
 95 
 
 82* 
 
 92* 
 
 84 
 
 90* 
 
 84 
 
 89 
 
 88 
 
 P2j 
 
 86 
 
 91* 
 
 80* 
 
 88J 
 
 81* 
 
 88 
 
 82 
 
 91 
 
 84* 
 
 88J 
 
 88* 
 
 96* 
 
 89 
 
 94* 
 
 82 
 
 96+ 
 
 1832.. 
 
 79 
 
 «5 
 
 73 
 
 80J 
 
 67 
 
 77i 
 
 71* 
 
 78 
 
 72 
 
 74 
 
 bq+ 
 
 75 
 
 73 
 
 81* 
 
 77 
 
 81* 
 
 80 
 
 87* 
 
 83* 
 
 87* 
 
 801 
 
 85* 
 
 82* 
 
 881 
 
 67 
 
 88*- 
 
 i38j.. 
 
 79* 
 
 83 
 
 75 
 
 80 
 
 
 
 80* 
 
 8:* 
 
 78 
 
 79* 
 
 79 
 
 81* 
 
 76 
 
 80 
 
 72 
 
 76 
 
 75* 
 
 78* 
 
 72 
 
 77 
 
 72* 
 
 78 
 
 77* 
 
 78 
 
 72 
 
 8i* 
 
 i88t . 
 
 
 70 
 
 
 70 
 
 57* 
 
 71 
 
 47* 
 
 58* 
 
 32 
 
 5°* 
 
 20 
 
 34* 
 
 25 
 
 34* 
 
 33 
 
 39 
 
 25 
 
 34* 
 
 20 
 
 30 
 
 25 
 
 32 
 
 27 
 
 35 
 
 20 
 
 68* 
 
 1S8,, . 
 
 23 
 
 30 
 
 20 
 
 30 
 
 24 
 
 29 
 
 21 
 
 23* 
 
 19 
 
 23 
 
 18 
 
 22 
 
 22 
 
 31 
 
 31 
 
 39 
 
 34 
 
 38* 
 
 37 
 
 46 
 
 44 
 
 57 
 
 46t 
 
 54* 
 
 18 
 
 54+ 
 
 iS35 
 
 5o.i- 
 
 58 
 
 5ii 
 
 63* 
 
 57 
 
 64 
 
 54 
 
 61* 
 
 52* 
 
 60 
 
 59l 
 
 6^ 
 
 62* 
 
 78 
 
 72* 
 
 78* 
 
 73* 
 
 8h 
 
 75 
 
 78I 
 
 76 
 
 79* 
 
 70 
 
 781 
 
 50+ 
 
 78J 
 
 1887 
 
 bSi 
 
 73i 
 
 65* 
 
 74* 
 
 70I 
 
 7.3* 
 
 72} 
 
 74* 
 
 72 
 
 76 
 
 68 
 
 74* 
 
 66S- 
 
 71* 
 
 64 
 
 71* 
 
 61* 
 
 70* 
 
 59 
 
 67 
 
 62 
 
 68+ 
 
 63+ 
 
 67* 
 
 59 
 
 74* 
 
 1333 
 
 61 
 
 05* 
 
 57 
 
 62* 
 
 53 
 
 58* 
 
 53* 
 
 boj 
 
 54 
 
 61 
 
 52 
 
 56 
 
 55* 
 
 62J 
 
 61* 
 
 65* 
 
 6,* 
 
 67* 
 
 64* 
 
 67* 
 
 60 
 
 66+ 
 
 59 
 
 63* 
 
 52 
 
 6-!+- 
 
 i83j,. 
 
 6i 
 
 66 
 
 66 
 
 7° 
 
 66 
 
 70* 
 
 67 
 
 71* 
 
 68} 
 
 71} 
 
 b7 
 
 70* 
 
 62 
 
 67 
 
 62} 
 
 69 
 
 68* 
 
 7n 
 
 68 
 
 70 
 
 65 
 
 67* 
 
 62 
 
 67* 
 
 6t 
 
 71* 
 
 iSjo.. 
 
 60 
 
 65i 
 
 60 
 
 64 
 
 59 
 
 03* 
 
 60* 
 
 67 
 
 65 
 
 69* 
 
 
 
 65 
 
 66 
 
 64 
 
 65 
 
 60 
 
 65 
 
 55 
 
 65 
 
 47 
 
 51* 
 
 46 
 
 51* 
 
 46 
 
 69* 
 
 1891., 
 
 4»+ 
 
 52 
 
 5ii 
 
 54* 
 
 50 
 
 52* 
 
 .51* 
 
 56* 
 
 49* 
 
 55* 
 
 47* 
 
 53 
 
 48* 
 
 5° 
 
 49 
 
 b4t 
 
 62* 
 
 72* 
 
 66* 
 
 71 
 
 64* 
 
 7°* 
 
 69 
 
 77* 
 
 47 i 
 
 77+ 
 
 1892.. 
 
 7of 
 
 75* 
 
 7ii- 
 
 70.t 
 
 73 
 
 77i 
 
 71 
 
 75!f 
 
 65 
 
 73 
 
 63* 
 
 67 
 
 62* 
 
 bSJ 
 
 64* 
 
 69 
 
 bi 
 
 63* 
 
 61 
 
 64 
 
 56 
 
 63* 
 
 53* 
 
 56* 
 
 53* 
 
 77* 
 
 1893 . 
 
 53 
 
 58' 
 
 47* 
 
 59i 
 
 43* 
 
 49* 
 
 46 
 
 49 
 
 3b* 
 
 42 
 
 33 
 
 .38* 
 
 15 
 
 34 
 
 21* 
 
 29* 
 
 26* 
 
 34 
 
 29 
 
 32 
 
 28* 
 
 32 
 
 31* 
 
 33* 
 
 15 
 
 58 
 
 i89t.. 
 
 29.} 
 
 33S 
 
 32* 
 
 38* 
 
 37* 
 
 .39* 
 
 33* 
 
 35 
 
 25* 
 
 31 
 
 27* 
 
 29* 
 
 274 
 
 29 
 
 26* 
 
 31 
 
 29 
 
 31 
 
 26 
 
 28 
 
 28} 
 
 31 
 
 23 
 
 24 
 
 23 
 
 30* 
 
 1895-. 
 
 20!t 
 
 n 
 
 16 
 
 21* 
 
 16 
 
 20 
 
 21* 
 
 25 
 
 25 
 
 3° 
 
 22 
 
 324 
 
 23* 
 
 23* 
 
 21 
 
 27 
 
 20* 
 
 26 
 
 24* 
 
 26* 
 
 20* 
 
 23+ 
 
 20 
 
 23* 
 
 16 
 
 32J 
 
 1S96.. 
 
 
 
 
 
 37, 
 
 4if 
 
 38 
 
 41 
 
 35* 
 
 39 
 
 33 
 
 38 
 
 27 
 
 34* 
 
 28 
 
 28J 
 
 27* 
 
 31* 
 
 31 
 
 34* 
 
 33* 
 
 38* 
 
 33f 
 
 36 
 
 
 4if 
 
 1897.. 
 
 33 
 
 35* 
 
 331 
 
 35* 
 
 27* 
 
 34* 
 
 27 
 
 29* 
 
 29* 
 
 31 
 
 31* 
 
 34* 
 
 33* 
 
 38 
 
 37* 
 
 43* 
 
 40* 
 
 4bi 
 
 35* 
 
 42* 
 
 33* 
 
 37 
 
 35# 
 
 39* 
 
 27 
 
 46* 
 
 18 j8.. 
 
 37 
 
 39t 
 
 3» 
 
 43* 
 
 31* 
 
 39* 
 
 29* 
 
 34* 
 
 33* 
 
 3b* 
 
 35* 
 
 37* 
 
 33* 
 
 36* 
 
 35 
 
 39* 
 
 35 
 
 38* 
 
 31* 
 
 35* 
 
 31* 
 
 37* 
 
 35* 
 
 39* 
 
 31* 
 
 30* 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 22* 
 
 25 
 
 2I| 
 
 24 
 
 20* 
 
 21* 
 
 19 
 
 21* 
 
 17 
 
 20I- 
 
 13 
 
 16 
 
 17* 
 
 iS* 
 
 18 
 
 19* 
 
 20 
 
 23+ 
 
 20 
 
 20* 
 
 13 
 
 25 
 
 1897.. 
 
 2J 
 
 21 
 
 I9t 
 
 igt 
 
 iB 
 
 194 
 
 17 
 
 17 
 
 15* 
 
 15* 
 
 18* 
 
 20 
 
 19* 
 
 20S 
 
 20t 
 
 254 
 
 21* 
 
 25* 
 
 IQ* 
 
 23+ 
 
 18I 
 
 20* 
 
 19 
 
 20+ 
 
 I5i 
 
 25f 
 
 1398.. 
 
 i8i 
 
 20i 
 
 18* 
 
 21* 
 
 16 
 
 i8t 
 
 IS* 
 
 16* 
 
 lb* 
 
 19* 
 
 17 
 
 19* 
 
 17* 
 
 17* 
 
 18* 
 
 20 
 
 17* 
 
 18* 
 
 16* 
 
 17* 
 
 16 
 
 18} 
 
 18 
 
 20 
 
 15* 
 
 2lf 
 
 The original preferred stock of the Erie Railway Company was $8,831,500, and was the result of the reorganization in 1861 (see Chapter XIII.). From- 
 March, 1896, the above figures represent the quotations of the first and second preferred stock, the three last rows of figures being the quotations of the second 
 preferred. These two classes of stock were the result of the reorganization in 1895 (see Chapter XX., page 279). 
 
 Where there are blanks in the columns no quotations were reported. 
 
FAMOUS CHARACTERS IN ERIE. 
 
 1 854-1 868. 
 
 Daniel Drew was born at Carmel, Putnam County, N. Y., 
 July 29, 1797, the son of a poor farmer. At the age of 
 fifteen he went as a substitute for a man who had lieen drafted 
 in the army for the War of 181 2. He served liis time in the 
 
 DANIEL DREW. 
 
 army, and became a drover when he returned home. He 
 was so successful that, in 1829, he established himself as a 
 wholesale dealer in cattle in New York, with headquarters at 
 the old Bull's Head Tavern, which stood on the corner of 
 Twenty-ninth Street and Third Avenue. His transactions 
 were vast. One of them was the purchase of 2,000 head of 
 cattle in Ohio and Kentucky, uniting them in one great 
 
 drove, and having them driven to New York. They were 
 the first cattle ever driven eastward across the Alleghany 
 Mountains. They were two months on the way. Daniel 
 Drew soon became the leading cattle dealer in the country, 
 and the large sums of money he made enabled him to rapidly 
 increase them by acting as banker for other drovers who 
 needed capital. In 1834 Daniel Drew became interested in 
 steamboats on the Hudson River. By 1836 he had 
 established such a strong opposition to the old-estab- 
 lished line to Albany, that the old company was com- 
 pelled to divide its business with him. In 1839 he estab- 
 lished the famous People's Line, and in 1845 placed on 
 the river two steamboats that were in that day looked 
 upon as floating palaces — the " Isaac Newton " and the 
 " N,ew World." They were 300 feet long and had 500 
 sleeping-berths. Later he added the " Daniel Drew," 
 the " Dean Richmond," and the " St. John." Commo- 
 dore Vanderbilt, in 1850, joined Mr. Drew, and they 
 purchased the Boston and Stonington Railroad, and put 
 the steamboats "Commodore" and " C. Vanderbilt" 
 on Long Island Sound, to run in connection with it 
 from New York. 
 
 It was about this time that Daniel Drew began to be 
 felt as a power in Wall Street, which he had entered by 
 establishing a brokerage house in which Nelson Robin- 
 son and R. W. Kelley, Drew's son-in-law, were partners. 
 He subsequently took in as his partner E. D. Stanton, 
 a confidential clerk of his, but retired from the iirm a 
 few years later, after which all his transactions were con- 
 ducted by brokers. In 1854 Daniel Drew became 
 prominently interested in the Erie as a director. He was 
 elected treasurer. He and Commodore Vanderbilt 
 worked together in their speculations for years. In 
 1857 Drew resigned as treasurer of Erie, but continued 
 a power in its affairs. In 1863 he became acquainted 
 with James Fisk, Jr., who had just come to New York 
 from Boston, to try his luck in Wall Street. Drew 
 was anxious to dispose of his Stonington line of 
 steamers, and Fisk undertook their sale. He nego- 
 tiated a sale that was so favorable to Drew that the latter 
 became Fisk's backer in establishing the house of Fisk 
 & Belden, brokers, and in 1867, having in the meantime also 
 become impressed with the capacity of Jay Gould, who was 
 also doing business as a broker in Wall Street, Drew made 
 both Fisk and Gould members of the Board of Directors of 
 the Erie, at the annual election. The result of this was un- 
 fortunate for Daniel Drew, for it was the beginning of his 
 decline and downfall as a Wall Street dictator, and the con- 
 
488 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 sequent loss of the great fortune he had accumulated. (" Ad- 
 ministration of John S. Eldridge," pages 147-160; " Admin- 
 istration of Jay Gould," pages 161-167 ; "Administration of 
 Peter H. Watson," pages 209-213.) 
 
 Daniel Drew retired from Wall Street in March, 1875, after 
 heavy losses. It was believed, however, that he was still 
 many times a milhonaire, but March nth, following, he filed 
 an application in involuntary bankruptcy. His liabilities were 
 sworn at §1,093,524.82, to meet which he had assets of only 
 $746,459.46, so that the once king of Wall Street, and flayer 
 of Vanderbilt in many bouts, was nearly §350,000 worse off 
 than nothing. He died a pensioner on his family, although 
 he had never given up the thought that he would yet repair 
 his lost fortune and reestablish his name among financiers. 
 
 Daniel Drew joined the Methodist Church early in life, and 
 was conspicuous for his outward expressions of piety. He 
 erected a §20,000 church in his native village, and gave §50,- 
 000 to the New York church of which he was a member. He 
 endowed what was intended to be a great theological seminary 
 at Morristown, N. J., and a Wesleyan University at Middle- 
 town, Conn., and took great pride in them ; but the expecta- 
 tions from Mr. Drew were in notes, in one case for §250,000, 
 and in. the other for §100,000. These became of no value 
 after his failure. Daniel Drew made milhons out of his specu- 
 lations in Erie stock, while a director and nominally controller 
 of its management, and many of the subsequent ills of Erie 
 were sequences of his operations and plans. 
 
 Daniel Drew was buried in the family burying ground at 
 Carmel, Tuesday, September 23, 1879. 
 
 1867-1872. 
 
 James ftsK, Jr. — At the age of five years, James Fisk, Jr., 
 who was born among the hills of Vermont, near Brattleboro, 
 was placed by his father to be reared by a neighboring 
 farmer. The farmer was kind and sent him to the district 
 school. One day the teacher whipped him for some boyish 
 prank. The farmer thereupon would not let him return to 
 school, he was so indignant, and so at the age of ten the boy 
 could scarcely read or write. There is much of vagueness 
 about the records of Fisk's early life. It is said that he 
 passed some years of it as an attach^ of A^an Amburgh's 
 circus, rising from " super " to ticket seller. It is certain, 
 however, that as a young man he was a travelling salesman, 
 or peddler, making the rounds of New England and Eastern 
 New York towns with his wagon, and doing a prosperous 
 business. The Fishkill Journal, of December 12, 1869, 
 contains this item : " The old registry books of the Union 
 Hotel, in this village, contain the names of the Erie Railroad 
 magnate, James Fisk, Jr., and his father, who, while engaged 
 in peddUng silks and other fine drygoods, stopped here no 
 longer ago than in 1858. Mr. H. F. Walcott, who kept the 
 hotel, remembers well the advent of Fisk into the place with 
 a caravan of several fine wagons, drawn by about twenty 
 horses. Some eight or ten salesmen were included in this 
 splendid itinerant mercantile establishment. They staid here 
 
 several days, making the hotel their headquarters, in the 
 meantime sending out among the surrounding villages their 
 wagons and salesmen, like raiding or foraging parties from an 
 encampment. Everything was done in the most business-like 
 manner, the salesmen making their returns regularly at the 
 counting-room, which was held in the hotel." 
 
 It is among the traditions of New England to-day that of 
 all the peddlers who ever perambulated that land of notions, 
 this particular youth was the most brilliant, the wittiest and 
 most humorous, the most unscrupulous, and the most success- 
 ful, and that it was his fashion to astound the unsophisticated 
 folk of that division of the country by the splendor of his four- 
 in-hand, the lustre of his bright red van, and the beauty of the 
 lady who accompanied him, seated high in air, upon the box 
 of his magnificent vehicle. His father had founded the 
 business in which he thus won his first laurels. An old resi- 
 dent of Connecticut, recalling some of the earlier days of 
 Fisk's career as a peddler, says that one day a customer took 
 him to ado, saying that Fisk had misrepresented the price of 
 certain goods, whereby the customer had paid a shilling more 
 than was right. 
 
 "What ! " said Fisk. " Do you think I would tell a lie for 
 a shilling? Ridiculous ! I might tell eight lies for a dollar, 
 but one lie for a shilling ! Pooh ! That would be petty 
 larceny ! " 
 
 About the time of the breaking out of the Civil War Fisk 
 became connected with the large drygoods house of Jordan, 
 Marsh & Co., of Boston, as a junior partner. Having broader 
 aspirations, he disposed of his interest in that establishment 
 and went to New York, where he entered Wall Street. The 
 tradition is that he was quickly relieved of the §50,000 or 
 §60,000 with which he began his career as a financial specu- 
 lator, and was in straits, when, in 1863, he fell in with Daniel 
 Drew. Drew had an unprofitable line of steamboats on his 
 hands — the Stonington line — and wanted to get rid of it 
 without too much of a sacrifice. Fisk found a purchaser, 
 and negotiated the sale so skillfully that Drew was more than 
 pleased. He became Fisk's backer, established him as the 
 senior partner of the Wall Street firm of Fisk & Belden, and 
 in 1867 brought him, with Gould, into the Erie directory, 
 and the career of Fisk as the most spectacular and audacious 
 figure in the pubKc life of the time began. (Administrations 
 of John S. Eldridge and Jay Gould.) 
 
 When Fisk had found himself "broke " by Wall Street, he 
 had declared, " Wall Street ruined me ; Wall Street shall pay 
 for it ! " As head of the house of Fisk & Belden he at 
 once set to work to keep his vow, and the result proved that 
 he did so with a vengeance, as witness the gold corner of 
 1869, and many other coiners from which he managed to 
 escape, if not entirely unscathed, yet leaving the Street 
 clamorous with the cries of plucked and ruined victims. 
 When the Erie management fled to Jersey City in March, 
 1868, Fisk was asked how he thought the matter would end. 
 
 "Can't tell just yet," he rephed, "but it'll either be 
 inside of marble halls in New York or stone walls in Sing 
 Sing." 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 489 
 
 Knowing the value of notoriety to one whose pubhc 
 character was always tinged by a certain degree of charlatan- 
 ism, Fisk did much to keep himself in the public eye. 
 His stout figure, his attractive, if not handsome, face, his 
 elaborate costume, his enormous diamonds, his carefully 
 waxed moustaches, his high-stepping horses, his coachmen in 
 glittering livery, his showy drags and dog-carts, \xere familiar 
 sights in New York thirty years ago. He lavished Erie's 
 money on the fitting up and decoration of the Grand Opera 
 House in New York, and made it a meritorious place of 
 amusement. Its inner history can never be written, but 
 many were the strange and bizarre scenes enacted within the 
 privacy of its splendid apartments. No drama e\-er repre- 
 sented on its boards approached the unspeakable realities of 
 its off-the-stage hfe. It was his lavish display and expendi- 
 ture in this and other ways that gave Fisk the tide of Prince 
 of Erie. Besides managing the Opera House, Fisk was also 
 the manager, at the time he was one of Erie's dictators, of 
 the old Fifth Avenue Theatre, and concerned in other places 
 of amusement. 
 
 Speculation in gold was then one of the diversions of Wall 
 Street. Gould and Fisk, aided by Erie funds, and abetted 
 by high officers of the Government, so planned that in 
 September, 1869, gold — specie payments not yet having 
 been resumed after the war — was locked up to such an 
 extent by their manoeuvres that the price of it ran to 160 on 
 September 24th. 
 
 When that great premium was reached, men were crazed 
 and men were ruined. That day has passed into history as 
 Black Friday. While many were ruined, none made money 
 from the bold and gigantic scheme. The Government 
 ordered the release of the gold in its treasury, the holding 
 of which was part of the understanding between the man- 
 ipulators and the agents of the Government who were indi- 
 rectly abetting the scheme. But the awful result of further 
 holding the gold appalled them, and an order came from 
 Washington to open the treasury vaults. Thus the corner in 
 gold was broken, and the tide turned against Fisk and his 
 associates. All Wall Street rushed upon them, but they 
 escaped, and not one dollar of their loans was ever paid by 
 them. This was accomplished by Fisk's partner, Broker 
 Belden — through whom the plans had been engineered — 
 denying, in all suits that were brought to compel an account- 
 ing, that there had been any such transaction authorized by 
 Fisk or Gould. It was in his testimony before the Congres- 
 sional Committee appointed to investigate the gold comer 
 that Fisk made his famous reply to a question, a reply that 
 became the catch phrase of the day, and is still a pat ex- 
 pression on occasion. Fisk was asked what had become of 
 all the money that was involved in that gigantic transaction. 
 " It has gone," said Fisk, " where the woodbine twineth." 
 
 There never was another just such character as James 
 Fisk, Jr. He had no moral sense, so far as he cared for the 
 public estimation of him. Privately, few men did more to help 
 the cause of works that had for their purpose the advancement 
 of morality. He posed as the personification of social uncon- 
 
 ventionality. He maintained a shameless wanton in luxuri-- 
 ousness, and boasted of it. He habitually exhibited himself 
 publicly in showy and vulgar garb, driven about in gorgeous' 
 equipages. He shocked the country by the enormity and 
 number of his transgressions against propriety. He housed 
 gay women in splendid apartments, furnished and decorated 
 to their desire. He was known as the one great prince of 
 all that went to make of life an incessant round of ribald 
 pleasure, and yet he himself lived in two small second-story 
 rooms, in a modest and ordinarily-furnished house, wherein 
 he maintained his aged father and mother, casting aside en- 
 tirely the mockery and hypocrisy of his public life to become 
 the loving, doting, considerate son. To Daniel Drew he 
 owed the circumstance of his beginning the career that 
 made him powerful and famous. Later, when one word of 
 his would have saved Daniel Drew from misery, shame, and 
 loss, he refused to say the word, although Drew begged on 
 his knees for it. A man to whom he had refused to give a 
 place in the Company's employ — the man being an entire 
 stranger to him — threatened his life, and annoyed him at 
 every opportunity. The man died. Fisk sent his widow a 
 check for ^200, and free transportation for herself and three 
 children to Chicago, where her parents lived. Every scheme 
 that was planned for getting money out of Erie in the years 
 he was in the management had Fisk in it as an active factor 
 to its success, and he had the handling of millions of the 
 money. Not a dollar of it clung to his estate, and he left 
 his widow poor so far as his connection with Erie went. 
 When the unspeakable catastrophe of fire swept Chicago in 
 1 87 1, and left hundreds homeless, penniless, and suffering, 
 for the common necessaries of hfe, James Fisk, Jr., was the 
 first to hasten to their aid by dispatching a special train, laden 
 with needed supplies, to speed which on its way all regular 
 traffic on the Erie was held aside until this great messenger 
 of mercy might pass on its flight toward its destination. He 
 was entirely a man of contraries. He knew no fear, he 
 stopped at no obstacle ; he defied law, he scouted public 
 opinion. The more he was adversely criticised the better 
 he was pleased. He lived on notoriety. The gorgeous trap- 
 pings of a colonel of militia swelled him as with the pride of 
 a conquering hero, and radiant in his uniform as "admiral" 
 of a line of local steamboats, he seemed to feel that Farragut 
 in the smoke of battle was an insignificant figure compared 
 with him. His intrigues he delighted in having made public 
 in minutest detail. The fact that half a score or more of 
 needy families, and hosts of unfortunate men and women, 
 were pensioners on his unstinted bounty, he would have cut 
 his hand off rather than to have made known. He was 
 the idol of the Company's employees, particularly along the 
 line of the railroad, yet he did not hesitate, one time during 
 a strike of brakemen, to dispatch to the scene a gang of 
 New York toughs, led by "Tommy" Lynch, with orders to 
 shoot down any striker who offered any resistance to the 
 gang — an order that filled the men with utmost indignation. 
 On the heeJs of it came Fisk himself, and his very appear- 
 ance was greeted with shouts and hearty cheers and expres- 
 
490 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 sions of delight from the very men he had ordered shot — 
 such was the magnetism, the personal power, of this inex- 
 plicable man. He so dominated Erie affairs in the public 
 mind that his name invariably was mentioned first in the 
 combination. It was always " Fisk and Gould," never 
 " Gould and Fisk." Yet Fisk was not the planner. He 
 was but the executor of the plans, and the work laid out for 
 him to do he did without fear, favor, or affection. 
 
 Fisk was murdered, premeditatedly and deliberately, and 
 in a cowardly manner. When Frank Lawler, of California, 
 divorced his wife Josephine for cause, she took up her resi- 
 dence at New York, where she became known as Josie 
 Mansfield. Having failed as an actress, she, at her own 
 solicitation, was introduced to Fisk. He became her " pro- 
 tector." He fitted up for her in most luxurious style one of 
 his houses in 'West Twenty-third Street, and installed her 
 there. He gave her points and information on which she 
 made money in Wall Street. She became deep in the 
 secrets of Erie, and her house was the place where the de- 
 tails of more than one Erie scheme were planned. Then 
 the Mansfield met Edward S. Stokes, a young, handsome, 
 socially-superior man, and married. The woman broke with 
 Fisk. This ■was not the direct cause of the tragedy that 
 followed, but it was an impelling cause toward it. 
 
 Stokes's mother owned an extensive oil refinery on Long 
 Island. It was managed and controlled by the son. At the 
 suggestion of Fisk, a stock company was formed, and he and 
 friends of his became financially interested in it. Stokes was 
 made secretary of the company. One day he withdrew 
 ^250,000 from the treasury, and announced that he intended 
 to retain it, because " the treasurer had done the same." 
 Stokes was arrested at the suit of the company, and lodged 
 in jail on a charge of embezzlement. He was discharged at 
 the hearing next day by Justice Bowling, who decided that 
 the oil company was not legally organized, and was simply 
 a common partnership, from which any member of it had a 
 right to draw funds. Stokes sued Fisk to recover damages 
 on a charge of malicious prosecution, but the matter v/as 
 compromised by Fisk buying out the Stokes interest in the 
 refinery. In all the proceedings in court the Mansfield 
 woman was a witness against Fisk, her testimony tending to 
 show that Fisk had planned the ruin of Stokes. The trouble 
 o\-er the refinery transaction was revived again by Stokes 
 renewing his suit against Fisk for malicious prosecution, 
 claiming that it had not been satisfactorily settled. This, 
 and all other matters in dispute between Fisk and Stokes, 
 «ere referred to Clarence A. Seward. He decided that 
 Stokes had no claim on Fisk except in the matter of the 
 imijrisonment of Stokes in the embezzlement proceedings, 
 and for that Referee Seward awarded Stokes 1 10,000. He 
 took the money, and signed a release. He subsequently 
 brought suit to reopen the matter and to have the 'release set 
 aside, on the ground of fraud on the part of Fisk. In this 
 suit strenuous efforts were made by Stokes to have letters 
 and telegrams from Fisk to Josie Mansfield introduced as 
 evidence. These letters were of a nature that would have 
 
 compromised many people and revealed important Erie 
 secrets, besides making public many of Fisk's personal 
 affairs that he did not care to ha^'e paraded. The letters 
 were not admitted, and the suit was decided against Stokes. 
 While these proceedings were pending, Fisk had Stokes 
 arrested on a charge of blackmail. 
 
 The decision adverse to Stokes in his case against Fisk was 
 rendered on Saturday, January 6, 1872. After the proceed- 
 ings in the case terminated, a number of the lawyers con- 
 cerned in it went to Delmonico's, then on the northwest corner 
 of Broadway and Chambers Street. Stokes also went there 
 to lunch, and joined them. While they were eating, Judge 
 Barnard came in. During a conversation that ensued, involv- 
 ing matters concerned in the Fisk- Stokes litigation, Judge 
 Barnard remarked that the Grand Jury had found an indict- 
 ment against Stokes on Fisk's charge of blackmail. A^'ithout 
 a word Stokes rose hurriedly and left the restaurant. Later 
 in the afternoon he was seen at the Grand Central Llotel by 
 acquaintances, lounging about and chatting. Fisk had an 
 engagement at that hotel that afternoon, and he drove up 
 about a quarter past four o'clock. Fie went in at the ladies' 
 entrance, and was on his way upstairs, when he was con- 
 fronted by Stokes, who was at the head of the stairs. Stokes 
 drew a revolver and fired twice at Fisk. The first shot 
 missed. The second bullet entered Fisk's abdomen. Fisk 
 retreated down-stairs, but turned again, when Stokes fired a 
 third time, this bullet striking Fisk in the arm. Fisk fell. 
 The reports of the pistol had collected a crowd, which rushed 
 on the scene from different parts of the hotel, and Fisk 
 was carried upstairs and placed in a private reception-room. 
 No. 251. Dr. Fisher, the house physician, was called, and 
 messengers were dispatched for a number of eminent 
 doctors. 
 
 Stokes, meantime, had gone through to the main stairs of 
 the hotel and down to the office. His revolver was found 
 under a sofa in the parlor. At the office he announced that 
 he had shot a man who had insulted him, and advised that 
 a doctor be sent for. He made no move to get away. The 
 police were notified, and Captain Byrnes — afterward the 
 famous Superintendent Byrnes — accompanied by Officer Mc- 
 Cadden, took Stokes into custody. He was taken up-stairs, 
 where Fisk identified him as the man who shot him. 
 
 Coroner Young was notified, and he impanelled a jury to 
 take Fisk's ante-mortem statement, which Fisk signed with 
 a firm hand. 
 
 When asked by the Coroner the formal question : " Do 
 you believe you are about to die? " he replied : " I believe 
 I am in a critical condition." In reply to the question, 
 " Have you any hope of recovery? " he replied : " I hope 
 so." 
 
 It was curiously characteristic of the man that his sanguine 
 disposition to never believe himself beaten, whether by human 
 law or the law of nature, should have led him, by making 
 those reservations as to the expectation of his immediate 
 death, totally to invalidate his ante-mortem statement as 
 evidence against his assassin. 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 491 
 
 Mrs. Fisk arrived from Boston at 7.30 Sunday morning, 
 January 7 th. Her husband was then unconscious, and died at 
 a quarter of 11, without having recognized his wife, whose 
 grief was overwhehning. The murdered Prince of Erie died 
 without a groan or a murmur. 
 
 Fisk's body was taken from the Grand Central Hotel on 
 Monday, January 8th, to his residence, 313 West Twenty- 
 third Street, and from there to the Grand Opera House, 
 where it lay in state, from n o'clock. Hours before the 
 opening of the Opera House, thousands of people had 
 congregated in Twenty-third Street, and up and down 
 Eighth Avenue for blocks, putting a stop to all traffic in 
 that part of the city. The body was in a casket covered 
 with black velvet, and was dressed in the full uniform 
 of colonel of the Ninth Regiment, which Fisk had long 
 commanded. The remains were reviewed by ten thou- 
 sand people between 11 o'clock a.m. and 1.45 p.m., 
 at which time the coffin was closed and carried out. 
 The pallbearers were : Col. Emmons Clark of the Sev- 
 enth Regiment; Col. Scott of the Eighth Regiment; 
 Col. Allen of the Fifty-fifth Regiment ; Col. Storey of 
 the Sixth Regiment ; Col. Porter of the Twenty-second 
 Regiment ; and Lieut.-Col. ■\\'ebster of the First Regi- 
 ment. The Ninth Regiment and a band of 200 pieces 
 escorted the remains to the Grand Central Depot, 
 whence a special train was to convey the remains to 
 Brattleboro. The magnificent black horse Fisk was 
 -ivont to ride at the head of the regiment was led rider- 
 less behind the hearse. The streets all along the route 
 Vh^re crowded with people gathered to witness this last 
 appearance of the Prince of Erie in a New York 
 thoroughfare. 
 
 The engine of the special train was draped in black 
 and white cloth. The officers and Directors of the 
 Erie and of the Narragansett Steamship Company, 
 and many friends of the deceased, accompanied the 
 remains to Brattleboro, where they were buried in the 
 cemetery. 
 
 The citizens of Brattleboro erected a striking monu- 
 ment over the grave of Fisk. It is of Italian marble, 
 and was can-ed at Florence, Italy, at a cost of |i2S,ooo. 
 About the base of the shaft are four figures of women. 
 One, with a steam engine carved on the chaplet around 
 her brow, represents the Erie Railway; another is Com- 
 merce, a symbol for the Fall River line of steamboats ; a third 
 is the Muse of Music, emblematic of the Grand Opera House, 
 and the fourth is typical of Commerce in its broadest sense. 
 The sculptor of the monument was Larkin Mead, whose statue 
 of " Ethan Allen " is at Montpelier. Relic hunters have sub- 
 jected the Fisk monument to much mutilation. 
 
 A few years before Colonel Fisk's death an effort was made 
 by residents of Brattleboro to build a fence around the ceme- 
 tery in which his monument now stands, and a committee was 
 sent to New York to solicit funds from former Brattleboro 
 boys. Among those called upon was Colonel Fisk, and to 
 the committee's solicitation he replied : 
 
 " Yes, I will give something ; but I do not see any need of 
 a fence around the cemetery. The fellows who are in cannot 
 get out, and those who are out do not want to get in." 
 
 The members of the coroner's jury that held the inquest 
 on the death of Fisk were ex-Mayor George Opdyke, M. B. 
 Field, A. V. Stout, Henry Clews, Alexander McKenzie, Will- 
 iam M. Bliss, James R. Edwards, Lowell Lincoln, John J. 
 Gorman, William H. Lock, David Dows, Jesse Hoyt. January 
 9th they returned a verdict charging Stokes with deliberate 
 
 JAMES FISK, JR. 
 
 murder. Stokes was represented at the inquest by the famous 
 criminal lawyers, John Graham and John McKeon, and by 
 Willard Bartlett. Ex- Judges ^^^lliam A. Beach and William 
 FuUerton appeared for the people. 
 
 The family of Stokes was influential and wealthy, and 
 nothing was left undone to save him. He was tried for the 
 murder of Fisk in July, 1872, and the jury disagreed, July 
 15th. He was retried, and January, 1873, was convicted of 
 murder in the first degree, and sentenced, January 6th, by 
 Judge Boardman, to be hanged February 28th. A new trial 
 was obtained, and it resulted in a verdict of manslaughter in 
 the third degree, October 29, 1873. Stokes was sentenced 
 to four years in Sing Sing prison, and served his time. In- 
 
492 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 fluence and money had won. White-haired, but still youthful- 
 looking, Stokes has prospered in later years, and " walks the 
 streets of New York, wealthy, but a social nondescript." 
 The woman he made a widow is passing her declining years 
 in a humble home in New England, virtually penniless. Josie 
 Mansfield has been but little in evidence since the wretched 
 fate of Fisk, and has made her home abroad, chiefly in 
 Paris. 
 
 Samuel Latham Mitchell Barlow, who was the 
 dominant figure in the Watson administration, and in the 
 measures that led to the entanglement of the Company with 
 the Atlantic and Great Western difficulties in 1872, was born 
 at Granville, Mass., June 5, 1826, the son of Dr. Samuel 
 Bancroft Barlow, physician. Young Barlow began the study 
 of the law at the age of sixteen, and at twenty-three was so 
 proficient that he was placed in charge of the settlement of 
 claims resulting from the Mexican War, in one of which 
 
 cases he received a fee, or commission, of ^25,000 for half 
 an hour's work. In 1852 he became a member of a law 
 firm that gained celebrity under the name of Bowdoin, 
 Larocque and Barlow, and, on the death of his two partners, 
 formed the partnership that became still more famous as 
 that of Shipman, Barlow, Larocque (Joseph) and MacFar- 
 land, which conducted some of the most important and 
 costly of the Erie litigation from 1872 to 1884. Mr. Barlow 
 controlled the policy of ihe New York Wor/d horn 1864 to 
 1869. His fine residence at Glen Cove, L. L, was a gift to 
 him from James McHenry, the Atlantic and Great Western 
 magnate. Mr. Barlow died at Glen Cove July 10, 1889. 
 He was one of the founders of the Manhattan Club, and a 
 member of the Union Club, New York. ("Administration of 
 Jay Gould," pages 190-199; "Administration of John A. 
 Dix," pages 201-214; "Administration of Peter H. 
 Watson," pages 212,220, 223, 225, 226; "Administration 
 of Hugh J. Jewett," pages 237, 240, 242, 248.) 
 
ERIE GRADUATES OF NOTE. 
 
 Hugh Riddle. — As a rodman with the Erie engineer 
 corps of 1846 was the youth, Hugh Riddle. He remained in 
 the corps in various capacities until the railroad was com- 
 pleted to Dunkirk in 1851. In that year he left the Erie 
 service for a time to aid in the construction of the Buffalo 
 and State Line Railroad, and later of the Canandaigua and 
 
 HUGH RIDDLE. 
 
 Niagara Falls Railroad. In 1853 he returned to the service 
 of Erie, and had advanced so in the science of railroading 
 that he was placed in charge of track over the line, with head- 
 quarters at Binghamton. Two years later he was appointed 
 superintendent of the Delaware Division, being the second 
 person to fill the place, his predecessor being William H. 
 Power. In 1857, the railroad having been separated into 
 two divisions, Mr. Riddle's authority was extended to the 
 Eastern Division also, Homer Ramsdell, president of the 
 
 Company, acting as general superintendent. In 1859, the 
 old four-division system was reestablished, and Mr. Riddle 
 was continued as superintendent of the Delaware Division, 
 which place he held until January, 1865, when he was ap- 
 pointed general superintendent. In 1869 he resigned, his 
 resignation going into effect May ist. 
 
 The following November Mr. Riddle was offered and ac- 
 cepted the general superintendency of the Chicago, Rock 
 Island and Pacific Railroad, with headquarters at Chicago. 
 His services in that great company were such that in the fall 
 of 1 87 1 he was elected vice-president, still retaining his office 
 of general superintendent. He continued to fill those places 
 with such benefit to the rdad and the company that in Jan- 
 uary, 1878, he was elevated to the office of president. Mr. 
 Riddle had already become a power among the great railroad 
 managers of the country, and the position the Chicago, Rock 
 Island and Pacific occupies as a far-reaching and potent 
 system to-day is due to the bold, firm, and wise methods of 
 Hugh Riddle as head of the corporation. The railroad his- 
 tory of the time will bear ample testimony to this fact. Mr. 
 Riddle continued as president of the company until 1883, 
 when he dechned a reelection. He remained, however, as 
 chairman of the executive committee of the board of di- 
 rectors, and held that responsible post until his death in 1892. 
 He was seventy years old. 
 
 Such a man as Hugh Riddle needs no words of fulsome 
 praise or flattery to emphasize what he was. Beginning in 
 one of the humblest places in railroad life, he rose rapidly, 
 by his own exertion and merit alone, until he filled with supe- 
 rior ability the highest office that railroad service can offer. 
 He died honored and full of honors. 
 
 John N. Abbott. — Mr. Abbott, as boy and man, was for 
 over a quarter of a century in the service of the Erie. He 
 was born in New York City in 1845. He was educated in 
 the public schools of that city, graduating at the age of fifteen. 
 A year later, in 186 1, he became a clerk in the office of Gen- 
 eral Superintendent Minot. Within one year he rose from 
 the lowest clerkship in that office to be acting chief clerk, 
 and other railway companies had already noticed his ability 
 and were bidding for his services. In 1865 he was trans- 
 ferred to the passenger department as chief clerk. In 1869 
 he was appointed assistant general passenger agent. He held 
 this place during the stormy times of the Gould and Fisk 
 regime, and so satisfactory did his past services appeal to the 
 management of Erie which succeeded the Gould control that, 
 while most of those prominent in all branches of the Com- 
 pany's employ were replaced by new men, Mr. Abbott was 
 
494 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 by a unanimous vote of the new directory appointed general 
 passenger agent, succeeding ^^■illiam R. Barr. 
 
 Mr. Abbott soon took front rank among the passenger 
 managers of the country, and was, by common consent, 
 acknowledged to be a master in the handling of that branch 
 of railroad traffic. He was, in fact, the first actual passen- 
 ger traffic manager in the United States. He served through 
 Gen. Dix's administration, through the exciting years of the 
 AVatson management, continuing at the head of his depart- 
 ment under the Jewett administration, and until 1886 under 
 
 'S, 
 
 so promptly were they applied to the advancement of the in- 
 terests of that traffic. Mr. Abbott had for years advocated 
 the importance of devoting more attention to the develop- 
 ment of local traffic on the Erie than any management of 
 the Company had ever given it, and had the satisfaction of 
 seeing that policy adopted two years before he left the Erie. 
 Mr. Abbott achieved an enviable reputation while general 
 passenger agent by his loyalty to the interests of the port of 
 New York, and distinguished himself many times in protect- 
 ing these interests when questions had arisen tending to sub- 
 vert them. The immigrant-carrying business from this port to 
 the AVest was brought to excellent proficiency, in the way of 
 safeguards and other protections for immigrants on arrival, 
 chiefly through his interest in their behalf, and the Erie held 
 for several years almost the entire control of that great traffic. 
 In 1869 Mr. Abbott married Miss Violet Gardner, daugh- 
 ter of the late Hugh Gardner, who was Police Commissioner 
 of New York Cit)'. Two children, John Jay, and Gardner, 
 both grown to manhood and engaged prosperously in busi- 
 ness, were the fruit of this marriage. In 1886 Mr. Abbott 
 was president of the General Passenger and Ticket Agent's 
 Association of the United States, and was for twelve years an 
 inspector of public schools in New York. 
 
 JOHN N. ABBOTT. 
 
 President John King, when he resigned to accept the chair- 
 manship of the Western Passenger Association. He assumed 
 that responsible post at the unanimous request of the lead- 
 ing railroad magnates of the ^^'est and Southwest, and held it 
 until the association was abolished. Mr. Abbott then became 
 assistant to the president of the Great Northern Railway 
 system, which office he resigned in 1891 to engage in private 
 business enterprises. 
 
 The story of the passenger traffic of the Erie, during John 
 N. Abbott's incumbency as head of the department, may truly 
 be said to be the story of the passenger traffic development 
 of the country, so original and practical were his ideas, and 
 
 Benjamin Thomas. — Benjamin Thomas was born at 
 Towanda, Bradford County, Pa., October 28, 1841. His 
 father, whose ancestors came from Wales, was born in Coop- 
 erstown, N. Y., in 1810, and died in 1884 at Waverly, N. Y. 
 His mother, whose ancestors were from the north of Ireland, 
 were born at Shoreham, Vt., in 1804, and died in 1873, at 
 Newark, N. J. His parents removed from Towanda to New- 
 ark, N. J., about the year 1854, his father being a hat manu- 
 facturer. 
 
 Young Thomas attended school at Towanda until he was 
 thirteen years of age, and later attended public school at 
 Newark. While attending night school at Newark he entered 
 the employ of the American Printing Telegraph Company. 
 Shortly after he had become a telegraph operator, the Com- 
 pany was absorbed by the Morse Magnetic Telegraph Com- 
 pany (now the Western Union), and the American printing 
 instruments were abandoned. Thus he had to learn the new 
 system, which he mastered in a short time. He then became 
 a pupil at the Lyceum at Jersey City. He paid for his tui- 
 tion and board by teaching. He prepared himself for higher 
 education so well that he was able to enter Brown College at 
 Schenectady, N. Y., as a sophomore, but he was unable to 
 enter for the college course because the expense was more 
 than his meagre resources would warrant. While preparing 
 himself for college at the Lyceum, he became a good Latin 
 scholar and mathematician, and he was a teacher of those 
 branches successfully for a long time. So fond was he of 
 them that his study of them has never been entirely discon- 
 tinued, and to-day, in the fulness of his material success and 
 prosperity, one of his principal recreations is the reading of 
 the masterpieces of French and Latin literature. 
 
 Soon after leaving the Lyceum, Mr. Thomas went to Port 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 495 
 
 Jervis, N. Y., where he entered the service of the Erie as a 
 telegraph operator. He was promoted in a short time to 
 the position of division operator, having charge of all the 
 operators on the Delaware Division and branches. Then, in 
 rapid succession, he was appointed to the important and 
 responsible positions of night train despatcher, day train 
 despatcher, and train master. In August, 1873, he was made 
 acting superintendent, \\'here his ability was so apparent that 
 in December of the same year he was pro- 
 moted to the place of division superintendent, 
 which place he held for eight j-ears. 
 
 June I, 1881, he was promoted to be super- 
 intendent of transportation, with headquarters 
 at New York, and later assistant general super- 
 intendent, from which place he was promoted 
 to the general superin tendency, filling the last- 
 named place four years. In August, 1887, he 
 resigned, and soon afterward was appointed 
 general superintendent of the Chicago and 
 Atlantic Railroad, with headquarters at Chi- 
 cago, and at the same time was elected a 
 director of the Chicago and 'Western Indiana 
 Railroad Company, and of the Belt Railway 
 Company of Chicago. September 15, 1888, 
 he was elected vice-president and general 
 manager of the Chicago and ^^'estern Indiana 
 and Belt Railway companies, and in June, 
 1890, was elected president of the same com- 
 panies, which position he now occupies. 
 
 Mr. Thomas is, in every sense of the word, 
 a clear-headed and capable railroad man. His 
 experience with the property of which he is 
 now president shows this. When he took 
 charge of it, it was scarcely paying operating 
 expenses. Under his management it is now 
 paying large annual dividends on several mil- 
 lions of dollars. Mr. Thomas is a great reader, 
 a hard student, and a lover of old and rare 
 books, with which his library, at his elegant 
 residence in Kenwood, 111., is well stocked. 
 He is a man of many accomplishments. He is 
 fond of social life, and is an agreeable com- 
 panion and a courteous gentleman. 
 
 vate, and, owing to his conspicuous gallantry, was promoted 
 to the rank of captain when but twenty years of age. In 
 1864 Captain Van Etten retired from the army, and had 
 charge of a large tannery in A\'ayne County, Pa. 
 
 Shortly after this he secured a position as clerk in the pay- 
 master's office of the Delaware Division of the Erie Railway. 
 In speaking of the manner of his taking this position, an 
 index is afforded of the entire absence of all pretext and 
 
 (A^/^^:6C€Z^ 
 
 Edgar Van Etten — Edgar Van Etten was 
 bom in Milford, Pike County, Pa., April 15, 1844. When he 
 was quite young his father moved to Sussex County, N. J., where 
 young Van Etten attended the public schools. At the break- 
 ing out of the Civil War in 1861, Edgar Van Etten, though 
 then only seventeen years old, at once offered his services to 
 ^his country. Fort Sumter was fired upon April 1 2 th. On 
 the 15 th, his seventeenth birthday, young Van Etten enlisted 
 in the Second New Jersey Volunteers, and went with them 
 to the front. He served in that regiment three years, taking 
 part in all the momentous engagements that have made it 
 famous in the nation's history. He entered the war a pri- 
 
 sham in his moral make-up. Most men say that such and 
 such a position was offered to them ; but in narrating the 
 occurrence, he states plainly that he worked hard to get on 
 the Erie, and finally secured the position ; but the clerkship 
 in the paymaster's office was not a position suitable for one 
 who had led such an active life as Mr. Van Etten, and he, 
 therefore, left this indoor work and went out as a flagman on 
 the Erie Railway. This was in 1866, in his twenty-second 
 year. The flagman's post was scarcely a position from which 
 one would expect to see a man rise to so high a position in 
 life ; but Mr. Van Etten had the true metal in him, and even 
 
496 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 as flagman his work attracted the attention of his superiors, 
 and in a year's time he was appointed a conductor, in which 
 position he continued to serve, both on freight and passenger 
 trains, until 1873. In that year, so faithful had been his 
 service as conductor, he was promoted to the position of 
 despatcher on the Delaware Division of the Erie, and he 
 continued as special, and afterwards as chief, despatcher 
 until 1877, when he was made the superintendent of the 
 Delaware Division. Here he remained a little over two 
 years, when he was sent as superintendent to the Buffalo 
 
 Division of the Erie, a much more important division. For 
 two years he managed this division with signal ability and 
 marked success. Then continuing to advance steadily in his 
 profession, he went to the Western Division of the Rome, 
 Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad as superintendent, 
 where he remained but a few months, as he was offered, by 
 the railroads centring at Buffalo, the managership of their 
 Car Service Association, just then organized. Mr. Van 
 Etten remained manager of this service two years, when he 
 was offered the position of superintendent of the western 
 
 end of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. So signally did he meet 
 all the requirements of this position that he was soon offered 
 the superintendency of the Rome, Watertown and Ogdens- 
 burg Railroad. Owing to the marked ability which he dis- 
 played in this, Mr. Van Etten was, in February, 1893, 
 appointed general superintendent of the wealthiest railroad 
 on the American continent — the New York Central and 
 Hudson River, an exalted position which he still holds. 
 
 Frank S. Gannon. — Mr. Gannon, Third Vice-Presi- 
 dent and General Manager of the Southern Railway 
 Company, began in a most humble place with the 
 Erie, entering its service thirty years ago. He be- 
 came a telegraph operator, and in 1871, when he 
 left the Company's employ, he was operator at Co- 
 checton, on the Delaware Division. After leaving 
 the Erie, Mr. Gannon went with the New Jersey 
 Midland Railroad Company, now the New York, 
 Susquehanna and Western, where he remained five 
 years as clerk in the president's office, terminal agent, 
 superintendent's clerk, and train despatcher, succes- 
 sively. He then entered the service of the Long 
 Island Railroad Company as train despatcher, and 
 was promoted to the position of master of trans- 
 portation. He left that company in January, 1881, 
 to become supervisor of trains on the Baltimore and 
 Ohio Railroad. He remained with that company 
 until April, 1881, when he was appointed general 
 superintendent of the New York City and Northern 
 Railroad. In 18S6 the Baltimore and Ohio acquired 
 control of the Staten Island Rapid Transit Company, 
 and Mr. Gannon's successful management of the 
 Northern road having estabKshed his reputation for 
 skill and wise judgment in railroad matters, he was 
 offered the place of general superintendent of the 
 Rapid Transit Company, and he accepted it. This 
 busy system obtained more than local fame, for it 
 was the link by which the Baltimore and Ohio sys- 
 tem was to be brought into close touch with New 
 York City. In the discussion of the interests of the 
 company in and around New York, Mr. Gannon 
 came into contact with leading railroad minds of 
 the country, and his ideas and opinions on railroad 
 management impressed them with his ability and 
 originality. He was general superintendent of the 
 Rapid Transit Company (in the meantime having 
 been elected president of the Staten Island Railway 
 Company also) from August, 1886, until November, 1894, 
 when he was made general manager. He was also appointed 
 general superintendent of the New York Division of the Bal- 
 timore and Ohio in 1888. He was now recognized in the 
 railroad world as one of the ablest of managers, which fact 
 was demonstrated January i, 1897, when he was appointed 
 third vice-president and general manager of the great South- 
 ern Railway system. 
 
 In their younger days Mr. Gannon and Mr. Sannuel Spen- 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 497 
 
 cer were together on the Long Island Road, and they are 
 to-day cooperating in building up and harmonizing the South- 
 ern Road and the various industries along its lines. 
 
 Frank S. Gannon was born at Spring "Valley, Rockland 
 County, N. Y., September i6, 1851. His education was ob- 
 tained in the country schools and in the school of experi- 
 ence. He was married at Jersey City, September 24, 1874, 
 to jSIiss Marietta Burrows, of that city. His family con- 
 sists of seven sons and one daughter : J. Walter, Frank 
 S., Jr., Anna B., James B., Greg. F., Edward E., T. Albert, 
 and Robert. 
 
 William J. Murphy. — Mr. Murphy began with the 
 Erie as telegraph messenger at Susquehanna, Pa., in 
 April, 1862, when he was fourteen, and he was in the 
 continuous service of the Erie until March, 1890, twenty- 
 eight years. During that time he rose to the highest office 
 in the operating department, that of general superin- 
 tendent. In 1864, young Murphy was appointed tele- 
 graph operator and ticket clerk at Deposit, N. Y. Dur- 
 ing 1865 he was consecutively train flagman, station 
 agent, and j'ardmaster at Deposit. In 1866 he was 
 placed in the train despatcher's office at Port Jervis as 
 operator, and continued as such until 1870, when he was 
 promoted to be train despatcher of the Delaware Division, 
 and in 1S72 to be chief train despatcher and division 
 operator of that division. He performed the duties of 
 those responsible places ten years, when he was appointed 
 superintendent of the Delaware Division, August 22, 
 1882. In November, 1884, Superintendent Murphy was 
 transferred to the still more responsible post of super- 
 intendent of the Buffalo and Rochester divisions, with 
 headquarters at Buffalo. Three years later, August 22, 
 1887, he was made general superintendent of the Erie 
 system. Mr. Murphy was^at the head of the Erie oper- 
 ative department until March 26, 1890, when he resigned, 
 broken in health. He travelled a year abroad and at 
 home for the benefit of his health, which being restored, 
 he accepted, ]March, 1891, the superin tendency of the 
 Brunswick Division of the East Tennessee, Virginia and 
 Georgia Railroad, with headquarters at Macon, Ga., 
 where he remained two years, when he resigned to take 
 the office of superintendent of the Cincinnati Division of 
 the New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway (the Queen 
 and Crescent Route), with headquarters at Lexington, 
 Ky., which office he continues to hold. 
 
 In May, 1898, during the war with Spain, as recogni- 
 tion of Superintendent Murphy's efforts by which the large 
 movement of troops over his line was handled with surprising 
 facility and smoothness. Governor Bradley, of Kentucky, ap- 
 pointed him to the military service of the State, with the 
 rank of colonel, and directed him to superintend the trans- 
 portation of Kentucky troops. 
 
 \^'illiam J. Murphy was bom at Greenfield, Mass., August 
 23, 1848. His early preceptors in the science of railroad- 
 ing were Charles Minot and Hugh Riddle. That he learned 
 
 well, his career amply proves. Mr. Murphy was married, Feb- 
 ruary 23, 1870, to Miss Maria T. A. Vogel, of Zanesville, Ohio. 
 
 James H. Rutter began life as a clerk in the freight 
 office at Elmira. In 1866 he had risen to be assistant 
 general freight agent of the Company, and his ability be- 
 came so conspicuous in transportation circles that he was 
 
 personally solicited by Cornelius Vanderbilt to enter the 
 service of the New York Central as general freight agent, 
 which he did. In 1877 he was made general traffic manager 
 of that system. In 1880, his services in the Vanderbilt 
 interest had proved so valuable, the office of third vice- 
 president was created for him. He held that office until 
 1883, when William H. Vanderbilt resigned as president of 
 the Company in favor of Mr. Rutter. He remained at the 
 head of the great Central system until 1885, when his health 
 
498 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 broke down. He died June 27 th of that year, his death 
 being followed next day by that of his wife. They were 
 buried in the same grave. 
 
 John Baird Morford. — John B. Morford began as 
 "water-boy" and newsboy on the Erie at the age of twelve. 
 This generation of railroad travellers does not know what 
 water-boys were. In the early days of railroading there were 
 no ice-water tanks in the cars, but the Erie was so solicitous 
 for the welfare and comfort of its passengers that it provided 
 boys to go through the cars at intervals, carrying a pail of 
 fresh water and a cup, so that thirsty travellers might quench 
 their thirst. In 1852 one of those boys was John B. Morford, 
 who was born at Warwick, N. Y., July 16, 1836. From 
 water-boy he was promoted to be despatch messenger between 
 New York and Dunkirk, and in 1853 he became brakeman on 
 a freight train on the Eastern Division, subsequently being 
 transferred to a passenger train. He "broke" on passenger 
 and freight trains on Eastern trains until November, 1857, 
 when he was promoted to the conductorship of a freight train, 
 and subsequently to a passenger train, in which capacity he 
 served the Erie until September, 1866, when he went to 
 the Morris and Essex Railroad (now Delaware, Lackawanna 
 and Western) as chief train despatcher at Hoboken, and 
 superintendent of Boonton Branch. He remained in that place 
 until 1870, in December of which year he became general 
 agent of the Hudson River Railroad, at Thirtieth Street, 
 New York, and subsequently station master at the Grand 
 Central Depot. In January, 1872, he became general su- 
 perintendent of the Long Island Railroad, where he remained 
 three years, when, in February, 1875, he took charge as su- 
 perintendent of the Sandy Hook Steamboat Company, filling 
 successively that place and the posts of superintendent of 
 ferries and lighterage of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, 
 until January, 1882. From the latter date until April, 1883, 
 he was superintendent of construction of the Sabine and East 
 Texas Railroad. He was then appointed by the Michigan 
 Central Railroad Company assistant superintendent of its 
 Eastern and Toledo divisions. In December of that year 
 he was transferred to the more important position of superin- 
 tendent of the " Canada Division," with headquarters at St. 
 Thomas, which place Mr. Morford continues to hold. Super- 
 intendent Morford always refers proudly to the time when 
 he was a v/ater-boy and newsboy on the Erie. 
 
 GiovANi P. MoROSiNi. — There is nothing in fiction more 
 dramatic and romantic than the incidents that led to Giovani 
 P. Morosini's coming into the service of the Erie. In 1855 
 he was a sailor, and had been a sailor five years. He was 
 the son of Paul P. Morosini, a scion of pure old Venetian 
 stock. He was born at Venice June 24, 1834, and was 
 educated as a soldier as well as a civilian. During the war 
 between Italy and Austria misfortune overtook the family, 
 and upon the capitulation of Venice in 1 849, young Morosini 
 resolved to seek his fortune in other lands. In 1850 he 
 found himself at Smyrna. An American vessel was prepar- 
 
 ing for her homeward voyage. Filled with the spirit of 
 adventure, Morosini shipped as a sailor upon her. A sea- 
 faring life seemed to fill his longing for a time, but at last he 
 wearied of it, and in 1855, being then at a sailors' boarding- 
 house in New York, he resolved to quit his roving life if he 
 could find something better to turn his hands to. 
 
 It happened that one day he visited Staten Island with 
 nothing in view except diversion. AVhile walking along a 
 road he came upon a number of half-grown boys who had set 
 upon and were beating a boy much smaller than they. This 
 at once aroused his ire, and he instandy hurried to the aid 
 of the boy thus overmatched. His attack amazed the young 
 ruffians at first, but they rallied and turned upon him. He 
 drew his sailor's knife, and brandishing it, rushed to meet 
 them, but at the sight of the knife and the determination of 
 the one who wielded it, the gang fled. The boy informed 
 his rescuer that he lived not far from the spot, and Morosini 
 helped him home, where he met the boy's father, who on 
 being told what had occurred, was warm in his expression of 
 thanks to the champion of his son, and offered him a sum 
 of money. This Morosini declined to accept. 
 
 "Is there anything, then, that I can do for you? " asked 
 the grateful father. 
 
 "I am a sailor," rephed Morosini, "but am tired of the 
 sea. If I could obtain employment ashore I should be 
 pleased to accept it." 
 
 The father of the boy whom Morosini had befriended was 
 Nathaniel Marsh, then secretary of the New York and Erie 
 Railroad Company. He interested himself in the sailor, and 
 obtained for him a place as office-boy for the president of the 
 Company, Homer Ramsdell. That discerning man soon 
 discovered that his office-boy was a lad much above the 
 average in intelligence and ability, and Morosini was pro- 
 moted to a clerkship in the auditor's office. Promotion 
 followed promotion there, until the whilom sailor was chief 
 clerk of the audit department. 
 
 Jay Gould came into the direction of Erie affairs in 1S68, 
 and that master of human nature quickly became aware of 
 the unusual value of Morosini, and in 1869 the chief clerk of 
 the audit office was advanced to the head of that most im- 
 portant department, and became Jay Gould's confidential 
 secretary in 1872. 
 
 In 1879 Mr. Gould took Morosini into partnership with 
 him, a partnership that continued until 1885, when Alorosini, 
 Mr. Gould having retired from active individual participation 
 in Wall Street affairs, continued business for himself, and 
 made a great fortune, which he fully and rationally enjoys. 
 
 Augustus Sherill Whiton. — Augustus Sherill Whiton 
 died in New York City Monday, February 7, i8g8, in his 
 seventy-eighth year. Mr. Whiton, when but eighteen years 
 of age, was a member of the engineer corps that finally 
 located the route for the New York and Erie Railroad be- 
 tween Piermont and Goshen, in 1838. 
 
 Young Whiton was promoted to be assistant engineer to 
 H. C. Seymour in 1839. I^'' 1840 he was appointed superin- 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 499 
 
 tendent of superstructure and bridges of the Eastern Divis- 
 ion, and had charge of that work in the building of the road 
 between Piermont and Goshen. In 1851 he was appointed 
 engineer and superintendent of the Newburgh Branch and 
 
 Virginia. He retired from active railroad service in 1858, 
 and established at New York a depot for railroad supplies. 
 He conducted the business for nearly forty years, and ac- 
 cumulated a large fortune from it. 
 
 AUGUSTUS SHERII.L WHITON. 
 
 superintendent of the Eastern Division. He resigned in 
 1852 to go to Kentucky to take charge of the construf-tion 
 as chief engineer of the Maysville and Lexington Railroad. 
 In 1854 he again became Erie's superintendent of the East- 
 em Division and branches. 1857 he resigned to become 
 chief engineer and manager of a railroad and coal mines in 
 
 In 1843 Mr. Whiton was married to Caroline, daughter of 
 Thomas Ward, the Ramapo ironmaster and landed pro- 
 prietor. He was born at Binghamton, N. Y., on Christmas, 
 1820. He was a graduate of the old Ithaca Academy. He 
 was an elder in the Collegiate Dutch Reformed Church of 
 New York. 
 
GAZETTEER 
 
 OF CITIES AND VILLAGES ON THE LINE OF THE ORIGINAL ERIE AND ITS BRANCHES 
 
 NEW YORK (eastern) DIVISION. 
 
 JERSEY CITY, Hudson Co., N. J. From New York, 
 I mile; Buffalo, 424 miles; Dunkirk, 459. Eastern ter- 
 minus of the Erie since 1851. Second city of New Jersey 
 and capital of Hudson County. Population, 200,000. On 
 the west bank of the Hudson River, one mile from New 
 York, connecting with five lines of ferry-boats. Also the ter- 
 minus of twelve other lines of railroad. Site originally called 
 Paulus Hook. Chartered, 1820, as "the City of Jersey"; 
 name changed to present one, 1838. Population when it be- 
 came Erie terminus, 7,000. 
 
 RUTHERFORD, Bergen Co., N. J. From New York, 10 
 miles. From an early day known as Boiling Spring neigh- 
 borhood. Farm and farm-gardening commvmity. Laid 
 out in town plots in 1866. Settled rapidly. Named Ruther- 
 ford Park. Changed to Rutherford, 1875. Incorporated a 
 borough, 1881. Population, 1898, 3,900. Residential. 7 
 churches ; i high school, 3 district schools ; 2 banks ; 2 
 newspapers ; 2 hotels. 
 
 (CARLTON HILL, important as the site of great bleach- 
 ing works ; station for East Rutherford.) 
 
 PASSAIC, Passaic Co., N. J. From New York, 12 miles; 
 Buffalo, 413 ; Dunkirk, 448. First settlement in 1678, when 
 site near Passaic city was bought by Hartman Michielson 
 from the Indians. He got a perfect title to it in 1685 for 
 " one fat henne." In 1678 Christopher Hoogland bought 
 2 78 acres of the present site of Passaic and sold it to Michiel- 
 son. The tract was called Acquackanonk. A settlement of 
 industrious Dutch soon grew up. Acquackanonk was the 
 head of navigation on the Passaic River. It was called " the 
 Landing," and was the shipping and receiving point for sup- 
 plies for the country as far away as Orange County, N. Y. 
 For a century Acquackanonk had this commercial supremacy. 
 Then the Paterson and Hudson River Railroad was built, and 
 destroyed the importance of river navigation. Dundee Water 
 Power Company incorporated, 1832. In 186 1 built the dam 
 which conserved the great water-power of the Passaic and 
 insured the future of Passaic. The Dundee Railroad was 
 built, which is now part of the valuable local possessions of 
 the Erie. Incorporated as a village, 1871 ; city, 1873. Re- 
 formed Dutch Church, 1686. Part of present church build- 
 ing built, 1 761. 12 churches; high school ; 6 ward schools ; 
 
 2 banks ; 4 newspapers ; 2 hotels. Passaic a place of marvel- 
 lous growth. Population, 1898, 12,000. Manufacturing in- 
 terests large. One of the wealthiest places on line of Erie. 
 Four Erie stations in Passaic. Beautiful and costly residences. 
 
 (CLIFTON AND LAKE VIEW. Residential localities 
 between Passaic and Paterson ; Lake View part of Paterson.) 
 
 PATERSON, Passaic Co., N.J. From New York, 17 
 miles; Buffalo, 408 ; Dunkirk, 443. Site, owing to water- 
 power of the Passaic River, chosen in 1791 by Alexander 
 Hamilton and others for the uses of the " Society for Estab- 
 lishing Useful Manufactures," which was chartered in that 
 year. Place named for the then Governor of New Jersey. 
 Township government until r85i; then incorporated as 
 city ; population, 1 1,000. Ex-Governor Philemon Dicker- 
 son first President City Council. Limits enlarged r854, and 
 present city incorporated under new charter, 187 1. Popu- 
 lation, 1898, (estimated) 90,000. Third city in New Jersey. 
 Centre of silk manufacturing in United States. 7 2 churches ; 
 4 synagogues; 6 missions; high school; 19 ward schools; 
 I normal training and model school; i manual training 
 school; 6 banks (3 national, i savings, 2 safe deposit and 
 trust companies) ; 15 newspapers (5 daily, 7 weekly, 3 
 monthly) ; 109 incorporated companies (39 silk, silk fabric, 
 and allied branches of silk manufacture) ; 2 hospitals ; 2 
 orphan asylums. Electric lighting and gas; electric street 
 railways, and connecting with Hoboken and intermediate 
 points. Fine parks. Public buildings and residences archi- 
 tecturally elegant. Paterson and Hudson River Railroad, one 
 of the first in the country, opened in 1833 ; now part of Erie 
 main line. Manufacturing began in 1792 with cotton print 
 works, one of the first in the country. During the war of 
 1812 Paterson was one of the largest producers of cotton 
 goods. This industry was followed by other special enter- 
 prises, notably the manufacture of silk and locomotives. The 
 silk factories and locomotive works of Paterson alone have 
 made its fame world-wide. The manufacture of silk was 
 started about three-quarters of a century ago by John Ryle, a 
 weaver from Macclesfield, England. He struggled long with 
 misfortune, but the interest he awakened in this branch 
 of trade brought capital into it, until to-day not less than 
 5^8,000,000 are invested in the silk business of the city, giving 
 employment to thousands of hands, and turning out every 
 variety of silk fabric, from a thread to the costliest dress- 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 501 
 
 goods. The rolling-mills, iron-bridge works, and hundreds 
 of other factories give employment to other thousands. Pre- 
 eminence in the silk industry has given Paterson the name of 
 " Lyons of America." Erie, Susquehanna and Western, and 
 Delaware, Lackawanna and Western railroads. County seat 
 of Passaic County. 
 
 (HAWTHORNE, suburb of Paterson, across the Passaic 
 River. Pastoral and historic.) 
 
 RIDGEWOOD, Bergen Co., N. J. From New York, 
 22 miles. Settled, 1853. Formerly Godwinville. Incor- 
 porated. Population, 2,500. In historic Paramus Valley. 
 Home of prominent professional and business men of New 
 York City. 3 churches ; public schools ; i newspaper. 
 
 (UNDERCLIFF, HOHOKUS, WALDWICK, ALLEN- 
 DALE, RAMSEY'S, and MAHWAH, Bergen Co., N. J. 
 From New York respectively 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, and 30 miles. 
 Small stations in historical and pastoral communities. Near 
 Ridgewood, Undercliff, and Hohokus is the old stone man- 
 sion, " The Hermitage," in which Aaron Burr wooed, won, and 
 married Theodosia Provost. The Dutch Church, turned by 
 the British into a prison-house for soldiers of the Revolution- 
 ary army, is also nearby. AValdwick is the outgrowth of ex- 
 cessive water and other taxes on the Erie at Paterson, owing 
 to which the Company changed the housing of the rolling 
 stock of its frequent " shuttle " trains between Paterson and 
 Jersey City from Paterson to the site of Waldwick, estab- 
 lishing an extensive switch yard and engine and car houses, 
 and bringing a lively village into existence. Allendale 
 and Ramsey's, extensive small-fruit growing. Churches and 
 public schools, hotels. Newspaper at Ramsey's.) 
 
 SUFFERN, Rockland Co., N. Y. From New York, 32 
 miles; Dunkirk, 428; Buffalo, 393. Settled, 1773. Name 
 originally New Antrim, from Antrim, Ireland, native place 
 of John Suffem, first settler. Name changed to Suffern on 
 opening railroad in 1841. Population, 1,100. 3 churches; 
 public schools ; i newspaper ; 3 hotels. Original line of 
 Erie runs from Piermont to Suffern, now called Piermont 
 Branch. Here is the historic Ramapo Pass. The present 
 road through the pass was an old Indian trail, and the setders 
 found it the nearest and best road between the northern 
 colonies and the southern, when the Hudson River was 
 blockaded — hence during the Revolutionary war it was early 
 watched and fortified. The centre of military operations was 
 about a mile within the gorge. Military was stationed here 
 all through the war to guard the pass and to stop intruders. 
 Col. Malcolm's regiment was here in 1777, and Aaron Burr 
 was assigned to it for duty. It was from this command that 
 Burr won his military reputation by daring exploits in the 
 Paramus Valley and about Hackensack, N. J. Washington 
 had his headquarters in the old Suffern house, now torn 
 down, near Suffem village. On the hills east of Suffern the 
 French army encamped on its way to Yorktown. 
 
 (Note. — For Piermont Branch references see " The Turn- 
 ing of Its Wheels," pages 390-391.) 
 
 (HILBURN, Rockland Co., N. Y. From New York, 
 
 33 miles. Hamlet due to Ramapo Iron Works. In the 
 Ramapo Pass. Population, 300.) 
 
 RAMAPO, Rockland Co., N. Y. From New York, 34 
 miles. Settled, 1795. Population, 300. 2 churches; pub- 
 lic school. Formerly nail works, rolling mill, cotton mill, 
 steel furnace, wire works, hoe factory, saw and grist mills. 
 First train on Erie ran to Ramapo June 30, 1841. History 
 of Pierson family is the history of Ramapo. Josiah G., 
 Jeremiah H., and Isaac Pierson, brothers, established nail 
 works and rolling mill here in 1783. In 1807 added manu- 
 facture of hoops for whale-oil casks. Product of industries, 
 1,000,000 pounds of iron annually. Established cotton 
 mill in 1816, looms of J. H. Pierson's own invention, to 
 make striped shirting. In 1820 began manufacture of 
 spring steel ; 1830 manufacture of blister steel ; 1835 manu- 
 facture of screws by machinery, invented at Ramapo by a 
 Pierson workman. At that time 300 men employed by 
 Piersons. J. H. Pierson and his son Henry L. leading spirits 
 in the history- of the Erie. In r8so Piersons retired from 
 business at Ramapo. Family large proprietors of the place 
 to-day. Now only car-wheel works and foundry there. 
 Terminus of Erie from July i, 1841, until September 23, 
 1841 ("The Building of It," page 331). 
 
 (STERLINGTON, junction of the Sterling Mountain 
 Railroad, running to Sterling Lake and mines ; SLOATS- 
 BURG, a small hamlet, formerly of some industrial im- 
 portance. From New York, 35 and 36 miles respectively.) 
 
 TUXEDO, Rockland Co., N. Y. From New York, 38)4 
 miles. Formerly Lorillard's. Population, 300. Station for Tux- 
 edo Park. Tuxedo, according to the researches of William Wal- 
 dorf Astor, is from the Algonquin P tauk-sut-totigh, meaning 
 " Home of the Bear." According to local tradition Tuxedo is 
 a corruption of " Duck Cedar," the lake having been once alive 
 with wild ducks and surrounded by cedars. Tuxedo Park was 
 originally the wilderness tract of 13,000 acres belonging to 
 the original Peter Lorillard. At an early day there were iron 
 works on the outlet of the lake on the tract. They were aban- 
 doned years ago, and the estate lay idle. Ground was broken 
 in November, 1885, for the Tuxedo Club; June i, 1886, the 
 club-house was opened. In the club grounds to-day are about 
 100 houses, ranging from the romantic chalet to the substan- 
 tial and ornate chateau, church, schools, fish hatchery, game 
 preserves. Within the park enclosure forty miles of drives, 
 twenty-five miles macadamized. Complete police service, 
 fire brigade. Last Erie station in Rockland County, N. Y. 
 
 (SOUTHFIELDS and ARDEN, Orange Co., N. Y. 
 Hamlets ; from New York, 42 and 44 miles. Arden, formerly 
 Greenwood, noted for the iron works belonging to Peter P. 
 Parrott, of Parrott gun fame. Abandoned years ago. Pic- 
 turesque ruins of works near the station. E. H. Harriman, 
 the millionaire New York banker and horse-breeder, resides 
 at Arden.) 
 
 TURNER'S, Orange Co., N. Y. From New York, 47 
 miles; Dunkirk, 412 miles; Buffalo, 377; Newburgh, 16. 
 Came into existence with the Erie. First railroad dining- 
 saloon on the Erie, established by Peter Turner, 1841, 
 
502 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 famous for fifty years. Original building still standing. The 
 Erie erected an immense brick hotel and dining-room at 
 Turner's in 1865. It was run in luxurious style during the 
 Gould and Fisk regime. Destroyed by fire December 26, 
 1873. Cost, ^300,000 ; never rebuilt. Eastern extremity of 
 Orange County dairy region. Trains for Newburgh Short- 
 cut. 
 
 (MONROE AND OXFORD, Orange Co., N. Y., 50 and 
 5 2 miles from' New York. Milk-shipping stations ; summer 
 visitors. Newspaper at Monroe ; 4 churches ; 2 hotels. Pop- 
 ulation, 700. Brie cheese factories.) 
 
 GREYCOURT, Orange Co., N. Y. From New York, 
 54 miles; Dunkirk, 406 ; Buffalo, 371 ; Newburgh, 19. Junc- 
 tion of Newburgh Branch, Lehigh and Hudson, and Orange 
 County railroads. School ; hotel. 
 
 CHESTER, Orange Co., N. Y. From New York, 55 
 miles; Dunkirk, 405; Buffalo, 370. Settled, 1751, at the 
 old town, three-quarters of a mile from station ; village 
 about the station grew from the coming of Erie in 
 1841. Incorporated, 1892. Population, 1,200. Agricul- 
 tural and dairy; business of milk transportation by rail 
 originated here spring of 1842 ("The Turning of Its 
 Wheels," pages 406-409). Chief agricultural pursuit, onion- 
 growing on "black dirt" meadow area, 700 acres in extent, 
 between Chester and Greycourt, reclaimed from almost 
 bottomlftss marsh. Cheese factory, making Neufchatel, 
 Brie, cream, and other fancy brands; uses 10,000 quarts of 
 milk a day. Home of Hambletonian, father of the American 
 trotter; born, 1848; sired 1,200 colts; died, 1876; costly 
 monument marks his grave. Famous trotters bred and owned 
 here. 4 churches ; high school ; district schools ; newspaper ; 
 bank ; 3 hotels ; opera house ; gravity water system ; pre- 
 paring (1898) for gas or electric lighting; fire department. 
 Chester was one of the two original stations of the Erie to 
 have an agent, Goshen being the other. 
 
 GOSHEN, Orange Co., N. Y. From New York, 60 
 miles; Buffalo, 364 ; Dunkirk, 399. Settied, 1712. Incor- 
 porated, 1843. Population, 3,000. 6 churches; academy; 
 schools ; 2 newspapers ; 2 national banks ; i savings bank ; 
 4 hotels. Well organized fire department ; electric light and 
 gas. Centre of greatest dairy and stock-raising region in 
 State. County seat of Orange County since 1728. Nursery 
 of blooded horses. Some of the greatest horses in the rec- 
 ords of the turf or stud were either sired, born, or bred here. 
 Trotters representing a value of ^300,000 are (1898) owned 
 in Goshen ; among them Stamboul, the champion trotting 
 stallion (2.07^^), and John R. Gentry, the great pacer 
 (2.ooJ^), of E. H. Harriman's Goshen stables, alone repre- 
 sent ^70,000. Sio,ooo horses are numerous ; $5,000 horses 
 common. Goldsmith Maid, the queen of the turf in her day, 
 was sired here by a Goshen horse, and broken and trained 
 for the turf near by. The Goshen stock farms and race track 
 are historical, the Goshen Driving Park Association being one 
 of the crack turf organizations of the United States. Until 
 the farmers adopted the plan of selling their milk in the New 
 York market instead of making it into butter, " Goshen but- 
 
 ter " was famous the country over. The monument in the 
 public square commemorates the men who fell fighting the 
 noted Indian leader Brant, in 1779, in the Delaware High- 
 lands, most of them being from Goshen and vicinity. The 
 monument was erected in 1822, the bones of the men having 
 been collected from the old battle-field in that year and buried 
 in the public park. Goshen abounds in Revolutionary lore. 
 January 22, 1779, Claudius Smith, the notorious Tory "Cow 
 Boy " of the Revolution, was hanged at Goshen. The Goshen 
 Academy was established in 1790. Noah Webster, the great 
 lexicographer, was a teacher in it, and was preparing his great 
 work at that time. The Goshen Independent Republican is 
 one of the oldest papers in the State, estabhshed 181 2. The 
 first official printing office of the Erie was that of the Goshen 
 Democrat, where the Company's printing was done from 
 1 84 1 to 1 85 1. Goshen was the western terminus of the rail- 
 road from September, 1841, until June, 1843. When the 
 railroad was opened, all the present main business part of the 
 place was a vast common, known as Fiddler's Green. The 
 population was 400. Goshen, besides being one of the old- 
 est, is one of the wealthiest villages in the State. Gas and 
 electric light ; water works ; electric railroad to Middletown. 
 Junction of Pine Island and Montgomery branches of Erie. 
 Henry Fitch, first general passenger agent of Erie, resigned 
 as teacher in Goshen Academy, 1846, to take the office. 
 
 (MONTGOMERY, ten miles from Goshen, on Montgom- 
 ery Branch, and FLORIDA, on the Pine Island Branch, vil- 
 lages in the dairy regions of Orange County, N. Y. Mont- 
 gomery originally Ward's Bridge. Settled in last century. 
 Incorporated as village, 1806. Manufacturing as well as agri- 
 cultural. 4 churches ; 2 schools ; i newspaper ; 4 hotels. 
 Florida settled in last century. 3 churches ; graded school ; 
 2 hotels. Birthplace of William H. Seward, the great Ameri- 
 can statesman.) 
 
 (NEW HAMPTON, Orange Co., N. Y. From New 
 York, 64 miles. Important only as milk-shipping station.) 
 
 MIDDLETOWN, Orange Co., N. Y. From New 
 York, 67 miles; Buffalo, 358; Dunkirk, 393. Agricultural, 
 dairy, and industrial. Citizens paid for finishing railroad 
 from Goshen, 1843. Terminus of Erie until 1846. Incor- 
 porated village, 1848 ; city, 1892. Population, 1898, 14,000. 
 10 churches; i high school ; 5 ward schools ; 8 newspapers 
 (3 daily, 5 weekly) ; 4 banks ; 4 hotels ; theatre ; Thrall Hos- 
 pital ; public library. Extensive saw, file, hat, nail, carpet- 
 bag, and wood-type factories ; milk condensery, iron fur- 
 nace, and brewery. Paved streets, electric street railroad 
 and lights, superior fire department, gravity water system. 
 Soldiers' monument. State Homoeopathic Insane Asylum 
 (only one in State), incorporated 1870. Erie, New York, 
 Ontario and Western, and New York, Susquehanna and 
 Western railroads, and' Crawford Branch of the Erie. 4 
 railroad stations. Orange County Agricultural Society's fair 
 grounds. Middletown began on the lowland by a settlement 
 as long ago as 1778. Here was then a frontier land. The 
 courageous pioneers who preempted the wilderness shared 
 with those of the settlem~ents about them in the bloody scenes 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 503 
 
 evoked by the vengeance of the red men, who struggled 
 long to hold their ancient hills and valleys against the 
 usurping pale-face. At the beginning of the present century 
 development of the splendid agricultural district began in 
 earnest, and the clustering farms grew into a village and an 
 important centre for the surrounding country. It was not 
 until the completion of the Erie to the place in 1843, 
 however, that its era of greatest usefulness and importance 
 was inaugurated. Its growth has been rapid ever since. No 
 place on the Erie between Paterson and Binghamton exceeds 
 Middletown in the extent, importance, and reputation of its 
 manufacturing interests. The disposition of the citizens of 
 this place toward proposed enterprises of every kind in its 
 precincts has been uniforaily generous and encouraging. Its 
 hat factories, saw factories, file works, milk condenseries, and 
 carpet factories are among the leading ones of their class in 
 the country. Trade centre of the rich dairy region of Orange, 
 Sullivan, and Sussex counties. 
 
 (HOWELLS, OTISVILLE, GUYMARD, Orange Co., 
 N. Y. From New York, 71, 76, 80 miles respectively. 
 Neat villages in dairy region. Important as milk-shipping 
 stations. Churches and public schools. Otisville was ter- 
 minus of Erie 1846 to 1848. Summit of Shawangunk Moun- 
 tains. Settled, 1816, by Isaac Otis, subsequently president of 
 Hanover Bank, New York, and founder of Atlantic Bank. 3 
 churches. From 1863 to 1870 10 mining companies had 
 headquarters hereabout to mine supposed rich lead deposits 
 in Shawangunk Mountains, chiefly about Guymard. Many 
 shafts sunk ; all abandoned. Remains of a huge mastodon 
 exhumed near Otisville in 1871.) 
 
 DELAWARE DIVISION. 
 
 PORT JERVIS, Orange Co., N. Y. From New York, 
 88 miles; Buffalo, 337; Dunkirk, 372. Terminus New 
 York and Delaware Division of Erie. Settlements made 
 near, in the Neversink Valley, 1690, by Hollanders and refu- 
 gee Huguenots. Port Jervis settlement due to Delaware and 
 Hudson Canal, 1827. Named for John B. Jervis, chief en- 
 gineer of the canal. Hamlet until coming of Erie, 1848. 
 Incorporated as village, 1853. Population, 1898, 10,000. 
 6 churches ; CathoUc Orphan Asylum ; i high school, 3 dis- 
 trict schools; 2 national banks; 5 newspapers (2 daily, 3 
 weekly) ; 5 hotels ; theatre ; hospital ; public library ; Young 
 Men's Christian Association (railroad branch). Electric and 
 gas lighting ; electric street railway. Excellent fire depart- 
 ment; gravity water system. Erie round-houses and re- 
 pair shops. Suburbs, Sparrowbush, Tri-States, Matamoras, 
 Pa., latter connected by wire suspension bridge across the 
 Delaware. Tri-States formeriy Carpenter's Point, at junc- 
 tion of Neversink River with Delaware River. New York, 
 New Jersey, and Pennsylvania lines meet here. Monu- 
 ment marks the spot, which stands in three States and 
 in three counties. Port Jervis is the outlet of the lower 
 Delaware Valley for twenty miles, and large portion of Sulli- 
 van County, N. Y. Port Jervis and Monticello Railroad. 
 
 Milford, Matamoras and New York Railroad (building, 
 1898). 
 
 When the Erie was opened to Port Jervis none of the 
 present business and residential part of the place was in 
 existence. All between the hamlet and the canal and 
 the Delaware River was a swampy waste. The village now 
 occupies that area. To the railroad it owes its growth and 
 existence. No place in Orange County is more delightfully 
 located. The neighborhood is rich in historic and anti- 
 quarian lore. The road that runs on the outskirts of the 
 village, through the Neversink Valley and on down the Dela- 
 ware, is believed to be the oldest passable road of any length 
 ever constructed in the United States. It is mentioned in 
 very old records as being in existence between Esopus 
 (Kingston) on the Hudson and a point near the Delaware 
 Water Gap, as long ago as 1690. It has always been known 
 as the "mine road," and tradition says it was constructed 
 by people from Holland, who sought mines of gold or copper 
 along the Lower Delaware River mountains. ^ 
 
 (MILL RIYY, POND EDDY, PARKER'S GLEN, Pike 
 Co., Pa. From Port Jervis, 4, 11, rs miles. Bluestone 
 quarrying, shipping, and manufacturing centres. Parker's 
 Glen, formerly Carr's Rock, scene of the terrible railroad dis- 
 aster of February, 1868. See pages 443-444.) 
 
 SHOHOLA, Pike Co., Pa. From New York, 103 miles. 
 Famous for its Glen, and station for summer visitors to the 
 adjacent resorts in Pike and Sullivan counties. Also blue- 
 stone quarrying and shipping point. 
 
 LACKA WAXEN, Pike Co., Pa. From New York, in 
 miles; Buffalo, 314; Dunkirk, 349. Quarrying; bluestone 
 shipping; summer resort. Junction of Honesdale Branch. 
 Delaware and Hudson Canal crossed Lackawaxen and Dela- 
 ware rivers here by aqueducts, built by John A. Roebling 
 in 1848, until 1898, when canal was abandoned. Five miles 
 back of Lackawaxen is the spot where Horace Greeley 
 attempted, in 1843, to found a Social Communit • after the 
 manner of Fourier, and failed. 
 
 (WESTCOLANG PARK, MAST HOPE, TUSTEN, Pike 
 Co., Pa. From Port Jervis, 26, 28, 31 miles respectively. 
 Stations for summer visitors. Bluestone quarrying. Milk.) 
 
 NARROWSBURG, Sullivan Co., N.Y. From New York, 
 122 miles; Port Jervis, 34; Buffalo, 303; Dunkirk, 338. 
 Originally important lumbering centre. First circular-saw- 
 mill in Delaware Valley built near by, on Pennsylvania side. 
 Named from narrows in the river, head of Big Eddy, deepest 
 and widest place in the river above tide. Narrows spanned 
 by wooden bridge erected in 1846 — last of its kind the entire 
 length of the river. Famous 40 years as railroad dining 
 station. From coming of Erie in 1848 until 1856, nearest 
 railroad station for passengers and freight to Scranton, 50 
 miles ; Wilkesbarre, 70 miles, and intermediate country. Con- 
 nected with Erie by stage-coaches and freight-wagons. 
 Thomas Dunn and wife, refugees from Wyoming massacre, 
 1778, buried here. Population, 1898, 300. 2 churches; 
 district school ; newspaper. Bluestone ; milk ; summer 
 visitors. 
 
504 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 COCHECTON, Sullivan Co., N. Y. From New York, 
 131 miles; Port Jervis, 43; Buffalo, 294; Dunkirk, 329. 
 Settlements near, 1757. From 1806 until coming of Erie 
 all travel to Susquehanna Valley near Binghamton from 
 Hudson River at Newburgh passed through Cochecton by 
 Newburgh and Cochecton turnpike and extension through 
 Pennsylvania. 2 churches ; district schools ; i hotel ; bridge 
 across Delaware. Milk ; summer visitors. 
 
 CALLICOON, Sullivan Co., N. Y. From New York, 
 136 miles; from Port Jervis, 48; Buffalo, 289; Dunkirk, 
 329. At mouth of Callicoon Creek. Eastern end of 40- 
 mile section of original contract for work on Erie, 1835 
 (page 36, General History). Population, 600. Agricultural 
 and dairy. Important water station on Erie. Station for 
 summer visitors. 3 churches ; 2 schools ; 2 newspapers ; 5 2 
 hotels and boarding-houses. Largely German population. 
 Bridge across Delaware to Wayne County, Pa. 
 
 (HANKIN'S, LONG EDDY, LORDVILLE, STOCK- 
 PORT, Delaware Co., N. Y. Hamlets, formerly impor- 
 tant centres of lumber and tanning business. Schools, 
 churches, hotels. Milk, bluestone ; summer visitors. Long 
 Eddy, also known as Basket. Laid out in 1870 for specula- 
 tive city named Douglas City. Failed. Lordville, station 
 for Equinunk, Pa., where the last extensive lumbering and 
 tanning in the valley were done. Stockport is the station for 
 an interesting region on the Pennsylvania side of the river, 
 in Preston township, Wayne Co., named for Samuel Preston, 
 the pioneer settler of that part of the valley. The settlement 
 was made in the interests of Robert Morris, the financier of 
 the Revolution, and other noted Pennsylvanians, who had 
 purchased immense tracts of wild land in that part of the 
 State.) 
 
 HANCOCK, Delaware Co., N. Y. From New York, 
 164 miles; Port Jervis, 76; Susquehanna, 28; Buffalo, 261 ; 
 Dunkirk, 296. At junction of East and West branches of 
 Delaware, forming the main stream. Formerly great lumber 
 and tanning centre and gathering place of raf tmen, and home 
 of heavy lumber operators and timber-land owners. Popu- 
 lation, 1898, 1,200. Churches, schools, newspaper, 3 hotels. 
 Bluestone quarrying. Milk. Scranton Division of New York, 
 Ontario and Western Railroad crosses Delaware to main line 
 of that railroad. 
 
 (HALE'S EDDY, Delaware Co., N. Y., hamlet, midway 
 between Hancock and Deposit.) 
 
 DEPOSIT, Delaware Co., N. Y. From New York, 177 
 miles; Port Jervis, 89; Susquehanna, 15; Buffalo, 248; 
 Dunkirk, 283. Old settlement, originally known as Cookaus. 
 Created by the lumber and tanning business. Last Erie sta- 
 tion in Delaware Valley. Historic as point where first ground 
 was broken for grading of Erie, 1835 (" Administration James 
 Gore King," pages 36, 37). Growth due to railroad. Popu- 
 lation, 1898, 1,800. 6 churches, i school, 2 newspapers, i 
 bank, 7 hotels. Large dairy interests. Extensive milk con- 
 densery. Bluestone. Pearl button, malleable iron, hand-sled 
 manufactories. Paul Devereaux Hospital. 
 
 (OQUAGA, GULF SUMMIT, midway between Deposit 
 
 and Susquehanna. Creameries, and milk and bluestone ship- 
 ping points.) 
 
 SUSQUEHANNA DIVISION. 
 
 SUSQUEHANNA, Pa. From New York, 192 miles; Buf- 
 falo, 233 ; Dunkirk, 268. Population, 4,000. Settled in 1830 ; 
 incorporated in 1853; 6 churches, 2 schools, 2 newspapers, 
 
 2 banks, 9 hotels. Terminus of the Delaware and the Sus- 
 quehanna divisions. The great Erie machine and repair 
 shops are located here. They were established in 1864, and 
 employ 1,000 hands. Agricultural and manufacturing com- 
 munity. Steamboat on the Susquehanna River. Electric 
 lights and gravity system of water-works. Among the moun- 
 tains of northeastern Pennsylvania. 
 
 GREAT BEND, Susquehanna Co., Pa. From New 
 York, 201 miles ; Dunkirk, 259 ; Buffalo, 224. Settled, 1787 ; 
 incorporated, 1861. Population, 1,200. Agricultural and 
 manufacturing. Tannery, silk mill, creamery, broom factory ; 
 
 3 churches, i school, i newspaper, 3 hotels. Joseph Smith, 
 the Mormon prophet, was born near Great Bend. Electric 
 lights, fire department. 
 
 (KIRKWOOD, small station named for former Superin- 
 tendent James P. Kirk wood.) 
 
 BINGHAMTON, Broome Co., N. Y. From New York, 
 216 miles; Buffalo, 209; Dunkirk, 244. Settled in 1800; in- 
 corporated as a city in 1867. Erie opened January 8, 1849. 
 Population then, 2,100. Population, 1898 40,000. Manu- 
 facturing. Extensive cigar, shoe, wagon, and other factories ; 
 breweries, tanneries, pulp mill, etc. ; 40 churches, 19 schools, 
 7 newspapers, 35 hotels, 6 banks (2 savings). State Hospital 
 for the Insane, St. Mary's Home, Susquehanna Valley Home, 
 Commercial Travellers' Home (now building). Birthplace 
 of Major-General John C. Robinson. United States Senator 
 Daniel S. Dickinson had his home and was buried here. Junc- 
 tion of the Chenango and Susquehanna rivers. Also on Al- 
 bany and Susquehanna, and Delaware, Lackawanna and West- 
 ern railroads. The site of Binghamton was a wilderness 
 when certain land-holders in the Southern Tier, having ob- 
 tained State aid to extend the Cochecton and Great Bend 
 Turnpike from the latter place to Bath, N. Y., its course was 
 laid through this part of Broome County. Leave was ob- 
 tained from the Legislature to build a toll-bridge across the 
 Chenango River, and its site was selected at what was known 
 as the lower ferry. The importance of the location led 
 Joshua Whitney and other residents of Chenango village, two 
 miles above the present city of Binghamton, to make a clear- 
 ing for a settlement which they called Binghamton. This 
 clearing occupied much of the present business site of the 
 city. 
 
 (HOOPER AND UNION, Broome Co.; and CAMP- 
 VILLE, TiOGA Co., N. Y., flourishing centres of agricultural 
 and manufacturing communities ; in Chemung dairy region.) 
 
 OWEGO, TioGA Co., N. Y. From New York, 237 miles ; 
 Dunkirk, 223; Buffalo, 188. Settled early in the century; 
 original Indian name of region, Ah-wa-ga. Incorporated 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 505 
 
 village. Population, 9,000. 7 churches ; graded schools ; 
 3 newspapers ; 2 banks ; 4 hotels. At junction of Owego 
 Creek and Susquehanna River. Manufacturing and agricul- 
 tural. Centre of famous dairy region. Owego was the birth- 
 place of the Erie, the convention which led to the chartering 
 of the Company having been held there, December 20, 1831. 
 (See pages 11-14.) County seat of Tioga County. Birth- 
 place of the noted politician, Hon. Thomas C. Piatt, United 
 States Senator. John D. Rockefeller, the great Standard Oil 
 Company magnate, was born near, and got his eariy education 
 at, Owego. Once the home of N. P. 'Willis, the poet. No 
 place in the Southern Tier has wielded nor does wield a greater 
 influence in affairs of the State than Owego. Terminus of 
 the second railroad chartered in New York — the Ithaca and 
 Owego Railroad, now Cayuga Division of the D., L. and W. 
 Electric lights, gas. Famous for its fire department. Trade 
 centre for wide and rich surrounding territory. 
 
 (TIOGA CENTRE, SMITHBORO, and BARTON, 
 TiOGA Co., N. Y., in the Chemung dairy region; thrifty 
 villages.) 
 
 WAVERLY, Tioga Co., N. Y. From New York, 256 
 miles; Buffalo, 169; Dunkirk, 204. Settled, 1808; incorpo- 
 rated, 1853. Agricultural and manufacturing. 5 churches, 
 S schools, 2 newspapers, 2 banks, 9 hotels. Electric lights 
 and railway. AVaverly extends across the Pennsylvania State 
 line. When the Erie was opened in 185 1, the present thriv- 
 ing village was a hamlet known as Factoryville. The place 
 owes its rise and prosperity entirely to the railroad. Also 
 on Delaware, Lackawanna and Western and Lehigh Valley 
 railroads. Electric railroad connecting with Sayre, Pa., and 
 other railroads. 
 
 (CHEMUNG, WELLSBURG, and SOUTHPORT, Che- 
 mung Co, N. Y. Thriving suburbs of Waverly and Elmira. 
 Centres of rich farming community.) 
 
 ELMIRA, Chemung Co., N. Y. From New York, 274 
 miles; Buffalo, 151 ; Dunkirk, 186. Settled in 1784; incor- 
 porated as village, 1828 ; as city, 1864. Erie opened, Octo- 
 ber I, 1849. Population then, 3,000. Population, 1898, esti- 
 mated at 45, 000. Manufacturing. Fire-engines, bicycles, 
 boots and shoes, glass, silk, cigars, portable and stationary 
 engines, brass goods, etc. ; 40 churches, 20 schools, 6 news- 
 papers, 15 hotels, 3 banks, State Reformatory, State Armory. 
 Amot-Ogden Memorial Hospital. Female College, first one 
 founded in the United States. Home of ex-Governor Lucius 
 Robinson. Residence of ex-Governor and ex-United States 
 Senator David B. Hill. Summer home of Mark Twain, who 
 married Miss Langdon of Elmira. During the Civil War the 
 barracks, where thousands of Confederate prisoners were con- 
 fined, were located here. During the Revolutionary AVar the 
 batde of Baldwin's Creek was fought near Elmira, between 
 the American troops under Gen. Sullivan, and the Indians 
 and Tories under Brant and Col. Butler. An appropriate 
 monument marks the site of this battle, which was a decisive 
 one in Sullivan's campaign against the Indians. Erie, Tioga 
 Division of Erie, Delaware, Lackawanna and Western, North- 
 em Central, Utica, Ithaca and Elmira, and Lehigh Valley 
 
 railroads. Electric street railroads, and to North Elmira 
 and other suburbs. Gas and electric lights. Capital of 
 Chemung County. 
 
 NORTH ELMIRA, Chemung Co., N. Y. From New 
 York, 278 miles; Buffalo, 147; Dunkirk, 182. Station for 
 the village of Horseheads, which was settled in 1789 ; incor- 
 porated, 1837. Population, 2,500. Agricultural and manu- 
 facturing ; 5 churches, Union Free High School, i newspa- 
 per, I bank, 3 hotels. The location of the camp of Gen. 
 Sullivan here in 1779, and the slaying of a number of his 
 worn-out horses, and the finding of their bones by the first 
 settlers, is alleged as the origin of the name of Horseheads 
 for the village. Electric street railway to Elmira. Also on 
 Delaware, Lackawanna and Western, Northern Central, and 
 Lehigh Valley railroads. 
 
 (BIG FLATS, Chemung Co., N. Y., near the Steuben 
 Cormty line, is the centre of the great tobacco growing region 
 of the Chemung Valley.) 
 
 CORNING, Steuben Co., N. Y. From New York, 291 
 miles; Buffalo, 134; Dunkirk, 169. Settled, 1830; named 
 for Erastus Coming, one of its founders ; incorporated as 
 village, 1851; city, 1886. Erie opened, January i, 1850. 
 Population then, 1,200. Population, 1898, 10,000. Manu- 
 facturing and agricultural. Flint-glass works, glass-cutting 
 factory, stove and furnace works ; 14 churches, 4 schools, 2 
 newspapers, 6 hotels, 2 banks, i savings and loan associa- 
 tion. HaK-shire town of Steuben County. Terminus of the 
 Rochester Division. Electric railroad, electric lights. Also 
 on Delaware, Lackawanna and Western and Fall Brook rail- 
 roads. 
 
 (For Painted Post, see Rochester Division.) 
 
 ADDISON, Steuben Co., N. Y. From New York, 302 
 miles; from Buffalo, 123; from Dunkirk, 158. Settled 
 early in the century. Population, 2,100. Agricultural and 
 manufacturing. 6 churches ; 2 newspapers ; i bank ; 2 
 hotels ; 2 schools. At the mouth of Tuscarora Creek. 
 Formerly a prominent lumbering centre in the days of raft- 
 ing on the Susquehanna waters ; originally named Tuscarora 
 from the Indian name of the creek. Outlet of the tobacco 
 region of Tioga County, Pa. Addison and Pennsylvania 
 Railroad, now property of Buffalo and Susquehanna Rail- 
 road Company, extends from Addison to Galeton, Pa. 
 
 (RATHBONEVILLE, CAMERON MILLS, CAMERON, 
 AND ADRIAN, Steuben Co., N. Y. Thriving centres of a 
 farming and lumbering region, between Addison and Can- 
 isteo.) 
 
 CANISTEO, Steuben Co., N. Y. From New York, 328 
 miles; Buffalo, 97; Dunkirk, 132. Setded, 1798. Incor- 
 porated, 1873. Population, 2,200. Agricultural and manu- 
 facturing. Silk, lace, button, veneering, and other factories ; 
 2 tanneries ; creamery ; 5 churches ; i school ; 2 newspa- 
 pers ; I bank ; 4 hotels ; free library. Academy with a staff 
 of thirteen teachers. Fire department ; gravity water-works. 
 Outlet for the lumbering and mining country of northern 
 Pennsylvania. In the days of rafting and lumbering 
 Canisteo was the most important point in that valley. 
 
5o6 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 ALLEGANY (FORMERLY \YESTERX) DIYLSIOX. 
 
 HORNELLSVILLE, Steuben Co., N. Y. From New 
 York, 332 miles; Buffalo, 93; Dunkirk, 128. Settled, 1798, 
 by George Hornell, who owned the entire township. Incor- 
 porated as a village, 1852 ; as a city, 1888. Erie opened 
 September 3, 1850. Population then, 900. Population 
 now, 1 3,000. Agricultural and manufacturing ; silk, glass, 
 shoe, and other factories. 11 churches; 4 newspapers (2 
 daily) ; 5 schools ; 2 banks ; 6 hotels ; sanitarium. Hornells- 
 ville is essentially a creation of the Erie. It is at junction of 
 the Caneadea Creek and the Canisteo River ; 3 divisions of 
 the Erie end and begin here : the Susquehanna, the Buffalo, 
 and the Allegany, formerly the Western. Also on Central 
 New York and Western Railroad. 
 
 (ALMOND, ALFRED, ANDOVER, Allegany Co., 
 N. Y. Miles from New York, 337, 341, 350; Hornellsville, 
 5, 9, 18; Dunkirk, 123, 119, no, respectively. Old settle- 
 ments — Almond, 1796 ; Alfred, 1807 ; Andover, 1824. Agri- 
 cultural and local industries ; mills ; creamery. Almond — 3 
 churches; i school; 2 hotels. Population, 1,500. Alfred 
 (originally Baker's Bridge) is the station for Alfred Centre, 2 
 miles. 2 churches ; 2 schools ; 2 newspapers ; 2 hotels — no 
 license ; 9 cheese factories in the locality. Alfred Univer- 
 sity (Seventh Day Baptist). In one respect this pretty vil- 
 lage, in the heart of the rich farming region of Allegany 
 County, is the oddest town in the State. At sundown every 
 Friday evening work of every kind and description ceases. 
 Saturday is the Sabbath of the people hereabout, and the 
 early Puritans of New England observed their Sabbath with 
 no more severe reverence. When the sun sets on Saturday 
 the village springs into busy life again. Stores are opened, 
 promenaders appear, worldly affairs are resumed. Andover 
 — Incorporated, 1893. Population, 1,000. 5 churches; i 
 school; I newspaper; 4 hotels ; cheese factories.) 
 
 WELLSVILLE, Allegany Co., N. Y. From New 
 York, 359 miles; Hornellsville, 27; Dunkirk, 102. Incor- 
 porated village, 1872. Population, 5,000. Agricultural and 
 manufacturing. 9 churches ; schools ; 2 newspapers ; 6 
 hotels ; 2 banks ; free library ; machine works ; leather 
 and furniture factories ; tanning. Formerly Genesee station. 
 Outlet and inlet for all the region for 50 miles south in the 
 lumber regions of Potter County for 25 years after coming 
 of Erie. Also on Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad from 
 Coudersport, Pa. 
 
 (SCIO, Allegany Co., N. Y. From Hornellsville, 30 
 miles ; Dunkirk, 98. Agricultural.) 
 
 BELMONT, Allegany Co., N. Y. From New York, 
 366 miles; Hornellsville, 34; Dunkirk, 95. Settled, 1 816. 
 Incorporated, 1856. County seat. Agricultural and manu- 
 facturing. 6 churches ; i school ; 2 newspapers ; 2 hotels ; 
 I bank ; free library ; county buildings. Was in the great 
 pine belt of western New York; lumbering until 1856. Mill; 
 machinery works ; pail factory. 
 
 BELVIDERE, Allegany Co., N. Y. From Hornells- 
 ville, 38 miles ; Dunkirk, 90. Takes name from the late 
 
 Phihp Church's historic residence. Former station for Bel- 
 fast, Oramel, Angelica. Agricultural. 
 
 FRIENDSHIP, Allegany Co., N. Y. From New 
 York, 374 miles; Hornellsville, 42; Dunkirk, 86. Settled, 
 1807. Incorporated village, 1852. Population, 1898, 1,800. 
 Agricultural and industrial. 6 churches ; i school ; i news- 
 paper ; • I hotel ; 2 banks. Important shipping point for 
 dairy products, hay, grain, potatoes, live stock. Sash, door, 
 and blind factories ; stove company. Prosperous and grow- 
 ing. 
 
 CUBA, Allegany Co., N. Y. From New York, 383 
 miles; Hornellsville, 5 1 ; Dunkirk, 77. Agricultural. Pop- 
 ulation, 1,400. 4 churches; 2 schools; 2 hotels; i bank. 
 The last spike in the construction of the Erie was driven at 
 Cuba, April 21, 1851, by Silas Seymour, engineer in charge 
 of that division. Cuba was the terminus of the Erie for five 
 months pending the completion of the road from Dunkirk east. . 
 After the close of the \Var of 1 8 1 2, emigration became extensive 
 from the Eastern States to Ohio. The direct route from the 
 Hudson to the Allegany through New York State was from Al- 
 bany to Utica, then to Canandaigua, and from that point to 
 Angelica, or Cuba, thence to Olean Point, from which the Alle- 
 gany River conveyed them to the Ohio. Oil Creek, a tributary 
 of the Allegany River, rising in the historical oil spring near 
 Cuba, was preferred by the emigrants to the wretched roads. 
 They would come to Cuba in the fall or in the spring, where 
 they would wait for- the first freshet in the creek. To ac- 
 commodate them, boats of logs and planks, 16 to 24 feet 
 long, were made by local builders at Cuba, and sold for from 
 ^30 to ^50 each. These boats would carry five persons each 
 with their goods, and the emigrant would make the trip to 
 the Allegany at Olean Point, and thence down the river. 
 
 (HINSDALE, Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., between Cuba 
 and Olean. An old village, a rehc of the Genesee Canal, 
 now long since departed.) 
 
 OLEAN, Cattaraugus Co., N. Y. From New York, 
 396 miles; Dunkirk, 64 miles. Settled, 1803. Incorporated 
 as a city, 1892. Erie opened. May 14, 185 1. Population 
 then, 1,000; population, 1898, 15,000. 12 churches; 8 
 schools ; 4 newspapers ; 2 banks ; 10 hotels ; free library ; State 
 armory. Acid, barrel, spring-beds, boilers, engines, glue, glass- 
 ware, horseshoes, hubs, leather, mill machinery, oils, oil-well 
 supply, soap, shoe-findings, stump machines, shirts, tanners' 
 supplies, wagon, and many other factories. Olean is the 
 largest petroleum storage-place in the world. The Standard 
 Oil Company has scores of immense iron tanks here. From 
 Olean the crude petroleum is started to the seaboard through 
 the iron pipes that carry it to the refineries, a great part of 
 the way along the route of the Erie. 
 
 ALLEGANY, Cattaraugus Co., N. Y. From New 
 York, 399 miles; Dunkirk, 60. Came into existence with 
 the Erie. The original route of the Erie ran two miles south 
 of its present location, and there a city had been plotted, be- 
 lieving that the railroad would bring to it great importance. 
 The change in the route, however, destroyed that hope. The 
 present village of Allegany sprang up instead. Population, 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 507 
 
 1,500. Seat of a Franciscan college and convent and of 
 St. Elizabeth's Academy under the charge of the Sisters of St. 
 Francis. Four miles beyond Allegany the Indian Reserva- 
 tion begins. 
 
 (VANDALIA, CARROLLTON, and GREAT VALLEY, 
 Cattaraugus Co., N. Y. Stations between Allegany and 
 Salamanca. CarroUton, junction of the Bradford Division. 
 Great Valley, originally Killbuck station. Centre of an ex- 
 tensive lumbering business.) 
 
 SALAMANCA, Cattaraugus Co., N. Y. From New 
 York, 415 miles; Dunkirk, 45. Settled, 1865 ; incorporated, 
 1878. Population, 5,000. Manufacturing and railroad cen- 
 tre. 7 churches ; 5 schools ; 3 newspapers ; 1 2 hotels ; 2 banks ; 
 hospital ; building and loan association ; library ; gymnasium. 
 Named by James McHenry for the Marquis of Salamanca, 
 Spain, a liberal contributor to the building of the Atlantic 
 and Great Western Railroad. Salamanca is built entirely on 
 the lands of the Indian Reservation, which are held under en- 
 abling Congressional legislation by long tenure of leasehold. 
 Salamanca came into existence with the building of the At- 
 lantic and Great "Western Railroad, now the Nypano Division 
 of the Erie, which has its eastern terminus at this point. At 
 that time the site of the present Salamanca was a tangled 
 swamp. The settlement was a mile west of the present sta- 
 tion, and known as Bucktooth, now West Salamanca. The 
 first settlers in Salamanca were greatly hampered by the diffi- 
 culty of securing satisfactory leases of ground to build upon, 
 because of the lack of legal authority vested in the Indian 
 proprietors to make them. After a long effort legislation 
 was at last obtained doing away to a great extent with this 
 difficulty, but it was not until a few years ago that the present 
 beneficial legislation was procured through which the citizens 
 were warranted in making such improvements as the impor- 
 tance and steady growth of the place demanded. Besides 
 the Erie and its system, Salamanca is on the Buffalo, Roches- 
 ter and Pittsburg and Western New York and Pennsylvania 
 railroads. 
 
 LITTLE VALLEY, Cattaraugus Co., N. Y. From 
 New York, 421 miles; from Dunkirk, 39. Settled early in 
 the century. Population, 1,000. Became the county seat 
 in 1868. Cattaraugus County Fair Grounds; 3 churches, 2 
 schools. Centre ei rich dairy country. 
 
 (CATTARAUGUS, DAYTON, PERRYSBURG, Catta- 
 raugus Co., N. Y. ; SMITH'S MILLS and FOREST- 
 VILLE, Chautauqua Co., N. Y. Original Erie stations 
 and old villages on the elevated land between Little Valley 
 and Dunkirk. At Dayton the Buffalo and Southwestern Di- 
 vision from Jamestown and Chautauqua Lake to Buffalo con- 
 nects with main line. All these stations are thriving centres 
 of the great Chautauqua and Cattaraugus dairy regions.) 
 
 DUNKIRK, Chautauqua Co., N. Y. From New York, 
 460 miles. Settled in 18 10. Called Chadwick's Bay, after 
 the original settler, Solomon Chadwick. The land now occu- 
 pied by Dunkirk originally belonged to De Witt Clinton and 
 Isaiah and John Thompson. In 181 7 Walter Smith bought 
 half for ?io,ooo. In 1837 he sold it to New York men for 
 
 double the price, and bought the other half for ^7,000, and 
 purchased 600 acres more. In 1838 he divided it into shares. 
 One-quarter of it was to have been donated to the Erie if the 
 railroad was completed in 1842. Dunkirk, incorporated a 
 village in 1837. Population, 1898, 14,000. Manufacturing. 
 14 churches; 9 schools; 5 newspapers; 2 banks; r7 hotels. 
 Young Men's Christian Association and Free Library. Port 
 of entry on Lake Erie. Legal western terminus of the Erie. 
 Electric railroads, electric lights. Extensive shops of the 
 Erie were here until 1868 ; then abandoned and became the 
 Brooks Locomotive Works. Besides the Erie, the Lake Shore 
 and Michigan Southern, New York, Chicago and St. Louis, 
 Dunkirk, Allegany Valley and Pittsburg, and AVestern New 
 York and Pennsylvania railroads run through or terminate 
 at Dunkirk. 
 
 BUFFALO DIVISION. 
 (^From Hornellsville ; see Allegany Division^ 
 
 ARKPORT, Steuben Co., N. Y. ; BERNE, CANASE- 
 RAGA, GARWOODS, and SWAINS, Allegany Co., 
 N. Y. ; DALTON, HUNTS, and PORTAGE, Livingston 
 Co., N. Y. ; CASTILE and SILVER SPRINGS, Wyoming 
 Co., N. Y. Thrifty villages between Hornellsville and War- 
 saw. Dalton is the station for Nunda, a village of 1,000 popu- 
 lation. At Portage is the great Erie Railroad bridge across 
 the Genesee River at the Portage Falls. Silver Springs is the 
 station to Silver Lake. 
 
 WARSAW, Wyoming Co., N. Y. From New York, 375 
 miles; Buffalo, 48. Settled, 1803. Incorporated, 1843. 
 Population, 3,000. Agricultural and manufacturing. On the 
 Great Wyoming Salt Belt, some of the finest wells being here 
 and in the vicinity. 7 churches ; high school ; 2 newspapers ; 
 2 banks ; 5 hotels. Also on the Rochester and Pittsburg Rail- 
 road. 
 
 (GALE, Wyoming Co., N. Y. ; LINDEN, Genesee Co., 
 N. Y. Small places between Warsaw and Attica, in an agri- 
 cultural region.) 
 
 ATTICA, Wyoming Co., N. Y. From New York, 392 
 miles; Buffalo, 31. Settled early in century. Incorporated, 
 1837. Population, 2,000. 5 churches; i newspaper; union 
 school ; I bank. At the junction of the Rochester and Buf- 
 falo divisions, forming a single hne to Buffalo. Also on a 
 branch of the New York Central. 
 
 (GRISWOLD and DARIEN, Genesee Co., N. Y. ; AL- 
 DEN, TOWN LINE, LANCASTER, CHEEKTOWAGA, 
 Erie Co., N. Y. Neat and thriving villages between Attica 
 and Buffalo.) 
 
 BUFFALO, Erie Co., N. Y. From New York, 425 
 miles. Village laid out by Holland Land Company in 1801. 
 In 1 81 2 it was burned by the British. Congress voted 
 ^80,000 to compensate for the loss. Incorporated a city, 
 April, 1832. Black Rock included in city limits, 1852, and 
 new city charter went in force January i, 1854. Population 
 then, 45,000. Population, 1898, 300,000. Port of entry. 
 Seat of justice of Erie County. Western terminus of Erie 
 
5o8 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 Canal. Water-front of 5 miles : 2^ on Lake Erie, 2^ on Ni- 
 agara River. Lake-front gradually rises to an extended 
 plain, 50 feet above the water. Portion of river-front a bold 
 bluff, 60 feet above the water. City handsomely built. 
 Streets broad and straight. Where the waters of the lake 
 merge in the Niagara River, Buffalo Creek enters the lake 
 from the east and the Erie Canal from the northwest. Over 
 100 miles of asphalt streets. 15 parks, one of 442 acres. 
 Claims to be the cleanest, best-lighted, and healthiest city 
 in the United States. Water supply obtained from Niagara 
 River through a tunnel extending nearly to the middle of the 
 river. Gas and electric lighting ; natural gas for fuel. 
 Electric street railways. Public buildings include custom- 
 house, post-office. State arsenal. State armory, city and 
 county hall and jail, general hospital, insane asylum, four 
 orphan asylums. Several private hospitals and asylums under 
 church care. 167 churches; State Normal School ; 50 pub- 
 lic schools ; 2 medical colleges ; Buffalo Library ; Grosvenor 
 Library. 7 English and 3 German dailies, and 20 weekly 
 newspapers. Board of Trade organized in 1844; incorpo- 
 rated in r857. Merchants' Exchange. Preeminent in the 
 grain trade : 40 elevators, ^^'ith storage capacity of 20,000,- 
 000 bushels ; transportation facility, 4,000,000 bushels a day. 
 First elevator built in r843 by Joseph Dart. In live-stock 
 trade, second only to Chicago. In steel and iron, ranks next 
 to Pittsburg, having nearly 2,000 manufactories. Annual 
 lumber trade, 400,000,000 feet. Greatest Eastern railroad 
 centre : Erie and branches, New York Central, Lake Shore 
 system, Michigan Central, Grand Trunk, West Shore, Dela- 
 ware, Lackawanna and Western, Lehigh Valley, Buffalo, 
 Rochester and Pittsburg, AVestern New York and Pennsyl- 
 vania, and numerous local railroads. 
 
 ROCHESTER DIVISION. 
 (^Froin Corning ; see Susqtiehanna Division!) 
 
 PAINTED POST, Steuben Co., N. Y. From New York, 
 293 miles; Dunkirk, 167; Buffalo, 132; Rochester, 93. 
 Settled, 1786. Incorporated, 1893. Population, 1,000. 
 Agricultural and manufacturing. On the Chemung tobacco 
 belt. 3 churches ; i school ; i hotel ; i bank. The Seneca 
 chief, Montour, mortally wounded at the battie of Hogback, 
 August 29, 1779, died here. A bronze statue of an Indian 
 is erected in the public square commemorating the event. 
 Junction of main line of Erie. 
 
 (COOPERS, CURTIS, CAMPBELL, and SAVONA, 
 Steuben Co., N. Y. Thriving agricultural villages.) 
 
 BATH, Steuben Co., N. Y. From New York, 311 miles; 
 Rochester, 74. Settled, 1793 ; incorporated, 1816. Popul".- 
 tion, 3,000. Agricultural and manufacturing. 6 churches ; i 
 school ; 3 newspapers ; 6 hotels ; 2 banks. New York Sailors' 
 and Soldiers' Home ; Davenport Orphan Asylum. State fish 
 hatchery near by. Admiral Howell, United States Navy, ^^■as 
 born here. Bath was intended by its projectors to be the 
 metropolis of the West. It was the headquarters of the Pult- 
 
 ney estate, the proprietor of which was Sir William Pultney 
 of England. His agent, Charles AVilliamson, founded the 
 place. There was a theatre, a race-course, and a newspaper 
 here as early as r796. Steuben County fair-grounds, property 
 of one of the oldest agricultural societies in the State, are 
 here. Also on Delaware, Lackawanna and Western, and Bath 
 and Hammondsport railroads, the latter one of the first rail- 
 roads incorporated in the State of New York, having been 
 chartered in r83i, under the name of the Bath and Crooked 
 Lake Railroad. No railroad was built, however, until 1875, 
 when the present Bath and Hammondsport Railroad was 
 built as a three-foot gauge. It was made standard gauge in 
 July, 1889. 
 
 (KANONA, AVOCA, WALLACE'S, Steuben Co., N.Y. 
 Attractive villages in a picturesque region.) 
 
 COHOCTON, Steuben Co., N. Y. From New Yor' , 
 326 miles; Rochester, 59. Population, 1,200. Formerly 
 great lumber centre. Agricultural and manufacturing. 6 
 churches ; union free school ; circulating library ; 2 newspa- 
 pers ; opera-house ; 5 hotels ; agricultural society and fair- 
 grounds ; water-works. Also on main line of Delaware, 
 Lackawanna and Western Railroad. 
 
 (BLOOD'S, WAYLAND,SitvUben' Co.; SPRINGWATER, 
 WEBSTER, CONESUS, SOUTH LIVONIA, LIVONIA, 
 AND HAMILTON, Livingston Co. Stations for thrifty 
 villages in a garden spot of Western Neu' York.) 
 
 AVON, Livingston Co., N. Y. From New York, 367 
 miles; Rochester, 18. Population, 1,600. Farming com- 
 munity. 4 churches ; r high school ; i parish school ; i 
 newspaper ; 2 banks ; electric lights ; natural gas belt ; 
 superior fire department; gravity water system; sewered; 
 cement sidewalks ; telephone, local and long distance ; vil- 
 lage park; soldiers' monument; opera-house; race-track. 
 Famous health resort. Mineral springs ; large hotels and 
 sanitariums. -\ place of refinement and culture in the Gene- 
 see Valley. Junction of Rochester, Buffalo, and Mount 
 Morris branches of the Erie. The sulphur springs here 
 were known and used by the Indians long before the first 
 white settlers came in the Genesee Valley. Two hundred 
 years ago De Nouville, the French explorer, fought a fierce 
 battle with the Indians on the present site of Avon. General 
 Sullivan, in 1779, also invaded the valley at this point, and 
 drove the Indians from it forever. 
 
 (RUSH, SCOTTSVILLE, HENRIETTA, and RED 
 CREEK, Monroe Co., N. Y., are busthng stations between 
 Avon and Rochester. Scottsville has 3 churches, a union 
 school, and extensive mills a mile and a half west of the 
 station.) 
 
 ROCHESTER, Monroe Co., N. Y. From New York, 
 386 miles. First settler came in 1788, but first actual settle- 
 ment began in rSio, made by Col. Nathaniel Rochester. 
 Incorporated as village of Rochesterville, 181 7; as city of 
 Rochester, 1834. Population in 1817, 600 ; in 1834, 11,000 ; 
 1898, estimated, r75, 000. Port of entry. Genesee River flows 
 through centre of city. Unexcelled water-power ; river falls 
 226 feet within 3 miles; 3 perpendicular falls, 96, 26, and 84 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 509 
 
 feet high. City covers area of 1 8 miles. Manufacturing. 90 
 churches; high school; 16 ward schools; Rochester Univer- 
 sity (1846), Theological Seminary (1850), both Baptist. 6 
 national banks ; 4 savings banks ; 6 private banks ; 7 daily, 
 16 weekly, i tri-weekly newspapers ; 15 monthlies. Chil- 
 dren's Home, Old Woman's Home, State Industrial School. 
 Hospitals and libraries. Famous for its great milling indus- 
 try (once called the " Flour City ") and for its nurseries of 
 fruit trees and plants, and for flower and garden seed grow- 
 ing. 16 flour mills, manufacturing 3,000,000 bushels of wheat 
 annually. Largest carriage factory in United States. Annual 
 manufacture of boots and shoes and clothing, $20,000,000. 
 Rubber goods, furniture, steam engines, agricultural ma- 
 chinery, tobacco, cigars, blast furnaces, breweries, iron bridge 
 works. Erie Canal crosses Genesee River by cut-stone 
 aqueduct, 848 feet long, 45 feet wide, supported by 9 arches. 
 The architecture of Rochester is beautiful, imposing, costly. 
 Wide, shaded streets, crossing at right angles. Electric rail- 
 roads with all neighboring towns. Lake Ontario, 7 miles. 
 Two water supplies : Hemlock I^ake, 29 miles distant, eleva- 
 tion 400 feet, and Genesee River (Holly system). Paid fire 
 department. Noted buildings : Powers Block and the Arcade. 
 " Spirit rappings " had their origin here, with the Fox sisters, 
 in 1850. Erie, New York Central, Western New York and 
 Pennsylvania, Pittsburg, Buffalo and Rochester, and local 
 railroads. 
 
 NEWBURGH SHORT CUT AND BRANCH. 
 
 CENTRAL VALLEY, HIGHLAND MILLS, WOOD- 
 BURY, HOUGHTON FARM, MOUNTAINVILLE, 
 CORNWALL, NEW WINDSOR, Orange Co., N. Y. 
 Along Newbtcrgh Short Cut, from Turner's, A^. Y. ; see New 
 York Division. Villages among the Hudson Highlands. 
 Dairy farming, manufacturing, fruit-growing, stock-raising. 
 Important as summer resorts. New Windsor settlements 
 early in last century. Revolutionary association. The El- 
 lison House, built in 1735, where Washington had his head- 
 quarters, is still standing. Society of the Cincinnati had 
 its origin at New Windsor, in the "Temple of Virtue," a 
 large frame building erected by order of Gen. Washington 
 in 1782. 
 
 NEWBURCH, Orange Co., N. Y. From New York, 
 63 miles. Settled r7r9, by Palatines from the Palatinate of 
 Newburgh, Germany. A church settlement originally. In- 
 corporated as village, 1800 ; as city, 1865. Estimated 
 population, 1898, 25,000. One of the capitals of Orange 
 County. Situated on the plateau and high hills overlooking 
 Newburgh Bay. Manufacturing, and centre of great dairy 
 and fruit region. Coal storage depot and shipping point of 
 Pennsylvania Coal Company. Shipyards, cotton and woollen 
 factories. 32 churches; free academy; 5 grammar schools; 
 private boarding schools; public library; children's home; 
 Home for the Friendless ; State armory ; Academy of Music ; 
 4 daily, 5 weekly newspapers ; 3 banks ; 5 hotels. Rich in 
 Revolutionary associations. Seat of military operations was in 
 
 the Highlands, in 1782-83. Washington's headquarters in the 
 Hasbrouck Mansion, built in r 750, and still standing in the 
 condition it was left when the army was disbanded, June 23, 
 1783. Here Washington matured the plans which led to 
 the final triumph of the American army. Newburgh particu- 
 larly belongs to the history of Erie. (" Third Administration 
 of Eleazar Lord," pages 76-84.) Also on West Shore 
 Railroad, Albany and Troy lines of Hudson River steam- 
 boats. Ferry to Fishkill Landing (New York Central Rail- 
 road connection). Electric street railways and to suburbs. 
 Electric and gas lighting. Hospital. 
 
 CRAIGVILLE, BLOOMING GROVE, WASHING- 
 TONVILLE, SALISBURY MILLS, VAIL'S GATE, Orange 
 Co., N. Y. Along Newburgh Branch, from Greycourt, 
 N. Y. , sec Neiu York Division. In the historic-valley of the 
 Murdererskill. All ancient settlements. Dairy farming, 
 manufacturing, fruit-growing, stock-raising. Famous summer 
 resorts. At Vail's Gate, the Edmoston House, built in 1755, 
 still standing, was the headquarters of Gen. St. Clair and Gen. 
 Gates. At Washington Square Gen. Chnton's headquarters 
 were in the Falls House, still intact. 
 
 HONESDALE BRANCH. 
 {^From Lackawaxeii, Pa. ; see Delaware Division^ 
 
 HAWLEY, Wayne Co., Pa. From New York, 126 miles. 
 Came into existence with the Pennsylvania Coal Company. 
 Original settlement called Paupack Eddy. For years terminus 
 of the Pennsylvania Coal Company's gravity railroad con- 
 necting the mines of that company with the Delaware and 
 Hudson Canal, and later with the Hawley Branch of the Erie. 
 Gravity railroad was replaced by the Erie and Wyoming Rail- 
 road in 1881. Population, 2,000. Incorporated, 1882. Manu- 
 facturing. Silk mills, glass-cutting works, and glass factory ; 
 bluestone works. 4 churches ; graded school ; i newspaper ; 
 I bank ; 4 hotels. 
 
 (WHITE MILLS, Wayne Co., Pa., a neat village, owing 
 its existence and sustenance to the famous Dorflinger glass- 
 cutting works.) 
 
 HONESDALE, Wayne Co., Pa. From New York, 135 
 miles. First settlement, 1823. Came into existence with 
 the Delaware and Hudson Canal and its gravity railroad in 
 1826. Incorporated, 1 83 1. County seat. Farming, dairy, and 
 manufacturing. Population, including part outside of corpo- 
 ration limits, 6,000. Agricultural and manufacturing. 7 
 churches ; i synagogue ; graded school ; 2 weekly, i semi- 
 weekly newspapers ; i national bank ; r savings bank ; 5 hotels. 
 The first locomotive that turned a M-heel on the American 
 continent was run at Honesdale on the Delaware and Hud- 
 son Canal Company's track, August 9, 1829, by Horatio 
 Allen, who years afterward was President of the Erie. Jennie 
 Brovvnscombe, the noted artist, and Homer Green, the author 
 and poet, are residents of Honesdale. The lofty cliff rising 
 east of Honesdale, known as Irving Cliff, was named by 
 Washington Irving. John Jacob Astor, Philip Hone, and 
 other distinguished New York men visited Honesdale on the 
 
5IO 
 
 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES 
 
 opening of the canal, and climbed to the summit of the cliff. 
 Honesdale was named for Philip Hone, an old-time mayor 
 of New York City and a patron of the canal. Silk mill, glass- 
 cutting works, iron foundry, woollen mills. Coal storage and 
 shipping point of Delaware and Hudson and Erie. 
 
 JEFFERSON DIVISION. 
 (From Susquehanna, Pa. ; see Susquehanna Division^ 
 
 FOREST CITY, Susquehanna Co., Pa. From Susque- 
 hanna, 32 miles. Northern boundary of Lackawanna coal 
 field. Settlement due to discovery of coal. Incorporated as 
 borough, 1888. Population, estimated, 5,000. Coal mining. 
 Erie's coal mine property hereabout. 8 churches, i graded 
 school, I newspaper, i bank, 4 hotels. 
 
 CARBONDALE, Lackawanna Co., Pa. From Susque- 
 hanna, 39 miles. Settled, 1827, by beginning of coal mining 
 by Delaware and Hudson Coal Company. Pioneer city of 
 Northeastern Pennsylvania. Incorporated, 1850. Coal min- 
 ing and manufacturing. Silk mill, iron foundry, machinery. 
 First coal marketed to tidewater on the Hudson mined here. 
 8 churches, 16 schools, 2 newspapers, 2 banks, 6 hotels. 
 Free library; emergency hospital ; opera-house. First great 
 mine disaster here in 1845 ) 16 persons buried by falling 
 roof of original mine. Gas and electric lighting. On Penn- 
 sylvania Division of Delaware and Hudson Railroad and 
 western terminus of Delaware and Hudson Gravity Railroad. 
 
 Other stations on this division, small farming, lumber- 
 ing, or mining centres. Lanesboro, Susquehanna Co., Pa. ; 
 Starrucca, Wayne Co., Pa. ; Herrick Centre, Susquehanna 
 Co., Pa., are old settlements. Starrucca once important in 
 tanning industry. Herrick Centre, Uniondale, Stillwater, 
 Thompson, agricultural. Lanesboro, legal terminus of Jeffer- 
 son Railroad. Hallenback's and West Carbondale, mining 
 and lumber. 
 
 BRADFORD DIVISION. 
 (From Carrollion, N. Y. ; see Allegany Division^ 
 
 BRADFORD, McKean Co., Pa. From New York, 419 
 miles; Buffalo, 97 ; Dunkirk, 63. Settled early. Originally 
 Littleton, a lumbering hamlet. City had its rise in the discov- 
 ery of petroleum. First practical development of the terri- 
 tory, 1875. For many years the oil-producing centre of the 
 world, the region producing 25,000 barrels a day. Manu- 
 facturing. In a vast coal and lumber region. (" The Build- 
 ing of It," pages 366-367.) Population, 1898, 14,000. 
 18 churches; 2 synagogues; 3 daily, 3 weekly newspapers; 
 3 banks; 23 hotels; 3 oil refineries; 6 oil-well supply firms; 
 3 pipe lines ; 47 miscellaneous manufactories ; paved streets ; 
 electric lights and railways ; gravity water system ; natural 
 gas ; 2 parks ; 7 schools ; i high school ; 2 parochial schools ; 
 hook and ladder company, and 6 hose companies. Electric 
 railways to Olean and Rock City. 
 
 Besides Bradford, the oil business called into importance 
 the stations of Limestone, Babcock, Kendal, De Golia, 
 
 Lewis Run, Big Shanty, Crawford's, Alton, and Buttsville, 
 along this division of Erie. 
 
 NIAGARA FALLS BRANCH. 
 
 (From Buffalo^ 
 
 TONAWANDA, Erie Co., N. Y. From New York, 432 
 miles; Buffalo, 13. Early settlement. Population, 7,500. 
 Lumber-trade centre and manufacturing. On Niagara River 
 and at mouth of Tonawanda Creek. Opposite Grand Island. 
 1 1 churches ; high school ; 7 district schools ; 2 newspapers ; 
 
 2 banks. Terminus of Lockport Branch. Also on Canandaigua 
 and Niagara Falls Branch of New York Central Railroad. 
 
 NIAGARA FALLS, Niagara Co., N. Y. From New 
 York, 442 miles ; Buffalo, 24. Settled, 1806. Incorporated 
 as village, 1847 J as city, March 17, 1892. Population, 22,000. 
 Manufacturing. Greatest chemical manufacturing city in 
 the world. Greatest electrical centre in the United States ; 
 the Niagara Falls Power Company developing nearly 50,- 
 000 horse-power, the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and 
 Manufacturing Company developing 30,000 horse-power. 
 15 churches; 13 schools; 4 newspapers; 34 hotels; 6 banks; 
 public library; Memorial Hospital. Many of the battles 
 of the French and Indian War were fought along the Niagara 
 River. At Youngstown the French made their last stand 
 against the British. Descriptions of the grandeur of the great 
 cataract that gives this place its name are household words. 
 
 LOCKPORT BRANCH. 
 
 (From Tonawanda.') 
 
 LOCKPORT, Niagara Co., N. Y. From New York, 
 460 miles ; Buffalo, 25. Settled, 1810. Incorporated as a 
 village, 1836; as a city, 1868. Population, 20,000. On the 
 rich fruit belt of western New York. Manufacturing. 16 
 churches ; 9 schools, including first union school in the State ; 
 
 3 daily, 3 semi-weekly, i weekly, and 2 monthly newspapers ; 
 
 4 banks ; opera-house. Brick, asphalt, and stone streets ; 
 electric lights, electric railroad to Buffalo and Lake Ontario. 
 Water and electric power. 5 hose companies, i hook and 
 ladder company. Home of the Holly Water Works system. 
 Upwards of 25 large manufactories of every variety of goods, 
 machinery, and supplies. 20 miles of sewers. Lockport ship- 
 ments of fruit in 1896 were equivalent to 1,200,000 barrels. 
 Municipal hall, court-house, and jail. County seat of Niagara 
 County. Lockport is named from having in its limits 10 
 locks on the Erie Canal, largest in the State. Governor 
 Washington Hunt was born here. 
 
 BUFFALO BRANCH OF ROCHESTER DIVISION. 
 
 (From Avon; see Rochester Division!) 
 
 CALEDONIA, Livingston Co., N. Y. From New York, 
 374 miles ; Rochester, 25 ; Buffalo, 59. Settled, 1805 ; incor- 
 porated, 1890. Population, 1,100. AgriculturaL 4 churches; 
 
THE STORY OF ERIE 
 
 511 
 
 I school ; I newspaper ; 2 banks ; 2 hotels ; Ladies' Library 
 Association. Birthplace of the late United States Senator 
 Angus Cameron. Originally settled by the Scotch, whose 
 descendants are largely of the present population. The 
 wonderful Caledonia Big Spring is here. This extraordi- 
 nary spring was early a great rendezvous of the Indians. 
 On its outlet was located the first fish hatchery in the United 
 States, if not in the world. This was established by the late 
 Seth Green, the father of practical fish culture. The hatch- 
 ery is now the property of the State, and millions of brook- 
 trout fry and fry of all other fresh-water game fish are 
 hatched here, and annually distributed to the waters through- 
 out the State. Also near the New York Central and Lehigh 
 Valley railroads. 
 
 LEROY, Livingston Co., N. Y. From New York, 381 
 miles; Rochester, 33; Buffalo, 5T. Settled, 1797; incor- 
 porated, 1834. Agricultural and manufacturing. On the 
 great salt belt of western New York. 8 churches; union 
 free school and annexes ; 2 newspapers ; 2 banks ; 4 hotels. 
 Indian remains and relics found at Fort Hill, 2 miles north 
 of the village ; gypsum and Onondaga limestone. Also near 
 the New York Central and Lehigh Valley railroads. 
 
 (STAFFORD, Genesee Co., N. Y. Station for the villages 
 of Stafford and Morganville.) 
 
 BATAVIA, Genesee Co., N. Y. From New York, 396 
 miles; Buffalo, 41 ; Rochester, 43. Settled, 1801 ; population, 
 8,500. Agricultural and manufacturing. Plough, wagon, and 
 other factories. 8 churches; 6 schools; 2 newspapers (i 
 daily) ; 4 banks ; 3 hotels. State School for the Blind. Ba- 
 tavia was the home of Dean Richmond, the famous railroad 
 magnate, politician, and millionaire. It was the seat of the 
 great Holland Land Company, which owned nearly all western 
 New York in the early part of the century. The original 
 land office of this company, a quaint and historical relic of 
 the pioneer days, is still standing in Batavia. This place 
 was the scene of the alleged abduction of Morgan by the 
 Freemasons of 1826 for exposures of that order which he 
 was charged with having made. This event, whether true or 
 false, led to the anti-Masonic excitement in New York and 
 other States, the result of which was a great political revolu- 
 tion. It was here that the first meeting to advocate the con- 
 struction of the Erie Canal was held in 1809. The Oak 
 Orchard Acid Springs, a curious collection of bubbling 
 fountains, nine in number, in no two of which the water is 
 the same, are located near Batavia. 
 
 ALEXANDER, Genesee Co., N. Y., 29 miles from Buf- 
 falo. A small village, the seat of the Genesee and Wyoming 
 Seminary, founded in 1834. 
 
 ''For stations beyond Alexander, see Buffalo Division.) 
 
 MOUNT MORRIS BRANCH. 
 
 {From Avon ; see Rochester Division^ 
 
 GENESEO, Livingston Co., N. Y. From New York, 375 
 miles; Rochester, 27. Settled, 1790; incorporated, 1832. 
 
 County seat. Agricultural. Population, 3,500. 5 churches ; 
 2 schools ; 2 newspapers ; 3 hotels ; i bank. State Normal 
 School and union school. Wadsworth Library. The first set- 
 tlers were William and James Wadsworth, agents for the sale 
 of immense tracts of land in the vicinity. Gen. James S. 
 Wadsworth, who fell at the battle of the Wilderness in 1864, 
 was a son of the original James. The historic home of the 
 Wadsworths is here. Several descendants of the pioneers 
 have seats in the village or vicinity. The Treaty of Big Tree 
 between the Indians and the United States, the most impor- 
 tant event in the history of Western New York, was signed 
 here in 1797. 
 
 MOUNT MORRIS, Livingston Co., N. Y. From New 
 York, 382 miles; Rochester, 34. Settled, 1794. Incorpo- 
 rated, 1835. Named for Robert Morris, the financier of the 
 Revolution. Population, 2,400. Agricultural and manufac- 
 turing. 5 churches ; i school ; -> newspapers ; 4 hotels ; 3 
 banks. 
 
 At Geneseo, Mount Morris, and vicinity, there exists a con- 
 dition of things common enough abroad, but rarely found in 
 America, a sort of enlightened feudal system, the land being 
 almost exclusively owned by a few individuals, hereditary 
 holders, who, instead of leaving its management in the hands 
 of unscrupulous agents, and living elsewhere on the desired 
 revenue, plant themselves squarely in the centre of their own 
 acres and identify their interests with those of their tenants. 
 The life of the people of this class is not unlike that of the 
 English country gentleman ; their work consists in the man- 
 agement and improvement of their land, the bettering of the 
 condition of the farming population, and the breeding and 
 maintaining of thoroughbred animals, preeminently the horse. 
 Their relaxation is found in the entertainment of guests, the 
 exchange of visits, and, more than all else, fox-hunting in its 
 season. Once every year, lured by the Genesee Valley hunt, 
 one of the most famous in the country, "society" comes 
 farther westward than is its wont, and finds in the autumnal 
 splendors of the valley a rival to its own Berkshire Hills. 
 
 ON ERIE ROUTE THAT FAILED. 
 
 JAMESTOWN, Chautauqua Co., N. Y. From New 
 York, 449 miles; Buffalo, 54; Dunkirk, 40. Settled, 1811. 
 Incorporated as a village, 1827 ; as a city, 1886. Popula- 
 tion estimated, 35,000. Agricultural and manufacturing. 18 
 churches ; high school ; 2 daily, 4 weekly, 2 semi- weekly news- 
 papers ; hospital ; Prendergast Free Library. Jamestown is 
 located at the foot of Chautauqua Lake, on Chautauqua Out- 
 let. Artesian water ; natural gas ; electric lights and railway. 
 Junction of the Buffalo and Southwestern Division and of the 
 Meadville Division of the Ohio Division (Nypano). Steam- 
 boats run to and fro the entire length of the famous Chau- 
 tauqua Lake. Jamestown was one of the first places con- 
 nected with Erie history, and the original route was to pass 
 near it, but was changed to its present route from Salamanca 
 through Cattaraugus County. (See Chapter III., page 28 ; 
 "The Building of It," pages 356-363.) 
 
ADDENDA 
 
CHAPTER XXI {Continued). 
 ADIMINISTRATION OF EBEN B. THOMAS— 1899 TO 1901. 
 
 CROWNING ACHIEVEMENTS: Threatened Difficulty Overcome by Heroic Measures — Purcliase of the Great Properties of the 
 Pennsylvania Coal Company at a Cost of Nearly Four Times the Original Capital of Erie — Continued Surplus Earnings and a 
 Genuine Dividend — Retirement of Mr. Thomas as President — Important Changes in the Executive, Operating, and Traffic 
 Departments — Coming in of President Underwood. 
 
 A PECULIAR complication that was destined, if carried to 
 the extent of its intention, to have a disturbing effect on the 
 Erie's coal-traffic relations followed the abandonment of its 
 canal and sale of it and its franchises to private parties by 
 the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company in 1898. This 
 was the incorporation in November, 1899, of the Delaware 
 Valley and Kingston Railroad Company, with the avowed 
 intention of constructing a railroad along the route of the 
 canal from Kingston, N. Y., to Lackawaxen, Pa., there to 
 connect with the railroad known as the Honesdale Branch 
 of the Erie, but in realit}' a part of the Pennsylvania Coal 
 Company's Erie and Wyoming Valley Railroad. The mere 
 fact of the new railroad company's project so far as it was 
 confined to the powers and efforts of that company alone 
 would have been no substantial cause for apprehension to 
 the Erie, but the project had the avowed backing of the 
 Pennsylvania Coal Company, and was further sustained by 
 the support of a large number of independent coal opera- 
 tors in the northern anthracite field. The importance of 
 the Erie in the traffic in anthracite coal, aside from its own 
 individual mine holdings, was entirely due to its connection 
 with the Pennsylvania Coal Company's lines in the coal 
 regions ; and if this new railroad connection with the anthra- 
 cite fields and tidewater were made, all that interest would 
 be lost to the Erie on the expiration of its arrangement with 
 the Pennsylvania Coal Company. The courts were resorted 
 to to test the legal status of the new company and its proj- 
 ect, and its rights as affecting those of the Erie, and a 
 long, expensive, and uncertain course of litigation was inevi- 
 table, when the progressive and aggressive genius of the 
 later-day Erie management removed with one stroke even the 
 appearance of trouble on Erie's horizon. This was the pur- 
 chase outright of the Pennsylvania Coal Company's rights and 
 franchises and property, and those of the Delaware Valley 
 and Kingston Railroad Company, thus placing the Erie in 
 entire and absolute possession and control of the situation. 
 This coup was effected through J. P. Morgan & Company 
 at the cost of ;^37,ooo,ooo, but it insured for all time Erie's 
 prestige and tenure in the northern anthracite field as one 
 of the largest producers and transporters of coal, and will 
 stand forth not only as one of the great triumphs of Presi- 
 dent Thomas's administration, but of Erie's entire career. 
 
 The policy that came in with the Thomas administration 
 has answered affirmatively each year the question as to 
 whether the Erie could meet the vast sura of its fixed 
 charges and live. In 1899 the charges were not only all 
 earned and paid, but the earnings were sufficient to leave 
 a surplus of ^653,798.26 besides. The surplus over the 
 charges of 1900 was ^1,663,430.34. For 1901 the surplus 
 is ^2,823,156.34, and August 30, 1901, the Company paid a 
 dividend of i }4 per cent, on the first preferred stock, for 
 the six months ending June 30, 1901, out of that surplus. 
 
 The Jersey City terminals were all completed in 1900, and 
 the four-track system finished as far as Suffern, N. Y., nearly 
 29 miles. Heavy grades on the Eastern and Allegheny 
 divisions that have retarded the traffic and increased the 
 cost of transportation have been greatly reduced. The 
 abolishing of grade crossings, the importance of which has 
 been a feature of the Thomas administration, is progressing 
 with all possible facility. One particular policy which Presi- 
 dent Thomas insisted on was the improvement of the char- 
 acter of the refreshment service at depot dining stations. 
 The improvement in all branches of the railroad service was 
 so marked during this administration that it is without prece- 
 dent in Erie's history. 
 
 Mr. Thomas resigned as president. May i, 1901, and was 
 made chairman of the Board of Directors. He was suc- 
 ceeded by F. D. Underwood, second vice-president and gen- 
 eral manager of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. 
 
 Early in 1901 James J. Hill, president of the Great 
 Northern Railroad Company, became allied with Erie in- 
 terests, the result of which, it is anticipated, will be im- 
 portant to the Erie as a factor in a great transcontinental 
 transportation system. 
 
 Following is the fine showing for Erie for the last year of 
 Mr. Thomas's administration : 
 
 Gross Revenue from Operations Amounted to $39,102,302 42 
 
 Operating Expenses and Taxes 28,406,974 27 
 
 Net Income from Operations $10,695,328 15 
 
 Income from Securities Owned, etc 1,496,077 53 
 
 Total Income $12,191,405 68 
 
 Interest and Rentals 9,368,249 34 
 
 Leaving a Balance to Credit of Profit and Loss of $2,823,156 34 
 
5i6 
 
 ADDENDA 
 
 EARNINGS AND EXPENSES. 
 
 Earnings $33,752,703 92 
 
 Expenses 25,169,926 28 
 
 Net Earnings $8,582,777 64 
 
 1900 
 
 $38,293,031 87 
 
 28,448,605 14 
 
 $9,844,426 73 
 
 At the beginning of the Thomas administration Erie com- 
 mon stock was quoted at 8, the first preferred at 37, and 
 the second preferred at 20. At the close of the Thomas 
 administration Erie common was firm at 45/4, first pre- 
 ferred at 73X. and second preferred at 58^. 
 
 J. A. Middleton, long time secretary of the Company, 
 was chosen second vice-president, May i, 1901, retaining 
 the secretaryship. 
 
 A. Donaldson, third vice-president and treasurer, resigned 
 April 23, 1901. He was succeeded as treasurer by J. W. 
 Flatten, assistant purchasing agent. 
 
 D. I. Roberts, general passenger agent, resigned June 22, 
 1901, and was succeeded by D. W. Cooke, assistant gen- 
 eral passenger agent. 
 
 July I, 1901, Charles R. Fitch was appointed general 
 manager of the entire Erie system. 
 
 The advancement of Mr. Fitch from general superintend- 
 ent to general manager was followed by many other changes 
 in the operating department. The new office called for 
 three assistants, one general and two division. J. C. Moor- 
 head was made general assistant. George T. Slade was 
 promoted from the superintendency of the Jefferson and 
 Wyoming divisions to be assistant general manager for the 
 
 New York Division, and H. E. Gilpin from the New York, 
 Susquehanna and AVestern Division to be assistant general 
 manager for the Ohio Division. Mr. Slade was succeeded in 
 his former place by J. M. Davis, Mr. Gilpin being succeeded 
 by George W. Dowe, who was transferred from the superin- 
 tendency of the Allegany Division. Superintendent Dowe 
 was succeeded there by C. S. Goldsborough. 
 
 George Van Keuren, long assistant to General Superin- 
 tendent Fitch, was appointed general superintendent of 
 transportation, and J. F. Maguire, superintendent of the 
 New York Division, was selected as assistant general super- 
 intendent of transportation, his successor as division superin- 
 tendent being W. L. Derr, who was transferred as head of 
 the Susquehanna Division, where he was succeeded by 
 George A. Coe. 
 
 These were all advancements from the line, and well- 
 merited recognition of faithful and valuable service by 
 capable men, forming a corps and staff perhaps unequalled, 
 and certainly not excelled, by those of any railroad com- 
 pany in the world in their mastery of every problem that the 
 genius of modern railroad management has brought to bear 
 upon the science of transportation and operation. 
 
 The office of general superintendent was transferred to 
 Cleveland after the promotion of Mr. Fitch, and O. M. 
 Mozier became general superintendent. In September, 
 1 90 1, however, that office was abolished, and the incumbent 
 assigned to special duties in the operating department, the 
 duties of the office being assumed jointly by H. E. Gilpin, 
 assistant general manager of the Ohio Division, and George 
 Van Keuren, general superintendent of transportation at 
 Jersey City. 
 
THE PRESIDENTS OF ERIE {Continued). 
 
 1901. 
 
 Frederick D. Underwood. — The beginning of the fiscal 
 year of 1901-02 was marked by the presence of a new presi- 
 dent in the Erie management — Frederick D. Underwood. 
 Whatever of success and advancement in the company's 
 affairs he is destined to command is, of course, for the future 
 to show ; but the outcome of all his past endeavors in rail- 
 road management is augury sufficient that in his hands Erie's 
 future is secure and big with promise. 
 
 Frederick D. Underwood was bom at Milwaukee, Wis., 
 and was educated at public and private schools and at 
 Wayland University. Upon leaving school he entered the 
 service of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Com- 
 pany, at Green Bay, Wis., as a warehouse-man. At that 
 time Angus Smith & Co. controlled, at Milwaukee, the larg- 
 est grain elevator system in the world, and the future railroad 
 manager, after a time, quit the railroad warehouse and be- 
 came employed by the great elevator concern. Subsequently 
 the system was purchased by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. 
 Paul Railroad Company. Mr. Underwood remained with 
 that company as elevator superintendent, weigher of grain, 
 brakeman, conductor, switchman in yards, yard master, assist- 
 ant division superintendent, and division superintendent, a 
 successive service of eighteen years. He was called to the Min- 
 neapolis and Pacific Railway in 1886 as general superintendent 
 of construction. That company had just been chartered, and 
 after supervising the construction of its railroad he was for 
 fourteen years its general manager in charge of its traffic and 
 operation. In 1899 Mr. Underwood was asked to assume 
 the duties of general manager of the Baltimore and Ohio 
 Railroad, in charge of the operating and engineering depart- 
 ment of that great system. While filling that important 
 post his genius as an effective and economical manager be- 
 came known in still wider fields, with the result that when 
 the Erie Railroad Company, with all its new and vastly 
 increased importance and scope among the dominant rail- 
 road systems of the country sought a successor to President 
 Thomas to direct and utilize to the best results those in- 
 creased facilities and responsibilities, Mr. Underwood was 
 chosen. He came to the Erie May i, 1901, at the request 
 of J. P. Morgan & Co., as president of the company and 
 director in it and its constituent companies, a choice that 
 only a manager of the very highest qualifications for the work 
 
 could have commanded. President Underwood has risen 
 from one of the humblest of beginnings in railroad service, 
 by sheer force of character, to the proud position he now 
 occupies, and is one more conspicuous example of what it 
 is possible for an American youth to overcome and attain 
 to in the battle for fame and fortune. 
 
 President Underwood is a member of the Chicago Club, 
 Chicago; Union Club, Cleveland; Duquesne Club, Pitts- 
 burg ; Maryland Club, Baltimore ; Metropolitan and Lawyers' 
 Clubs of New York, and of the New York, and Baltimore 
 Yacht Clubs. 
 
 OFFICIAL ROSTER, 1901. 
 
 E. B. Thomas, Chairman of the Board ; F. D. Underwood, Presi- 
 dent; Daniel Willard, Assistant to the President ; G. M. Cumming, 
 First Vice-President ; J. A. Middleton, Second Vice-President and 
 Secretary ; L. D. Smith, Assistant Secretary ; J. T. Wann, Auditor ; 
 A. T. Cuddeback, Auditor of Traffic ; D. W. Bigney, Auditor of 
 Disbursements ; J. W. Flatten, Treasurer ; W. D. Bancker, Assist- 
 ant Treasurer ; C. R. Fitch, General Manager, New York ; J. C. 
 Moorhead, Assistant General Manager, Cleveland ; George T. Slade, 
 Assistant General Manager, Erie Division, New York ; H. E. Gilpin, 
 Assistant General Manager,Ohio Division and C. and E. R.R., Cleve- 
 land; George Van Keuren, General Superintendent of Transportation, 
 Jersey City ; J. F. Maguire, Assistant Superintendent of Trans- 
 portation, Jersey City ; W. L. Derr, Superintendent Nevir York Divi- 
 sion, Jersey City ; T. H. Pindell, Superintendent Greenwood Lake 
 Division, Northern Railroad of New Jersey and New Jersey and New 
 York R. R., Jersey City ; G. W. Dowe, Superintendent N. Y., S. and 
 W. R. R., Jersey City ; W. H. Barrett, Superintendent Delaware Divi- 
 sion, Port Jervis, N. Y. ; George A. Coe, Superintendent Susquehanna 
 Division, Elmira, N Y. ; J. M. Davis, Superintendent Wyoming and 
 Jefferson Divisions, Dunmore, Pa. ; F. B. Lincoln, Superintendent 
 Tioga Division, Arnot, Pa. ; J. C. Tucker, Superintendent Rochester 
 Division, Rochester, N. Y. ; C. A. Brunn, Superintendent Buffalo Di- 
 vision, Buffalo, N. Y. ; C. S. Goldsborough, Superintendent Allegany 
 Division, Hornellsville, N. Y. ; C. V. Merrick, Superintendent Brad- 
 ford Division, Bradford, Pa. ; I. Belnap, Superintendent Meadville 
 Division, Meadville, Pa. ; C. A. Allen, Superintendent Cincinnati 
 Division, Gallon, O. ; H. N. Donaldson, Superintendent Mahoning 
 Division, Youngstown, O. ; H. F. Coyle, Assistant Superintendent 
 Mahoning Division, Youngstown, O. ; C. C. Reynolds, Superintend- 
 ent Chicago and Lima Divisions, Chicago ; James Corbett, Assistant 
 Superintendent Chicago and Lima Divisions, Huntington, Ind. ; D. 
 W. Cooke, General Passenger Agent, New York ; F. W. Buskirk, 
 Assistant General Passenger Agent, Chicago. 
 
 Board of Directors. — Robert Bacon, New York ; James J. 
 Goodwin, New York ; Abram S. Hewitt, New Jersey ; James J. 
 Hill, St. Paul, Minn. ; John G. McCuUough, Vermont ; Darius O. 
 Mills, New York ; Alexander E. Orr, New York ; Norman B. Ream, 
 Chicago, 111. ; Samuel Spencer, New York ; Charles Steele, NeviJ 
 York ; Francis Lynde Stetson, New York ; E. B. Thomas, New 
 York ; H. McK. Twombly, New York ; F. D. Underwood, New 
 York ; J. Lowber Welsh, Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Abbott, John N., biographical, 494 
 
 development of passenger service by, 428, 430 
 
 Accidents, odd and fatal ones, 413, 423 
 
 -. some notable ones, 441-445 
 
 . winter of, 113* 
 
 Adams, Charles Francis, 150 
 
 Addison, N. Y., data of, 505 
 
 Albany and Susquehanna, Erie War, 370 
 
 Alfred, N. Y., data of, 506 
 
 Allegany, N. Y., data of, 506 
 
 Allen, Horatio, biographical, 462 
 
 election of as President of Erie, 68 
 
 engineer in charge of work, 107 
 
 first locomotive engineer, 71, 72 
 
 failure of as President, 69-72 
 
 — vicissitudes of as President, 506 
 Almond, N. Y., data of, 506 
 A.ndover, N. Y., data of, 506 
 \TDOt lohn, connection of with Erie, 92 
 Arrest 01 directors, 150 
 
 Gould, 152, 153 
 
 Jewett, 251 
 
 McHenry, 269 
 
 Assignment, the first, queer making of, 65 
 
 lifting of the, 68 
 
 Astor, John Jacob, stock subscription of, 321 
 
 William B., stock subscription of, 321 
 
 Atlantic and Great Western, entanglements of, with Erie, 173, 181, 
 182, 187, 193, 201, 220, 227, 228, 232, 237, 364, 365, 366 
 
 History of, 363-366 
 
 Attica and Homellsville Railroad, as part of Erie, 361, 362 
 
 N. Y. , data of, 507 
 
 Attorneys, the first Erie, 317, 322 
 
 Auditors, first, the, and subsequent, 479 
 
 Avon, N. Y., data of, 508 
 
 Ayers, Capt. Henry (Poppy), pioneer conductor, 98, 103, 399 
 
 anecdotes of, 400, 401 
 
 Babcock, investigating committee, the, 452-456 
 Balcom, Judge Ransom, proceedings tsefore, 149, 150 
 Bankruptcy, 57, 63, 65, 129-136, 242-250, 273-281, 301, 302, 335 
 Barlow, S. L. M. (j« a/so Watson, Peter H.), 201, 203, 204, 210, 211, 
 
 223, 226, 237, 492 
 Batavia, N. Y., data of, 511 
 Bath, N. Y., data of, 508 
 Beginning of work, the, in Delaware Valley, 36, 312 
 
 at the Hudson River, 41 
 
 Belden, William, 148, 150 
 Belmont, N. Y., data of, 506 
 Belmont, August, 166 
 Belmont-Gould, Erie War, 166-171 
 
 rival receivers, the, 166-169 
 
 outwitting by Gould of August Belmont, 166, 167 
 
 Judge Barnard, change of attitude of, 167, 168 
 
 attempt to oust Gould, failure of the, 168, 169 
 
 ■ Fisk, midnight mission of, 169, 170 
 •—^ complete victory in, of Gould, 169, 171 
 (See also Gould, J.) 
 Bell-rope, origin of, the, 401 
 Belvidere, N. Y., data of, 506 
 Berdell, Robert H., biographical, 465 
 
 election to Presidency, how effected, 139 
 
 progressive and successful management of, 144-146 
 
 retirement of, 143 
 
 Bergen Tunnel, the, contract for, 120, 360 
 
 riots at, 120, 360 
 
 work suspended on, I2g, 360 
 
 work resumed on, 360 
 
 ' completion of, 360 
 — opening of, to traffic, 135, 360 
 Binghamton, N. Y., data of, 304 
 
 first appearance of locomotive at, 351 
 
 opening of railroad to, and celebration of, 91, 352, 353 
 
 preference of Chenango Canal by, 14 
 
 Block system, introduction of, 483 
 
 Bond issue, the first, 70 
 
 issues, description and history of, 288-293 
 
 Bonded debt, beginning of, 79, 92 
 
 growth of, 92, 93, III, 112, 113, 289, 292 
 
 present condition of, 288-292 
 
 showing of, year by year, 484 
 
 Bonding Act, the, 67, 79-83, 304, 306 
 
 Bonus, the $10,000 annual, 100 
 
 Boston, Hartford and Erie R. R. Co., the, 142, 143, 149 
 
 Bowen, James, biographical, 461 
 
 election of, to Presidency, 52 
 
 folly of, 53-68 
 
 opening of railroad to Goshen by, 52, 57, 331, 332 
 
 company bankrupt through management of, 57, 63, 65 
 
 appointing of himself as assignee by, 65 
 
 retirement of, 68 
 
 Bradford Branch, the, history of, 366, 367 
 
 Bradford, Pa., data of, 511 
 
 Breaking ground, the, at Deposit, 36, 312 
 
 at Tappan Slote, 41 
 
 Bribery of directors, 187, 190, 195, 196, 197, 199 
 
 legislators and lobbyists, 448, 450, 451, 453, 454, 455 
 
 Attorney-General, alleged, 348 
 
 judges, alleged, 151 
 
 Bridges, the first, 348 
 
 Broad gauge, the, why adopted, 44, 45 
 
 father of, the, 314, 338 
 
 opposition to, 44, 46, 338 
 
 cost of, to change to standard, 45, 46 
 
 connection with Chicago, 147 
 
 Brown, Maj. Thompson S., biographical, 313, 314 
 Buffalo, efforts of, toward Erie connection, 360, 363 
 
 connection with, sought by Erie, 362, 363, 386, 389 
 
 and Cohocton Valley R. R. Co., 361 
 
 Corning and New York R. R. Co., 361, 362 
 
 and New York City R. R. Co., 362 
 
 New York and Erie R. R. Co., 362, 363 
 
 Bradford and Pittsburgh R. R., 145, 148, 149 
 
 and State Line R. R., 112, 137, 138, 371, 372 
 
 early Erie routes to, 388, 389 
 
 data of, 507 
 
 By-laws, first adoption of, 472 
 
 Caledonia, N. Y. , data of, 510 
 CalHcoon, N. Y., data of, 504 
 Camp & Co. , rail laying, original contractors for, 321 
 
 collection of claim by, 333 
 
 Canisteo, N. Y., data of, 505 
 
 Carbondale, Pa., data of, 510 
 
 Car Trust of New York, 457 
 
 Carr's Rock, disaster at, 443, 444 
 
 Cascade Bridge, 135, 349, 350 
 
 Celebrations, railroad openings, of, at Binghamton, N. Y., loi, 102 
 
 Dunkirk, N. Y., 104-109 
 
 Eimira, N. Y., loi, 102 
 
 Goshen, N. Y., 332, 374 
 
 Newburgh, N. Y., 351, 370 
 
 Port Jervis, N. Y., 100, 343, 344, 345, 382 
 
 Owego, N. Y., loi, 354, 358 
 
 Changes of Routes (see also Sullivan County, N. Y.), 306 
 
 commission to determine, 349, 355 
 
 Chapin, W. C, pioneer conductor, 103 
 Charter, the, adoption of plan of, 13 
 
 applications for, 10, 11 
 
 original draft of, 14 
 
 legislative proceedings on, 295 
 
 as adopted, 296, 297 
 
 amendments to, 298, 299 
 
 Chester, N. Y., meadows, 318 
 
 donations of land at, 333 
 
 beginning of milk business at, 406 
 
 data of, 502 
 
 Chicago and Atlantic Railway Co., 204, 270-272 
 Church, Philip, 10, 13, i6, 310, 311, 458 
 
.S20 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton R. R., 271 
 Claim of Camp & Co., collection of how made, 333 
 
 Miller, G. C. & S. G., 333 
 
 Holbert, Adrian, 336 
 
 Classification Act, the, origin of, 174 
 
 passing of in the legislature, 176 
 
 efforts for repeal of, 177, 179, 182 
 
 repeal of, 189 
 
 Clinton, Gov. De Witt, 2, 4 
 
 Col. De Witt, 5, 6 
 
 Coal traffic, the Erie, first predictions of, 322. 368 
 
 beginning of, 137 
 
 development of, 137, 145, 146, 175, 268, 369 
 
 burning locomotives, the first, 144 
 
 Cochecton, N. Y. , data of, 504 
 Coe, George A., 516 
 Cohocton, N. Y., data of, 508 
 Completion of railroad, 94 
 
 celebration of, 94-108 
 
 Cook, Constant, 92 
 
 Cooke, D. W., 516 
 
 Conductors, some pioneer, 399, 400 
 
 Coney Island, first excursion to, 380 
 
 Connections, early Erie, 378, 382, 385, 386 
 
 Contractors and State stock, 317, 319, 323 
 
 pioneer, the, 312, 316, 317, 318, 321, 322, 325, 327, ijj 
 
 Contracts, the first, for grading, 36, 312, 313, 315 
 
 ties, etc., 317 
 
 ■ laying rails, 321 
 
 for piles for road-bed, 317 
 
 surrender of, 68 
 
 Corning, N. Y. , data of, 505 
 
 road opened to, 385 
 
 Cost of railroad, early estimates on, 49, 61, 69, 75 
 
 actual outlay in, in 
 
 showing of, year by year, 483 
 
 Crises, approaching of, 53-57, 122, 129, 232, 273 
 Crouch, George, 183, 195-197 
 
 originator of the Gould overthrow, 197 
 
 letters and telegrams of, 195-197 
 
 explanatory statement of, 197 
 
 Davis, J. C. Bancroft, 132, 134, 142, 150 
 
 Davis, J. M., 516 
 
 Debt, bonded, the, showing of, year by year, 484 
 
 floating, the, showing of, year by year, 484 
 
 Delaware Division, the, first train over, 351, 352 
 Delaware and Hudson Canal Co. , opposition of, 36S 
 
 ■ injunction of, 303 
 
 effect on Erie of closing of canal by, 515 
 
 Delaware Valley, the, beginning of work in, 36, 312 
 
 work in, suspension of, 42, 313 
 
 • — — resumption of, 76 
 
 seeking entry into by Erie, 58, 87, 321, 322 
 
 -opposition to entry into, 87-89, 321, 322 
 
 Denniston, Robert, 79 
 Deposit, N. Y., data of, 504 
 
 breaking of ground at, 36, 312 
 
 change of route from, 87 
 
 Derr, W. L., 516 
 
 Diamond Cars, the, 398 
 
 Dining station, the first, 427, 428 
 
 Directors, bribery of, 187, igo, 195, ig6, 197, 199 
 
 first board of, 19 
 
 — all subsequent boards of, 472-479 
 
 flight of, to Jersey City, 150, 152 
 
 -arrest of, 150 
 
 fining of, 155 
 
 injunctions against, 150 
 
 Diven, Alexander S., coming of, into Erie, 68 
 
 devising by, of construction plan, 92 
 
 speech of, at Elmira celebration of opening, 102 
 
 withdrawal of candidacy for president by, 139 
 
 Vice-President and General Manager, 139 
 
 participation of, in active Erie affairs, 143-159 
 
 Dividends, Watson, the, 208, 209, 219, 229 
 
 payment of various, and nature of, 272, 273, 484, 51? 
 
 Division Superintendents, 480, 481, 482, 516, 518 
 Dix, Gen. John A., biographical, 468 
 
 election of, as President, 201 
 
 brief and unimportant management of, 201-207 
 
 Double track, the first, 112 
 
 Double track, issuing of bonds for, 112 
 
 and sidings, yearly growth of, 383 
 
 Douglas, Charles W., coming of, into Erie, 421, 422 
 
 pioneer telegraphing of, 422 
 
 taking of first message by sound by, 422 
 
 Dowe, George W. , 516 
 
 Drake, John R., 326 
 
 Drew, Daniel, biographical, 487, 488 
 
 first appearance of, in Erie, 115 
 
 developing of control by, 121-140, 159 
 
 conversions of bonds into stock by, 140-148 
 
 Wall street bouts of, with Vanderbilt, 140,- 142, 149 
 
 declaring of war on, by Vanderbilt, 148 
 
 over-issuing of Erie stock by, 148 
 
 defying of court orders by, 148 
 
 flight of, to Jersey City, 150 
 
 secret settlement with Vanderbilt by, 155 
 
 retiring of, from Erie management, 155, 161 
 
 costly antagonizing of Gould and Fisk by, 163, 164 
 
 humiliation of, by Gould and Fisk, 165, 166 
 
 last disastrous bout of, with Gould, 210, 211 
 
 (See also Gould, Jay; Vanderbilt-Drew Erie War; Vanderbilt, 
 
 Cornelius.) 
 Duer, John, attorney, the first Erie, 322 
 
 drafting of charter by, 14 . 
 
 Duncan, W. Butler, advice of, to Jay Gould, 179, iSo 
 
 ■ Gould's letter to, 180 
 
 Gould's arrangement with, 180, 181 
 
 Dunkirk, N. Y., data of, 507 
 
 western terminus of railroad fixed at, 313 
 
 land grants by, 313, 327 
 
 beginning of work at, 315 
 
 completion of railroad to and opening of, 94-109 
 
 grand celebration at, of opening of, 104-109 
 
 first trains from, 387 
 
 decline of, as terminus, 138, 389 
 
 Early railroad building, crude ideas about, 13, 16, 38, 40, 310, 311 
 
 salaries, 311, 317, 372 
 
 Earnings, first report of, 61 
 
 freight, showing of, year by year, since 1841, the total, 484 
 
 passenger, showing of, year by year, since 1841, the total, 4S4 
 
 Eldridge, John S., biographical, 465 
 
 election of, as President, 143 
 
 desertion of Vanderbilt by, 148 
 
 participation of, in Vanderbilt-Drew war, 149, 150 
 
 flight of, to Jersey City, 150 
 
 purpose of, accomplished, 156-160 
 
 (See also Drew, Daniel ; Gould, Jay ; Legislative Investigations ; 
 Vanderbilt-Drew Erie War.) 
 
 Elmira, N. Y. , data of, 505 
 
 opening of railroad to, in, 354, 385 
 
 reception of Erie guests, 103 
 
 Emigrant train, mention of the first, 387 
 
 Employes, growth in number of, year by year, 483 
 
 fatality among, year by year, 483 
 
 Enabling act, vicissitudes of, 79-83 
 
 ■ legislation on, 306 
 
 Engine 100, and Gad Lyman, engineer of, 99, 100 
 
 71, and Josh. Martin, engineer of, 99, 100, loi, 393 
 
 Orange, curious career of, 301, 355, 362, 392, 393, 473 
 
 Engineers, early rivalry among, 98 
 
 pioneer, 391-395 
 
 memorable strikes-of, 115, iig, 431, 434 
 
 Erie, the great development of, showing of the, 286, 287 
 
 cost of, the, 287-293 
 
 Erie and New York Central, early rivalry between, 149 
 
 Erie Railway Company, the, plan of organization of, the, 132-134 
 
 articles of association of, the, 134 
 
 organization of, the, 134 
 
 prosperous years of, 137-140 
 
 managements of, the, 134-242 
 
 receivers appointed for, 129, 242 
 
 receivership of, the, 242-260 
 
 property of, selling of the, 254, 256, 257, 258 
 
 absorbing of the new company by, the, 260 
 
 retrospective recapitulation of career of, a, 260 
 
 (See also 'R^rAtW, Robert H.; Dix, Gen. John A.; Drew, Daniel ; El- 
 dridge, John S. ; Gould, Jay; Crouch, George; Jewett, Hugh J. ; 
 Vanderbilt, Cornelius ; Watson, Peter H.; McHenry, James.) 
 
 Excursion train, the first Fourth of July, 376 
 
 Coney Island, 380 
 
INDEX 
 
 52t 
 
 Excursion train, the first through, 98 
 
 conductors and engineers of, g8, cjg 
 
 distinguished guests on, 96, 98 
 
 fast time of, 100 
 
 grand reception of, en route, 98-105 
 
 Expenses, transportation, showing of, year by year, since 1841, 4S4 
 
 Field, David Dudley, 155 
 
 Fillmore, President Millard, 94-97, loi, 102 
 
 Finch, Nathaniel, 354 
 
 First air brake, the trial and adoption of, 430, 483 
 
 bids for ties, etc., opening of, 317 
 
 board of directors, the, electing of, 19 
 
 bonds, the, issuing of, 70 
 
 carrying of mails on railroads, the, the suggesting of, 24 
 
 contracts for grading, the, making of, 36, 41, 44, 312, 333 
 
 for laying rails, making of, 321 
 
 charge of corrupt management, the, making of, 50 
 
 craze for railroad building, the, appearance of, g 
 
 double track, the, preparations for, 112 
 
 employe, the, killing on the railroad, of, 403 
 
 express service, the, coming of, 483 
 
 freight shipment, the, carrying of, 406 
 
 ground, the breaking of, 36, 37, 483 
 
 gas-lighting of cars, the, trial and adoption of, 430, 483 
 
 ideas for a railroad over Erie route, the, expressing of, 4 
 
 iron bridge, the, fatal accident attending, 413 
 
 iron rails, the, contracting for and purchasing of, 32S-331 
 
 legislative investigation, the, ordering of and proceeding's in, 
 
 50, 446, 447 
 
 lobbying, the calling into service of, 44 
 
 milk transportation, the, events leading to, 406 
 
 officers, the, electing of, 19 
 
 passenger, the, killing on the railroad of, 409 
 
 passenger train, the moving of, 52 
 
 Pullman coaches, the, adopting of, 430, 483 
 
 railroad tickets, the, character of, 413 
 
 receiver, the peculiar selection of, 333 
 
 report of earnings, the, making of, 61 
 
 of an accident by telegraph, the, sending of, 419 
 
 of receipts and expenses, the, making of, 38 
 
 salaries of officers, the, fixing of, 317 
 
 sleeping cars, the, purchasing and use of, 39S 
 
 spike, the driving of, 330 
 
 stock, the subscribing for, 18, 34, 36 
 
 strike, the, causes leading to, 115 
 
 train order by telegraph, the, sending of, 420 
 
 train wreckers, the, appearing of, 430 
 
 Fisk, James, Jr., biographical, 488-4g2 
 
 coming of, into Erie, 488 
 
 ■ career of, in Wall Street, 488, 489 
 
 show and notoriety loved by, 489 
 
 wit, humor, audacity, generosity of, 488, 489, 491 
 
 interview of, with Vanderbilt, 171 
 
 suing of Vanderbilt by, 171 
 
 humiliation of Uaniel Drew by, 165, 166 
 
 — — ■ fascination of, by Josie Mansfield, 490 
 
 experiences of, in the bluestone business, 216, 217 
 
 assassination of, by Ed. S. Stokes, 490 
 
 death and gorgeous funeral of, 491 
 
 Fitch, Charles R., 516 
 
 Henry, first general passenger agent, 379 
 
 Fixed charges, the, to be met, 292, 293 
 
 Floating debt, the, showing of, year by year, 484 
 
 Floods, some disastrous, 120, 125, 440, 441 
 
 Freighters, the occupation of, 378, 379 
 
 Freight cars, showing of equipment in, year by year, 483 
 
 Freight dock, first Erie, at New York, 403 
 
 Freight tonnage, showing of development of, 483 
 
 Gannon, Frank S., 496 
 
 Gauge, the broad, 44, 45, 46, I47, 3I4, 338 
 
 General Superintendents and General Managers, 480, 516, 518 
 
 General Freight Agents, chronology of the, 480 
 
 General Passenger Agent, the first, 379 
 
 successors to the office of, 480, 516 
 
 Geneseo, N. Y., data of, 511 
 
 Gilpin, H. E., 516 
 
 Glass Factory Rocks, the obstacle of the, 89 
 
 Goldsborough, C. S., 516 
 
 GoodHff, Allen A., 321 
 
 Gordon, Lord Gordon, gigantic bunco game of, in Erie, 1S4-186 
 
 Gordon, Lord Gordon, heroic recovery of funds from, 186 
 
 resignation of Jay Gould from Erie obtained by, 185 
 
 obtaining of $700,000 from Gould by, 185 
 
 ■ suit by, against Gould, 187 
 
 tragic ending of, 187 
 
 Goshen, N. Y., data of, 502 
 
 ■ first Erie printing office at, 373 
 
 • citizens of, aiding company, 46 
 
 first time table to, 374 
 
 opening of railroad to, and celebration of, 332 
 
 Gould, Jay, biographical, 466-46g 
 
 amazing genius, power, audacity of, 164, 172, 173, 467, 468 
 
 appointment of, as receiver, 166, 167, i6g 
 
 affiliation of, with Tammany politicians in Erie, 162 
 
 aggressive policy of, in Erie management, 175, 1761 I77 
 
 arrest of, at Albany, 152, 153 
 
 in $10,000,000 suit, 211 
 
 beginning of efforts to overthrow, 177, I7g, 182 
 
 bribery of Attorney-General by, alleged, 454 
 
 change of attitude by Judge Barnard toward, 166 
 
 connection of, with stockyard company, 457 
 
 ■ Atlantic and Great Western R. R., 181 
 
 closing interview of, with Daniel Drew, 165 
 
 conspiracy with banks charged, 162, 164 
 
 coalition of, with former foes, 2og 
 
 Chicago and Northwestern corner of, by, 2og, 2il 
 
 results of, 209, 219 
 
 "Classification Act" secured by, 176 
 
 death of, 46g 
 
 efforts of, to check opposition, 179, 180, 181 
 
 election of, as President, 162 
 
 enormous conversion by, of bonds into stock, 163 
 
 experience of , with Lord Gordon Gordon, 184-186 
 
 expenses of, on Erie account, 455 
 
 first appearance of, in Erie, 144, 173 
 
 first great Wall Street battle, 163, 165, 167 
 
 flight of, to New Jersey, 150 
 
 • historic illness of, at Albany, 154 
 
 opposition of, to Drew-Vanderbilt settlement, 155 
 
 outwitting of Receiver Davies by, 168, 169 
 
 overthrow of, fight for, the, 182-189 
 
 accomplished, 188, 189 
 
 ■ virtually victory for Gould, i8g, 199, 200 
 
 great profit of, to Gould, 190, 200 
 
 Wall Street's opinion of, 201 
 
 inside story of, igo-200 
 
 part taken by, in " Erie Wars," 150-154, 163-171 
 
 payment of money by, to secure legislation, 451, 454 
 
 part taken by, in Vanderbilt-Drew settlement, 172 
 
 Pennsylvania Legislature balks great plans of, 173, 174 
 
 plans of, for new Erie control, 235, 249 
 
 force compromise, 242 
 
 proceedings against, in $10,000,000 suit, 209-219 
 
 the great $9,000,000 " Restitution " by, 2H, 218, 333 
 
 secret mission of, to Albany on Erie legislation, 152 
 
 story of overthrow, his, 199 
 
 testimony of, before investigating committee, 154, 450 
 
 treachery to, of Daniel Drew, 155, 164 
 
 avenged, 163, 165, 167, 211 
 
 victory of, over Vanderbilt-Belmont clique, 166-171 
 
 transaction of, in Erie Bonds, a, 202 
 
 (Sen a /so Crouch, George ; Drew, Daniel ; Vanderbilt-Drew Erie War; 
 Belmont-Gould Erie War ; Sickles Coup; Gordon, Lord Gor- 
 don; Legislative Investigations; Watson, Peter H.; Jewett, 
 Hugh J.) 
 
 Ciould, $9,000,000 restitution, the, inside showing of, 213-218 
 
 Grand Opera House, quarters removed to, 426 
 
 description of, 426 
 
 abandonment of, 427 
 
 excitement at, 168-170, 187-189 
 
 ownership of, by Gould, 427 
 
 Grant and Ward, failure of, the, 264, 270 
 
 Great Bend, Pa., data of, 505 
 
 Greycourt, N. Y., data of, 502 
 
 Griffis, Abner, 330, 333 
 
 Gross earnings, showing of, year by year, since 1841, 484 
 
 Hafner, Ben, pioneer engineer, 394, 395 
 Hale investigating committee, the, 449-451 
 Half rates to preachers, origin of, 412 
 Hall, William D., pioneer engineer, 104, 395 
 Hancock, N. Y., data of , 504 
 
522 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Hankins, N. Y., data of, 509 
 
 Hawley Branch, opening of, 371 
 
 Hawley, Pa., data of, 509 
 
 Hepburn investigating committee, the, 456, 457 
 
 Hill, James J., 515 
 
 Hoffman, George E., 330, 331, 397 
 
 Hohokus, N. J., data of, 501 
 
 Holbert, Adrian, collection of claim by, 336 
 
 Honesdale Branch, opening of, 371 
 
 Pa. , data of, 509 
 
 Hornellsville, N. Y., data of, 506 
 
 opening of railroad to, 386 
 
 dining station at, 428 
 
 memorable strikes at, 438-440 
 
 Investigating committees, 50, 446-451 
 Iron rails, the first, 328, 330 
 
 Jackson, Andrew, President U. S. , stops survey, 16-18 
 Jamestown, N. Y., data, 511 
 
 first railroad meeting held at, 10 
 
 first charter application drafted at, 10 
 
 Jefferson Railroad Co. and railroad, history of, 370 
 Jewett, Hugh J., biographical, 470, 471 
 
 selection of, as President, 231 
 
 extraordinary salary of, 231, 232 
 
 pooling compact of, 232 
 
 disaster foreshadowed to, 232-242 
 
 selection of, as receiver, 242 
 
 three-years' struggle of, as receiver, 242-250 
 
 arrest of, on perjury charge, 251-253 
 
 treachery and disloyalty to charged by, 252—254 
 
 legal battles of, with James McHenry, 237, 239, 243, 249, 250, 
 
 251, 252, 254, 255-258, 262, 269 
 
 election of, as President of the new company, 258 
 
 expansion and improvements effected by, 267-269 
 
 Grant and Ward failure, effect of on, 264, 270 
 
 retirement from Erie, 266 
 
 anti-Erie litigation of, 264, 270 
 
 Kilgour, John F., and the bluestone companies, 216, 217 
 King, James Gore, biographical, 460 
 
 election of, as President, 32 
 
 motives of, questioned, policy opposed, 34, 35, 317 
 
 breaking of ground and beginning of work by, 36, 312 
 
 administration of, unpopular, 42 
 
 retirement of, 47, 317 
 
 King, John, biographical, 471 
 
 election of, as assistant to the President, 
 
 as President, 266, 267 
 
 retrenchment and reform policy of, 27.1, 
 
 ex-President Jewett's opposition to, 271, 
 
 selection of, as co-receiver, 274 
 
 retirement of, 471 
 
 Kirkwood, James P., appointment of, as superintendent, 405 
 building of Starucca viaduct by, 350 
 
 Lackawaxen, Pa., data of, 513 
 
 Callaghan-Kays tragedy at, 347 
 
 Land grants, 325, 326, 328, 333 
 
 Lane, Frederick A., 150, 186, 187, 190, 192, 195 
 
 Last rail, spiking of the, 314 
 
 Legislative investigations, proceedings in, 446-457 
 
 Leroy, N. Y., data of, 511 
 
 Lighting of cars, evolution of, 483 
 
 Lockport, N. Y., data of, 510 
 
 Locomotive, the, first sight of, 348, 351 
 
 hunting and trapping for, 348, 349 
 
 Locomotives, the first, 391, 394 
 
 ■ odd early types of, 391, 397 
 
 first coal-burning experiments on, 391, 397 
 
 evolution in, 391, 397 
 
 early builders of, 98, gg, 3gi, 396, 397 
 
 showing of increase in, year by year, since 1841, 483 
 
 Loder, Benjamin, 86-114, 338-358 
 
 biographical, 463 
 
 election of, as President of Erie, 86 
 
 beginning of work in earnest by, 86, 87 
 
 obstacles overcome by, 88-91 
 
 opening of road to Bingham ton by, 91 
 
 confidence in, by investors, 92, g3 
 
 rapid prosecution of work by, g3 
 
 completion of road to Lake Erie by, 93 
 
 265 
 
 279 
 273 
 
 Loder, Benjamin, resignation of, refused by company, 109 
 
 efforts of, for Jersey City terminus successful, 109-111 
 
 Buffalo and other connections obtained by, 111-113 
 
 main line from Jersey City secured by, 113 
 
 resignation of, 114 
 
 Long Dock Company, 119, 134, 135, 359. 360 
 Lord, Eleazar, biographical, 458-460 
 
 original efforts of, toward a railroad, 7-13 
 
 participation of, in organization of the company, 13-19 
 
 selection of, as President, 19, 47, 72 
 
 policy of, criticised and suspected, 21, 50, 85 
 
 • — — resignation of, from presidency, 32, 50, 85 
 
 investigation demanded by, 50, 446, 447 
 
 management of, exonerated, 50, 447 
 
 plan of, to expedite work, 43, 44, 46 
 
 insistence of, on six-foot gauge, 44, 45, 46 
 
 road-bed of wooden piles favored and fostered by, 48, 323 
 
 permanent retirement of, from Erie affairs, 85 
 
 Lyman, Samuel P., 43,44, 316, 317 
 
 Lytle, James, career of, as pioneer conductor, 403 
 
 Magee, John, 92, 361 
 
 Maguire, J. F., 516 
 
 Mail, first Erie service, the, 426 
 
 Marsh, Luther R., 317 
 
 Marsh, Nathaniel, biographical, 464, 465 
 
 coming of, into Erie as secretary, 465 
 
 services of, as secretary, 465 
 
 appointment of, as receiver, 129 
 
 successful management of, as receiver, 130-136 
 
 election of. as President, 136 
 
 successful and prosperous management of, 136-138 
 
 death of, 138, 465 
 
 Marsh, Samuel, biographical, 464 
 
 election of, as Vice-President, 464 
 
 acting of, as President, 130, 464 
 
 Martin, Joshua R. , career of, as pioneer engineer, gg, 100, loi, 393 
 
 Marvin, Richard P., 10, 13, 45S 
 
 Mast Hope disaster, the, 444 
 
 Matamoras bridge, the history of, 345, 346 
 
 Maxwell, William, biographical, 461, 462 
 
 brief and unimportant management of, 67, 68 
 
 McCallum, Donald Craig, superintendency of, 115, iig, 120, 420, 421 
 
 biographical, 434 
 
 strikes following his policy, 115, 119, 431-434 
 
 originating of telegraphic signals by, 420, 421 
 
 resignation of, 120, 434 
 
 McCuUough, John G., biographical, 471 
 
 selection of, as co-receiver, 274 
 
 connection of, with Erie management, 274, 472 
 
 McHenry, James, biographical, 498 
 
 Atlantic, and Great Western entanglements of, 173, 181, 182, 
 
 187, 193, 201, 220, 227, 228, 232, 237, 364-366 
 Jewett Htigation, 237, 239, 243, 249, 250, 251, 252, 254, 255, 
 
 256, 262, 269 
 
 arrest of and settlement of suits by, 264 
 
 Meginnes, Joseph W. ("Joe"), career of, pioneer engineer, 99, 100, 
 
 loi, 393 
 Michigan Southern Railroad lease, 147, 148, 149, 222 
 Middleton, J. A., 516 
 Middletown, N. Y., data of, 502 
 
 Association, the, 73 
 
 railroad, the, how completed to, 335 
 
 opening of railroad to, 335 
 
 Mileage, showing of growth of, year by year, since 1841, 483 
 Milford and Matamoras Railroad, the, story of, 345, 346 
 Milk, transportation of, the origin of, 406 
 
 growth of, 406-409 
 
 Miller, G. C, 333 
 
 and S. G., contracting of, for laying first rails, 329 
 
 claim of, how collected, 333 
 
 Minot, Charles, superintendency of, 103, 115, 417, 419, 420, 430,431 
 
 biographical, 430, 431 
 
 introduction of telegraph on railroads by, 417-420 
 
 issuing of first telegraph order by, 420 
 
 peculiarities of, 430, 431 
 
 refusal to enforce new rules, 115, 431 
 
 resignation of, 115, 43 1 
 
 recalling of, 431 
 
 retirement of, 431 
 
 Montgomery, N. Y., data of, 502 
 Moorhead, J. C, 516 
 
INDEX 
 
 523 
 
 Moran, Charles, biographical, 464 
 
 selection of, as President, 122 
 
 enormous salary of, 122, 127, 129 
 
 radical policy of, 124, 128 
 
 stocks and bonds, depreciation of, under, 129 
 
 management of, a failure, 129 
 
 bankruptcy following policy of , I2g 
 
 resignation of, 129 
 
 Morford, John B., 494 
 
 Morgan, J. P. (Drexel, Morgan & Co.), 275, 276, 281 
 
 Morosini, Giovani, 498 
 
 Morton, Alvin C, 315 
 
 Morton, Hon. Levi P., Jay Gould's letter to, iSo 
 
 Mount Morris, N. Y., data of, 511 
 
 Murphy, W. T., 497 
 
 Narrowsburg, N. Y., data of, 503 
 
 dining station at, 428 
 
 Net earnings, showing of, year by year, since 1841, 4S4 
 Newburgh, N. Y., data of, 509 
 
 early efforts of, for a railroad, 36, 76, 77, 78 
 
 succeeding of, in efforts, 79 
 
 how branch railroad was secured by, 79 
 
 celebrations of railroad openings by, 357, 371 
 
 Newburgh Branch, the, 79, 357 
 
 and N. Y. R.R., building of the, 370 
 
 New Jersey route from Suffern, trouble over, 109-111 
 
 secured, in 
 
 New York Central, early rivalry of, with Erie, 149 
 New York and Erie R. R. Co., charter of, 296 
 
 incorporators of, first meeting of, 16 
 
 organization of, 19 
 
 opening by, of subscription books, iS 
 
 original subscribers to stock of, i8 
 
 managements of, 19-134 
 
 bankruptcy of, 57, 63, 65, 129, 134, 335 
 
 receivership of, 129-134 
 
 reorganization of, 130-134 
 
 absorption of, by Erie Railway Co., 134 
 
 New York, Lake Erie and ^Vestern R. R. Co., organization of, 259 
 
 years of struggling against fate by, 259-274 
 
 rate wars and other complications of, 261, 264, 271, 272 
 
 expansion and improvements accomplished by, 267, 269 
 
 managements of, 259-273 
 
 receivers appointed for, 274 
 
 plans submitted for reorganization of, 274-281 
 
 appearance of Morgan interest in Erie, 275-277 
 
 reorganization of, effected, 281 
 
 property of, the, sale of, 278 
 
 (See also Jewett, Hugh J. ; King, John ; Thomas, E. B.) 
 
 New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad Co., 366 
 
 Newell, A. W., father of Bradford Branch, the, 367 
 
 Niagara Falls, data of, 510 
 
 Niven, Thornton M., 79 
 
 North Elmira, N. Y., data of, 505 
 
 Officers, the first, and election of, 473 
 Olean, N. Y., data of, 506 
 OUver, James A., and Jay Gould, 153, 154 
 Opening of railroad to Ramapo, N. V., 331 
 
 Goshen, N. Y., iii, 332, 374 
 
 Middletown, N. Y., m, 335, 377 
 
 Otisville, N. Y., iii, 380 
 
 • Port Jervis, N. Y., iii, 343, 344, 345, 382 
 
 Binghamton, N. Y., in, 352, 353, 383 
 
 Owego, N. Y., Ill, 354, 385 
 
 Elmira, N. Y., in, 354, 385 
 
 Corning, N. Y., 385 
 
 Hornellsville, N. Y., iii, 355, 386 
 
 Cuba, N. Y., 356 
 
 Dunkirk, N. Y., 104 
 
 Newburgh Branch, 357 
 
 Short Cut, 370 
 
 Orange, the locomotive, curious career of, 351, 355, 362, 392, 393 
 Original road-bed and track, description of, 318, 323 
 Osgood, George A., appointment of, as receiver, 151, 156 
 Owego, N. Y., data of, 504 
 
 birth of Erie at, 14 
 
 charter convention at, 11-14 
 
 driving of first pile at, 325 
 
 Strife over depot site at, 326 
 
 disappointment of, 102 
 
 opening of railroad to, 354 
 
 135,313,31s, 390. 391. 
 
 Painted Post, N. Y., data of, 508 
 
 Passaic, N. J., data of, 500 
 
 Paterson, N. J., data of, 500 
 
 Paterson and Hudson River Railroad, 109, 358, 359 
 
 Pavonia Ferry, history of, and opening, 135, 360 
 
 Pearson, Henry L. , 7, 329 
 
 Pennsylvania Coal Co., the history of, 369 
 
 purchase of, by Erie, 515 
 
 legislature, the, and Erie, 88, 89, 30S, 309, 368 
 
 counties, opposition of, 88, 89, 368 
 
 $10,000 annual bonus to, 89 
 
 Piermont {see also " Tappan Slote"), 97, 
 
 417-419 
 Pile road-bed, the, folly and extravagance of, 48, 323 
 
 description of and contracts for, 323-325 
 
 driving of the first pile for, 325 
 
 abandonment of, 328 
 
 Pioneer locomotive engineers, 391-395 
 Plan to expedite the work, 43, 48 
 Portage bridge, 314, 362 
 Port Jervis, N. Y., data of, 503 
 
 opening of railroad to, 342, 345 
 
 dining station at, 428 
 
 strikes at, 436 
 
 Railroad, the, completed, 94 
 
 Ramapo and Paterson Railroad, no, 359, 382 
 
 N. Y., data of, 501 
 
 Ramsdell, Homer, biographical, 463, 464 
 
 first appearance of, in Erie, 79, 463 
 
 election of, as President, 114 
 
 origin by, of Long Dock Co., 119 
 
 Jersey City terminals begun by, iig 
 
 vicissitudes of management of, 115-122 
 
 retire'ment of , as President, 122 
 
 connection of, with Jay Gould overthrow, 183, 187, 188, 191, 
 
 195, 196 
 Rate War, the first, 114 
 Receivers of Erie, 129, 151, 242 
 Receiverships of Erie, 129, 242 
 Redfield, William C, father of Erie, the, 4, 5, 458 
 Ridgewood, N. J., data of, 501 
 Riddle, Hugh, biographical, 493 
 
 first appearance of, in Erie, 493 
 
 appointment of, as superintendent, 493 
 
 reportsof, to the company, 146, 150, 156, 157 
 
 resignation of, 422, 493 
 
 Right of way, obtaining of, 316, 338, 339, 356 
 Riots, 340, 343, 355 
 Rochester, N. Y., data of, 508 
 
 efforts of, toward Erie connection, 361 
 
 connection with, securing of, by Erie, 137, 362, 363 
 
 and Genesee Valley Railroad, 363 
 
 Branch, 363 
 
 RoUing stock, the first, 318, 319, 397, 398, 399 
 
 in pawn, 333 
 
 showing of increase in, year by year, since 1841, 483 
 
 Route, the changes in {see also Sullivan County, N. Y.), 306, 349, 355 
 Rutherford, N. J., data of, 500 
 
 Salamanca, N. Y., data of, 507 
 
 Scranton T rail, the, fortunate circumstance of, 90, 91 
 
 Secretary, the first, 373 
 
 successors to the office of, 474-479 
 
 Selleck, Thaddeus, originator of the milk trafiic, 318, 406 
 
 Seward, W. H., 64, 100, 102 
 
 Seymour, Hezekiah C, father of the broad gauge, the, 44, 314, 338 
 
 first superintendent, etc., the, 315, 317, 333, 334, 338, 405 
 
 James, 311, 322 
 
 Silas, biographical, 314 
 
 connection of, with Erie construction, 314, 343, 344 
 
 Shearman, Thomas G. , 188, 189, 452 
 
 William Pitt, 253, 439 
 
 Sherman, Charles H., 396 
 
 Shin Hollow War, the, 340-343 
 
 Shohola, Pa., terrible disaster at, the, 441, 442 
 
 data of, 503 
 
 Short cut, the Newburgh, 370 
 
 celebrating the opening of, 370 
 
 Shultz, Capt. Alexander H., 405, 406 
 
 " Sickles coup, the," the popular fable of, 179 
 
 Sickles, Gen. Daniel E., appearing of, in Erie, 182 
 
524 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Sickles, Gen. Daniel E., agreement of , with McHenry, 182 
 
 plan of, to oust Jay Gould, 182 
 
 • failure of, 182 
 
 joining of, with George Crouch, 182, 183 
 
 — — capture of Gould quarters by, 188 
 
 ■ counseling of Gould by, 189 
 
 cost of, to Erie, 195 
 
 no thanks voted to, 204 
 
 arrangement with Gould made by, 199 
 
 Signals, original telegraphic, the, 421 
 
 Sinking fund, founding of, 118 
 
 Skelly, " Billy," first railroad newsboy, the, 404 
 
 Slade, George T,, 516 
 
 Smith, Gould & Martin, 148, 210, 219 
 
 Henry N., 209, 210, 219 
 
 Snow-storms, some disastrous, 405, 406 
 Speed of trains, average of, for 57 years, 483 
 Spencer, B. W., 253, 258 
 Spike, driving of the first, 330 
 
 the last, 314, 356 
 
 Standard Oil Co., the, Erie connection with, 456, 457 
 
 Starucca viaduct, the, building of, 350 
 
 State aid, requests for and refusals of, 22, 23, 32, 33, 35, 39, 58, 65 
 
 granting of, 47, 49, 50, 298, 304 
 
 legislative proceedings on, 298, 304 
 
 abstracts of bills granting, 299, 301, 304 
 
 stock, issue of, 49, 57, 59, 63, 64, 65, 318, 319, 333, 335 
 
 work, efforts to make Erie a, 47, 48, 317 
 
 Steel rails, the first, 483 
 
 Stewart, W. H., pioneer conductor, 98, 103, 401 
 
 anecdotes of, 402 
 
 reminiscences of, 403, 405 
 
 Stock, Erie, market price of, year by year, common, 485 
 
 preferred, 486 
 
 beginning of real trading in, 486 
 
 ^ over-issue of, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152 
 
 exclusion of, from Stock Exchange, 149, 486 
 
 preferred, origin of, 486 
 
 first subscriptions to, 18, 34, 36, 316 
 
 first manipulation of, 319, 320 
 
 dissension over policy as to disposing of, 20, 21, 22 
 
 special, 319 
 
 State, 319 
 
 appreciation of, under President Thomas, 516 
 
 Stranahan, J. S. T., 92, 321 
 
 Strikes, some memorable and disastrous, 115, 119, 431, 434, 436, 444 
 
 Suffeni, N. Y., data of , 501 
 
 Sullivan County, N. Y., change of route through, 58, 84, 85, 88, 89, 
 
 302, 304, 307 
 Sunday trains, the first, 289, 304 
 Superintendents, general, 480 
 
 division, 480-482 
 
 Surveys, the original, 24-31 
 
 supplementary to, 37, 41, 46, 49, 58, 313, 355 
 
 Susquehanna, Pa. , data of, 504 
 
 reception of opening excursion at, loi 
 
 dining station at, 428 
 
 strikes at, 432, 437, 438 
 
 shops at, beginning of the, 144, 145 
 
 Sweeny, Peter B., 151, 155 
 
 Tammany Ring, the, 154, 162, 455 
 
 T rail, the first, how obtained, 328, 329, 330 
 
 laying of, 328 
 
 the Scranton, 90, gi 
 
 Tappan Slote, ground broken at, 41, 313 
 
 grading reported begun at, 46 
 
 construction of pier begun at, 41, 313 
 
 insuring of, as eastern terminus, 77 
 
 {See also Piermont.) 
 
 Telegraph, the, introduction of, 415-422 
 
 D. H. Conklin, participation of, in, 417-419 
 
 Charles Minot, participation of, in, 415, 416, 417, 420 
 
 first train order sent by, 420 
 
 first railroad accident reported by, 419 
 
 application of, by McCallum, 419 
 
 first train order by, taken by sound, 419, 420 
 
 Termini, the fixing of, 37, 77 
 
 Third rail, the, first advocacy of, 206 
 
 report on cost, etc., of, 206, 207 
 
 laying of, 483 
 
 progress in laying of, 222, 483 
 
 Thomas, Benjamin, 494, 495 
 Thomas, Eben B., biographical, 471 
 
 coming of, into Erie, 272 
 
 election of, as President, 282 
 
 wise, but undemonstrative policy of, 282-293 
 
 consolidation and expansion effected by, 282-285 
 
 resignation of, as President, 515 
 
 selection of, as. chairman of the Board, 515 
 
 many improvements in Erie under, 515 
 
 Ticket punch, coming of the, 413 
 Tickets, some early, 413 
 Time-table, the first, 373 
 
 pocket, the first, 389 
 
 Time-tables, the, early making of, 371 
 
 first printers of, 372 
 
 story of the development of , 371-389 
 
 Tonawanda, N. Y., data of, 510 
 
 Transportation, expenses of, year by year, since 1841, 484 
 
 Treasurer, the first, 473 
 
 successors to the office of, 473, 479, 516 
 
 Turners, N. Y., data of, 510 
 
 dining stations at, 427 
 
 Tuxedo, N. Y., data of, 501 
 
 Tweed, William B., 154, 162, 167, 185, 455 
 
 Tyler, Asher, 354 
 
 Underwood, Frederick D., biographical, 518 
 
 election of, as President, 515, 518 
 
 Union Railroad, the, no, 359 
 
 Vanderbilt, Cornelius, appearing of, in Erie, 115, 125, 136 
 ambition of, to control, 139-144 
 
 worsting of, by Daniel Drew, 140 
 
 opening of " Erie war" by, 144 
 
 settlement of, with Drew, 155, 172 
 
 meeting of, with Fisk, 171 
 
 suing of, by Fisk, 1 71-172 
 
 settlement with, by Jewett, 172, 249 
 
 (See also Drew, Daniel ; Fisk, James, jr. ; Gould, Jay ; Vanderbilt- 
 Drew Erie war ; Belmont-Gould Erie war.) 
 
 Vanderbilt-Drew, the, Erie war, 148-160 
 
 legal proceedings in, 148-156 
 
 flight of Erie officers, 150-152 
 
 arrest of directors, 150 
 
 Jay Gould, 152, 153 
 
 receivers appointed, 151 
 
 ■ over-issues of stock, 148-152 
 
 injunctions in, disregarded, 151 
 
 investigation of, by legislature, 152 
 
 action of legislature on, 154 
 
 end of, under Drew settlement, 155, 160 
 
 testimony about, before committee, 451 
 
 (See also Drew, Daniel ; Gould, Jay ; Vanderbilt, Cornelius ; Legis- 
 lative Investigating Committees.) 
 
 Van Etten, Edgar, 495 
 
 Van Keuren, George, 516 
 
 War of the gauges, 114, 371, 372 
 Warsaw, N. Y., data of, 507 
 Watson, Peter H., biographical, 469 
 selection of, as President, 204 
 
 dividend-paying policy of, 208-229 
 
 prosecution of Jay Gould by, 210-212 
 
 acceptance of Gould's restitution by, 212-215 
 
 dividends, the, declared by, 209, 219 
 
 legislative investigation of, 219-221, 452 
 
 revelations leading to downfall of, 223-229 
 
 retirement of, 229 
 
 Waverly, N. Y., data of, 505 
 
 Webb, James Watson, 52, 331, 332 
 
 Webster, Daniel, 94, 95, 96, 98, 100, loi, 102, 108 
 
 Wellsville, N. Y., data of, 506 
 
 Western terminus, mistake of, at Dunkirk, 13S 
 
 efforts to make Buffalo the, 138 
 
 Whiton, A. S., 499 
 
 Worden, Eben E., first conductor, the, 399 
 
 Work, Frank, 143, 146, 149 
 
 Work, the, beginning of, 36, 41, 313 
 
 — — progress of, 313, 317-321, 326, 337-358 
 
 suspension of, 42, 313, 335 
 
 resumption of, 49, 76, 88, 337, 338 
 
 time for completion of, extended, 303