First of the railroads of any description chartered in connection with
Cleveland were the Cleveland and Newburgh and Cleveland and Bedford
Railroad Companies. The first named was incorporated in 1835, built soon
after, and for some time run by horse power, hauling stone and timber, and
occasionally passengers. It was eventually abandoned. The Cleveland and
Bedford was never built. Another local road, run by horse power, with
wooden rails, was, about the same time, constructed between the city and
East Cleveland, passing up Euclid street.
The Ohio Railroad was of a different character. It was intended to run
along the lake shore from the Pennsylvania line to Toledo, mostly to be
built on piles. Considerable work was done, though no iron laid, when the
financial crisis overwhelmed it and its kindred schemes. The piles driven
for the track are yet visible in places between Cleveland and Sandusky.
The rights of the company, as far as they existed, afterwards became the
property of the Junction Railroad Company, now the Cleveland and Toledo.
Of the same period, was the Cleveland, Warren and Pittsburgh. This was
chartered in 1836, the act of incorporation authorizing the construction
of a railroad from Cleveland, in the direction of Pittsburgh, to the
State line of Pennsylvania. At the point of intersection with the State
line, the charter provided for the union of the road with any other road
which the State of Pennsylvania might authorize from Pittsburgh, or any
other point below the Ohio river, running in the direction of Cleveland,
in order that a continuous route might be perfected from Cleveland to
Pittsburgh, under the authority of both States. The charter was very
loose in its provisions, allowing the president and directors to create
and sell stock as in their judgement occasion might require, without
limit as to the amount issued, except that it should not exceed the
needs of the company. Plenary powers were granted to the company in the
selection of a route, the condemnation of land, and like "full and
discretionary power" was granted to the company in "the use and occupancy
of the road, in the transportation of persons or property, either by the
force and power of steam, or animals, or any mechanical or other power,
or any combination of them, which the company may think proper to
employ." The cost of the line was estimated to be less than $7,000 per
mile. The road was to be an extension of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,
a branch of which was to extend to Pittsburgh, and thus would "give the
whole vast region of the western lakes an opportunity of marketing their
products in, and receiving their foreign produce from Philadelphia and
Baltimore, at least rive weeks earlier in the season, and at much less
expense," than was accomplished at New York.
In the same year a charter was obtained for the Cleveland, Columbus
and Cincinnati Railroad, connecting Cleveland and Cincinnati by the
way of Columbus.
None of the roads were built under these charters. The financial panic of
1837 swept them all into oblivion, together with a multitude of other
roads projected throughout the country. Some of them were heard of no
more, and others were revived in after years, the charters greatly
amended, and the roads eventually built. The design of the Cleveland,
Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad Company was eventually carried out to the
extent of building a line to Columbus and there connecting with railroads
extending to Cincinnati. The Cleveland, Warren and Pittsburgh charter was
dug up, amended, and made authority for organization of the Cleveland and
Pittsburgh Railroad, whilst the original route was mainly occupied by the
new Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad.
The Cleveland and Bedford was at last rendered unnecessary by the
Cleveland and Pittsburgh passing over its route, whilst the Cleveland and
Newburgh reap-pears as a street railroad, for passengers only, the
original design of a local railroad for freight being abandoned thirty odd
years ago.
In 1845, the lapsed charter of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati
Railroad Company was revived, revised, and a new company organized, with
John W. Allen, Richard Hilliard, Jolin M. Woolsey and H. B. Payne as
Cleveland directors, and John W. Allen as president. Between the
organization of the company and the construction of the road there was a
wide gulf of difficulties, jealousies and enmities, bridged over at last
by untiring perseverance and unwavering faith in the final success of the
undertaking. The story of the struggle is told incidentally in the
biographical sketches of those connected with the enterprise. All that we
have to do here is, to briefly sketch the leading features in the
narrative as it has been already told, after a careful examination of the
documentary history of the company. That account says the incorporation
of the company had been obtained in the year 1845, with a proviso
authorizing the city of Cleveland to subscribe two millions of dollars to
the stock. The bonds of the city were promptly given, but before any money
could be obtained upon these bonds it was necessary that a further
subscription should be made by the citizens, not only to meet the current
expenses, but to give assurance to capitalists abroad that the people here
were really in earnest, and would not suffer the undertaking to fall
through. After a thorough canvass of the city, by two well known and
respected citizens, it was found that not more than twenty-five thousand
dollars could be obtained. There was both a scarcity of cash and a lack of
faith in the enterprise.
John M. Woolsey was sent to Cincinnati to negotiate the city bonds with
the Ohio Life and Trust Company; to Pittsburgh to ascertain upon what
terms iron could be obtained; and to Philadelphia and New York to enlist
the sympathy and help of capitalists. The mission was a failure. The
common strap iron of that day could not be obtained without cash on
delivery, and the money could not be procured on any terms. Cleveland was
too far off, and entirely unknown to the moneyed men of the eastern
cities. Thus, in the Spring of 1847, one of the very darkest periods in
our history, it was determined to abandon the enterprise for the time, and
await a more favorable season.
In this desperate extremity Mr. Hilliard and Mr. Payne volunteered another
and last effort of three months personal labor to arouse their fellow
citizens to a proper sense of the importance and ultimate value of this
grand undertaking. By patient perseverance they succeeded in securing a
leading subscription of five thousand dollars from Leonard Case, who also
consented to become a director of the company. The ultimate result of the
solicitations was the subscription of about $40,000 additional to the
amount previously pledged. About the same time an accession of the utmost
importance was made when Alfred Kelley, of Columbus, accepted the
presidency of the road, contrary to his inclination to retire from further
public duties and to the strong remonstrances of his personal friends.
Through the influence of Mr. Dwight, of Springfield, Mass., the directors
secured the services of Captain Childs, well known among Eastern
capitalists as a skillful engineer, and his endorsement of the company did
much to advance its credit abroad. But it was still necessary to secure a
large disposal of stock at home, and to effect this, a liberal additional
assessment upon the friends of the road was made and accepted. Mr. Childs
finally recommended Mr. Harbeck, who, in company with Stillman Witt and
Amasa Stone, Jr., undertook and carried out the building of the road to
its completion.
In February, 1851, the first through train arrived from Columbus, bringing
the State authorities and the Legislature, to celebrate the union of the
two cities. Thus the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad was the
pioneer of the series of the now enlarged, and most important enterprises
so clearly identified with the growth of the city. The chairman of the
building committee stated at the opening of the new depot, that during the
entire building of that road, there was not a dollar paid as a bribe to
either the Legislature or the City Council, to receive their favors.
The terminus of the road at Cleveland was originally intended to be on
Scranton's Flats, but it was afterwards determined to bring the road
across the river to the site of the old New England House. Appreciating
the importance of extending it to the lake shore, the contractors agreed
to grade the road free of charge from that point to the lake, and it was
accordingly carried forward to its present terminus.
In 1869, the road was consolidated with the Bellefontaine line, thus
placing its western terminus in Indianapolis. Its southern stem had
previously been extended by way of the Delaware Cut-Off to Springfield,
thus opening another connection with Cincinnati.
We have already said that the charter of the Cleveland, Warren and
Pittsburgh Railroad, after sleeping for several years, was dug up,
amended, and the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad Company organized under
it. The resuscitation of the charter took place in March, 1845, when the
route was changed from "the most direct in the direction of Pittsburgh,"
to "the most direct, practicable, and least expensive route to the Ohio
river, at the most suitable point." The company organized at Ravenna, in
October of the same year, with James Stewart, of Wellsville, as president,
A. G. Cattell, as secretary, and Cyrus Prentiss, as treasurer. The route
was surveyed, meetings held in aid of the project, and in July, 1847, the
first contracts let from Wellsville northward, and the work of
construction commenced. The northern end dragged, owing to the slow coming
in of subscriptions, and the work was not fully let until 1849.
In February, 1851, the line was opened from Cleveland to Hudson, and the
General Assembly and State officers who had come to Cleveland to attend
the celebration of the opening of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati
Railroad, accepted an invitation to ride over the new railroad to Hudson.
A short supply of provisions at Hudson, and the ditching of the train on
the return trip, made the weary and hungry legislators long remember their
pioneer trip over the unfinished Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad. In
March following, the track was completed to Ravenna, in November to
Hanover, at which time free passes for "each stockholder and his lady,"
and "landholders through whose land the road passes, with their wives,"
were issued, good for one ride over the line and return, that they might
see the whole of the stupendous undertaking and admire it. In January
1852, connection was made with the Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad at
Alliance, and a route thus opened to Pittsburgh, and in March, of the same
year, the line was opened to Wellsville, and connection with the Ohio
river perfected, thus completing the work laid out in the amended charter.
At different times, subsequently, authority was granted by the General
Assembly for the extension of the line and the construction of branches.
In this way the River Division was built, connecting the Wellsville end
with Pittsburgh by a junction with the Ohio and Pennsylvania at Rochester,
and with the Baltimore and Ohio and Central Ohio, by a line to Bellair.
The Tuscarawas Branch was built to New Philadelphia, and there stopped,
though its original purpose was to form a connection with the Steubenville
and Indiana Railroad. Authority was also given to build a branch from
Hudson towards the Ohio and Pennsylvania and any line running in the
direction of Columbus. A separate company afterwards constructed this
"Akron Branch," or Cleveland, Zanesville and Cincinnati Railroad, so far
as Millersburgh. The Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad has had a serious
financial struggle to go through, but it has come out as an important and
prosperous line. It is now working under a consolidation of earnings with
the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago, formerly known as the Ohio and
Pennsylvania.
The Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad Company, now, after
several consolidations and changes of title, forming part of the Lake
Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad Company, was part of the general
plan of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad, was built under
much of the same influence, and has always been intimately connected
with it in its working. The charter was obtained by special act in 1848,
and empowered the corporators to build a line by way of Painesville,
through Ashtabula county, to the Pennsylvania State line, and to
continue their line into that State to any point authorized by the
Pennsylvania Legislature. That part of the road extending to Erie, in
the State of Pennsylvania, was constructed under the charter of the
Franklin Canal Company, passed by the Legislature of Pennsylvania, the
21st day of May, 1846, and amended April 9th, 1849, giving it authority
to construct a railroad.
The company was organized August 1st, 1849, by the selection of Alfred
Kelley, Samuel L. Seldin, Heman B. Ely, George E. Gillett, David R. Paige,
Laphnor Lake and Peleg P. Sanford as directors, and Heman B. Ely as
president, and the surveys from Cleveland were made under the
superintendence of Frederick Harbeck as chief engineer, and from the State
line to Erie he acted as consulting engineer, filling both situations
until his death, which occurred in the month of February, 1851. A contract
for the construction of the road from Cleveland to the State line of
Pennsylvania was made with Frederick Harbeck, A. Stone, Jr., and Stillman
Witt, on the 26th day of July, 1850, but the work progressed slowly for
six months after the contract was concluded, principally for the reason
that there was no confidence in the ability of a railroad from Cleveland
to Erie or Buffalo to compete with the lake in the transportation of
persons and property, and the contractors expended more than $100,000 of
their means before a like amount could be raised through all other
sources. In the month of January, 1851, the Hon. Alfred Kelley was
appointed general agent of the company with unlimited authority to raise
funds and press forward the work of completion. He entered upon his duties
with his usual indomitable perseverance and energy, fully seconded by the
directors and contractors, and they had the satisfaction of passing a
locomotive over its entire length late in the autumn of the year 1852.
The act conferring authority on the Franklin Canal Company to construct a
railroad from the State line of Ohio to the city of Erie, being regarded
by the Legislature of the State of Pennsylvania as doubtful, they
repealed it on the 28th day of January, 1854. On the 5th day of May,
1856, the Legislature of the State of Pennsylvania passed an act
authorizing the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad Company to
purchase the road as constructed from the State line to Erie, and to
operate it under the general law of the State of Pennsylvania, passed the
19th day of February, 1849. The history of the Pennsylvania portion of
the line reflects no credit on that State. The petty and vexations "Erie
War" in 1854, by which a portion of the people of Erie attempted to
prevent a through connection of the road at that place, and the
unjustifiable expenses to which the company were subjected by the
Legislature, are blots on the record of that State.
The road was operated jointly with the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati
Railroad until April 1st, 1855, when the management was divided. In 1869,
it was consolidated, first with the Cleveland and Toledo and then with the
Michigan Southern and Buffalo and Erie Railroads. The Cleveland,
Painesville and Ashtabula has been one of the most profitable railroads in
the country.
The story of the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad Company--one of
persistent struggle against apparently insurmountable difficulties, is
told in great part in the sketch of the life of Jacob Perkins, to whose
labors and sacrifices the success of the undertaking is in great measure
due. The road was projected to develope more fully the mineral and
agricultural resource of Trumbull and Mahoning counties, and to find a
market for their products in Pittsburgh or Cleveland. Unlike many
projected railroads, the first object of this line was a local trade; the
through business anticipated was a secondary consideration. The Company
was incorporated in 1851, and the first meeting of stockholders held at,
Warren, Trumbull county, in June, 1852, when $300,000 local subscriptions
were reported and it was determined to survey and prepare estimates for
the road. The directors under whom this work was commenced were Jacob
Perkins, Frederick Kinsman and Charles Smith, of Warren, David Tod, of
Youngstown, Dudley Baldwin of Cleveland, Robert Cunningham, of New
Castle, and James Magee, of Philadelphia. In order to aid the enterprise
by securing connections, they opened negotiations with the Pennsylvania
and Ohio Railroad, and the Pittsburgh and Erie Railroad, but without
success. About the same time a contract was made with the Junction
Railroad, afterwards merged in the Cleveland and Toledo Road, for
purchase of ground near the mouth of the Cuyahoga river, on the west
side, and the right of way obtained through a portion of Ohio City, and
through Scranton's Hill to the west end of the Columbus street bridge,
near which the freight depot was afterwards established. In 1853, the
principal office of the Company was removed to Cleveland, which was made
the head quarters of the Company.
After surveying different routes and hesitating over the choice between
them, it was decided to build the road from Cleveland, on the West Side,
and running through Scranton's hill to Newburgh, Bedford, Aurora, Mantua
and Warren, fifty-three miles, and thence down the Mahoning Valley to
Youngstown and Poland, to the east line of the State.
Repeated attempts were made to induce the Legislature of Pennsylvania to
authorize an extension of the road in that State, but owing to the
opposition of the Pittsburgh and Erie Bailroad, and especially of the
Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad, the desired permission was
finally refused. The estimated aggregate cost of the road was about one
and three-quarter millions of dollars, and when the principal contracts
for labor and iron were made, there was a very fair prospect of disposing
of the bonds of the company to advantage, and thus, in addition to the
loans effected in Philadelphia, New York and at home, the means to
complete the work were reasonably anticipated. In the Directors' Report of
1854, they were obliged to announce unlooked for embarrassments, growing
out of the altered condition of the money market. The story of the
seemingly hopeless, but finally successful, struggle that followed is told
in another part of this work. At length, in 1857, after five or six years
of persevering efforts, and most perplexing difficulties, the road was
opened through to Youngstown; substantial machine shops were built at
Cleveland, station houses erected along the route, and the coal and iron
of the Mahoning Valley were made accessible by a quick and easy route.
In October, 1863, the road was leased for ninety-nine years to the
Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, which had already laid a broad gauge
upon the track, That company now controls the main line to Youngstown,
with the several branches to Hubbard and the coal mines. The narrow gauge
is kept up for the use of the Mahoning trains, freight and passenger,
while the broad gauge is used by the Atlantic and Great Western through
trains. The track has been extended to the shore of the old river bed, an
extensive wharfage established, and large facilities obtained for
connecting the traffic of the road with the lake commerce.
The Cleveland and Toledo Railroad Company was formed by the consolidation
of two rival and nearly parallel lines. One of the companies thus united,
was incorporated as the Junction Railroad Company, and the other by the
name of the Toledo, Norwalk and Cleveland Railroad Company. The former was
incorporated by an act of the legislature of Ohio, passed on the second
day of March, 1846; and the latter, by an act of the seventh of March,
1850. The Junction Railroad Company, by its original charter and two
amendments, in 1861, was authorized to construct a railroad from the city
of Cleveland to the west line of the State by such route as the directors
might determine, with power to construct branches to any points within the
counties through which the main line might pass. The charter of the
Toledo, Norwalk and Cleveland Railroad Company, authorized the
construction of a railroad from Toledo, by the way of Norwalk, in the
county of Huron, to a connection with the Cleveland, Columbus, and
Cincinnati Railroad, at some point in the counties of Huron or Lorain. The
authorized capital stock of the Junction Company was three millions, and
that of the other company, two millions of dollars.
The consolidation was effected, and the new company organized on the first
of September, A. D. 1853, under the specific provisions of the twelfth
section of the amendment to the Toledo, Norwalk and Cleveland Railroad
charter, passed on the first of March, 1850. Under its charter, the
Toledo, Norwalk and Cleveland Railroad Company constructed a road from the
east bank of the Maumee river, opposite the city of Toledo, to Grafton,
where it connects with the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad,
twenty-five miles south-west from the city of Cleveland, being a distance
of eighty-seven and one-half miles, all of which was finished and put into
operation in January, 1853. This became known as the Southern Division of
the Cleveland and Toledo Railroad.
The Northern Division, or Junction Railroad, was originally intended to
run from Cleveland, west side, via Berea and Sandusky, westward to a point
on the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad some twenty miles
west of Toledo, and crossing the track of the Toledo, Norwalk and
Cleveland Railroad at a point about eight miles east of the same city. The
road was opened between Cleveland and Sandusky and operations commenced
upon it in the Fall of 1858, immediately after the consolidation. The
original project of a separate line to the west was carried out by the
consolidated corporation so far as to construct the road to its
intersection with the old Toledo, Norwalk and Cleveland track, from which
point both lines approached Toledo over the same right of way. This line
was operated over its whole length until the 31st day of December, 1858,
on which day the use for regular business of that portion lying west of
Sandusky was discontinued, and all the through travel and traffic turned
upon the Southern Division. On the 30th of July, 1856, a contract was
entered into with the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad Company
by which the Cleveland and Toledo Company acquired the right to use the
track of the first named company from Grafton to Cleveland, for the
Southern Division trains, and from Berea to Cleveland for the Northern
Division, and thence forward all trains were run into, and departed from,
the Union Depot in Cleveland--a change which soon resulted in the
practical abandonment, for the time, of that portion of the Northern
Division lying between Berea and Cleveland on the west side of Cuyahoga
river. This arrangement, together with the completion, in 1855, of a
bridge over the Maumee river at Toledo, enabled the company to receive and
discharge its passengers in union depots at each end of its line. During
the years 1865 and 1866, about eight miles of new road were constructed
between Elyria on the Northern Division, and Oberlin on the Southern
Division, for the purpose of allowing all trains to leave and come upon
the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Road at Berea, thirteen miles,
instead of Grafton, twenty-five miles from Cleveland. This new piece of
road was opened for business on the 10th of September, 1866, and the road
between Oberlin and Grafton immediately abandoned, The construction of a
bridge near the mouth of the Cuyahoga river at Cleveland, brought the
Northern Division line between Cleveland and Berea once more into use, and
over it the freight trains of the line are now run. In 1869, the company
was made part of the Consolidated line between Buffalo and Chicago.
The Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, by its lease of the Cleveland and
Mahoning Railroad, has become an important part of the Cleveland railroad
System. The company was organized in 1851, as the Franklin and Warren
Railroad Company, to build a road from Franklin Mills (now Kent) in
Portage County, to Warren, in Trumbull county, with power to extend to a
point in the eastern line of the State, northeast of Warren and
southwesterly to Dayton, Ohio. In July, 1853, operations were actively
commenced along the whole line, but were soon seriously retarded by
financial embarrassments. In 1854, the Franklin and Warren Railroad
Company, under authority of an Act of the General Assembly of 1853,
changed its name to the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company. Two
years before, a project had been started to extend the broad gauge of the
Ohio and Mississippi Railroad through Ohio, northeastern Pennsylvania and
southwestern New York, to connect with the New York and Erie Railroad.
This route would run through Meadville, Pennsylvania, Warren, Kent, Akron
and Galion to Dayton, Ohio. In 1858, the Meadville Railroad Company
changed their name to the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company of
Pennsylvania. In 1859, a company was organized in the State of New York,
under the name of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad in New York, and
purchased in 1860 of the New York and Erie Railroad Company thirty eight
miles of their road, from Salamanca to near Ashville. These thirty eight
miles with eleven miles of new line, make up the entire length of line of
this road in the State of New York. Each of the above companies made
contracts for the building of their respective roads.
In the Fall of 1858, negotiations were commenced in London with James
McHenry, for the means to carry on the work. T. W. Kennard, a civil
engineer, came over as the attorney of Mr. McHenry, and engineer in chief
of the whole work. In 1862, the road was opened from Corry to Meadville,
Pennsylvania. In 1863, it was extended to Warren, and in the next year to
Ravenna and Akron--202 miles from Salamanca.
In October, 1863, the three companies above named, leased for ninety-nine
years, the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad, extending from Cleveland
southerly to Youngstown, Ohio, sixty-seven miles. This road has a narrow
gauge track crossing the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad at
Leavittsburgh, Ohio, fifty miles south of Cleveland. The Atlantic and
Great Western Company laid a rail on either side of the narrow track, thus
carrying the broad gauge into Cleveland, and a broad gauge train from the
city of New York entered Cleveland on the evening of November 3rd, 1863.
Subsequently the several companies forming the Atlantic and Great Western
line were consolidated into one line, and this again was, in 1869,
consolidated with the Erie Railway.
Besides opening a new and important thoroughfare to the East, this line
has opened up to Cleveland the resources of north-western Pennsylvania,
and in the oil product has added an immense and highly profitable trade to
the business of the city.
Several lines have been built, connecting with and adding business to the
railroads leading to Cleveland, but of these it is not the province of
this work to speak. A large number of new railroads have been from time to
time projected in various directions. Some of these "paper railroads" have
intrinsic merit, and these, or lines aiming at the same objects, will
eventually be built.
[Illustration: Yours truly, Jacob Perkins]
Jacob Perkins.
Jacob Perkins was born at Warren, Trumbull county, Ohio, September 1st,
1822, being next to the youngest of the children of Gen. Simon Perkins,
one of the earliest and most prominent, business men of norther Ohio, a
land agent of large business, and the owner of extensive tracts of land.
In his early years Jacob Perkins developed a strong inclination for study,
acquiring knowledge with unusual facility, and gratifying his intense
passion for reading useful works by every means within his power.
He commenced fitting himself for college at the Burton Academy, then under
the direction of Mr. H. L. Hitchcock, now president of Western Reserve
College, and completed his preparation at Middletown, Connecticut, in the
school of Isaac Webb. He entered Yale College in 1837.
While in college he was distinguished for the elegance of his style and
the wide range of his literary acquirements. He delivered the philosophic
oration at his junior exhibition, and was chosen second editor of "Yale
Literary Magazine," a position in which he took great interest, and filled
to the satisfaction and pride of his class. His college course was,
however, interrupted by a long and severe illness before the close of his
junior year, which compelled him to leave his studies and (to his
permanent regret) prevented him from graduating with his own class. He
returned the following year and was graduated with the class of 1842.
He entered his father's office at Warren, and was occupied with its
business until, upon the death of his father, some two years afterwards,
he became one of his executors.
During his residence at Warren he appeared occasionally before home
audiences as a public speaker, and always with great acceptance.
In politics, he early adopted strong anti-slavery principles, then not the
popular doctrine, and they were always freely and openly advocated. Of an
address delivered in 1848, which was published and attracted very
considerable local attention, the editor of the Chronicle remarked, "We
have listened to the best orators of the land, from the Connecticut to
the Mississippi, and can truly say, by none have we been so thoroughly
delighted in every particular as by this effort of our distinguished
townsman." The oration discussed the true theory of human rights and the
legitimate powers of human government--and the following extract gives the
spirit of his political principles on the subject of slavery:
The object of law is not to make rights, but to define and maintain them;
man possesses them before the existence of law, the same as he does
afterwards. No matter what government may extend its control over him; no
matter how miserable or how sinful the mother in whose arms his eyes
opened to the day; no matter in what hovel his infancy is nursed; no
matter what complexion--an Indian or an African sun may have burned upon
him, this may decide the privileges which he is able to assert, but can
not affect the existence of his rights. His self-mastery is the gift of
his creator, and oppression, only, can take it away.
Without solicitation he was nominated and elected a member of the
Convention that framed the present Constitution of Ohio. His associates
from the district were Judges Peter Hitchcock and R. P. Ranney, and
although "he was the youngest member but one of the Convention--and in the
minority, his influence and position were excelled by few."
He was one of the Senatorial Presidential Electors for Ohio on the Fremont
ticket in 1856.
In the intellectual progress of the young about him, and the building up
of schools and colleges, he took especial interest. He first suggested and
urged upon President Pierce to adopt the conditions of the present
"Permanent Fund of Western Reserve College," rather than to solicit
unconditional contributions, which experience had proved were so easily
absorbed by present necessities, and left the future as poor as the past.
In connection with his brothers, he made the first subscription to that
fund. The embarrassment arising from his railroad enterprise prevented him
from increasing that contribution. The wisdom of his suggestions was
subsequently shown, when, during the rupture and consequent embarrassment
under which the college labored, the income of this fund had a very
important, if not vital share in saving it from abandonment, and
afterwards proved the nucleus of its present endowment.
He was always efficient in favoring improvements. He was associated with
Hon. F. Kinsman and his brother in founding the beautiful Woodland
Cemetery at Warren. The land was purchased and the ground laid out by
them, and then transferred to the present corporation.
Soon after his return from the Constitutional Convention, he became
interested in the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad. He was most
influential in obtaining the charter and organizing the company, of
which he was elected president, and became the principal, almost sole
financial manager.
Owing to prior and conflicting railroad interests, little aid could be
obtained for his project in either of the terminal cities, Cleveland and
Pittsburgh, and the work was commenced in 1853 with a comparatively small
stock subscription. A tightening money market prevented any considerable
increase of the stock list, or a favorable disposition of the bonds of the
road, and the financial crisis a few years afterwards so reduced the value
of the securities of this, as of all unfinished railroads, as practically
to shut them out of the market. In this emergency the alternative
presented itself to Mr. Perkins and his resident directors, either to
abandon the enterprise and bankrupt the company, with the entire loss of
the amount expended, or to push it forward to completion by the pledge,
and at the risk of their private fortunes, credit, and reputations.
In this, the darkest day of the enterprise, Mr. Perkins manifested his
confidence in its ultimate success, and his generous willingness to meet
fully his share of the hazard to be incurred, by proposing to them,
jointly with him, to assume that risk; and agreeing that in case of
disaster, he would himself pay the first $100,000 of loss, and thereafter
share it equally with them.
With a devotion to the interests entrusted to them, a determination rarely
equalled in the history of our railroad enterprises, they unanimously
accepted this proposition, and determined to complete the road, at least
to a remunerative point in the coal fields of the Mahoning Valley.
The financial storm was so much more severe and longer continued than the
wisest had calculated upon, that for years the result was regarded by them
and the friends of the enterprise with painful suspense. In the interest
of the road Mr. Perkins spent the Spring of 1854 in England, without
achieving any important financial results.
At length, in 1856, the road was opened to Youngstown, and its receipts,
carefully husbanded, began slowly to lessen the floating debt, by that
time grown to frightful proportions, and carried solely by the pledge of
the private property and credit of the president and Ohio directors. These
directors, consisting of Hon. Frederick Kinsman and Charles Smith, of
Warren, Governor David Tod, of Briar Hill, Judge Reuben Hitchcock, of
Painesville, and Dudley Baldwin, of Cleveland, by the free use of their
widely known and high business credit, without distrust or dissension,
sustained the president through that long and severe trial, a trial which
can never be realized except by those who shared its burdens. The
president and these directors should ever be held in honor by the
stockholders of the company, whose investment they saved from utter loss,
and by the business men of the entire Mahoning Valley, and not less by the
city of Cleveland; for the mining and manufacturing interests developed by
their exertions and sacrifices, lie at the very foundation of the present
prosperity of both.
Before, however, the road was enabled to free itself from financial
embarrassment, so to as commence making a satisfactory return to the
stockholders, which Mr. Perkins was exceedingly anxious to see
accomplished under his own presidency--his failing health compelled him to
leave its active management, and he died before the bright day dawned upon
the enterprise.
He said to a friend during his last illness, with characteristic
distinctness: "If I die, you may inscribe on my tomb stone, Died of the
Mahoning Railroad;" so great had been his devotion to the interests of the
road, and so severe the personal exposures which its supervision had
required of him, who was characteristically more thoughtful of every
interest confided to his care, than of his own health.
He was married October 24th, 1850, to Miss Elizabeth O. Tod, daughter of
Dr. J. I. Tod, of Milton, Trumbull county, Ohio, and removed his family to
Cleveland in 1856. Of three children, only one, Jacob Bishop, survives
him. Mrs. Perkins died of rapid consumption, June 4th, 1857, and his
devoted attention at the sick bed of his wife greatly facilitated the
development of the same insidious disease, which was gradually to
undermine his own naturally vigorous constitution.
The business necessities of his road, embarrassed and pressing as they
were, united with his uniform self-forgetfulness, prevented his giving
attention to his personal comfort and health, long after his friends saw
the shadow of the destroyer falling upon his path. He was finally, in
great prostration of health and strength, compelled to leave the active
duties of the road and spent the latter part of the Winter of 1857-8 in
the Southern States, but returned in the Spring with little or no
improvement. He continued to fail; during the Summer and in the Fall of
1858 he again went South in the vain hope of at least physical relief, and
died in Havana, Cuba, January 12th, 1859. His remains were embalmed and
brought home by his physician who had accompanied him--and were interred
at Warren, in Woodland Cemetery, where so many of his family repose around
him. A special train from either end of the Cleveland and Mahoning
Railroad brought the board of directors and an unusually large number of
business and personal friends to join the long procession which followed
"the last of earth" to its resting place.
One of the editorial notices of his death, at the time, very justly
remarks of him:
He was a man of mark, and through strength of talent, moral firmness and
urbanity of manner, wielded an influence seldom possessed by a man of
his years. In addition to his remarkable business capacity, Mr. Perkins
was a man of high literary taste, which was constantly improving and
enriching his mind. He continued, even amid his pressing-business
engagements, his habits of study and general reading. Mr. Perkins
belonged to that exceptional class of cases in which great wealth,
inherited, does not injure the recipient.
An editorial of a Warren paper, mentioning his death, says:
He was born in this town in 1821, and from his boyhood exhibited a
mental capacity and energy which was only the promise of the brilliancy
of his manhood. To his exertion, his personal influence and liberal
investment of capital the country is indebted for the Cleveland and
Mahoning Railroad. To his unremitting labor in this enterprise he has
sacrificed personal comfort and convenience, and we fear, shortened his
days by his labors and exposure in bringing the work to completion.
Known widely as Mr. Perkins has been by his active part in public
enterprises, his loss will be felt throughout the State, but we who have
known him both as boy and man, have a deeper interest in him, and the
sympathies of the people of Warren, with his relatives, will have much
of the nature of personal grief for one directly connected with them.
Said a classmate in the class meeting of 1862:
Although his name on the catalogue ranks with the class of 1842, his
affections were with us, and he always regarded himself of our number.
He visited New Haven frequently during the latter part of his life, in
connection with a railway enterprise, in which he was interested, and
exhibited the same large-heartedness and intellectual superiority which
won for him universal respect during his college course.
A gentleman who knew Mr. Perkins intimately, and as a director was
associated with him in the construction of the Cleveland and Mahoning
Railroad, and in carrying its debt, wrote of him as follows:
The management and construction of the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad
by Mr. Perkins, under circumstances the most difficult and trying, were
well calculated to test his powers, and, in that work he proved himself
possessed of business capacity rarely equalled, sustained by
unquestioned integrity, and remarkable energy. These qualifications,
united with his large wealth, gave him the requisite influence with
business men and capitalists. His devotion to the interests of the road,
his abiding confidence in a favorable result, and his clear and just
appreciation of its value, and importance to the community, called forth
his best efforts, and were essential conditions of success. To him more
than to any other individual are the projection, inauguration, and
accomplishment of this enterprise attributable. From its earliest
projection, he had a most comprehensive and clear view of its importance
to the city of Cleveland and the Mahoning Valley, and confidently
anticipated for them, in the event of its completion, a rapidity and
extent of development and prosperity, which were then regarded as
visionary, but which the result has fully demonstrated.
His life was spared to witness only the commencement of this prosperity,
nor can it be doubted, that his close application, and unremitting
efforts to forward the work shortened his life materially. His deep and
absorbing interest in it, prevented the precautionary measures and
relaxations, which in all probability would have prolonged his life for
years. His associates in the board saw the danger and urged him to
earlier and more decided measures for relief. He too was aware of their
importance. But the constant demand upon his time and strength, and the
continually recurring necessities of the enterprise, which he had so
much at heart, were urgent, and so absorbed his thoughts and energies,
that he delayed until it was obvious that relaxation could afford merely
temporary relief.
In his intercourse with the board, Mr. Perkins was uniformly courteous
and gentlemanly, always giving respectful attention to the suggestions
of his associates, but ever proving himself thoroughly posted; readily
comprehending the most judicious measures, and clearly demonstrating
their wisdom. Entire harmony in the action of the directors was the
result, and all had the fullest confidence in him. While his business
capacity and integrity commanded their highest admiration, his urbanity,
kindness and marked social qualities secured their strong personal
attachment, and by them his decease was regarded as a severe personal
affliction, as well as a great public loss.
Thus is briefly noticed, one who dying comparatively early, had given
evidence of great business capacity, as well as the promise of unusual
power and popularity with the people of his own State, and nation.
William Case.
A work professing to give sketches, however brief and incomplete, of the
representative men of Cleveland, would be manifestly defective did it omit
notice of the late William Case, a gentleman of sterling worth and great
popularity, who was identified with much of the material progress of the
city, who had a host of deeply attached friends while living, and whose
memory is cherished with affectionate esteem.
[Illustration: William Case]
William Case was born to prosperity, but this, which to very many has
proved the greatest misfortune of their lives, was to him no evil, but, on
the contrary, a good, inasmuch as it gave him opportunity for gratifying
his liberal tastes, and his desire to advance the general welfare. From
his father, Leonard Case, he inherited an extraordinary business capacity,
indomitable energy, and strong common sense, with correct habits. To these
inherited traits he added an extensive knowledge, acquired both from books
and men, and made practical by keen observation, and liberal ideas, which
he carried into his business and social affairs. In all relations of life
he was ever a gentleman, in the true meaning of the word, courteous to
all, the rich and the poor alike, and with an instinctive repugnance to
everything mean, oppressive or hypocritical. With regard to himself, he
was modest to a fault, shrinking from everything that might by any
possibility be construed into ostentation or self-glorification. This
tribute the writer of these lines,--who owed him nothing but friendship,
and who was in no way a recipient of any favor from him, other than his
good will,--is glad of an opportunity to pay, and this testimony to his
good qualities, falls short of the facts.
William Case takes his place in this department of our work by virtue of
the fact that he was an early friend to the railroad enterprises of
Cleveland. He contributed largely to the Cleveland, Painesville and
Ashtabula Railroad, and for four years and a half, until August, 1858, was
president of that company. Under his management the railroad prospered and
paid large dividends, and when he left that position it was with the
regret of all his subordinates, whose esteem had been won by his kindness
and courtesy.
But it was not alone as a railroad man that Mr. Case won for himself the
title to a place among the leading representative men of the city. He grew
up with Cleveland, and was alive to the interests of the growing city. No
scheme of real improvement but found a friend in him. He was energetic in
forwarding movements for bettering the condition of the streets; he took a
leading part in the location and establishment of the Water Works. Anxious
to effect an improvement in the business architecture of the city, in
which Cleveland was so far behind cities of less pretension, he projected
and carried on far towards completion the Case Block, which stands to-day
the largest and most noticeable business building in the city, and which
contains one of the finest public halls in the West. Mr. Case died before
completion of the building, which unforeseen difficulties made of great
cost, but his plans so far as known--including some of great generosity,
such as the donation of a fine suite of rooms to the Cleveland Library
Association--have been faithfully carried out.
In 1846, Mr. Case was elected member of the City Council from the Second
Ward, and served in that position four years. In that body he was noted
for his advocacy of every measure tending to the improvement of the city,
and the development of its industrial and commercial resources.
In the Spring of 1850, he was nominated, on the Whig ticket, for mayor of
Cleveland, and was elected by a large majority, against a strong
Democratic opponent, his personal popularity being shown by his running
ahead of his ticket. His administration was marked with such energy,
ability and public spirit, that in the following year--the office then
being annually elective--he was re-elected by an increased majority, and
ran still further ahead of his ticket.
In 1852, the Whig convention for the Nineteenth Congressional District,
which then included Cuyahoga county, assembled at Painesville, under the
presidency of Mon. Peter Hitchcock. Mr. Case was there nominated for
Congress by acclamation, and the canvass was carried on by the Whigs with
great enthusiasm. But the Democracy and the Free Soil party were against
him, and under the excitement growing out of anti-slavery agitation, the
Free Soil candidate, Hon. Edward Wade, was elected, though closely pressed
by Mr. Case. From that time Mr. Case, who was not in any respect a
politician, and who had at no time a desire or need for office, took no
active part in politics.
Mr. Case did not possess a strong constitution, and early in life his
medical attendant reported against his being sent to college, as the
application would be too severe a strain on his health. In accordance with
the advice then given, he devoted much attention to hunting, fishing, and
to horticultural and agricultural pursuits. But these were insufficient to
save him, and he died April 19th, 1862, whilst yet in the prime of life,
being but forty years old.
Amasa Stone, Jr.
Conspicuous among the railroad managers connected with Cleveland, indeed
occupying a prominent position in the list of the railroad magnates of the
country, is the name of Amasa Stone, Jr. The high position he has
attained, and the wealth he has secured, are the rewards of his own
perseverance, industry, and foresight; every dollar he has earned
represents a material benefit to the public at large in the increase of
manufacturing or traveling facilities.
Mr. Stone was born in the town of Charlton, Worcester county,
Massachusetts, April 27th, 1818. He is of Puritan stock, the founder
of the American branch of the family having-landed at Boston in 1632,
from the ship Increase, which brought a colony of Puritans from
England. The first settlement of the family was at Waltham. The father
of Mr. Stone, also named Amasa, is now alive, hale and hearty, at the
age of ninety years.
Young Amasa Stone lived with his parents and worked upon the farm,
attending the town district school in its sessions, until he was seventeen
years old, when he engaged with an older brother for three years, to learn
the trade of a builder. His pay for the first year was to be forty
dollars, increasing ten dollars yearly, and to furnish his own clothing.
At the end of the second year, thinking he could do better, he purchased
the remainder of his time for a nominal sum, and from that time was his
own master. In the Winter of 1837-8, he attended the academy of Professer
Bailey, in Worcester, Mass., having saved sufficient from his small wages
to pay the expenses of a single term.
His first work on his own account was a contract to do the joiner work of
a house building by Col. Temple, at Worcester. The work was done, and in
part payment he took a note of a manufacturing firm for $130; within a
few months the firm failed, the note became worthless, and the first
earnings of the young builder were lost. That note Mr. Stone still
preserves as a memento.
The following year, at the age of twenty, he joined his two older brothers
in a contract for the construction of a church edifice in the town of East
Brookfield, Mass. In the succeeding year, 1839, he engaged with his
brother-in-law, Mr. William Howe, to act as foreman in the erection of
two church edifices and several dwelling-houses in Warren, Mass.
During this time Mr. Howe was engaged in perfecting his invention of what
is known as the Howe truss bridge. After securing his patent Mr. Howe
contracted to build the superstructure of the bridge across the
Connecticut river, at Springfield, for the Western Railroad Company. Mr.
Stone engaged with him in this work. During a part of the first year he
was employed on the foundations of the structure in the bed of the river.
Thereafter until the year 1842, he was employed constantly by Mr. Howe in
the erection of railway and other bridges, and railway depot buildings. In
the Winter of 1841, his duties were most trying and arduous. About a
thousand lineal feet of bridging on the Western Railroad, in the Green
Mountains, had to be completed, and Mr. Stone and his men were called upon
to carry the work through. In some locations the sun could scarcely be
seen, the gorges were so deep and narrow, while during a large portion of
the time the thermometer ranged below zero. But the work was successfully
completed.
In the year 1842, he formed a copartnership with Mr. A. Boody, and
purchased from Mr. Howe his bridge patent for the New England States,
including all improvements and renewals. Subsequently an arrangement was
concluded with Mr. D. L. Harris, under the name of Boody, Stone & Co., for
the purpose of contracting for the construction of railways, railway
bridges, and similar work, the mechanical details generally to be under
the charge of Mr. Stone. In the year 1845, Mr. Stone was appointed
superintendent of the New Haven, Hartford and Springfield Railroad, he,
however, still continuing his partnership in the firm of Boody, Stone &
Co., and the business of the firm becoming so heavy that within a year
from the time of his appointment he resigned his office as superintendent.
Circumstances occurred previous to his appointment that may be worthy of
remark. The purchase of the bridge patent, before alluded to, was for the
sum of forty thousand dollars, to be paid in annual instalments. A few
years after the purchase some defects showed themselves in the bridges
that had been erected on this plan, and many prominent engineers had come
to the conclusion that it was not superior to, if it equalled, the truss
plan of Col. Long, the arch and truss of Burr, or the lattice plan of
Ithial Towne, and the firm of Boody, Stone & Co. began to fear that they
had made a bad bargain in the purchase of the patent. Mr. Stone, in
relating the incident to a friend, said: "I came to the conclusion that
something must be done or there must be a failure, and it must not be a
failure. The night following was a sleepless one, at least until three
o'clock in the morning. I thought, and rolled and tumbled, until time and
again I was almost exhausted in my inventive thoughts, and in despair,
when at last an idea came to my mind that relieved me. I perfected it in
my mind's eye, and then came to the conclusion that it would not only
restore the reputation of the Howe bridge, but would prove to be a better
combination of wood and iron for bridges than then existed, and could not
and would not in principle be improved upon. Sleep immediately came. I
afterwards, with models, proved my conclusions and have not, up to this
time, changed them." It seems that the invention consisted in the
introduction of longitudinal keys and clamps in the lower chords, to
prevent their elongation, and iron socket bearings instead of wooden for
the braces and bolts, to avoid compression and shrinkage of the timber,
which was the great defect in the original invention, and the adoption of
single instead of double intersection in the arrangement of the braces,
the latter being the arrangement in the original invention.
In the autumn of 1846, an incident occurred that may be worthy of
notice. On the 14th day of October, when walking in Broadway, New York,
Mr. Stone met the president of the New Haven, Hartford and Springfield
Railroad, who had in his hand a telegram, stating that the bridge across
the Connecticut river at Enfield Falls, one-fourth of a mile long, had
been carried away by a hurricane. The president asked the advice of Mr.
Stone, who stated that the timber for that structure was furnished by
Messrs. Campbell & Moody, of that city, and advised that he order it
duplicated at once. The president, a very faithful officer, but
disinclined to take responsibilities, asked Mr. Stone to take the
responsibility of ordering it. Mr. Stone replied, "Not unless I am
president." The timber was, however, ordered, and at the request of the
president, Mr. Stone went immediately with him to Springfield, where a
committee of the board was called together, and he was asked to propose
terms, and the shortest time upon which his firm would contract to
complete the bridge. He stated that his terms would be high, as the
season was late and would likely be unfavorable before so heavy a work
could be completed, and further suggested that if they chose to appoint
him manager of the work, he would accept and do the best he could for
them. He was immediately appointed sole manager of the work, and the
board placed at his control all the resources of the company. The work
was immediately commenced by bringing to the site men and material, and
it was completed, and a locomotive and train of cars run across it by
Mr. Stone within forty days from the day the order was given for its
erection. The structure consisted of seven spans of seventy-seven feet
each, with two other spans at each end of about fifty feet each. Mr.
Stone has been heard to state that he regarded this as one of the most
important events of his life, and that no one was more astonished than
himself at the result. He was rewarded by complimentary resolutions, and
a check for one thousand dollars by the company.
The following Winter the partnership of Boody, Stone & Co. was dissolved
by mutual consent, and the territory that their contract for the bridge
patent covered was divided, by Mr. Stone taking the States of
Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, and Mr. Boody the other three
States. A new partnership was then formed between Mr. Stone and Mr.
Harris, which continued until the year 1849.
From the year 1839 to 1850, the residence of Mr. Stone, most of the time,
was in Springfield, Mass., but the numerous contracts in which he was
interested called him into ten different States, He served several years
as a director in the Agawam Bank, was also a director for several years,
and one of the building committee in the Agawam Canal Company, which
erected and run a cotton mill of ten thousand spindles, in the town of
West Springfield.
In the autumn of 1848, he formed a partnership with Mr. Stillman Witt and
Mr. Frederick Harbach, who contracted with the Cleveland, Columbus and
Cincinnati Railroad Company to construct and equip the road from Cleveland
to Columbus. This was the largest contract that had, at that time, been
entered into, of this character, by any one party or firm in the United
States. A large amount of the capital stock was taken in part payment for
the work. It was generally regarded as a hazardous adventure, but the work
was carried through in accordance with the terms of the contract, and
proved to be a profitable investment for its stockholders. In his
partnership contract it was stipulated that he was to act as financial
agent at the East, to send out the necessary mechanics, and to
occasionally visit the work, but was not to change his residence. Events,
however, occurred that required his constant presence in Ohio, and in the
Spring of 1850, he moved his family to Cleveland, where they have since
resided. In the Winter of 1850-1, the road was opened for business through
from Cleveland to Columbus, and Mr. Stone was appointed its
superintendent.
[Illustration: Respectfully, Amasa Stone, Jr.]
In the Fall of 1850, the firm of Harbach, Stone & Witt contracted with
the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad Company to construct the
railroad from Cleveland to the State line of Pennsylvania, and furnish it
with cars, and to take in part payment for the work a large amount of the
stock and bonds of the Company. Soon after the execution of this contract,
Mr. Harbach died suddenly in the city of New York, and the completion of
the work devolved on Messrs. Stone and Witt. The completion of the road
through to Erie principally devolved upon the Cleveland company, and was
attended with many difficulties, as the Legislature of Pennsylvania seemed
determined that no road should be built through the State along the shore
of Lake Erie, and the general impression was, at that time, that the
construction of a road along the shore of the lake was a wild scheme and
would prove a failure. It was difficult to get capital subscribed and more
difficult to collect instalments. The contractors having confidence in its
success, prosecuted the work with vigor up to a period when they found
they had expended more than $200,000, while the aggregate amount that the
railroad company was able to raise and pay them was less than $100,000. An
effort was then made, with success, to engage the services of Mr. Alfred
Kelley. His well known character, aided by the reputation of others who
were elected directors, and a subscription from the city of Cleveland of
$100,000, enabled the company to meet its engagements with the
contractors, who carried the work forward to completion, and the road was
opened through to Erie in the Winter of 1852, when Mr. Stone was appointed
its superintendent. Notwithstanding the great expense that had to be
incurred in crossing the deep ravines in the State of Pennsylvania, and
the heavy burdens imposed on the company by that State, it has proved to
be one of the most successful railroad enterprises in the United States.
In the year 1852, Mr. Stone was elected a director in both Cleveland,
Columbus and Cincinnati, and the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula
Railroad Companies, and has held that office in both companies
continuously up to the present date. He also continued to hold the office
of superintendent of both roads until the year 1854, when he insisted on
being relieved in consequence of failing health, caused by the arduous
labors which seemed unavoidably to devolve upon him. He was elected
president of the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad Company in
the year 1857, which office he has continued to hold for twelve successive
years, until 1869.
In 1868, the Cleveland and Toledo Railroad was leased perpetually to the
Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad Company, at which time he
was also elected President of the former company.
In the year 1855, he, with Mr. Witt, contracted to build the Chicago and
Milwaukee Railroad, and was for many years a director in that company, and
for awhile its president.
For several years he held the office of director in the Merchants Bank, of
Cleveland. From its first organization until it was closed up, he was
director in the Bank of Commerce, of Cleveland, and has been director in
the Second National Bank, and the Commercial National Bank, of Cleveland,
and the Cleveland Banking Company, from the time of their respective
organizations until the present time. He was for some years president of
the Toledo Branch of the State Bank, at Toledo. He was elected a director
in the Jamestown and Franklin Railroad Company in the year 1863, which
office he has held until the present time. In the same year he was elected
president of the Mercer Iron and Coal Company and held the office until
the close of the year 1868.
Mr. Stone aided in the establishment of several manufactories at this
point. During the construction of the railroads from Cleveland, his firm
carried on extensive car shops in the city, where cars were constructed,
not only for those two roads, but for several others. He gave financial
aid and personal influence to the establishment and maintenance of several
leading iron manufacturing establishments and machine shops. In the year
1861-2, he erected, in the city of Cleveland, a woolen mill of five sets
of machinery, and for several years ran it and turned out more goods
annually than any other mill in the state of Ohio. He subsequently sold it
to Alton Pope & Sons.
He is often pleased to note the progress in American enterprise, and among
other events that has come under his own observation, relates the
following: In the year 1839, he commenced his first railroad service upon
the foundation of a bridge that was then being erected across the
Connecticut river at Springfield, Mass., of 1260 feet in length. It was
regarded as a very difficult undertaking, as the bed of the river was
composed mostly of quicksand, and a rise of 25-1/2 feet in the river had
to be provided for, and floating ice, its full width, fifteen inches in
thickness. Maj. George W. Whistler, the first of his profession, was chief
engineer of the work, and he had as advisers Maj. McNeal, Capt. Swift, and
other eminent engineers. The work was about three years under
construction, at a cost of over $131,000, and every effort was made to
keep its cost at the lowest possible point, at the same time making
certain the stability of the structure. Within nine years from the time of
its completion, a similar structure, in every particular, was to be
constructed across the same river, at Hartford, twenty-six miles below.
Its length varied but a few feet, although it covered more water, and its
foundations and other contingencies were quite as difficult and
unfavorable. Mr. Stone concluded a contract for its construction for the
firm of Stone & Harris, complete, for the sum of $77,000, and to have it
ready for the cars in twenty months. The work was executed in accordance
with the terms of the contract, and has not only proved as substantial as
that at Springfield, but in many particulars, more so. It was the pride of
Mr. Stone for many reasons, (among others, that it was stated by many that
it could not be done for this sum of money,) to personally superintend
this work himself, and to put in practice some of his own inventions, the
most important of which was the cutting off the foundation piles with a
saw arranged on a scow, propelled by a steam engine, and the sinking of
the piers below water by means of screws. The result proved to be
satisfactory, and as favorable, in a financial point of view, as he
estimated. It will be noticed that the bridge structure, complete, at
Hartford, cost $54,000 less than that at Springfield, of like character.
He has been interested in the construction of more than ten miles in
length of truss bridging, and in the construction of roofs of large
buildings, covering more than fifteen acres of ground, most of which he
designed and personally superintended their election. The last extensive
structure that he designed, and the election of which he personally
superintended, was the Union Passenger Depot, at Cleveland. He was the
first person that designed and erected pivot draw-bridges of long spans,
which, however, have been much increased in length of span by other
parties since. He was also the first to design and erect a dome roof of a
span of 150 feet, sufficient to cover three lengths of a locomotive with
its tender, and numerous are the improvements he has introduced in the
construction of railroad cars and locomotives. The only eight-wheeled dump
gravel car in successful use was designed and put in practice by him.
For a number of years Mr. Stone has been trustee of the First Presbyterian
Church Society of Cleveland, and still holds that office. He was chairman
of the building committee in the election of the new church edifice, and
when it was burned down, was again elected chairman of the building
committee, and given full charge of the reconstruction of the building.
In 1868, Mr. Stone visited Europe, being compelled to seek relief, for a
brief period, from the exhausting cares of his numerous business
engagements. He is expected to return in the Fall of this year, ready to
again engage in the active prosecution of the important enterprises with
which he is connected, and in which he has won such distinction by his
sound common sense, sound judgment, unresting energy, and practicable
knowledge. In whatever he undertakes there is good reason for believing
that the success he has hitherto met will still attend his efforts.