Madison County, Indiana - Chapter 10: Internal Improvements, 1914

Old Trails - First Highways - State Roads - Turnpike Companies and Toll Roads - Tiie Era of Canals - Land Grants - State Legis¬ lation for Internal Improvements - Act of 1836 - Indiana Cen¬ tral Canal - Its Collapse - The Hydraulic Project - Railroads - Early Ideas Regarding Them - The Big Four - First Train to Anderson - The Pan Handle - Cincinnati, Wabash & Michigan - Lake Erie & Western - The Central Indlvna - Ditches - Union Traction Company

One of the first necessities in the way of internal improvements in a new country is the construction of public highways. When the first white men came to what is now Madison county there was not "a stick of timber amiss.'' In going from one place to another the most direct route was followed, a small compass often being used to keep the traveler in his course. The first roads were merely marked by "blazes" on the trees, without regard to section lines, no matter how much they might later interfere with some pioneer's farming operations. Where an old Indian trail existed it was used by the settlers until better roads could be constructed. In after years all these early "traces" were straightened and altered to conform to the lines of the official survey running east and west and north and south.

Surveys were made for state roads at an early date. Some of these roads were afterward opened and improved, but in a majority of in¬ stances they were simply ' ' cut out'' by the settlers living along the route, very little expenditure being made by the state beyond the cost of the survey. One of the first roads of this character to be surveyed through Madison county was the Indianapolis & Fort Wayne state road, which was laid out about 1825 and passed through Jackson, Pipe Creek, Monroe and Van Buren townships. The Shelbyville & Fort Wayne state road, which was laid out about 1830, ran northward through Anderson and Alexandria and formed a junction with the Indianapolis road near the northern line of what is now Monroe township.

The Newcastle & Lafayette state road was established about the same time as the Shelbyville road, or perhaps a year or two sooner. Morgan Shortridge and Zenas Beckwith were appointed by the state legislature to locate this road and report to the board of justices in each of the counties through which it was to pass. Their report was dated December 13, 1828, and the road was opened for the greater part of the distance the following year. It entered Madison county about a mile and a half north of the southeast corner, ran thence a northwesterly direction through Pendleton and across Green township into Hamilton county.

Another state road projected in the early ? 30s was the one running from Newcastle to Logansport. It followed closely the route over which the Pan Handle railroad now runs. When the legislature granted the railroad company the right of way over this line the act contained a provision that a good wagon road should be constructed by the railroad company parallel to its tracks, but the charter once obtained the company paid no attention to the stipulation regarding the construction of a public highway.

In the spring of 1832 a road between Pendleton and Strawtown was laid out and before the close of that year it was made passable. That portion of this road in Madison county was afterward made the Pendle¬ ton & Fishersburg pike.

Another old highway was the one running west from Anderson to Strawtown via Hamilton (now Halford) and Perkinsville. It is a con¬ tinuation of West Eighth street in Anderson. Along in the latter '30s and during the '408, when there was a heavy tide of immigration to the western states, this road acquired almost a national reputation. Old settlers living as far east as the Ohio state line can recall the covered wagons bound westward, the drivers of w 7 hich would eagerly inquire the best way to reach the Strawtown road, and many a western pioneer has traveled over this old pathway to fortune or to failure.

For thirty-five years after Madison county was erected the only high¬ ways were of that variety known as ' 4 dirt roads. ' ' During this period the county was divided into road districts, in each of which was an offi¬ cial called a supervisor, whose duty it was to 4 4 call out" every ablebodied man between the ages of twenty-one and fifty years to work for two, three or four days in each year upon the public highway. In these cases the supervisor would designate what tools each man should bring. Engineering, as applied to the construction and maintenance of high¬ ways, was unknowm, each supervisor exercising his own fancy as to what work was essential. Low 7 places w T ere filled with soil or clay and shallow ditches were plowed along the roadside, to be filled up again when the rainy season came. Every spring, when the ground thaw r ed out, the condition of these roads can be better imagined than described.

Then came the era of turnpikes - toll roads constructed by private corporations. After laws w 7 ere passed by the state legislature, authoriz¬ ing the organization of companies to build improved roads, Dr. John Hunt was the pioneer of the movement in Madison county. Through his efforts and influence a company w'as organized in 1858 to build what was long known as the Anderson & Alexandria pike. The first officers of the company were William Crim, president ; Joseph Fulton, secretary; Neal C. McCullough, treasurer. The directors were W. A. Hunt, George Nichol, Curran Beall and Frederick Black. The officers of the company were never changed, except that upon the death of Mr. McCullough, his son, C. K. McCullough, was elected treasurer. Work was commenced soon after the company received its charter and the road was completed from Anderson to within two miles of Alexandria, when work was sus¬ pended for some reason and the north end of the line was never finished. This road was the first turnpike in the county.

In 1859 the Pendleton & Newcastle Turnpike Company was organ¬ ized with Neal Hardy as president; J. T. Wall, secretary; L. W. Thomas, treasurer; C. G. Mauzy, Ralph Williams and Elwood Brown, directors. This pike was constructed on the line of the Newcastle & Lafayette state road. Work was commenced in the fall of 1859, but it was not com¬ pleted to the Henry county line - a distance of nine miles from Pendle¬ ton - until 1867. The total cost of this pike was about $13,500, and the county built two bridges, one over the Spring branch and the other over Lick creek, at a cost of $1,415. For many years this road was recognized as one of the best in the county. The portion of the Newcastle & Lafay¬ ette state road running west from Pendleton was subsequently improved and was known as the Pendleton & Noblesville pike.

The third turnpike built in the county was the one known as the Pendleton & Eden pike, which ran southward from Pendleton for a dis¬ tance of eight miles, passing the old village of Menden. Its total cost was about $12,000 and it was completed in 1862.

During the Civil war - from 1861 to 1865 - little attention was given to road building, the preservation of the Union overshadowing every¬ thing else. In 1865 the Anderson & Fishersburg Turnpike Company was organized with the following officers and directors: David Conrad, president; C. D. Thompson, secretary; Samuel Moss, treasurer; Elias Brown, William Woodward and John Cunningham, directors. This road is a little over nine miles in length and was completed after several delays at a^ost of $2,000 per mile. It was one of the best paying turn¬ pikes in the county.

Two turnpike companies were formed in 1866 - one for the purpose of constructing the Anderson & New Columbus short line and the other to build the Lick Creek pike. The officers of the former were N. C. McCullough, president; A. D. Williams, secretary; George Nichol, treas¬ urer; Peter Fesler, Stephen Carr and Samuel Walden, directors. Work was commenced soon after the company organization was perfected and the road was completed to New Columbus (Ovid) at a cost of $1,200 per mile. In 1872 the pike was extended two miles south of New Columbus and this extension is sometimes called the Anderson & Knightstown pike.

The officers of the Lick Creek Turnpike Company were Jacob Kennard, president; J. L. Thomas, secretary, and these two officers, with J. P. James, constituted the board of directors. No work was done on the road until in 1867, after which time the construction was pushed vigorously, and the three and a half miles from Pendleton to the county line were completed at a total cost of a little over $5,000.

In 1867 the Anderson & Lafayette pike was built from Anderson to Frankton, in Lafayette township, a distance of six miles, for $1,800 per mile. A portion of this road follows the old Newcastle and Logansport state road. The same year the company was organized to build the road known as the Killbuck pike, which runs northward from Anderson and intersects the Anderson and Alexandria pike near the Big Killbuck creek. From this point it extends in a northeasterly direction into Richland

A second pike, called east line road, was built from Anderson to New Columbus in 1868 by a company of which George Nichol, Michael Stohler, Ephraim Clem, Henry Keller and George F. Chittenden were the moving spirits. It followed the road to Chesterfield for about a mile from Anderson, when it turned abruptly to the south and followed the section line to New Columbus. The cost of this road was $1,100 per mile.

A gravel road known as the Madison and Hancock pike was built in 1870, beginning at the Pendleton and Newcastle pike about two miles east of Pendleton and running due south to the county line, thence to War¬ rington, Hancock county. Three miles of the road are in Madison county, and this portion of the road was constructed at a cost of $3,600.

The last toll road to be built in the county was the Anderson and Ham¬ ilton pike, which was constructed in 1872. During the era of turnpikes the roads of this character in Madison county were kept in good condi¬ tion and most of them paid good dividends upon the capital invested. Travelers through the county made many favorable comments upon the condition of the turnpikes, and while some other counties in the state might have had more miles of improved road, it is certain that none showed a better class of such highways than Madison. In 1885 the legis¬ lature passed an act providing for the purchase of toll roads by the county commissioners in the several counties of the state, whenever a majority of the voters at a general election expressed themselves in favor of such a proposition. Within five years after the taking effect of this law the people of Madison county had voted in favor of buying all the turnpikes and converting them into free gravel roads. If this meas¬ ure has its advantages it also has its disadvantages. Money expended by a private corporation in the repair of a turnpike generally pro¬ duced better results than the same amount of the public funds expended in the repair and maintenance of free gravel roads. In the' one case the work was always done under the supervision of a competent man in the employ of the company, while in the other it is toor frequently done under a careless or incompetent official. Madison county now has ap¬ proximately five hundred miles of free gravel road, most of which is in good condition, though it is possible that none of these highways comes up to the standard of the old turnpike.

During the first twenty years of Indiana's statehood - from 1816 to 1836 - scarcely a session of the legislature was convened in which there were not introduced one or more bills looking toward the establishment of some system of internal improvements. Most of the governors during this period were interested in the development of the resources of Indiana and their messages to the general assembly were replete with recommendations, some of w r hich possessed merit, but many of them would now be regarded as visionary in the extreme. Governor Ray was especially energetic in his efforts to secure the enactment of laws that would enable the state to prosecute "a grand system of internal improve¬ ment to a successful termination, and for the ultimate production of a revenue that shall relieve our fellow-citizens from taxation .' 9 thing needed to stimulate commerce and develop the natural resources of the state. As early as 1822 the states of Indiana and Illinois began to work together for the improvement of the Wabash river, and in 1823 the subject of connecting the Maumee and Wabash rivers by a canal came before the legislatures of Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. Nothing definite was done at that time, but in 1827 the federal government gave to the State of Indiana a large grant of land to aid in the construction of a canal to connect Lake Erie with the Wabash river. Work on the canal was commenced in 1832, under the supervision of a board of canal commissioners.

Four years later the financial condition of the state was thought to be such as to justify the inauguration of an extensive system of public works. An act was accordingly, passed by the legislature of 1836, authorizing the appointment of a board of internal improvements, to consist of six persons appointed by the governor 4 'by and with the ad¬ vice of the senate and the canal commissioners then in office." Eight great water and land thoroughfares were specified in the bill, only one of which directly affected Madison county, but the subject is deemed of sufficient interest to justify the insertion here of the entire list, that the reader may learn what ideas were entertained three-quarters of a cen¬ tury ago with regard to the development of the state. The routes were as follows:

1. The Whitewater Canal, which was to begin on the west branch of the Whitewater river at the crossing of the national road and thence down the Whitewater valley to the Ohio river at Lawreneeburg.

2. The Central Canal, "to commence at the most suitable point on the Wabash & Erie Canal, between Fort Wayne and Logansport, run¬ ning thence to Muncietown; thence to Indianapolis; thence down the valley of the west fork of the White river to its junction with the east fork of said river, and thence by the most practicable route to Evans¬ ville, on the Ohio river/'

The second of these projects was the one in which Madison county was directly interested. Of the $10,000,000 appropriated to carry out the intent of the bill, $3,500,000 were to be devoted to the construction of the Central Canal. In the construction of this canal the board of internal improvement commissioners was given the option of building it upon the "lower, or Pipe creek route, if found most practicable and conducive to the interests of the state," in which case a branch or

" feeder'' was to be built to Muncietown, this branch to be of the same size as the main canal. The commissioners selected the Pipe creek route and as soon as the survey was made rival towns sprang up like magic along the line of the proposed canal. The excitement was almost equal to that which followed the discovery of gold in California, or when oil was first struck in western Pennsylvania.

In 1838 work was commenced upon that portion of the canal running through Madison county. According to old maps of the county, the canal ran southward past Alexandria and through the western part of Richland township, striking the little Killbuck creek not far from the village of Prosperity, following that stream to the White river, and thence down the river valley as provided in the act of 1836. The Muncie branch was surveyed to unite with the main canal at Anderson.

Says Dillon, in his history of Indiana: "In fixing the mode of or¬ ganizing a state board internal improvement, and in defining the duties and powers of this board, the general assembly of 1836 committed several material errors. On account of these errors, and for other reasons, the internal improvement law of 1836 encountered a strong op¬ position; and this opposition was most marked among the people of those counties through which the lines of the proposed public works did not pass."

This opposition, like Banquo's ghost, would not down, and by 1839 it became so insistent that work upon the internal improvements was suspended. In his message to the legislature in December, 1839, Gov¬ ernor Wallace summed up the situation as follows: "The failure to procure funds, as we had a right to expect from the extensive sale of bonds effected in the early part of the season, has led to great and un¬ usual embarrassments, not only among the contractors and laborers, but also among the people. The state has, in consequence, fallen largely in debt to the former, and is without means of discharging it. * * * *

What shall be done with the public works? Shall they be abandoned altogether? I hope not. In my opinion, the policy of the state, in the present emergency, should be, first, to provide against the dilapidation of those portions of the works left in an unfinished state, and, secondly, as means can be procured, to finish some entirely, and complete others,, at least, to points where they may be rendered available or useful to the country."

The legislature of 1839 authorized the issue of $1,500,000 of state treasury notes for the payment of the contractors and other public creditors. These notes circulated as currency for a time at their face value, but within two years they had depreciated from 40 to 50 per cent. At the close of the year 1841 over $8,000,000 had been ex¬ pended on the internal improvements contemplated by the act of 1836, and it was estimated that $20,000,000 more would be necessary to com¬ plete the system according to the original designs. Public sentiment was against any further issue of state bonds, or any increase in the public debt to carry on the work, and the whole scheme collapsed. Madison county, in common with others along the lines of the canals and highways, suffered a severe blow. Most of the towns that had com¬ menced their career with such a flourish of triumpets were abandoned

Several years after the abandonment of the Central Canal by the state, certain persons became interested in a proposition to complete that portion of it situated between Anderson and Daleville and convert¬ ing it into a hydraulic canal. After some talk the subject was dropped, but shortly after the close of the Civil war it again came up for consid¬ eration, with the result that on December 19, 1868, the Anderson Hydraulic Company was organized with a capital stock of $64,000 sub¬ scribed. Later the city of Anderson subscribed for $20,000 of the stock and issued bonds for the amount. N. C. McCullough was elected presi¬ dent of the company; C. D. Thompson, secretary; William Crim, treas¬ urer; N. C. McCullough, William Crim, Peter Suman, H. J. Blacklidge, George Nichol, Samuel Hughel and James Hazlett, directors. Con¬ tracts were let for reconstructing the canal on the original survey from Anderson to Daleville, a distance of eight miles, but nearly seven years passed before it was finished. On July 4, 1874, the water was turned into the canal from the White river opposite Daleville, but the banks were unable to stand the pressure and gave way at so many places that the water was shut off. After the breaks were repaired the water was again turned on, but again the banks gave w r ay. By this time the stock¬ holders had reached the conclusion that the undertaking w T as doomed to ultimate failure and refused to furnish any more money for experi¬ menting, $80,000 having already been expended with no show of prac¬ tical results. The canal was afterward sold by the sheriff of Madison county to Edward H. Rogers to satisfy certain judgments held by him against the company. This was the last echo of the old Indiana Central Canal that once buoyed up the hopes of the people of Madison county, and they turned their attention to other plans of development.

While the states were turning their attention to the building of canals as a means of developing their natural resources, a few miles of railroad were built in the east, and thoughtful men foresaw that this was the coming method of transportation. Many were skeptical, how¬ ever, and many were actually opposed to the introduction of this method of traffic. About 1830 some young men of Lancaster, Ohio, asked the school board to permit them to use the schoolhouse for the discussion of the railroad question. To this request the board replied as follows:

"You are welcome to the use of the school house to debate all proper questions in, but such things as railroads and telegraphs are impossi¬ bilities and rank infidelity. There is nothing in the Word of God about them. If God had designed that His intelligent creatures should travel at the frightful speed of fifteen miles an hour, by steam, He would clearly have foretold it through His holy prophets. It is a device of Satan to lead immortal souls down to hell."

A few years after the abandonment of the Indiana Central Canal, a company was organized to build a railroad from Indianapolis to Bellefontaine, Ohio. As this line was to pass through Madison county public interest was aroused, and, while the opposition was not so pronounced as that of the Lancaster school board, there were a few pessimistic indi¬ viduals who expressed their doubts as to the advisability of spending time and money in the construction of railroad, the disadvantages of which might be greater than the advantages. One'prominent citizen of Anderson objected to the road running through the town, because the cars would ' ' run over and kill the children. '' Another insisted that the road would have to be operated at loss, for the reason that "one train could haul all the produce of the county for twenty years at one load. 17

Notwithstanding such objections, a large majority of the people were in favor of the road and did everything in their power to encourage its construction. In the light of modern progress, the objections of 1840 seem puerile in the extreme. And although the holy prophets failed to foretell a ' 4 frightful speed of fifteen miles an hour, ' 9 it is no uncommon occurrence for the railway train of the present day to travel at a rate four times that great.

At the June session of the Madison county commissioners in 1849 it was ' 1 Ordered that the County Commissioners, for and on behalf of the county of Madison, take and subscribe the sum of $15,500, which, includ¬ ing the sum of $500 heretofore subscribed, makes $16,000, as stock in the Indianapolis & Bellefontaine Railroad Company, to be paid in four equal annual installments, and to be expended within the county of Madison .' 9

The records do not show what became of the stock subscribed for by the county, nor can any of the old settlers remember what disposition was made of it. That the stock was issued to the commissioners is shown by the following letter from O. H. Smith, author of "Early Reminis¬ cences of Indiana," and at one time United States senator, but in 1849 president of the Indianapolis & Bellefontaine Railroad Company:

To the Board of County Commissioners of the County of Madison: Gentlemen: - The board of directors of the Indianapolis & Bellefontaine Railroad Company, in session this day, have adopted the following resolution:

"On motion by Mr. Williams: Resolved, That the board do hereby accept the subscription of stock to the company of $15,500 by the board of county commissioners of the county of Madison, upon the terms of said subscription, and that the president be directed to cause the sub¬ scription to be entered on the books of the company, and notify said board thereof, and issue to the county of Madison a certificate of stock for the proper number of shares. ' '

You are therefore hereby notified that the subscription aforesaid has been entered on the books of the company, and a certificate for 620 shares of stock has been accordingly issued and is herein enclosed.

In addition to this subscription by the county, many of the citizens showed their faith in the enterprise by taking stock in the company and work on the road was prosecuted with vigor. On July 4, 1851, the first railroad train that ever ran into Anderson - an excursion train from Indianapolis - came in over this road. The locomotive was one of the old-fashioned "wood burners," with a smoke stack shaped like a funnel, and the train consisted of three unvarnished coaches, with plain wooden seats, quite unlike the upholstered seats of the present day coaches. News of the excursion had spread over the surrounding country and for two days before the scheduled time for its arrival curious sight-seers were seen coming into Anderson, some of them from points several miles distant, to see the curiosity of coaches drawn over rails by a steam engine. Hotels and boarding houses were taxed to their utmost capacity and near the wagon bridge over the White river, north of town, a camp was established by those who were unable to find better accommodations. Buildings in the town were decorated with flags and bunting and every thing possible was done to make July 4th a red letter day in the city's calendar. As the hour for the arrival of the train approached a number of people, unable to restrain their impatience, walked some two miles down the track toward Indianapolis in order to catch an early view of the excursion. When the train came in sight the engineer sounded a few shrill blasts from the whistle as welcome. Consternation reigned among the curious sight-seers and they set out with more speed than grace for the "tall timber" in search of a place of safety. It is said that one man never stopped running until he reached Anderson. After the train had been inspected, citizens and excursionists joined in an appropriate celebration of the anniversary of national independence.

In 1852 the road was completed through the county and a station was established at Anderson, the first building erected by the company standing near the present depot and passenger station. Philip Siddall was the first ticket and freight agent, and also the first telegraph operator in Anderson. He was a man of pleasing personality, who quickly made friends and incidentally increased the business of both the railroad and telegraph companies. In due time the road was completed to Bellefontaine and subsequently to Cleveland, Ohio, when it became known as the "Bee Line." It is now operated by the New York Central Railroad Company and is known as the Cleveland division of the Big Four Railway System. Through Madison county the line is doubletracked, with stations at Ingalls, Pendleton, Anderson and Chesterfield. It is one of the leading railway lines of the Middle West and in connec¬ tion with the old Indianapolis & St. Louis Railroad forms a popular route from the region of the great lakes to the southwest.

The second railroad to enter Madison county was the Cincinnati & Chicago Air Line - now a branch of the Pennsylvania System and usually called the Pan Handle. It enters the county about eight miles north of the southeast corner and follows a northwesterly direction through Anderson, Florida, Frankton and Elwood, leaving the county on the west at the northwest corner of Pipe Creek township. This road was projected about the same time as the Indianapolis & Bellefontaine, but was not completed through Madison county until about three years later. Soon after the Columbus, Piqua & Indianapolis railroad was finished the company, seeing that Chicago was rapidly becoming a city of importance to the commercial world, decided upon a line from Rich¬ mond to Chicago. During the years 1850-51 the road was built from Richmond to Hagerstown, a distance of sixteen miles, and the next year it was finished as far as Newcastle. Little progress was made during the next three years, but early in the summer of 1855 the line was completed as far as Anderson. On July 4, 1855 - just four years after the first train came into that town over the Indianapolis & Bellefontaine - an excursion train of four coaches came up from Richmond.

Again the town of Anderson was in gala attire, the people coming from all directions to join in the celebration. Perhaps the curiosity was not so great as on the former occasion, but there were still citizens of Madison county who had not yet seen a railroad train and they were very much in evidence. Speech-making, wrestling matches and other athletic contests constituted the principal features of the celebration that followed the arrival of the excursion, music being furnished by a ''sheepskin band," composed of a bass drum, snare drum and a fife. The engine that drew the excursion train was not much larger than one of the sixteen horse-power traction engines of the present day used for running threshing machines. In the early days of railroading in Indi¬ ana the locomotives were named instead of being numbered, and nearly every town or city through which the Cincinnati & Chicago Air Line passed was anxious to have an engine named after it. The officials of the road, glad to please the people, named several of their locomotives after the county seats along the line. Old residents still recall the "Logansport," the "Anderson," the "Newcastle," the "Chicago" and other engines that in their day were considered magnificent pieces of machinery. Then there were the "Swinett," a rather diminutive affair, the first engine on the road, with John Smock as the first engineer,- her twin, the "Julia Dean" the "S. Fosdick," which was named after one of the officials of the railroad company, and last but not least the "Hoosier, " whose whistle could be heard for miles. It used to be said that when Mark Smith, the engineer of the Iloosier, would make that whistle do its best he could shake the beech nuts off the trees in the .woods along the road.

The first depot and passenger station of the Cincinnati & Chicago Air Line in Anderson stood at the north end of Main street, near the river. It was near this old station that the locomotive "Anderson" came to grief in the year 1860. While the engineer was eating a lunch in Dehority's restaurant opposite the depot, the boiler exploded with ter¬ rific force, throwing fragments in every direction. Fortunately no one was hurt, but the explosion ended the career of one of the favorite engines on the road.

Shortly after the close of the Civil war the Grand Rapids, Wabash & Cincinnati Railroad Company was organized and in 1869 made a prop¬ osition to the citizens of Anderson, Monroe and Van Buren township, of Madison county, that if certain aid was extended a road would be built from White Pigeon, Michigan, to Anderson. About the same time the Lafayette, Muncie & Bloomington Railroad Company made a similar proposition and at a special session on October 12, 1869, the county commissioners accepted a petition relating to the matter and ordered "that an election be held on Monday, November 15, 1869, for the pur¬ pose of taking a vote upon the question of appropriating $147,000, by Madison county, to aid in the construction of the roads above named."

At the election the proposition was carried by a substantial majority, the commissioners levied a tax in accordance with the vote, and prepara¬ tions were made to begin work on the roads. Before anything was done, however, a number of citizens of the county joined in bringing a suit to enjoin the collection of the tax and after several years of litigation the supreme court decided against the appropriation. The money already collected under the levy was returned to the taxpayers by the county treasurer.

Five years later, in 1874, the Cincinnati, Wabash & Michigan Rail¬ road Company - the successor of the Grand Rapids, Wabash & Cincin¬ nati - came forward with a proposition to complete the road to Ander¬ son, provided sufficient encouragement was offered. At the March term in 1874, the commissioners ordered an election in Anderson township for May 2nd (the first Saturday) for the purpose of taking a vote upon the question of donating $28,000 to aid in the construction of the road. At the same time elections were held in the townships of Monroe, Boone and Van Buren, the donations asked for in these townships being $24,000 in Monroe, $7,500 in Boone, and $8,000 in Van Buren. Monroe township voted in favor of the proposition, but in Van Buren it was defeated by a vote of 120 to 90. In Boone township the first returns indicated that the proposition had carried, but, upon complaint that a number of illegal votes had been cast, a recount was ordered and the donation was defeated. Another election was ordered to be held in Van Buren township on December 15, 1874, and as a special inducement to the voters it was "Provided that the said Cincinnati, Wabash & Mich- igan Railroad makes a station within one-fourth of a mile of Lot No. 1, in the town or village of Summitville, in said Van Buren township/' Again the proposition was defeated in that township, which reconsidered at a later date, however, and work was commenced upon the road be¬ tween'Wabash and Anderson. It was completed to the latter city in the spring of 1876, giving Anderson three railroad lines.

* It was the orginal intention of the railroad company to complete the road to Louisville, Kentucky, but after Anderson was reached nearly fifteen years elapsed before anything was done toward the building of the southern extension. Work on that portion of the road was begun in 1890 and was pushed with such despatch that in May, 1891, the com¬ pany published the announcement that the road was open for business from Benton Harbor, Michigan, to Louisville, Kentucky. From North Vernon, Indiana, this road uses the tracks of the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern to Louisville. Soon after the line was finished it passed to the control of the Big Four Railroad System and is now known as,the Michigan division of the Big Four. Over thirty miles of the main track are in Madison county and the stations in the county are Summitville, Alexandria, Lin wood, Anderson, Alliance, Emporia and Markleville. The first station in Anderson erected by this company stood on the east side of the track between Fifth and Sixth streets. It was destroyed by fire and was never rebuilt, the road having in the meantime been taken over by the Big Four.

The history of the Lafayette, Muncie & Bloomington Railroad is not materially different from that of the Cincinnati, Wabash & Michigan. After several futile efforts, aid was finally extended to the company and the road was completed through Madison county in 1875-76. Soon after it went into operation it became a part of the Lake Erie & Western Rail¬ road System, of which Calvin S. Brice, of Ohio, was then president. Mr. Brice was a good financier, understood railroad building, was ambi¬ tious and anxious to build up a great system of transportation. A good story is told of a bout between him and the late Commodore Vanderbilt, and while it is not directly connected with Madison county history it shows the character of the man who at one time dominated one of the county's leading lines of railway. Brice and his coterie built a line of railroad through northern Indiana to parallel the Lake Shore & Michi¬ gan Southern, which was controlled by the Vanderbilt interests. After the road was finished it was offered to Vanderbilt, in order that he might prevent competition. When the price was named it seemed to the great railroad king to be prohibitive and he replied: "Why, Brice, I wouldn't pay that for your old road if it was nickel plated." Notwithstanding this positive refusal, Brice soon made competition- so keen that the old commodore w r as glad to purchase the road at the figure named. It was in this way that the "Nickel Plate" got its name. After Mr. Brice's death the Lake Erie & Western became a part of the New York Central System.

A little over fifteen miles of the main track of this road is in Madison county. The line crosses the eastern boundary about ten miles south of the northeast corner and runs west through Alexandria, Orestes, Dundee and Elwood into Tipton county.

The last railroad to be constructed through Madison county, even though it be considered of less importance than the others, has a more tumultuous history than any of them. In the spring of 1871 seven men met in Lebanon, Indiana, and started a movement for the construction of the Anderson, Lebanon & St. Louis Railroad. At the September term of the commissioners' court of Madison county, Colonel Thomas N. Stil¬ well, the president of the company, came forward with a petition signed by many prominent citizens and taxpayers of the county, asking the board to order an election in Anderson township for October 21, 1871, for the purpose of allowing the voters an opportunity to express their view r s upon the question of appropriating money to aid in the construc¬ tion of the road. At the same session a petition w r as also presented to the board by the people of Stony Creek township, asking that an elec¬ tion be held in that township to vote on the proposition of levying a tax of 20 per cent on the property of the township for the benefit of the enterprise. Both elections were held on the same day and in each town¬ ship a majority of the voters expressed themselves as being in favor of extending the assistance asked for, though many of the citizens after¬ ward refused to pay the tax.

This refusal embarrassed the railroad company and meetings were held at various points along the line of the proposed road to arouse in¬ terest and secure individual subscriptions. Stock w r as also sold at $50 a share and some money was realized by this method. On April 17, 1873, the first shovelful of earth was cast at Anderson by President Stilwell and the construction of the Anderson, Lebanon & St. Louis Railroad was begun. Work proceeded slowly and it was not until December 11, 1875, that the first spike was driven at Anderson at 2:30 p. m. President Zion, who had succeeded Colonel Stilwell, made a speech congratulating the people upon the prospects of a speedy com¬ pletion of the road. Mayor Brow r n made a brief response to Mr. Zion's address, after which the first rail was laid in place and Mr. Zion drove the first spike, remarking at the time that it gave him intense pleasure.

At the time the road w r as commenced the country w T as in the throes of the hard times resulting from the panic of 1873, and nearly tw ? o years passed between the time the first rail was laid at Anderson and the com¬ pletion of the road to Noblesville, about twenty miles west. Then the company advertised the "First Grand Sunday School Picnic and excur¬ sion from Noblesville to Anderson, over the Anderson, Lebanon & St. Louis Railroad, Thursday, June 14, 1877." In the meantime the road had been thrown into the hands of a receiver and w r as sold by the United States marshal at Indianapolis on April 10, 1877, wlien it was purchased by Thomas Platt, president of the American Express Com¬ pany, for $40,000. At that time the bonded indebtedness of the company was nearly $300,000, and preferred claims, receiver's certificates, etc., aggregated about $40,000 more.

Mr. Platt, soon after his purchase, turned the road over to Harry Crawford, of Chicago, who reorganized the company, changed the name of the road to the Cleveland, Indiana & St. Louis Railroad, and began the work of extending the line westward from Noblesville, the objective point being Paris, Illinois, wdiere connections could be made to St. Louis and other western cities. When Lebanon was reached there was another delay for want of ready money, but in course of time the track was com¬ pleted to Waveland, in the southwest corner of Montgomery county. From Waveland the trains of the new company used the tracks of the Vandalia to Sand Creek (twenty-two miles) and from Sand Creek the road was completed to Brazil, a distance of twelve miles. About the same time the road was extended eastward from Anderson to Muncie, the present eastern terminal.

For many years the old Anderson, Lebanon & St. Louis Railroad was a standing joke among the newspaper humorists of the state. It is now known as the Central Indiana, and since the failure of natural gas in the cities near its eastern terminus is earning dividends in the transporta¬ tion of coal to supply fuel to many of the factories established in that region during the period when natural gas was abundant.

Just before the receiver's sale of the road in April, 1877, the com¬ pany owned two locomotives, both of which were attached by the sheriff of Madison county and chained to the track to satisfy a judgment. The present company owns eleven locomotives and sufficient other rolling stock to handle the traffic. The only stations on this road in Madison county are Anderson and Lapel, though at one time Johnson's Crossing and Graber's Station were stopping points.

In 1892 the Anderson belt railroad was built by a number of local capitalists and manufacturers for the purpose of providing better ship¬ ping facilities for the various manufacturing concerns of the city. This road connects with each of the main lines and makes Anderson one of the best shipping points in the state.

An improvement of purely local interest, but one that might be classed as internal improvements, is the ditches that have been con¬ structed in the county for the purpose of reclaiming the swamp lands and bringing them under cultivation. The first drains in the county were constructed by voluntary associations formed by those whose inter¬ ests in the draining of a certain district were mutual. This method was found to be unsatisfactory, for the reason that it often happened some land owner, whose farm would be benefited by the ditch, would refuse to pay anything toward its construction, and there was no way by which he could be forced to pay a just share, in proportion to benefits received.

On March 10, 1873, Governor Hendricks approved an act providing for the organization of ditch associations, defining their duties and powers, etc. This law, while an improvement over the old voluntary association method, was unsatisfactory, as it provided no way to prevent any one opposed to the construction of a ditch from carrying out his opposition effectively and interposing an obstacle that could not be over¬ come by those in favor of it. A supplementary act gave the county com¬ missioners power to order the construction of a ditch, upon petition of a given number of those whose lands would be benefited thereby, and to levy assessments in proportion to the benefits derived. This system was better than any that had preceded it and many of the ditches in Madison county were constructed under its provisions. As mile after mile of drain was built, the objectors began to see the advantages arising from such a course and the opposition gradually became weaker, until today

By the act of April 8, 1881, the appointment of a drainage commis¬ sioner for each county was authorized, and provisions made for the hearing of petitions by the circuit court. This shortened the process somewhat, as in the former method, when the commissioners ordered a ditch, an appeal could be taken to the circuit court, thus delaying the construction of a needed improvement. By presenting the petition directly to the court the appeal and delay are forestalled. Recent legis¬ latures have passed numerous acts regarding the drainage and reclama¬ tion of swamp lands, and since the beginning of the present century many of the old ditches of Madison county have been reopened and new ones built, until at the present time it is estimated that there are eight hundred miles of main ditch in the county. The expense has been enor-

One internal improvement that has been an important factor in add¬ ing to the prestige of Madison county as a commercial and industrial center is the system of electric railways now operated by the Union Traction Company. The first dream of an interurban railroad in this section of the country originated in the mind of Samuel T. Bronnenberg, of Anderson, about 1890. At that time the industrial activity due to natural gas was at its height and Anderson and Alexandria were both spreading out over new territory. When the Anderson street car lines were extended across the river to North Anderson, Mr. Bronnenberg conceived the idea of connecting the two cities with a line of electric railway. His idea was to secure a strip of land four hundred feet in width, extending from Anderson to Alexandria, through the center of which was to be a boulevard one hundred feet in width, over which the railway would run. On either side the lands were to be beautified and divided into residence lots, making an ideal suburban locality. He obtained the greater portion of the right of way and had interested some outside capital in the project, when the hard times of 1893 set in, which put an end to the undertaking.

About this time Noah Clodfelter, -of Crawfordsville, Indiana, began the construction of an electric line from Marion to Indianapolis. A con¬ siderable portion of the road bed was graded and power houses built along the line, when the enterprise was overtaken by financial disaster and abandoned.

Charles L. Henry, one of the large stockholders in the Anderson Street Railway Company, then undertook the construction of a line from Anderson to Alexandria. This was the beginning of the Union Traction Company, which was incorporated on Septembr 3, 1897, by Charles L. Henry, Philip Matter, John L. Forkner, Ellis C. Carpenter and James A. Van Osdol. The line running from Anderson to Alex¬ andria was continued north to Summitville; a line was built from Alexandria to Elwood; the street railway properties in Anderson and Elwood were purchased by the company, and a little later the Marion street railway property was purchased, including an interurban line from Marion to Summitville. On June 27, 1899, the company, with all its holdings, was consolidated with the Muncie, Anderson & Indianap¬ olis Street Railroad Company, which owned the local street railway lines in Muncie and the right of way for an electric line from Muncie to Indianapolis.

The corporation formed by that consolidation took the name of the Union Traction Company of Indiana. The line from Muncie to Indi¬ anapolis, via Anderson, was constructed, and since then the company has acquired, by construction, consolidation and leases, enough lines to bring the total up to 370 miles of interurban railway, connecting the leading cities of what was formerly the gas belt with the city of Indianapolis, and fifty miles of city railway in the various cities where the company operates. Lines radiating from Indianapolis run to Ander¬ son, Muncie, Winchester, Union City, Hartford City, Bluffton, Elwood, Alexandria, Marion, Wabash, Peru, Logansport, Kokomo, Tipton, Noblesville and Newcastle, and the intervening towns and villages.

The principal offices of the company, as well as the main power gen¬ erating plant and car shops, are located in Anderson, where, according to the last report of the state bureau of inspection, 210 people are em¬ ployed in various capacities connected with the company. The principal officers of the company are as follows: Arthur W. Brady, president; William II. Forse, secretary and treasurer; H. A. Nicholl, general manager; Walter Shroyer, auditor; J. A. Van Osdol, general attorney; C. A. Baldwin, superintendent of transportation; F. D. Norviel, general passenger and freight agent. The company has recently purchased ground at the corner of Twelfth and Meridian streets, in the city of Anderson, where it is intended to erect a new passenger and freight station in the near future.