Buchanan County, Missouri - Chapter 10: Railroads, 1881

Chapter 10: Railroads

The people of St. Joseph early awoke to a sense of the importance and necessity of railroad communication with the east. About the first reference to this matter we find in the Gazette of Friday, November 6th, 1846.

"Our country is destined to suffer much and is now suffering from the difficulty of navigation and the extremely high 'rates the boats now charge. Our farmers may calculate that they will get much less for produce and will be compelled to pay much more for their goods than heretofore, and this will certainly always be the case when the Missouri River shall be as low as it now is. The chances are fearfully against having any considerable work bestowed in improving the river, and until it is improved by artificial means, the navigation of it to this point must always be dangerous and very uncertain.

The prospects for this fall and winter are well calculated to make the people look about to see if there is no way to remedy this inconvenience, if there can be any plan suggested whereby our people can be placed more nearly upon terms of equality with the good citizens of other parts of our land.

We suggest the propriety of a railroad from St. Joseph to some point on the Mississippi, either St. Louis, Hannibal or Quincy. For ourselves, we like the idea of a railroad to one of the latter places suggested, for this course would place us nearer to the Eastern cities, and make our road thither a direct one ; we like this road, too, because it would so much relieve the intermediate country which is. now suffering and must always suffer so much for transporting facilities in the absence of such an enterprise.

If this be the favorite route we must expect opposition from the southern portion of the state, as well as all the river counties below this. For the present we mean merely to throw out the suggestion with the view of awaking public opinion, and eliciting a discussion of the subject. In some future number we propose presenting more advantages of such a road, arid will likewise propose and enforce by argument the ways and means of accomplishing the object."

The suggestions thus offered of the necessity of a railroad seemed to have been universally popular, and through the vigorous action of the friends of the enterprise, we find, thus early, a charter granted by the Legislature, as follows :

Company

Section i. That Joseph Robidoux, John Corby and Robert J. Boyd, of St. Joseph, in Buchanan County ; Samuel J. Harrison, Zachariah G. Draper and Erasmus M. Moffett, of the City of Hannibal ; Alexander McMurtry, of Shelby County ; George A. Shortridge and Thomas Sharp, of Macon County; Wesley Halliburton, of Linn County; John Graves, of Livingston County; Robert Wilson, of Daviess County ; and George W. Smith, of Caldwell County ; and all such persons as may hereafter become stockholders in the said company, shall be and they are hereby created a body corporate and politic in fact, and in name, by the name and style of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad Company, and the same title, the stockholders shall be in perpetual succession, and be able to sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded in all courts of record and elsewhere, and to purchase, receive, have, hold, and enjoy to them and their successors lands, tenements and hereditaments, goods, chattels, and all estates, real, personal and mixed of what kind or quality soever, and the same from time to time, to sell, mortgage, grant, alien and convey, and to make dividends of such portion of the profits as they may deem proper, and also to make and have a common seal, and the same to alter or renew at pleasure, and also to ordain, establish and put in execution such by-laws, ordinances and regulations as shall appear necessary and convenient for the government of such corporation, and not being contrary or repugnant to the Constitution and laws of the United States, or of the State of Missouri, and generally to do all and singular the matters and things, which to them it shall lawfully appertain to do for the well being of th^ said corporation and the due management and ordering of the affairs of the same: Provided, always, that it shall not be lawful for the said corporation to deal, or use, or employ any part of the stock, funds or money, in buying or selling any wares or merchandise in the way of traffic, or in banking or broking operations.

Sec. 2. That the capital stock of said corporation shall be two millions of dollars, divided into twenty thousand shares of one hundred dollars each, and it shall be lawful for said corporation, when and so soon as in the opinion of the individuals named in the foregoing section a sufficient amount of stock shall have been taken for that purpose, to commence and carry on their said proper business and railroad operations under the privileges and conditions herein granted.

Sec. 3. That the said company are hereby authorized and empowered to cause books for the subscription stock to be opened at such times and places as they may deem most conducive to the attainment of the stock required.

Sec. 4. The said company [shall] have power to view, lay out and construct a railroad from St. Joseph's, in Buchanan County, to Palmyra, in Marion County, and thence to Hannibal, in said county of Marion, and shall, in all things, be subject to the same restrictions and entitled to all the privileges, rights, and immunities which were granted to the Louisiana and Columbia Railroad Company, by an act entitled "An act to incorporate the Louisiana and Columbia Railroad Company," passed at the session of the General Assembly in 1836 and '37, and approved January 27th, 1837, so far as the same are applicable to the company hereby created, as fully and completely as if the same were herein enacted.

Sec. 5. Nothing in this act, nor in that to which it refers, shall be construed so as to allow said company to hold or purchase any more real estate than may be necessary and proper for the use of the road and the business transacted thereon.

Proceedings Of The Railroad Convention

Delegates from various counties of North Miss6uri assembled at Chillicothe, Missouri, on the 2d day of June, 1847, according to previous notice. The Convention was organized in the Court House at 1 1 o'clock, by calling Judge A. A. King, of Ray County, to the chair, and electing Dr. John Craven, of Davies County, and Alexander McMurtry, of Shelby County, Vice Presidents, and H. D. LaCossit, of Marion County, and Charles J. Hughes, of Caldwell County, Secretaries.

It was moved that the delegates in attendance report themselves to the Secretaries, whereupon the following gentlemen gave in their names and took their seats :

B. F. Loan and Lawrence Archer, from Buchanan County ; Absolom Kernes, from DeKalb ; Robert Wilson, John B. Conner, Volney E. Bragg, William Penniston, James Turley, Thomas T. Frame, Jacob S. Rogers, M. F. Greene, John Mann, Woody Manson and John Craven, from Davies County ; George Smith, Patrick Smith, Jesse Baxter, A. B. Davis and C. J. Hughes, from Caldwell County; A. A. King,* from Ray County; John Graven, Thomas B. Bryan, Elisha Manford, John Harper, F. Preston, F. L. Willard, John L. Johnson, S. Munser, John Bryan, B. F. Tarr, Thomas Jennings, William Hudgens, William Hicklin, William L. Black, James H. Darlington, Robert Mitchell, John Austin, James Austin and F. Preston, from Livingston County ; Dr. Livingston, from Grundy County ; W. B. Woodruff, James C. Moore, James Lintell, John J.' Flora, Jeremiah Philips and W. Halliburton, Linn County ; George

* Austin A. King, who presided over this Convention, was Judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit, of which Ray County was a part, from 1837 to 1848, when he was elected Governor of Missouri.

Shortridge, A. L. Gilstrap and Benjamin Sharp, from Macon County; Alexander McMurtry, from Shelby County ; Z. G. Draper, James Waugh, Henry Collins, H. D. Cossitt and William P. Samuel, from Marion County.

On motion of Col. Peniston, it was resolved that a committee, consisting of one member from each county represented in this convention, be appointed for the purpose of reporting upon what subjects this convention shall act. The President appointed Robert Wilson, L. Archer, A. Karns, G. Smith, F. L. Willard, Dr. Livingston, W. B. Woodruff, Geo. Shortridge, and Z. G. Draper.

On motion, it was resolved that a committee, consisting of one member from each county here represented, be appointed to report a basis upon which to vote in this convention. The President appointed A. L. Gilstrap, B. F. Loan, Wm. P. Peniston, Thos. Butts, Thos. R. Bryan, Dr. Livingston, W. Halliburton and JameS Waugh.

George Smith, of Caldwell, presented the following propositions for the consideration of the convention, and moved to lay the same upon the table, which was done :

Resolved, By the delegates (their representives) that we recommend the following as the best method to procure the means for the contruction of the same :

Second. That Congress be petitioned for a grant of alternate sections and parts of sections of all vacant lands ten miles on each side of said road, when located.

Third. That the company procure a subscription to the stock by Eastern capitalists, and, should the foregoing means prove inadequate,- we then recommend that the Legislature pass an act authorizing the company to issue bonds, to be indorsed by the Governor or Secretary of State, for the residue ; the company to give a mortgage on the whole work to the state, for the liquidation of said bonds.

At the opening of the afternoon session, it was resolved that the rules for the government of the House of Representatives, of Missouri, be adopted for the government of this convention.

A report was adopted, by which the basis of voting in the convention was fixed as follows : that each county represented in the convention be entitled to one vote for every one hundred votes therein, by which rule the County of Marion was allowed 15 votes; Shelby, 7; Macon, 9; Linn, 7; Livingston, 8; Grundy, 6; Davis, 9; Caldwell, 4; Ray, 15 ; DeKalb, 3 ; and Buchanan, 22.

History Op St. Joseph

1. To appoint a committee of three members to draft an address in the name of this convention, to the people of Western Missouri, setting forth the advantages to be derived from the contemplated railroad from St. Joseph to Hannibal.

2. To appoint a committee of three, whose duty it shall be to petition the Legislature of Missouri for such aid in the undertaking as can be afforded consistently with the rights of other sections of the state.

3. To appoint a committee of three to petition Congress for a donation of alternate sections of lands, within six miles on each side of said road, when located.

4. To appoint a committee whose duty it shall be to superintend the publication and distribution of the proceedings of this convention, together with the charter of the road, and the address to the people of Northern Missouri.

The Convention then adjourned till the following morning, when on reassembling, the five above-mentioned resolutions ware unanimously adopted, with the . exception of the fifth, which was adopted, with an amendment, striking out all after the word President.

Among other resolutions offered at this session of the Convention, the following by Judge King, of Ray, was unanimously adopted by way of amendment to a similar one offered by Dr. Grundy, of Livingston :

Resolved, That whereas this Convention has adopted a resolution authorizing a memorial to Congress for donation of alternate sections of land to aid in the construction of the contemplated railroad, also authorizing a memorial to the Legislature for such aid in the undertaking as can be afforded consistently with the rights of other portions of the state, therefore, we, the delegates, pledge ourselves to support no man for Congress who will not pledge himself to the support of the proposition aforesaid, nor will we support any man for Governor, Lieutenant-Governor or member of the Legislature who will not pledge himself to give such aid in the construction of the said railroad consistent with the rights of other portions of the stat«, as contemplated by the resolution aforesaid.

Resolved, That the committee appointed to petition the Legislature be instructed to ask for an amendment to the fourth section of the act incorporating the Louisiana and Columbia Railroad Company, (being the law by which the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad Company are to be governed), so as to give the power to the President and directors of the last mentioned company, to call in an amount not exceeding ten per cent, every sixty days, and change the notice from sixty to thirty days.

Whereas, It is not only extremely important to the agricultural and commercial interests of the intermediate country, that a good wagon road be opened from St. Joseph to Hannibal, but the United States mail

S76 History Of St. Joseph

Whereas, It is of the utmost importance, as well to the whole intermediate country as to the two extremes that mail facilities be speedilyobtained in stages through said country. Therefore,

Resolved, by this Convention, That it be recommended to each county through which said road may pass, immediately to open, bridge, and put in good repair the said road, in order that mail stages may be immediately started, according to the act of Congress establishing said route.

Mr. Tarr, of Livingston, moved to reconsider the vote adopting the third proposition reported by the committee on business, which was agreed to.

Adding to third proposition by the committee on business, as follows, " Also to petition Congress that should any of the alternate sections on the road, or within six miles on either side thereof to be sold at any time subsequent to the i6th day of February, 1847, and before the action of Congress in relation to these lands, that other lands be granted as nearly contiguous as possible in lieu thereof"

Resolved, That the proceedings of this Convention be signed by the President, Vice Presidents and Secretaries, and that the President be requested to transmit a copy thereof to each of our representatives in Congress, requesting them to use their utmost endeavors to obtain from Congress the grant of land contemplated by the proceedings of this Convention."

On motion, it was resolved, that the thanks of the delegates and their constituents are due the officers of this convention for the able manner in which they have discharged their duties in this Convention.

The charter for the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was secured mainly by the exertions of Robert M. Stewart, afterwards Governor of the State, and, at the time of its issuance, a member of the State Senate, and of General James Craig, and Judge J. B. Gardenhire, who repre- sented Buchanan County in the Legislature. (General Craig was afterwards President of this road, with two brief intervals, for the period of eleven years, from 1861).

With all the enthusiasm on the part of the people, material aid was lacking, as it was not until 1852 that the building of the road became a definite fact. At that period, Hon. Willard P. Hall represented a district of Missouri in Congress, and was Chairman of the Committee of Public Lands. By his efforts the passage of a bill was secured granting six hundred thousand acres of land to the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad Company, and the success of that long cherished enterprise was finally assured. The preliminary survey had been made by Simeon Kemper and Colonel M. F. Tiernan, accompanied by Robert M. Stewart, whose ijjdefatigable efforts in behalf of the interests of the road, contributed as much if not more than those of any other man to their ultimate accomplishment. Stewart became afterwards the first President of the company. The building of the road commenced at the east end. About the spring of 1857, work was begun on the west end, and, by March of that year, the track extended out from St. Jc«eph a distance of seven miles. The fii:st fire under the first engine that started out of St. Joseph on the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, was kindled by M. Jeff. Thompson. This was several years before the arrival of the first through train in February, 1859. (Sometime in the early part of 1857).

The Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was completed February 13, 1859. On Monday, February 14, 1859, the first through passenger train ran out of St. Joseph. Of this train E. Sleppy, now (1881) Master Mechanic of the St. Joseph and Western machine shops, in Elwood, was engineer, and Benjamin H. Colt, conductor.

The first Master Mechanic of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad shops in St. Joseph, was C. F. Shivel. These shops were established in 1857. In the following year Mr. Shivel put up the first car ever built in the city.

On the 22d February, 1859, occurred in St. Joseph the celebration of the completion of the Hannibal and St. Joseph road. This: was, beyond doubt, the grandest display ever witnessed in the city, up to that period.

M.Jeff. Thompson, at that time Mayor of the city, presided over the ceremonies and festivities of this brilliant occasion. The city was wild with enthusiasm, and the most profuse and unbounded hospitality prevailed.

A grand banquet was held in the spacious apartments of the Odd Fellows' Hall, which then stood on the corner of Fifth and Felix Streets, Not less than six hundred invited guests were feasted here ; and it was

Broaddus Thompson, Esq., a brother of General M. Jeff. Thompson, made the grand speech of the occasion, and performed the ceremony of antiingling the waters of the two mighty streams thus linked by a double band of iron.

The completion of the road constitutes an era in the history of St. Joseph, and from that period dawned the light of a new prosperity. In the five succeeding years the population of the city was quadrupled, and her name heralded to the remotest East as the rising emporium of the West

In the summer of 1872, this road commenced the building of a branch southward from St. Joseph, twenty-one miles, to the City of Atchison. This was completed in October of the same year.

The St. Joseph And Western Railroad

This great thoroughfare, the first line built from St. Joseph westward, through Kansas and Nebraska, was chartered by the Territorial Legislature of Kansas, February 17, 1857, during the sessioh of 1856-57, under the name and style of "Marysville or Palmetto and Roseport Railroad Company." The first meeting of the incorporators of this road was held in the City of St. Joseph, February 26, 1857. On motion of Fred W. Smith, Colonel A. M. Mitchell was called to the chair and B. H. Matthews appointed secretary pro tern. On motion, five directors were appointed. These included Bela M. Hughes, A. M. Mitchell, R. Rose, W. F. Smith and Silas Woodson. The only further business transacted at this meeting was to open books for subscription to stock.

The next meeting occurred March 9, 1857, when A. M. Mitchell was unanimously elected President of the company. In the meantime, stock in the road to the amount of $100,000 had been subscribed.

July 12, 1859, ^ iicw Board of Directors was organized. These included Robert M. Stewart, Silas Woodson, S. Miller, F. J. Marshall, John H. Likens, Albert Lee, M. Jeff. Thompson, Fred. W- Smith and William Blair. Of this Board, M. Jeff. Thompson was elected President.

At a meeting of the stockholders, held April 17, 1862, the name, "Marysville or Palmetto and Roseport Railroad," was changed to " St. Joseph and Denver City Railroad," under an act of the Kansas Legislature of March, 1862.

Roseport was the name of a small town in Kansas, opposite St. Joseph. It was afterwards called Elwood. At present (188 1) it exists only in name, the town site having crumbled into the Missouri River, by the encroachments of that uncertain stream.

June 7> 1866, T. J. Chew was elected President of the St. Joseph and Denver City Railroad, and active labor on the same was resumed under the direction of John Severance, Chief Engineer.

October 15, 1867, General James Craig was unanimously elected President, which office he held till his resignation, May, 1868, when Silas Woodson was elected to fill his unexpired term.

At a regular meeting, held October 13, 1868, the City of St. Joseph,' by reason of owning stock to the amount of four hundred thousand dollars in the road, requested that General George Hall be elected President, which was according done.

October 11, 1870, thirteen directors were elected, with Dudley M. Steele, President ; Milton Tootle, Vice-President, and R. C. Bradshaw, Secretary.

At a meeting of the Board, held October i, 1879, the name of the road was a second time changed, and styled the St. Joseph and Western Railroad.

In the summer of 1879, an extension was built, under management of L. D. Tuthill and John Doniphan, a distance of twenty-five miles from Hastings, connecting it at Grand Island with the Union Pacific Railroad.

February 24, 1853, the Legislature of Missouri granted a charter for a road to extend from St. Joseph to Kansas City. This, under the name and style of the Platte County Railroad, was organized in 1857, by William Osborne. Davis Carpenter, M. Jeff. Thompson and others.

Under the auspices of this company, a line was surveyed from St. Joseph southward through DeKalb, in Buchanan County, Platte City and Parkville, in Platte County, to Kansas City.

The Legislature of 1856-57, granted aid to this road in the sum of $700,000. A subsequent act provided that none of the bonds of this road should be available till tRe year 1859. The charter also a,uthorized the extention of the road to the northern boundary of the state, under which provision it was completed to Savannah in i860, and graded to Forest City.

December 11, 1855, the Atchison and St. Joseph Railroad was incorporated. The articles of association provided that Benj. Stringfellow, John H. Stringfellow, Peter T. Abell, John Doniphan, Stephen Johnson, Elijah H. Norton, Harvey Collier, Robert W. Donnell, Reuben Middleton, Bela M. Hughes, James H. Lucas, John Simon, or any five of them, constitute the first Board of Directors.

In the summer of 1858, General Benjamin Stringfellow, Dr. J. H. Stringfellow, Peter T. Abell, Harvey Collier, Reuben Middleton, John Doniphan and Robert W. Donnell, met in St. Joseph, in the Methodist Church, which then stood on the northeast corner of Third and Felix Streets, the present (1881) site of the Bank of St.tjoseph, and there organized the company. At this meeting, Samuel C. Pomeroy, of Atchison, was elected a Director and President of the company. Charles West, of St. Joseph, was also at this meeting elected a director.

Stock was taken by the parties present, and in a short time after, the city of Atchison subscribed $100,000; Abell and Stringfellow, $10,000; John Doniphan, $1,600, and Samuel C. Pomeroy, $10,000. Other parties contributed liberally, swelling the aggregate of subscriptions over and above the city stock, to about $60,000.

Contracts for grading were immediately let along the entire line of the road, and work commenced at Winthrop, opposite Atchison. By July 1st, 1859, this grading was completed between St. Joseph and Winthrop, a distance of twenty miles.

In March, 1859, the Weston and Atchison Railroad Company was incorporated under the general laws of the state. The officers of this incorporation were John Doniphan, President ; James N. Burnes, Vice President ; Fielding H. Lewis, Secretary, and Daniel D. Burnes, Treasurer.

Private subscriptions were forthwith made to the road to the amount of $44,000, and the city of Weston issued her bonds tp the amount of $50,000 in aid of the building of the same.

Ground was broke at Weston in the presence of a vast concourse, of people, April 27, 1859. The occasion was one of singular rejoicing, and grand civic and military display, in which the cities of Atchison and Leavenworth, as well as other neighboring towns, also largely participated.

July 15, 1859, the Weston and Atchison and Atchison and St. Joseph Companies, finding that their means would be inadequate to accomplish more than the work of grading the road, for the purpose of an early completion of the same, made a contract with the Platte County Road by which they transferred to that corporation the road-bed, franchises and right of way from St. Joseph to Weston, which company was enabled on the work so done, during the year 1859, to draw most of the state aid, and in January i860, the road was completed and in operation from St. Joseph to Atchison.

Immediately the Weston and Atchison and the Atchison and St- Joseph Railroad Companies commenced suits for their road-bed, on the ground that the original contract was illegal.

The Legislature of 1867 released this road to Weston and Atchison and Atchison and St. Joseph Railroads, on condition of a re-organization of the same under the name and style of the Missouri Valley Railroad Company, and a completion of the road from Savannah, through Maryville, to the northern boundary of the state.

The road from Council Bluffs to Hamburg, Iowa, fifty-two miles in length, was built by Willis, Phelps & Co., and completed in 1867. It was styled the Council Bluffs and St. Joseph Railroad. Hon. James F.

Joy and his friends then came to the front, and built the road from St. Joseph to Hamburg, seventy-nine miles long, opening it for the traffic of 1868. This road was called the St. Joseph and Council Bluffs Railroad.

Next in order came the consolidation of the St. Joseph and Council Bluffs and the Council Bluffs and St. Joseph roads, in i868, under the corporation name of St. Joseph and Council Bluffs Railroad Company.

In 1870, the Missouri Valley Railroad and the St. Joseph and Council Bluffs Railroad were consolidated, bringing the entire line from Kansas City to Council Bluffs under one management. Out of this union was born the present (1881) Kansas City, St. Joseph and Council Bluffs Railroad.

We have referred to the completion of the Branch road from St. Joseph to the Iowa line, just beyond Hopkins. Shortly after this, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Company built a connecting branch, from Creston, Iowa, southward, to Hopkins, Missouri, thus affording unbroken communication between St. Joseph and Chicago.

February 8, 1871, the Legislature passed an act authorizing the consolidated roads to change the route from St. Joseph, via Jimtown, to Savannah, substituting a more direct course along the Missouri River bottom, via Amazonia ; which was accordingly done.

Davis Carpenter, when it was (in 1866) the Platte Country Railroad; Col. A. G. Gower, from 1866 to 1869 ; Maj. A. L. Hopkins (now of the Toledo, Wabash and Western) from 1869 to 1870; J. F. Barnard, from 1870 to the present time (1881).

was commenced in 1867, and completed in the winter of 1869-70, when it went into bankruptcy. Under a sale in the Bankrupt Court it was bought in by the bondholders, who leased it to the North Missouri Railroad Company. It is seventy-three miles in length, extending from St. Joseph, in a southeasterly direction, through Plattsburg, the seat of CHnton, and Richmond, of Ray County, and continuing on to a point on th6 Missouri River, opposite Lexington, crossing the main line of what is now (1881) the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railroad at R. & L. Junction.

The name of the trunk line with which it connects St. Joseph has been styled, at different periods, successively, the North Missouri, the St. Louis, Kansas City and Northern, and finally, the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific.

Missouri Pacific Railroad

This road was talked of as a probable enterprise as early as 1848. In 1850, it was commenced. On the ist day of November, 1855, it was completed to Jefferson City.

On that day, a fearful disaster befel : A train of fourteen cars, from St. Louis, laden with human freight, embarked for the purpose of celebrating or ©f taking part in the celebration of the completion of this road to the State Capital, were precipitated into the river by the falling of the Gasconade bridge. The loss of human life in this terrific wreck was appalling. Seventy-five persons were almost instantly ushered into eternity, and many others were seriously injured. The engineer who built the bridge was on board the train and escaped. Just about the beginning of the war the road was extended as far as Dresden, six miles west of Sedalia.

The succeeding four years, of course, put a stop to every such character of improvement, and work was not again resumed till the close of the civil war, when labor on the same was actively revived ; and, before the close of the year 1865, the Missouri Pacific had reached Kansas City. It was subsequently extended through Leavenworth City to Atchison.

About January, 1880, some citizens of St. Joseph offered Jay Gould $30,000 in consideration of his extending the Missouri Pacific, on the Kansas side of the river, to St. Joseph. This, Gould agreed to accept, and the money was raised and paid over. Considerable dissatisfaction, however, was expressed on the part of some who had contributed to this fund, when Mr. Gould leased the right of way, and brought his trains to St. Joseph over the Atchison branch of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad. The first train of the Missouri Pacific to reach St. Joseph arrived February 23, 1880.

The St. Joseph And Des Moines Railroad Company

was organized in 1877, with Colonel J. L. Motter as President. Under his able and judicious management, with the active co-operation of his' associates, arrangements were perfected, and on the 12th day of November, 1877, the contract for the grading was let. On the i8th of the same month the work was commenced, and by the ist of April, 1878, the first twenty miles of the road was graded and ready for the rails.

Track-laying was commenced June i, 1878, and completed by the 1st of October. The first engine was placed on the track on June 26th of the same year. This is a narrow gauge road, extending in a northerly direction, fifty miles, between St. Joseph and Albany, in Gentry County. The seven stations on the line of this road between the terminal points, are Riverton, the first town north of St. Joseph, Cosby, Helena, Union Star, King City, Ford, and Darlington. Some time during the year 1880, the St. Joseph and Des Moines Narrow Gauge passed under the control of the 'Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, that great corporation having purchased it with a view of making it one of its numerous branches, and thus reaching the metropolis of the northwest. The Grand River country, which it traverses, is one of the most splendidly productive sections in the West.

The following were the eight men who built and shared equally in the St. Joseph and DesMoiiies Narrow Gauge Railroad, till its sale to the C, B. & Q. R. R. : John L. Hotter, James H. Pickering, F. L. McLean, Wm. B. Johnson, Isaac T. Hosea, A. N. Schuster, R. L. McDonald and John B. Hundley.

The first officials of this road were : John L. Hotter, President and General Manager ; Jas. H. Pickering, Superintendent ; F. L. HcLean, General Freight and Ticket Agent ; \V. B. Johnson, Secretary and Treasurer.

Omnibus Company

In February, 1859, upon the opening of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, Hajor Holman and Samuel Jerome started the St. Joseph Omnibus Line. In the spring following, Hessrs. John L. Hotter and C. D. Smith brought out the line, and built omnibus stables near the Patee House. They continued to operate this line until Geo. W. McAleer came to St. Joseph, from Virginia, and bought out the interest of J. L. Motter. The business was conducted by these gentlemen for some time, when Col. J. L. Motter bought out C. D. Smith. Motter & McAleer ran the business in partnership for some time, when Col. Motter sold his interest to McAleer. The line subsequently became the property of William Medaugh, by whom it was sold, in 1867, to Major Thomas Christopher. The stock then consisted of five omnibuses, one carriage, four buggies and thirty-six horses. The price paid for the whole was $12,000. Smith Adams afterwards became a partner in the omnibus line with Major Christopher, they continuing in the business as equal partners till 1870, when they sold a one-third interest to A. Sidney Tebbs, Esq., of Platte County. The style of the firm at this time was Christopher & Co.

In the following year, the entire concern, business, stock, etc., excepting the barns and lots, which then stood on the corner of Eighth and Olive Streets, was sold to Captain J. A. Finer, present (1881) Mayor of St. Joseph. At the time of the sale, two-thirds were owned by Christopher and one-third by the heirs of A. Sidney Tebbs. The price paid hy Captain Finer was $17,000. The present firm is Finer & Co. The t Co. of the concern is T. A. Massey. In the fall of 1880, they built, on the corner of Eighth and Mary Streets, a spacious brick stable, at a cost of $5,500. The present equipment of the company consists of six omnibuses, four transfer wagons, one elegant mail w agon, and forty horses.

The Citizens Railway Company

built their line, in 1866, from Market Square to the corner of Mitchell Avenue and Eleventh Street. In 188 1, this line was extended southward to the Exposition Grounds, making its entire length three miles.

The officers of this road in 1866 still (1881) continue in the same respective positions : R. E. Turner, President, and T.. J. Chew, Secretary and Treasurer ; T. J. Chew, A. Kirkpatrick and John S. Lemon compose the Executive Committee.

The Union Railway Company

in July, 1876, completed their line of street railroad from Market Square northward to New Ulm Brewery, a distance of two and a half miles. In April, 1 88 1, an extension from Market Square southward was completed to the machine shops of the Kansas City, St. Joseph and Council Bluffs Railroad, making the entire length of the line several hundred feet over five miles. The present (1881) officers of the road are : J. E. Cox, Superintendent ; Seympur Jenkins, President, and Thos. Steinacker, Secretary and Treasurer. In 1878, track and rolling stock were moved from Leavenworth City to St. Joseph, and the former laid down from near Fifth, on Edmond Street, to Eighth and Felix, thence up Frederick Avenue. It was afterwards extended to the common street car line center, on Market Square. It now (1881) extends between that point and Twentieth Street, a distance of over one and a half miles. Thos. Tootle is President of the company. The stables are on Frederick Avenue, corner Twentieth Street.

The St. Joseph Herdic Coach Company

was established July 15, 1881, and went immediately into operation. The officers of the company are : Dr. John T. Berghoff, President ; JA. Corby, Secretary ; E. F. Mitchell, Superintendent. It is supplied with eight coaches and fifty-six horses. The first line runs fi-om Market Square east to Ninth Street, on Felix ; north to Francis, then east to Thirteenth ; thence south, to Sylvanie ; thence east, to Fifteenth Street ; then north, to Edmond ; then east, to Seventeenth ; then north, to Francis, and east, to Twentieth Street. The second line runs on Sixth to Hall, thence to Ninth, thence to Powell, and from Powell to Mount Mora Cemetery.