Linn County, Missouri - Chapter 12: The Iron Horse, and What It Cost Linn County, 1882

Chapter 12: The Iron Horse, and What It Cost Linn County

Opening Chorus - The Hannibal ((- St. Joseph Railroad Company - Donations - Subscription of $25,000 and its Forfeiture - 1>9, 470 Acres of Linn County Land Given to the Hannibal (f- St. Joseph Railroad - About M'hat the Ro<(d Cost to Linn County - The Missouri Central, The North Missouri Central and Several Other Changes of Name too Numerous to Mention - Taxation and Assessed Valuation - Subscription to the Central Missouri Branch of the loiva d- St. Joseph Railroad - The Histon/ of This Branch, Bonds Voted, etc., from Alpha to Omega.

The railroad history of Missouri is in uiany respects a fearful one, and the records of her courts show that her people, though badly swindled and victimized, have not altogether given np their hard-earned property without a struggle. There was hardly a railroad in the early history of their building in this State that did not in every way possible seek to make the people, either by fair means or foul, pay from one-half to two thirds the cost of building the roads. To be sure blocks of stocK were given them, to be frozen out by first mortgage bonds, and all this was asked for and given when Congress or the State had donated enough lands to build and equip the road. Take the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, for instance. That company built twenty-seven and one-half miles of railroad in Linn county. Now, what has this county done for them? Perhaps not much directly but a great deal indirectly.

Money Wanted

The first we hear of this company was in 184:9, and of course, when it was heard of, they wanted Linn county to give them a little money. Therefore the County Court obligingly donated the company $200 to help pay their surveying expenses in Linn county. This donation was made October 10, 1849, and the money paid on December 17th, 1849.

The next appearance of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad CDmpany in Linn county was in the spring of 1851. As usual, a little donation was asked for, and again did the County Court meet their impecunious desire by a contribution of $500 tor the purpose of locating the road through the county. Stock to the amount of $25,000 was subscribed later at an election ordered, aud the desire was to have the road pass through Linneus.

To etlect this it was necessary to have an agent to look after the location of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad tract through Linn county, therefore the County Court at its adjourned term, July 5, 1858, made the following order; to-wit.

"It is ordered by the court here, tliat A. W". Flournoy be appointed agent for Linn cunnty to confer with the board of directors for the Hannibal & St. Josej^h liailroad Company, concerning the location of said road, and if said location should be made through the town of Linneus, then said Flournoy, for and in behalf of said county of Linn, shall renew the subscription of $25,000 heretofure made to said road, and in the same behalf to subscribe $30,000 in addition thereto, to be paid to said company from the proceeds of the sale of the swamp and overflowed lands belonging to said county, and in the event that said location shall not be made as above specified, to notify the board of directors of said road of the withdrawal of the whole amount heretofore subscribed.''

On November 5th, 1855, at the November term of the County Court the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Coinpany made application for the right of way through Linn county. This was granted by the court in the words and manner following:

" On the application of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company, by Edward B. Talcott, agent, it is ordered by the court here as follows: That as the above named company have filed in tiie ofiice of the Circuit Court a plat of said railroad, and the manner in which it is proposed that the same shall pass along and across State and county roads and streams, in this the connty of Linn, and as this court is satisfied that no great injury will be done to the public by the use sought to be made of said county and State roads and streams; now the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company are fully authorized and empowered to build and construct said railroad on or along or across any of the State and county roads and streams within the limits of this connty so far as the same may be necessary and desirable. It is provided, however, that said company in using said State and county roads and streams, as above allowed, shall in all things conform to the law of their incorporation, and all other laws of this State in regard to such matters."

As will be seen, Linn county never subscribed any funds for railroad purposes as a county, and the question was asked a few years since, why should she? Railroads have cost Linn county, in one wa}' and another, over $1,000,000, and if her people have not subscribed stock, to be given away a few years later, she has done her part, and the railroad companies have no cause to complain, esp>ecially the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad. That road received in its land grant no less than 09,470 acres of Linn county land, and for years paid no taxes, and with what has been foolishly voted by townships to another road, certainly Linn has done her share to build np powerful corporations which use their immense power and resources, not for the benefit of Linn county, but for the enriching of their own coffers.

Kow there is no question but what railroads are a great beiietit to the State and county in whicli they are located; so are mannfacturing estabh'shments and other projects of enterprise, but they are private corj)orations, and no matter it' the people i^ave them the road ready equipped for service or use, they, the corporations, would manage it for their own especial use and benefit. This wou'd not be complained of, for it is to be expected, but what caused the people of Missouri to curse railroad corporations has been that want of gratitude for favors conferred, and the use of their power to oppress, by extortion and other means in their power, the very people who had given them the means and the power to do so. It has cost the railroad company millions of dollars by tin's system of extortion and monopoly, and the loss came to them because they vainlj' imagined in their arrogance that they were stronger .than the people. I^ot only had the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company millionsofacresof land given them, the value of which fully built and equipped their road for them, thus giving them a property worth millions of dollars, but when they once got it in their possession, wished to avoid what every farmer and laboring man had to pay, taxes. Not satisfied with the gift of millions, they declined and refused until forced to pay the simple taxes upon a 2>roperty which cost them nothing. If ingratitude can go further, it has not yet been recorded in historj'. It is not of one road, but it is the history of nine tenths of those built in Missouri. Thus it is that by this want of appreciation of the favors conferred, the railroad companies of the State, with but few exceptions, are looked upon as a robber horde, and the name in many instances is appropriate.

Increase Of Valuation

A strong belief, which kept growing, was that the railroad companies of the State, by avoiding taxation in some instances, and by under valuation in others, have escaped paying their just dues to the State, and this belief proved to have been well founded. Some action had been taken by the State authorities upon the subject and the savans of the legislative halls passed an act giving the County Courts of the respective counties of the State the power to increase the assessed valuation of railroad property', and of lands owned by railroads in the several counties. In regard to ownership of land the Hannibal & St. Joseph liailroad was the only company in the State owning land in Linn county, and in 1865 the County Court of this county placed all the lands belonging to the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company at the valuation of four dollars per acre lying in townships fiftyseven and fifty-eight. As this land was held by the railroad company at from five to fifteen dollars per acre, being contiguous to their road, the valuation was not hisrh.

Taxation

In tlie matter of assessing railroad property the assessment in Linn county was too high. Tlie year the assessed valuation of the Ilannibgl & St. Joseph Railroad was placed at $1,080,000; at the same time the Burlington & Southwestern at $255,000, and the St. Louis & Omaha at $45,000. The first had twenty-seven and a half miles of road, Ihe second eighteen and a half miles and the last three miles. A light against paying taxes was made by all three of the roads, and a compromise was not effected until 1876 and 1877, and up to this January thei-e is still a portion to be settled. In 1875 the assessment was reduced in the order above named, to $814,319.95, $150,000, and $25,000. Its present assessed valuation (1882) is at the rate of $9,000 a mile for the Hannibal & St. Joseph, $3,500 for the Burlington & Southwestern, and $5,000 for the St. Louis & Omaha.

Burlington & Southwestern

The inception of this road dates back to the twenty-second day of January, 1868. Two companies were organized to build a railroad from Linnens to Stanley, a point on the Brunswick & Chillicothe road, the latter then in course of construction. The companies were named, respectively, the Missouri Central Railroad Company and the North Missouri Central Railroad Company, the former to build south from Laclede to a junction with the Brunswick road, and the latter south from Linneus to connect with the other at Laclede. The Missouri Central Company was organized first, and seeking aid had protnised to build to Linneus, but insisted upon using all the subscription on that part of the road south of Laclede. This wasn't just what the Linneus people wanted. They insisted that the work should first commence at Linneus, or if not, if at Laclede, the money must be used upon work north as well as south of that town in equal proportions. Laclede would not consent to this and so the North Missouri Central Company was organized.

This last company proposed to strike. southwest from Linneus, leaving Laclede entirely out of their programme, and make their connecting point at Fountain Grove, in the southwest corner of the county. Had this programme been followed out it would have been better for Linneus, or if they had made their connection on the Livingston county line west of Meadville, on the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, it would have been still better.

This move brought the Missouri Central Company to terms, and on the fourteenth day of October, 1868, they entered into a contract first to bind themselves each to build certain portions of the road, - the North Missouri Central to commence at Linneus and prepare the road-bed for the iron to Laclede and the Missouri Central from Laclede, south to the junction with the Brunswick road above mentioned, and when both portions were com pleted then the two companies to be consolidated. They went to work under this contract and expended all the money they could get, and then came to a halt, the work being susjjended over the entire line. There was a further contract between these companies, made on the ninth day of the following June. The first contract was signed on the part of the North Missouri Central Company by Ambrose D. Christy, president, and on the part of the Missouri Central Company by I. V. Pratt, president. The second contract was signed by the above named for the Missouri Central Company and by George W. Stephens on the part of the North Missouri Central Company, the last contract being an agreement on the part of the latter company to build the road of the former. In fact, Linneus was ahead.

The Next Move

The road having come to a stand still on account of funds, there was nothing besides talk and keeping the organization intact until 1871, B. F. Northcott, the then president of the North Missouri Central Company concluded to make an effort to resurrect the dead, and the North Missouri Central Road became a branch of the St. Joseph & Iowa Railroad Company, headquarters at St. Joseph. The object was to get a northern outlet to reach Burlington and Chicago, and if possible get some of the northern companies'to take hold and equip the road if it was a success in preparing the road-bed.

At a regular meeting of the executive committee duly appointed by the board of directors of said company, and authorized to act in these premises, this day held, there were present John Severance, William M. Albin, James A. Matney, and Jefferson Chandler, constituting a quorum of said committee. The following action was had:

Whereas, The St. Joseph & Iowa Railroad Company have undertaken the construction of a branch railroad, under tiie name of the Central North Missouri Branch of the St. Joseph & Iowa Railroad; therefore.

Resolved^ That B. F. Northcott, Joseph Combs, and Marion Cave be and are hereby authorized to act as agents to receive the donations, and for the procuring and receiving of subscriptions to stock to aid in construction, and to act for said branch until the subscribers to stock in the same shall otherwise instruct, and the form herein underwritten shall be sufficient subscription to such stock, and shall be binding on such company when ratified by said company. We, the undersigned, agree to take the number of shares of the capital stock set opposite our names, respectively, in the name of the Central North Missouri Branch of the St. Joseph & Iowa

Kailroad for the purpose of aiding in the construction of said braiicli, and do promise to pay to the St. Joseph & Iowa Railroad Company one hundred dollars for each of said shares. Said money to be applied to the construction of said branch, and to be for its exclusive use and benefit.

2d, Resolved^ That the president of this company be and is hereby directed to furnish to sai<l agents a certified copy of the foregoing preamble and resolutions.

I, John Severance, president of the said committee and president of the St. Joseph & Iowa Railroad Company, do hereby certify that the above and foregoing preamble and resolutions are a true and perfect copy of the records of the said company, relating to the action of said committee in the appointment of said agents.

In testimony ivhereof^ I have hereunto subscribed my name [l. s.] and caused the seal of our said company to be aflSxed at our office, in the city of St Joseph, the day and date herein above written. John Severance,

At the time of the appointment of the above agents the St. Joseph & Iowa Railroad Company did net boast of a seal, and Mr. Northcott had one made and presented it to the company, and the first use of it was to stamp the above instrument. The arrangement somewhat upset the calculations of the Missouri Central Railroad Company, but they thought they saw a prospect of getting their road built south of Laclede, and so, on the thirtyfirst day of Ma}', 1871, they deeded all their rights, privileges, and franchise to the Central Branch of the St. Joseph & Iowa Railroad Company, with adequate provisions, it would seem, for the completion of tiieir part of the road, yet eleven years after the road south of Laclede ]-emains unbuilt, with, however, some hopes of an early start in that direction at this time.

In the meantime township subscription had been solicited and voted, and strong efforts made to have the road built from the connection with the St. Joseph & Iowa Railroad Company's main line down to a junction, at Laclede, with the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad. Sullivan county voted $200,000, and Putnam $150,000, and there was every probability of means being raised to carry through the work. The St. Joseph & Iowa, and those connected, at last turned over all the matter to a compan}' called the Burlington & Southwestern, supposed to have had the Chicago, Burlington &

-Quincy Company at its back, but, if so, they, the latter company, have been so busy witli their western extension as to leave this road to go on the best it could.

Order For Election

The first move in this direction which is found of record, are the following -orders, made at the May term of the county court, May 19, 1868. Tliey are as follows:

" Ordered by the court that an election be held in Locust Creek township, on the thirtieth day of May, 1808, to determine if a subscription of. $4,000 shall be made l>y said township to the gapital stock of the North Missouri Railroad Company, and that bonds be issued for that sum to run for the period of twenty years, bearing interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum, payable yearly, and one-tenth of the principal to become due -and payable eleven years after the issue thereof, and one -tenth of said principal to become due and payable each year thereafter till the whole amount of principal and interest is paid.

"Ordered by the court that an election be held in Parson Creek township on the sixth day of June, 1868, to determine if a subscription of $2,000 shall be made by said township to the capital stock of the North Missouri Railroad Company, and that bonds be issued for that sum to run for the period of tweuty years, bearing interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum, payable yearly, and one-tenth part of the principal to become due and payable eleven years after the issue thereof, and one-tenth of said principal to become du6 and payable each year thereafter till the whole amount of principal and interest is paid.

" Ordered by the court thatau election be held in Jefferson township on the day of June, 1868, to determine if a subscription of $30,000 shall be voted by said township to the capital stock of the Missouri Central Railroad Com})any, proposing to build a road through said township, and that bonds be issued for that sum to run for the period of twenty years, bearing interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum, payable yearly, one-tenth part of ])rincipal to become due and payable eleven years after the issuing -of said bonds, and one-tenth become due and payable each year thereafter till the whole amount of principal and interest is paid."'

There was no record of any election in Parson Creek township at the time set, June 6, 1868, but the one for Locust Creek township came off on May 30th, as per order, and resulted in the carrying of the subscription. The order calling for an election distinctly puts down the sum of $4,000 in Jigures as here shown, but the following, announcing the result, places the amount at forty thousand dollars, and it is so expressed and is probably correct. The order reads: the voters of Locust Creek township on the thirtieth day of May, 1868, not less than two-thirds of the qualified voters of said township voting at said election, voting tliat a subscrii)tion of forty thousand dollars should be made by said township to the capital stock of the North Missouri Central Railroad Company, that bonds be issued for that sum to run for the period of twenty years, bearing interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum, payable yearly, and one-tenth part of the principal to become due and payable eleven years after date of the issue thereof, and one-tenth to become due and payable each year thereafter till the whole amount of the principal and interest is paid.

" It is therefore ordered by the court that said township subscribe, and that the court does hereby subscribe in behalf of said township, the said sum of forty thousand dollars according to the terms and conditions aforesaid."

The above order was made June 2, 1868, but there is found at the July term of said court, held July 20, a revocation, and in regard to the Jefferson township subscription, a flat refusal to subscribe. The why and the wherefore of this action may be given hereafter.

Refusal And Revocation

"It is ordered by the court that the court do refuse to make a subscription in behalf of Jefferson township, to the capital stock of the North Missouri Central Railroad Company."

" Ordered by the court that the order for the subscription of forty thousand dollars by Locust Creek township, to the North Missouri Central Railroad Company, made on the second day of June, 1868, be and the same is hereby revoked. And it is further ordered that the court do refuse to issue bonds in behalf of said township for the benefit of said railroad c< mpany."

The following order, it seems, should have a])peared of record, previous to the refusal of the County Court to subscribe, but it did not, and is entered in the County Court record at the August term following, which was the third day of said month.

Order Of Subscription

"Whereas, It appears to the County Court that at a township election had -by the voters of Jefferson township, on the thirteenth day 'of June, 1868, not less than two-thirds of the qualified voters of said township voting at said election, voted that a subscription of $30,000 should be made by said township to the capital stock of the Missouri Central Railroad Company', and that bonds be issued for that sum, to run for the period of twenty years, bearing interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum, payable annually, and one-tenth part of the principal to become due and payable each year thereafter, till the whole amount of the ])rincipal and interest shall be paid. It is therefore ordered by the court that said township subscribe and that the court do hereby subscribe in behalf of said township the said sum of §30,000, according to the terms and conditions aforesaid. Carlos Boardman, justice, dissenting."

The order subscribing, by Locust Creek township, was again entered August 4, 186S, after its revocation, these last orders remaining u]>an the record until the November term of the County Court, when at an adjourned session, held December 22, 18G8, the order for issuing the Locust Creek township bonds to the railroad company was made. It was as follows:

" Ordered by this court that Carlos Boardman, as presiding justice of the County Court, and William S. McClanahan, as the clerk thereof, sign the bonds of Locust Creek township to the North Missouri Central Railroad Company, amounting to $40,000, being the subscription of said township to said railroad, and when signed, deliver the satne to said railroad company, the cost for signing the same to be paid by the railroad company."

The County Court, on February 1, 1869, made an order appointing Marino Cave county agent, with free power to act for Linn county in the North Missouri Centrail Kailroad Company, voting for it, and receiving its dividends, if any.

Notwithstanding the action of Locust Creek township in issuing $40,000 in bonds to the North Missouri Central Railroad Company and the action of Jefferson township subscribing $30,000, elections continued to be held in adjoining townships to secure the building of this road through or within their corporate limits. Clay township offered $20,000 if it passed through its boundaries, and Jackson offered $10,000 without any clause excepting from building from Milan to Linneusand Laclede on the route proposed. The former township, Clay, voted on April 26th, and Jackson on June 26th, 1869. As the road did not, nor was intended to go through Clay township, the $20,000 was not taken, but she was asked to do as Jackson township proposed, to give $10,000 to the route via Linneus and Laclede, and anotlier election was called at the same time of that for Jackson township to donate this sum or subscribe for the stock, which was about the same thing. Then an election was ordered in Benton township for $20,000 on said twenty-sixth of June, the road to be built through that township.

The Burlington & Southwestern

Of course on this road, as on all others, delays would occur, but the serious trouble arose from the financial crash of 1873, which prostrated all large enterprises by the sudden closing of the banks. Money was impossible to be raised iu any large quantity. The building of the road was sus- pended, and the people in the several townships becaine exasperated at the delay. Meetings were held in all the townships to protest and to object to taxation on the township bonds issued in favor of the road. Mr. E. B. Ward, of Detroit, Michigan, the heaviest creditor, leased the road in August, 1873, with the understanding that the bondholders should raise $750,000, Ward furnishing the securities to finish the gap of forty miles and settle the interest due, and pay tiie pay-roll. In a letter to the creditors October 20, 1873, Mr. Ward stated his ability if creditors of the road would hold off, to finish paying others and himself.

In another letter dated at Detroit, Michigan, he deprecated the violence threatened against the road because of its non-coinpletioji, and stated it was a bar to his raising money. He had paid and invested over a half million dollars in the road. The Linneus branch of twenty-two miles he said was in debt $12,000, a debt made by operating the road, the expenses exceeding the receipts to the above amount. The action of the townships in this matter will be found in their history. The failure to complete the road to Stanley City, as agreed, was owing to the financial crash of that3'ear spoken of above, the bondholders utterly failing, he says, to raise him the money, $750,000, promised. For these reasons he asked that he be given time to work out the redemption of the road. The road has never made any money and probably will not until it makes its Kansas City connection. That is at this writing expected to be done the present year, 1882.

The election in Jackson township failed to carry and a new election was ordered to be held on the seventeenth day of August, 1869, for the same sum of $10,000. The election for $20,000 in Benton township carried, and the court subscribed for the sum in the stock of the railroad company, the conditions of the subscription being the same as those of Locust Creek and Jefferson. The three townships voted the aggregate sum of $90,000, This sum was all that was eventually subscribed and the three townships through which the road passed, and would receive its benefits, were the ones to pay for it.

The road was built, and trains made regular trips for a while and then ceased to run south of Browning in 1873, but were started again December 2, 1873, by the lessee, Henry Hatch, passengers to take their own risk. The hard times coming on, the townships defaulted in paying the interest on their bonds, and they have now been several years trying to compromise and settle principal and interest on a basis of fifty cents on the dollar, giving new six per cent bonds redeemable in five years and payable in twenty.

The effort of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Kailroad to settle the school tax assessed against it was successful and they agreed to pay $15,000 for the years 1873, 1874 and 1875, in three equal instalments at three, six, and nine months, whichwas accepted by the County Court. The Linn county attorneys who had prosecuted the suit were to be pjiid bj the road the sum of $1,000 and the costs ot" the suits in Macon county and in the Supreme Court.

Tlie Chillicothe ife Brunswick, known as the St. Louis & Omaha, compromised their school ta.K for $721 for the years 1870 to 1878, inclusive, and from 1874: to 1876, inclusive, they paid §222 more. The general tax was still a subject of controversy.

The Burlington & Southwestern, since January 1, 1882, called the Chicago, Burlington & Kansas City Kailroad, compromised their school tax for the yeai'S 187o to 1878, inclusive, for S?>,964-.4:0, ten per cent of which, $396.44-, was paid to the attorneys of the county who effected the settlement, and came forward and oft'ered, November 9. 1881, to pay all of its taxes, without penalties, by Jul}' next. The townships have been trying to effect a compi-omise with this company, but have not as yet succeeded. Several propositions have been made on both sides and rejected by each, and just what the outcome will be, except a lawsuit, is hard to tell. The amount due by the townships will be found under the head of financial in the general history.

The assessments of the different railroads in the county have come down to a satisfactory basis. In the general assessment of last August, 1881, the three roads were fjiven the followini; valuation :