Grant County, Wisconsin - Chapter 7: Transportation and Communication, 1900

Chapter 7: Transportation and Communication

Although steamboats were running on the upper Mississippi be¬ fore there were any settlements in Grant County, their very inferior character at an early day did. not enable them entirely to supersede the primitive flat-boats. These were rudely constructed barges with flat bottoms. As they were of shallow draft, a deep and heavy keel was sometimes placed upon them to ballast them. They were then called keel-boats. As the agricultural produce and lead shipped from this region were of far greater bulk and weight than the manufactured articles and groceries imported, most of the flat-boats were not brought back up the river, but broken up and sold for old lumber at St. Louis and New Orleans. The few that were brought back up the river were propelled by rowing, poling, towing with ropes along the shore, and "bushwhacking" - that is, the crew would take hold of bushes overhanging the banks, and, walking from stem to stern, drag the boat along. Of course, in ascending, the boatmen kept out of the current and in the comparatively still water or eddies along the shore, and where the water was so shallow that the boat could be propelled with poles; while in descending the boat was kept in the current by means of bow and stern oars or sweeps, depending entirely on the cur¬ rent for their progress.

This primitive means of transportation existed to a much later date than seems to be generally supposed. The Independent American (Platteville) of October 20, 1854, says:

"H. S. Rountree, S. Warfield, and J. C. Moore started from the Wisconsin River this week with three flat-boats loaded with potatoes for St. Louis. We fear they will have a rather cold, hard time of it. Also, E. H. Stowell left Potosi last week in command of the flat-boat Swallow with ten tons of powder to be sold at river towns." could take on their cargoes high up the Platte, Little Platte, Grant, and Wisconsin (which then had much more water than now) far above points which could be reached by the steamers.

Steamboating

As has been stated in a previous chapter, the steamer Putnam passed the rapids of the Mississippi at Rock Island in 1826 and ascended to Prairie du Chien, and after that quite a number of steam¬ ers made frequent trips on the upper Mississippi. The lower parts of the tributaries of the great river in and near Grant County had then much deeper water than now, not only because of a greater flow of water, but because the channels, then deep and clear, are now filled up with mud washed in from fields tilled for half a century or more. Large steamers came up to Galena on the Fever River, where now a skiff can scarcely ride, and up the Platte to the famous lost city of Paris, and up Grant Slough and River to near Potosi, which, in the forties, was the principal port of Grant County. But it was out of the way for steamers to come up the slough, and Potosi had sufficient "pull" to procure from the legislature and from Congress an appro¬ priation to cut a canal from the main stream of the Mississippi to Grant River near Potosi. Some work was done on this canal, but the enterprise failed from the insufficiency of the appropriation and after 1 850 Cassville superseded Potosi as Grant County's principal port. A more extended account of this canal will be found in the history of the Town of Potosi in this volume.

The principal steamers making landings at Grant County ports in the forties were the Mendota , Osage , and Rapids. Later when Orrin Smith and Smith Harris were the rival captains of the upper Missis¬ sippi, they put on in alternate succession the Senator , Ben Franklin , Nominee , and West Newton . After some years of rivalry and racing, the two old captains "pooled " and established a regular lineof steam¬ ers from Galena to St. Paul.

By the beginning of the war steamboats on the upper Mississippi had become very numerous. Among the well-known names of that period were the War Eagle} the Gray Eagle , and the Golden Era. The steamers had a large passenger business. Traveling upon them was very pleasant, compared with any other means available in this region. They set good tables, and we may easily understand the rap¬ turous praises of steamboat fare by far-Western farmers who had been brought up to consider wheaten bread a Sunday luxury, and to whom the pastry of the steamboat cook was a fairy marvel ; and we may well excuse the use by country editors, who issued their sheets from a log-cabin office, of the pompous adjective 44 palatial, " in describing the gingerbread cornices of the main saloon, gaudy with gloss white picked out with gilt, and the brussels carpets and great mirrors of the ladies' cabin.

Two or three years after the war the numerous steamers, run by independent captains, were consolidated into two rival lines, running between St. Paul and St. Louis; the Northern Line and the North¬ western or White Collar Line, so called because their vessels were dis¬ tinguished by broad white rings about the smoke-stacks near the top.

Eight or ten years after the war, the building of several railroads from the Mississippi to Chicago and one along or near the river from St. Paul to St. Louis, almost entirely drew off the tide of travel from the steamboat lines, and steamboating on the Mississippi greatly de¬ clined and the two great lines went to pieces. Much freight, however* still went by the river, and an old river captain named Joseph Rey¬ nolds built up a large freight business, requiring several steamers - not, however, of the 44 palatial " order. They were principally tow¬ boats for barges. He called his first steamer and afterward his fine the

The first railroad proposed to be run through Grant County was The Belmont & Dubuque Railroad, which was chartered by an act ap¬ proved December 7, 1836. John Atchison, Francis K. O'Ferrall, Wm. J. Madden, James Gilmore, John Foley, Charles Bracken, Richard Mc- Kim, Robert McPherson, and Paschal Bequette were the incorpora¬ tors.

From an early day the county's lack of railroads was taken ad¬ vantage of by local politicians, who would promise to obtain railroads for theirconstituents if elected. The Herald of October 12, 1869, said :

44 The magic trick of promising and pegging routes for railroads here and there is again resorted to in Grant County for catching votes. Potosi is being pegged by tricksters and a depot spot fixed and pegs driven just where it i9 wanted. Waterloo is to be pegged through from end to end and the only question is, Shall Waterloo haye a de¬ pot? Cassville is to be pegged and we presume every other town is being promised the pegs. In some parts county aid for building rail¬ roads is to be the question - wherever it will catch votes. Wherever the people are averse to county aid the like is to be never mentioned, but the people are to be plugged for their votes by some other wild scheme."

"Those who have not thought of it will hardly believe that a rail¬ road was mentally projected for Grant County as early as 1843. At a time when there was scarcely afoot of railroad west of the Alleghany Mountains and when, indeed, they were ill constructed and clumsily managed things everywhere, Grant County was set down as in the line of railroad destiny. But the reader, if not already posted, will be equally surprised to learn that this road was to begin at Lake Michi¬ gan and - not to terminate until it reached the Pacific Ocean.

"In 1843 and 1844 there was much discussion throughout the Union as to whether Oregon belonged to this country or to the Brit¬ ish crown. People were urged to go and settle there. Many meetings were held for this purpose and the press had much to say by way of inducement. But it was very difficult - it was a great undertaking to go there. The anxiety to people the country and the necessity of an easier mode of access suggested to Asa Whitney, of New York, the construction of a railroad from the lakes to the Pacific - with the help of the Government. He memorialized Congress upon the subject in 1844. In May,, 1845, he addressed the people of the United States in order to bring a strong influence to bear upon Congress. In that ad¬ dress he spoke of the work as one which would 'change the world;' as one which would enable the people ' to do more than all mankind before had done;' as 'the greatest, the most magnificent work of all ages and of all time;' which 'must civilize and christianize all man¬ kind ;' which must ' place us in the center of the world, compelling all Europe to pass through us to Asia and Africa,' etc. Then he asked Congress to give him a strip of land sixty miles wide, extending from Lake Michigan to the Pacific Ocean. He thought the cost of the road would be $50,000,000. It seemed to be understood that this road would come from the lake to the mines, striking the Mississippi at Galena of Potosi ; but, July 1st, Whitney was at Prairie dn Chien, and informed Rev. Alfred Brunson that he had concluded to start at Green Bay and go west, crossing the Wisconsin either at Portage or at the Dells, and thence on a ' continuous ridge ' to Prairie du Chien. He chose that route because man) of the lands south had already been appropriated. Ira Brunson afterwards showed that the Galena or Potosi route would be in many ways preferable, and had Whitney's road been built it is very probable it would have passed through Grant County.

" The people of Grant County, especially the miners, did not, how¬ ever, rest their dependence upon Whitney's chances. Aside from that project the first thought of a railroad west of Chicago appears to have originated in this county. Its people had more need of a road than any other people in the West and their necessity, like the Oregon settlement incentive for Whitney, was the mother of their invention. Vast quantities of lead were the product of our mines and to ship by way of New Orleans was very expensive. The subject was agitated in 1843 and grew warm in 1844. The people here were enthusiastic¬ ally in favor of the road, but it met with some opposition from Ga¬ lena. Such a road would take from that young city the 'jobbing' trade. She was supplying all the miners and all the up-country people. Potosi was anxious for a road and expected that and her navigation improvement to put her ahead of Galena. A committee was ap¬ pointed, of which Maj. G. M. Price, of Cassville, was chairman, to re¬ port to the House of Representatives upon the practicability and expediency of the construction of a railroad from Potosi to Lake Michigan. He made a very excellent report. One route was to go up the rill which runs through Potosi, and following the ridge above its source, the road would pass near Lancaster and Fennimore, whence there is a continuous ridge to Madison. I have seen a draft of such a road lately made by Surveyor Wilson, of Cassville. Looking at it one can't help thinking that some day that backbone will be stiffened with railroad iron. Maj. Price's other route would go nearer Platteville. The report showed that $20,000 per mile was a liberal esti¬ mate for the cost of constructing this road. Then it showed how the investment would be profitable. It put the shipping rates to the lake at 37% cents per hundred pounds for lead and copper, return merchan¬ dise at 50 cents per hundred ; grain at 12% cents per bushel ; lumber at $2.50 per M. These freights it estimated would amount to $220,- 00<X It estimated, in fine, that the income of the road would secure

"These projects were to supplement the facilities offered by the lakes and the Erie Canal. In 1845 a continuous line of railroad from Maine to the Mississippi was talked of, and in that connection a road from Chicago to Galena was projected, and Potosi was to have a branch thereof, which, it was prophesied, would soon become a trunk. In 1847 interested parties tried to push this project vigorously, lest St. Louis should capture the Pacific project. This, the 4 Galena and Chi¬ cago Union,' resulted successfully, but its detailed history is not Grant County railroad matter. The railroad fever now began to develop southward. Consistent with the temper of the southern people, it was proposed to have a vast system of railroads converging at Pen¬ sacola, from all parts of the Union, because that was a most import¬ ant naval post and 4 a great army could thus be concentrated there within 24 hours after telegraphic intelligence of danger.' The Illinois Central was to be part of this plan and it would extend on north through Potosi t etc.

44 A company was chartered in 1847 to construct a railroad from Lake Michigan 4 to the Mississippi within the county of Grant.' Its charter members were distributed along the line, with J. H. Rountree and Samuel Wilson in this county. The act of incorporation was amended in 1849 by fixing the terminus at Cassville, and adding to the commission M. K. Young, C. L. LaGrave and William Prideaux.

" The Milwaukee and Waukesha company was authorized in 1848 to extend the road to the Mississippi, in Grant County. In 1850 its name was changed to the Milwaukee and Mississippi R. R. Co. At this time railroad enthusiasm ran very high. A big R. R. meeting was held at Madison in January. From there J. T. Mills wrote that up¬ wards of $600,000 had been subscribed for this road, and that it was proposed to loan out of the school fund to the enterprise. It may be worth while also to mention that this road was said to have been contracted to Waukesha, including T rails and equipment at $11,350 per mile. Meetings were held at several places in the county to sub¬ scribe for stock and to secure the terminus.

L. Massey, Sam'l Vance, and W. T. Ennor, as Grant County members, received a charter to build a road between the points indicated. Potosi took $40,000 stock in this road and other towns subscribed liberally.

" In 1852 Joel C. Squires, W. R. Biddlecome and others formed a company called the Southern Wisconsin R. R. Co., to construct a road from Milton to some point in Grant County on the Mississippi.

" The same year the Madison and Prairie du Chien Company was incorporated. Its route was expected to run along the the northern border of this county.

"The same year the Racine, Janesville, and Mississippi Company was organized to build a railroad from Racine to the Mississippi in Grant County.

" In that year the Western Wisconsin and Mining Company was incorporated, to construct a railroad from Hazel Green to Prairie du Chien. Its Grant County commissioners were N. Dewey, B. C. East¬ man, J. Allen Barber, D. R. Burt, J- H. Rountree, Jeff Crawford, John Edwards and Chas. McCoy.

" It may be remarked that politicians often use the names of influ¬ ential men in such commissions and charters without the said in¬ fluential parties knowing anything of it.

" The Potosi and. Dodgeville company was authorized in 1854 to locate its road through Cassville, and N. Dewey, J. H. Vance, B. F. Woods, Wm. Hull, J. F. Chapman and D. McKee were made the com¬ missioners.

"The Calamine and Mississippi Co. was incorporated in 1854. N. Dewey and H. D. York were among the incorporators. Their road would probably have crossed the northwest part of Grant County.

"In 1856 the Arena and Dubuque R. R. Company, of which G. Messersmith, J. H. Rountree, N. H. Virgin, and D. Banfll were mem¬ bers, proposed to build a railroad from the northeast to the south¬ west side of Grant County. Platteville was authorized to aid this road to the amount of $100,000. In 1860 Madison was made the starting point.

4 'The same year the Legislature chartered the Northern Pacific R.R. Co. Among the corporators were Wm. Hull, N. Dewey, and J. A. Bar¬ ber. The head of Lake Superior and any point on the west side of the Mississippi not south of the Wisconsin were to be starting points, and Puget Sound the terminus. It was to realize Whitney's dream. Its 'iron steeds were to cool their chafed sides in the waves of the Pacific, as J. T. Mills said.

"Also in 1856 the Fourth Principal Meridian R. R. Co. was in¬ corporated. It was to connect the Wisconsin River near Muscoda with a road crossing the south end of Grant County. S. 0. Paine and Jefferson Crawford were among the charter members. In 1857 James Moore, C. Rodolph, N. H. Virgin, E. Estabrook, Henry Stiles, and A. Tyler were made additional commissioners and were authorized to ex¬ tend the road indefinitely north and south. Had they built it and connected it south with the Illinois Central, and north with Lake Superior, they would now have one of the most valuable roads in the United States.

"In 1857 the Western Wisconsin R. R. was incorporated. W. E. Parish, Buel Hutchinson, Nelson Dewey, S. E. Lewis, 0. Cole, J. A. Barber, N. W. Kendall, and A. W. Emery were organizers. The road was to run from below Jamestown to Prairie du Chien.

"The Platteville and Calamine R. R. Co. was begotten in 1861. The road was built. [Completed in 1870.] Owing to the strongfaith, ingenuity and good works of Hanmer Robbins, it is a good road yet.

"In 1863 the Monroe and Riverside R. R. Co. proposed to con¬ struct a railroad from Monroe to the Mississippi at any point in Grant County. Changed to Monroe and Dubuque in 1864.

" In 1864 a chartered company proposed to construct a road from Mineral Point to LaCrosse, and from a point on that road to a point on the Mississippi in Grant County.

" The same year the Mil. & P. du C. Co. was authorized either to lease or build a railroad from Monroe through Grant County to the Mississippi and to lease or build a bridge across the Mississippi River. The Platteville and Calamine w as also privileged to extend its road to the Mississippi near Dubuque. Hanmer Robbins asked for a charter to bridge the river at that point. The Chicago & Northwestern, jehlous of such a privilege, also asked for a bridge charter. They did not want it so much as they wanted to keep other companies from getting it. Moses M. Strong also applied for a charter for a road across Grant County, and a bridge. The four-handed fight for the bridge resulted in defeating it.

"1865 Jefferson Crawford, S. E. Lewis, C. L. LaGrave, M. K. Young, and N. W. Kendall, with others, secured a charter to construct the Dunleith & St. Croix River Shore Railroad. It would have passed through Jamestown, Paris, Potosi, Waterloo, Cassville, Glen Haven, Bloomington, and Wyalusing. One or two members, it is said, rode into the Legislature upon this road, but no other person ever had a ride upon it.

" In 1866 the Oshkosh and Mississippi Railroad Company received a charter to build a road from Oshkosh to any point on the Missis¬ sippi, or on the state line between Wisconsin and Illinois in Grant County. Among the charter members were Hanmer Robbins, W. W. Field and Addison Burr. The road was to be extended from Oshkosh up into the Wisconsin and Michigan lumber region, which, connected with southern and western roads and the river at Dunleith, would have made it a valuable road.

"The Blue River R. R. Co. proposed in 1868 to build a road from some point in Grant County on the M. & P. du C, road to Wingville. W. 0. Thomas and others were corporators.

"The Southwestern Wisconsin R. R. Co. was incorporated in 1868 to construct a road through Shullsburg to the Mississippi in Grant County. Its corporators, except Jeff Crawford, were in Lafayette County.

"Nelson Dewey, Wm. Humphrey, H. A. W. McNair, W. P. Dewey, J. C. Holloway. D. T. Parker, B. M. Coates, W. W. Field, and W. 0. Thomas constituted the Military Ridge and Grant County Railroad Company in 1869. The road was to come in at the northeast side of the county, pass through Fennimore, Lancaster, and Cassville, and terminate at McGregor. No editors ever received passes over it.

"The Wisconsin and Dubuque Railroad Company organized in Lafayette in 1 869 to build a railroad through Shullsburg and through Grant County to a point on the Mississippi. That point on the Mississippi has drowned a great many railroads.

"In 1870 the Dubuque, Platteville, and Milwaukee Company was authorized to extend its road to the mouth of Platte and thence up the Mississippi to Cassville and to conneet with the Military Ridge road. Grant County would have had a spiral net-work of railroads that year if the zeal of politicians could have been moulded into rail¬ road iron.

"In 1871 a new charter was given to a company to build a rail¬ road from Dunleith along the river shore through Potosi, Cassville, Glen Haven, and Wyalusing to St. Croix.

"The same year another Lafayette company, called the Eastern and Mississippi, organized to construct a railway from Shullsburg to that fatal point on the Mississippi/'

The Milwaukee & Mississippi (afterward called the Milwaukee & Prairie du Chien) was built through the northern part of the county in 1856, being the first railroad to enter the county. AJarge part of the funds to build the road were obtained on the security of mortgages on the farms of the farmers along or within fifteen or twenty miles of the line. The farmers, anxious to have the road built, as it promised, by furnishing new shipping facilities to Chicago, to enhance the price of their produce, were easily made to believe by the plausible agents of the company that the mortgage was a mere form, or at most, a secur¬ ity for a debt which the railroad company would pay, so that the farm¬ ers would never have to pay it. But in later years they found to their sorrow that they had to pay the amount stipulated in these mort¬ gages exactly as they would to pay a debt incurred for money bor¬ rowed for their private uses. It seriously crippled many farmers in the county, particularly on Blake's Prairie, and ruined some. Prom¬ inent among them was Dr. John Dodge, who had a fine farm three miles north of Beetown. He was a progressive man, ever enthusiastic for improvements, and he not only mortgaged his own farm, but helped to induce his neighbors to do likewise, and when the pinch came, be had to suffer not only his own loss, but the blame of his neighbors. In 1873, when a la w regulating railroad traffic in Wiscon¬ sin was passed, the officers of the road, which was mostly built with the people's money, had the impudence to assert that the road was their private property and they would do as they pleased with it. But the Supreme Court of the United States did not agree with them on this point.

The second railroad to enter the county was the Platteville& Cala¬ mine, as stated above. In January, 1875, the Narrow-Gauge road was built into Platteville. A more particular account of these roads will be found in the history of Platteville in this volume.

The next railroad built in the county owed its construction to the determination of the Lancaster people to have a railroad. At first they looked principally to a connection with Platteville, but a road to Dubuque via Potosi was also discussed. A road had been surveyed from Lancaster to connect with the Kickapoo Valley Railroad, but little attention was paid to it. In 1875, beginning in January, a ser¬ ies of enthusiastic meetings were held in Lancaster, in which the peo¬ ple expressed a readiness to lay a five per cent, tax for a road to any point to which it could be had. Efforts were made to rouse up Ellenboroin favor of the road to Platteville. Meetings were held in Potosi, and one at Dubuque February 11, attended by delegates from Lancas¬ ter and Potosi. At this meeting a road was favored crossing the Mis¬ sissippi on a pontoon bridge and from Dunleith via Potosi to Lancas¬ ter. In the spring the citizens employed an engineer to survey a route from Lancaster to Platteville. He reported that a grade of more than one hundred feet to the mile was necessary between Lancaster and the Platte, which was considered very unfavorable for the opera¬ tion of the road. However, a company, called the "Grant County Railroad Company," was formed with Hugh A. Moore, president; A. Burr, vice president; John Schreiner, treasurer; John G. Clark, secre¬ tary. A road crossing the river at Specht's Ferry by a ferry barge , and thence to Dubuque was proposed. Dubuque was expected to as¬ sist, but did not do so. A special election of the town of Lancaster was held November 2, 1875, to vote on a proposition to issue $43,000 in town bonds to be exchanged for an equal amount of stock in the railroad company. The proposition was carried. The questions of route and gauge continued to be discussed. In June 1872, a party of Lancaster business men had taken an excursion on the narrow-gauge, railroad from McGregor to Elkader, Iowa, President Williams's road, to observe its workings. On the 26th of August, 1875, a delegation from Lancaster went to Galena, over the narrow-gauge road from Platteville, and at a meeting in Galena the narrow-gauge people, espe¬ cially John Lorrain and M. Y. Johnson, urged the Lancaster people very strongly to help extend the road from Galena to Lancaster. The route to Platteville was decided on and subscription books opened. Liberty and Ellenboro were asked to assist. At a special election June 6, 1876, Liberty voted down a proposition to give $5,350 in bonds toward the road, and on June 20, 1876, Ellenboro voted down a proposition for $5,000 in bonds. The project fell through and for nearly two years no prospect of a road to Lancaster appeared.

Early in 1878 D. K. Williams, president of the Chicago & Tomah Railroad (narrow-gauge), proposed that if Lancaster would subscribe $42,000 in bonds his company would complete the road from the Mil¬ waukee & St. Paul Railroad to Lancaster, by November 1, 1878. A meeting was held in Lancaster May 1, 1878, and it was decided to ac¬ cept the proposition. An election was held and the $42,000 aid voted. Liberty voted $5,000 and Fennimore $50,000 to aid the road, and work on it was soon begun. It was not completed by November 1st, as agreed upon, but on New Year's Day, 1879, the locomotive entered Lancaster, after so many years of hope deferred. To finish the work, however, many miles of ties were laid on the frozen ground and had to be relaid in the spring. The road ran from Woodman via Fenni¬ more; it was a narrow-gauge.

By November, 1879, a branch of the road was extended eastward to Montfort, the town of Wingville having voted $9,000 aid. Mean¬ while the Galena narrow-gauge people were building northward from Platteville to Montfort. In 1880 the Chicago & Northwestern Com¬ pany purchased both the Galena road and the road from Woodman to Lancaster. The whole was changed to a broad-gauge, except the part from Woodman to Fennimore. Afterward the Northwestern Company built a road from Madison to Montfort, thus giving Lan¬ caster, Fennimore, and Montfort a direct route to Chicago, as well as connection with the Illinois Central at Galena and the Milwaukee & St. Paul at Woodman.

Telegraph And Telephone Lines

The first telegraph line in Grant County was built in 1849. It ex¬ tended from Dunleith, by way of Potosi, Lancaster, and Platteville, to Mineral Point. The stock of the line was mostly taken in Grant County, the investors being led to expect great profits from an alleged invention in telegraphy by the plausible promoter of the enterprise, Henry O'Reilly. But the enterprise was in advance of the time and the concern went into bankruptcy, after about a year of struggle against adverse fate, and a loss of $6,000 or $8,000 to stockholders, and the line was abandoned. The residents along the line, seeing it abandoned and uncared for, took the wire for clothes-lines, for which it was very well adapted, being of galvanized iron wire. Thus relics of the old "Grant County Telegraph Line" came down to recent days.

county in 1856, and many years later, the Platteville & Calamine road. But only a few of the border towns had telegraphic communi¬ cation by these railroad telegraphs ; the interior of the county was wholly without it. In 1879 Capt. W. H. Beebe, of Platteville, con¬ structed a line of telegraph from Platteville to Lancaster, and in 1883 completed it to Beetown, Bloomington, Cassville, and other villages. The enterprise seemed a doubtful one at first, but it was fairly success¬ ful. Afterward Capt. Beebe changed his line to a telephone line, and as such it is now operated. He endeavored to operate it first* as a telephone line, but had some difficulty about the telephone patents. The line now runs to most of the cities and villages in the county.

In the summer of 1888 Dr. J. M. Lewis built a line from Blooming¬ ton to Glen Haven. It was first operated as a telephone line, but trouble about the patent ensuing, it was changed to a telegraph line. In 1894 Dr. G. C. Marlow bought the line and extended it to Bagley, operating it as a telephone line. In 1896 the Grant County Telephone Company was organized with L. D. Holford as president, and Marlow's line was rapidly extended to other villages, until in 1898, when it was merged into the Union Telephone Company, it had 350 miles of wire in the county, and reached all the cities and most of the villages and hamlets in the county. The Union Company was formed by the consolidation of the Grant County with the two Rich¬ land County companies. Its officers are: L. D. Holford, president; C. H. Pease, vice president; E. M. Pease, secretary and treasurer.

In 1897 the Farmers' Telephone Company was organized, with J. A. Jamison, of Beetown, as president, W. V. Mink, of Burton, secre¬ tary, and Jacob Reed, of Burton, treasurer. It now has 'phones in the houses of a great many farmers in the western and southern part of the county, and through its connections reaches every part of the county.