U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statementon the following page: ----------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER XXVII. THE COMING OF THE RAILROAD Progressive citizens of Lewis County were not slow in realizing the benefits to be derived from improved means of transportation. They bent their efforts con- stantly toward bringing a railroad to Weston almost from the beginning of the construction of lines in West Vir- ginia. It will be remembered that when the extension of the Baltimore and Ohio west of Cumberland was de- bated in the Virginia legislature a counter proposal was made for an all-Virginia line to run from Alexandria to Parkersburg via Weston. The citizens of Weston in 1846 entertained the convention of the people of West- ern Virginia which met to devise means of securing the construction of the proposed line. When the measure had been defeated Weston did not lose hope. The prop- osition to build the Northwestern railroad from Grafton to Parkersburg led to a movement to have the new road run by way of Weston. When the route was definitely decided upon, a special act was secured in the Virginia Assembly through the influence of Weston citizens, authorizing the new road to build a branch line to Wes- ton. After the war, when the West Virginia legislature gave its consent for the directors of the Baltimore and Ohio road to take over the lines of the Northwestern rail- road, they were also given the right to extend their lines to Weston. The Civil war caused a new policy of internal im- provements to be adopted by the federal government. Land grants were given for the construction of a road across the continent. Advocates of internal improve- ments wished the government to take up the work of railroad building not only in the west but also in other parts of the country. The Airline railroad was projected from Washington to Cincinnati via Winchester, Moore- field, Buckhannon, Weston, Glenville and Point Pleasant, to connect Washington with the west and obviate the ne- cessity for going around by Baltimore in order to reach the Ohio river from the national capital. Surveys were made over the proposed route and it was found to be nearly fifty miles shorter than the Baltimore and Ohio and to have a maximum grade of fifty feet to the mile, whereas the maximum grade of the Baltimore and Ohio was 106 feet to the mile. Congress refused to take af- firmative action on the proposed bills, and private inter- ests incorporated the Washington and Ohio Railroad Company to build its lines over the proposed route of the Airline railroad. Surveys made by surveyors of the new company confirmed their opinion of its great superiority over the line of the Baltimore and Ohio, and the con- struction of the road seemed assured. The officials of the road requested a subscription of $250,000 from the board of supervisors of Lewis County, who submitted to the voters the proposal to bond the county for $200,000 in 1872. They rejected the proposition. While efforts were being made to hold another election the panic of 1873 occurred, and the project was abandoned by its promot- ers. In 1870 Weston had ambitions to be the railroad cen- ter of the state. In addition to an east and west line, an- other railroad was proposed by West Virginia promoters to extend the entire length of the Monongahela valley, cross to the Little Kanawha and Elk river valleys to Charleston, and thence run to Kenova in Wayne County. A monster railroad meeting was held at the Lewis County courthouse, 16 February 1870, to nominate delegates to a convention at Clarksburg. One hundred delegates were selected. The outcome of the Clarksburg meeting was the organization of the Northern and Southern West Vir- ginia railroad which planned an eastern connection with the Pennsylvania lines and a western connection with the lines of Collis P. Huntington (the Southern Pacific) making it a part of an important transcontinental system. The right of way for the line was donated by most of the farmers along the route, and Lewis County voted in 1871 to subscribe $125,000 of the stock of the railroad. Like the Washington and Ohio railroad, the Northern and Southern West Virginia was lost in the financial cataclysm of 1873. Impatient at the delay in the construction of the two railroads the citizens of Lewis County determined to build their own railroad to connect with the Baltimore and Ohio. The Weston and Clarksburg Railroad Com- pany was incorporated in 1871 to form a part of the Northern and Southern West Virginia. In 1873 the county court submitted to the people the proposition to transfer their subscription of $125,000 from the Northern and Southern West Virginia to the Weston and Clarks- burg company, but the proposition was defeated. "It is within the power of the people of Lewis County to build their own railroad," said the Weston Democrat, in 1873, "if not a broad gauge road, then a narrow gauge; if not a narrow gauge, then a wooden tramway." The wagon bills of Weston were then estimated to be $30,000 an- nually. Much opposition to the proposed line to Clarks- burg developed in the legislature on account of the Northern and Southern West Virginia, and it was pro- posed to run the line from Grafton to Weston via Phil- ippi and Buckhannon. This proposal was also rejected, and nothing could be done until after the directors of the nearly defunct Northern and Southern West Virginia line had given up the struggle. In 1875 the Weston and West Fork railroad was in- corporated by Thomas A. Edwards, A. A. Lewis, G. C. Danser, W. H. Aspinall, F. M. Chalfant George Ross, W. G. Bennet'., Henry Brannon and E. Ralston. The capital stock was $10,000. with the privilege of increas- ing the amount to $250,000. The court submitted the proposition to subscribe $50,000 to the capital stock of the road and the bond issue carried almost unanimously. The town of Weston also subscribed $6,000. It was es- timated that it would take $200,000 to build the narrow gauge line and subscriptions to the stock of the road, "payable in cross ties and bridge timber" as well as in money, were solicited from all the citizens of the county. Surveying parties went over the two available routes by the turnpike and down the West Fork river. It was reported that the turnpike route was shorter, but that the river route had a better grade. The directors announced that the final choice of a route depended upon the willingness of the citizens along the route to cede the right of way. No trouble whatever was experienced among the farmers along either route, the right of way to the gates of Clarksburg being donated. Clarksburg citizens, however, did not wish the road to run through their town lots, and demanded a price for the right of way that seemed extortionate. Bridgeport, five miles east of Clarksburg, made an attractive offer of free right of way and a subscription to the stock of the road if it were made the terminus. This offer of Bridgeport, fol- lowing the demands of the Clarksburg citizens, deter- mined the selection of the turnpike route. It was at first decided to construct the line to Lost Creek, and to make the final decision as to the northern terminus later. The action of the board of directors was plainly a threat at Clarksburg, whose inhabitants seemed to have been un- der the impression that the new road must necessarily have its terminus there. An agreement was shortly af- terwards reached between the directors of the railroad and the people of Clarksburg by which the latter agreed to subscribe $10,000 to the stock of the company. An alternate route within the town limits which would cost far less than the other, was determined upon, and con- demnation proceedings were resorted to. On 3 October 1876, the contract for the grading of the roadbed including the trestling was let to James March for $42,500. Work was started immediately there- after. Fifty laborers were engaged in grading the road- bed during the winter, spring and early summer follow- ing, and much of the work was done when the contract- or failed, 1 August 1877. Those were dark days for the people of Weston. Private subscriptions to the stock of the company could not be secured. The telegraph ser- vice had been discontinued to the town because it did not pay, and the people felt the need of a resumption of service which the railroad would bring. They had been disappointed so many times already concerning their rail- road that its abandonment was seriously proposed. An appeal to the voters for an additional subscription of $100,000 failed to secure the necessary three-fifths ma- jority in favor of the issue of the bonds. The county court, which was the largest stockholder, came to the rescue of the railroad by agreeing that the directors might mortgage the road for $100,000, and waiving the rights of the county to dividends. Work was resumed early in 1878 with 130 laborers employed, and it was con- fidently expected that the railroad would be completed to Weston within a few months. There were other difficulties to be solved before the long-looked-for locomotive reached Weston. Financial troubles beset the directors again when practically all the grading had been done and it only remained to lay the steel. Additional subscriptions to the stock of the company could not be secured, and no more bonds could be issued. At this juncture a financial genius appeared on the scene. Johnson N. Camden, a native of Lewis County, whose business career had commenced in 1853 with a clerkship paying $500 a year, in the branch of the Ex- change bank at Weston, saved the new railroad from de- struction. He did this by organizing a holding company, the Clarksburg, Weston and Glenville Railroad and Transportation Company, which secured a lease of the Weston and West Fork railroad, and made sufficient ad- vance payments to enable the directors of the latter rail- road to complete the work of construction. The Clarks- burg, Weston and Glenville company was incorporated, 14 August 1878. Five days later the lease of the Weston and West Fork road was completed. Senator Camden's company had no seal with which to complete the con- tract, but Henry Brannon had a makeshift seal chiseled out at Coon's marble shop. The impression on the con- tract made by the marble seal was blurred and imperfect, but it is doubtful if the impression of any other seal, either before or after that time was ever received with such a feeling of thanksgiving by the entire population of the town and county. The small amount of grading remaining unfinished was soon done, the trestle work was completed and part of the track was laid in the first half of 1879. On 9 August 1879, the first passenger train arrived at Jane Lew from Clarksburg amid the cheers of a large crowd of citizens who had gathered from far and near to cele- brate its coming. Many of the promoters of the road with their wives, who had come from Weston in buggies for the celebration, were passengers on the train when it returned to Clarksburg. The one passenger coach was described by a newspaper man who was present as being "a perfect model of convenience, and as far as style and general appearance compares most favorably with any car we have ever seen. It is divided into two compartments, the front part being used for a baggage and express room." The rear compartment for passen- gers was heated by a stove set in one corner. The car continued for many years to do service on the road. A stage line was established on the road between Weston and Jane Lew to connect with the new railroad until September 1st, when it was expected that it would be possible to run trains to the temporary station which was being erected near where the entrance to Machpe- lah cemetery now is. The expectation was fulfilled. Agent J. H. McClellan moved into the temporary depot about the last of August, and on September 1, the first train arrived amid the rejoicings of a large crowd of cit- izens of Weston and the vicinity. On November Isi, the railroad began to carry mails for the government. Finally on 12 November 1879, Jonathan M. Bennett drove the last spike of the road which had its terminus at the permanent depot where the freight station now stands. Henceforth two trains daily ran into Weston. The officials of the new Clarksburg, Weston and Glenville Railroad and Transportation Company were Johnson N. Camden, president; Henry Brannon, vice- president; W. G. Bennett, secretary; and M. W. Harri- son, treasurer. The road was operated by an executive committee headed by President Camden until 1881, when Dr. A. H. Kunst took active charge of the line as gen- eral manager. Though he had had no experience with railroad operation, he soon mastered the details of the position, and for the next ten years he guided the destin- ies of the line. He was passenger traffic manager, yard- master, general superintendent, train dispatcher and, in emergencies, ticket agent. It was one of his cardinal principles of railway management that no trains should be run on Sundays except during the excursion season, when the financial condition of the road made such a course necessary. Agent McClellan had been employed by the Balti- more and Ohio railroad in a similar capacity at Parkers- burg before coming to Weston, and was a practical rail road man. He was assisted by George Smith as tel- egrapher. Isaac Jackson was the first agent of the com- pany at Jane Lew. The conductor of the first train to arrive at Weston was John Smith, who had been a driver on the road from Fetterman and then had had charge of the stage line from Clarksburg to Weston. He perma- nently forsook stage lines favor of railroads upon the completion of the Weston and Clarksburg railroad, and continued in the service for many years. The effects of the building of the railroad to Wes- ton were immediately apparent in the lowering of prices of goods purchased from outside of the county, and in the introduction of many articles in the stores which had never had a place in the life of the town. Haleville was laid off in lots in 1883, principally because the coming of the railroad had created a great demand for cheap build- ing lots. The railroad gave employment to several per- sons. The beginnings of manufacturing to supply the demand for a larger market than Weston and Lewis County became apparent. In addition to the improvements in the town which are directly due to the railroad, there were many changes indirectly traceable to it. There was a gradual, almost imperceptible improvement in the manners and customs of the people. Being no longer dependent almost wholly upon the products of the farms about Weston, they were able to secure more varied food for their tables and more and better furniture for their homes. Better mail service placed the people in closer contact with the world. The hindrances to travel were removed to some extent, and the way to the outside world was opened. More people took advantage of the opportunity than had ever done before. Weston was much nearer the center of things. The railroad had an equally important influence over the development of the country districts. Better trans- portation made possible the manufacturing of lum- ber, and completely changed the character of timber ex- ploitation in the county. Before the year 1879 logs were floated down the West Fork river to market; afterwards they were sawed and the lumber shipped over the rail- road. The primeval forest, which had covered the great- er portion of the county in 1879, rapidly disappeared. The hum of the circular saw began to be heard in the remote hollows of the county. Sleepy old settlements awoke and took on new life in consequence. The railroad fully met the expectations of the farm- ers in furnishing cheap transportation for the products of the farms. In the fall of 1879, following the completion of the railroad, thousands of bushels of wheat, the sur- plus production of Lewis, Gilmer, Braxton and Upshur counties, were brought to Weston and shipped to the eastern markets. It was expected that the growing of wheat and corn and the mining of coal would be greatly stimulated. The people of the county had apparently failed to take into consideration the fact that freight rates from Clarksburg to Weston would be as cheap over the rail- road as the rates from Weston to Clarksburg. They seemed greatly surprised to find that wheat grown on the prairie farms of the west could be shipped to Weston and sold at prices actually lower than the cost oi produc- tion in Lewis County. Instead of furnishing a market for the surplus wheat and corn of the farmers, the rail- road actually took away the local market which they had hitherto supplied. It is true that wheat was exported from the county before the building of the railroad; but it was hauled to Clarksburg at slight expense because it was the '"empty trip" for the wagons. It is true that thfe surplus production was shipped out by railroad after 1879; but the surplus became less and less because the farmers received so much lower prices in the local mar- ket that there was no profit in raising wheat. The re- sult was that within a comparatively short time they ceased to raise wheat at all except to supply the needs of their own families and as a nurse crop for grass. The mills which had formed the center of every community with an importance in the development of the county much greater than we are apt to think, suffered the same fate as the wheat fields. The flour manufactured in the west was sold at prices which local millers could not meet. The result was the abandonment of all ex- cept the mills in favored locations. The raising of oats, buckwheat and potatoes which had been supplied by the farmers in sufficient quantities to satisfy the demand in the county, was likewise given up except for use on the farms. The livery stables of Weston were soon supplied with grain which had been shipped from the west, and oats and buckwheat were rarely seen after 1885 on Lewis County farms. The growing of corn was also somewhat curtailed, and might have been affected far more had it not been for two fac- tors: the rapid clearing of the forest land of the county and the greatly increased production of live stock which demanded some winter feeding. The agricultural inter- ests of the county were soon completely changed. The hill land was cleared and put in pasture and the raising of cattle and sheep occupied most of the attention of the farmers. Within a few years Lewis County became rec- ognized as one of the three or four leading grazing coun- ties in the state. Upon the completion of the railroad to Weston a stage line was established to Buckhannon, which con- tinued for two or three years, until the people of that town decided that it was to their interest to have a rail- road. Many efforts were made by them to secure the extension of the road by the Clarksburg, Weston and Glenville company. Finally a proposition was submit- ted to a committee of citizens by the officials of the road, that if the county of Upshur would subscribe $65,000 in bonds or $60,000 in cash the proposed extension to Buck- hannon would be constructed. A mass meeting of the citizens of Buckhannon and Upshur County was held at the Upshur courthouse, 27 February 1882, to devise plans for securing better transportation. The citizens voted unanimously to accept the offer of the railroad company. The outcome of the meeting was the organization of the Buckhannon and West Fork Railroad Company in April, 1882. The work of grading was commenced immediately thereafter. The narrow gauge road was completed to Buckhannon the following year. As in the case of the Weston and West Fork railroad, the track was then leased by the Weston and Centerville Railroad Company which had also been incorporated in 1882. Subsequently the Weston and Centerville railroad also leased the tracks and equipment of the Weston and West Fork railroad, and the name of the former company was changed to the Weston and Buckhannon Railroad Com- pany. A. H. Kunst was at one time president, general manager and agent of the new road. It continued in operation for several years until the time was ripe for the building of a standard gauge railroad. The effects of the extension of the narrow gauge railroad to Buckhannon were quickly felt in the more rapid development of upper Stone Coal creek. The location of the Curtis mill three- quarters of a century before, which had gradually drawn about it an ordinary, a blacksmith shop, a store, and se- cured a postoffice, was made a stop on the new railroad. About a mile farther up the creek, a flag station was es- tablished on lands of Seymour Horner for the accom- modation of the residents of the Right fork. The station was called at first Seymour, in honor of the distinguished owner of the land. When the postoffice was established, it was named Horner, also in his honor. Stores were es- tablished at both villages by Matheny and Bush which attracted a large trade that had previously centered at Weston or Lorentz. Following the successful completion of the railroad to Buckhannon, the people of Gilmer County determined if possible to tap the magnificent resources of that county in lumber and minerals. Presumably in response to a suggestion made by some officials of the Clarksburg, Weston and Glenville Railroad and Transportation Com- pany, the county court of Gilmer in 1883 submitted to the people the proposition to bond the county to the amount of $50,000 to aid in the construction of a railroad from Weston to Glenville. The bond issue carried; but the amount was insufficient alone for the work of con- struction. The interest of Senator Camden was then being directed to the coal lands along the West Fork river below Clarksburg and not to the undeveloped re- sources of Gilmer County. No other capital could be enlisted and the people of that county were disappointed. In 1887, attention was again directed toward the north and south route between the West Fork and the Great Kanawha valleys. The Pennsylvania railroad sent a corps of surveyors over the proposed route of the Northern and Southern railroad from Greensburg, Penn- sylvania, to Charleston. The survey was completed through Weston in 1887, but nothing was heard of the construction work of the proposed extension. As in the case of the earlier railroad from Clarks- burg to Weston, the extension south from Weston was left to be made by the capitalists of Lewis County. After considerable discussion the project finally took definite form with the incorporation of the Weston and Elk River Railroad Company with John Brannon as president, and N. B. Newlon as secretary-treasurer. The object was to build a railroad to the county seat of Braxton, provide an outlet for the products of the county, and especially to develop the timber resources of that county which was covered with virgin forests from Flatwoods southwest. The route was surveyed from Weston to the mouth of Oil creek by May, and the line definitely located. The county court of Braxton County submitted a bond issue to the people to aid in the construction of the road, which was passed overwhelmingly. Before the survey was completed the plans of the promoters of the road were suddenly changed by the entrance into the field of Senator Johnson N. Camden, whose aid, given at a critical moment, had made the con- struction of the Weston and Clarksburg railroad possi- ble, and who now proposed to build a great railroad sys- tem in northern West Virginia. He had secured control of great tracts of coal between Clarksburg and Fairmont, including practically all the best acreage of the valley, and he was preparing to construct a standard gauge rail- road from Clarksburg to Fairmont in order to develop it. He also had secured control of thousands of acres of timber lands in Upshur and Randolph counties around Pickens, and in Braxton, Webster, Nicholas and Poca- hontas counties. In order to develop these properties to the maximum advantage, Senator Camden determined to build a broad-gauge railroad from Fairmont to Cam- den-on-Gauley, with a branch road from Weston to Pick- ens. On 10 April 1889 the Weston and West Fork and the Clarksburg, Weston and Glenville railroads were merged into the Clarksburg, Weston and Midland railroad, which allowed stockholders live per cent of the stock held in either of the companies. The announcement went forth from the offices of the new company that the merger was only preliminary to the changing of the nar- row gauge railroad from Weston to Clarksburg into a standard gauge. The newly organized Weston and Elk River railroad was merged in the Clarksburg, Weston and Midland company a little later, on the same terms as had been given to the stockholders of the other roads. On 20 July 1889 the Buckhannon River railroad was incorporated to run from Buckhannon to Pickens and thence to Lane's Bottom in Webster County. In Sep- tember following, the Buckhannon and West Fork and the Weston and Centerville railroads were merged into the Clarksburg, Weston and Midland, and on 6 February 1890, the Buckhannon River railroad was also included. Senator Camden's proposed system was complete — on paper. It comprised the companies controlling the narrow gauge line from Clarksburg to Buckhannon and those which planned to construct extensions south from Buck- hannon and from Weston. The name of the Clarksburg, Weston and Midland was changed to the West Virginia and Pittsburgh railroad following the inclusion of the last of the smaller lines. Johnson N. Camden was elected president of the system and Dr. A. H. Kunst, vice-pres- ident and general manager. The work of widening the gauge from Clarksburg to Buckhannon was begun in the summer of 1889, and was completed within less than a year. The grades were reduced somewhat where the railroads crossed the hills, and some of the shortest curves were straightened to some extent, though for practically the whole distance, the old route decided upon in the 'seventies was still fol- lowed. At the same time the work on the proposed exten- sions to Sutton and Pickens was prosecuted vigorously. Hundreds of men were employed in preparing the road- bed, and it was announced in the early spring of 1890 that the railroad would be completed to Sutton and to the three forks of the Buckhannon by early fall. The rapid- ity of the work was partly due to the easy grades, and the fact that but little earth was moved in preparing the roadbed. The work of construction was engineered throughout by officials of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. Most of the financial backing of the company came from the same source. Early in 1890 the property of the West Virginia and Pittsburgh Railroad company was mort- gaged to the Mercantile Trust and Deposit Company of Baltimore, as security for a bond issue of $4,000,000 sold to complete the construction of the railroad. All the out- standing debts of the company, which had previously taken over the debts of the companies merged to form it, were paid oft" from the proceeds of the loan. The same year a contract was entered into by which the new road was leased to the Baltimore and Ohio railroad for a pe- riod of 999 years, the lease to be effective upon the com- pletion of the road as a standard gauge. The railroad was completed to Sutton early in 1891, and the first train entered the station, a half mile from town, on 5 May 1891. Senator Camden, who, with other officials, was a passenger on the train, was given a mon- ster reception by the citizens of Braxton County. The crowd was estimated at four hundred to five hundred persons, which was about double the population of the Braxton County seat at that time. The first train to reach Sutton on a regular schedule ran 15 July 1891. One train made the trip every day — provided no wreck occurred. The inconveniences of travel were not so great as they seem; for fishing was good in the Braxton County streams in those days, and the passengers, in case of a wreck, amused themselves in this way until the train crew succeeded in placing the train back on the track. The results of the construction of the railroad to somnolent Braxton were immediately seen. A big lum- ber boom was constructed just below Sutton and thous- ands of logs were sawed there and the lumber shipped out over the railroad. The future lumber center of West Virginia was then considered to be Lane's Bottom on the Gauley river, toward which a branch of the West Virginia and Pittsburgh railroad was then being con- structed. Even before the completion of the railroad to Sutton, construction had been commenced on a branch from Flatwoods, which crossed the Elk river six miles above Sutton, passed through Centralia, and thence crossed to the Gauley by way of Laurel creek. Its ter- minus was at the mouth of Williams river. The route from Lane's bottom to Marlinton had been located, and the site of Marlinton had been surveyed in preparation for a lot sale. The Gauley river branch was constructed to develop a tract of 140,000 acres of timber land owned jointly by Johnson N. Camden and C. K. Lord, one of the officers of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. A band sawmill was hauled from the Chesapeake and Ohio rail- road, a distance of forty miles, and set up so as to be ready for operation when the railroad was completed. Camden-on-Gauley was established in 1892. The tim- ber manufactured on the Gauley river and at Pickens, which was reached by the Buckhannon river branch in 1392, created a great freight carrying business for the new railroad which assured its success from the start. Millions of feet of lumber have been hauled from the backwoods counties on the serpentine curves of the branch lines and over the hills to the main line of the Baltimore and Ohio. Weston became the center of the new railroad sys- tem. The principal offices and shops of the company- were established there to the great improvement and benefit of the town. The railroad company determined to erect at Weston a station befitting the importance of the town selected for its principal offices, and a contract was let the same year to William Lockhart and Jacob and Singleton Atcheson for the construction of a stone passenger station costing nearly $10,000. A tremendous development of Weston and all of Lewis County fol- lowed the completion of the standard gauge. -----------------------------------------------------------