U.S. Data Repository -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (pages 357-362) Chapter XVII The Coming of the Railroad The old order changeth, yielding place to new.—— Tennyson. Let the great world spin forever down the ringing grooves of change.——Tennyson. The projecting of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad through Marion County was an im- portant event, and has been a great factor in the development of the county. In 1826 the Legislature of Virginia passed an act incorpo- rating the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Com- pany for the purpose of constructing a railroad from the City of Baltimore to some point on the Ohio River, provided that point was to be no farther south than the mouth of the Little Kanawha. Following this there was much an- tagonism between the northern and the southern sections of the State over which should get the railroad, and many petitions were sent to the company from each section. Finally, on July 7, 1845, one of the greatest conventions ever held in northern West Virginia assembled in Fairmont, Marion County sending twenty-two delegates, the largest number from any one county. At this convention a set of resolutions expressing the sentiment of this part of the country was drawn up and forwarded to the company's headquarters at Washington, and be- cause of the influence of the convention, or be- cause the best interests of the company de- manded it (the latter more probably), the rail- road was extended through the northern part of the State. The company had scarcely any trouble in getting the right-of-way for the road in this county because the people realized the value of such a means of transportation and put no hindrance in its way. On the twenty-third of June, 1852, the road was completed. On this occasion all the chief officials and many prominent Baltimore men who had gone to Wheeling on the new railroad returned to Fair- mont, and a great banquet was held in a grove near this place. All the workmen were given a holiday, which they celebrated in their own manner. There was much rejoicing among the people, for they saw a greater Fairmont in the future. The railroad was built entirely by Irishmen with the crudest implements, usually nothing more than a pick and a shovel. These Irish- men had just come to this country, having been driven from Ireland by the great potato famine, and as they brought with them all their old jealousies and hatreds, there were many serious conflicts between the different factions. Among them were representatives of two clans especially hostile to each other——the Connaughters and the Fardowners. For awhile there was no serious trouble between these clans, although there were continual bickerings going on, but the climax arrived one morning when the Con- naughters, who were employed at Benton's Ferry, decided to settle the differences between them forever by attacking their enemies on Ice's Run and driving them from the country. They marched over and took by surprise the Far- downers, who fled, panic-stricken, to Fair- mont ; the victorious party following to accelerate them in their flight. The sheriff being informed of the state of affairs by the foremost fugitives, went out to meet the Connaughters, whom he immediately put under arrest. They all went quietly to jail. On the day of the trial they crowded into the court room where (as there were not seats enough for all) they stood around the walls, or sat in the windows with their feet hanging outside. They seemed to be enjoying themselves and were not at all ex- cited. When dismissed from court they marched out of town without causing any disturbance. During the spring of 1852 cholera became epidemic among the laborers on the railroad, causing great mortality. Intense excitement pre- vailed in the section through which the road was being constructed, and work was interfered with to a considerable extent. When the road was completed as far as Mannington, the people from all the country round came to Fairmont to see the first train go through. Several box cars were standing on the track, and in them one and all were promised free rides. Elbert Moran, of Winfield District, brought his wife to town to get a ride on the first train, and they sat for two hours in a car waiting for the locomotive to come from Graf- ton. For the first time in its history the train was late, and the Morans were finally forced to go home disappointed, the time having come to do the evening chores. In the same year in which the railroad was completed, the first bridge capable of being used for traffic was built across the Monongahela River. This suspension bridge, the second of its kind in the United States, was constructed under the supervision of James L. Randolph, at a cost of $30,000. Of this, $12,000 was ap- propriated by the State of Virginia, and $8,000 was subscribed by the citizens of Fairmont and Palatine. The cables were stretched across the river by the people of Fairmont, and in return for their work they were given the right to cross the bridge at any time free of charge. At that time Fairmont extended only to the west bank of the river, for Palatine had not yet been in- corporated as a part of the city. The completion of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad opened up the resources of Marion County, and gave a new impetus to industry of every kind. With this connecting link estab- lished between the primitive backwoods settle- ment and the outside world the people of the section imbibed new ideas and took on new manners and customs, and it is probable that the county changed more in the ten years follow- ing the completion of this thoroughfare than it had in all the previous years of its existence; so it may be properly regarded as the span that bridged the distance between pioneer and mod- ern times. * * * God alone Beholds the end of what is sown; Beyond our vision, weak and dim, The harvest-time is hid with Him. - - - - - - - - - - - - - PRESS OF MEYER & THALHEIMER BALTIMORE, MD.