Chapter 2
Trustees and Professors of Transylvania University.
Reverend Clergy.
Surgeons and Physicians.
Members of the Bar and Officers of Fayette County Court.
Union Philosophical Society of Transylvania University.
Medical and Law Students.
Tutors and Students of Transylvania University.
Principal of Preparatory Department and Pupils.
Principal and Pupils of Wentworth Seminary.
Principal and Tutors of Shelby Female Academy and Pupils.
Principal and Professors of Eclectic Institute and Pupils.
STRANGERS.
Stockholders of Lexington and Ohio R. R. Co.
Capt. Postlethwaite's Light Infantry Company--in Platoons.
Lieut.-Col. A. Stevens--Ass't. Marshal.
CITIZENS ON FOOT.
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"For many years we have not witnessed so imposing a pageant and never one more interesting. A Federal Salute was fired by Capt. Hunt's Artillery at sunrise and seven guns when the first stone sill was laid, indicating the seven sections of the road under contract. The procession first moved in a circle around the lawn where it was formed at which time the bells in the various churches in town commenced a merry peal which continued until the procession reached the place where the ceremony was performed. The Military Escort then formed a hollow square within which the whole civic procession was enclosed. Thousands of delighted and anxious spectators were on the outside, among whom we were gratified to see a large concourse of ladies for whose accommodation the Marshal had directed the adjacent Market House to be appropriated.
A blessing on the stupendous undertaking was then invoked by the officiating clergyman, after which E. I. Winter, Esq., President of the Company, handed a hammer to the Governor of the State, who drove the nail attaching the first iron rail to the beginning stone sill. The music struck up "Hail Columbia" and afterwards "Yankee Doodle," which was played until the Artillery ceased firing.
Prof. Caldwell then delivered a highly interesting and appropriate address. The procession then returned to the University lawn after which the Military marched to the Arsenal and were dismissed, having received the thanks of the Directors and President of the Rail Road and the compliments of the Marshal for their excellent marching and exemplary good order on the occasion.
The arrangements for this interesting ceremony were hurried perhaps by the zeal of those immediately concerned and a desire to proceed without further delay with the work. A little more time and a little more preparation would have been better but the whole proceeding was conducted very handsomely. The procession was very numerous. The streets through which the long line marched were crowded with spectators and every window and every balcony were filled with ladies. The Military looked uncommonly well. The pupils of the various institutions wore appropriate badges. The ceremonies at the place of laying the corner stone were not tedious. The omission to prepare a rostrum for the Orator was a grievous oversight--thousands were unable to hear the speech, but those who were more fortunate pronounced it appropriate and eloquent and considering the very short notice upon which it was prepared, the effort was worthy of the distinguished orator, which alone, is saying enough in praise.
The prayer of the Rev. Mr. Hall, by which the occasion was preceded, awakened the best feelings of the human heart. The Governor and the President of the Company quickly dispatched the duty assigned them and the procession moved from the ground in good order, nothing having occurred in the slightest degree unpleasant. All were happy that the good work was now in progress and delighted at the bright prospects now dawning upon the towns and country through which the road is to pass. Owing to the short notice the expected guests from Maysville and Louisville did not attend but the Company was honored with the presence of the Governor and several distinguished members of Congress and two of the Judges of the Court of Appeals. These with other notable guests dined with the President, Directors and Stockholders at Postlewaite's Inn and during the even the Governor visited the Theater where he was received with many rounds of applause."
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Down in our hearts we are truly thankful for the present century and all its benefits and we would rather be plain Kentucky people living today than any royalty in history. And yet when we read a great thrilling tale like this we cannot overcome a strange sense of loss, a feeling of regret that we too, could not have been there to see that wonderful pageant pass by. The Military with its pomp and music; the professors and their students; the officials and the rank and file; the lawyers, and the doctors and the ministers; the contractors and "Pioneers and their implements of Labor"; the old, the young, the great, the small--all banded together in one great masterly pull for Lexington! What a picture! What a privilege! What an inspiration! What would we not give to have seen it with our own eyes, to have applauded it with our own hands.
And yet, perhaps that is what we are doing now, applauding and giving praise and credit to those splendid citizens whose generosity, foresight, energy and progressive public spirit made Lexington a leading city of its day!
But to return to our subject, the newspapers kept the people advised as to the progress of the work and the Observer of February 3rd, 1832, says:
"Those who feel an interest in this great work will be pleased to learn that the grading of the first six miles put under contract last fall is already in a state of much forwardness. The stones for the Rail Sills are excavated from a quarry a short distance below the city. The ease with which they are split out and fashioned into sills is truly surprising. They are about twelve inches wide and many of them are twenty or twenty-five feet in length."
* * * * *
And again on May 24th, 1832--
"The grading of the first division of six miles is nearly completed. Part of the Iron Rails for the first division have arrived at Louisville from Liverpool by way of New Orleans, and the laying of the stone sills will be forthwith commenced."
* * * * *
The work progressed steadily in spite of many obstacles--chief of which seems to have been the indifference of Louisville and lack of ready money, and so in the Observer for March 16th, 1832, there is an interesting and eloquent appeal:
"To the Citizens of Lexington and Fayette County--
"Now is the time for every man, who is a man and will act like one, to come forward and put his shoulder to the wheel. The Lexington and Ohio Rail Road can be finished to Frankfort before the 1st of November, 1832, if those who are able will do their duty and take stock, or increase their present subscriptions. Not one should hang back and let his neighbors do for him what he ought to do for himself. If he loves money, this is the way to improve his fortune; if he loves his country, this is the sure way to advance her power and glory.
The work can be done and will be done in the time I have named if you are true to your best interests and will act promptly on this occasion. No time is to be lost--Come all--Come quickly. Let us have no more theorizing but in its stead, efficient action."
* * * * *
And again in the same month the Directors authorized the President, Mr. Elisha I. Winter, to let the grading of the twenty-three sections of the "Second Division."
The Observer and Reporter, June 28th, 1832, says:
"Laying the stone sills is rather a tedious operation. Messrs. Holburn and Benson, who are the contractors for this branch of the work deserve great praise for executing their contract not only faithfully but in a style of beauty and elegance of workmanship which has excited the admiration of all who have examined it. They are now putting in the Iron Rails and we hope it will not be long before the Directors will have it in their power to gratify the universal anxiety which daily increases in intensity to behold the novel spectacle of a Rail Road Carriage in rapid motion."
This desire was soon gratified according to an article in the Lexington Observer dated August 9th, 1832, and entitled "Our Rail Road." It says:
"A splendid car (the Lexington and Ohio) was placed on the Rail Road on Thursday last. It made two trips, the distance the road is finished, having inside and outside about sixty passengers each trip. The crowd to witness the experiment was very great and we never saw spectators more delighted. The opening of the Rail Road from Lexington to the Ohio River will be the commencement of a new era in the history of Kentucky. Let unbelievers in the utility of Rail Roads witness but one experiment and their scepticism will soon vanish.
"On Tuesday the 14th the road we understand will be formally opened and the car afterwards kept constantly running for the accommodation of passengers. The Governor of the State and the Mayor and Council of the City of Louisville have been invited to be present on this occasion."
* * * * *
The Observer and Reporter of August 16th, 1832, tells how "The Lexington and Ohio Rail Road was formally opened on yesterday. Among the persons present was Gov. Metcalf. At twelve o'clock precisely the Car left its moorings at the upper end of the lower Market in fine style, having on board about 40 passengers. The Road is completed entirely only about one mile and a half from its termination in this city. Other portions are in a state of great forwardness and will be ready for the Car in a few days which will make the whole distance completed about 3 miles. The Car travels at the rate of about 10 miles an hour."
* * * * *
How eagerly they longed for its completion, using it for pleasure trips when only a mile and a half was finished! And how quaintly they spoke of it leaving "its moorings" as though they were still thinking in terms of rivers and flat boats and steam boats, and could only describe it in river terms! And how they dignified it with capitals, it was always the Rail Road and the Car--as if the very immensity of the undertaking demanded capital letters. To them the "Rail Road started" or "returned," or was "kept running," as in the article in the Observer of August 25th, 1832, which says:
"Two miles of the Lexington and Ohio Rail Road are now completed, and the splendid car, "Lexington and Ohio," is kept constantly running this distance to gratify those who feel an interest in Rail Roads, and are desirous of testing their utility. The Car is sufficiently large to accommodate 60 passengers and this number is drawn by one horse, with apparently as much ease and rapidity as the same animal would draw a light gig. The delight experienced at the sight of a car loaded by sixty passengers and drawn by one horse at the rate of ten miles an hour through a country where heretofore five miles per hour with one passenger to a horse has been thought good speed, is sufficient of itself to repay the beholder for the trouble of a journey of fifty miles. We understand a locomotive steam engine is now being constructed to be placed upon the road as soon as the distance is opened on the whole of the First Division."
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Having always heard the Old Lexington and Ohio Road referred to as "the first rail road built West of the Alleghany Mountains," I was greatly surprised at this juncture to see how close the question of priority between it and the old Pontchartrain Railway really was and being unable to decide the question myself, I beg leave to lay the evidence before my readers and let them decide the matter according to their own judgment.
Mr. J. H. Ellis, Secretary of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, at a banquet in Louisville in 1914, when speaking of the oldest railroads built West of the Alleghanies and South of the Ohio River, said: "It is commonly believed that the oldest road is the Lexington and Ohio, so it may surprise you to know that in point of antiquity it is beaten by that little old Pontchartrain Railroad, Charles Marshall's darling, but by a remarkable coincidence, by only a week. For while the Pontchartrain Railroad Company received its charter on January 20th, 1830, that of the Lexington and Ohio Railroad Company is dated January 27th, 1830. And in point of construction the latter likewise followed the Pontchartrain."
An article published in the Lexington Observer of October 4th, 1832, taken from the New Orleans Emporium of September 15th, 1832, says:
"The beautiful locomotive Pontchartrain recently received from England came up to the city this morning from the lake in a manner highly gratifying to the directors of the company, who were present and a large concourse of our citizens. It commences running Monday next at 12 o'clock. The Mayor and City Council are to be present and no doubt hundreds of our citizens will fill the train which will accommodate between three and four hundred people. This locomotive is said to be the most perfect and elegant in the Union and that there are only two in England equal to it. The display will be at once beautiful and imposing and will no doubt attract thousands."
At this time _our_ first locomotive was "in course of construction," as the Observer and Reporter of December 6th, 1832, says in an editorial: "We yesterday had the pleasure of examining--at the machine shop of Mr. Bruen--a new Locomotive Engine constructed for the Lexington and Ohio Rail Road Company. We understand the Engine will be in readiness for an experiment on the Rail Road sometime next week."
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It is evident therefore that the Charter for the Pontchartrain Railroad was one week older than the Charter of the Lexington and Ohio Railroad. It is also evident that the Lexington and Ohio Railroad was "formally opened August 15th, 1832," while the formal opening of the Pontchartrain Road did not occur until September 15th, 1832, one month later than ours.
It is true the Pontchartrain opened with a real locomotive while the Lexington and Ohio road first used horse power. But it must also be remembered that the locomotive of the Pontchartrain Railroad was built in Stourbridge, England, while the first locomotive for the Lexington and Ohio road was invented and built in Lexington by two Lexington men, Thomas Barlow and Joseph Bruen; that it was in course of construction at the time of the opening, and that it made its trial run March 2nd, 1833, "from Lexington towards Frankfort."--
So far as I have been able to learn our locomotive was the first one built in the United States unless we except that of Peter Cooper, which is said never to have given satisfaction.
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By the first of January, 1833, the first railroad advertisement appeared headed:
"TRAVELING"
On The
Lexington and Ohio Rail Road
The First Six Miles of the Road Being Completed a Passenger Car will Daily Leave the Lower Market House for the end of the First Division at 9-1/2 O'clock A. M. and 2-1/2 O'clock P.M.
Returning will leave the end of the Division for Lexington at 10 O'clock A. M. and 3-1/2 O'clock P.M.
Companies of 12 or more can be accommodated with a Private Car by giving one hour's notice.
Office L. & O. Rail Road Company
January 1st, 1833
And so the Rail Road became a popular diversion, and the work was rapidly progressing all along the road toward Frankfort. Judging from an advertisement in the Observer and Reporter of February 21st, 1833, some change in construction must have been contemplated for it states "Sealed Proposals will be received at the Company's Office until the 15th of April next for laying 13 miles of the Second Division of the Lexington and Ohio Rail Road with Stone Sills, and 9 miles with Sleepers and Strong-pieces of wood.
(Signed by) H. J. RANNEY, Chief Engineer."
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Professor Muncey says: "In the 'Second Division' of the Road wood sills--red cedar in most cases--were used in some places."
It is interesting to note here that the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad advised our promoters in the first place to use the wooden sills.
Quoting from the Observer and Reporter of March 2nd, 1833, "The first six miles of the Rail Road is now in successful operation. The Car for some time past has run regularly three times a day and is usually filled with passengers. It expedites the progress of mail about one hour each trip."
Time was become a matter to be reckoned with you see.
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And in the same paper appeared the following modest announcement for which I had searched for days:
"We are happy to learn that the steam locomotive constructed by our ingenious townsmen, Mr. Bruen, is hereafter to make regular trips on this road."
The car driver was allowed a salary of $22.50 a month. He and his assistant were to handle the car and the horses, take up fares, handle baggage and carry the United States mail.
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There is a quaint epitaph in an old Scotch graveyard which says "Good times and bad times and all times, get over"; and so it was with our great little railroad. Its Charter had boldly set the Ohio River as its destination. On October 21st, 1831, it timidly started "towards Frankfort," and on January 31st, 1834, it reached that fair city with a sigh of relief after many hardships had been endured and many obstacles overcome. The cholera scourge of 1833 had halted its progress, difficulties had arisen through bad calculations of its engineers, and money was often sorely needed. Louisville seemed indifferent to its construction, being comfortably "seated" on the much coveted "water course." So the railroad stopped to rest at Frankfort and stopped so long it became known as the "Lexington and Frankfort Rail Road." Its arrival in Frankfort was celebrated by a grand ball at Brennan's (or Postlethwaite's) which is glitteringly described in the Gazette on January 31st, 1834, as follows:
"The fete given last night at Brennan's Hotel to the members of the Legislature and to celebrate the opening of the Rail Road from here to Frankfort was truly a most brilliant affair. The company bestowed just praises on the taste and munificence of Mr. Brennan, for the splendor and profusion of the supper and refreshments, which appeared as if "earth and sky and sea" had been plundered of their sweets. The company must have numbered from four to five hundred persons who were distributed in the various rooms of the basement story where dancing parties were kept up till two o'clock. Like the Brussells Ball, we too had gathered from the Capital--
'Her beauty and her chivalry, and bright The lamps shone over fair women and brave men, A thousand hearts beat happily; and when Music arose with its voluptuous swell Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again And all went merry as a marriage bell.'
A majority of the members of both branches of the Legislature were present on the occasion it is said, together with the Mayor and Council of Lexington. For ourselves we did not play a part in the mazy dance but was content to look on others--
'Steer with care through all that glittering sea Of gems and plumes and pearls and silks to where He deems it is his proper place to be Dissolving in the waltz to some soft air Or proudlier prancing with Mercurial skill Where science marshalls forth her own quadrille.'"
The same paper contains an account of an "elegant new locomotive," which says:
RAIL ROAD.
"An elegant new locomotive of improved model has been running on the Lexington and Ohio Rail Road for several days to Frankfort. The success which has attended the experiment thus far equals the most sanguine hopes of the projectors. Since the application of steam all doubts have been vanished, and we confess a very great change has been wrought in our own minds as to the utility and value of the undertaking. Its advantages to the town are manifest now and if it should be completed to Louisville it will be an immense advantage to the whole commonwealth and reflect the highest credit on those who have planned and executed it. Its superiority over every other kind of locomotion will carry conviction to the minds of any who may doubt and convince the country of the absolute necessity of completing it, to which purpose the Legislature will no doubt contribute largely.
The trip from here to Frankfort will occupy about two hours when the arrangements are complete."
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This "new locomotive" may have been the "Nottaway" or "The Logan" or the "Daniel Boone." The latter, which was inclined to run behind time, was the butt of many jokes. One traveller is said to have asked "What is the matter, will we never arrive?" and another replied "Let us ask the engineer to feed 'Boone' another stick of cord wood, or we will never get there." Capt. Alfred Pirtle, Secretary of the Filson Club, says "The Baldwin Locomotive Works have a record that they built an engine named 'Daniel Boone' for the Lexington and Ohio Rail Road in 1842."
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The Observer and Reporter January 24th, 1835, says:
"Several hundred of our citizens had the pleasure yesterday of witnessing a successful experiment on the Rail Road with the new Locomotive. Its performance justifies all our hopes. Two burthen cars and the large passenger car filled with passengers were attached to the engine. It moved off with great ease clearly indicating its ability to perform all its requirements. Every one who witnessed the experiment seemed to feel a high degree of patriotic enthusiasm that he lived in a city which had originated and thus far successfully prosecuted this magnificent and invaluable scheme. "We learn that the Locomotive made the trip to the Villa, a distance of six miles, in a little over 20 minutes although badly provided with fuel."
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The "success of the experiment" had an unfortunate set back, however, for in the Observer and Reporter, January 24, 1835, is an account of the _Accident_ which caused profound distress.
"We have carefully prepared from authentic information the following account of the melancholy occurrences of yesterday. To allay public excitement and prevent misrepresentation or misapprehension of facts we consider it our duty to give as brief and accurate account as possible of those unfortunate accidents today which caused the death of two individuals and severe injuries to four others.
"The splendid Locomotive Engine recently imported was placed on the road two or three days since and has made one or more pleasure trips each day to the Villa (6 miles) and back with perfect safety and entire success. This morning it performed the trip with one large Passenger Coach containing some fifty or sixty passengers, and one burden Car also loaded, attached to it, in 19 minutes going and about 22 minutes returning without accident. This afternoon, as the Engineer was proceeding from the car house a quarter of a mile below the depot in the city a number of boys were continually trying to jump upon the tender although repeatedly forbidden to do so, till finally while the Locomotive was going at the rate of only about five or six miles per hour, a negro boy, 11 or 12 years of age, the property of Mrs. Ross, on attempting to jump on the fore part of the tender fell under it and was crushed to death. No possible blame can attach to the Engineer as he stopped the moment he saw the boy fall, but was too late.