Amasa Stone

Amasa Stone, Jr. (April 27, 1818 – May 11, 1883) was an American industrialist who is best remembered for having created a regional railroad empire centered in the U.S. state of Ohio from 1860 to 1883. He gained fame in New England in the 1840s for building hundreds of bridges, most of them Howe truss bridges (the patent for which he had licensed from its inventor). After moving into railroad construction in 1848, Stone moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1850. Within four years he was a director of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad and the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad. The latter merged with the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, of which Stone was appointed director. Stone was also a director or president of numerous railroads in Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Michigan.
Stone played a critical role in helping the Standard Oil company form its monopoly, and he was a major force in the Cleveland banking, steel, and iron industries. Stone's reputation was significantly tarnished after the Ashtabula River railroad bridge, which he designed and constructed, collapsed in 1876 in the Ashtabula River railroad disaster. Stone spent many of his last years engaging in major charitable endeavors. Among the most prominent was his gift which allowed Western Reserve College (later known as Case Western Reserve University) to relocate from Hudson, Ohio, to Cleveland.
Early life.
Amasa Stone, Jr. was born on April 27, 1818, on a farm near Charlton, Massachusetts, to Amasa and Esther ( Boyden) Stone. He was the ninth of 10 children, and the third of four sons. His ancestor, Gregory Stone, a yeoman, had emigrated from Ipswich in Suffolk, England, to Massachusetts in 1635 as part of the Puritan migration to New England. His great-grandfather, Jonathan Stone, fought at the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775, and in the subsequent American Revolutionary War.
Stone worked on the family farm during the growing and harvest seasons, and attended local public schools when not engaged in agricultural labor. At the age of 17, Stone left the farm and moved to Worcester, Massachusetts, where he apprenticed as a carpenter and builder with his older brother. Physically very strong, he swiftly advanced in his trade. Before he was 21 years old, he rose to the role of foreman, and had supervised the erection of several homes in the area as well as a church in East Brookfield.
Fame as a bridge builder.
Amasa Stone began working for his brother-in-law, William Howe, in 1839. The following year, Howe was engaged to build a railroad bridge over the Connecticut River in Springfield, Massachusetts. This famous bridge was of a new, influential design—the Howe truss bridge. Howe patented the design in 1840. With the financial support of Azariah Boody, a Springfield businessman, Stone purchased for $40,000 ($ in dollars) the rights to Howe's patented bridge design in 1842. That same year, the two men formed a bridge-building firm, Boody, Stone & Co., which erected a large number of Howe truss bridges throughout New England.
Stone was named construction superintendent of the newly formed New Haven, Hartford & Springfield Railroad (NHH&S) in 1845. The demands of his construction business forced him to resign his railroad position in 1846. But later that same year, the NHH&S's bridge over the Connecticut River at Enfield Falls (near Springfield) washed out. This bridge carried much of the railroad's traffic, and its quick reconstruction was urgent. The railroad contracted with Stone to rebuild the bridge, which was long. Stone completed the work in just 40 days, much less time than most engineers believed possible. He later considered this remarkable feat the major accomplishment of his construction career. The railroad gave him $1,000 ($ in dollars) as a bonus in gratitude.
Stone dissolved Boody, Stone & Co. in late 1846 or early 1847. With Howe's business partner, Daniel L. Harris, he purchased the Howe Bridge Works (founded in 1840 by William Howe). This firm continued to construct bridges in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island until 1849.
By the time he resettled in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1850, Stone was known as the most eminent bridge builder and railroad contractor in New England.
Cleveland railroading.
The CC&C and LS&MS.
The Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad (CC&C) was chartered in 1836. After several false starts at construction, in November 1848 the company finally issued a request for proposals to build the first leg of the line from Cleveland to Columbus, Ohio. Frederick Harbach, a surveyor and engineer for several Ohio railroads, surveyed the route for the new spur in 1847. Stone had worked with Harbach and another railroad engineer, Stillman Witt, while building railroad bridges in New England. Alfred Kelley, an attorney and former state legislator, canal commissioner, banker, and railroad builder, was president of the railway, and he, too, knew Stone well from his railroading days in the east. Kelley and the CC&C managers reached out to Stone, Harbach, and Witt, and asked them to bid on the project. Stone, Harbach, and Witt formed a company in late 1848 to bid on the contract, which they then won. Construction began on the line in November 1849, and the final spike was driven on February 18, 1851. Stone, Harbach, and Witt agreed to take a portion of their pay in the form of stock in the railroad. The stock soared in value as soon as the spur was completed, making Stone very wealthy.
In 1849, Stone, Harbach, and Witt also won a contract to build the Bellefontaine and Indiana Railroad. The Indiana portion of the line was finished in 1852, and the Ohio portion in July 1853.
In 1850, Stone was appointed construction superintendent of the CC&C, and he moved to Cleveland. He was named a director of the railroad in 1852.
Stone also became construction superintendent of another railroad in 1850, one that would eventually be known as the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway (LS&MS). The line began in 1833 as a series of small, independent railroads which then combined into larger and larger companies. One of the first of these smaller lines was the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad (CP&A), which had been chartered in 1848 to build track from Cleveland to the border with Pennsylvania. Alfred Kelley was one of its directors. On July 26, 1850, the CP&A awarded a contract to build its line to the firm of Stone, Harbach, and Witt. The line was completed in autumn 1852, and Stone was named a director of the railroad in August 1853 at a salary of $4,000 a year ($ in dollars). He continued in this position until the corporation's merger into the LS&MS in May 1869, and served as the CP&A's president from August 1858 to March 1859. While Stone served as director, the CP&A leased the Jamestown and Franklin Railroad (J&FR) in March 1864 for 20 years. He oversaw the construction of the Union Depot (named because all railroads in the city would use the same station) in Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1866, and became a director of the J&FR (probably for a single year) in 1868. Stone was again elected a director of the LS&MS in August 1869, and was appointed the LS&MS' general manager in July 1873 (serving until June 1875). The railroad was in financial difficulty by mid-1873, and Stone's appointment was made in large part so that he could stabilize it. Just one month after Stone took over as general manager, he learned that the 1873 dividend (which cost $2 million) had been paid for with a loan from the Union Trust Company (a Cleveland bank). When the economy soured in August, the bank called the loan. The LS&MS almost went into receivership, but Cornelius Vanderbilt (another director of the road) repaid the loan out of his own funds. When his health failed in 1875, Stone resigned his position as director and general manager.
Stone remained construction superintendent of the CP&A until July 1853, and of the CC&C until 1854, when he resigned both offices (retaining his directorships) due to poor health. The following year, Stone and Witt signed a contract to clear and grade the Chicago and Milwaukee Railway from Waukegan, Illinois, to the border with Wisconsin. He and Witt then signed a second contract in 1858 to build the track.
Stone added another important railroad executive position when he became director of the Cleveland and Toledo Railroad in June 1859. Directorships for the road lasted a year, and Stone served one term. He was elected again in June 1863 and June 1867, and served as the company's president from January to June 1868. During his last term as director of the line (and while serving as a director of the CP&A), the CP&A leased the Cleveland & Toledo for 99 years on October 8, 1867, essentially running the railroad. On June 17, 1868, the CP&A changed its name to the Lake Shore Railway, and absorbed the Cleveland & Toledo on February 11, 1869.
Civil War.
During the American Civil War (1861 to 1864), Stone focused almost all his attention on running his railroads for the benefit of the Union war effort, and became a millionaire. He was an ardent supporter of President Abraham Lincoln, and Lincoln consulted with him on both supply and transportation issues. He became a friend of Lincoln's, and raised and supplied troops for Union cause. In 1863, Lincoln offered Stone a brigadier generalship if he would construct a military railway from Kentucky to Knoxville, Tennessee. Stone turned down the generalship and persuaded the president to abandon the project (which was unfeasible and unnecessary). It was probably while visiting Washington, D.C., during a trip to visit Lincoln that Stone met and became friends with Lincoln's private secretary, John Hay.
It became clear during the Civil War that Cleveland's lone railroad station—a small wooden structure built in 1853 at the base of Bath Street (now Front Avenue) on the Cleveland Flats—was not large enough to handle the city's growing rail needs. The station burned to the ground in 1864, and Amasa Stone was tapped by the railroads to build a new station. Stone both designed and oversaw the construction of the luxurious and large Cleveland Union Depot, which opened on November 10, 1866.
By 1868, Stone's annual income had risen to $70,000 a year ($ in dollars), and a few years later he owned property worth at least $5 million ($ in dollars).
Association with Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Cornelius Vanderbilt waged a long and bitter war for control of the New York Central Railroad from 1865 to 1867. The Central, governed by a clique of men known as the "Albany Regency", controlled most of the rail traffic outside of New York City. But Vanderbilt's Hudson River Railroad not only had the only direct link between Albany, New York, and New York City, but it also had the only rail line into lower Manhattan. Vanderbilt won an agreement with the Central to transfer freight to his line. The contract also required the Central to pay the Hudson River Railroad $100,000 a year ($ in dollars) for keeping extra rolling stock on hand in the summer to handle the increased traffic moving north. A group of New York City investors—led by banker LeGrand Lockwood, American Express and Wells Fargo founder William Fargo, and Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad president Henry Keep—decided to seek control of the Central. They quickly amassed almost two-thirds of the company's stock, and ousted the "Albany Regency". Keep, elected president of the Central, immediately revoked the yearly payment. An outraged Vanderbilt stopped carrying all Central freight. Steamboats could not move the Central's cargoes because the Hudson River frozen due to a harsh winter. Freight backed up in Albany, and New York City was effectively cut off by rail. The Central's stock price fell. In an attempt to make money off the situation, Keep borrowed a significant amount of shares to sell short. Flooding the market with shares only drove the price further downward, and Vanderbilt and his allies quickly purchased these shares. This forced Keep to pay his lenders out of his own pocket, hurting him financially, and allowed the Vanderbilt group to gain control of the Central. Keep resigned, and Horace Henry Baxter was named president in December 1866. Vanderbilt exerted his power again in December 1867, and had himself named president of the Central.
Realizing that the New York Central now depended heavily on connecting lines to reach Midwestern cities like Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and St. Louis, Vanderbilt decided to add Amasa Stone to the Central's board of directors. Stone was first appointed to the board in 1867, and probably served until December 1868. In April 1868, Stone played a major role in bringing together Cornelius Vanderbilt and the oil magnate John D. Rockefeller. Vanderbilt very much wanted the New York Central to carry both raw and refined oil being shipped by Rockefeller. On April 18, 1868, Vanderbilt asked Rockefeller (then visiting New York City) to meet with him. Rockefeller refused, sending only his business card. He believed Vanderbilt would try to charge him high freightage rates, and Rockefeller knew he could get his oil to refineries and consumers without Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt persisted, however, and later that afternoon sent Amasa Stone to visit Rockefeller at Rockefeller's hotel. The two Clevelanders spoke for several hours, and Stone convinced Rockefeller to see Vanderbilt. The two men met that evening, and began a long and fruitful business relationship.
Vanderbilt subsequently played another critical role on Amasa Stone's railroad career. Vanderbilt wanted control of the Lake Shore Railway, which had formed out of a combination of smaller Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois railroads on March 31, 1868. In May 1868, Vanderbilt's proxies attended the first Lake Shore stockholders' meeting, and discovered that LeGrand Lockwood had a sizeable financial interest in the company. Vanderbilt was defeated in his attempt to install his own man as the Lake Shore's president. During the next several months, Lockwood worked with investor and robber baron Jay Gould, who was engaged in the Erie War for control of the Erie Railroad and wanted to divert all Lake Shore traffic to the Erie. On August 19, 1869, Lockwood and Gould rammed their plan through the Lake Shore's board of directors. Vanderbilt fought them, but his only victory was in securing the election of Amasa Stone to the Lake Shore's board. Stone served until his health failed again in 1875, when he resigned.
Stone's usefulness to Vanderbilt was soon interrupted, however. On October 18, 1867, Stone and J.C. Buell, the cashier of Cleveland's Second National Bank, were hurled from their carriage after it came apart after hitting an open gutter in Cleveland's Public Square. Stone was severely injured, and walked with a strong limp for the rest of his life. Stone went with his family to Europe to recuperate in 1868, and spent 13 months abroad. It was the first of two lengthy trips abroad for him.
LS&MS again, and other post-war railroad career.
Amasa Stone had a wide range of railroad interests throughout the Midwest in the late 1860s and into the early 1880s. In 1868, he and Hiram Garrettson, Jeptha Wade, and Stillman Witt invested in and constructed the Cleveland and Newburgh Railroad. This steam streetcar line cost $68,000 ($ in dollars) to build, and ran for down Willson Avenue (now East 55th Street) and then Kinsman Road to Newburgh (now the South Broadway neighborhood). It went bankrupt in 1878.
On July 2, 1870, the Lake Shore and Tuscarawas Valley Railway (LS&TV) was incorporated to build a railroad from Berea, Ohio, to Mill Township in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, where it would join the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad line. A branch to Elyria, Ohio, was also authorized. In February 1871, Stone was among several men appointed to investigate the feasibility of constructing the line. Construction began, but the LS&TV fell into receivership in July 1874 for failing to pay the mortgage on another railroad it had acquired, and on January 30, 1875, Stone and four other investors formed the Cleveland, Tuscarawas Valley and Wheeling Railway (CTV&W) to take over the assets of the LS&TV. Stone was named a director of the CTV&W in 1877, serving until 1882. The CTV&W once again fell into receivership in February 1883. After a Cleveland investor purchased it, it was sold to yet another investors' group—once again led by Stone—which filed a charter on March 1, 1883, to incorporate the Cleveland, Lorain and Wheeling Railway (CL&W), which assumed the assets of the CTV&W. As before, Stone was named a director of this new road.
In 1870, at the conclusion of his 13-month trip to Europe, Stone once more was elected a director of the LS&MS. He retained this position in 1871, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1876, and 1879. Cornelius Vanderbilt became president of the Lake Shore in July 1873, and asked Stone to become managing director and "de facto" president of the railroad. Stone was managing director of the line in 1873, 1874, and 1875. The interruption in his directorship and the termination of his position as managing director occurred after he resigned due to ill health in June 1875 to go abroad for 18 months.
In 1871 and 1872, Stone was named a director of the Toledo, Wabash and Western Railway (TW&W). This road had formed in 1865 when the Toledo and Wabash Railway, Great Western Railway of Illinois, the Illinois and Southern Iowa Railroad, the Quincy and Toledo Railroad, and the Warsaw and Peoria Railroad merged. Cornelius Vanderbilt picked up large blocs of stock in the road as part of the Erie War, and the TW&W and LS&MS had effectively agreed to merge in 1869. Vanderbilt subsequently installed his strongest business associates as directors of the TW&W, which explains Stone's appointment.
Beginning in 1872, Stone played a role on three Michigan railroads as well. The first was the Northern Central Michigan Railroad, whose stock was purchased by the LS&MS in 1871. The LS&MS operated the road, and installed its own directors as directors and officers of the North Central. Beginning in 1872 and lasting to the end of 1876, Stone was a director of this road. He left the board after 1876 due to his 18-month trip in Europe. Similarly, the LS&MS purchased all the stock in and operated the Detroit, Monroe and Toledo Railroad. Stone was a director and president of this road without interruption from 1872 to his death in 1883. Finally, the LS&MS also purchased and operated the Kalamazoo and White Pigeon Railroad. Stone was a director of this road without interruption from 1872 to his death in 1883.
Beginning in 1873, Stone began playing a major role in the Mahoning Coal Railroad (MCR). The company incorporated in 1871 to build a line from Youngstown, Ohio (the location of a burgeoning steel industry) to Brookfield Township in Trumbull County, Ohio. A branch line from Liberty Township (also located in Trumbull County) to the Ashtabula Branch of the LS&MS was also authorized. The MCR gave improved access to extensive coal mines, and its rolling stock was designed specifically to carry bulk coal. The LS&MS leased the line for 99 years beginning May 1, 1873. Stone was a director of the MCR for the rest of his life (except for the 18-month period in 1875 and 1876 when he was in Europe to regain his health).
Health issues and the Ashtabula bridge disaster.
In the Panic of 1873, Stone lost as much as $1 million ($ in dollars) making payments on loans called by desperate bankers and friends, and in financially propping up his friends and business associates. He also lost large sums of money selling stock in the LS&MS and in Western Union at panic prices. Stone hid the extent of his financial difficulties from almost everyone, but his son-in-law John Hay believed Stone neared bankruptcy. Stone weathered the financial crisis, however, and recovered most of his wealth.
Stone's financial situation recovered enough that he was able to invest in the Mississippi Valley and Western Railway. This was a railroad (organized May 22, 1871) which merged on January 20, 1873, with the Mississippi Valley and Western Railway and the Clarksville and Western Railroad Company under the name Mississippi Valley and Western Railway. Amasa Stone invested in the new company on January 20, 1873. The railroad defaulted on its bonds, and Stone not only became a co-owner of the road but was also named a director of the line on August 7, 1874. The bankruptcy court put the railroad up for sale, and it was sold to Andros Stone on April 14, 1875. Six days later, Andros Stone sold the railroad to the St. Louis, Keokuk and North Western Railway (SLK&NW), which had been formed by Andros Stone and others to acquire the assets of the bankrupt line. In December 1879, Stone became a director of the SLK&NW. Stone remained on the board of the SLK&NW until his death.
Stone invested in another railroad, the Keokuk, Iowa City and St. Paul Railroad, in 1875. This road, which formed in 1870, still had incomplete when Stone acquired it in May 1875. A board of directors (which did not include Stone) was installed, but the railroad's history is unclear after this.
Stone began to suffer from undisclosed major health problems in the spring of 1875, and he and his wife went to Europe for 18 months beginning in late 1875. This event largely sparked Stone's retirement from most of his business ventures. While overseas, he left the management of his enterprises in the hands of his son-in-law, John Hay. During his absence, the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 occurred, hitting his railroads hard.
While Stone was overseas in 1876, one of the greatest events in his life occurred. At 7:30 PM on December 29, the LS&MS bridge over the Ashtabula River collapsed in what came to be known as the Ashtabula River railroad disaster. One of two locomotives and 11 passenger railcars of the LS&MS plunged into the ice-clogged river below. The wooden cars burst into flame when their kerosene-fed heating stoves overturned, but rescue personnel made no attempt to extinguish the fire. The accident killed 92 people and injured 64. Amasa Stone had personally overseen both the bridge's design and its construction. He ordered the bridge built using a Howe truss design despite his chief engineer's argument that the span was too long to be safely bridged by that design. Stone later admitted that using a Howe truss for such a long span was "experimental". When bridge engineer Joseph Tomlinson III expressed concern that the bridge could not handle the stresses place upon it, Stone fired him. State investigators later concluded that the bridge had been improperly designed, inadequately inspected by the LS&MS, and had used faulty materials (provided by the Cleveland Rolling Mill, which Stone's brother, Andros Stone, managed). They also found extensive evidence that the bridge had been poorly constructed: Struts were not in the correct place, braces were not tied together, and the bearings had been improperly laid. Stone categorically denied that there were any design or construction flaws. Instead, he asserted that the bridge was designed to be stronger than it needed to be.
In one of his last major railroad positions, Stone briefly became a director of two railroads, the Massillon and Cleveland Railroad and the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway, in early 1883.
Standard Oil.
Twice, Amasa Stone proved crucial to the success of John D. Rockefeller's oil refining career.
The 1868 secret rebate agreement.
The first time came in 1868. On March 4, 1867, John D. Rockefeller, his brother William Rockefeller, chemist Samuel Andrews, and businessman Henry Flagler formed the oil refining firm of Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler. (Flagler's step-brother, the liquor magnate Stephen V. Harkness, was a silent partner.) Transportation costs were the key to making oil cheaply available to consumers, and cheap oil meant more market share (and more profit). For Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler, the question was how to get its refined oil to East Coast cities. At the time, the railroads were engaged in cutthroat competition for refined oil. Rate-cutting was common (with railways often losing money on shipments). Each road also attempted to win more oil freight business by rapidly building up its supply of tank cars, but this left the railroads with an oversupply of cars, which lost them even more money. In 1868, Rockefeller formed a consortium of Cleveland-area refining companies. The consortium agreed to pool their shipments to the East Coast if lower freight rates could be procured. On behalf of the consortium, Henry Flagler reached an agreement with Stone's Lake Shore & Michigan Southern: The consortium would guarantee at least 60 tank cars of refined oil every day, in return for which the LS&MS would cut shipping rates by 30 percent (e.g., offer a "rebate"). The consortium agreed not to ship oil with any other railway unless the LS&MS could not take the oil, and the LS&MS agreed not to offer a rebate to any other refiners unless they could provide at least 60 tank cars of oil a day (which none of them could). Stone quickly agreed to the plan, which greatly enhanced Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler's market share.
The 1871-1872 South Improvement Company conspiracy.
The second time came in 1871. Rockefeller had long believed that overcapacity in the oil refining business would cause a crash in the price of refined oil. Anticipating the crash, on January 10, 1870, Rockefeller and his partners established a new joint-stock company, Standard Oil. Just 10,000 shares of Standard Oil were created. John and William Rockefeller, Flagler, Harkness, and Andrews took almost all the shares. A new investor, Oliver B. Jennings (William Rockefeller's brother-in-law), invested $100,000 in the new company and was given 1,000 shares. The old company of Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler was given 1,000 shares as a reserve. The stock was set at a $100 per share par value ($ in dollars), and Standard Oil paid a 105 percent dividend in 1870 and 1871. The overcapacity crash hit in 1871, and many refiners neared bankruptcy. In the fall of 1871, Rockefeller learned of a conspiracy being promoted by Thomas A. Scott (First Vice President of the Pennsylvania Railroad) and Peter H. Watson (then a director of the LS&MS). On November 30, 1871, Rockefeller met with Scott and Watson at the St. Nicholas Hotel in New York City, where Scott outlined his plan: Using a vaguely-worded corporate charter he had obtained from the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania Railroad, the New York Central Railroad, the Erie Railroad, Standard Oil, and a few small oil refining companies would create and invest in the South Improvement Company (SIC). The SIC's participating railroads would give the SIC's investor-refiners a 50 percent rebate on oil shipments, helping them to drive competitors out of business. Additionally, any time the SIC carried the oil of a non-participating refiner, the SIC would give a 40-cents-per-barrel payment ($ in dollars) to the investor-refiners. The SIC would also provide the investor-refiners with information on the shipments of their competitors, giving them a critical advantage in pricing and sales.
Rockefeller saw the SIC as the ideal mechanism for achieving another goal: A monopoly on oil refining in Cleveland. Once the SIC had severely weakened his competitors, Standard Oil would buy out the city's 26 major oil refining companies at fire-sale prices. The monopoly would allow Standard Oil to dominate the national refining market, garner significantly higher profits, and drive competitors out of business. With higher profits, Standard Oil could then rapidly expand, becoming even more dominant. To make the purchases, Standard Oil needed cash. To secure the cash, Rockefeller allowed Amasa Stone, Stillman Witt, Benjamin Brewster, and Truman P. Handy—all of whom were officers in Cleveland banks—to buy shares in Standard Oil at par in December 1871. Stone and the other bankers used their influence at their own and other banks to give Rockefeller the financial backing he needed. Stone now owned the equivalent of 5 percent of the entire outstanding stock of Standard Oil.
The SIC conspiracy collapsed in March 1872, but between February 17 and March 28, 1872, Rockefeller was able to buy out 22 of the 26 major refiners in Cleveland, an event which historians call "the Cleveland Massacre". Stone played a major part in the success of the event. Rockefeller knew that if he bought out the weak refiners first, he'd generate opposition and never get a chance to take on the larger, more profitable ones. So he tackled his strongest competitor, the firm of Clark, Payne & Co., led by Oliver Hazard Payne and backed by the wealthy J. G. Hussey family. In December 1871, Rockefeller asked Payne to meet him at the Second National Bank in Cleveland to discuss business matters in which the bank had an interest. Stone and Stillman Witt were both officers in the bank. Payne swiftly agreed to a merger of his interests with Rockefeller's, and the transaction closed in early January 1872.
Events moved so quickly that additional capital was needed, and Rockefeller felt that the Cleveland banks could not be counted on to keep his loan requests confidential. On January 2, 1872, Standard Oil issued 4,000 new shares of stock in the form of a dividend. Stock was issued on a pro rata basis, which gave Stone another 200 shares. Later that same day, another issue of stock was made. This constituted 11,000 shares, of which 3,000 were given to John D. Rockefeller, 1,400 to Henry Flagler, 4,000 to the owners of Clark, Payne and Company (one of the largest oil refineries in Cleveland), 700 to refiner Jabez A. Bostwick, 200 to refiner Joseph Stanley, and 500 to Peter Watson (who by now was the president of the SIC). Another 1,200 shares were given to John D. Rockefeller to retain as a reserve. On January 2, 1872, a third new issue of 10,000 shares occurred, and was given to Rockefeller to hold in reserve. Although these new issues had diluted Stone's investment to just 2 percent of Standard Oil's stock, it was enough to give him a strong financial interest in the company and to allow John D. Rockefeller to tighten his influence over railroads Stone directed.
To further encourage Stone to meet the needs of Standard Oil, Rockefeller put Stone on the Standard Oil board of directors in 1871. By 1872, Amasa Stone's personal fortune was worth an estimated $6 million ($ in dollars).
Break with Rockefeller.
Stone's association with Standard Oil did not last past mid-1872. The break came when Rockefeller approached the Second National Bank, of which Stone was a director, for a major loan in early 1872. Stone expected the much younger Rockefeller to be deferential and suppliant, but he was not. Stone angrily opposed the loan during a bank board of directors meeting. After Rockefeller made his case to the board, Stone suggested that Payne and Witt arbitrate the dispute. The two officers voted to support Rockefeller. The relationship between Stone and Rockefeller deteriorated swiftly, and Stone repeatedly snubbed Rockefeller socially.
Like other directors, Stone had been given an option to buy additional Standard Oil shares. About June 1872, this option expired without Stone having acted to buy the new shares. Stone then asked Henry Flagler to change the expiration date so he could purchase the shares. Flagler did so, but Rockefeller overruled Flagler when he learned about the change. Flagler argued that Stone's support was useful, and that he should be placated. Rockefeller disagreed, saying that he saw no reason to "truckle" to Stone.
In a fit of pique, Stone sold all his Standard Oil shares, making him ineligible to continue serving on the board. Rockefeller never regretted his actions. He later said that he "probably saved two or three million dollars" in profit by getting rid of Stone.
On July 30–31, 1872, Standard Oil's terminal at Hunters Point, New York, suffered a devastating fire. With the company's insurer refusing to pay until after an investigation, Standard Oil was in desperate need for cash to rebuild. The officers of the company asked Rockefeller to seek a loan from the Second National Bank. At a meeting between Rockefeller and the bank's directors, Stone demanded that Standard Oil be appraised and its financial condition assessed before any loan was issued. Offended, Stillman Witt approved the loan, and Stone was stymied.
United Pipe Lines.
Stone had one more interaction with Rockefeller and Standard Oil. Standard Oil relied on its rebate deals with the railroads to get its oil to market. Two companies, Vandergrift & Forman and the American Transfer Company, now threatened that arrangement by announcing the construction of pipelines from the western Pennsylvania oilfields to New York City. William H. Vanderbilt, Cornelius Vanderbilt's son and vice-president of the New York Central Railroad, saw the threat as well. In 1873, Amasa Stone and William H. Vanderbilt attempted to gain control of Vandegrift & Forman, each taking a one-sixth interest in the firm. Rockefeller purchased a one-third share, and the company was renamed United Pipe Lines. Rockefeller then purchased American Transfer, effectively blocking Stone and Vanderbilt from gaining control of the emerging pipeline industry. Standard Oil eventually formed a new company, United Pipe-Lines, in 1877 and merged both United and American Transfer into the new firm. Although Stone held more than 1,000 shares of the new company, his ownership interest was small compared to that held by Rockefeller and others.
Banking and other roles.
Banking and finance.
Stone's interest in industries and services other than railroads emerged early after he moved to Cleveland. In 1856, Stone—along with Hinman Hurlbut, Stillman Witt, Joseph Perkins, James Mason, Henry Perkins, Morrison Waite, and Samuel Young—purchased the Toledo Branch of the State Bank of Ohio. Stone served as the bank's president from 1857 probably to 1864. The Toledo Branch was reorganized as a national bank in 1866.
Stone then helped organize the Cleveland Banking Company in 1863 with Stillman Witt, George A. Garretson, Jeptha Wade, and George B. Ely, and was elected to its first board of directors. It merged with the Second National Bank in 1868, and Stone was elected president of the successor bank in January 1873. He resigned in January 1874.
Stone helped reorganize the Commercial Bank on March 1, 1865, after its initial 20-year charter expired. Rechartered as the Commercial National Bank, Stone was elected a director of the bank and in 1879 served as its vice president. Stone was also a director of the Bank of Commerce (although just when he became a director is not clear). He was elected president of the bank in 1873, but resigned in late 1874 and was replaced by Hiram Garretson. He was also a director of the Merchants Bank (although the dates of his service are not clear).
Metals manufacturing.
Stone's interests also extended heavily into metallurgy and metals manufacturing. In 1863, Stone, George B. Ely, and others helped organize the Mercer Iron & Coal Company in Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Stone was named a director of the company, and later its president (although the date of this latter service is not clear). Stone also co-founded the Union Iron Company (later Union Iron & Steel Co.) in Chicago with his brother, Andros Stone, and mining magnate Jay C. Morse. Stone loaned his brother $800,000 ($ in dollars) to organizer the business.
A third steel mill organized by Stone was the Cleveland Rolling Mill (later known as the American Steel & Wire Co.), which was organized on November 9, 1863. The firm was established in 1857 as Chisholm, Jones and Company, and in 1860 the company was reorganized as Stone, Chisholm & Jones after the family-run business received major investments from Amasa Stone, Henry Chisholm, Andros Stone, Stillman Witt, Jeptha Wade, and Henry B. Payne. Andros Stone managed the firm. It changed its name to the Cleveland Rolling Mill Company, purchased the Cleveland Wire Mill Co. in 1866, and obtained control of the Union Rolling Mill Co. of Chicago in 1871. At some point, Stone also invested a substantial sum in the Kansas City Rolling Mill Company of Kansas City, Missouri.
Stone then founded the Union Steel Screw Company in 1872 with Andros Stone, William Chisholm, Henry Chisholm, and Henry B. Payne. The factory, which was located at Case and Payne Avenues in Cleveland, was the only one in the United States making steel wood screws at that time.
In January 1881, Stone and others provided financial assistance to veteran brass manufacturer Joel Hayden, Jr. in establishing the Joel Hayden Brass Works in Lorain, Ohio.
About 1875, Stone also invested $500,000 in the new iron foundry of Brown, Bonnell & Co. of Youngstown, Ohio. He was placed on the board of directors of the firm (although the date of his departure from the board is unclear).
Other business ventures.
Stone had a number of other business interests and ventures in addition to banking and metallurgy. Immediately upon his arrival in Cleveland in 1850, Stone created the Cleveland Stone Dressing Company with Parker Handy, J.P. Bishop, William E. Beckwith, F.T. Backus, J.H. Morley, H.K. Raynolds, Reuben Hitchcock, and John Case. The company bought large stone quarries in Berea (the "old Eldridge quarry") and Independence, and built a small railroad to ship the stone to Cleveland. There, they established a stoneyard on west bank of Cuyahoga River, and dredged the river to make it navigable to ships carrying their dressed stone. Cleveland Stone Dressing furnished stone for a number of large mansions in Cleveland; the First Presbyterian Church of East Cleveland; the Ontario Legislative Building in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and the residence of Senator Henry B. Payne. The firm closed in 1854 due to lack of demand. The stoneyard was later taken over by Rhodes & Co., a major coal distributor.
Other business interests included a Cleveland woolen mill (established in 1861), and a position on the board of directors of the Buckeye Insurance Company (which he held in 1869). On February 26, 1870, Stone, Jeptha Wade, Worthy S. Streator, J.P. Robinson, and others formed the Northern Ohio Fair after the state refused to allow the Ohio State Fair to be hosted by the city of Cleveland. The group purchased of land on St. Clair Avenue in the Glenville neighborhood and erected fair buildings there. Stone served as the fair's first president. In 1877, Stone dabbled in real estate by constructing a building on St. Clair Avenue in Cleveland's Warehouse District. The structure housed the Koch, Goldsmith, Joseph & Company clothing firm, which later (as The Joseph and Feiss Company) became one of the largest clothing retailers in the nation.
Both historic and modern sources say that Amasa Stone also invested in a wide range of factories, including those which manufactured automobiles, railroad cars, and bridges.
Stone also had a position on the board of directors of the Western Union telegraph company. Jeptha Wade had been president of Western Union in 1866, and Stone may have invested at this time in the company. By 1880, Cornelius Vanderbilt was a major investor in the firm, and was even rumored to have a controlling interest in it. It was Vanderbilt who had Stone appointed to Western Union's board of directors in 1881. Stone served on the board until his death in 1883.
Death.
After 1875, many of Amasa Stone's businesses suffered severe financial setbacks, and some of them failed. He suffered from stomach ulcers which often kept him awake for two hours each night. It was widely believed by the public that the Ashtabula River railroad disaster had deeply affected Stone emotionally, causing his health to worsen after 1876.
By 1882, Stone was suffering from insomnia. That year, his son-in-law, John Hay, took his wife, Clara Stone Hay, on a long-delayed 18-month honeymoon to Europe. Hay biographer Patricia O'Toole concludes that Amasa Stone was, by this time, suffering from severe depression. He wrote to Hay constantly, his "ambivalent" letters full of muffled "cries for help". Stone's depression appeared to worsen when several of his businesses failed in the first three months of 1883. First, the Cleveland Rolling Mill Co. was hit by a bitter strike in 1882, which caused it significant financial problems. Then on February 2, 1883, the Kansas City Rolling Mill Co. failed. The Union Iron & Steel Co. went into receivership a few days later, followed by Brown, Bonnell & Co. on February 19. Stone blamed high labor costs for the failure, but the Depression of 1882–85 was more likely the cause. Shortly thereafter, Stone asked Hay to cut short his trip and return to Cleveland, but Hay (who was to return to the United States in May) declined.
At 2 PM on May 11, 1883, Stone was working at his home on Euclid Avenue. He spoke several times with his business secretary, and was advised by his wife to rest. Stone then retired to his bedroom. At 4 PM, Julia Stone went to check on her husband, and found his bed empty and his bathroom door locked. She called for a butler, who climbed through the transom and found Stone dead. He had shot himself in the heart and then fallen forward so that his head and shoulders lay in the bathtub. A gun lay by his side.
It was widely assumed by the press and the public that lingering poor health brought about by the 1867 carriage accident, guilt over the Ashtabula River railroad disaster, and overwork caused his suicide.
Stone was an unpopular man in Cleveland. To many members of the public, the manner of his demise seemed just. Mark Twain sarcastically observed, "Apparently nothing pleases the Almighty like the picturesque."
Amasa Stone was temporarily interred in the Brainard family vault at Lake View Cemetery. Ice was packed around the body and regularly replenished, to keep decay at bay until John and Clara Hay could return from Europe. He was later interred in a plot he had purchased shortly before his death.
Personal life.
Amasa Stone was widely considered to be a proud, stubborn man with a powerful temper. Business associates and friends also found him cold, stern, and unapproachable. He could be arbitrary, autocratic, and domineering, and was well known for his temper and biting tongue. He shunned expensive clothes and rich food, and drank only sparingly.
Stone was a Presbyterian and an active member of the First Presbyterian (Old Stone) Church on Public Square in downtown Cleveland. For several years, he was also a trustee of the church, and he gave generously to various church organizations which aided the poor, the elderly, orphans, and single women with children.
Republican Party politics was another of Stone's interests. In addition to his friendship with Abraham Lincoln, he was a key financial backer of James A. Garfield in his bid for the 1880 Republican nomination and his successful campaign for the presidency. Garfield considered appointing Stone as the U.S. government's representative on the board of directors of the Union Pacific Railroad, but Stone turned him down (the position was occupied by Senator Benjamin Wade, who had not indicated his desire to relinquish it).
Stone purchased a home in 1850 on the corner of Superior Avenue and Bond Street (now East 6th Street) in Cleveland, Ohio. He lived in this nondescript house (later the site of the Hollenden Hotel) until 1858, when he purchased a plot of land at 1255 Euclid Avenue (Euclid and East 13th Street) in Cleveland. Euclid Avenue was known worldwide at the time as "Millionaires' Row" for the large number of extremely wealthy people who built or purchased residences there. Local architect Joseph Ireland designed a two-story, , Italianate mansion replete with modern conveniences and innovative safety features. Stone lived in the mansion until his death, after which it was occupied by his wife, Julia; his daughter, Flora Stone Mather; and her husband, Samuel Mather. Julia died in 1900, and Flora in 1909. The mansion was demolished after Flora's death to make way for the four (later five) story Higbee's department store building, which was completed in 1910. Higbee's vacated the building in 1931 for a new, larger structure on Public Square. The building was then occupied by Sterling Lindner Davis department store. Sterling Lindner Davis vacated the building in 1968, and it has served as an office building ever since.
Stone was not a noted outdoorsman, but viewed hunting as a leisure activity of the upper class. Subsequently, on April 19, 1873, Stone purchased several hundred acres of land near the villages of Elko and Red House, New York. He spent a total of $40,000 ($ in dollars) making additional purchases over the next few years, until his forest estate reached about . Stone intended to use the estate as a hunting preserve and for the breeding of short-horn cattle.
Marriage and children.
Amasa Stone married Julia Ann Gleason of Warren, Massachusetts, on January 12, 1842. Born December 21, 1818, she was the daughter of John Barnes and Cynthia ( Hamilton) Gleason. Amasa's older brother, Daniel, had married Julia's older sister, Huldah, in 1838. Julia worked as a seamstress in Warren. Julia lived until July 21, 1900, when she died of pulmonary tuberculosis.
The Stone's first child, Adelbert Barnes Stone, was born on July 28, 1844. He attended Yale University, where he studied for a degree in geology. Adelbert drowned in the Connecticut River on June 27, 1865, after suffering a cramp while swimming.
The couple's second child, Clara Louise, was born on December 29, 1849. She wed John Hay on February 4, 1874, at which time Amasa gifted the couple $10,000 in securities. Stone convinced the couple to move to Cleveland in the spring of 1875, just as Amasa's health declined. He gave Hay employment caring for investments "so safe that they require no care". Stone also constructed a Victorian-style mansion at 1235 Euclid Avenue, next door to his own home, and gave it to the Hays for their own home. The mansion was completed in June 1875. Stone had a "profound" influence on Hay's life, giving him the life of ease necessary to complete a biography of Lincoln as well as putting him on a course in business that made Hay a very rich man. Hay later used his experiences running Stone's railroad interests during the strikes of 1877 as the basis for his 1883 novel "The Bread-Winners". The character of the vice president of the steel mill is based on Amasa Stone.
The couple's third child, Flora Amelia, was born on April 6, 1852. She married shipping and iron mining magnate Samuel Mather on October 19, 1881. Flora not only was a rich woman because of the many gifts of cash and securities her father gave her during her lifetime, but also because of her husband's extremely large fortune. After Amasa Stone's death, Flora received not only a large inheritance from him but also helped administer his many devises. Flora became one of the great philanthropists in Ohio history. She made major donations to Case Western Reserve University and the Goodrich House social settlement, and supported the Temperance League, Consumer's League, Day Nursery and Kindergarten Association, Children's Aid Society, and Home for Aged Women.
Amasa Stone's great-grandson was Amasa Stone Bishop, son of Constance Stone ( Mather) Bishop (the daughter of Flora Stone Mather). He became the director of the United States Atomic Energy Commission and the director of environment of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
Legacy.
At the time of his death, Amasa Stone was widely regarded by the press as the richest man in Cleveland, and modern historians have called him a nationally prominent economic leader. He was well known during his lifetime for having risen from the working class to amass a very large fortune, and for having built an "empire" of railroads. His fortune in 1872 was widely estimated by the press to be $6 million ($ in dollars).
Stone supported several charitable causes in lasting ways. He educated his daughters at the Cleveland Academy, a school for girls founded in 1848, and in 1865 oversaw a capital fundraising campaign and the construction of the school's first building. He donated money in 1876 to construct and endow the Home for Aged Protestant Gentlewomen at 194 Kennard Road. The organization later moved out of this structure in 1931 to property donated by William G. Pollock at 975 East Blvd., and is known as the Amasa Stone House. It later merged with the McGregor Foundation, and in 2014 the house was sold to Montessori Development Partnerships for use as a school. He also donated money which led to the construction in 1881 of an addition to the Children's Aid Society home for youth at 1745 Detroit Street in Cleveland.
Perhaps Stone's greatest legacy was the gift which led to the foundation of what became known as Case Western Reserve University. The city of Cleveland had no major institution of higher learning in the 1870s, and in 1880 a community commission issued a report advocating that one be founded or induced to move there. Dr. Hiram C. Haydn, pastor at the First Presbyterian (Old Stone) Church and a trustee of Western Reserve College in Hudson, Ohio, proposed that the college move to Cleveland. Haydn approached Amasa Stone with the idea, who expressed his support. On September 20, 1880, Stone donated $500,000 ($ in dollars) to Western Reserve College for the purpose of enabling its relocation to Cleveland. He attached three conditions to his gift: First, that the school become a university, and that its liberal arts college be named Adelbert College after his son; Second, that Stone be enabled to name a majority of Western Reserve College's board of trustees; and Third, that Stone be allowed to supervise construction of the new university's buildings. The trustees agreed to his stipulations. The college successfully raised the funds to procure land near what is now University Circle in Cleveland, and Stone named 11 new trustees to the university's board. These included John Hay; former President of the United States Rutherford B. Hayes; and the newly elected President of the United States, James A. Garfield. (Garfield died from an assassin's bullet before the school opened.) Stone oversaw the construction of the Main Building (now Adelbert Hall) and a men's dormitory. On October 26, 1882, Western Reserve University's new main campus was dedicated, with Hayes the main speaker at the opening. After Stone's death in 1883, his family donated an additional $100,000 ($ in dollars) to Western Reserve University. The all-male university soon experimented with mixed-sex education, but this generated extensive opposition. Determined to provide women with an education, Flora Stone Mather donated a large sum of money to establish a women-only college at Western Reserve. Her donation paid for Guilford Hall (named for her teacher at Cleveland Academy) and Haydn Hall (named for her pastor at First Presbyterian and now Western Reserve's president). The College for Woman opened in 1889, and was renamed Flora Stone Mather College in 1929 in her honor. Adelbert Hall is the university's administration building today.
It is not clear how large Amasa Stone's personal estate was worth at the time of his death. Historian John Taliaferro estimated it to be worth between $6 million and $22 million ($ in dollars to $ in dollars). Historian Gladys Haddad dismisses the larger estimates as inflated, and suggests the estate was worth between $6 million and $8 million ($ in dollars to $ in dollars). Stone's sons-in-law, John Hay and Samuel Mather, were named as his executors. Stone left his wife $500,000 in securities ($ in dollars), which was expected to generate a large amount of interest. The will stipulated that Julia should receive $25,000 ($ in dollars) a year from this income, payable in monthly installments. He bequeathed $600,000 in securities ($ in dollars) to each daughter, and $100,000 ($ in dollars) each to John Hay and Samuel Mather. Other bequests and donations totalled about $137,000 ($ in dollars).
In 1921, Amasa Stone's former hunting estate formed the nucleus of Allegany State Park. At some point after 1904, the heirs of Amasa Stone sold the New York estate to W.J. Knupp and his wife, Eloise. Residents of the Red House/Elko area formed a committee on November 8, 1920, to discuss the formation of a state park in Cattaraugus County and to push for legislative authority to establish a park as well as state funds to purchase land. The New York State Legislature approved the purchase of two tracts of land in the Quaker Run Valley on May 2, 1921. The act provided $25,000 in state funds for the purchase of land, provided that an equal amount in private funds be raised first. The first tract, consisting of of land, was purchased from Eloise Knupp for $31,500 on June 18, 1921. The second tract consisted of of land and buildings adjacent to the Stone Estate. The price for this property was $4,300. These lands, in the southwest corner of the park, were formally dedicated as Allegany State Park on July 30, 1921.
In popular culture.
Stone was the basis for a major character in John Hay's 1883 anti-union novel "The Breadwinners". In response to Hay's novel, journalist Henry Francis Keenan (a former colleague of Hay's at the "New-York Tribune") published "The Money-Makers" in 1885. The novel was an attack on robber barons and industrialists, and its main character was an idealistic journalist who marries into a wealthy family and abandons his progressive values for greed, power, and materialism. John Hay clearly inspired the main character, and Amasa Stone was obviously the basis for the grasping, cruel industrialist Aaron Grimestone.
About 1884, the Stone family paid for and dedicated the Amasa Stone Memorial Window, a stained glass window in the sanctuary at the First Presbyterian (Old Stone) Church.
In 1905, the Mesaba Steamship Company, a subsidiary of Pickands Mather (the company which Samuel Mather had co-founded in 1883), launched a Great Lakes bulk freighter named in honor of Amasa Stone. The freighter was later transferred to Pickands Mather's Interlake Steamship Company. The "Amasa Stone" was an active freighter until 1960. In 1965, the "Amasa Stone" was scuttled along with the freighter "Charles S. Hebard" off Charlevoix, Michigan. It now serves as a breakwater for the St. Mary's Cement plant shipping terminal.
In 1910, Stone's family donated money to Western Reserve University for a new chapel. Construction began on the Amasa Stone Chapel in 1910, and it was dedicated and opened on June 13, 1911.


Cadiz Railroad

The Cadiz Railroad was a shortline railroad originating in Cadiz, Kentucky. Incorporated in 1901, it ran to a connection with the Illinois Central Railroad at Gracey, Kentucky, a distance of ten miles. The line started service in 1902. In 1984, it obtained an additional 18 miles with the purchase of the Illinois Central line from Gracey to Princeton, Kentucky.
The Railroad ran with steam locomotives until July 25th, 1954 when 0-6-0 #205 took a historical society chartered train. After that, locomotives in the later years were two Alco S1 660 Horsepower, Nos. 8 and 9, and Alco S3 No. 10, also 660 HP. Loco No. 8 had its engine removed and is being used today as a display on the old roadbed at Cadiz.
The railroad hauled lumber, furniture, farm chemicals, and scrap, but was originally built to haul tobacco to market.
The line was abandoned in 1985 and its rails were removed.
In later years, at least 2.5 miles of the old Cadiz Railroad - from Jefferson Street to Fortner Drive - were converted to a walking/running/biking trail. It runs between an old railroad depot on Ky. 139 and Fortner Drive at the east end of town. The trail parallels Noel Drive and Lafayette Street, following an old corridor of the Cadiz Railroad.


Transco Railway Products

Transco was founded in October 1936, with its business mainly focused on servicing the railroad industry. In 1984, the company was restructured, with Transco Inc. now serving as the parent company for a number of subsidiary corporations, including Transco Railway Products Inc., Transco Products Inc., and Advance Thermal Corp. Transco Railway Products Inc. has its corporate offices in Chicago, Illinois and operates seven separate manufacturing facilities located strategically in major rail transportation corridors.


William D. Robinson

William D. Robinson (22 May 1826 – 7 November 1890) was a locomotive engineer who founded the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) on 8 May 1863 during the American Civil War, America's first union for railway workers. Robinson traveled widely and oversaw rapid growth in the union's first sixteen months. After a disastrous strike he was forced to resign in August 1864, and did not hold office again, although he remained active in union affairs until his death.
Early years.
William D. Robinson was born on 22 May 1826.
He started work as a fireman in 1846, and was promoted to locomotive engineer in 1848.
He was employed by the New Albany & Salem Railroad.
On 6–9 November 1855 a convention of locomotive engineers was held in Baltimore at which it was agreed to form a "National Protective Association of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers of the United States." Benjamin Hoxie was elected President, and William D. Robinson secretary. The organization held a number of meetings up to the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, but did not make much progress.
The New Albany & Salem Railroad ran into financial difficulties and was having trouble meeting payroll.
In the fall of 1862 Robinson's friend J.C. Thompson arranged for him to be hired by the Michigan Central Railroad, and he moved to Detroit.
Union leader.
In April 1863 nineteen locomotive engineers met at Robinson's house and decided to form an organization to represent their interests.
Robinson was discharged from Michigan Central as an agitator.
As Grand Chief he traveled widely between October 1863 and August 1864, and organized fifty-four local divisions.
On 1 July 1864 the employees of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad went on strike for more pay.
On 11 July 1864 the army seized the railroad and took over operations.
On 16 July the strike was called off. Half the strikers, or about 75 men, got their jobs back at existing pay. The others were dismissed.
It is not clear that the union had sanctioned the strike, since all employees were involved, not just locomotive engineers, and the strike was for more pay rather than for preserving existing rights.
However, when the Brotherhood of the Footboard held their convention in Indianapolis on 17 August 1864 they changed their name to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and replaced Robinson as Grand Chief Engineer by Charles Wilson. The first, radical, phase of the union was over.
Later career.
Robinson was reinstated in his old local in May 1873.
Later that year the Pennsylvania Railroad ordered a reduction of pay, and the engineers went on strike. Charles Wilson publicly criticized their action. The Brotherhood called a special meeting in Cleveland on 25 February 1874. Robinson made a spirited speech vindicating the strikers, and was applauded by the delegates.
Charles Wilson was forced to resign and was replaced as Grand Chief Engineer by Peter M. Arthur.
For reasons of health, Robinson retired from railroad work in 1883, but continued to be active with the Brotherhood.
He spoke in 1890 at a meeting of the five Brotherhoods of Railroad Fraternities, where he was reported to be old and feeble,
but gave a speech full of "sound advice and encouragement".
Robinson died after a prolonged illness from cancer of the stomach on 7 November 1890 in Washington, Daviess County, Indiana, at the age of 64.
During his life he had seen the Brotherhood grow to 28,000 members in 452 lodges across North America.
A marker was erected in 1974 at his house in Marshall, Calhoun County, Michigan, where the Railroad Union was born.


Cajon Pass

Cajon Pass (; elevation ) is a mountain pass between the San Bernardino Mountains and the San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California. It was created by the movements of the San Andreas Fault. Located in the Mojave Desert, the pass is an important link from the Greater San Bernardino Area to the Victor Valley, and northeast to Las Vegas.
Cajon Pass is at the head of Horsethief Canyon, traversed by California State Route 138 (SR 138) and railroad tracks owned by BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad. Improvements in 1972 reduced the railroad's maximum elevation from about while reducing curvature.
Interstate 15 does not traverse Cajon Pass, but rather the nearby Cajon Summit, , elevation . The entire area, Cajon Pass and Cajon Summit, is often referred to as Cajon Pass, but a distinction is made between Cajon Pass and Cajon Summit.
In 1851 a group of Mormon settlers led by Amasa M. Lyman and Charles C. Rich traveled through Cajon Pass in covered wagons on their way from Salt Lake City to southern California. A prominent rock formation in the pass, where the Mormon Road and the railway merge (at , near Sullivan's Curve), is known as Mormon Rocks.
Name.
In Spanish the word "cajón" refers to a box or drawer. The name of the pass is derived from the Spanish land grant encompassing the area; it was first referred to in English on an 1852 map. Early Latter-day Saint documents, which often referred to the pass as "Cahoon Pass", suggest an alternate explanation for the name, that it is named in honor of Mormon pioneer Andrew Cahoon (pronounced identically to Cajon), who was an early settler in nearby San Bernardino and assisted in surveying and laying out the city of San Bernardino.
Aviation.
Cajon Pass is known for high wind, turbulence and fog.
The weather over the pass can vary from foggy days with poor visibility to clear afternoons where aircraft are bounced by gusting Santa Ana winds that top . The wind is typically out of the west, although in Santa Ana and other weather conditions it may be out of the north or the southeast. Air spilling over the San Gabriels can cause violent up- and downdrafts. On a normal day, with the wind out of the west, turbulence usually starts a few miles west of Rialto and continues a few miles to the east, growing in strength above the altitude of the mountains and especially over the pass near the HITOP intersection. In Santa Ana conditions, up- and downdrafts can become violent northeast of Ontario Airport, and turbulence can be experienced east to the Banning Pass, well known for turbulence. The mass and wing loading of an aircraft determine its sensitivity to turbulence, so what may seem violent in a Cessna 172 may seem only mild to moderate in a Boeing 747. In the 2006 Mercy Air 2 accident, an air ambulance helicopter collided with mountainous terrain near the pass in foggy weather.
Rail transport.
Traffic.
The California Southern Railroad, a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, was the first railroad through Cajon Pass. The line through the pass was built in the early 1880s to connect the present day cities of Barstow and San Diego. Today the Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway (the successor to the Santa Fe) use the pass to reach Los Angeles and San Bernardino as part of the Southern Transcon. Due to the many trains, scenery and easy access, it is a popular location for railfans, and many photographs of trains on Cajon Pass appear in books and magazines.
The Union Pacific Railroad owns one track through the pass, on the previous Southern Pacific Railroad Palmdale cutoff, opened in 1967. The BNSF Railway owns two tracks and began to operate a third main track in the summer of 2008. The railroads share track rights through the pass ever since the Union Pacific gained track rights on the Santa Fe portion negotiated under the original Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad. The original BNSF (ATSF) line was built in the 1880s and later roads, U.S. Route 66 and I-15, roughly followed this route. The 3.0% grade for a few miles on the south track is challenging for long trains, making the westbound descent dangerous, as a runaway can occur if the engineer is not careful in handling the brakes. The second track, built in 1913, is longer to get a lower 2.2% grade. It ran through two short tunnels, but both were removed when the third main track was added next to the 1913 line. Trains may be seen traveling at speeds of on the straighter track away from the pass, but typically ascend at and descend at . With the third track, the BNSF lines have a capacity of 150 trains per day.
Passenger service.
Amtrak's "Desert Wind" used the pass until it quit running in 1997. The "Southwest Chief" runs daily between Chicago and Los Angeles, through Cajon Pass on the BNSF line.
In 2020, Brightline initiated planning for a high-speed route between Victorville and Rancho Cucamonga as an extension of their forthcoming Brightline West service. The route was not initially considered by the project's preceding operators as it was seen as prohibitively expensive.
Road transport.
The Mojave Freeway (I-15) was built in 1969 over Cajon Summit west of Cajon Pass. It is a major route from Los Angeles and the Inland Empire to Las Vegas. The freeway runs above and parallel to an original stretch of historic Route 66 and U.S. Route 395. This stretch, now known as Cajon Boulevard, is a short, well-preserved fragment dating to a rerouting and widening of the highway in the early 1950s. Only the southbound/westbound lanes are in use; the northbound/eastbound lanes and corresponding bridges are closed to through traffic. It is along this stretch of road, accessible via either the Kenwood Drive or Cleghorn Road exits that some of the best trainspotting areas are found.
The historic Summit Inn, off the Oak Hills exit at the summit of the pass, was a historic Route 66 diner and was in the same location from 1952 to 2016, when it was destroyed by the Blue Cut fire. Some maps may show the Cajon Pass as a feature on SR 138, which crosses I-15 south of the summit between West Cajon Valley and Summit Valley. The highest point on I-15 between Los Angeles and Victorville is thus sometimes identified as Cajon Summit. However, the entire area, including Cajon Summit, is often called Cajon Pass.
Pacific Crest Trail.
The Pacific Crest Trail goes directly through Cajon Pass, and during the hiking season up to several thousand transient hikers will pass through this area after walking one of the hottest, driest, and most grueling sections of desert on the trail. The McDonald's restaurant at the pass happens to be very close to the trail, and it is famous among hikers. Many hikers also spend the night in the one motel at Cajon Pass.
Utilities infrastructure.
Three high voltage Southern California Edison 500 kV power lines cross the summit. These lines head to the Lugo substation northeast of Cajon Pass and connect to Path 26 and Path 46. Both Path 26 and 46 provide the Los Angeles metro area another source of electricity generated from fossil fuel power plants in the Four Corners region, and hydroelectric dams along the Colorado River.
Natural hazards.
During October and November 2003, a number of wildfires devastated the hills and mountainsides near and around the pass, forcing the closure of Interstate 15. The following winter, rains in addition to burnt vegetation caused a number of landslides to further close the freeway pass.
On July 17, 2015, during severe drought conditions plaguing the whole state and creating extreme fire hazards, a fast, wind-whipped wildfire swept over Interstate 15 between California State Route 138 and the Oak Hill Road exits, sending drivers running for safety and setting 20 vehicles ablaze, officials said. The vegetation fire, which closed the I-15 southbound lanes and restricted the northbound side to one lane, overtook stalled cars.
The following year the Blue Cut Fire again forced the closure of the freeway for several days starting on August 16, 2016. The fire closed the I-15 north and southbound lanes due to the intensity of the fire. It destroyed a number of outbuildings and homes, and destroyed the Summit Inn Restaurant in Oak Hills. A McDonald's restaurant was also burned but the damage was minor. The fire threatened homes in Lytle Creek, Phelan, Oak Hills and Wrightwood and burned
Cajon Pass is notorious for high winds, particularly during Santa Ana wind season, with gusts of wind up to . It has been known to cause high-profile vehicles such as semi-trucks to lose control or tip over. During wind advisories, Caltrans will use its Changeable message signs to warn motorists of dangerous weather in the Cajon Pass.
Cajon Pass gets snow occasionally, usually not enough to cause closures. When any closure is total, California Highway Patrols would provide escorts through the pass as the Interstate 15 is a major artery for the High Desert region.
When there is high wind or snow in the Cajon Pass, it is fairly common for weather forecasters or reporters from Los Angeles television stations to do location reports from the Cajon Pass.
The San Andreas Fault passes through the Cajon Pass (crossing I-15 on the south side of the summit) and is responsible for the unique local geography.


Augusta and Edgefield Railroad

The Augusta and Edgefield Railroad was a South Carolina railroad chartered by the state's General Assembly in 1884.
In late December 1886, the Augusta and Edgefield's charter was amended to change the carrier's name to the Augusta, Edgefield and Newberry Railroad.


Clover Hill Railroad

The Clover Hill Railroad was a railroad company that operated for 36 years in central Virginia near Richmond. The railroad was created to carry coal most efficiently from the Clover Hill Pits in Winterpock, Virginia, to further transportation points in Chester, Virginia, where it could sold for a better price than on the Appomattox River in the Piedmont region. This made the railroad important to the Confederacy in the Civil War to ensure a supply of coal for munitions and iron working. The mines were dangerous for the miners, and many accidents occurred. The railroad had to be sold when coal mining declined so that new owners could find other uses for the railroad.
History.
Founding of the Railroad.
The Clover Hill Railroad Company was chartered in 1841 by the Virginia General Assembly to do business with the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad but was not allowed to charge more than 2 cents per bushel of coal shipped over the railroad. In 1845 the Clover Hill Railroad replaced the mules that brought coal from the Clover Hill Pitts to the Appomattox at Eppington to be shipped on the Upper Appomattox Canal Navigation System to Petersburg. In 1847, October 1, the Clover Mining Company built of railroad from the coal mines at Winterpock to the town of Chester to make a spur of the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad. By 1848 the railroad spur had hauled 56 tons of coal for export and 22 tons for use in Richmond and Petersburg.
The Clover Hill struggled with increases charged on prices for transporting coal to Richmond, Petersburg and Port Walthall by the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad in 1854. The Clover Hill also found it necessary to ask the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad to fulfill their agreements and maintain the Clover Hill Railroad tracks. In 1866 the Clover Hill Mining Company built a wharf at Osborne's Landing in order to load the coal on to ships to the coast. The line was extended to Osborne's Landing in 1867.
American Civil War and the Clover Hill Railroad.
During the Civil War, the Confederate States needed coal because they could not get it from Pennsylvania. They turned to mines in Midlothian and Clover Hill, Virginia. DS Woolridge, a Confederate government coal agent in Richmond, wrote in 1862 that he had received, by way of the Clover Hill Railroad, over 1320 bushels of coal for delivery to Manassas, Virginia. The Clover Hill Coal Mines were one of the main suppliers of coal to the Tredegar Iron Works for Confederate arms. Coke, a very pure coal-based fuel, was also made at Winterpock from 1865 to 1870 for use in Tredegar. Clover Hill, in turn, bought bars and spikes from the Tredegar Iron Works.
The U.S. Federal Government ran the Clover Hill Railroad in the last year of the Civil War to meet coal shortages in Richmond and Petersburg.
Bankruptcy.
The demand for coal from the mine declined after the Civil War. The railroad lost money, and in 1877 the Railroad and Mines were sold to the Brighthope Mining Company. In 1881, the line was reconstituted by investors as the Brighthope Railway.
Stations.
The first tracks were laid from the Clover Hill Pitts to south at Epps Falls on the Appomattox. The Clover Hill Railroad was granted a charter in 1841, and in 1846 tracks were built from the Clover Hill coal mines at Winterpock to the town of Chester. The Railroad had the Swift Creek Rail Bridge.
The line was extended to Osborne's Landing in 1867.


Pacific Sun Railroad

Pacific Sun Railroad was a short line railroad in San Diego County, California that worked on the Escondido Sub, the Miramar Branch, and in Stuart Mesa Yard. It was based out of Stuart Mesa Yard in Oceanside, California. It is owned by Watco Companies.
History.
The Pacific Sun Railroad commenced operations on October 25th, 2008 after being contracted by the BNSF Railway. As of October 1st, 2020, the Pacific Sun Railroad's contract with BNSF expired and BNSF will once again run local freight operations on the NCTD Escondido Sub and the Miramar Branch off the NCTD San Diego Subdivision.
Operations.
Pacific Sun Railroad ran trains weekdays late at night along the North County Transit District's Escondido Subdivision, between Oceanside and Escondido, California, and the Miramar Spur off of the NCTD San Diego Subdivison.
Equipment.
Pacific Sun owns four locomotives. Two GP35 units originally owned by Seaboard Air Line, and two GP40 units originally owned by Western Pacific Railroad.


Charles Edward Trail

Charles Edward Trail (28 January 1826 – 11 May 1909) was a prominent Frederick County, Maryland landowner, businessman and a member of the Maryland General Assembly, an officer in the 1st Maryland Infantry, Potomac Home Brigade as well as a member of the City council of Frederick, Maryland.
Life and Works.
Charles Edward Trail was born on January 28, 1826 in Frederick Maryland to Edward Traill (sic, 1798 – 1876) and Lydia Ramsburg (1802 – 18?) in Frederick Maryland. The 1850 census records show that Trail was a young lawyer living with his parents in Frederick town.
In 1851, Trail married Ariana McElfresh, the daughter of one of the wealthiest landowners in Frederick, John H. McElfresh (1796 – 1841). Ariana's mother was the former Theresa Mantz. Her father was born near New Market, Frederick County, Maryland, the son of Henry and Ariana (Hammond) McElfresh and attended Frederick College; University of Maryland Medical School, 1817 as well as studying Medicine under Dr. L. T. Hammond, of Anne Arundel County, 1813 and then law under John Nelson of Frederick; admitted to the bar, 1825. They had several children, including the author, Florence Trail.
Trail received a classical education at Frederick College,and was admitted to the bar in 1849. In 1852, Trail was one of the founding incorporators for the Mt. Olivet cemetery in Frederick Maryland. In the 1860 census, Trail was listed again as a lawyer but with property valued at $115,000|$US, a wife (Ariana), four children. The separate 1860 Slave census shows Trail with three slaves. That same year, Trail was elected president of the Isabella gas works company in Frederick, eventually becoming the sole stock holder.
In August 1862, Trail was appointed lieutenant-colonel, 1st Maryland Infantry, Potomac Home Brigade. Seven companies of which were mustered into service and encamped in August near the turnpike, about a mile and a half north of Frederick. On October 15, 1869, President U.S. Grant and his party (including General Sherman) stayed in Frederick in 1869 while visiting the Antietam battleground. General Sherman stayed with Trail during the visit.
He began his political career as a member of the Maryland General Assembly representing Frederick County: House of Delegates (R), 1863 thru 1864; then in the Senate (R), 1865 thru 1867. In 1870, he was president of the board of aldermen for the City of Frederick, a post he held for three years. That same year he was elected a director of the Frederick and Pennsylvania Line Railroad Company and then President of the railroad in 1878.
On 12 June 1877, Trail was injured in a Baltimore & Ohio railroad train wreck at Point of Rocks by a train bound to Washington and Mt. Vernon. Five persons were killed outright, and a large number seriously injured when two passenger coaches filled with excursionists to Washington and Mt. Vernon were telescoped. Trail was rescued from the smashup by John C. Hardt & William S. Bennett
In 1878, Trail became president of the Farmers' and Mechanics' bank of Frederick County. The bank had been raided by Confederate troops during the civil war and lost $17,000|US$. In 1881, Trail was made a director for the Mutual Insurance company of Frederick County.
Death.
Trail died on May 11, 1909 in Frederick, Maryland and is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery. One of his great-grandsons was three-term U.S. Senator Charles "Mac" Mathias of Maryland.


Terminal Commerce Building

Terminal Commerce Building, also known as the North American Building, is a historic building complex located in the Callowhill neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was built between 1929 and 1931 by the Reading Company, and is a combined office, showroom, parking garage, warehouse and freight station totaling over 1.3 million square feet. It measures 528 feet by 225 feet. The front section houses offices, and is a 14-story, reinforced concrete, brick and terra cotta faced building in the Art Deco style. The front facade has a central tower with terra cotta ornamentation that houses water tanks. The rear warehouse section is 12-stories and is "H"-shaped.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. It is a contributing property to the Callowhill Industrial Historic District.
Today, the building serves as one of the largest interconnection and colocation facilities on the east coast of the United States with 11 stories and 1.3 million square feet of space. The property was acquired by Netrality Properties in March 2014, and is considered the most fiber-dense, network neutral facility between New York and Virginia.


United Rail Passenger Alliance

The United Rail Passenger Alliance (URPA), according to its website, is "America’s foremost passenger rail policy institute". URPA publishes the news bulletin, "This Week at Amtrak."
History.
The Alliance was formed by Andrew C. Selden, Austin M. Coates, Byron Alfred Nordberg, and Dr. Adrian D. Herzog in 1976. Since 1984 it has been chartered in the State of Minnesota, and is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida by its president, J. Bruce Richardson.
URPA is a non-membership organization, solely supported by internal funding, as independent group which aims to improve America's passenger rail system through smart business practices. "URPA associates come from every part of the political and social spectrum, with the criteria of an understanding of the business of passenger rail and the importance of passenger rail as a key element of our domestic transportation network."
Organization.
URPA maintains an associated board of directors around the nation, with an executive committee composed of vice-presidents.


Robert Trias

Robert A. Trias (March 18, 1923 – July 11, 1989) was an American karate pioneer, founding the first karate school in the mainland United States and becoming one of the first known American black belts. He also developed Shuri-ryū karate, an eclectic style with roots in Chinese kung-fu, and indirectly some Okinawan karate.
Life before karate.
Trias was employed by Southern Pacific Company as a boilermaker apprentice from 1937–39 and a boilermaker from 1939-42.
Introduction to karate.
While serving in the United States Naval Reserve as a Metalsmith First Class (M1c) during World War II, Robert Trias was stationed on or around Tulagi in the Solomon Islands from June 1944 to November 1945, and was a Navy champion middleweight boxer. There he met Tung Gee Hsiang, a Chinese missionary of Chan (Zen) Buddhism. Hsiang often watched Trias work out and imitated his boxing footwork, and he asked to practice with Trias. Trias refused because Hsiang was "just a tiny little guy," but Hsiang was persistent and at last Trias agreed to spar with him. Hsiang gave Trias "the biggest thrashing of his life" and Trias then asked Hsiang to instruct him in the martial arts.
Hsiang taught Trias some xingyiquan as well as some Okinawan Shuri-Te karate, which Hsiang had learned from Choki Motobu in Okinawa. Later, Trias studied with Hoy Yuan Ping whose lineage was from the Teshin Shinjo School of Kempo Jujutsu in Japan. Trias also held a 6th dan black belt in Kodokan Judo, and studied under Yaju Yamada. Trias was also mentored by Yasuhiro Konishi and Makoto Gima.
Karate in the U.S..
In late 1945, shortly before Trias left the Navy in January of the following year, he began teaching martial arts in his backyard. He later opened the first public karate school operated by a Caucasian in the United States mainland in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1946. Trias served as an officer of the Arizona State Highway Patrol from 1946-1961 utilizing his self-defense knowledge on duty and teaching his fellow officers. In 1948 he founded the United States Karate Association (USKA), the first karate organization on the American mainland. Jointly with John Keehan, Trias hosted the first national karate tournament in the United States, called the 1st World Karate Tournament, at the University of Chicago Fieldhouse in 1963 in Chicago, IL. This event was retitled the USKA Nationals in 1966 and the USKA Grand Nationals in 1968. His rules for tournament competition are still used today with only slight variation.
Trias' style was once dubbed, by Trias himself, as Shuri Karate Kenpo, Goju-Shorei-Ryu, and Shorei-Goju ryu though there is no relationship or direct ancestry to the Goju-Ryu currently practiced in Okinawa or the original form of Shorei-ryu once practiced by the Okinawans. His style is now referred to as Shuri-ryu to imply roots to traditional karate though his style is much different from any martial art originating from the Okinawan islands. It has much more Chinese influence and overtones than Okinawan. The naming of his style was as eclectic as the style itself. A few US organizations claim to trace their roots to him and the USKA, including the United States Karate-Do Kai, Professional Karate Commission, United States Karate Alliance, International Shuri-Ryu Association, and Kondo No Shokai.
Career accomplishments.
Robert Trias was responsible for the following developments in karate in United States:
Published works.
Trias authored "Karate is my Life" (1963), "The Hand is my Sword" (1974), "The Pinnacle of Karate" (1980), "The Supreme Way" (1983), and "Render Yourself Empty" (1984).
Honors.
Trias was the recipient of the 1989 Black Belt Hall of Fame Honorary Award.
Death and legacy.
Trias died from a stent of reoccurring illnesses. Including a number of infections and stage 2 cancer complications exaggerated by an unspecified preexisting condition on July 11, 1989, leaving multiple branches of the Shuri ryu system. Most of the highest ranks and Chief Instructors followed Robert Bowles in the formation of the International Shuri-ryu Association


St. Cloud Rail Bridge

The St. Cloud Rail Bridge is a pin-connected truss bridge that spans the Mississippi River in St. Cloud, Minnesota, United States. It was built in 1892 by Great Northern Railway and was probably designed by the railroad. Two of the piers are stone, while a third pier is newer and made of concrete. The bridge has an extra set of bracing that hangs about ten feet below the bottom trusses, appearing to hang like a hammock. This was added to increase the capacity of the bridge.


William Crooks (colonel)

William "Billy" Crooks (June 20, 1832 – December 17, 1907) was a Colonel during the American Civil War, member of the House of Representatives, U.S. Military Academy graduate, and a veteran railroader. He led the 6th Regiment Minnesota Volunteer Infantry from August 1862 to October 1864, mainly contending against the Sioux. Crooks built the first rail line in the State of Minnesota, the St. Paul & Pacific. His first locomotive he named for himself the "William Crooks" 4-4-0 and began its operation in 1861. His operation was taken over by James J. Hill. The William Crooks would become the first locomotive of Hill's Great Northern Railroad.
Early life and career.
When William Crooks was seventeen, he enrolled at West Point and graduated in the department of Civil Engineers. (class of 1854). In 1852, William Crooks began his career as an engineer with Morris & Essex Road. From 1853 to 1855 he was assistant engineer for the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana, and shortly after he occupied a similar position with the New York State Canal from 1855 to 1857. At the same time from 1859 to 1862, Crooks was also chief engineer at St. Paul & Pacific Railroad. Crooks then served the following two years as assistant engineer for the Minnesota & Pacific Railroad. Over the next 38 years, Crooks came to Portland as assistant to A. L. Mohler, general manager of the O.R. & N and was associated with other railroads in various capacities. From 1862 to 1865, he was Colonel of the 6th Minnesota Infantry Regiment with the Union Army. In 1869 Crooks engaged in railroad contract work until 1890. The following two years until 1892 he was president and chief engineer of Wadena & Park Rapids Railroad. His final job was chief engineer at Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad that lasted three years until 1895. During his life, Colonel Crooks was recognized as one of the best railroaders in the country.
Civil War.
William Crooks served as colonel in the 6th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment and led five companies that fought against the Indians in the U.S.-Dakota War. Formed in Hokah, MN, the 6th Regiment was organized throughout the summer and fall of 1862 in response to President Abraham Lincoln's calls for a total of 600,000 additional troops. Over the course of the next two years, the regiment stayed in Minnesota due to the outbreak of the 1862 Dakota War despite the original plan to head south. Colonel Crooks was also president of a court-martial by which 100 Native American were condemned to death. His task was to bring about a revision of the findings of the bodies so that not more than 40 of the convicted Indians were executed. By the spring of 1864, the members of the Sixth Regiment were directed to carry on to Helena, Arkansas, on the Mississippi River. The Sixth Regiment, 950 total, arrived in Helena on June 23, 1864, and spent the next four months in unpredictable conditions. By this time, 58 enlisted men had died from malaria and over 650 people reported as sick. Finally in November, Colonel Crooks' troops were sent to fight under command of General E.R.S. Canby's campaign in Mobile, Alabama, and were in reserve during the April 9 capture of Fort Blakely. On August 19, 1865, William Crooks and his regiment returned home at last to Fort Snelling after a successful battle with the South.
Death.
For years of suffering from a kidney disease, William Crooks' condition became consistently worse until late 1907, when he contracted a severe cold. Many telegrams from prominent railroad officials throughout the country expressed sympathy for Crooks' family when he died at the age of 75 in Portland, Oregon. Crooks' funeral services were held in St. Paul days after his death, and his body was accompanied by his son and family. Colonel Crooks' engines used by the Northern Pacific Railway Company are still preserved in the car shops of the Hill system at St. Paul as a relic of the early railroad history of the country.


Thomas C. Durant

Thomas Clark Durant (February 6, 1820 – October 5, 1885) was an American physician, businessman, and financier. He was vice-president of the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) in 1869 when it met with the Central Pacific railroad at Promontory Summit in Utah Territory. He created the financial structure that led to the Crédit Mobilier scandal.
He successfully built railroads in the Midwest, and, after an 1862 act of Congress created the Union Pacific Railroad, John A. Dix was elected president and Durant vice president of the company. Durant assumed the burden of management and money raising—and, with much money at his disposal, he helped secure the 1864 passage of a bill that increased the railroad's land grants and privileges. He organized, and at first controlled, the Crédit Mobilier of America, but in 1867 he lost control of the company to brothers Oliver and Oakes Ames. Durant continued on the directorate of the Union Pacific, however, and furiously pushed construction of the railroad until it met the Central Pacific RR on May 10, 1869. The Ames group then procured his discharge.
Biography.
Durant was born February 6, 1820 in Lee, Massachusetts. He studied medicine at Albany Medical College where, in 1840, he graduated "cum laude" and briefly served as assistant professor of surgery. After he retired from medicine, he became a director of his uncle's grain exporting company: Durant, Lathrop and Company in New York City.
While working with the prairie wheat trade, Durant realized the need for improved inland transportation, which led to his interest in the railroad industry. Durant started in the railroad industry as a broker for the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad. During that time, Durant became professionally acquainted with Henry Farnam.
The two men created a new contracting company under the name of Farnam and Durant. In 1853, they received a commission to raise capital and manage construction for the newly chartered Mississippi and Missouri Railroad (M&M). The M&M Railroad acquired major land grants to build Iowa's first railroad (planned to go from Davenport on the Mississippi River to Council Bluffs on the Missouri River).
The centerpiece of the M&M was a wooden railroad bridge, which, when completed in 1856, was the first bridge across the Mississippi River. The bridge linked the M&M to the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad. After a steamboat hit the bridge, boat operators sued to have the bridge dismantled. Durant and the Rock Island hired private attorney Abraham Lincoln to defend the bridge. This association played to Durant's favor in 1862, when President Lincoln selected Durant's new company, the Union Pacific, and its operation center in Council Bluffs, Iowa as the starting point of the First Transcontinental Railroad.
 "Like Samson he would not hesitate to pull down the temple even if it meant burying himself along with his enemies." Durant had a ruthless reputation for squeezing friend and foe for personal gain. As general agent for the UP Eastern Division, Durant was also charged with raising money, acquiring resources, and securing favorable national legislation for the company. In addition to securing an enlarged land grant from Congress in 1864 as part of the legislature's subsidizing distribution of 100 million public acres, Durant effectively reacted to the Union Pacific's failure to sell significant stock in light of the Pacific Railway Act of 1862 ruling that merchant holding would be limited to 200 shares per person. Proposing to finance the required ten percent down payment on stock himself, Durant campaigned to brokers and merchants in the New York and Philadelphia areas on the condition that he would be reimbursed at a later date. Persuading various politicians to invest as limited stockholders, amongst others, Durant successfully issued $2.18 million of UP stock to subscribers.
At the same time, Durant manipulated the stock market, running up the value of his M&M stock by saying he was going to connect the Transcontinental Railroad to it. He was secretly buying competing rail line stock, and then said the Transcontinental Railroad was going to go to that line.
Since the government paid for each mile of track laid, Durant overrode his engineers and ordered extra track laid in large oxbows. In the first years, the Union Pacific did not extend further than from Omaha, Nebraska. As the federal government was waging the Civil War, Durant avoided its oversight on railroad construction.
During the Civil War, Durant made a fortune smuggling contraband cotton from the Confederate States with the help of General Grenville M. Dodge. When the war ended in 1865, the Union Pacific put extra labor on. It completed nearly two thirds of the transcontinental route. Durant employed Dodge as the chief engineer along the Platte River route.
One of Durant's biggest coups was the creation of Crédit Mobilier of America. Durant and entrepreneur George Francis Train joined in March 1864 to form a business venture to buy out the Pennsylvania Fiscal Agency, changing its name to Crédit Mobilier. The company was one of the first to take advantage of the new limited liability financial structures. Previously, investors were responsible for the finances of a company if it had problems. Under limited liability, their only responsibility was for money paid in. Durant created this limited liability company to encourage UP investors to agree to take on the railroad's construction after contracted employee Herbert Hoxie announced that he would fail to meet his deadline for building 247 miles of track. Investors thought that this contract, given the high construction cost, was too great a risk, but the protection offered by Crédit Mobilier convinced them to take on the construction. Durant then manipulated Crédit Mobilier's structure so that he wound up in control of it. UP was effectively paying him via Crédit Mobilier to build the railroad. Durant covered his tracks by having various politicians, including future President James Garfield, as limited stockholders. Things got worse for Durant when it came clear that he had violated the 1862 Pacific Railroad Act by using his control of the Crédit Mobilier to become the majority stockholder in the Union Pacific Railroad. There was also suspicion that Durant had taken money from the company, yet it seems that his co-workers were too fearful of him to meet clandestinely to discuss this possibility. Durant's control at Crédit Mobilier was challenged after Oak Ames took Durant to court and fired him from Crédit Mobilier in May 1867. Ames had previously been a Massachusetts Representative and had also assisted Durant in bribing congressmen and other government officials. In 1867 Durant was ousted from his position managing Crédit Mobilier. President Ulysses S. Grant fired Durant from Union Pacific. The company Crédit Mobilier had been increasingly associated with corruption and secrecy and the government was fed up with not being paid back for loans and the swindling that went on at each company.
Like many others, Durant lost a great deal of his wealth in the Panic of 1873. He sold his remaining stock in Union Pacific and started a new railroad company, Adirondack Railroad. He spent the last twelve years of his life fighting lawsuits from disgruntled partners and investors.
Marriage and family.
Durant was married to Hannah Heloise Trimble. They had two children: William West Durant, who became an architect, and Héloïse Durant Rose (c.1853–1943), who became an author, playwright, and book reviewer.
In 1873 Durant summoned his family home to rebuild their fortune in the Adirondack Wilderness, where he had accumulated a half a million acres of land. His vision was to open up the wilderness to tourists and as a destination for the wealthy to own second homes. At the time, he owned the Adirondack Railroad and was seeking investors to continue the track from North Creek, NY on into Canada. He tasked his son William with pioneering the venture, though, according to William, he maintained ultimate control. William set his sights on his own architectural vision for the region and was instrumental in developing the first Great Camp architecture. Father and son encouraged wealthy investors to visit their Camp Pine Knot, entertaining them lavishly. William's camps Pine Knot, Uncas and Sagamore were eventually sold to Collis P. Huntington, J.P. Morgan and Alfred Vanderbilt.
Héloïse attended private schools in Europe and the United States, and was fluent in Arabic, French, German, and Italian. She became an American author, playwright, and book reviewer for "The New York Times", and she wrote in addition to articles and plays essays, poems, and short stories. Her dramatic poem "Dante" (1910) was translated into Italian and is believed to be the first American play produced on the Italian stage. Additionally, Héloïse founded the Dante League in 1917 "for popular propaganda for the study of Dante" and was a signatory of the "Memorial to the Columbia College Board of Trustees", an 1883 petition to allow female students to attend lectures and examinations at Columbia College. (Other prominent signers included Susan B. Anthony, Caroline Sterling Choate, Chauncey M. Depew, Parke Godwin, Emma Lazarus, Josephine Shaw Lowell, Theodore Roosevelt, Georgina Schuyler, and Charles Comfort Tiffany.)
Death.
Durant died in Warren County, New York on October 5, 1885. He is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.


National rail network

In United States railroading, the term national rail network, sometimes termed "U.S. rail network", refers to the entire network of interconnected standard gauge rail lines in North America. It does not include most subway or light rail lines. Federal Railroad Administration regulations require passenger cars used on the national rail network to be heavy and strong enough to protect riders in case of collision with freight trains.