THE YEAR 1850.

Eighteen railroad companies were incorporated in 1850. Only three of the companies built their roads.

The Toledo, Norwalk and Cleveland Railroad Company chartered February 7, 1850. Now part of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company. History in connection with that company in 1833.

Ohio and Indiana Railroad Company chartered March 20, 1850. History in connection with Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne and Chicago Railway Company, 1848.

Springfield and Mansfield Railroad Co. Chartered March 21, 1850. History given in connection with Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway Company, 1836.

THE YEAR 1851.

Twenty-one railroad companies were chartered in 1851. Seven of the companies built their roads.

Cincinnati, Wilmington and Zanesville Railroad Co. Now known as the Cincinnati and Muskingum Valley Railroad Co. The company early became insolvent and its property was sold under judicial proceedings a new company organized under, the name of the Cincinnati and Zanesville Railroad Company. This company also became embarrassed and its property and franchise were sold under judicial proceedings, the Cincinnati and Muskingum Valley Railway Company becoming the purchaser and adopting the road as a part of its line between Cincinnati and Cleveland.

February 4, 1851, an act was passed to incorporate the Cincinnati, Wilmington and Zanesville Railroad Company, O. L. L., vol. 49, page 424. Subsequent to this, several acts were passed authorizing counties and towns to subscribe to the capital stock of the company. This company constructed its road from Zanesville to Morrow in Warren county.

February 23, 1857. On this date the company having become embarrassed and unable to pay the interest on its bonded debt a suit in chancery was brought in the Circuit Court of the United States for the southern district of Ohio for foreclosure of mortgage and sale of the road. A receiver was appointed and the road operated by him with the approval and co-operation of the directors of the company. Meantime, a plan of reorganization and capitalization was prepared.

August 27, 1862. On this date the road was sold and purchased by a trustee for the benefit of the parties agreeing to the plan of reorganization.

March 12, 1864. On this date the trustees conveyed the road and franchise of the company to the reorganized company as the Cincinnati and Zanesville Railroad Company.

This reorganized company soon became insolvent and on April 30, 1869, a bill in chancery was again filed for foreclosure of mortgage and sale of road. This sale was made to Thomas L. Jewett, who operated the road in his individual capacity until at his request the trustees executed a deed for the property to the Cincinnati and Muskingum Valley Railway Company.

January 25, 1870. Organization of the Cincinnati and Muskingum Valley Railway Company. Record of incorporation vol. 7, page l00. Subsequently the road was leased to the PanHandle Company; the lease set aside and the road was sold at public auction and purchased by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company on account of the P., C., C. & St. L. R’y Co., which company now holds the stock of the company, but the road itself is operated independently.

Line of road:

The railway and property of this company were sold on June 29, 1898, under foreclosure of the mortgage dated September 1, 1870, and was reorganized by the purchasers August 1, 1898, under the name of Cincinnati and Muskingum Valley Railroad Company.

The Dayton, Xenia and Belpre Railroad Company. This company was chartered February 19, 1851, O. L. L., vol. 49, page 432, for building a railroad from Dayton to Xenia and there to intersect with the Belpre and Cincinnati Railroad in Highland county. The company became embarrassed and the road was sold under judicial proceedings, and on February 4, 1865, the road from Dayton to Xenia was purchased by the Little Miami and Columbus and Xenia [Zenia] Railroad Companies, then operated under a partnership, which was dissolved on the 30th day of November, 1868, when a contract of lease was entered into by which the Little Miami Railroad Company leased the Columbus and Xenia Railroad for 99 years and also the rights of the Columbus and Xenia Company in the Dayton, Xenia and Belpre Railroad, which passed with the lease of the Little Miami Railroad to the Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad Company on December 1, 1869.

Sandusky City and Indiana Railroad Company. This company was chartered February 28, 1851, O. L. L., vol. 49, page 434. Its history is given in connection with the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad Company. Ante 1832.

Northern Indiana Railroad Company. This company was chartered March 3, 1851, Laws of Indiana, 1835, page 16, and is now a part of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company, and its history is given in connection with that company. Ante 1833.

Dayton and Michigan Railroad Company. This company was chartered March 3, 1851, and its history will be found in connection with the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad Company, lessee of its road. Ante 1846.

Bellefontaine and Indiana Railroad Company (of Ohio). This company was chartered February 25, 1848. Its history will be found in connection with the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway Company. Ante 1836.

Cleveland, Akron and Columbus Railway Company. This company was incorporated as the Akron branch of the Cleveland and Pittsburg Railroad Company, March 17; 1851, by authority of the act passed February 19, 1851, Ohio L. L., vol. 49, page 46, to amend the act to incorporate the Cleveland and Pittsburg Railroad Company, passed March 14, 1836, Ohio L. L., vol. 34, page 376. The company was organized as a separate and distinct company to build a railroad from Hudson, Ohio, to connect with the present Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad. The road was constructed from Hudson to Millersburg, sixty-one miles. It was operated as the Akron branch until the March term, 1853, of the Common Pleas Court of Summit county, Ohio, when the name was changed to Cleveland, Zanesville and Cincinnati Railroad Company. See Rec. of Corp., Vol. I, page 159. In August, 1861, suit was brought to foreclose mortgage and a receiver was appointed, who operated the road until November 2, 1864, when the entire property was sold to Geo. W. Cass and John J. Marvin. On July 1, 1865, these parties conveyed the property to the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway Company, which company owned and operated the road until June 27, 1869, when it was leased in perpetuity to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. The Pittsburg, Mt. Vernon, Columbus and London Railroad Company, which is involved in this company, was incorporated May 11, 1869, Rec. of Corp., vol. 6, page 244, and on November 1, 1869, assigned all that portion of the Springfield, Mt. Vernon and Pittsburg Railroad extending east from Delaware through Mt. Vernon in the direction of Millersburg. And on November 4, 1869, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company sold to this company the Cleveland, Zanesville and Cincinnati Railroad, taking also the line of the Massillon and Cleveland Railroad extending from Massillon to Clinton, 12 miles. On December 9, 1869, Messrs. Cass and Marvin deeded to the Pittsburg, Mt. Vernon, Columbus and London Railroad Company any interest or rights they might have in the property to the Cleveland, Zanesville and Cincinnati Railroad Company. On December 20, 1869, the name of the company was changed to the Cleveland, Mt. Vernon and Delaware Railroad Company. (Rec. of Corp., vol. 7, page 37.) On December 17, 1872, a supplemental certificate was filed for building the Dresden branch from the main line in Holmes county to connect with the Cincinnati and Muskingum Valley Railway and the P., C., C. & St. L. Ry., the length of the branch being 33 4-10 miles, which was completed May 27, 1888. (Rec. of Corp., vol. 11, page 322.) On September 28, it went into the hands of a receiver, who operated it until November 30, 1881, and on December 1, 1881, the road was sold under foreclosure proceedings to the Cleveland, Akron and Columbus Railroad Company, organized by the purchasers. (Rec. of Corp., vol. 23, page 447.) This sale was not confirmed and a receiver was. appointed April 14, 1882. On the 9th of June, 1882, the road was again sold and purchased by the parties who had previously organized the C., A. & C. Railroad Company. (Rec. of Corp., vol. 34, page 98.)

The road was purchased by Calvin S. Brice and his associates, and since the death of Mr. Brice the Brice stock has passed into the hands of the Pennsylvania Company, but no transfer of the property has been made and the road continues to be operated independently.

Line of road and terminals are as follows:

Franklin and Warren Railroad Company. This company was chartered on March 10, 1851. The name of the company was changed to Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company, and its history will be found in connection with the Nypano Company, leased to and now a part of the Erie Railroad System in the year 1854.

1851, September 1. On this date the constitution of the State, of Ohio, took effect, under which no special corporate charters were allowed and no special act to incorporate a railroad company has been passed by the Legislature since that date.

THE YEAR 1852.

Only three railroads were chartered during 1852 and not one of the roads of the companies have ever been built.

THE YEAR 1853.

Thirty-eight railroad companies were chartered in 1853 in all directions and in all parts of the State. But only seven of the companies built their roads or portions of them, nearly all of which have become parts of other lines and otherwise lost heir(sp) identity.

Cincinnati and Indiana Railway Company. This company was first incorporated February 7, 1853. (Rec. of Incorporation, vol. 1, page 43.) Work was delayed for several years, and a new certificate of incorporation was filed April 18, 1866. (Rec. of Incorp., vol. 2, page 82.) The road of the company was built from Cincinnati to the State line between Ohio and Indiana, a distance of twenty miles. The company also built the Harrison branch from the Valley Junction to the Indiana State line, a distance of about eleven miles, to Harrison. The road and branch were both within the County of Hamilton. The branch was built under the provisions of the amendment of section four of the General Act of May 1, 1852. At the Indiana State line the road connected with the Indianapolis and Cincinnati Railroad. On the first of May, 1866, the road and the Harrison branch were leased in perpetuity to the Indianapolis and Cincinnati Railroad Company, now called the Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Lafayette Railroad Company. This company became embarrassed and the road went into the hands of a receiver, who also exercised jurisdiction over the Cincinnati and Indiana road and Harrison branch.

This company is involved with several lines of railroad in Indiana whose companies were incorporated in that State at a much earlier date. The Lafayette and Indianapolis Railroad Company chartered in 1846 and built a road from Lafayette to Indianapolis. The Lawrenceburg and Rushville Railroad Company incorporated in 1848. There were several subsequent acts passed, one of which authorized this company to build a road to Greensburg, which became its direct line, the line to Rushville not being built. The Shelbyville and Indianapolis Railroad Company incorporated in 1850. The charter of this company contained several conditions, which finally resulted in the company building a road from Shelbyville to Indianapolis. In the same act incorporating the Shelbyville and Indianapolis Railroad Company, the name of the Lawrenceburg and Rushville Railroad Company was changed to Lawrenceburg and Upper Mississippi Railroad Company, and the company authorized to extend its road from Lawrenceburg to Shelbyville.

On October 4, 1853, the name of the company was changed to Indianapolis and Cincinnati Railroad Company. On April 18, 1861, the Cincinnati and Indiana Railroad Company first above mentioned was incorporated for building a railroad from Cincinnati to the boundary line between Ohio and Indiana.. (Rec. of Corp., vol. 2, page 83.)

On May 1, 1866, the road of this company and the Harrison branch, a part of the Cincinnati and Indianapolis line, was leased in perpetuity to the Indianapolis and Cincinnati Railroad Company, the latter company having extended its line from Lawrenceburg to the State line between Ohio and Indiana, where it connected with the Cincinnati and Indiana Railroad, thus forming a continuous line of road from Cincinnati to Indianapolis. On February 21, 1880, the Cincinnati and Indianapolis and St. Louis Railway Company was incorporated and afterwards bought the Cincinnati, Lafayette and Chicago Railroad. This company had built a railroad from Kankakee, Illinois, to Templeton, Indiana, where the Lake Erie and Western Railroad crosses west of Lafayette. On May 6, 1880, the Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Lafayette Railroad was sold by order of the United States District Court .and purchased by the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Chicago Railway Company. By this purchase the latter company, through a connection with the Illinois Central Railroad at Kankakee, formed a line between Cincinnati and Chicago. This line is now the Chicago division of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway Company. The company has one or two short branches in Indiana and Illinois not necessary to be described here.

On June 7, 1889, the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway Company, the Indianapolis and St. Louis Railway Company and the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Chicago Railway Company filed their certificate of consolidation in the office of the Secretary of State of Ohio, which consolidation had been entered into in March previous. This formed the present corporation known as the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway, familiarly known as the Big Four or Vanderbilt System.

Line of road:

Ashtabula and New Lisbon Railroad Company. This company was incorporated Februarv 18, 1853, for building a railroad from Ashtabula to New Lisbon, in Columbiana County, Ohio. Rec. of Corp., vol. 1, page 52.

On the 14th of July, 1864, that part of the road lying south and west of the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad was leased to the New Lisbon Railway Company for ninety-nine years, the company agreeing to complete and operate the road from New Lisbon to Niles or Warren, or some point on the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad between Niles and Warren. The company failing to carry out its agreement, and having mortgaged the road for this purpose, became embarrassed, and the road was sold on the 17th of April, 1869, to individuals who on the 24th of April, 1869, organized the Niles and New Lisbon Railway Company.

The road is leased to the Nypano Railroad Company, and through this company has become a part of the Erie Railroad system. See history in connection with Nypano Company with Erie system. See under date of 1854.

CINCINNATI, GEORGETOWN AND PORTSMOUTH RAILROAD COMPANY.

The above company was incorporated as the Cincinnati and Portsmouth Railroad Company, April 12, 1853, Rec. of Corp., vol. 1, page 77. Work on the building of the road of this company was not commenced until September, 1876. The road was completed to Mt. Carmel, eleven miles, in September, 1877, and was extended to Hamlet, in Clermont County, a distance of twenty-nine miles from Cincinnati in June, 1878. The company became embarrassed about this time, and the road went into the hands of a receiver in September, 1879, and the property was sold at judicial sale to Henry Brockham on September 13, 1880, at which time the present name was given to the company. The road was completed to Georgetown, Brown County, in February, 1886, to which point forty-two miles from Cincinnati, the road is now operated.

Lines of road and principal stations given in above record.

THE WABASH RAILROAD COMPANY.

This company is at present organized as the result of several incorporations, sales, reorganizations and consolidations with corporations chartered in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, in which states its lines extend for nearly two thousand miles.

Its organization began with the incorporation of the Toledo and Illinois Railroad Company, April 20, 1853, Rec. Corp., vol. I, page 79, for building a railroad from Toledo to the Western boundary line of Ohio, a distance of about seventy-five miles. This was followed by the incorporation of the Lake Erie, Wabash and St. Louis Railroad Company in the State of Indiana, August 19, 1853. On August 4, 1856, the company consolidated with the Toledo and Illinois Railroad Company, Rec. of Corp., vol. 1, page 332, taking the name of the Toledo, Wabash and Western Railroad Company. This company became financially embarrassed and unable to meet its obligations. Suits were brought in the United States Courts of the Northern District of Ohio, and the District of Indiana. These proceedings worked a dissolution of the consolidation, and the roads in the separate states were sold separately. The Toledo and Illinois Road and property were sold to Azoriah Boody for $800.00, subject to the mortgages of the property.

On October 5, 1853, the Lake Erie, Wabash and St. Louis road and property in Indiana was sold to Azoriah Azariah Boody for $1,000.00, subject to the mortgages. During the pendency of the proceedings in the Courts a plan of reorganization was agreed upon, and two new companies were organized. The one in Ohio as the Toledo and Wabash Railroad Company, and the one in Indiana as the Wabash and Western Railroad Company. Rec. of Corp., in Ohio vol. 1, page 467. Record of the organization of the Wabash and Western Railroad Company filed in the office of the Secretary of State of Indiana September 27, 1858.

On October 5, 1858, Mr. Boody, the purchaser at the judicial sale of the Lake Erie, Wabash and St. Louis Railroad conveyed the same to the newly organized Wabash and Western Railroad Company.

On October 8, 1858, Mr. Boody, the purchaser at the judicial sale of the Toledo and Illinois Railroad conveyed the same to the newly organized Toledo and Wabash Railroad Company.

On December 15, 1858, these two companies were consolidated taking the name of the Toledo and Wabash Railway Company. Rec. of Corp., in Ohio, vol. 1, page 448. Certificate of the consolidation filed with the Secretary of State of Indiana December 9, 1858.

On January 2, 1872, the St. Louis, Kansas City and Northern Railway Company was incorporated in Missouri, and on October 25, 1879, was consolidated with the Wabash Railway Company forming the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway Company. Rec. of Corp., vol. 1, pages 527 and 528.

On February 26, 1867, the Decatur and East St. Louis Railway Company was incorporated, and on August 10, 1867, was consolidated with the Toledo, Wabash and Western Railway Company. Rec. of Corp., in Ohio, vol. 7, page 459.

On the 29th of May, 1884, the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway went into the hands of a receiver, and was sold, and on August 1, 1889, the Wabash Railroad Company was organized under the laws of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, and acquired the properties of the following constituent companies:

Detroit and State Line, Wabash Railroad Company, a corporation of the State of Michigan.

Toledo Western Railroad Company, a corporation of Ohio.

Wabash Western Railway Company of Indiana, corporation of Indiana.

Wabash Eastern Railway Company of Illinois, a corporation of Illinois.

Wabash Western Railway Company, a corporation of Missouri. See Rec. of Corp. Ohio, vol. 43, page 132. Although only a small part of the lines of road of this company is in Ohio, it is one of the important railway companies of the country.

The line of road may he given as follows