xt7cz8928d73 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7cz8928d73/data/mets.xml Nelson, James Poyntz, 1849-1929 1916  books b92-163-30098353 English Mitchell & Hotchkiss, printers, : [Richmond, Va. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. Address: The Chesapeake and Ohio railway  : the realization of the dream of George Washington, the surveyor on the banks of the Kanawha / delivered by James Poyntz Nelson ; before the Railway Men's Improvement Society, New York City, January 27, 1916. text Address: The Chesapeake and Ohio railway  : the realization of the dream of George Washington, the surveyor on the banks of the Kanawha / delivered by James Poyntz Nelson ; before the Railway Men's Improvement Society, New York City, January 27, 1916. 1916 2002 true xt7cz8928d73 section xt7cz8928d73 





      ADDRESS
            GzD
THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO
        RAILWAY
            Bly



James Poyntz Nelson

 This page in the original text is blank.

 




                 ADDRESS





      THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO RAILWAY






THE REALIZATION OF THE DREAM OF GEORGE WASHINGTON,

     THE SURVEYOR ON THE BANKS OF THE KANAWHA.





            "Your old men shall dream dreams,
            auci your ycung iner shall :xee visions."
                     (Joel II, 28.)





                     DELIVERED BY

             JAMES POYNTZ NELSON,
 Member Valuation Committee, The Chesapeake  Ohio Railway Co.
 Member Land Committee of the President's Conference Committee.




                     BEFORE THE

        RAILWAY MEN'S IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY,

          New York City, January 27, 1916.

 




























































MITCHELL  HOTCHKISS

     PRINTERS

   RICHMOND. Vt..


 

THE REALIZATION OF THE DREAM OF GEORGE WASHINGTON,
    THE SURVEYOR ON THE BANKS OF THE KANAWHA.



  The nineteenth day of July, 1869, a party of Engineers,
under Major Channing Moore Bolton, left Richmond, Vir-
ginia, to undertake the location of the extension of the Chesa-
peake  Ohio Railroad westward. Our Division extended
from the mqukth of the Greenbrier River, where it enters the
New River, down New River about forty-two miles, to Bow-
yer 's Ferry, now Sewell Station. Thus my touch with the life of
this great System began one month after I had received my two
Engineering Degrees at Washington College, now Washing-
ton  Lee Universitv, and has continued to this time. There
have been breaks -ir. this toluch, but, when I think of myself,
I must think ever of this Railroad to whose service I have
given my best years. When, after an atsence, I returned to
this service, I caine back as one coming home again.
  The growth of this Road rron an iron-laid line of about
227 miles in 1839, tnen not completed, to its present place of
honor, shoulder to shoulder with the other great Public Carriers
of our Country, is to me as a dream. Its mileage has been
multiplied by ten. Its service to the people, to serve whom is
its duty, has been so increased that it is as a wide-spreading tree,
the child of the little mustard seed, and under its branches are
sheltered great industries, many people. It is as to some-
thing, not all, of this great growth, that I speak tonight. It
is of this as the realization of the dream of the men now called
Fathers of our Nation, that I speak. Although I must deal in
facts possibly dry to some of you, yet my theme might well
challenge the imagination and the pen of an Epic Poet.
  Doubtless this story is not unique. Elsewhere Engineers,
and their bold associates, have been the vanguard of Progress.
Elsewhere they have met and endured hardships and dangers
not nominated in the statement of their accounts. Elsewhere

 

ADDRESS.



have been silent, unseen heroes who laid the line, tore down
forbidding hills and mountains, harnessed mighty torrents,
built monuments to those whose names are not carved, if carved
at all, except on some simple, voiceless slab in the City of
the Dead.
  But before Agamemnon was, were heroes, who perished
because they had no Homer.

                " Vixere fortes ante Agamemnona,
                Multi; sed omnes, illacrimabiles,
                     Urgentur ignotique longa
                  Nocte, carent quia vale sacro."

                  Before lived Agamemnon,
                    Many brave have lived;
        Tho' men of action, all unwept, unknown, they sleep,
                       In the long night,
                    Wanting a sacred singer.
           (Horace: Odes. Bk. IV, Ode 9: Line 25.)

  Out of what meagre clay moulded H        romer his deathless
figures, we shall never know. It is the Poet who makes us im
mortal, not our deeds. W ith a silence almost contemptuous the
Pyramids meet our questions, and, point us for answer to the
Sphinx. Therefore, tonight as I try in my way, all too weak,
to tell my story, I beg you to let your imagination bring here with
me those splendid fellows, my once companions in some hard-
ships, and some dangers, dear friends now gone, whose story
is a large part of the story that I must tell.
  I feel their presence, even as I see yours.

                  "But we cannot tarry here,
    We must march, my darlings, we must bear the brunt of danger,
      We the youthful, sinewy races, all the rest on us depend,
                     Pioneers! 0, Pioneers!

                  "All the past we leave behind,
       We debouch upon a newer, mightier world, varied world.
Fresh and strong the world we seize, world of labour and the march,
                    Pioneers! 0, Pioneers!"
           (Walt Whitman.-"Pioneers! 0, Pioneers!")



4

 

THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO RAILWAY COMPANY.



                             I
  The Chesapeake  Ohio Railway stretches its System from
Norfolk, Virginia, and Fortress Monroe, to Hammond, on the
dividing line between Indiana and Illinois. At Newport News,
Virginia, at the mouth of the James River, is its splendid Port.
Here, with modem facilities, are handled its vast outbound
traffic of coal and merchandise, and its inbound shipments for
a Nation's needs. Thence its line threads its way through the
historic Peninsula of Virginia, a narrow neck of land, bounded
south by the James River, and north by that beautiful stream,
the York River, an estuary in fact.
  The history of Virginia, the story of our Nation, begins
with Old Point Comfort, Cape Henry, the old City of Wil-
liamsburg, where sat the House of Burgesses that declared for
Independence, and William  Mary College, the second oldest
College in our Country.
  On York River, four miles away, is York Town, where yet
remain the battlements, the walls, that could not protect
Cornwallis. Seven miles from Williamsburg is James Town
Island, on the James, where can be traced the homes of the
ancient Capital of the Old Dominion.
  From Old Point to Richmond it is the Battle Ground of two
wars. Here England met its final defeat. Here our Liberty
was determined. Here, later, great Armies fought in 1862.

        "The place whereon thou standest is holy ground.."

  Two lines of track bear the burden of traffic from Richmond
to Clifton Forge, on the Jackson's River, the beginning of
the James, a distance of nearly 200 miles. The first line built
was the northern one, that passes, by tunnels, through the
Blue Ridge Mountains and the Alleghanies, crossing the head
of the Shenandoah Valley, with a maximum grade each way of
80 feet to the mile.
  The southern line follows the banks of James River. sup-
planting the old James River  Kanawha Canal, using, at
times, what was the Tow Path. This is the low, water-grade
line along which goes the heavy traffic of coal and merchandise.
  Thus is linked together the story of the Canal, and the
history of our System.



3

 

ADDRESS.



  Westward from Clifton Forge we climb the Alleghanies,
to the dividing line between Virginia, and its stolen, but lusty,
child, West Virginia. Thence we go down the Greenbrier River
to its junction with New River, noting along New River busy
branches that extend into the region of the soft, coking,
steam coals, passing also on New River the busy tipples that
serve the drift mines.
  Through the Canyon of New River we go, until the Great
Conglomerate that towered at times a thousand feet above tis
has dipped to form the Falls of the Great Kanawha, a continu-
ation, in fact, of New River, now, under its own name,
" Beautiful River of the Woods, " to thread its quiet way along
fertile valleys, through the region of the Splint Coals of the
Upper Measures, to its bridal with the Ohio at Point Pleasant.
  From our line along the Kanawha go branches south and
north, into regions of seemingly exhaustless Coals, and abundant
Forests. Coal River, and its branches, the Guyandot River,
and its branches, and other confluent streams, all send down to
the main line their products in a stream almost as ceaseless as
the flow of their waters.
  Leaving the Kanawha at the mouth of Coal River, we cross
"Teay's Valley, " about thirty miles, to the Guyandot River,
and, thence, ten miles to the City of Huntington, on the Ohio
River. Here was begun in 1871 the City that bears the name
of its founder, Collis P. Huntington, the builder of Cities,
he, too, a dreamer of great dreams.
  A short distance more, and we cross the Big Sandy River
into Kentucky. Turning, for a moment, up the Sandy, we
see our Big Sandy Line, 134 miles long, that takes us into the
great Elkhorn Coal region, famous because of the fine quality
and the vast extent of its coals, rivalling the Connellsville
region.
  It would please me could I take you with me "Up Sandy."
I know its territory, know its people, rugged, brave, shrewd,
sometimes a law unto themselves, but loyal as friends, even as
they are hostile to the contemner of their rights. I am their
grateful debtor for kindness and hospitality, loyal friendship,
when most needed. To the Kentuckian of Big Sandy I pay this
passing tribute of affection and admiration. But I must
hasten on.



6

 
THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO RAILWAY COMPANY.



  Leaving the Big Sandy, we go on down the Ohio River to Cin-
cinnati. Between the Big Sandy and Huntington we crossed Four
Pole Creek, and Twelve Pole Creek, so named by the young
Surveyor, George Washington. Seven miles below Big Sandy,
is Ashland, Kentucky, whence goes off our Branch to Lexington,
and Louisville, Kentucky, in the heart of the Blue Grass, on
the crest of the Cincinnati Arch, made fertile by the uplift
of the soft, Trenton Lime Stone, a thousand feet above the Sea.
Here I should love to tarry wn.-ith you, because that is my home.
  Crossing the Ohio River at Cincinnati, we are on our Chesa-
peake  Ohio of Indiana, a separate Corporation, but part
of our System, carrying us into Chicago by trackage rights
over other lines, from the Indiana border line at Hammond.
  Behind us we have left scenery worthy of the canvas of the
Artist. We have passed through thriving Cities, people who
labor with splendid industry for the uplifting of our Nation.
Lovers of Peace, they did not fail to answer writh magnificient
courage, and self-abnegation the stern call to arms. Divided
for a time from those now their brothers, battling for what
was to them a sacred duty, they stand today united as a
Nation, ever lovers of Liberty, ever loyal to their faith, ex-
pecting and demanding the sanctity of our Flag, hostile to no
other Nation, and fearing none.
  Had time permitted, we could have rested at some of the
beautiful places where flow waters famed for their healing
powers. Nestled in the Warm Spring's Valley at the end of the
Branch line that takes us 25 miles up the Jackson's River, are
the Hot Springs, with the delightful Homestead Hotel.
  Just within West Virginia is the classic White Sulphur Springs,
historic, because here gathered year by year such men as Henry
Clay and his associates, and here linger fine traditions of fair
women and gallant fellows, who wrote of themselves imme-
morial tales when the nights were Ambrosial. Then they came
only under summer skies. But, today, with generous hand,
the Chesapeake  Ohio, owner of a large area of land, has pro-
vided the luxurious Greenbrier Hotel, where each month rest
and healing can be found, and the marvelous beauty of the
place can be enjoyed.



7

 

ADDRESS.



  From Newport News and Fortress Monroe to Richmond we
have gone over a line of double track, 85 miles, its condition,
as elsewhere on our System, one hundred percent., beyond
reproach. A single track, well seasoned by long use, covers
the northern, older route from Richmond to Clifton Forge.
Up James River are stretches of double track. From Clifton
Forge to Cincinnati, 489 miles, is a double track, excepting a
few, short Gauntlets.
  As of June 30th, 1915, rail 100-lbs. a yard covered 534 miles
of First Track, and 529 miles of Second Track. The entire
length of all tracks covered by this weight of rail, inclusive of
Branch Lines, was 952 miles. Today, rail of 125-lbs. a yard
will replace, experimentally, some stretches of lighter rail to
meet the heavy traffic.
  As of the same date, of the total mileage of 2625 miles of
main tracks, first and second, and Branch Lines, nearly 2000
miles were laid with Stone or Slag Ballast, the remainder
covered by other material.
  We have seen equipment of the most modern types, Mallet
Engines, Mikadoes, Shay-Geared, Consolidation; Steel Cars,
Freight and Passenger, and the well-known "Yellow Trains"
de luxe, the "F. F. V's," that enter daily the Pennsylvania
Station here, through from Cincinnati and Louisville.
  Long trains burdened with Products of Mines, Forests,
and other industries have lined our way.
  We have seen nearly 2200 miles of operated line, of which
over 2100 miles are owned directly by our System, the re-
mainder leased. Besides this are more than 200 miles of line
over which our trains go under generous trackage rights. Add to
this our second track, side-tracks, and tracks jointly used,
and we have spread before us, used for Public Carrier purposes,
a total trackage of nearly 4000 miles, all serving the great
needs of great industries, thriving communities, regions whose
products even the far future will call inexhaustible.
  Going west with the freight traffic by the low grade, James
River Line, we here meet, as we pass from Jackson 's River to
the Alleghany summit, a single maximum adverse grade of
60 feet to the mile.



8

 

THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO RAILWAY COMPANY.



  On the northern route, over the old Blue Ridge line, our fast,
through Passengers, with their great locomotives, easily go
up from the beautiful Piedmont region, along the slope of the
Blue Ridge, over a maximum grade of 75 feet to the mile,
to the Summit at the eastern boundary of the Valley of Virginia.
  Crossing this Valley, verily a land of the fairest beauty, to its
western wall, the North Mountain, our trains move swiftly to
the Summit over a maximum grade of 80 feet to the mile.
  Turning eastward with our heavy traffic on its way to Tide-
water, our maximum adverse grade for about 15 miles is only
30 feet to the mile as we go from the Greenbrier to White
Sulphur Springs, near to the Alleghany Summit.
  On the plains and hills high above the main line, are the
mines whose coal goes all the time down grade to the assem-
bling yards on New River, the Kanawha, Coal River, the Guyan-
dot, the Big Sandy, and other tributary waters.
  Thus our System challenges comparison, as to grades, with its
friendly companions and competitors, who must cross the Appa-
lachians from the Ohio waters to the sea by heavier grades.
  To meet the pressing demands for its own way to the Lakes,
our System is building to Columbus, Ohio, from a point on the
Ohio River just above Portsmouth, at Sciotoville, a line under
the name of The Chesapeake  Ohio Northern. This line
will meet, at Columbus, The Hocking Valley Railway, owned by
this System, which thus will secure its own direct line from
Newport News to Toledo. The congestion of traffic at Cin-
cinnati is well known. There the restrictions upon all Car-
riers are unbearable. From this hindrance to our traffic, our
new line will liberate us.
  The Bridge across the Ohio River is 1550 feet long, approached
by two viaducts, 823 feet long on the Ohio side, and 1063 feet
long on the Kentucky side. The Bridge itself consists of two
spans, each 775 feet long, riveted-steel trusses.

                              II
  And had we time to study the personnel of the organization
under whose management this vast plant lives, moves, and
has its being, we should have seen intelligence, fitness, loyalty,
from the President on along the line to the man whose nightly,
lonely vigil makes for the safety of our traffic, human and



9

 
ADDRESS.



material. Automatic Signals have flashed before and behind us,
and the dream of George Washington, and of those other great
dreamers who labored for the realization of their dreams, often
when the days seemed dark, and the nights were white, because
of doubts and fears, and forbidding mountains blocked the
path, is no longer a dream.
  Thus I have tried to give you a Bird's Eye view of our Sys-
tem, leaving out many details that might well be described.
                           III
  Behind is a story of a dream. Further back began the
story that Nature has left for us to study, if, perchance, we
can read her writing in Rocks and Rivers, Canyons and Pene-
Plains, majestic and slow uplifting of vast areas, her store-
houses where, for our use, are the Coals and the Oil that are the
result of the work of ages too long for man to think. Here we
can see how New River has eroded its way through the Great
Conglomerate Series, the Number VII of Virginia's Great
Geologist, William B. Rogers. And there are the softer meas-
ures; first the Greenbrier Shales, No. XI, and, higher up,
but by the great north-westerly dip brought beneath us as we
descend the River, XIII and XIV, the "Lower Productive
Measures, " and the " Lower Barren Measures. " Those who
love to play the game of the correlation of Measures, find pleas-
ure in bringing to this region the words " Clarion, " " Freeport, "
and " Kittaning." But "the proof of the pudding is in the
chewing of the string. " These coals go into Ovens and Fur-
naces unafraid of the test.
  Nature is indifferent to the history of man. She wipes away his
work, so that later generations may "strut and fret their little
hour upon the stage, and then be seen no more." None of us
" make history. " He who writes our history, makes our history,
and often it is false. Herodotus, Thucydides, Livy, Caesar,
Tacitus, they, and their followers, have made our history. Even
about our own George Washington cluster myths and fables.
  Emerson, in his Essay on "Character," says:
        "We cannot find the smallest part of the personal
        weight of Washington in the narrative of his exploits."
Therefore, it pleases me, an Engineer, to speak of him, the Sur-
veyor, the dreamer of the wedding of the waters of the Chesa-



10

 

THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO RAILWAY COMPANY.



peake with those that flow into the "Gulf of Florida," the
Surveyor, the Soldier, the Statesman, who, when he passed to
the quiet of his home, turned his thoughts to his early dream,
the welding together of his Country by peaceful measures.
  The 30th day of October, Anno Domini 1753, in the twenty-
seventh year of the reign of his Majesty, George the Second,
King of Great Britian, etc., etc., Robert Dinwiddie, Governor
of the Colony of Virginia, gave to George Washington, Esquire,
a commission instructing him to proceed to Logstown, on the
Ohio River, for the purpose of procuring information as to the
hostile movements of the French forces posted there. Wash-
ington was then twenty-one years old.
  During the three years prior to this commission, Washington
had been engaged surveying wild lands in Western Virginia
claimed by Lord Fairfax. You can well picture the dangers
and hardships that attended this task. Later came Braddock's
Defeat, and the Battle of "Great Meadows."
  In 1758, Washington resigned his commission in the British
Army, and, in 1759, was elected a Member of the House of
Burgesses from Fairfax County.
  In 1770, 1772 and 1774, he made several tours to the source
of the Potomac River, looking to the best route from the east
to the navigable western waters. His life as a Surveyor had
already carried him as far down the Ohio River as the mouth
of the Big Sandy. Doubtless with the prevision that often
illumines the lonely hours of the Pioneer he saw, as in a dream,
the way opened by which the restless men and women of the
Tide-water region could go West.
  The House of Burgesses, in October, 1765, passed an Act
providing:
      "For the clearing the great falls of James River,
    the River Chickahominy, and the north branch of
    James River." (Henning, VIII; Page 148.)
  The names of those appointed "Trustees" of this work
sound like a roll-call of today in Virginia:
      " Peter Randolph, William Byrd, Esquires, Archibald
    Cary,John Fleming,Richard Adams,Robert Bolling, Jr.,
    William Cabell, Richard Carter Nicholas, John Wayles,
    Samuel Jordan, and Thomas Bolling, Gentlemen."



11

 

ADDRESS.



  The " Great Falls " are at Richmond, marking severely
the line between the Tidewater Region, the latest Geological
Formation, and the Archaic, that sinks to a depth of nearly
2000 feet at Old Point. Daily the pendulous tide rests against
the Granite of the Falls before it turns again home. Here
began the work that would some day link the East with the
West.
  In February. 1772, appear two Acts of the House of Bur-
gesses. One:
      "'An Act for opening the falls of James River by
    subscription, and for other purposes." (Henning,
    VIII; Page 564.)

  The other:
      " An Act for opening and extending the navigation of
    the Potowmack from Fort Cumberland to Tide-
    Water." (Henning, VIII; Page 570.)

  Both Acts authorized subscriptions, but the "Potowmack"
Act authorized, in much detail, a "Lottery."
  I call the roll of the Managers of the "Lottery," because,
but for certain of these church-going, God-fearing, law-abiding
citizens, Patriots too, I had not been with you tonight.
      "William Nelson, Thomas Nelson, William Byrd,
    John Page, Peyton Randolph, Robert Carter Nicholas,
    Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison of Berkeley, Ben-
    jamin Walker, Charles Carter of Shirley, Archibald
    Cary, George Wythe, John Blair and Patrick Henry."
    (Henning, VIII; Page 570.)

  Soon these gentlemen were to take a large part in momentous
deeds.
  The Proceedings of the House of Burgesses, June 5th, 1775,
show that Mr. Mercer introduced a Bill for the establishment of:
      "A Company for the opening and extending the
    navigation of the River Potowmack."



And the Bill was read the first time.



12

 

THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO RAILWAY COMPANY.



  These Proceedings also show that Thomas Nelson, on June
20th, 1775, submitted a Bill for Services by certain Surveyors in
connection with opening the Falls of James River. He was uncle
of the Nelson whose name is part of our Revolutionary History,
whose statue stands in the Capitol Square, at Richmond.
What fine dreamers were those Fathers of our Nation!
  The plan to improve the navigation of the "Potowmack"
aroused jealousy and hostility in the central part of the Colony,
with the result that steps were taken for the waters of the
James. Maryland was to co-operate as to the " Potowmack,"
but the James was Virginia's own.
  Navigation matters gave way to the War. But when Wash-
ington became a private citizen, his mind returned to his
early dream, and, until called, in 1789, to the Presidency, he
was active in this work, seeking the best route for the realiza-
tion of his dream. In a long letter, dated October 10th, 1784,
addressed to Benjamin Harrison, Governor of Virginia, he
develops his reasons for connecting the East and the West by a
great highway. His reasons are political, as well as commercial.
He notes that "the flanks and rears of the United States are
possessed by other powers, and formidable ones too." He
fears the allurements of Spain for the Western States, that
''stand as it were on a point. The touch of a feather would
turn them any way." He foresaw that movement, known as
"The Spanish Rebellion, " that stirred Kentucky so as to
awake animosities that destroyed friendships, and divided
households, even after Spain and France no longer threatened
our "flanks and rears."
  On the 17th of May, 1785, he was elected the first President
of The Potomac Company, and took an active part in its
affairs until he became the first great President of our Country.
  His letters show his continued, and earnest interest in the
development of the James River route on across the Appa-
lachians to the Ohio.
  In 1784, the General Assembly of Virginia passed the Act
incorporating the James River Company, to whose stock the
State was authorized to subscribe, even as it undertook a
subscription to the Potomac Company.
  At the same session of the Assembly, an Act was passed
directing the Treasurer of the State to subscribe in the Potomac



13

 

ADDRESS.



Company for fifty shares, and in the James River for one hun-
dred shares, these to be vested in George Washington, Esquire,
his heirs and assigns, forever. The preamble to the Act de-
clares that this gift was in recognition of the "unexampled
merits of George Washington, Esquire, towards his Country,"
and that

      " Those great works for its improvement, which
    both as springing from the liberty which he has been so
    instrumental in establishing, and, as encouraged by his
    patronage, will be durable monuments also of the grat-
    itude of his Country."

  Washington, in a memorable letter, declined the gift for him-
self, but prayed the General Assembly to permit him
      " To turn the destination of this the fund vested in
    me, from my private emoluments, to objects of a
    public nature."

  By an Act, passed in 1785, this prayer was granted.

  In 1795, was confirmed the appropriation of the Potomac
shares to " an University in the Federal City, " and of the James
River shares "to a Seminary    in the Upper Country."
  At Lexington, Virginia, was a Seminary known as "Liberty
Hall Academy." The students of this school, at the beginning
of the Revolutionary War, enrolled themselves in the Army
under the name of " The Liberty Hall Volunteers. " To this
Academy the James River shares were given, and became the
foundation of Washington College, now Washington  Lee
University.
  It is worthy of mention that when in 1861, Virginia called
for soldiers, the students of this College responded with a
second " Liberty Hall Volunteers, " and bore a brave and
memorable part in the "Stonewall Brigade," fighting from
First Manassas to the End.
  One of their Captains, Given B. Strickler, later a distinguished
Doctor of Divinity, was my classmate. He led his Company
up the heights of Gettysburg, there fell wounded, and became a
prisoner.



14

 

THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO RAILWAY COMPANY.



  In 1812 the General Assembly of Virginia " appointed
Commissioners to survey the head waters of James River, and
the Great Kanawha, to ascertain the practicability of extending
their navigation to the base of the chain of mountains that di-
vide them."   The Commissioners named were:

                JOHN MARSHALL,
                JAMES BRECKENRIDGE,
                WILLIAM LEWIS,
                JAMES MCDOWELL,
                WILLIAM CARUTHERS,
                ANDREW ALEXANDER.
  The report of this survey is from the pen of the "Honorable
John Marshall," the Great Chief Justice, expounder of the
Constitution. Before me is a copy of the Report, printed in
1816. Alexander was the Surveyor of Rockbridge County,
Virginia. Mr. Earl G. Schwem, the able Assistant Librarian
of the State, says that, so far as he knows, the only extant
copy of Alexander's Map that accompanied this Report is in
the files of the Virginia Corporation Commission, and is dated
1814. It was engraved by James Thackara  Son, of the
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. This survey was begun
September 3rd, 1812, and was completed the 9th of October.
The story of the survey down the waters of the Greenbrier
and the New River reads as an account of that survey of 1869,
when I pulled a chain down the rugged banks of New River
  In his report Mr. Marshall speaks of the Mississippi that
      "Empties itself into the Gulf of Florida, which is
    surrounded by foreign territory.'" (See Report, 1816
    Edition, Page 35.)

                           IV

  Historically linked with this old survey is the trip made by
Collis P. Huntington, in 1869, when he, in company with
General Williams Carter Wickham, then President of the
Chesapeake  Ohio Railroad Company, went in a 60-foot
Batteau down New River from the mouth of the Greenbrier.
My first Chief, Major Channing Moore Bolton, and others
were with the party. Shortly after this, Charles Nordhoff, the



15

 
ADDRESS.



well-known publicist, went over the New River route, prior
to the completion of the Railroad, and wrote for the "Every
Saturday Magazine" an account of       "The Intermediate
Section of the Chesapeake  Ohio Railroad." His article
appeared illustrated in the eleventh volume of the magazine.
  Thus great names are linked with this Washington dream.
First his own, then the great Chief Justice enters. And,
later, in the fullness of time, comes Collis P. Huntington,
fresh from his monumental work that bound the East and the
West by links of Iron, induced to undertake the building of the
Chesapeake  Ohio by General Wickham, veteran and brilliant
leader of Cavalry in the late War, who bore the glistering scars
of two battle wounds. He gave me my first work.
  I have sometimes thought that it would be most fitting
were there placed at Lexington, Virginia, where Washington's
name is spoken daily, if not hourly, some memorial to Collis
P. Huntington. He it was who dared to venture on this great
work when its result, as seen today, was unforseen. I know
how-the men of Virginia, young and old, found in his work,
that for which they longed, an opportunity to work. Surely
Virginia would welcome at her seat of learning, sacred to the
names of her two great sons, a memorial that would not only
bring increased helpfulness to the young men who gather there
from many places for knowledge, but also dedicate to these
halls of learning the name of a great American. Eloquent and
deathless would be this memorial. Thus do

             "Our echoes roll from soul to soul,
                 And live forever and forever."

                            V
  We now pass to the railroad itself.
  In March, 1832, the General Assembly of Virginia incor-
porated The James River and Kanawha Company. This
new Company was formed to complete the improvement of
navigation of James River, and to connect that navigation with
the navigation of the Kanawha River. A railroad was author-
ized, and then followed much consideration of the compara-
tive advantages of that method of highway and of a Canal.
Sharp differences of opinion were expressed, and no railroad



16

 

THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO RAILWAY COMPANY.



construction was undertaken by the Canal Company. Surveys
were made for lines of railroad, but the Company was loyal
to its first love; the slow, safe, water route. The Reports of
the Engineers are interesting, to show their careful study of a
question almost in its infancy.
  Meantime, a line of railroad had been constructed from
Richmond to Fredericksburg, feeling its way to the Potomac.
Not until 1872 was the line completed to Washington.
  In 1836 was incorporated The Louisa Railroad Company,
parent corporation of our System. Its first President was Col.
Edmund Fontaine. The very name brings to my mind the
Huguenot, elegant and princely in bearing, brave, courteous.
He gave two sons to die in battle. This was succeeded in 1850
by the Virginia Central Railroad. Among the incorporators,
is the name of Captain Thomas Nelson, my father's father.
The route set forth was from a point on the line of the Rich-
mond, Fredericksburg  Potomac Railroad to a point in the
County of Orange, near the eastern base of the Southwest
Mountains, the range that is seen on the west between Gor-
donsville and Charlottesville. The road was headed for the
western region of the Valley of Virginia, and the waters of the
Potomac. Slowly this line was constructed to Gordonsville
from a junction with the Fredericksburg line