CHAPTER XIII RAILROADS The first railroad built into and across Delaware County was the Dubuque & Pacific. In close connection with this company was the Iowa Land Company, which provided for the right of way, secured building sites and laid out towns. Construction on the road began in 1855, between Dubuque and Dyersville, and was nearly completed to the latter point in December, 1856. In the following spring, trains were running to Dyersville, and in December, 1857, the road was in operation as far as Earlville. The rails were not laid to Manchester until the fall of 1859. The depot was built on the west side of the river. The road subsequently passed into the hands of the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad Company, and, in 1870, was leased for a period of twenty years to the Illinois Central. That corporation now has full control of the line and it forms one of the important branches of the great Illinois Central system of railroads. DAVENPORT & ST. PAUL The building of the Davenport & St. Paul Railroad is due mainly to the indomitable energy and determination of a coterie of Delhi's business men. The Dubuque & Pacific (Illinois Central) road had been completed across the county in the year 1860, and left Delhi, the county seat at that time, high and dry, three miles south. Delhi, thus isolated, in company with other towns of the county, determined to relieve the situation. In the fall of 1867, F. B. Doolittle and Col. John H. Peters got their heads together and after long deliberation concluded they would take the initiative by opening a correspondence with railroad men, and others interested in the proposition to build a road from Clinton, or some other point on the Mississippi River, to a point in Fayette County. The letters of Colonel Peters were given due respect and in January, 1868, enough interest in the project had been awakened to secure a meeting at Cascade that year, attended by men of influence from Fayette, Strawberry Point, Greeley, Delhi, Hopkinton, Maquoketa and DeWitt. The discussion at this meeting was upon the feasibility of building a railroad from Clinton northward, and resulted in the temporary organization of the Iowa & Minnesota Grand Trunk Railroad Company. The officers elected at this time were George W. Trumbull, president; J. M. King, secretary; C. M. Dunbar, treasurer. A committee, also, was selected to draw up articles of incorporation. The next meeting was held at Maquoketa, in February, 1868, to consider the question of route and other details, but no result was reached until the meeting in April following, held at Hopkinton, when W. A. Heath and F. B. Doolittle reported the drafting of articles of incorporation, which was adopted and then the company completed its organization. The incorporators were: F. B. Doolittle, H. S. Bronson, Richard Boon, Benjamin Burch, M. O. Barnes, G. C. Croston, Z. G. Allen and W. H. Finley. But by this time the road's prospects as relating to Clinton were not encouraging and Delhi promoters were far from feeling jubilant. However, a combine between Fayette, Strawberry Point, Delaware, Delhi, Hopkinton and Greeley, formed an agreement to stick together and fight for each other's interests. In May, Messrs. Bronson, Boon, Barnes, Doolittle, Finley and others went to Davenport, where they met leading men of that city and proposed to them to make Davenport the eastern terminus and give them the control of the road if they entered the combination. Davenport became interested and the company name was changed to the Davenport & St. Paul Railroad Company, with the following named directors: Benjamin Burch and H. S. Bronson, Fayette; G. Allen, Brush Creek; Richard Boon, Delaware; F. B. Doolittle, Delhi; W. H. Finley, Hopkinton; John L. Davis, Michael Donahue, Davenport; G. C. Croston, Cascade. Subscription books were at once opened. Delhi was expected to subscribe $40,000, Hopkinton, $3,000, Delaware, $15,000, Greeley, $10,000, and "Yankee Settlement" (Edgewood), $5,000. Judge Doolittle, in charge of the Delaware County books, soon secured in subscriptions the allotment of $100,000 assessed. An engineer was employed and paid by the men above named, to make a preliminary survey and other substantial preparations were made. At a meeting held in Delhi in August, 1868, William H. Holmes, of Davenport, was elected president, and W. A. Heath, of Delhi, secretary, upon the resignation of their predecessors in office, and at the annual election, held at Davenport in January, 1869, Holmes and Heath were reelected; M. O. Barnes was elected vice president, and R. Eddy, treasurer. At this meeting it was officially learned the required amount of stock had been subscribed and everything looked favorable for the outcome of the enterprise. But the Supreme Court interposed, by declaring the voting of a tax by towns to aid in the construction of railroads was unconstitutional. This was the hardest blow of all to the towns so desirous of securing the road. But a meeting was held at Davenport in January, 1869, at which time and place the Davenport people showed the white feather and declared they were ready to quit Delhi, but the other Delaware County towns were not so disposed and made it clear to Davenport that they were determined to go ahead and if Davenport failed to stand with them, some other point would be chosen. After several meetings and lengthy discussions, Davenport decided to stay with the proposition and then the required amount of subscriptions, to make up for the loss occasioned by the Supreme Court's decision, was sought and obtained, with the help of a law passed by the Legislature of 1869-70, enabling towns to vote a 5 per cent tax. In the summer of 1870 contracts were let for grading, bridging and laying of ties the whole length of the road from Davenport to Fayette. Work commenced in this county in September of that year, under the management of Judge Doolittle. Col. John H. Peters and W. A. Heath, of Delhi, were attorneys for the road and with these men, having their hearts and souls bound up in the winning of their fight, the road was completed in the fall of 1872 and by September of that year trains were running to Delhi. The depot was built there in September and S. S. Summers was placed in charge as agent. Some years |