The Biographical Dictionary and Portrait Gallery of Representative Men of Chicago, Milwaukee and the World's Columbian Exposition

              884
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
lake to Mihvaukee. Mr. Barber continued his journey to an English settlement Avest of Madi¬ son Avhere the brothers Barber Invested in land. EdAvard intended to visit Ncav Orleans, but acci¬ dentally meeting Mr. John Catlin, the first presi¬ dent of the first railroad in Wisconsin, the Mih Avaukee and Mississippi Raihvay, he Avas induced to enter the employ of that company. His con¬ nection Avith the railroad company Is best told by the following communication Avrltten by him for a souvenir edition of the Evening Wisconsin :
" What a change has forty-three years produced ! About that time ago, three brothers landed at Kellogg and Strong's pier, at the foot of Huron street, from the steamer Sultana, the Avriter being the youngest. Mihvaukee then consisted of a number of frame tAVO-story houses, mainly situated in the third Avard. Where the substantial tAvelve- story steel and stone building Is noAv being erected by Captain Pabst. Harrison Ludington had a frame building, and conducted a general merchan¬ dise, dry-goods and grocery store. James Lud¬ ington Avas his principal clerk. The streets Avere nearly impassable. The bridge crossing to Spring street Avas not the substantial structure Avhich spans the river noAV, but a wooden affair, opening in the middle. The princlj^al street. Chestnut street, Avas on the Avest side, or ' Kilbourn ToAAai,' as it Avas called. There the Comstocks and Houghtons Avere the principal business men.
"Transportation in those days Avas also quite different. The best Avay to get into the country Avas to hire a farmer's Avagon on his return trip from market. The roads In those days being nearly impassable, it Avas necessary to carry a fence rail along to pry the Avagon out of the holes. And then think of the corduroy roads, made of trunks of small trees, laid cross-Avise ! If some of the kickers, noAV riding in our palace cars, had chartered one of those Avagons, as Ave did, they Avould have been justified in kicking.
" Early in the fifties the question of building a railroad started. In those days there Avas little money, and subscriptions for stock Avere paid In produce, and the produce turned over by the rail¬ road company to the contractors, and by them to their men. Deacon Clinton, of Waukesha, and Peter H. Turner, of Palmyra, got most of the stock of the Mihvaukee and Mississippi Raihvay Company, subscribed by the farmers.    They Avent
from farm-house to farm-house, and o-enerallv- staid Avith the farmer Avhere night found them. The farmer Avas sure to subscribe, after one of Deacon Clinton's prayers. Farm mortgage bonds Avere first inaugurated by Joseph Goodrich, of Milton, commonly called ' Uncle Joe.' When Clinton and Turner approached him he Avould say, ' I have no money, but I have a large farm, and Avill give you a mortgage on it for stock in your road, if you run through Milton.' Here Avas a new idea, and Clinton and Turner Avent to Mil¬ Avaukee and laid the question before the directors, Avho saAV a good opportunity, to raise money by selling a ncAv kind of a security—namely, making a bond Avith a farm mortgage attached, Avhich Im¬ mediately took Avith capitalists. So Clinton and Turner began to preach this ncAV doctrine to the farmers, telling them that it Avas simply a loan of their credit, that the road Avas sure to pay from the start; the company Avould pay the coupons Avhen due, and the principal also out of the earnings of the road, and thus get back the mortgage, and return the same released of record to the farmer. Consequently the farmer Avoiild get his stock free, and a railroad through his farm also. But alas, hoAv figures did lie ! The farmer in a great many instances lost his farm, but in every instance had to pay the mortgage, for Avhich he onl}^ held stock, Avhich became nearly Avorthless, for in 1857 the Ohio Trust Company failed, and business came to a stand, railroads especially got a black eye.
"In the years 1856 and 1857 there Avas a race betAveen the Milwaukee and Mississippi RaihA^ay, and the Mihvaukee and L'a Crosse Raihvay, Avhich should get to the Mississippi river first, and in those years the entire government of Wisconsin, from the governor doAvn, including senators and assemblymen (Avith a few honorable exceptions) Avere bought up Avith the corruption bonds of the La Crosse Railroad Company, in order to get a land grant and raise money. The MIlAvaukee and Mississippi Raihvay Avon the race and bound Lake Michigan and the Father of Waters together Avith bands of iron, and in the spring of 1857 the Avriter opened business at Prairie du Chien as station agent. The road commenced running Avithout a building, and only one track and a siding. We delivered freight to the boats from the   cars.    But  soon  a  freig;ht  house  Avas  built.