Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/318

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��HISTOKY OF KICHLAND COUNTY.

��The merchandise was consigned to John Gulp and W. W. Drennan. The train went back up the road carrying its load of liuman freight, many of whom enjoyed that day their first ride on a railroad, in cars drawn by steam.

The eonstrnction of the road-lied Avas solid, if a multiplicity "of timbers could make it so. [•'irst a '• mud-sill " was laid down, lengthwise of the road : stnmg cross-ties were then spiked on this '• mud-sill ;"" into these "gains,'' as they were called, were cut. which received the wooden rails, sawed to fit the ■• gains."' These rails were al)out five inches wide, broadening oiit as they entered the '• gains." and w^ere about seven inches high. On them, the  ribbon  was spiked, being a strip of hardwood, about two and a half inches wide, by one inch thick, and on this the strap-iron rail was laid. Spikes were driven through the strap-rail and the rib- bon into the large wooden rail underneath. The heads of the spikes were sunken into " eyes " in the strap-rails, leaving a smooth surface for the wheels. This superstructui-e required fully three times as much timber as the present sys- tem of ties and iron rails.

That portion of the. road in this county, almost the entire part of the Mansfield & New Haven road, lying south of Plymouth, was built mainly by Matthew McConnell and Henry IjeAman. They were then living in the county and engaged in business. In building the road, they were known by the firm name. • McConnell & Leyman, " and the contract com- monly went under the name. " McConnell & Leyman contract. " This part of the road was built after considerable effort had been ex- pended on the part of its friends and principal supporters in Mansfield and vicinity. Rail- roading was a new enterprise then to most people, whose ideas concerning such thorough- fares were rather meager. The principal abet- tors to the enterprise w-ere E. P. and Edward Sturges. James and Ellzey Hedges. Jabez Cook, Benjamin .Johns (the original proprietor of

��" Johns' Addition "' to Mansfield, and from whom it received its name), William Patterson, Charles T/ Sherman, Robert Bentley. Dr. William Bush- nell and a few others. They were the foremost men in the enterprise, and, wdien the time for the beginning came, were the foremost to put their money and time into the work. When the day came to throw the first shovelful of earth, a great concourse of people assembled at the place of beginning, and made the day a memorable one in the history of the town. The work had lieeu presaged by meetings in school- houses all over the county, and earnest efforts made to get the people to understand the im- port of the work, the benefits that would accrue from its completion, and the necessity for them to assist in the enterprise with subscriptions for stock and other material aid. The Legisla- ture had been for some time in the habit of gi'anting charters to ever}- corporation that de- sired one. until the evils of this unquestioned granting became so apparent that a re-action set in. and that bod}- began to refuse any charters whatever, unless the citizens or those interested could show some substantial reasons for the privilege of the charter. This required earnest work on the part of the promoters of the rail- road ; hence the meetings held in all parts of the count}' to awaken an interest and secure subscriptions to the stock of the road. Once or twice it failed, but rallied under the lead of others. Finally, the best business men of Mansfield took hold of the work. and. by their money and personal efforts, carried it through.

As has been stated, the road was completed in the spring of 1846, and a train of cars, drawn by the " Empire." came triumphantly into the city over the old strap-bar tracks, the forerun- ner of that countless number of trains that have entered and passed out of Mansfield.

The completion of this road gave the city and towns along its route an extra advantage over all other towns and cities in this part of Ohio. Mansfield now became a great center for

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