THE
HISTORY of
the Mobile and Ohio Railroad Company’s 92 years of useful life cannot
be compressed into a few pages in this short chapter.
The only thing which can be done is to bring to mind the most
important events in the history of the road which have tended to make
the M&O available for the merger with the Gulf, Mobile and Northern
in 1940. The full story of
the unusual development and the importance of the M&O must be
reserved for a separate study.
The
Mobile Road, as it was often called in its early days, was planned by
the people of Mobile to serve the city, in the same manner that the
Mississippi River had served New Orleans.
The railroad was expected to bring the trade of the upper
Mississippi, the Missouri, and the Ohio River basins to Mobile.
The project was named the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, because it
was to connect that city with the great river systems which converged
near Cairo, Illinois, and thus the port of Mobile was to assume a much
greater role in commercial affairs at the expense of New Orleans.
Mobile
had been hard hit by the panic of 1837, and even prior to that time her
importance as a port had been declining.
Mr. J. D. Baldwyn of
Mobile conceived the plan of restoring Mobile to its former position of
wealth and commerce by the development of a railroad which would divert
much of the immense export trade of the northern states to his native
city. For a number of years
his ideas and pleas fell on deaf ears.
By 1847, however, he had aroused enough enthusiasm for his
project to secure public subscriptions to finance a successful
reconnaissance trip from Mobile to the Ohio River.
After
the preliminary survey in 1847 showed the road to be feasible, the
Mobile Road finally became a popular project for Mobile.
Its citizens henceforth gave it substantial assistance.
The M&O was chartered in January and February, 1848, by the
states of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky in the order
named. Much interest was
aroused in all the states through which the road was to run.
State, county, city, and individual assistance was sought, and
large amounts of stock were subscribed.
The
city of Mobile voted a special property tax to force all property owners
to buy stock in the road. The
state of Alabama made substantial loans to the company.
Mississippi bought a large amount of stock in the project.
Tennessee granted a loan based on the number of miles of the road
which ran through the state. Most of the counties through which the road ran purchased
stock and many of the “cities” along the route also granted aid.
The
thing which really made the building of the road possible, however, was
the grant of federal lands to aid in its construction.
Senator Stephen A. Douglas
of Illinois must get most of the credit for the passage of the land
grant bill to aid the Illinois Central and the M&O, which was passed
by Congress in September, 1850. The
congressmen of Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky heartily
supported the measure after the M&O had been included in Douglas’
pet project. The land thus
granted to Mississippi and Alabama was to be transferred to a suitable
company to build a road. The
estimated value of the land at the time was at least $2,000,000, which
was thought to be enough to “iron” the road in the states of
Mississippi and Alabama. As
the federal government had no public domain in Tennessee and Kentucky,
no grants were made in those states.
After
the grant was transferred to the M&O by the states of Mississippi
and Alabama, the company was able to proceed with construction.
The first sector of the road to be ready for service was the
30-mile line from Mobile to Citronelle, Alabama, which was opened in
1852. Although there were
many problems and delays after this start, the line was finally
completed from Mobile to Columbus, Kentucky, on April 22, 1861.
River steamers were used to connect Columbus and the M&O with
other river ports and with the IC at Cairo.
The management of the M&O expected that much of the
M&O’s traffic would come from St. Louis, and since this would
necessitate a river crossing, the Columbus location would serve almost
as well as Cairo. This was
especially true because the St. Louis
and Iron Mountain Railroad had planned to terminate its line at Belmont,
Missouri, just across the river from Columbus, Kentucky.
At any rate, the management of the M&O felt justly proud of
its accomplishments up to 1861,
as this quotation from
the annual report of 1866
shows:
At
the commencement of the war, the company was in good condition, had
inspired universal confidence at home and abroad and had ample resources
to meet all its engagements. The
road in its progress to completion had set and overcome opposition of
the greatest magnitude. In
the. State of Mississippi,
it had been opposed by the friends of a rival road from New Orleans; in
Tennessee it had met the violent opposition of the enterprising and
energetic city of Memphis. The
great length of the road, passing through sections of the country having
no previous business or commercial connection with each other, gave to
these rival interests an opportunity for playing on the passions and
prejudices of the particular localities, and throwing obstacles in the
way of its progress. Towns
and villages, a short distance from the track of the road, put
themselves in hostility to it because it did not change its location and
send its cars directly to their doors.
When the company was compelled to apply to the legislature of the
several states through which the road was located for necessary
legislation to aid its completion, we were constantly met by opposition
from these local and rival interests.
But
by energy and perseverance this great road was completed and on the 22nd
of April, 1861, when the last rail was laid in the track, the company
had a road of the first class, built in the most substantial manner with
rails and fastenings and other materials unsurpassed in the United
States and supplied with rolling stock amply sufficient to meet all the
requirements of its extensive business.
From the resources then at our command, estimating the future
earnings of the road at figures below what we bad a right to expect, it
was safe to calculate that within two years from the completion of the
road we could commence payment of dividends on our stock.
Because
of the delay in construction, the M&O never had a
chance to prove its real
worth to Mobile. The Civil War began almost immediately, and in a matter of
months the northern terminal was in federal hands.
During the great struggle, the M&O served as
a medium of transport
and a target for both sides in the conflict.
Whenever one side or the other could not use the road for troop
movement or supply, its soldiers were ordered to destroy the road to
prevent enemy use. The
M&O emerged from the conflict in terrible condition.
The following quotation, also from the annual report of
1866, is a brief
statement of the total damage which the war brought to the road:
The
War came and the company has suffered largely by it.
The Confederate Government controlled the transportation of the
road and we were occupied chiefly in transporting men and supplies for
the array. In this way, the
Confederate Government became our debtors, including bonds, etc., in the
sum of $4,983,871.23. A
part of this was due long before the close of the war, but we were not
able to collect it because of alleged want of means of payment.
Add to this over fifty negroes costing $119,691.00 and Alabama
State Bonds, since declared void, being issued for the purposes of the
war $125,000.00 and it makes the round sum in Confederate currency of
$5,228,562.23, all of which was lost to this company. But our losses did not stop with a failure to get pay for
services which we were by military orders, compelled to perform.
All our bridges, trestle work.
warehouses and station buildings between Union City, Tennessee
and Okolona, in Mississippi, a distance of 184 miles, were destroyed.
General Sherman’s raid to Meridian destroyed north and south of
that place all the warehouses, water stations, bridges and trestle work
on 48 miles and on 21 miles of that distance, he bent, and as far as
possible destroyed, the rails and fastenings.
From a full supply, of rolling stock of the finest quality, we
were reduced to one-fourth of what was necessary and that was in
bad condition.
Our repair shop at Jackson, Tennessee, was broken up; and on the
evacuation of Mobile, the stationary engine and tools in the shop at
Whistler were destroyed. We
had, at the close of the war, neither tools nor materials to repair our
little remaining rolling stock and keep it on the track.
In this condition of things, the road was delivered back to us by
the United States military authorities.
The
M&O in 1865 needed
to be almost entirely rebuilt and reequipped, while at the same time it
was also necessary to provide for the past clue interest on the existing
debt. The creditors of the road were sympathetic and did not
foreclose, but the road was unable to earn enough to restore a semblance
of prosperity to the company. Finally
in 1875 the
road passed into the hands of receivers, who
operated the property
for eight years.
In
spite of its financial problems, the M&O did serve as an important
transportation line for its territory.
The city of Aberdeen, Mississippi, built a branch from the main
line of the M&O to Aberdeen, completing the project in 1870.
In the same general period the 14-mile Starkville branch was
built and opened for service in 1875.
The
M&O originally had been designed to extend to the Ohio River near
Cairo, but under the pressure of construction problems and regional
jealousies Columbus, Kentucky, was used as the northern terminal.
In the years before 1861 the managers of the M&O had hoped
that the St. Louis and Iron Mountain Railroad from St.
Louis to Belmont, Missouri, on the Mississippi River opposite
Columbus would be completed by 1861, but this did not take place until
1871. By 1870 the M&O
realized that the Belmont-Columbus transfer idea was not going to be an
ideal arrangement; therefore, the company began preparations to extend
the M&O from Columbus, Kentucky, to East Cairo, opposite the IC.
The plan was soon dropped, however, because of the financial
difficulties of the M&O and not until 1880 was it revived.
Under the guidance of the receivers, the M&O went ahead with
the project and on May 1, 1882, the extension to Cairo was put into
service.
In
1886 the M&O acquired the narrow-gauge St. Louis and Cairo Railroad
and changed it to standard gauge, thus making possible a through haul
from Mobile to St. Louis
(except for the ferry service at Cairo).
The St. Louis and
Cairo had been built on the east side of the Mississippi River to
perform the function which the St.
Louis and Iron Mountain had not satisfied.
After this line was built, the Columbus, Kentucky, terminal of
the M&O became of almost no importance, and eventually the line down
to the river was abandoned altogether.
In
its quest for more traffic for the northern end of the line, the M&O
determined to build a line from its Columbus, Mississippi, terminal on
toward the southeast and Florida. Contracts
were let in 1896 for a line to run to Tuscaloosa and Montgomery,
Alabama. This line, together with the 9-mile Warrior Southern branch
and the 11-mile Brocton branch was opened for service on June 30, 1898.
In
1898 the company decided to build a line to the southwest from Mobile.
As a result, the Mobile and Bay Shore Railway was chartered to
build a 39-mile line from Mobile to Alabama Port and Bayou La Batre.
This branch, which was located wholly in the state of Alabama,
was completed in 1899, and the M&O acquired title to the Mobile and
Bay Shore Railway at that time.
Some
of the additions to the line of the M&O proved of definite value to
the company, but the road never was able to catch up with its two
prosperous and aggressive competitors, the IC and the Louisville and
Nashville. For this reason,
the board of directors of the M&O recommended that stockholders and
bondholders of the M&O accept a security exchange plan which was
offered by the Southern Railway on January 31, 1901.
The Southern wanted the north-south line of the M&O and was
in a position to provide financial assistance which the M&O needed
to remain in competition with its richer rivals.
Under its plan, the Southern acquired control of the M&O when
the holders of 48,748 shares out of 53,206 shares outstanding exchanged
their stock for 4 per cent Southern stock trust certificates.
At the same time the holders of a majority of the M&O general
mortgage bonds exchanged their securities for Southern collateral trust
gold bonds for the same amount, principal and interest, payable on the
same dates and secured by the M&O general mortgage bonds.
This
exchange plan was so nearly universally accepted that the Southern
apparently, decided to merge the M&O into the Southern System.
A bill was introduced and passed by the Mississippi legislature
of 1902 to allow such a merger. Governor
James K. Vardaman, who later became U.S. senator from Mississippi,
objected to this strongly, and he vetoed the bill which had passed both
houses of the legislature. Since
the legislature was not strong enough to override the veto, the merger
plans were discarded. The
two lines worked closely together in the years from 1901 to 1930, but no
further attempts at merger were made.
After
acquisition of control by the Southern, the M&O ceased to have a
separate operating policy. Its
affairs were fitted into those of the Southern whenever it was possible,
and in no instance did the two roads compete with each other.
Under the guidance of the Southern, the M&O was able to
secure new capital sufficient to make the road a major contender for
traffic into and out of the Mobile area.
The road was so much improved that it paid dividends from 1908 to
1930 which more than reimbursed the Southern for its 4 per cent annual
payments on the M&O stock certificates.
Throughout most of this period the M&O was considered to be a
highly prosperous road, and its future looked relatively bright to the
casual observer. Trouble
was brewing for the M&O however, and the decline of the national
building boom in the late 1920’s showed the inherent weakness of the
company. Its net income
declined sharply after 1926. By
1930 a net deficit of almost $1,000,000 put the M&O into serious
trouble. The deficits continued and in 1932 amounted to $2,237,000.
The Southern was in serious difficulty by this time and was
unable to provide further assistance.
Under such circumstances a reorganization was unavoidable.
On June 3, 1932, the M&O went into the hands of a receiver
for the second time in its existence.
With the appointment of a receiver for the M&O the operating
policies of the two roads were separated, and after that date the
Southern had little day-to-day control of its subsidiary.
Not until 1938 was the Southern willing to consider divesting
itself of its control of the M&O, and then the decision was largely
forced on the parent road. The
Southern had commitments to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation which
were coming due, and operating revenues at that time were not sufficient
to provide funds for payment. Under
these circumstances the Southern reluctantly decided to sell its M&O
bonds for cash in order to get funds to settle part of its account with
the Reconstruction Finance Corporation.
Once the Southern had accepted its need to dispose of the
M&O, the plea of I. B. Tigrett was listened to, and the merger of
M&O and the GM&N became a reality.
An
action by the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1929 also may have had
some influence over the decision of the Southern to free the M&O.
In April, 1929, the Commission issued a complaint against the
Southern alleging that the Southern was in violation of the Clayton
Antitrust Act through ownership of the M&O and the New Orleans and
Northeastern without the approval of the Commission.
The case was never pressed against the Southern and was finally
dropped in 1933 after the M&O had gone into receivership, but the
matter stayed in the public record.
After this action, the belief became widely held that the
Southern had used the M&O for its own profit, at the expense of the
M&O property and thus in effect the holders of other M&O
securities. Since the
M&O certainly was not of great help to the Southern while in
receivership, the Southern may have decided to avoid further criticism
by disposing of its M&O bonds and thus dissolving all relations with
the defunct M&O. At any
rate the action was decided upon and the Southern received about 93
cents on the dollar for its M&O bonds when the GM&N acquired
them in 1940.