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THBTranscontinental Railroad, Two Letters Discussing Financing and Construction
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Cincinnati , OH 45232
United States
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About Auction
LiveSep 8, 2017 - Sep 9, 2017
Cowan's Auctions dawnie@cowans.com
View Full Catalog (427)
- Lot Description
Lot of 2 letters related to the Transcontinental railroad.
Thompson, A.W. ALS, 2pp, 8 x 10 in., New York. November 24, 1863. Addressed to the Honorable A.D. Russell. Letter is an early discussion of the financing and construction of the transcontinental railroad. Thompson writes to New York city Judge Russell:
It is clearly within the power of this Secy of War to provide the most expeditious and cheapest modes of transportation & to do this he may contract in advance & give a consideration for the rapid construction of the work needed...If he declines to make a contract in any form, then get him to recommend the construction of the road promptly, and to say that as it forms the stem of the great Pacific road from Washington to the immediate Western connections, it should receive the same aid that has been provided by the Congress for the Pacific road, that is, the issue of the bonds by the government, and the grant of sections of land, to the same amount and extent, as govern in the act incorporating the Pacific Railway & upon the same terms. If he declines to do this, then get him to report the necessity of the road, and to ask Congress, to guarantee the bonds of the Metropolitan RR Co to the amount of six million dollars.
Research suggests that this letter may have been written by A.W. Thompson, who later served as Vice President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Abraham D. Russell was a municipal judge in New York City and a stock holder in the Lackawanna Steel Company. The Pacific Railway Act was signed into law by Abraham Lincoln on July 1, 1862. It provided Federal subsidies including government bonds and vast land grants to facilitate the construction of the transcontinental railroad, both of which incentives Thompson mentions to Russell.
This letter came from the papers of Edwards Pierrepont, appointed United States Attorney General by President Grant in 1875. Pierrepont, formerly a judge in New York City and later a US Attorney from New York, was heavily involved in the early railroad business.
Second letter, ALS, 3pp, 8 x 10 in., "Pacific R. Road/Engrs. Office/ Jefferson Cty., Mo." June 13, 1863. Written by an employee of the Pacific Railroad to his wife, Mrs. P. K. O'Donnell, in New York, the letter primarily remarks upon the author's love for his wife and missing her company. In reflecting upon his position he seems pleased with his circumstances and closes his letter with this: "Now a word about myself, I must tell you that my present position is most agreeable to my taste and together with that so bright a future now presents itself to me.... The day has dawned at last, that day which you so often did bid me hope for..."
In 1851, ground was broken in St. Louis on the Pacific Railroad which was chartered to extend "from St. Louis to the Western boundary of Missouri and thence to the Pacific Ocean." At the time this letter was written, the railroad had extended across most of the state, and ultimately in 1865 it reached across the entire state with the completion of the route to Kansas City. The Jefferson City Engineers office from which this letter was sent was approximately halfway across the state between St. Louis and Kansas City.
Condition
Letter 1 is in fine condition with white laid paper and dark ink.
Letter 2 is in mostly good condition, however, the 4th page which was the exterior when mailed has substantive wear. Fold lines are worn with multiple losses along vertical fold lines that do slightly affect some interior text. Page three also retains a small red remnant of unknown substance affecting one word of text. Letter includes a partial remnant of a three cent postage stamp and is addressed to "Mrs. P. K. O'Donnell/ Care of Mr. David O'Donnell/ American Exchange Bank/ New York." It appears to have been folded and mailed without the use of a separate envelope.
Frame has a split at top. Chips to surface of frame.
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