Trails to the Past-Vermont-Chittenden Co-Biographies Canfield

Biographies of Chittenden County

CANFIELD, THOMAS HAWLEY, only son of Samuel and Mary Ann Hawley Canfield, was born in Arlington, Bennington county, Vt., March 29, 1822. His ancestors were somewhat prominent in the political affairs of Vermont during the Revolutionary War, before it had become a State, while endeavoring to protect its rights from the encroachments of New Hampshire upon the east, and New York upon the west. Mr. Canfield was brought up on a farm, but at an early age he evinced a strong desire for a more advanced education than the common school of his native town afforded. Accordingly he was placed by his father at Burr Seminary, in Manchester, at its opening in May, 1833. under those able professors, the Rev. Dr. Coleman, the Rev. Dr. Worcester and John Aiken, esq., where he remained until he was fitted for college at the age of fourteen. Having a decided taste for practical matters, and not desiring to enter college at this early age, he returned home to the work of the farm for two years, when he was transferred to the Troy Episcopal Institute with reference to a scientific course of study, which had a very efficient corps of instructors, among them the present bishop of Vermont.

He was particularly fond of mathematics, and it was while demonstrating a difficult problem at a public examination in the city of Troy, N. Y., that he arrested the attention of the late Bishop Alonzo Potter, of Pennsylvania, who was one of the examiners, and then the acting president of Union College, Schenectady. By him Mr. Canfield was induced to abandon his idea of becoming a civil engineer and to enter the junior class in Union College, in 1839. He was by far the youngest in this class of over eighty, but yet, through the same indefatigable energy and perseverance which has characterized his conduct through life in everything which he has undertaken, he was one of the Maximum Ten who came out at the head of it.

Soon after the beginning of the senior year he was summoned to Vermont by the sudden death of his father; and although strongly urged by President Potter, as well as by his own relatives, to return and complete his college course, he considered the duty he owed to his mother and only sister paramount to everything else, and again took up the burden of the farm.

Finding the labor of the farm too severe for his slender constitution, he removed, in 1844, to Williston, Vt., where he became a merchant, having in the mean time married Elizabeth A., only daughter of Eli Chittenden, a grandson of the first governor of Vermont. She died in 1848, and he subsequently married Caroline A., the youngest daughter of the Rev. Bishop Hopkins, of Vermont, who is still living, and by whom he has two sons and three daughters. He remained in Williston until 1847, when he removed to Burlington, Vt., where he still resides, to take the place in the firm of Follett & Bradley, the leading wholesale merchants and forwarders in Northern Vermont, made vacant by the withdrawal of Judge Follett, who had taken the presidency of the Rutland and Burlington Railroad, then in course of construction. Mr. Canfield for some time resisted this arrangement, believing himself too young and inexperienced for the important position tendered him, but finally was induced to yield to the persistent en-treaties of Follett & Bradley, who had recognized in his short business career at Williston the peculiar traits in his character which fitted him particularly for the responsible position which they desired him to occupy. Their office and headquarters were at the stone store on Water street, Burlington, near the steamer wharf and railroad depot. At this time there were no railroads in Vermont; but the two roads from Boston, the one via Concord and Montpelier, and the other via Bellows Falls and Rutland, were being extended across the Green Mountains by two different routes to Burlington. His firm, Bradley & Canfield, with two or three other gentlemen, were engaged in building the one from Bellows Falls by the way of Rutland, which was completed in December, 1849. At the same time, in connection with George W. Strong, of Rutland, and Merritt Clark, of Poultney, they built the Rutland and Washington Railroad from Rutland to Eagle Bridge, N. Y., connecting at that point with a railroad to Troy and another to Albany, thus opening the first line of railroad to New York, as well as to Boston, from Northwestern Vermont. While these were in progress Messrs. Bradley & Canfield, in connection with T. F. Strong and Joseph and Selah Chamberlin, built the Ogdensburgh Railroad from Rouse's Point to Ogdensburgh, as well as other railroads in New York and Pennsylvania. Mr. Canfield was now fairly enlisted with a fleet of boats in the transportation business between Montreal and New York, as well as in mercantile pursuits, and in the building of railroads, which at that time but few contractors under-took. In the management of these great interests Mr. Canfield formed an extensive -acquaintance and gained a knowledge of the resources of the country on both sides of Lake Champlain, which gave him an experience in handling and transporting the prod-ucts of the country that attracted the attention of the directors of the Rutland and Washington Railroad, and commended him as a fit man to manage its affairs, and to open and organize it for business. As soon as completed they selected him for superintendent, which he declined. But so many of his friends were interested in it, and it being a new departure in the transportation of Western Vermont, he yielded to their appeals and accepted the situation, retaining at the same time the management of his former business at Burlington. Mr. Canfield afterwards became president of the Rut-land and Washington Railroad, and subsequently took a lease of it and operated it on his own account, being probably the first railroad in the country ever leased by a private individual.

The operating of railroads was then comparatively in its infancy, and there were few experienced men to be employed. He at once instituted a rigid system of discipline and accountability, in which at first he met with opposition; but after a time all became impressed with the justice and importance of it, and he received the hearty co-operation of the employees and directors, and thus established an esprit de corps among all connected with it which made " the Eagle Bridge route " celebrated for its promptness and regularity, its accommodation to the traveling and business public, and its employees as among the best railroad men in the country.

Heretofore it required two days for the mails as well as passengers to go between Burlington or Montreal and New York. Mr. Canfield first proposed to make a day line between the cities. He went to New York to enlist Governor Morgan, then president of the Hudson River Railroad, in the plan; but he was coldly received by the governor, for the reason the governor believed it was simply impossible. But after several inter-views he consented to make the trial for three months, on condition Mr. Canfield would guarantee his company from any loss. It is 300 miles from New York to Burlington, and 400 to Montreal, which involved an average speed of about forty miles an hour. Accordingly, on the 15th day of May, 1852, at 6 o'clock, A. M., a train left the Chambers street depot in New York with Mr. Canfield, Mr. French, superintendent of the Hudson River Railroad, Mr. Johnson, superintendent of the Troy and Boston Railroad, with two or three reporters, being all that would risk their lives upon such a crazy experiment. The train arrived at Rutland on time at 1.25 P. M., having made the run from Eagle Bridge, sixty-two miles, in eighty-five minutes, making five stops, with Nat. Gooken engineer and Amos Story conductor. Burlington was reached at 3.20 P. M., and Montreal at 7 P. M. But for the fact that it had on board the New York papers of that morning it would have been impossible to have made the public believe that it came from beyond Troy. Thus was settled a question of great importance, the establishing of a daily intercourse between Montreal and New York, since which time two daily trains have been kept up most of the time.

Burlington, previous to the advent of railroads, had been the commercial center of Northern Vermont, and had been built up from the trade arising from its being the point of shipment to the New York and Boston markets of the produce of the country, and the receipt and distribution of merchandise in return. Large numbers of eight or ten horse teams from Woodstock, Northfield, Bradford, St. Johnsbury, Hyde Park, Derby Line, Montpelier and other places with their loads of starch, butter, cheese, wool, scales and manufactured goods kept up a lively business with the interior, bringing to Burlington much money to be exchanged for flour, salt, iron, steel, nails and other merchandise. In addition to this the lines of boats running to Troy, Albany, New York, Montreal and all points on the lake, created an active and prosperous business for Burlington, and it became a very thriving and beautiful town. When the question came up of connecting by railroad Boston and Burlington, two-routes were proposed, one via Montpelier and Concord, and the other via Rutland and Fitchburg. There was much difference of opinion among the citizens which would be most for the interest of Burlington, or in other words, which would injure it the least, or least interfere with its already prosperous business. Public meetings were held, much excitement and feeling prevailed; one party, headed by the old established house of J. & J. H. Peck & Co., advocating the Vermont Central route via Montpelier, of which Governor Charles Paine became president, and the other party, represented by Bradley & Canfield, urging the Rutland line, of which Judge Follett became president, who maintained that as Burlington had always derived its business more or less from Eastern and Northeastern Vermont, and parts of New Hampshire adjacent, that a railroad from Boston, penetrating these sections, would divert the trade direct to Boston, and thereby injure Burlington correspondingly; while from the south Burlington had never had any trade, the connection with market from that portion of Vermont being made directly with the different shipping ports on the lake, and hence it was evident, that while Burlington had nothing to lose, but everything to gain by opening a trade with the towns of Western and Southern Vermont, at the same time the line to Boston would be shorter than by Montpelier, and, besides, a connection could be made at Rutland with railroads to Troy and Albany, and thus have a direct rail communication with New York and the West in the winter, as well as in the summer. The result of this controversy was the building of both lines, which was greatly accelerated by the powerful aid and influence contributed by the two contending parties, and on the 18th day of December, 1849, first train from Boston via Rutland came into Burlington, and on the 25th day of the same month the first train via Montpelier arrived at Winooski, the bridge over the river at that place not being finished to admit it to Burlington. With the advent of the Vermont Central train, the fine ten-horse teams of Governor Paine and others ceased their trips forever to Burlington, and the elegant and celebrated six-horse teams and coaches of Mahlon Cottrell, of Montpelier, took their departure for the last time, as had before much of the business from that part of the State; and the prostration and decline of Burlington began, and stagnation in business reigned supreme, as Bradley & Canfield had maintained would be the case if the Vermont Central line was built.

Originally, to counteract the injury to a certain extent which might arise to Burling-ton by the Central line, it was contended by its friends that, its terminus being in Burlington with its shops, new business would be created to offset in part the loss of the old. It was also understood that an independent railroad should be built from there north to Canada to accommodate both the Boston lines, which were to make their termini in Burlington. But the excitement ran so high during the building that Governor Paine, after becoming sure that his line would be built, gave up coming to Burling-ton, and arranged, with the aid of John Smith and Lawrence Brainerd, of St. Albans, to make a line north from Essex Junction, thus practically extending the main line of the Central to Rouse's Point, leaving Burlington to one side to be reached by a branch. This move gave the final blow to Burlington, and left the Rutland Railroad without any rail connection north, and forced it to make its connections with the Ogdensburgh and Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroads at Rouse's Point by boat To meet this emergency, as the Rutland Railroad Company had not the right by its charter to build boats, Bradley & Canfield came to the rescue, and within ninety days, early in the spring of 1850, constructed four barges of the capacity of 3,000 barrels of flour each, and the steamer Boston to tow them between Burlington and Rouse's Point; and this enabled the Rutland line to compete successfully for the western business with the Vermont Central.

Previous to this, as early as 1847, Mr. Canfield saw that a change in the character of the business at Burlington was inevitable, and, to supply what would be destroyed, new branches would have to be built up. All the flour heretofore, for Northern Vermont and New York, came from Troy and Albany via Whitehall, while that for the rest of New England, after passing through the Erie Canal, found its way to Boston and other ports either by water by way of New York, or by the Boston and Albany Railroad to the inland towns. He thus early took the ground that, with the new pro-posed lines of railroads completed between the Atlantic and River St. Lawrence, a new route would have to be opened by that way and the upper lakes, to the wheat regions of the West. Upon consultation with leading forwarders at Troy and Albany, a movement of this kind, he found, would incur the hostility of New York and all parties interested in the navigation of the Erie Canal, which at that time was the main channel of transportation between the lakes and Hudson River. But Mr. Canfield, nothing daunted by such intimations, went in the spring of 1848 to Montreal, and laid his views and plans for a northern route before Messrs. Holmes, Young & Knapp, the most prominent merchants in Canada, and who carried on an extensive business with Cleve-land, Detroit and Chicago in wheat, flour and pork. They concurred with him in the desirability, but not the practicability of the scheme. From thence he went up the St. Lawrence River, stopping at Ogdensburgh, Kingston, Oswego, Rochester and Buffalo, to Cleveland. Here he met A. H. & D. N. Barney, who were engaged in boating on the western lakes, and who have since become so prominent in the railroad and express business in New York city, and engaged them to send a vessel with a load of flour to Montreal, which he purchased on his own account. This vessel, although passing the locks in the Welland and St. Lawrence Canals, was too large to pass those of the Chambly, and hence Mr. Canfield had to unload the flour at Montreal, and after much trouble with the custom-house officers transferred it by ferry boat to La Prairie, nine miles above Montreal, on the opposite side of the St. Lawrence, then by rail to St Johns at the foot of Lake Champlain, and then by steamer to Burlington. This was the first cargo of flour ever sent from Lake Erie to Lake Champlain via Welland Canal and St. Lawrence River. Although it was an expensive experiment, yet it showed that there was another route than that by the Erie Canal which was sooner or later to de-velop into an important one. The next season Bradley & Canfield chartered the steam , propeller Earl of Cathcart to run between Detroit and Montreal, agreeing to furnish at Detroit 1,500 barrels of flour every two weeks, at a fixed rate of freight to be paid whether the flour was shipped or not; and to enable them to comply with this contract, they purchased a large flouring mill at Battle Creek, Mich., to manufacture the flour, and thus opened a regular trade via Montreal to Burlington the whole season.

Meanwhile the Ogdensburgh Railroad was completed, and Mr. Canfield, still deter-mined to carry out his original plan of opening a more practicable northern route for much of the business between New England and the West, went to Oswego and Buffalo, and after investigating more fully the operations of steam propellers on the lakes and Welland Canal, made a contract with E. C. Bancroft, of Oswego, to build two propellers of full size for the Welland Canal locks, costing $20,000 each, and arranged with Mr. Crawford, at Cleveland, to supply two more, with which to make a regular line from Detroit to Ogdensburgh. The Erie Canal forwarders, becoming alarmed at this new departure, procured from the Legislature of New York a reduction of tolls on wheat and flour, which interfered seriously with the new route, compelling a reduction of price of freight to about actual cost. This reduction was unnecessary, as it did not alter the production, and Mr. Canfield contended that the increased production of grain in the new-developed Western States would keep pace with all the increased facilities of transportation, which has since proved to be true, notwithstanding there are now eight through lines of railroad, as well as the Erie Canal and various water lines on the St. Lawrence River.

The next season, 1850, opened with the line of propellers between Ogdensburgh and Detroit. But the fates were against them. One of the new ones ran on to a rock in the upper St. Lawrence and sank on the first trip, and another was wrecked on her second voyage, entailing a very heavy loss upon Bradley & Canfield. Others were procured to take their places, and the line was kept up, so that it was demonstrated at the end of the season that with proper vessels a regular line could be supported j the result of which was the establishment of the Northern Transportation Line from Ogdensburgh to Detroit and Chicago, consisting of a fleet of ten or fifteen propellers, which forever settled the practicability of the northern route, so that at the present day nearly all the business between Northern New England and the West is done that way, either by rail or water. During the four or five years of its inauguration Mr. Canfield was the main advocate and promoter of it, and it was through his persistent efforts, and after various trials and experiments and great loss of time and money, that he saw his plans succeed and the route thoroughly opened up and maintained. But the various obstacles which he still encountered, and especially the delay and damage incident to transshipment at different points, led him to consider the plan of a continuous water route without transshipment from the upper lakes, involving the construction of a ship canal from Caughnawaga, above the Lachine Rapids, in the St. Lawrence River, to Lake Champlain. He had frequent interviews in Montreal with the Hon. John Young, Benjamin Holmes, Harrison Stephens, Peter McGill, Messrs. Holton & McPhersons, forwarders, all of whom were men of broad views and extended knowledge of the re-sources of the vast West on both sides of the line. Mr. Young had already agitated the subject in Canada. Mr. Canfield arranged a series of meetings to bring the scheme before the public. One was held in Burlington August 14, 1849, which was addressed by Mr. Young, Judge Follett and Charles Adams, the latter gentlemen entering into it very enthusiastically as well as intelligently. Another was held at Saratoga August 21, over which General John E. Wool presided, which was also addressed by Mr. Young, Mr. Adams, Chancellor Walworth and many other prominent men from Mon-treal, Troy, Albany, Whitehall and other cities. A committee was appointed, consisting of prominent citizens in the States and Canada, to devise measures to carry on the enterprise. A survey was made and it looked as though the project might be accomplished. But when the matter came up in the Parliament of Canada for a charter, an unexpected resistance arose from Montreal, and although the charter was finally granted, the opposition became so great as to paralyze the efforts of Mr. Young and others, and prevented anything further being done.

The fact that the large lumber trade with Canada and Michigan has grown up since at Burlington, even with the much inferior and more distant connection by the way of the Chambly Canal, demonstrates the necessity of a canal of much larger dimensions, and had the original plan of Mr. Canfield and Mr. Young been carried out, Burlington would long since have become the distributing point for the Hour and grain of the West as well as lumber for nearly all of New England; the large steamers leaving Duluth and Chicago would have discharged their cargoes on the docks at Burlington without breaking bulk, thereby creating a business which would have added greatly to its population and prosperity, and made it one of the most important cities of New England. Mr. Canfield still believes that this canal will, sooner or later, be built, that the necessities of trade and commerce will demand it, and that nothing would conduce so much to the growth and advancement of Burlington as the construction of the Caughnawaga Ship Canal.

While Mr. Canfield was thus engaged in these various enterprises he formed the acquaintance of Edwin F. Johnson, then perhaps the most experienced railroad engineer in America, who spent much of his time at Burlington in the stone store of Bradley & Canfield. Mr. Johnson, having been projector of the Erie Railroad in 1836 from New York to the lakes, as well as having been engaged in the construction of the Erie Canal, had given much thought, and collected from army officers, trappers and traders, much information relative to the belt of country between the great lakes and the Pacific Ocean, and had become so thoroughly impressed with the importance of a railroad to the Pacific coast, that he was constantly talking with Mr. Canfield upon the project to induce him to take hold of it. Mr. Canfield, who was then about thirty years old, be-came so much convinced by Mr. Johnson's arguments, as well as by his own study of the country, of the practicability of a railroad across the continent, that he resolved to make it the business of his life, and devote his energies and talents to the accomplish-ment of it, believing he could in no way be so instrumental in promoting the happiness and welfare of his fellow men as in opening to settlement that immense tract of fertile land in the Northwest, and which would furnish homes for millions of the poor and down-trodden of all nations.

The first active step towards it was the taking of a contract in 1852, by himself and partners, to build the Chicago, St. Paul and Fond du Lac Railroad, now known as the Chicago" and Northwestern Railroad, from Chicago to St. Paul, Minn., and Fond du Lac, Wis. Mr. Johnson was made chief engineer. At this time there was no railroad into Chicago from the East, and the materials and supplies were transported from Buf-falo by boat through the lakes and straits of Machinacto Chteago. Robert J. Walker, secretary of the treasury of the United States, N. P. Tallmadge, ex-United States sena-tor from New York, and other prominent men were the directors of the company. It was while Mr. Johnson was thus engaged on this road that he used to have long talks with Mr. Canfield about a line of railroad to the Pacific Ocean from St. Paul, and wrote an exhaustive treatise upon Pacific railroads, showing that the northern via the Missouri, Yellowstone and Columbia Rivers was the most feasible route, as well as passing through the most productive country. This made a volume of 150 pages, with an extended map, which Mr. Canfield and his partner published at their own expense, upon which was traced the isothermal line, showing that the climate became milder from Minnesota to Puget Sound, until a mean winter temperature there was warmer than Chesapeake Bay.

In those days railroad building was slow compared with what it is now, materials difficult to get, capital timid, contractors inexperienced, and before the railroad was fin-ished to Fond du Lac the panic of 1857 overtook it and stopped all work, embarrassing the company and contractors. Before the company could be reorganized, the War of the Rebellion came on, when the necessity of a railroad to the Pacific became apparent, and the government selected the middle route, or Union Pacific, as the first line to be built, granting it lands and a money subsidy.

Soon after the war broke out and the government assumed control of the railroads of the country, and Colonel Thomas A. Scott, of the Pennsylvania Railroad, was made assistant secretary of war, having for his special duties the collecting of the armies of the United States. He sent for Mr. Canfield and placed him in charge of all the rail-roads about Washington as general manager. At this time Washington was surrounded by the rebels, and all communication was cut off except by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, with a single track-all the materials and supplies for the daily support of citizens, the army and everything, as well as all passengers and troops, had to be taken over this line. It required from thirty to forty trains a day each way, of about thirty-five cars each, and the fear that the enemy might intercept them at any time caused no little uneasiness to the president and his cabinet.

It was a very responsible and trying position. The flower of the Confederate army, under their experienced and popular leader, General Lee, was encamped upon the "sa-cred soil" in sight of the capitol, rebel spies and allies were everywhere present in dis-guise, occupying positions of trust in the different departments of the government, keeping up a constant secret communication with the rebel leaders, the whole North in a state of anxiety and excitement lest the capital of the Union, with its treasures and archives, should fall into the hands of the enemy, while the South were hourly expect-ing to hear of its surrender to General Lee, and its occupation by their troops. Every avenue of communication by land and water with the District of Columbia was in the hands of the rebels, except the single iron-track Baltimore, over which the 300,000 soldiers ior the Army of the Potomac were to be transported for the defense of Washington, as well as everything for the support of man and beast in and about Wash_ ington. It was only after frequent interviews and repeated assurances that Mr. Can-field could satisfy President Lincoln that he could, on this single track, keep open a communication with Washington until the Army of the Potomac should be collected, pro-vided the government would furnish troops enough to protect the line from destruction. But the rigid system instituted by Mr. Canfield of guarding the track the whole distance by day and night, the employment of experienced, loyal railroad men whom he knew and in whom he had confidence, an implicit obedience of all employees to the rules and regulations, enabled him to transport the immense amount of freight, passengers and troops during the whole blockade without an accident of any kind. Never, perhaps, has there been, before or since in this country, so much business done in the same length of time with so much promptness and safety, upon a single-track railroad. The general movement of the army the next season into Virginia and the South raised the blockade and removed the necessity of further vigilance at Washington; and the death of Mr. Doolittle, the superintendent of the steamers on Lake Champlain, created a vacancy which the directors of the company desired Mr. Canfield to fill, which he accepted, returned to Burlington, and for several years was the general superintendent of the company.

Upon the revival of the project of the Northern Pacific Railroad after the war, when Messrs. Smith, of Vermont, Rice, of Maine, and Cheney, of Boston, purchased from Mr. Perham, then the ostensible proprietor, the whole enterprise, to save it to this country and from going into the hands of the Grand Trunk Railroad of Canada, which was endeavoring to get control of it, an active man was wanted to take charge of the business, to attend to all the details, to bring the merits of the enterprise before Congress and the country. Mr. Canfield, who was well known to all these gentlemen as having given much attention to the matter in former years with Mr. Johnson, was appointed a director and general agent of the company, with power to take such measures as he thought necessary to get the company into operation, and to carry out the provisions of the charter in the work of construction, under the advice of the directors from time to time. After the failure of Congress in i860 and 1867 to grant aid, it was evident that the temper of that body was hostile to further government aid to railroads, which was encouraged by those interested in the Union and Central Pacific Railroads, to prevent, if possible, the building of the northern and southern lines. The directors of the Northern Pacific were much discouraged, and at times were about ready to abandon the enterprise and lose what money they had already put in. But the charter would expire in two years. Mr. Canfield, who had been so many years working for the enterprise, would not consent to give it up without one more effort to save it, knowing full well that with the state of public sentiment then existing, if this charter expired, another never would be granted.

To secure an extension of the charter and give it a more national character than it seemed to have before, Mr. Canfield conceived the idea of a syndicate of gentlemen, to be made up from those occupying prominent positions in the leading railroads of the country. He went to St. Albans and laid the matter before Governor Smith, who was then president of the Northern Pacific Railroad, who concurred in it; but, being too busy with the affairs of the Vermont Central Railroad to give much personal attention to the plan, he told Mr. Canfield to go ahead and he would endorse anything he might do.

Mr. Canfield left Burlington for New York on the 26th day of December, 1866, with a heavy heart, but resolved to make a last desperate effort to save the magnificent enterprise about which he had already spent so many years of his life. Mr. William B. Ogden, of Chicago, with whom Mr. Canfield had long been acquainted, was the president of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, was better informed upon the resources of the great Northwest, and had spent more time in investigating them than any other man of his time, and could better appreciate the magnitude of the Northern Pacific and the development of an empire, which must follow its construction. Mr. Canfield felt that his first point was to secure the active co-operation of Mr. Ogden and induce him to take hold of it, notwithstanding he was overwhelmed with business. It was some days before he could get Mr. Ogden to give any attention to it; but finally secured an appointment with him to spend a day at his home at Boscobel, near High Bridge, and take up the subject.

Mr. Canfield, early on the day appointed, went to Boscobel with his maps, plans, and printed copies of the charter, and commencing with its provisions and discussing them, he soon enlisted the interest of Mr. Ogden to such an extent that they continued their discussion from nine o'clock in the morning until midnight. Mr. Canfield's plan was to form a syndicate of twelve men, representing the leading railway, express, and transportation interests of the country, and to give to each one-twelfth of the enterprise, they paying there for their proportion of the original cost. Thus the twelve would own the enterprise, each subscriber coming in on the " ground floor." The twelve names presented by Mr. Canfield were acceptable to Mr. Ogden. During this interview at Boscobel, in considering the various questions and emergencies which might arise in the unknown future before the road should be " put upon its feet" and the work of construction commenced, Mr. Ogden said to Mr. Canfield :

" How much money will it require to bring this about ? how much money will each one have to pay, and how long will it take ?"

Mr. Canfield frankly replied "that it was a long road to travel, that it had bitter and strong enemies in and out of Congress to contend with, and that you, Mr. Ogden, with your experience, know that it would take considerable money to make surveys and do preliminary work upon so long a route across the Rocky Mountains, which each one is expected to furnish his proportion of from time to time." " What, then." said Mr. Ogden, " will be the chance of our getting our money back ?"

" About one in fifty,'' said Mr. Canfield.

"A fine chance" said Mr. Ogden; "and upon what ground then, Mr. Canfield, do you ask us to put up our money, with so little prospect of return ?" " Upon this ground, Mr. Ogden, which I have no doubt will commend itself to your good judgment: This enterprise is one of the greatest ever undertaken in the world -it is equal to that of the East India Company-it is the only continuous charter ever granted across this continent, from water to water, and with the prevailing sentiment, which is increasing in this country, of hostility to railroad grants, assisted by govern-ment aid of subsidy, or even wild lands, if this is allowed to lapse, another will never be granted; it will open up an empire, now occupied by the savages, which will furnish happy homes for millions of the poor of this and other countries, and the resources and wealth which it will develop will simply be incalculable ; and withal it will be the great highway for the trade of China, Japan, and the East Indies, across the continent. It is due to the people of this country and to this nation, that you, gentlemen, whom Providence has placed at the head of the great transportation interests of the country, should step in at this crisis and use your influence and advance your money to save this magnificent enterprise from destruction."

" Well, Mr. Canfield, that is high and noble ground. The charter must be saved and I will take hold with you. Meet me at my office, 57 Broadway, tomorrow morning, and we will lay siege to the directors of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, whose influence we must enlist."

It was past midnight, and Mr. Canfield retired much lighter-hearted than when he left Vermont, and feeling that a good day's work had been done, and that daylight was about to dawn upon his favorite project.

In order that there should be no cause for disagreement in the future and that the objects for which the syndicate was formed should be distinctly understood, as up to this time Mr. Canfield had made only a rough sketch of them, he telegraphed to Vermont to Governor Smith to come to New York, and with him spent most of the day of January, 1867 at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, in putting on to paper in a condensed form the agreement for the twelve parties to sign, which was really the constitution upon which was based the future proceedings and which was afterwards known in the affairs of the company as the " Original Interests Agreement.'' It was late in the after-noon when they took this document to 57 Broadway to submit to Mr. Ogden, which, after discussion and explanation, received his hearty approval without a single alteration.

It was getting dark, and as Mr. Ogden had to drive to his home at Boscobel, twelve miles, he said:

"Well, gentlemen, is there anything else to do ?"

Yes, there is one thing more," said Mr. Canfield, " that is, for you to take the pen and put your name to this paper for one of the one-twelfth interests." " But it is so dark," said Mr. Ogden, " I do not know as I can see to write, and if I do, as you can read it."

"Well," said Mr. Canfield, " try it and we will accept the signature for better or worse." Mr. Ogden then signed his name and they separated. As Smith and Canfield walked up Broadway, passing Trinity Church, Governor Smith said he felt that a critical turning point in the Northern Pacific enterprise had been passed and that the prospects for the future were very encouraging.

Mr. Canfield soon after procured the remaining signatures to the agreement, which composed the syndicate, as follows :

J. Gregory Smith, R. D. Rice, Thomas H. Canfield, William B. Ogden, Robert H. Berdell, D. N. Barney and B. P. Cheney, A. H. Barney and William G. Fargo, Geo.W. Cass, J. Edgar Thomson, Edwin Reilly.

Six of the former directors resigned and Messrs. Ogden, Cass, Thomson, Berdell, Fargo and Canfield were elected in their places.

The new board found it necessary, in order to satisfy the numerous inquiries made in Congress as to the practicability of the route and in order to fix a definite location,, to institute surveys from Lake Superior going west and from Puget Sound coming east. In order to do this Edwin F. Johnson was chosen chief engineer, and Thomas H. Can-field general manager to collect assessments, make disbursements, and attend generally to the business of the company. Thus the two men who, in 1852, so often laid plans for a Pacific Railroad in the "stone store1' at Burlington, Vt., were after fifteen years brought together again as the active men in starting forward and taking charge of the work.

The subscribers to the syndicate continued to make advances for the cost of surveys and other expenses of the company until they had furnished about a quarter of a mil-lion of dollars from their own private pockets, and until the company was fairly under way by the financial arrangement with Jay Cooke & Co., Mr. Canfield in the mean time receiving all the moneys, making the disbursements, keeping the accounts until they were turned over to the new organization, arising from the arrangement with Messrs. Cooke & Co., and the original twelve parties to the syndicate relieved from their personal obligations. But for the advances, courage, faith and influence of these twelve men, there would have been no Northern Pacific Railroad to-day. Those were the dark days of the enterprise, when it required faith and courage, when the project was ridiculed as impossible and its advocates as crazy and visionary; and in view of the ignorance which then pervaded the whole country as to the climate, resources and practicability of this route to the Pacific, and the consequent obloquy and ridicule which was poured out upon those who had undertaken it, it is safe to say that at least as much credit is due to those twelve men, who amid good report and evil report, stood up with their brains and money and carried it through, as to those in later days, who, after its practicability had been demonstrated, confidence created, money raised and success assured, have been instrumental in its final completion. Mr. Canfield spent much time in Washington at different times to procure the necessary legislation for extending the charter of the company-procuring the right to mortgage, and the right to build from Portland to Puget Sound. The Charier Almost Lost.-But for his vigilance the company would have lost its charter in 1868. The matter had been before Congress, and after much opposition from various quarters, a bill was passed by the House and concurred in by the Senate on the 28th day of June, while the charter expired on the 2d day of July. The bill had been returned from the Senate, reported to the House, engrossed and passed on to the committee on enrolled bills, of which Mr. Holman was chairman, to be taken to the president for his signature. Mr. Canfield, finding the bill did not reach the White House as it should, and as there was but a day or two left, became very nervous and uneasy, as well as unable to find Mr. Holman, who had taken charge of the bill. In this emergency he consulted with Messrs. Windom and Woodbridge, members of the House, and they went to the speaker, Mr. Colfax, who ordered the desk of Mr. Holman to be opened, and there found the bill and gave it to another member of the committee to take to the White House. It is supposed Mr. Holman was sick somewhere and had forgotten about it. But for this watchfulness on the part of Mr. Canfield, the Northern Pacific charter might have slept the sleep of death in the desk of its worst enemy in the House. It was signed by the president July 1, only one day before the charter expired.

Mr. Canfield was one of the committee, consisting of Messrs. Smith, Ogden and Rice, who went to Ogontz, Mr. Cooke's country residence, near Philadelphia, in May, 1869, to make the arrangement with Jay Cooke & Co. to negotiate the bonds of the Northern Pacific Railroad. After spending a day or two and finally agreeing to the terms of the arrangement, Mr. Cooke, just as the committee were leaving, supposing all things were done, insisted upon a condition, as a postscript to the agreement, that the agreement should not be binding upon him, unless by a personal examination by himself or his agents, of the whole line, it should be shown as equal to all the representations as to resources and practicability which the directors had made. This Mr. Cooke insisted upon, even if it should take a year to do it. Mr. Canfield was selected by the directors to take charge of Mr. Cooke's party, consisting of W. Milnor Roberts, engineer; Samuel Wilkeson, William G. Moorehead, jr., the Rev. Dr. Claxton, and William Johnson, a son of the chief engineer, which was to meet him at Salt Lake City on the 14th of June.

From there they went by the Central Pacific Railroad to Sacramento and Marysville, and then by stage through Northern California and Oregon 700 miles to Portland, Oregon, arriving there on the 4th of July, 1869. From there they went to Puget Sound- most of the way by stage - procured a small steamer, making a thorough examination of all the bays, towns and harbors, and returning to Portland they went by steamer up the Columbia River to Walla Walla. There Mr. Canfield fitted out a horse-back expedition, consisting of thirteen saddle and pack horses, and as there were no settlements of any consequence beyond Walla Walla, was obliged to take provisions upon the backs of his horses sufficient to last the party thirty days, which it was estimated would bring them to Helena, Montana, 500 miles. They left Walla Walla on the 20th of July, with the thermometer at no° above zero, making about twenty miles a day, lying upon the ground at night without any tent to cover them. They went from Walla Walla to Pend d'Oreille Lake, thence up the Clark's Fork of the Columbia to Cabinet Rapids, Thompson's Palls, Horse Plains, along the Flathead and Jocko Rivers, 'through the Coriacen Defile to Missoula, thence along the Blackfoot to Gold Creek, now Garrison's, where they made a detour through the Deer Lodge Valley to examine the Deer Lodge Pass. Returning to Gold Creek, the first place gold was discovered in Montana, they crossed the Rocky Mountains to Helena at Mullan's Pass, where the railroad tunnel now is. Here they disbanded their horses and took stages to Fort Benton, examining Cadotte's Pass on their return, which was the pass Governor Stevens and his expedition crossed in 1854. Here they met an Indian outbreak, but escaped without injury. From Helena they went to Bozeman, crossing the Bozeman Pass to the Yellowstone River, where Livingston now is. The hostile attitude of the Indians prevented them from going any farther down the Yellowstone River, as they had intended, which caused them to turn back to Bozeman, the party first assuring Mr., Canfield that their failure to go down the Yellowstone would not interfere with the substance of their report. Mr. Canfield then turned back with his party, went across the country to Virginia City and took stages to Corrinne, and then by the Union Pacific Railroad to the East, reaching New York after an absence of about three months. During the trip the engineers had been very reticent as to their views of the route, which created no little anxiety on the part of Mr.Canfield, lest they might not make a favorable report. This was a very important matter to the company at this time, as upon the report of these men Mr. Cooke would furnish the money or not to go on with the construction. Mr. Canfield felt that a great responsibility was placed upon him, as in the event of his not showing them a good route, such as would be satisfactory, the whole arrangement with Mr. Cooke must be abandoned, as well as the construction of the road.But Mr. Canfield, by his study of the route in former years - from the information he had obtained from prominent and intelligent citizens in Oregon, Washington and Montana, and officers of the army-was enabled to conduct the expedition through a favorable route, which subsequent surveys have confirmed, and the railroad from the Columbia River to the Yellowstone has been finally built on the route indicated, and most of the way in sight of the very trail which this party made in 1869. The result of the expedition turned out favorably, and the gentlemen sent on by Mr. Cooke unanimously reported that the if it had not been told by the directors, and that the country was far better than they had ever represented, which complied with the condition required by Mr. Cooke, and he at once commenced negotiating the bonds, and the work of construction began. It was soon found that many of the crossings of rivers and other places favorable to the location of towns were upon even sections, while the company, under their grant from Congress, received only the odd ones, and had no right under their charter to buy lands. In order to get over this difficulty a company was formed called "The Lake Superior and Puget Sound Company' of which Mr. Canfield was made president, which was empowered to buy lands, build boats and do most any kind of business to further the interest of the railroad company.

In carrying out the plans contemplated by the Lake Superior and Puget Sound Company, Mr. Canfield located and laid out on the line of the Northern Pacific Railroad, between Lake Superior and the Red River, the towns of Kimberly, Aitkin, Brainerd, Motley, Aldrich, Wadena,; Perham, Audubon, Lake Park, Hawley, Glyndon and Moorhead.

In May, 1872, while there was not yet a white inhabitant west of the Red River, he crossed the plains with his horse and buggy, carrying his own provisions, from Moorhead 200 miles to the Missouri River, while it was yet Indian territory, and located Fargo, and laid out and located Valley City, Jamestown and Bismarck, and the crossing of the Missouri by the railroad.

In November, 1871, he crossed the desert from Ogden on the Union Pacific Railroad, when there were very few settlers in that country, to Snake River near Shoshone Falls, thence to Boise City, Idaho, and to Baker City, Eastern Oregon, via the Burnt Creek crossing of the Snake River, where the Oregon Short Line Railroad has just reached, thence across the Blue Mountains to Umatilla, on the Columbia River, and thence by steamer to Portland, Oregon. While on the Pacific coast Mr. Canfield for the second time explored Puget Sound with reference to selecting a site for the future terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and secured large tracts of land at some eight or ten different places on the Sound, any of which might be available for a terminus of the railroad.

While it always had been the intention and policy of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company to use the navigable waters of the lakes and rivers across the continent in the first instance and connecting the portages by railroad, in order to get a communication through the whole route as soon as possible, which would at first make the Columbia River route available and Portland the terminus of the branch line, and the commercial center of Oregon. Yet Mr. Canfield always insisted that sooner or later the interest of the railroad would demand the construction of the short line across the Cascade Mountains to Puget Sound. However much the views of the directors of that day may have been modified in favor of Portland as a final terminus in consequence of the obstacles presented by the Cascade Range, he never subscribed to their views, but took the ground that the future great commercial city on the Pacific coast would be on the waters of Puget Sound, where it could be approached with ease through the Straits of Fuca by the largest vessels from all parts of the world, without being subjected to delays, damage and shipwreck by the bars which necessarily are formed at the mouths of the great rivers. Accordingly, as above stated, he secured large tracts of land at various points on the Sound from Olympia to Bellingham Bay, and had a thorough examination made of all the bays and harbors, as well as of the country contiguous, with reference to the practicability of approach by a railroad, and the supply of fresh water for a city.

At Tacoma he purchased a large tract, believing it would be the point on the sound where a railroad from the south would first touch it, and connect it with the Willamette valley and all the immense productive country west of the Cascade Mountains for hundreds of miles to California and beyond by branches to Utah and Nevada, at the same time being located, as it were, in front of the Cowlitz, Natchez, Stampede, and Snoqualmie passes of the Cascade range, one of which he believed the railroad would, sooner or later, adopt as its crossing, as it would be the easiest point of access for the main line from the east, forming a junction at Tacoma with the lines from Oregon, California, Utah, and Nevada from the south; even if in the future it should be deemed expedient by the company to continue the line down the sound to some point nearer to the entrance of the Straits of Fuca as the final terminus. The wisdom of this selection has since been demonstrated by the construction of a railroad from California to Tacoma, and the Northern Pacific is also rapidly constructing its main line through the Stampede Pass to the same place.

Thus through the agency of Mr. Canfield the Northern Pacific Railroad Company has been enabled to secure a large tract of land on the Mediterranean of the Pacific, giving it ample facilities for its terminus, buildings, side tracks, wharves and warehouses, approachable without difficulty by the largest vessels in the world, as well as enabling it to lay out a city upon a plan and scale which shall adequately provide for all the wants and comforts of future generations, and which shall be a fitting counterpart to one to be built at its eastern terminus, Lake Superior, at the mouth of the waters of the St. Louis River, where Duluth and Superior now are, and which shall "be the great center of business of that empire of the Northwest now being so rapidly developed, and second only to Chicago in population and commercial importance on the great chain of lakes. At this time also Mr. Canfield located Tennio, Newaukem, Olequa, and Kalama, on the line between Tacoma and Portland. Kalama was selected because it was at the head of high water navigation of the Columbia River, at the same time being near Coffin Rock, which was one of the few places that the Columbia River could be bridged. Kalama was the place on the Pacific coast where the Northern Pacific Railroad laid its first rail, and which was its headquarters for several years on that coast. It was while here Mr. Canfield foresaw the importance which the Oregon Navigation Company might he to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, which was a company owning twenty steamers, navigating from the ocean at Astoria the waters of the Columbia, Willamette and Snake Rivers, and Pend d'Oreille Lake for thousands of miles into Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana Territories. It was principally owned by Messrs. Ainsworth, Thompson and Reed of Portland, and Alvinza Hayward, of San. Francisco.

Mr. Canfield commenced negotiations with them for the whole property, which anally resulted in Messrs. Ainsworth and Thompson meeting Mr. Canfield and Mr. Jay Cooke at the latter's residence, Ogontz, near Philadelphia, in the following winter, and the sale was consummated, the Northern Pacific Railroad Company buying three-quarters of the stock of the Oregon Navigation Company, and the original parties retaining one-quarter.

In 1872 Mr. Canfield escorted the board of directors of the Northern Pacific Rail-road to Oregon and Washington Territory, taking them from Sacramento to Portland overland, and thence to the Puget Sound. They visited all the principal places on the sound in a steamer, examining them with reference to fixing upon a terminus for the main line of the road on the Sound, which was subsequently settled upon as Tacoma. The result of Mr. Canfield's experience is," he has traveled over nearly all the country between Lake Superior and the Pacific Ocean via the northern route, on foot, or horseback, or mule back, in carts or wagons, long before the iron horse was heard in the land, and consequently has become familiar with the topography and character of the country.

Few men comprehended so fully at an early day, even when St. Paul and Minneapolis were in their infancy, the great capability of this immense country - the fertility and extent of the Red River valley, equal to that of the Vile - the abundant resources of various kinds awaiting future development between Lake Superior and Puget Sound - their capacity for easy and rapid development, such as no other country has ever before shown, which, combined with the facilities offered by the Northern Pacific and Manitoba, and other railroads yet to be built, to hasten settlements and accommodate the people, will create a Northwestern empire which will not only add incalculable wealth to the nation, but will form an important factor in its future government. Mr. Canfield continued as president of the Lake Superior and Puget Sound Company, and a director of the Northern Pacific Railroad until the bankruptcy of the company in 1873, when, upon its reorganization, it became the principal owner of the Lake Superior and Puget Sound Company, and no necessity existed longer for an active manager and Mr. Canfield resigned, after having devoted over twenty years of the prime of his life to inaugurate and put into operation this magnificent enterprise, with which his name must be forever identified as its most active organizer and promoter in its dark days, when very tew had the faintest idea it would ever amount to anything. His health was so much impaired that he was compelled to give up all active business and now lives at Burlington, Vt., spending a portion of his time at Lake Park, Minn., where he has a farm, and is demonstrating the importance of a more diversified system of farming, by raising, in addition to the various kinds of grain, horses, cattle and sheep, instead of confining his work to producing wheat alone, which sooner or later will exhaust the elements in the soil necessary for its production, unless restored by rotation and rest.

Amid all the ups and downs of the times - amid all panics and financial storms -notwithstanding all the discouragements of the early days of the Northern Pacific and the hostility of Congress to its applications - Mr. Canfield has always maintained the same abiding faith in this magnificent undertaking and the same confidence in its ultimate success, and he still believes it will become the great transcontinental highway across the continent to Europe, not only for the products of the soil and mines along its border, but for the products of Japan, China, and the Indies. Mr. Canfield has now been engaged in active business forty-six years, during which time he has never taken a day specially for recreation or pleasure, so called, but has found his pleasure in the work in which he was engaged, believing thereby he was doing some good to his fellow men.

Although of a slender frame and fragile constitution, he is yet apparently as well and active and moves with the same elastic step as twenty years ago, which he attributes in a great degree to his constant busy life and temperate habits in all things except work. He is a good judge of human nature, enabling him to be an excellent organizer and manager of men, quick in observation, clear in judgment and rapid in execution. While being naturally self-reliant, to which his varied experience has contributed, yet he is ready at all times to listen to others, and adopt their views even if they differ from his own, if they have merit in them. Modest in his pretensions, he is ever ready to give to others the credit of any good act, although he may have been mainly instrumental in bringing it about. Having been engaged in work of a public character and connected with many great enterprises, he has an extended knowledge of the country and broad and comprehensive ideas as to its capacity and resources, and entertains the most sanguine views as to its future greatness and power. When once enlisted in any scheme which commands his approbation he is very persistent and persevering until it is accomplished, no matter how difficult it may be or how serious the obstacles to be encountered. The idea of defeat never enters into his calculations. He is very retiring, talks but little, is a good listener, but clear in his ideas of right and wrong and firm in maintaining them. He is generous almost to a fault, and in anything in which he believes he is ready to back his acts with his money so far as he is able ; a true and firm friend to those who gain his confidence - and many are the men in good circumstances and prominent positions who are indebted for them to his early aid and assistance. At different times he has been actively engaged in political matters, but always refusing to accept any office of any kind, preferring to aid those whom he deemed capable of filling public stations. Arriving at his majority when the old Whig party was prominent, his first vote was cast for its nominees, and he continued identified with it until it was succeeded by the Republican party, to which he has since belonged. He is an active member of the Episcopal Church, having been brought up in it from childhood, the house in which he was born in Arlington being the one in which the convention of the diocese of Vermont first met to organize in 1790, the occupant of it, his grandfather, being the first lay delegate. He was baptized in infancy in the old church at Arlington by " Priest Bronson," one of the first clergymen in Vermont, and confirmed by Bishop Hopkins in St. Paul's Church, Burlington, Good Friday, 1848. He was for many years a vestryman and warden of St Paul's Church, had charge of the enlargement of the church in 1852, raising the money for it, and again in 1868 in building the transept, devoting much time as well as money. He has attended every convention of the diocese of Vermont for thirty-two years, twenty-three of which he has been the secretary of it. For several years he was a member of the standing committee of the diocese, and also represented it as deputy in the four general conventions of the church in the United States, held in Philadelphia in 1856, in Richmond, Va., in 1859, in New York in 1874, in Boston in 1877, and in Chicago October 8, 1886. He was one of the original incorporators and trustees of the Vermont Episcopal Institute thirty-one years ago, and has been the resident trustee ever since, having charge of its affairs, its treasurer for twenty years, and now actively engaged in raising $40,000 with which to erect suitable buildings for the female department. He furnished the plans for Trinity Chapel, Winooski, and was mainly instrumental in raising the money to build it. lie founded the Episcopal Church at Brainerd, Minnesota, furnishing the block on which it stands and half the money for the building. He also furnished the sites for the churches at Moorhead, Minn., Bismarck, Dak., and Kalama, Washington Territory, and assisted in building the churches. However much he may be absorbed in business, he always finds time to attend to the church and its interests. Few men have ever had a more busy life, which from present indications is likely to continue in the same way to the end; and he probably will, as he says he expects to do, " die in the harness."

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