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Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company.

|One of the strongest railroad corporations in the country is the above named, and its management furnishes the public with the best of accommodations. Its equipments for passenger travel are the very finest, and its capacity and arrangement for general traffic are unsurpassed. It has always, perhaps, kept a better road than any other company in the West. The road bed is about perfect, the tracks smooth and firm, and the rolling stock of the first-class. The passenger coaches have always been elegantly furnished, and the trains run closely to time. A double track now extends almost all the way between Gales burg and Chicago .

This company controls and operates about 4,500 miles of road, about sixty miles of which are in Henry County . The main line—that running from Galesburg to Chicago—passes through Galva and Kewanee, and the St. Louis Division passes through the Western tier of townships, while the Galva & Keithsburg Branch starts at Galva and runs almost due West, passing through Nekoma, Woodhull and Alpha, thus affording the southeastern, southern and western portion of the county ample railroad accommodations.

The main line of the Chicago, Burlington & Quiney Railroad, or at least that portion running from Galesburg to Chicago, was originally chartered the Central Military Tract Railroad. This road was organized at Galesburg , Ill., in Feb., 1851. Its charter gave them the privilege to construct a railroad from Galesburg to some point on the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad; but June 19, 1852 , the charter was so ammended as to give them the right to connect with any railroad leading directly or indirectly to Chicago . Sheffield was the point they first thought of aiming for, and contracts were let in 1851-2 for building the road to that place. Subsequently, however, they determined to meet the Chicago & Aurora Road at Mendota.

This change was caused by the following circum stances : While the Peoria & Oquawka road was being slowly worked up by local subscription alone, Mr. C. S. Colton chanced to meet United States Senator J. W. Grimes, of Burlington, Iowa, in Boston, Mass., and Mr. Wadsworth, of Chicago, President of the Chicago & Aurora Railroad, a branch of the Chi cago & Galena Railroad; and after consultation they concluded that an independent route direct to Chi cago was the most feasible. Soon after this James W. Brooks, President of the Michigan Central Rail road Company, and James F. Joy, both of Detroit, Mich., interested themselves in the Central Military Tract Road. They proposed that if the people along the route from Galesburg to Mendota would sub scribe $300,000, they would furnish enough more to complete the grading of the road and laying of the ties; and when that was done they could borrow money on the bonds of the enterprise to complete the road and set it in operation.

Two years of fruitless effort to raise the necessary funds were spent, Eastern capitalists refusing to in vest where the Legislature reserved the right to fix the rates for fares and freights. Accordingly, anoth er meeting was held at Galesburg, and a charter drafted principally from the charter of the Illinois Central Railroad, which obviated the objection re ferred to in regard to fixing rates by the Legisla ture. This charter gave the company Uie entire control over their property the same as any other personal property, with full powers to fix rates of transportation. Mr. C. S. Colton was delegated to visit Springfield, and to secure the passage by the Legislature, which he did; and this same char ter was the foundation of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, which is to-day one of the most magnificent systems of railroads in the world.

In 1852, another survey was made from Galesburg to Mendota. Oct. 14, of this year, the Central Military Tract Company increased their stock from $100,000 to $600,000 and elected the following 13 directors: J. W. Brooks, Hemy Ledyard, J. F. Joy and G. V. N. Lothrop, of Detroit; I. H. Burch, C. G. Hammond and John H. Kinzie, of Chicago; Chauncey S. Colton, W. Selden Gale, James Bunce and Silas Willard, of Galesburg; William McMurtry, of Henderson, and John H. Bryant, of Princeton. They elected Mr. Brooks President, J. M. Berrien and David Sanborn, Secretary and Treasurer. Work was pushed rapidly forward, and by Sept. it, 1854, the cars reached Princeton, and during October and November the track was laid through this county and the first locomotive, the Reindeer, passed over it with a construction train. About 1856, the Chicago & Aurora, the Northern Cross, the Peoria & Oquawka and the Central Military Tract Companies were all consolidated under the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company. This name was derived from the terminal points. J. W. Brooks was elected President of the new road. This road opened up one of the most magnificent sections of the United States, known as the Military Tract, the northern line of which passed through the middle of Henry County. Upon the building of this road settlers began to pour in, and within five or six years every quarter-section of land was taken, and today it is one of the high est cultivated sections in the country.

Another railroad enterprise which is today owned by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Com pany, was the Rock rord, Rock Island & St. Louis Railroad. This road was to run from Rockford to St. Louis, via Rock Island. It secured the charter of the old Sterling & Rock Island Road, which was granted in 1854. The panic of 1857 and the war delayed railroad enterprises for a time, but shortly after the war the Rockford, Jlock Island & St Louis Railroad was pushed forward. The Sterling branch, being already completed, gave it a line from St. Louis to Sterling. The remainder of its line it was never able to complete. This road was sold under a foreclosure of mortgage to the St. Louis, Rock Island & Chicago Railroad Company, which was incorporated April 21, 1876. It was soon afterward leased by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, who now operate it as its St. Louis Division. This road was sold for $1,600,000, and it is said that it cost $r 1,000,000. The bondholders who live in Germany were the losers of about six-sevenths of their investment.

The American Central Railroad, now the Galva & Keithsburg Branch of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, was begun as early as 1847,but not completed until 1868. As above remarked, the management of this road has been of the highest character. Men of broad and liberal views, enterprising and considerate for the comfort and welfare of their patrons, have always been at its head, and especially is this the case at present.

The passenger department of few railroads in the country is managed with that sagacity and at the same time with that singleness of purpose to give the traveling public every accommodation known to the science of railroading, that characterize the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy R. R. This department is under the management of Mr. Perceval Lowell. A trip over this road will convince the most exacting that Mr. Lowell not only understands the art of railroading, but is exceedingly generous in providing every means of both comfort and safety. He has imbued all of his subordinates with that one idea so prominent with him,—"the public must and shall have the very best of traveling accommodations, and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad shall be excelled by none."

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