| Annual Report of the Richmond & York
River RR |
| as of October 1, 1867, |
| President's Report |
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| President's Report |
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| Office of Richmond & York River
Railroad Company |
| Richmond, October 1st, 1867 |
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To the Stockholders
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Gentlemen,
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The last annual report, which your directory had the honor to
submit for your consideration, was that for the fiscal year ending
September 30th, 1864. You were then informed, that all the rails belonging to
your road, except about two miles near this terminal point, had been taken up
and removed by the then contending military forces of the United States and
the Confederate States; and that nearly all your rolling stock had been sent
south of Petersburg, and was then being run on southern roads, mostly between
Wilmington and Weldon, and almost exclusively in the service of the military
authorities of the Confederate States, and in transporting supplies for the
state of Virginia; and so all transportation on your road of freight and
passengers was at once discontinued, and not again resumed during the
continuance of the war. A small force of negroes with an overseer were, for a
short time, continued at work, grading the depot lots in this city, but being
impressed by military authority to work on fortifications, the whole line of
your road was then abandoned, and no work whatever resumed thereon during the
war.
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This total abandonment occurred in October, 1864, and
shortly thereafter so much of your rolling stock as had not been
theretofore transferred to other roads, consisting of four passenger
coaches, a baggage car and an engine called the Chickahominy, which
was abandoned by the United States military forces when they changed
their base of operations, from the line of this road to the James
River, and taken possession of by this company and afterwards
recaptured by the United States military authorities, was rented,
along with a portion of the rolling stock, which was at that time
running between Greensborough and Wilmington, and consisting of an old
engine called the Mattaponi, and some freight cars, to the Richmond
& Danville and Piedmont Railroad Companies, and thereafter, until
the surrender of General Lee's army, the operations of your company
were confined to the running of the engine York, one baggage coach and
a train of freight cars from Greensborough to points in North
Carolina, and mostly for and on account of the state of Virginia, in
transporting supplies for the people of those parts of the state which
had been rendered destitute by the operations of the United States
military forces. This is all that it is now deemed necessary to state
in regard to the condition and operations of your company for the
first six months of the fiscal year, commencing on the 1st of October,
1864.
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The fall of Richmond occurred about the end of the first
half of the eleventh fiscal year of your corporate existence. This
annual report will therefore necessarily include all the operations of
your company from that date, say the 4th of April, 1864 {should
be 1865}, to this the 30th of September, 1867, the close of
your thirteenth fiscal year.
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The day before the fall of Richmond city the writer of
this had gone to the county of King and Queen on a brief visit to his
family, and did not find it altogether convenient to return to his
family, and did not find it altogether convenient to return until the
19th of the month (April). The day after reaching the city, he
repaired to this depot of your company, and found it occupied by Capt.
Comstock, post quarter-master, and his clerks, who had been placed in
charge of the building by Capt. Blood, then acting quartermaster of
the army of the James. On going over the building, it was found that
the fire proof vault and iron safe had been opened and rifled of all
their valuable contents, the books, records, vouchers and other
valuable papers of the company had been either carried off, destroyed
or so mutilated and defaced as to be of little or no value. The same
was found to be the case with the private papers, clothing and other
property of the undersigned, whose office and lodging rooms had been
in this building.
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The building remained in the possession of the
quarter-master's department for many months, and was not surrendered
without considerable difficulty, and not till it was absolutely
required for conducting the business of your company.
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At this point in the history of your company,
difficulties of a most serious and embarrassing character presented
themselves for consideration. The rails from the track of your road,
except about two miles, had been carried off and placed beyond the
control of your company; all the depot buildings, bridges, wharves,
and other destructible property of your company along the line of your
road, from a point some few miles out of Richmond to West Point, and
at that place, had been utterly destroyed.
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The road-bed, one-third of which being that part of it
lying between West Point and White House, had been abandoned for more
than two years, and the remaining two-thirds, since July and August
1863, had been so much damaged by the washing away of its embankments
and other portions of the bed of the road, the filling in of its cuts
and ditches, and the partial destruction of some of its culverts, that
a very large sum of money would be required to put it in order to
receive a new superstructure and the running of trains.
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That portion of your rolling stock which had not fallen
into the hands of the military authorities of the United States, or
been destroyed by them, or by accident, was so much worn and
dilapidated by the long continued service to which it had been
subjected, as to render it, with a few exceptions, almost wholly
useless, and in some instances, nearly valueless except as old
material. Can a worse condition of things, short of the utter
annihilation of its corporate existence, be imagined, than was then
presented by your company? But these were not all the difficulties
that then stared us in the face, and invited our consideration. We had
to make some arrangements to retire or meet the interest accruing on a
debt of three hundred and forty-seven thousand dollars, bearing
interest at the rate of eight per cent. per annum, and secured by the
then first mortgage on the then remaining property and effects of the
company, consisting of its franchises, depot buildings at Richmond,
real estate, a dilapidated and long abandoned road bed, and not quite
two hundred tons of rails of comparatively little value, some few
thousand dollars in value of worn out and dilapidated equipments, and
some cotton purchased during the war and then in the interior of
Georgia, and which was subsequently sold, netting about $29,000. *****
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Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Board of
Directors.
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By Alex. Dudley
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President
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