ALL KINDS OF ROADS
BLUFFTON-FORT WAYNE PLANK ROAD--UNREALIZED RAILROAD PROJ-
ECTS--THE MUNCIE ROUTE--FIRST TIES LAID IN THE COUNTY--
DRIVING THE FIRST SPIKES--JOHN STUDABAKER, RAILROAD FATHER
--HUGH DOUGHERTY DESCRIBES THE BUILDING OF THE ROAD--ROADS
AND TRAFFIC IN 1865--JOHN STUDABAKER TO THE FRONT--CON-
TRACT LET FOR MUNCIE ROAD--MR. DOUGHERTY IN CHARGE OF CON-
STRUCTION--COLLECTING AT THE POINT OF THE GUN--HIS CLIENT
NOT FAVORED--A RAILROAD OR NOT A RAILROAD (?)--FINANCIAL
COMPLICATIONS--BUILDING OF THE SECOND RAILROAD--THE
"CLOVER LEAF," OR BUST--THE CHICAGO & ERIE LINE--THE TRAC-
TION LINES.The necessity of building passable roads through Wells County was
fully realized twenty years before a real start had been made in their
actual construction. Wood was then plentiful, and gravel had not
come into general use as road material. In fact, until the original
railroad project which eventually materialized had been well under
way, the substantial gravel road was a thing of the future.Bluffton-Fort Wayne Plank Road
As early as 1848, in the second year of the Republican Bugle, of
Bluffton, the first newspaper of the county, the local press noted that
a movement was on foot for the laying of a plank road from the county
seat to Fort Wayne. Naturally, the movement progressed, for that
publication of January 6, 1849, gives an account of a public meeting
held at the court house in Fort Wayne, December 16th previous, for
the purpose of appointing delegates to attend the plank road conven-
tion at Bluffton on the 19th. Twelve delegates were appointed, but
only the following appeared at the convention: Hugh McCulloch
(afterward a member of President Johnson's cabinet), P. Hoagland,
S. Edsall, P. P. Bailey, H. B. Reed, C. W. Aysworth and S. C. Free-
man. The mere attendance of these men at the convention was suffi-333
334 ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
cient proof of their zeal in the cause, for a trip from Fort Wayne to
Bluffton those times, and expecially at that season, was fraught with
great difficulties. In some places the roads surpassed description.
It was really amusing to see one of the horses walk on a pole and step
on stumps, while another would be standing still with his head stuck
into the mud up to his eyes, apparently meditating whether it were
better to give up or make another effort to get out.On arrival at Bluffton the delegates found some of the citizens in
favor of a plank road to Fort Wayne, and some opposed, favoring a
railroad instead; but the latter were readily convinced that a rail-
road was impracticable at that early day, and joined the others in the
plank road enterprise. They combined their forces and pledged them-
selves to build ten miles of the road, and, if possible, to the county line.
The road was actually planked from Bluffton to Fort Wayne between
1852 and 1856, except in some places it was graveled only, kept in
repair for a number of years, toll paid on it, and then it was suffered
to run down.As early as 1840 to 1850 railroad projects ere talked of, various
routes proposed, etc., but the people were too poor to buld railways,
and Eastern capital was busier with the main lines running east and
west, north of Wells County.
The route for the Fort Wayne, Cincinnati & Louisville line popu-
larly known as the "Muncie Railroad," was surveyed through Wells
County as early as 1852; but, before the work of construction actually
commenced, the Civil war interrupted all railroad enterprises. In
looking over the old files of the Bluffton newspaper, one constantly
meets with the characteristic, universal wail of "O how long, how long
shall we have to wait for those Eastern men to go ahead and build the
railroad, as they have encouraged us to believe they would," inter-
spersed with a setting forth of the advantages of a railroad "through
this point" and to a certain other point beyond, with exhortations to
the people to wake up and take an interest in it, and with news of
some railroad meeting somewhere, or interview with some railroad
magnate at some distant point where some encouragement was con-
tingently expressed.In 1867-'68 Messrs. Hugh Dougherty, John Studabaker and others
took the Muncie Route in hand and soon had the road built. They
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES 335
first signed bonds to the amount of $100,000, then canvassed the county
for support, finally securing the endorsement of the Board of County
Commissioners, who made an appropriation of the above amount. The
work of construction then went rapidly on the completion.As the track was being laid south from Fort Wayne, on approach-
in the county line, great excitement prevailed in Bluffton, and a
pleasant strife was indulged in for being the first to lay a tie within
the limits of Wells County.
On Tuesday, October 12, 1869, a great procession, with a band of
music, cannon, etc., went with wagons to the point, where a dinner was
enjoyed, etc., and when the critical moment arrived, Hon. Newton
Burwell and J. Gerry Smith (the Banner editor) carried a tied to
the county line, or a little south of it as they thought, and dropped it
in place. Next came W. B. Wolfe and J. J. Todd with a tie and laid
it, claiming that Burwell & Smith's tie was not far enough south to be
in Wells County. Many others also laid ties, continuing for several
rods, amid music and cheers and roaring of cannon indescribable.By previous agreement, the honor of driving the first two spikes
was conferred upon Colonel Hall, of Bluffton, and James Metts, of
Murray. This occurred November 10th following, as the track rached
Bluffton, at 11:30 A. M., where the first spikes were driven by John
Studabaker, then the oldest citizen, and by William Bluffton Miller,
the eldest male child born in this town. Lively addresses were deliv-
ered by Levi Mock (then mayor), J. J. Todd, T. W. Wilson and others,
a free dinner was given in Studabaker's new warehouse, silver cornet
bands played, everybody shouted, and the "Little Giant" cannon
fairly split its throat in endavoring to overtop the noise of the crowd.
Indeed, it blew itself all to pieces, knocking even the wheels of its car-
riage to splinters, and yet, providentially, no one was killed, and but
one or two injured!
It should be stated that John Studabaker, above referred to, was
for a time director of this road, and W. W. Worthington, of Fort
Wayne, was superintendent for many years. Mr. Dougherty con-
tinued to aid the road on its southward extension, until connection was
made at Connersville with the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Road.
336 ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
For a time the name was the "Fort Wayne, Muncie & Cincinnati Rail-
road," and subsequently the Fort Wayne, Cincinnati & Louisville
Railroad.John Studabaker, Railroad Father
Doubtless, John Studabaker and his nephew, Hugh Dougherty,
were the pillars which braced up the Fort Wayne, Cincinnati & Louis-
ville Railroad so sturdily that it was able to stand alone. Mr. Studa-
baker had been retired for twelve years as a merchant and had become
the leading banker of Bluffton, and about the time the railroad project
was most critical he discontinued the First National Bank, of which
he had been president for five years, and associated himself with his
brother, Peter, and Mr. Dougherty, in a reorganized institution which
became The Studabaker Bank. Even before Mr. Dougherty appeared
upon the scene of transportation development in Wells County, Mr.
Studabaker had been much interested in the Bluffton & Fort Wayne
Plank Road, and in 1851 was identified with the proposed Fort Wayne
& Southern Railroad, which rested for a term of years after having
been graded through the county. It was, in fact, the father of the
Fort Wayne, Cincinnati & Louisville Railroad.Hugh Dougherty Describes the Building of the Road
Mr. Dougherty had barely passed his majority when, in 1865, after
having enjoyed some rather exciting civil war experiences in Ken-
tucky and Tennessee, he joined his uncle in his grain and banking
enterprises at Bluffton. He was therefore still very young when the
railroad was put through. He thus describes those times and the
special enterprise with which John Studabaker, Louis Worthington, of
Cincinnati, himself and others were identified: "The writer's per-
sonal knowledge of Wells County dates back only to November 5,
1865, at which time there was not a gravel road, railroad, nor any of
the important ditches constructed. Bluffton being the county seat, was
the largest town, having less than eight hundred inhabitants. The
most important improvements in Bluffton at that time were three
brick business blocks. The best and most imposing was built by John
Studabaker, which included the east half of the Leader store
and the bulding adjoing those on the north, and one brick building
where George F. McFarren's store now stands, which was torn away
some years ago to give way to the more spacious building which he now
occupies; the third one is now occupied by Cline & Zimmer's hardware
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES 337
store and was built by Drs. Melsheimer and McCleery. There were
scarcely any sidewalks and they were made of plank; there were no
crossings, so that pedestrians had little use for shoe blacking, as they
would not be able to cross the street after their shoes were polished
without losing their lustre. The school houses of the town would
scarcely accommodate one hundred students and the seating capacity
of all the shurches could not be more than three hundred. The court
house, jail and other public improvements were on the same line; the
privat homes were no more pretneitous--and still the town was ahead
of the country at that time."There were no gravel roads, the farmers doing well during the
muddy season if they averaged getting to town twice a month. On
this account there was very little reading matter found in the country
homes. Dr. B. F. Cummins, who had a large country practice, once
said to me that he was always prepared with paper in chish to do up
his powders, as he could not rely on the people to furnish it. for at
least three months, and sometimes as much as five months in the year,
it was impossible for farmers to get to town with their wagons and, in
order to get over the corduroy roads and through the mud, they were
frequently to be found with a yoke of oxen or two horses hitched to
the front wheels of a wagon, with a load of but two bags of wheat, the
toisome trip being necessary for the purpose of having the latter
ground into flour for family use. The main outlet for trade was Fort
Wayne. There had been, several years previous, a plank road built
from Fort Wayne to Bluffton, but the planks had become worn out and
in many places had broken through, which made it impossible for
heavy freight to be hauled in a wagon, so when snow came in the
winter with good sleighing all the teamsters in and about the town
were employed to haul the produce and provisions to market. A hack
made the trip one way each day to Fort Wayne and return. It usually
had four horses, though in the muddy season of the year they were
unable to pull the hack and its passengers, so that very often the latter
were compelled to get out and walk a good portion of the way. The
write paid two dollars for his hack fare from Fort Wayne to Bluffton
on his first trip here, which reduced his total wealth to less than four
dollars. After leaving fort Wayne and driving about seven miles, we
found the road so bad that the passengers found it more comfortable
and speedy to walk. We would not have complained of this, if we had
not been compelled to assist in prying out the hack on several occasions.
338 ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
This trip was made in April for the purpose of taking aview of the
country, but the writer soon decided not to remain; later, however, in
the following autumn he returned to stay."This condition of roads and transportation imporved but little
until the spring of 1868, when John Studabaker received a letter from[image]
John Studabaker
D. T. Haines, of Muncie, saying there was a chance to get a railroad
from Fort Wayne to Nuncie; and thereupon Mr. Studabker promptly
joined Mr. Haines and Louis Worthington, of Cincinnati, at the Rock-
hill House, Fort Wayne, where a number of gentlement from that city
met them, and at a conference it was proposed to construct the road,
if Wells County would contribute $100,000 to the enterprise and if
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES 339
responsible private citizens would guarantee this amount by a bond to
be executed by them therefor. Public sentiment was strong enought to
have voted a donation to this amount by the county, but there was no
statute authorizing the vote or an appropriation for railroad purposes,
so there was no other way to do but to create a sentiment strong
enough to enduce the county commissioners to appropriate the money
without regard to existing laws. With that indomitable will and
energy which have made John Studabaker's business life such a suc-
cess, he proposed that the bond should be signed by four hundred citi-
zens, all real estate owners, he first putting his name to the bond.
Then a canvas was made of the county, meetings held and speeches
made, until the four hundred freeholders' names were secured. Im-
mediately following this, Mr. Studabker was made a director of the
railroad."The contract was let to Byrd, Sturgis & Ney, of Fort Wayne, and
the work was commenced and progressed for three months. The
desire on the part of the people of Bluffton to have the road completed
at an early date caused frequent inquiries to be made as to progress,
when it was found that the contractors were not paying their hands,
nor for the material, but that each member of the firm had received
the pay for the monthly estimate and kept the money. the writer was
sent by Mr. Studabaker to see what could be done to hurry the work
along, when he accidentally overheard a conversation that divulged
the fact that the Junction Railroad, of which Louis Worthington was
the president and which was supposed to be furnishing the money to
build our road was in financial trouble. When this was reported to
Mr. Studabaker he called Mr. Worthington, the president of the road,
and a number of directors, to Fort Wayne, and at that conference it
was decided to take the work away from the contractors and put it in
the hands of a receiver; and if any profits were made they were to go
to the contractors.Mr. Dougherty in Charge of Construction
"A number of citizens were discussed as to who should take charge
of the work and put it through with as much haste as possible, when Mr.
Studabaker proposed the writer who was then twenty-four years old.
Some objections were made on account of his age, but, with Mr. Studa-
baker's keen foresight, he was determined to have control of the con-
340 ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
struction so that it might be put through as rapidly as possible and
before any failure might occur with the Junction Railroad. So he
proposed that the receiver should give a $100,000 bond, which was
promptly given by Mr. Studabker signing the bond, with Jesse R.
Williams of Fort Wayne and other gentlemen. He brought it to
Bluffton for the signature of the principal, and on the next day the
writer took charge of the enterprise, hiring all labor, buying the ma-
terial and securing the right-of-way.Collecting at the Point of His Gun
"Among the first men hired to hew ties was Augustus N. Martin,
who afterward was elected reporter of the Supreme Court and was
also representative in Congress for three times from this district.
There was much annoyance in getting the right-of-way, because of
many unfulfilled promises made by the men who undertook to build
this railroad years prior to this time. One of the instances that now
comes to our mind occurred on the farm of George F. Burgan, through
which the road ran a mile north of Bluffton. He was very agreeable
as to the question of amount, and we agreed with him as to what he was
to have, and told him to let the men go to work and we would be out
and pay him next day. This conversation was in the yard, and he
immediately stepped into the house, took down his rifle and said: 'You
will pay me now, or the first man that steps on my land will be shot.'
So we were compelled to return to Bluffton at once and obtain the
money to pay him, for the men were there ready to go to work. From
that time on, the road had no better friend than Mr. Burgan."We had several lawsuits for right-of-way, in which we found
David Colerick, of Fort Wayne, a very able lawyer, always on the
opposite side. After we had the right-of-way through the farms,
Colerick came to us and asked that there might be a cattle-guard put
in so that a crossing could be made for a client of his, that the latter
might drive his stock from one side of the farm to the other. We said
to him, 'Mr. Colerick, we do not consider you a friend of the road;
therefore, do not believe we can grant your request in behalf of your
client.' He yelled out, at the top of his voice, 'Friend! I am no man's
friend, nor the road's either. I never had but one friend--myself--
and he d----d near ruined me.' His client did not get the crossing.
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES 341
A Railroad, or Not a Railroad (?)
"The intimation we had that the Junction Railroad and Louis
Worthington, the president, were in financial straits, caused great
fears that the road never could be completed for lack of money. So it
was agreed that the Junction Railroad would secure the iron, and we
would do the work, and furnish the ties and bridges to complete the
line to Bluffton, and hold the $100,000 citizens' bond as security for
what money we had advanced and would advance, until the road
should be completed to Bluffton. The condition of the bond was such
that the $100,000 would be due whenever a train of cars would have
run over the road from the City of Fort Wayne into the Town of
Bluffton, where Market Street would cross the railroad. This made it
extremely important that the road should be completed to Market
Street, Bluffton, before November 30, 1869.
"As the time drew near for the completion of the road, there had
been a large number of men and teams put on the grade and in the
woods, making ties and getting out timber, and the last month we had
three hundred names on the pay roll, which required over $30,000.
On November 10, 1968, twenty days before the time was up, we had
run a train from Fort Wayne to Market Street, Bluffton, which made
the citizens' bond binding and worth $100,000. Then came the great
jollification, large numbers of people coming in from all parts of the
county with well-filled baskets.
"Up to this time there had been but one engine on the road, it
being under the care of the writer, and the contractors, Byrd, Sturgis
& Ney, refusing to surrender the possession of the road to the Junction
Railroad until they were settled with for their profits. The Junction
Railroad bribed the fireman to run away with the engine. While the
engineer was temporarily off his engine at Fort Wayne, the fireman
cut loose and started it down the Pennsylvania track to Lima, with all
speed possible. This created great excitement at Bluffton, and the
question then arose in the minds of the wiseacres whether, from a legal
stand-point, we had a railroad or not; and it was a mooted question as
to whether the $100,000 citizens' bond could be collected; but it was
only a few days until a train of cars was placed on the road."While Mr. Studabaker and the writer were delighted to have com-
pleted the road in time to leave them secure for what had been ad-
vanced, yet there was great trouble ahead. About $50,000 of the
342 ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
money which had been appropriated by the county commissioners to
the railroad had been paid in by tax payers to the county treasurer, he
having deposited it in our bank. We, in turn, deposited it in the Cen-
tral National Bank of Cincinnati, but when we made the last payment
to the laborers and for the material, and our bank undertook to draw
the money from the Central National Bank of Cincinnati, we were told
that Louis Worthington had already drawn the money, claiming it due
them as soon as the railroad reached Market Street, Bluffton. After
spending two days making every effort to get them to give up the
money peaceably, we employed lawyers with the intention of forcing
them to pay us the money, for the reason that we had never given the
Central National Bank any authority to pay Mr. Worthington the
money, and if they had advanced it to him on his word they must rely
on that for their pay. This settled one-half of the citizens' bond.
"The other half was settled so far as it could be done by the
county commissioners, who ordered the county auditor to issue county
orders covering the other $50,000, which was to be paid out of money
as soon as collected for that purpose. The county commissioners ap-
pointed Mr. John Studabaker trustee to take charge of these county
orders, but Hon. Newton Burwell, who had just held a term in the
lower house of the Legislature and was quite active in politics, raised
an objection to Mr. Studabaker being made trustee because of his
being a republican. He had little trouble in convincing the county
commissioners that Mr. Studabaker could not be trusted with these
county orders on account of his politics, this being made especially
easy because of there having been quite a contest over Manuel Popejoy,
who was nominated as one of the commissioners on the democratic
ticket. However, when the committee appointed by the four hundred
on the citizens' bond called on Mr. Popejoy and asked what he would
do in regard to pledging himself to appropriate the money for the rail-
road, his reply was, 'If the law warrants such an appropriation and I
am elected, I will vote for it.' The signers of the bond knew there was
no law authorizing a levy for railroad purposes; so they set about to
Mr. Burwell's objection to Mr. Studabaker on account of his politics
was accepted by the commissioners as being sufficient to remove him,
and it was proposed that the writer, whose politics was regular, be put
in his place, and he was appointed.
"This only increased trouble for the writer, as the county orders
were then placed in his hands and he started for Cincinnati to ex-
change them for the citizens' bond. He found it in the hands of a
pork-packer named Joseph Rawson, who had advanced Mr. Worthing-
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES 343
ton the money on the last half of the bond, this being the money that
paid for the railroad iron. Although we offered to sell them at ninety
cents on the dollar, they had no attraction for Mr. Rawson and he
promptly declined to take anything but cash. So we returned from
Cincinnati with a heavy heart, feeling it would be from one to two
years at least before the orders could be paid. The citizens' bond was
now due, as the railroad had already reached Market Street, Bluffton.
When we reached Bluffton it was late at night, and we found Amos
Townsend walking up and down the street waiting for us. He said
he had word that the taxpayers in the northern part of the county
would enjoin us from disposing of the orders, if they were able to pro-
cure legal services on us.
"We called on Mr. Studabaker and decided there was only one
thing for us to do, and that was for us to get out of the reach of the
officers and make, some disposition of the orders. We concluded it
was not safe to wait for the train the next morning and, after some
deliberation, hitched up and went to Fort Wayne in a private rig. If
we were unable to sell the orders in Fort Wayne, we must keep on
344 ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
going, even to New York if necessary, until they were disposed of.
We reached Fort Wayne a little before daylight. The writer, having
traveled several nights, and being much worried, was directed to go
to bed until called by Mr. Studabaker. The next morning, about nine
o'clock, we were directed to go to the First National Bank of Fort
Wayne, of which J. D. Nuttman was president, and to take whatever
paper he offered in exchange for the orders, but we were to go through
the form of making a sale by first offering at par, and when he offered
ninety cents to agree to take it. We went through the performance
and Mr. Nuttman handed over a paper together with two letters, one
written to the auditor and the other to the treasurer of Wells County.
"As we were so nearly exhausted, Mr. Studabaker sent us home on
the train and he drove back. On our way home we opened the papers
and found a certificate of deposit from Nuttman calling for the amount
of the face of the orders, less ten per cent to be paid when the orders
were paid. When we got home we delivered one letter to W. H. Deam,
treasurer, and one to S. M. Dailey, auditor. They opened the letters,
which said that the First National Bank of Fort Wayne had bought
the orders and would expect payment for them as soon as the money
could be collected. Mr. Dailey, the auditor, in a very excited way,
began to announce to everyone he met that the orders were sold and
the money was in the Exchange Bank of John Studabaker & Company,
ready to pay off the citizens' bond; all of which was glad news to
everyone who had signed the bond. But this was but the beginning of
our troubles."Building of the Second Railroad
It would be unprofitable and of little general interest to follow
the many involved details which were finally untangled and the citi-
zens' bond paid off in full; thus clearing off all the obligations cover-
ing the construction of the first railroad to Bluffton and penetrating
Wells County. Continuing, Mr. Dougherty says: "The building of
the second road, running east and west through Bluffton, had been
agitated from time to time for a number of years. At times a line
was proposed from Lima to Logansville, at other times from Van Wert
in a southwesterly direction and thence west, through Crawfordsville;
but finally the narrow-gauge fever struck the country, and Joe
Boehmr and Doctor Evans, of Delphos, Ohio, came along and proposed
to build a road from that point through Bluffton west. At this time,
townships were authorized to vote aid, which was done by Harrison,
Lancaster and Liberty townships. James Crosbie and the writer
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES 345
were given the contract to build the road from Bluffton to Warren.
The iron covering that point of the road was to be furnished by the
company. the grade was constructed and the iron furnished, but
before it was delivered it was necessary to have the officers of the
company sign a note covering $7,000 for the iron. the note was
signed by Joseph Boehmr, Doctor Evans, W. J. Craig and the writer.
Mr. Crosbie and the writer were given notes covering their contract,
executed by the citizens of Warren and payable when the road was
completed to that place. these were paid promptly, but the $7,000
was unprovided for, and after considerable manipulation the road was
sold and the $7,000 paid by the succeeding company, so that Bluffton
had the second railroad. From this small start it has since been con-
verted into a standard gauge, with first-class day coaches and sleepers
and with through trains from Toledo to St. Louis."
As intimated, an east-and-west line of ralroad had ever been
thought to be the greatest desideratum in respect to thoroughfares.
Accordingly, a movement was set on foot, immediately after the
completion of the Muncie Railroad, for the building a narrow-gauge
railroad running from Toledo to some western metropolis, through
Wells County, under the impression that such a road could be more
cheaply built, and more cheaply operated after it was built. the long-
delaying, soul-sickening hide-and-seek, now-you-see-it and now-you-
don't performances of various supposed capitalists, characterized the
early history of this line to an unusual extent. The numberous chame-
leon changes and skillful prestidigitations of the various "companies,"
building or proposing to build the various links between Toledo and
the great West, generally are too tedious to relate here, and, in fact,
uncalled for. Even the names of the routes are too numerous to cata-
logue, the most prominent of which have been the "Toledo, Cincinnati
& St. Louis" and the "Narrow-Gauge Railroad."May we be pardoned for relating, in this connection, what took
place in a Bluffton Sunday school, illustrating the long and intensely
felt desire of the citizens to have this line of road hurried up? It is
related that a sunday school teacher had a boy in her class who had
not failed in his penny contribution for more than a year; and when
he was found empty-handed one Sunday, his teacher observed, "Why,
Johnny, did you forget your penny today?" "No, Ma'am," he
humbly replied, "but father says the narrow gauge railroad will do
this town more good than any fourteen Sunday schools; and I am
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES 347
going to chuck my coppers into that enterprise for the next few
weeks." "Won't the heathen miss your pennies?" she asked. "I
suppose they will; but we've got to come right down for this road or
this town is busted."
To condense the history of Wells County's connection with this
road into a few lines, let it be sufficient to repeat that Messrs. Hugh
Dougherty, James Crosby, W. J. Craig, clerk of the Wells County
Court at that time, and others of more distant points took hold of the
enterprise, and, under the new law enabling townships to vote aid or
take stock, raised the money on their individual credit, and soon built
the road from the state line to Warren, the first train reaching Bluff-
ton in August, 1879.
The new Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City Railroad was adopted by
the company in 1886 and it was determined to widen the track to the
standard gauge, run through trains to Kansas City, and bring the
whole line up to first-class condition, which was eventually done under
the name Toledo, St. Louis & Western (Clover Leaf).The Chicago & Atlantic line was proposed about 1872, and the
following year Wells County, by a majority of 247, voted to aid in its
construction. It was pushed through the northern part of Adams
County striking Decatur; also through the northern sections of Wells
County, missing Bluffton by about six miles. Through trains com-
menced to run in July, 1883; and the forerunner of the Chicago &
Erie line had been placed on the map.Besides the three lines of railroad mentioned a number of traction
roads accommodate the people of Wells County. The Fort Wayne &
Northern Indiana Traction Company operates a section of its north
and south line through the county, taking in Ossian, Kingsland,
Bluffton, Poneto and Keystone; the Marion & Bluffton Traction line
branches out toward the southwest, Liberty Center being its chief
station in Wells County, and the Bluffton, Geneva & Celina line ex-
tends toward the southeast, the cars making regular stops at Vera
Cruz in Wells County. In November, 1917, the line last named, which
had been for some time in the hands of a receiver was sold at auction
348 ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
to Thomas Flynn for the sum of $118,000. Mr. Flynn already owned
four-fifths of the stock of the road, which had been built at a cost of
$450,000.
It is estimated that there are within the limits of Wells County
over eighty miles of steam railroads and forty-three miles of electric
lines.