Have you ever heard of the Wilmington and Todd’s Fork Rail Road? Neither had I until I found a short notice in the Clinton Republican dated April 5, 1850. The state legislature had approved a rail line “to run from Wilmington to such point on the Scioto River as the interest of the Company may require”. This legal publication meant bonds could potentially be sold to investors. I have found no other information anywhere regarding this venture. I wonder how many lost money on that.
Another interesting “railroad tale” is that of the Cincinnati and Eastern Railroad. In 1881 Stephen Feike of Brown County, Ohio purchased the Cincinnati and Eastern line with plans of extending the line for twelve miles and then to lay more track to extend the line to the Scioto River. He had paid approximately one million dollars for the line. (This Stephen Feike was a relative of the Clinton County Feike family.) He was already doomed to failure as the line was a “narrow gauge” and some of the other roads were already beginning to build the “standard gauge” used by present-day railroads. It seems his company may not have been paid for some of their work but in my book of reference there is no clear answer. During the years of 1850 to 1900 many folks saw buying railroad stock as a “sure path to wealth”. Alas, in 1883 Mr. Feike filed a suit in Clermont County, Ohio declaring bankruptcy and the lawsuits continued from there. In the meantime, the line ran through Hamilton, Clermont, Brown, Adams, and Scioto counties. When the time came “for the real trial,” it appears that many folks of financial means had purchased stock in the railroad and presented a problem seating a jury in the southern counties of Ohio. At that point in history the case was moved to Clinton County Common Pleas Court and was assigned as Case # 5542. Clinton County was the 4th Circuit Court and Judge Cherrington presided. Over the years other Clinton County judges were involved. In 1855 the railroad was worth three million dollars. In 1866 the value of the railroad remained at three million dollars and the value in today’s market would be more than one hundred million dollars. This case would probably be the largest dollar value of any other case tried in Clinton County. The book “Cincinnati and Eastern Railroad” is in our genealogy library.
The C & MV (Cincinnati and Muskingum Valley) railroad later became the Pennsylvania Railroad through Wilmington. It is presently the bike/walking trail. Information in the following article appeared in The Clinton Democrat on September 20, 1888. There had been a wreck on the C & MV and the Wilmington businesses who had lost merchandise were: J. H. Hale & Son, Walker & Hunt, H. Lembcke & Co., P. S. Maloy, Mitchell& Fristoe, G. R. Moon, Babb & Lewis, F. S. Broomhall, Champion Bridge Company, and M. Fife. The agent for the railroad was F. M. Reed and he urged the businesses to submit their damage claims and the railroad would reimburse them for their losses.