ALL...ABOARD!: Railroad Owners and Investors

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The 1840s saw an explosion of railroads in New Hampshire as multiple lines competed to be the first to connect new markets. Many Hopkinton residents were opposed. In 1844, several years before there was any prospect of a railroad going through the town, Hopkinton’s elected representatives to the General Court were opposed to the railroad and its use of eminent domain (the right of the government to take private property, or allow it to be taken, for public uses). Less than five years later, opinions in Hopkinton had changed. Townspeople were caught up in “railroad fever” and had invested heavily in railroad companies. Yet when assessments were placed upon the original stock for the completion of the enterprise, many investors merely wanted to be rid of their obligations. In his book, Life & Times in Hopkinton, N.H., C.C. Lord states, “…many people made heavy sacrifices. The aggregate loss to Hopkinton residents was very large. Many thousands of dollars were the cost of a blind zeal…” In addition, local people who supplied furnishings for the road and labor suffered losses when they were paid in stock, which later became worthless. For some investors, such as Hamilton Eliot Perkins, the railroad may have seemed like a perfect solution to a business problem. As a mill owner and a shipper, trains would provide a way of getting products of his trade to markets.

Images

Image of 1849 assessment on Concord and Claremont Railroad investors requesting payment of 30% assessment.

Image of the cover of the By-Laws of the Contoocook Valley Rail Road.

Image of the Contoocook Valley Railroad bond, which offered investors $4 for every $100 bond purchase.

Portrait of Hamilton Eliot Perkins as a young man.

Photograph of Perkins Manor.

Photograph of railroad tracks and crossing. In the background is Perkins Manor (partially obscured by trees).

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Among the Society’s rarely examined documents is the incorporation document for the Contoocook Valley Railroad. A small booklet, it starts with an enactment by the New Hampshire Senate and House, that Hamilton Perkins and 17 other men are made the “body corporate by the name of the Contoocook Valley Railroad.” It authorizes them to “locate, build, and maintain a railroad not exceeding six rods in width, with necessary additions for cuttings ….”

Hamilton Eliot Perkins (1806-1880) lived at what we call Perkins Manor, in that part of Contoocook Village center that forms the V between Park Ave. and Kearsarge Ave. (Hamilton’s father, Roger Eliot Perkins, came to Contoocook from Salem, Mass.; he built Perkins Manor around 1825.) Hamilton also resided in Boston, where he owned several ships and was engaged in the Africa trade. In Contoocook, Hamilton owned several mills along the river; he was also postmaster, a well-respected Concord lawyer, and had considerable wealth and real estate. For Perkins, the railroad may have seemed like a perfect solution to a business problem. As a mill owner and a shipper, trains would provide a way of getting products of his trade to markets. The train project was funded by bonds; local citizens purchased $100 bonds expecting a return on their investments. Eminent domain laws – the expropriation of private property for public use – were being tested in the acquisition of land for tracks.

Hamilton Perkins didn’t stay on the Board of Directors for long, but the rail line was built and opened in 1849 (the section from Contoocook Station to Hillsborough Bridge; later leased to the Concord & Claremont Railroad).

Perkins Manor would remain visible to riders, as described in The Bay State Monthly in April 1884, “In passing up the Concord and Claremont Railroad from Concord, the observant traveler has doubtless noticed the substantial and comfortable-looking homestead with large and trim front yard, shaded by thickly planted and generous topped maples, on the right-hand side of the road after crossing the bridge that spans 'Contoocook's bright and brimming river' at the pleasant-looking village of Contoocookville in the northern part of Hopkinton."

Sources

Act of Incorporation and By-laws of the Contoocook Valley Rail Road. Concord, NH. Morrill & Silsby, 1849.

Belknap, U.S.N., Capt. George E.. Captain George Hamilton Perkins, U.S.N.. The Bay State Monthly. April 1st 1884.

Chandler, William Eaton. New Hampshire a Slave State: Senator Chandler's Series of Papers Commonly Known as the Book of Bargains. 1891.

Lord, C.C. . Life and Times in Hopkinton, N.H.. Concord, NH. Republican Press Association, 1890.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

HHS collection

ALL...ABOARD!: Railroad Owners and Investors

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information