152 Chronicles of the Cape Fear River

Nov. 1842.—“Annual meeting of the stockholders of the Wjl-
“mington and Raleigh Railroad Co. Edward B. Dudley was
reélected president. Directors: Alexander Anderson, P. K.
Dickinson, Samuel Potter, James S. Battle, A. J. DeRosset
and James T. Miller.”

Nov. 12, 1847.—“The annual meeting of the stockholders of
the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad was held here. Gen.
Alexander MacRae was elected president and E. B. Dudley
P. K. Dickinson, Gilbert Potter, James T. Miller, O. G. Pass.
ley, and William A. Wright, directors. (The same as last year
except William A. Wright in the place of Dr. John Hill’ de-
ceased. )”’

At this last meeting it was resolved, “That the stockholders of
the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad Co., in general meeting
assembled, do hereby pledge to the Wilmington and Manchester
Railroad Co. a subscription of $100,000, to be paid on the com-
pletion of the said Manchester Railroad from the proceeds of
the sale of steamboat and other property, which will at that time
become unnecessary for the purpose of this company: Provided
that our Legislature take such action as may authorize said sub-
scription.”

Nov. 10, 1848.—“Annual meeting of the stockholders of the
Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad Co. No change made in the
president or Board of Directors, except four directors on the
part of the State were to be appointed by the Internal Improve-
ment Board.”

In December, 1848, a bill was introduced in the Legislature
authorizing the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad Company to
mortgage the road and its appurtenances for about $600,000 for
the purpose of purchasing iron to relay its tracks, and in Janu-
ary, 1849, $620,000 was authorized and an extension of ten
years granted for the repayment to the State of $300,000 for
money borrowed. Dr. A. J. DeRosset was sent to England,
where he purchased 8,000 tons of iron, to be paid for by the
bonds of the company secured by mortgage on the road.

The rail commenced to arrive in October, 1849, and in Janu-
ary, 1850, Congress passed an act for the relief of the Wilming-
ton and Raleigh Railroad, providing for the paying of import
duties on the rail by deducting annually the amounts due from
the Post Office Department for carrying the mails. It was then
the T-rail was introduced, which superseded the flat iron.

In August, 1850, Dr. John D. Bellamy, of Wilmington, was

Early Years 153

elected to succeed Col. James T. Miller as a director, and in
November of the same year, at the regular meeting of the Board
of Directors, Gen. Alexander MacRae and the entire Board of
Directors were reélected. A surplus of $45,000 was directed to
be applied to the extinguishment of the debts of the company.

It was about this time that the Wilmington and Manchester
Railroad was completed, giving a through rail connection to
the South, and thus making still more important the Wilming-
ton and Weldon Railroad, as the Wilmington and Raleigh Rail-
road came to be called, its name being changed by the Legisla-
ture in 1855.

It is interesting to note, with reference to the far-seeing quali-
ties of the men of 1835 and 1836, that a few years ago the
chairman of the board discovered a letter written in the fine
Spencerian hand of Governor Dudley, the first president, out-
lining the policy for the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad, in
view of his resignation in order to enter Congress. The extraor-
dinary character of this proposed policy revealed the fact that
the policy of the Coast Line under its new administration has .
been following precisely the line of action indicated by Governor

Dudley at the beginning of its existence.

Tue Loneest RartRoap IN THE WORLD.

Probably the most momentous, the most dramatic incident in
the commercial history of Wilmington occurred in the fall of
1835 in the south wing of Gov. Edward B. Dudley’s residence
at the southwest corner of Front and Nun Streets, where a num-
ber of prominent Wilmington citizens had assembled to sub-
scribe their names to the stock of an extraordinary adventure—
the building of a railroad from Wilmington to Raleigh, to be
called the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad.

The town contained at that time a population of about three
thousand souls, a majority of whom were negro slaves, and here
an assembly of about twenty courageous men of the little corpo-
ration actually subscribed a larger sum than the entire taxables
of Wilmington amounted to in that year to build the longest
railroad in the world. It is well to remember, in our boasted age
of progress, the splendid example of the fathers of 1835, whose
foresight and self-sacrifice laid the foundations of our success.
Perhaps the largest subscription was that of Governor Dudley—

$25,000.