Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1899-12-04
s IOWA CAREER
Death Of the Rich Railroad Buildee
and Owner Recalls Early
Days.
Was at Head of Company Which
Built g. & N. W. Through
the State
Coe College of Cedar Rapids Antici.
pating Legacy Other Iowa
News.
Special to Tines-Republican

News.
1 Special to Times Republican.
Cedar Rapids Dec. 4.-The death
of John /. Blair, announced in the New
York dispatches Saturday afternoon,
has a great deal of interest for Cedar
i Rapids, Where Blair once lived and
where he anassed a considerable por-
ton of his fortune.
He was associated with the early
4 railroad building in this state and more
81 particularly in this section of the state
a and for that reason his death has much
of local interest. He made his first
large sum of money by building the
railroad that is now the Chicago &
Northwestern from Clinton to Council
Bluffs. He secured the contract for
y building the two railroads WHICH eN-
tended across this portion of the state
II He was given extensive land grants
and made a great deal of money from
the sale of them. The Iowa Railroad
Land Company, of which he was the
organizer and first president, owned
over a million acres of land along the
line of the Cedar Rapids & Missouri
River railroad.
j. c. Broeksmit auditor Of the Cedar
5 Rapids route, knew him and was asse-
$ ciated With him in the early history Of
/ the Burlington, Cedar Rapids Il North
i Tern. In conversation, about Blaits
railroad career in Iowa, Mr.. Rroeksinit
| said:
I'm the early 7os. when the Burling-
7 ton, Cedar Rapids q Minnesota was
t still in the hands of the Greenes they
found it uphill work 70 pay out the IN
: terest on the bonds and keep up the
f operating expenses of the road.
a Tin 1919, on February H. they con-
n cluded to transfer all the stock of the
: railroad to John l. Blair, 50 that he
!. could control and operate the road by
d his own board of directors. He became
e president; Judge Wisner, vice presi
f dent; w. w. Walker, treasurer and j.
G. Broeksmit auditor. Now the hope
of the former board of directors was
that John I. Blair would help them out
: and gradually pay off the floating in
2 debtedness of over a million and a half
Z dollars. and in addition the interest or
:. the bonds since November, 49,
: '.But Blair did not and probably coul6
not pay off the debt in the way they
s wanted him to. Circumstances Over
= which he had little if any contro
= caused a receiver to be- appointed by
the court in the person of Gen. f. +
Winslow. This was all that he had /,
S DO With the Cedar Rapids route.
s ..As to Mr.. Blair being a rich man.
= continued Mr. Broeksmit, .'everybod,
,l,.
= neighborhooa of a hundred millions
y He was largely Interested in Chicago &
Northwestern stocks and bonds; and h,
IS was Interested in the Delaware. I.acka
le wanna & Western to the extent o.
about S40,O00,o00. He was interested il
several other railroads, which cal
Of hardly be named
N There is some ground for hope her,
% that Blair has left a handsome 'egac,
j. for Coe College. as will appear from tn
ID following. published in the Republican
Sunday morning.
er The people of Cedar Rapids who ar
m interested liz the welfare of Coe Golleg
u VIII await the opening of Mr.. Blair
as will with considerable interest. Severa
or times in the past few Years Mr.. Brock
of smit has asked Mir. Blair to put Co
re College upon sound footing Nj
in Broeksnit thinks it possible that he ha
made some provision in his will for Co
is College. One of the inducements Nj,
Broeksmit pointed out to Mr.. Blair
he would donate a sufficient amount t
put Coe on its feet was that the nam
would probably, after such donation, b
NJ changed to Blair University. This 81
us every one would know who built til
at steel thoroughfare which is now par
ne of the Northwestern. The answer ever
IS, time Mr. Broeksmit said was: I'm see
e. I'll see" 1t is hoped that when hi
IT, will is opened and read some provisio
ge VIII be found for Coe College,
Id Some of the early history of Lin
W county, and particularly of Cedar Rar
he ids was made by John I. Blair. H
of built the Blair building, which has sine
been replaced by the Kimball blocl
The building at that time was the head
quarters for four railroad companie
= the First National bank and the low
:. Railroad Land Company, the latter col
:. poration having a capitalization {
:. NEARLY IS DOC. 600 The four railroads
! the building We're the Cedar Rapids
-. Missouri River Railroad Company. tt
- Iowa Falls & Sioux City Railroad Con
-. pany, the Sioux City & Pacific Railroa
-. Company, the Fremont. Elkhorn & Mi!
-. souri, Valley Railroad Company and II
- Maple River Railroad Company. 4
Blair was interested in all these col
Germs 1T is readily seen that he made
vast sum of money from his operation
in this vicinity. The railroad which
on constructed under contract. the Chic;
an go, Iowa & Nebraska Railroad Con
OIL pany, was the first to reach Cedar Raj
NJ. ids. 1T took nearly three years for Il
On, railroad to be built from Clinton.
G.. January, 1885, at which time the con
i'd, pany was organized, Clinton was not
w. ing more or less than a cornfield.
j. June, 1859, the railroad was complete
GER to Cedar Rapids and the company il
ed vted the people to take a ride on u
cars. This was the beginning of /;
epoch in Iowa railroad building.
The road was built remarkably we
80 owing to the condition of the count
No through which it ran, and as its co
as structors paid cash for everything Z