West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1906-03-22
Splendid SPEECH DELIVERED.
BY Hon. George c. StursiSS at the
\. & K. Celebration
At THIS PLACE LAST SATURDAY
A Synopsis OF the Address as Published
In the Morgantown Post.

roads, and he gave a sketch OF the
efforts that had been made TO build
a railroad through Preston county,
beginning with the surveys made in
the early SOS by the b. & o. which
followed Cheat river from Rowles.
burg to Green's run, thence across
Preston county and down Decker's
creek to Morgantown, down the
river to the mouth of Dunkard
creek and westward through Greene
county to Wheeling. But from the
refusal of the Pennsylvania legisla-
ture-inhuenced by the Pennsyl-
yania railroad, they were prevented
from getting such rights of way and
authority to build as compelled
them TO abandon that route and to
adopt the one westward by way of
Grafton and Fairmont to Wheeling,
all in the State of Virginia.
After the B. & o. was built
through Preston its policy was so
narrow, illiberal and repressive that
the efforts OF James c. McGrew
and others to open the Goals and
ship them, and to manufacture lum-
Der and establish a great tannery
were thwsrted and brought to
naught.
George w. Hartman, hard
working and ambitious German,
built the furnace known as the
"Hardman Furnace" and worked
the ores and the limestone situate
on Three Fork creek until the
policy of the road drove him out of
business and into bankruptcy, and
he died broken-hearted. Later,
Colonel Felix de Nemegyei, an
exiled Pole, and his brother-in. law
Mr.. Strauss, an exiled Hungarian,
compatriots and followers of the
brilliant and unfortunate Louis
Kossouth, became the owners of
the property and rebuilt 1t, and
improved the property and for a
short time manufactured a very
superior article of iron, using the
ore, limestone and the coke made
from the Upper Freeport vein of
coal, all cropping out on the hill
side near their furnace.
The B. & o. continued to pursue
the short sighted and illiberal policy
that has characterized it in the past,
until Colonel Nemegyei and his
associates took out a charter for the
building of the "Iron Valley &
Morgantown Railroad" which was
intended to start at Grafton, run
by the furnace, through Valley dis
trict, down Decker's creek 10 Nor
gantown and thence to a connection
with the Pennsylvania railroad. Il
was on the occasion of the first visit
of Colonel Nemegyei to Morgan
town where he enlisted the co-opera-
ton of George M. Hagans and
George c. Sturgiss and others,
where the incident occurred that
gave to the proposed road the name
of the "Black Bottle" road. Six
thousand dollars in the bonds of
Grafton district, Valley district
and Morgantown district on the
line of the road were voted but no
work was done on the road beyond
the preliminary surveys.
Mr.. Strausz died about a year
ago in Toledo, Colonel Nemegyei
preceded him about a year, in
Washington, George M. Hagans
died more than 80 years ago, and
was survived only few years by
Colonel Davidson. Enos Ashburn,
William b. Brown and David
Wheeler of Valley district, we're
greatly interested in and aided the
enterprise in every way possible,
died several years ago, while J.
Ami Martin, John w. Guseman
and Mr.. Sturgiss are the survivors
who we're longest and most deeply
and earnestly interested in the
project.
The great coal field that is being
so rapidly developed along the line
of this road was held by Preston
county people for distance Of two
or three miles on either side Of the
road on options at the price Of S.
an acre and was intended to be used
to promote the building of the road
and to furnish traffic for it. On
several occasions it seemed as
though the money necessary for the
development Of the coal field and
building Of the road was certain TO
be raised.
J. NJ. Guffey and his partner,
Michael Murphy Of Piusburg, at
one time had an option on the
whole enterprise at 81 900, 900, but
the failure Of the Barring Brothers
produced financial depression
that compelled the abandonment