Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-14
BEGAN A GREAT WORK
Pacific Railway System lni'
tiated by Theodore D. Judah.
DEVOTED TO THE TASK
Interested California Business Men
in the Project.
EXPLAINED IT TO CONGRESS
Undaunted by First Failure, Renew
ed His Campaign and Finally
Saw the Road Under Way.
EXPLAINED IT TO CONGRESS
BY WILLIAM f.. CURTIS.

belonging to the family of his wife in
the cemetery at Greenfield, Mass. and a
handsome monument marks his grave, so
that he is by no means forgotten, and his
resting place Is not unmarked, as has
been frequently asserted
| I have these facts from Mr. II. D. Mi
rick, vice president Of the National Elec-
trical Supply Company of Washington.
| who came from the same town, and says:
II remember Mr.. Judah when I was a
small boy. and he was employed by the
| Connecticut River railroad. 1 also knew
his wife quite well. She died several
years ago and was buried by his side in
the cemetery at Greenfield. Mass. i am
very glad to see an acknowledgment at
this late day in his part 10 establishing
the Central Pacific railroad
Theodore Dehone Judah was born at
Bridgeport. Conn. March 4. 1923, and
| was the son OF the rector OF st. Johns
Episcopal Church of that city. He mar
| ried Anne Pierce Of Greenfield. Mass, In
| st. James Church of that village May
| 10. 1S47. He died. from Panama fever in
| New York city November ., 1869. Mrs.
Judah died September . 1895. They left
| no children. a nephew, Mr.. III. r. Judah,
| is assistant general passenger agent OF
the Southern Pacific railroad at San
| Francisco, but 1 have not been able to
Z
| and nieces OF his wife.
| A brother, Henry Moses Judah. gradu-
| ated from West Point I'm 1913. and had a
distinguished military career in the
John Morgan's command July %. 1888.
| near Beaver creek. Pa, after brilliant
series of maneuvers and a rapid march
in which he followed Morgan across the
across the Ohio river into Indiana. and
across Ohio to Pennsylvania. where Nor
gan gave up the fight and surrendered.
| Gen. Judah commanded the right wing
Of Schofield at the battle OF Resaca. Ga,
! and in the struggle lost six hundred men.
He was promoted to major general and
/ commanded the first di, sion of the Army
OF the Tennessee. He vas mustered out
: of the volunteer service in 1865. reassum-
| ed his rank In the regular army and died
January IA. 1868. while in command Of
| the post at Plattsburg. n. Y.
Theodore Judah. the engineer. was in
/ tended for the navy, but did not receive
! an expected appointment: and was sent
then the only school of the kind in the
| world, and he was there educated in en-
cheering. His father was of an early
/ Connecticut family: his mother was a
Bishop Theodore Dehone of the Protes-
| tant Episcopal Church Of Virginia. who
was an uncle and his fathers closest
friend.
"reminiscences Of Judah.
Shortly before her death Mrs. Judah
wrote her "reminiscences. which were
printed in the Themis. a local weekly
paper Of Sacramento. December IA. 1889.
and contain many interesting facts and
Incidents. A memoir Of Mr.. Judah ap-
/ pears on page AS. vol. XXXVIII, Of the
| Transactions Of the American Society of
| Civil Engineers." biographical sketch.
Il wurRft HxyT oil th. lNn1l
fornia historian. was delivered as a lee
| ture before the students Of Stanford Uni
versity several years ago.
Mrs. judah tells Of her husbands
genius for music. She says: There is
hardly a musical instrument upon which
| he could not play She tells many in
| teresting facts about his boyhood. which
,, was spent in Troy. where his father was
rector of st. Johns Church. He met his
| wife at Greenfield. Mass, while he was
engaged In surveying the Connecticut
| River railroad. He made his headquar-
tiers In that village. and courted her there
at that time. 1t was a singular circum-
stance that the last rail Of the Central Pa
cific road was laid upon the anniversary Of
their wedding day. when golden spike
was driven by Gov. Stanford to complete
] the work that Judah had planned. She
| says that Gov Stanford was his loyal
friend from the beginning. and supported
! him more cordially than any other in his
| efforts to interest the capitalists of Sac
son had the contract for building the
| Sacramento Valley railroad. which Judah
+, went to California to survey and SUPER
intend. In washing out the earth for
saved. and he had it made into a set of
jewelry. which was presented to Mrs.
Judah as a souvenir. That tewelry is
still retained by her relatives.
The Niagara Gorge Railway.
When Mr.. Judah was a very young
man he surveyed and built the railroad
down the gorge OF the Niagara river
| to Lewiston, on Lake Ontario. 1t was
then considered the most daring and
difficult undertaking that engineering
science had ever attempted. 1t Is now
a trolley road. and carries hundreds or
people daily from a station below the
cottage built by Mr.. Judah and occu-
| pied by him and his wife while this
work was going on still stands on the
| bank Of the river between the falls and
| the old suspension bridge He selected
site for his home where he could
have a view of both the falls and the
| rapids.
| Mr.. Judah made four trips by sea, via
| Nicaragua and Panama, between Sacra-
mento and Washington. for the purpose
! of securing a charter and subsidy
| from Congress for the construction OF
a railway across the continent. and
4 wrote a convincing IN AhNOf
of the construction OF canal across
| Nicaragua, which was submitted 10 Con-
gress at the time.
Judah's father died while he was still
a student, and as soon rs he graduated
he ioined the engineering STAFF OF the
Troy and Schenectady railroad. where
| he began his career. He was also en-
| gagged upon the New Haven. Hartford
and Springfield railroad, the Connect
| cut River railway and on the Buffalo
| and New York railway. which is now
known as the Erie road. He built the
| section Of the Erie canal between Jor-
dan and Seneca Falls. and from there
undertook the construction OF the Mag
ara gorge railroad. This was discussed
Generally in the newspapers as re-
fable feat, and attracted the atten-
| tion ~ sacramento people. who were In
| New York looking for an engineer 10
| huiId n road between that city ana the
| soId diggings at Folsom. He was rec
ommended for this work by Horatlo
| seymour OF Utica. afterward Governor
| 81 New York. and was hired o. Col.
| Charles L. Wilson Of sacramento.
interested in Continental Railway.
While he was a boy Of sixteen he be-
came inspired with the idea OF con-
structing a railroad across the continent
by the agitation OF Asa Whitney. VINO
for several years during the sos ad-
vocate6 that enterprise before popular
meetings throughout the country and
legislatures OF the eastern states.
| VFhitney's idea was that each state
should contribute it's proportion OF ex-
AkvH