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2o4 BETWEEN THE OCEAN AND THE LAKES
pany as the successor of General Dix. They made mittee held it for further action, and it subsequ
an effort to have the objectionable section of the act
repealed almost before the ink with which Governor
came forward to plague the Watson administration,
although it had had nothing to do with any of that
Hoffman had signed the bill was dry. They failed administration's affairs, and, in fact, belonged to the
in this, and sought elsewhere for a new President for
Erie.
General McClellan, who, being President of
the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company,
had resigned from the Erie Board, was suggested,
transactions of the Gould regime.
The ioth of July, 1872, was an exciting and stirring
day at and about Erie headquarters in the Grand
but he seemed to prefer the place he had. The then Opera House. It was almost a counterpart of one of
President of the Chicago and Alton Railroad Com-
pany, T. B. Blackstone, was importuned to take the
the characteristic Gould and Fisk days. Detectives,
policemen, and deputy sheriffs were there by the
place, but he declined. Then the perennial Gen. dozen, but "Tommy" Lynch and his merry men
A. S. Diven, of Elmira, was mentioned prominently, were not among them. The rumor had gone abroad
but no agreement could be reached that warranted
that the opposition to the new order of things in
his call to the place. As a matter to be of pleasing Erie was determined to make trouble of some kind
recollection to General Dix, James McHenry and
Gilson Ilolman, of the Bischoffscheim & Goldschmidt
combination, and S. L. M. Barlow, their leading
representative in the Erie Board, requested him, by
a pressing communication, to remain at the head of
at the election, and hundreds of people with recol-
lections of entertainment the}- had been provided
with on previous occasions of this sort at the corner
of Eighth Avenue and Twenty-third Street, were
there in force on that hot July da}-, to enjoy this
the Company. He replied to them that his private expected later exhibition. But the}- were disapaffairs
were such thatit would be impossible for him pointed. The proceedings inside the Opera House
to remain. were peaceful and smooth. Not one opposing voice
No one seemed to care to be President of the Erie
was raised in protest against them.
Railway Company at that time. As late as Jul}-8th, At the meeting of the Board held previous to
two days before the date fixed for the election, no
future President was yet in sight. At a meeting of
the leaders in Erie, held on the evening of that day,
the election, resolutions of thanks to General Dix,
General Diven, and others in the Board; to James
McHenry for the pait he took in overthrowing Jay
the name of Peter H."Watson was suggested. The Gould and his management; to Bischoffscheim &
suggestion came from Commodore Vanderbilt. Mr. Goldschmidt for coming to the aid of the new man-
Watson had been Assistant Secretary of War under
Secretary Stanton during the Civil War, and since
then had had no little experience in the affairs of
agement, and placing much needed funds at its dis-
posal at a critical time; and to Edward T. Green,
Gilson Holman, and W. Wetmore Cryder, Amerirailroads.
It was agreed that he would make a sat- can representatives of Erie in Europe, were passed,
isfactory President of the Erie Railway Company.
but none to Gen. Daniel E. Sickles for his part in
He was communicated with on the subject, and con- the anti-Gould movement. Henry G. Stebbins resented
to take the place. signed from the Board. At the ensuing election
One of the resolutions passed by the Board of
Directors Jul}- 8, 1872, the last meeting of the Dix
Board, was the following:
the following Board of Directors was chosen : Peter
II. Watson, Gen. A. S. Diven, XV. R. Travers, Will-
jam Butler Duncan, Charles Da}-, S. L. M. Barlow,
Resolved, That the Treasurer be authorized to pay $30,000 as Gc"' J°hn A< D'X> J" V" L" Pruyn> Henry L- Lan"
this company's proportion of the legal expenses of the New sing, Homer Ramsdell, William W. Shippen, E. D.
York Central Company at Albany,last winter, to prevent legis- Morgan, Frederick Schuchardt, S. D. Babcock, John
lation affecting prejudicially the interests of this company
J. Cisco, George Talbott Olyphant, John Taylor
The resolution was adopted unanimously, and was Johnston.
referred to the Executive Committee. That Com- The new Board organized by electing Peter H.