Sometimes writing my weekend columns takes me on a winding, twisting journey of seemingly unrelated connections that wind up being a tangled web. That was the case this weekend.
My research began by looking at the Tuscumbia, Courtland and Decatur Railroad-Road Company’s role in transporting Cherokee Indians along the Trail of Tears in the mid-1830s. I ended up at the Stone Hotel on Market Street in Columbus some 70 years later.
The story of the Tuscumbia, Courtland and Decatur Railroad-Road Company is a fascinating story. It was the first railroad constructed west of the Appalachian Mountains and has been called one of the first four railroads in the United States. On Jan. 16, 1830, the Alabama legislature passed an act incorporating the Tuscumbia Rail-way Company. It was originally chartered to construct a railroad from Tuscumbia to the Tennessee River. Within a few years its charter was changed to provide a railway from Tuscumbia to Decatur that went around the Muscle Shoals that impeded traffic on the Tennessee River. The company’s name was changed to the Tuscumbia, Courtland and Decatur Railroad-Road Company and its president was Benjamin Sherrod.
We know a lot of the history of the railroad’s founding because a lawsuit between members of the railroad’s board of directors was filed in Lowndes County Circuit Court around 1841. Those early records are preserved in the Billups-Garth Archives of the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library.
In those court records I came across the first twisted turn. The circuit judge handling the case was Headley Bennett, who in the 1830s resided at the Ole Homestead, my College Street home.
An 1836 corporate report filed as an exhibit in the case contains the history of the construction of the railroad and the first locomotives that were purchased. Construction of the railroad began with a groundbreaking on June 5, 1831, and it was completed to Decatur on Dec. 15, 1834. The corporate report shows that four locomotive engines had been purchased. They were the “Fulton,” “Pennsylvania,” “Comet” and “Triumph.” Interestingly they were all referred to in the feminine “she.”
The Fulton was made by Edw’d Bary of Liverpool and was a small five-ton engine that cost $4,915.04. She was put in service on June 1, 1834.
The Pennsylvania was nine or 10 tons and bought from the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad for $5,880.37. She needed repairs and was of no service.
The Comet was purchased from the West Point Foundry Association of N.Y. for $7,953.32 and weighed about eight tons. She was an excellent engine and performed well as a freight engine.
The Triumph was made by M.W. Baldwin of Philadelphia and cost $7,091,56. She “was put on the road about the first of June last” (1835). She was a 6 1/2-ton six wheel engine that performed well. In the railroad’s early operations, problems with two of the first engines resulted in the coaches and cars sometimes being pulled by horses.
As I dug into the history and saw that Ben Sherrod had been president of the railroad, I became curious. I knew my great grandfather’s sister, Susan Billups, had married Charles F. Sherrod but was not sure of his relationship to Benjamin. Then in a 1902 Commercial Appeal, I found an article on old homes in Columbus that tied it all together for me.
“Conspicuous among the handsomest places is the Sherrod homestead. The premises include about forty acres of rolling land, dense with the stalwart oaks, pines, chestnut and sweet gum, in many spots festooned by grape vines forming natural swings. It was built in 1859 by the late Charles Fox Sherrod. Mr. Sherrod was a son of Col Benjamin Sherrod of Lawrence County, Alabama, who was president of the Tuscumbia & Courtland Railroad, the first railroad in the South. He married Miss Susan Billups, a daughter of Col Thomas Billups. … Mr. Sherrod disposed of his home to Gen. Stephen D. Lee who subsequently sold it to Judge Orr. The property is now owned by Jesse Page Woodward, formerly of Memphis.”
The house Sherrod built later burned and was replaced in 1910 by the Lindamood House. Twenty-four acres of the Sherrod property sold to Lee was given by Lee’s son Blewett to the city in 1912 and became Lee Park. Sherrod was very active in business ventures around Columbus and in the early 1900s was head of the investment group that built the recently restored Stone Hotel on Market Street.
Charles F. Sherrod was so involved in development around Columbus that I have barely touched on his business interests. Also, the Tuscumbia, Courtland and Decatur Railroad-Road Company is a story of national importance that I hardly scratched the surface of in this column. The court file in the Billups Garth Archives is a very real treasure that led me down a rabbit hole with many connections. Thanks to Carolyn Kaye for her assistance.
Rufus Ward is a Columbus native a local historian. E-mail your questions about local history to Rufus at [email protected].
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