Pamphlet titled "People's Pacific Railroad Company: Charter, Organization, Address of the President, Josiah Perham, with the By-Laws of the Board of Commissioners", 1860

Containers:
Box 2, Folder 4
Scope and content:

Scope and Contents Printed in Boston by Alfred Mudge & Son, 34 School Street, Opposite City Hall. Bound, 26 pages. Josiah Perham, an early advocate of a transcontinental railroad here proposes the construction of a Pacific railroad to be financed by sale of stock, in quantities of one to ten shares, to small investors. Calling his scheme the People's Pacific Railroad, he envisioned the ownership of the line to consist of at least a million Americans, each of whom would be a participant "in the greatest enterprise, fraught with more blessings than any other business enterprise of this or any other age." Perham secured a charter from the state of Maine, obtained the backing of Senator Thaddeus Stevens, and petitioned Congress to grant the company right-of-way from Kansas to San Francisco. Oposition from the switch to a northern route and to ask for a direct charter. In this revised form, the bill passed and shortly after President Lincoln signed the charter on July 2, 1864. Perham was made the first President of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Includes separate, typed twentieth century note.

Access and use

Location of collection:
College of William and Mary
Special Collections Research Center
Earl Gregg Swem Library
College of William and Mary
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PO 8795
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795
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