Rails, Quail & Ashburn Hill

Excerpts from Rails, Quail & Ashburn Hill By Frank R. Pidcock, III EARLY HISTORY OF THE PIDCOCK FAMILY The progenitor of the Pidcock line in America was John Pidcock, a Scotch-Irish immigrant. Sometime prior to 1684, he settled in Winnahawcawchunk (or Neely’s Mill), two miles south of New Hope in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He took squatter’s possession of 502 acres, which he improved by building a grist mill for grinding, as well as 1702 MARKER ON JOHN PIDCOCK HOUSE establishing a trading post with the Indians. The next recorded Pidcock was Johnathan Pidcock. After the death of his father, he moved to Lambertville, New Jersey, where he built a store and a grist mill. He owned a number of Durham boats, on which he and his sons, Emmanuel and Charles, ran cargoes of flour and produce down the Delaware River, returning with store merchandise. When the American Revolutionary War broke out, he and his three eldest sons, Emmanuel, Charles, and Philip, enlisted in the Third Regiment of the Hunterdon County Militia of New Jersey. During the Revolutionary War General George Washington climbed to the top of Goat Hill which overlooked the area where Pidcock Creek ran into the Delaware River. General Washington decided that Pidcock Creek would be the ideal place to rendezvous his Durham boats prior to his crossing of the Delaware. Each year this piece of history is re-enacted at Washington Crossing Park. Both Johnathan Pidcock’s and his Indian wife Ankey’s graves are located in this area on Bowman’s Hill. Another bit of Pidcock history concerning Washington’s crossing of the Delaware is tied into the family of Mrs. Harrie Gray Pidcock, the second wife of J. N. Pidcock, Sr. Mrs. Pidcock’s great-great-grandfather General Daniel Bray of Kingwood, Hunterdon County, New Jersey procured the Durham boats for this historic event. The first Pidcock to become involved in railroads was James Nelson Pidcock, Sr. He was born in Hunterdon County, New Jersey on February 8,1836. As well as forming several rail lines, he is the ancestor of the Pidcocks in Georgia. He attended public school until the age of thirteen, when he joined an engineering corps and worked as a civil engineer in Mississippi for the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. Returning to New Jersey in 1857, he became engaged in farming and livestock, eventually being elected to the New Jersey Senate as a Democrat in 1877 and 1880. He then was elected to the United States House of Representatives from the Fourth District of New Jersey in 1884 and served two terms before retiring in 1888. He then moved back into private business, building the Rockaway Valley Railroad in New Jersey and the Georgia Northern Railway in southwest Georgia. ROCKAWAY BOND THE PIDCOCK FAMILY AND RAILROADS The Rockaway Valley Railroad or "Rock-a-Bye-Baby” During the 1850’s peach growers in north central New Jersey greatly benefitted from the construction of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, which opened to them the markets of Newark and New York. One of the peach growers who greatly benefitted was James Nelson Pidcock, Sr., who owned huge orchards in the area around Whitehouse. By the 1880’s he, along with William Sutton and other peach growers, became interested in building a railroad from Whitehouse to Morristown to serve their orchards as well as the surrounding area. The result was the Rockaway Valley Railroad. The railroad was chartered on March 29,1888 with $60,000 in stock to build to New Germantown. Pidcock was the largest investor, subscribing $10,000, followed by Sutton, who James Nelson Pidcock, Sr. subscribed $5,000. The rest of the money was raised from other orchard owners and the surrounding communities. Pidcock became the first president of the line, Sutton the vice-president. The railroad was built by John E. V. Melick, who was an unfortunate choice, lacking experience and expertise in railroad construction. His only other attempt, the Whippany River Railroad, proved a disaster. Within three years, the owners had to relocate the whole line because of shoddy construction. The Rockaway Valley Railroad also suffered from Melick’s incompetence. The first stakes for grading were driven into the ground on May 17, 1888. All of the work preparing the roadbed was done by Italian immigrants. The first locomotive purchased by the railroad was an old 4-4-0 named “P. W. Melick” after the builder’s father. It was put to work laying rails to Germantown. The rails used were a very light 56 pounds and the crossties were spaced thirty-six inches apart, instead of the usual nineteen inches. Through these cost-cutting measures, Melick was able to save about $15,000 per mile, but doomed the railroad from the start. The line was completed in time to haul some peaches that summer. Gross revenues for 1888 were $992.46. On May 3, 1889, the Rockaway Valley Extension Railroad was incorporated to build four miles to Pottersville. Of the $70,000 in new stock, Pidcock subscribed $10,000. Later that same year, on October 12, the Rockaway Valley Peapack Extension Railroad was incorporated. Again Pidcock was one of the largest subscribers. The peach crop of 1889 was disappointing, with only 80,000 baskets shipped. The following year the peach crop was virtually a complete loss, comprising only 102 baskets. These failures heralded financial trouble for the railroad. On January 10, 1890 the two extension lines were incorporated into the Rockaway Valley Railroad. J. N. Pidcock, Sr. became president of the merged lines. Two more extension lines were incorporated before the railroad was completed to Watnong on July 31,1892. Pidcock was one of the largest subscribers in both lines. The Rockaway Valley, however, remained in a shaky financial situation. The peach crop failure of 1890 had left the line so short of money that it was not able to pay interest on its bonds. The whole line was threatened with bankruptcy. In order to meet the emergency, Pidcock helped establish the Rockaway Valley Construction and Manufacturing Company, which leased the railroad for ten years. With the stock raised by this company the railroad was able to meet its debts. For three years the construction company operated the railroad with a profit. Trouble developed in August, 1893, when James N. Pidcock, Jr. and his brother John F. Pidcock sued the construction company for $36,700.87. The claim went unpaid, so the construction company went into receivership. The Rockaway Valley Railroad was sold at foreclosure on July 15, 1895 to the two brothers for $30,000. The owners of the $200,000 in bonds received 10 cents on the dollar. J. N. Pidcock, Sr. remained president of the line with John, vice-president, and James, Jr., secretary-treasurer. Charles W. Pidcock became a director along with his father and two brothers. Eighteen hundred ninety-six was a bad year for the railroad. A flood damaged part of the track, forcing expensive repairs. The peach crop also was disappointing. James Nelson Pidcock, JR. The following year, however, saw a record number of peaches shipped on the line. Over 400,000 baskets were sent to Boston and New York markets. This good year, however, was unable to offset all the bad years. By 1899, plans were made to sell the railroad. J. N. Pidcock was having financial difficulties caused by the thousands of dollars the Rockaway Valley had cost him. He eventually filed for personal bankruptcy. The railroad was sold to three brothers: Charles D., David S., and E. T. Haines of New York City. After the sale, the Rockaway Valley Railroad continued its slow decline. The final blow came with the arrival of the San Jose Scale, which killed the peach trees. Since careful spraying was too expensive, by 1904 peach growing in New Jersey was a thing of the past. In 1904, the Rockaway Valley was consolidated into the New Jersey and Pennsylvania Railroad. By 1913, the railroad had ceased to operate. Numerous efforts over the next four years were made to revive the line, but they all came to naught. The Rockaway Valley Railroad passed into history, becoming only a memory. The Georgia Northern Railway “The thing that happened to change all things in Colquitt County was the shriek of a locomotive’s whistle, sounding at the county-site on February 26, 1893. On that date, C. W. Pidcock drove the first train into Moultrie. This event has been the most important thing that has happened to the Colquitt territory since the Indians, under Jackson’s iron pressure, gave away twenty counties to Georgia. The Georgia Northern Railway Co. and its owners have logically participated in the general prosperity of the community, a prosperity which has resulted largely from the courageous foresight of the members of the Pidcock family. Of course, the Georgia Northern Railway Co. and the owners have stressed the transportation business, but they have known always that their business not only tends to build up basic industries but is itself built up and supported by such industries; so that they have always accepted suggestions of their Colquitt County neighbors and customers that they contribute of their money and leadership to community enterprises of a worthy nature. Moultrie had its first growth as soon as the Georgia Northern reached Moultrie. The town at that time had a population of 150. In 1900, it had 2,400. In 1920, the population of the City of Moultrie was a little less than 7,000. At the present date (February 20, 1937) the population of the City, including its suburbs, is the rise of 14,000 souls.” Such is the connection of the Pidcock family with the Georgia Northern Railway and its importance to the area it served.

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