Detroit & Pontiac and Oakland & Ottawa railways → Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad → DGH&M railroad
Acquired: Above railroads in 1855. Opened line Detroit to Grand Haven in 1858.
Operated for 20 years.
Became: Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee in 1878.
Reference: [MRRC]
1855. February 14. A bill for the consolidation of the Detroit and Pontiac, and the Oakland and Ottawa Railroads, has passed both Houses of the Legislature. Said road to be known as the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad. A General Railroad law has also passed both houses. [GRT-1855-0214]
1855. May 2. The stockholders of the D&M elected officers. Hon. H.A. Walker was choses President; and C.C. Trowbridge, Secretary Treasurer. The Board of Directors consists of the following gentlemen: Hon. Henry N. Walker, Henry Ledyard, Henry P. Baldwin, Nelson P. Stewart, Hon. Buckminister Wight, Edward A. Brush, Eber B. Ward, Detroit; Willard M. McConnell, Pontiac; and Harvey P. Yale of Grand Rapids. [GRT-1855-0502]
1855. July 4. No freight will be received at the depot of the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad between the hours of 10 am and 4 pm. A.H. Root, Supt. [DFP-1855-0704]
1855. August 8 Twenty miles of this road from Detroit to Pontiac are finished and it will be completed to Owosso, 7 miles, in September. The company have abundant means in their power to put the road in running order to Owosso, and the balance of the road to Lake Michigan has been contracted for, for $3.5 million. [GRT-1855-0808]
1855. October 3. On October 2, the cars on this road commenced running from Fentonville, which is 29 miles beyond Pontiac. They carried 1,500 passengers the first day to Detroit to the State Fair. We were informed by Judge Lyon who took a trip over the road last week, that the grading is early complete from Fentonville to Owosso. [ [GRT-155-1017]
1856. January 4. The Detroit and Toledo Railroad [Michigan Southern branch to Detroit] has purchased the machine shops and grounds of O.M. Hyde near the Water Works in Detroit which they are to use in connection with the Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad. They propose running about three miles back of Detroit, and coming into the city of the track of that (D&M) road. Five miles between Monroe and Toledo are graded and ready for the ties. [AAA-156-0104]
1856. March 25. Letters received yesterday by the Arabia, make it quite certain that $1 million of the Bonds of the D&M railroad have been negotiated in England for the construction of the road west of Owosso. This opportune reinforcement will enable Mr. Stewart to complete his contract and finish the road from Owosso to Grand Haven. [LSJ-156-0325]
1856. April 3. The Wisconsin Legislature has incorporated the Wisconsin & Michigan Transit Company, which will construct equipment of a line of first-class steamers to ply between Milwaukee and Grand Haven in Michigan in connection with the D&M railroad and several Wisconsin railroads terminating at Milwaukee. Capt. L.H. Cotton has proposals from experienced steamboat builders for the construction of two first-class boats, to be completed and delivered by the first of June, 1857, at which time the D&M will be completed to Grand Haven. Citizens are induced to subscribe liberally. [DFP-156-0403]
1856. June 20. The D&M railroad is completed to Corunna and passenger and freight trains are making regular trips to that point. [AAA-1856-0620] The line to Owosso will be opened around June 25. Fare from Detroit is $5. A line of stages will also leave Owosso daily over a good road for Lansing, 30 miles. [HDN-1856-0624]
1856. June 24. The D&M will be running within a day or two to Owosso. A line of stages, well stocked, will leave Owosso every day on the arrival of the cars for Ionia, which is the head of navigation of the Grand River; fare from Detroit to Ionia is $5. A line of stages will also leave Owosso daily, over a good road, for Lansing (30 miles), far from Detroit $4. [HDN-1856-0624]
1857. April 25. "Segwun" is the name of a new place at the mouth of the Flat River, about 3/4 of a mile from Lowell. It is located on the south side of the Grand River on the line of the D&M railroad, and has been designated by the company as the point where they intend to build their depot for the accommodation of a flourishing agricultural region of the country, of which this is the natural centre. Although located some distance from Lowell, Segwun must become a point of considerable importance. [GRE-1857-0825]
1857. June. Local boat captains and railroad engineers arrived at Grand Haven with a view to ascertain the capacity of the Harbor for first class steamers. They chartered a steam tug and proceeded to make soundings at the mouth of the river. The impression of these men is that the channel is liable to sudden changes, but they were informed that such was not the case, that in the course of that period no material alteration had taken place. They found that the general depth at the mouth is 12 feet and at one place only 11½ feet. The boat captains were well satisfied of the practicability of bringing their first class railroad steamers into the harbor. The tug then proceeded to the Muskegon river and sounded the mouth.
No definite information as to the position designated for the Terminus of the D&M in Grand Haven and we were informed that the question had not yet been decided. The depot will likely be built as near as convenient to the mouth of the river, near or on the property recently sold by Mr. Bennet to Mr. Breeze, of Rockford, Ill., on this side of the river. We believe this would suit the Grand Haven people very ell and with a branch to Millpoint, all the three villages around the harbor will be accommodated. [GRE-1857-0626]
1857. June. The amount expended on the D&M railroad between this city (Grand Rapids) and Ada during the last month of July was $9,300. The work is nearly ready for iron. It is the intention to run the passenger train (west) to Lowell by the first of September, and to this city by the first of October. [GRE-1857-0803]
1857. August. The D&M railroad is now complete to Ionia. Passenger and freight trains commenced running to that point yesterday. Steamers ply daily between Ionia and Grand Rapids and the citizens of Grand Rapids can now "get out of the woods" without staging it. [AAA-1867-0814] Grand Rapids now get the eastern mail via the D&M, and steamers leave Ionia for Grand Rapids daily after the arrival of the cars. They get to Grand Rapids with the mail about 11:00 the same night. The mails by this route are very irregular and often "fail to connect", the fault is probably at the Ionia post office. We trust this will be looked to and remedied. [GRE-1857-0903]
1857. October 8. The present terminus of the D&M is Seqwun (near Lowell). The steamer Porter will resume her regular trips between Grand Rapids and Segwun. [GRE-1857-1008]
1858. January 20. The Mayor of Detroit appoints Abijah Joy as policeman of the Detroit & Milwaukee railroad. [DFP-1858-0120]
1858. March 9. A difficulty exists on the D&M railroad near the village of Lowell. A portion of the laborers on the road who have not received their pay threaten resistance to the further prosecution of the work until their demands are met. On the part of the company, it is claimed that the contractors are to blame, as the company has discharged all its obligations to them. [AAN-1858-0309] In a related note, the Grand Rapids Eagle reports that the D&M has procured from the Great Western (Canada) Company all the funds needed to complete the road to Grand Haven for summer or fall travel. [GRE-1858-0311]
1858. June 15. The D&M reaches Grand Rapids. [DFP-1860-1103]
1858. August. A telegraph is now being constructed along the D&M railroad. The poles are already up from Detroit to St. John's and the line is intended to be in working order through to Grand Rapids sometime in August. [LSJ-1858-0803]
1858. September 6. The D&M reaches Mill Point, 3 miles from Lake Michigan. Who steamers, chartered for the purpose at a cost of $460 per day to run to Milwaukee. [DFP-1860-1103]
1858. November 29. The D&M reaches its Grand Haven terminus. [DFP-1860-1103]
1859. January. A Railroad Quarrel. Michigan Central and Great Western at Variance. It is said that the MC and GW companies, which have heretofore worked so harmonious and formed links in an important route between the east and west, are now at variance, with the prospec of a sharp fight. The difficulty has risen out of a new route to Milwaukee by the D&M which is controlled by the Great Western.
The Central demand that the fare by the new route across Lake Michigan to Milwaukee shall be the same as that by Chicago, which is 100 miles further. In case the demand is not complied with, they declare that they will put on a line of boats between Buffalo and Detroit, and so divert as much business as possible from the Great Western railway. In answer to this the GW company say they will put on not only boats from Grand Haven to Milwaukee, but to Chicago, thus making the D&M railway a Detroit and Chicago railway. [GHN-1859-0119]
1859. August. A poor line of road called the Detroit & Milwaukee under the supervision of the Great Western road of Canada, is making very desperate efforts to establish what is christened a "Detroit cut-off". The line runs from Detroit to Owosso, and thence takes a westerly direction to Grand Haven on Lake Michigan. As far as Owosso the location is through a tolerably productive country, but west of that which is the longest portion of the road, it gyrates through the most miserable and sterile part of the state until it reaches the shores of the lake at Grand Haven.
It is provided with a line of boats, which from the natural difficulties of navigation and the uncertainties of the weather, can only run with comparative promptness during the summer months. The boats cross the widest portion of the lake, and afford the passenger a rare change of becoming gloriously sea-sick. [GRE-1859-0826]
1859. December 12. D&M operates three westbound trains from Detroit, leaving at 7:30 am, 9:45 am and 3:15 pm. The first and third trains are "mixed" trains. The 7:30 am train terminates as Grand Rapids. The 3:15 pm train terminates at Fentonville. The 9:45 am train is a "mail" train which turns at Grand Haven. Eastbound, the "mail" train leaves Grand Haven at 7:30 am. A mixed train leaves Fentonville at 7:15 am and another mixed train heads eastbound at 5:15 am from Grand Rapids. Refreshments at Detroit, Owosso and Grand Haven, and on the company's steamer Windsor on the Detroit River. The D&M has a hotel within the Grand Haven depot. [DFP-1860-0108]
1860. April 18. The D&M has passed into the hands of a Receiver on a foreclosure of its third and fourth mortgages. C.S. Brydges, Esq. mananging Director of the Great Western Railway has been appointed Receiver by the Court. [HDN-1860-0424]
1860. November 3. The D&M railroad was sold, under a decree of the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Michigan on October 4th. The decree was obtained by the holders of the 3rd and 4th mortgage bonds, on the ground of default in the payment of interest on said bonds. The road was purchased by William Gray, Esq., as Trustee for the bond holders. A new company was at once organized on a basis set forth in the subjoined letter, and the following Board of Directors were elected: C.J. Brydges, Hamilton, ON, C.W.; Thomas Reynolds, Hamilton, ON C.W.; C.C. Trowbridge, Detroit; Edmund A Brush, Detroit; H.N. Walker, Detroit; ___ Gage, Canada; ___ Kellum, Canada and William K. Muir, of Detroit. Brydges was elected President, Reynolds, Vice President, and Trowbridge, Secretary. The [DFP] article explained the financial situation of the D&M.
The company owes a large sum to the U.S. government for duties on rails, which must be paid in cash or the rails will be taken up and traffic of the line stopped. A considerable sum is also due, and now being gradually liquidated, for taxes due to the State of Michigan, the non-payment of which would render the property of the company liable to confiscation. The first and second bond holders retain their original position (Detroit & Pontiac funders). The Great Western company holds the bonds of the third and fourth mortgages and have not received any interest upon their loans, though they have been receiving a very large and continuous accession to their traffic from this railroad, an amount which has yielded a handsome percentage upon their loads.
Holders of bond to the amount upwards of $1 million have already given their consent to this arrangement. Holders of the 1st and 2nd bonds will require to give their assent to this plan., forwarded by the 15th of December. [DFP-1860-1123]
1860. December. The steamers of the D&M railroad company are making regular trips between Grand Haven and Milwaukee. [GHN-1860-1205]
1861. January. The propeller Quincy of the D&M railroad line, has crossed Lake Michigan, on average, four times a week since January 1st and hereafter Capt. Hurlburt expects to be able to make three round trips per week. The Quincy is small, but staunch boat, and carries about 2,000 barrels of flour or pork. She has successfully weathered some of the most severe gales that have occurred this winter. The Captain evidently has little regard for the popular superstition against winter navigation. [SJH-1861-0130]
1861. February. The steamer Milwaukee, which has been lying at the wharf of the D&M railroad for the purpose of having state rooms and cabins constructed on her upper deck, is now ready to take her place in the line between Grand Haven and Milwaukee as soon as navigation opens in the spring. [GHN-1861-0206]
1861. April. The D&M railroad has notified the proper authorities of their willingness to convey all troops and military stores raised in this State over their road free. [DFP-1861-0423]
1861. June. Experiments are being made at Pontiac by the D&M railroad with a view of introducing gas for illuminating purposes on the cars of the night trains on that road. [DFP-1861-0619]
1861. October. Charles C. Trowbridge, Esq., will be relieved of his duties as Secretary Treasurer of the D&M. He will be succeeded by William C. Stephens, Esq., late of Hamilton, ON and now of Detroit. We have no doubt he will prove a worthy and acceptable successor to Mr. T. We congratulate Mr. Trowbridge, who's duties were beyond the ability of any one man to perform. [DFP-1861-1010]
1863. November. A poor man who had lately lost both his arms on an eastern railroad accident, arrived in Detroit without friends or money. Officer Joy, of the D&M railroad, had him taken to a boarding house near the depot and well cared for until this morning, when he left for Oshkosh, Wisconsin. W.K. Muir kindly gave him a pass to Milwaukee and previous to his departure, solicited for him donations from the passengers on the train to the nice sum of seven dollars. [DFP-1863-1110]
1864. September 3. The Amboy, Lansing and Traverse Bay (sometimes known as the Ramshorn) Railroad Co., having obtained time for a further hearing before the Supreme Court, the railroad will not be sold on the 5th of September as heretofore advertised. In the meantime, until the final order is made, the road has been leased by the Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad Co. They took possession of the road on Tuesday, and commenced running their cars between Owosso and Lansing. [DFP-1864-0903]
1864. December. The D&M is doing good business and recently added 75 cars of rolling stock to the road. In the spring, it will place upon the road several new and powerful locomotives. Trains are now making good time. [GRE-1864-1230]
1867. February. Petitions were presented [in Lansing] for a law for weighing and marking butter kegs; and for investigating into the affairs of the D&M railroad, in reference to over charging for freights. [JCP-1867-0208]
1867. March. The Great Western Railway Company has adapted their gauge to the D&M standard gauge by laying a third rail. The D&M is making a slip-dock for the reception of their new car-ferry-boat, and by April they hope to realize all the important advantages likely to be derived by a uniform gauge to the sea-board. [DFP-1867-0313]
1868. June. Over 2,500 emigrants passed over the D&M railroad in the month of May. [JCP-1868-0623]
1868. October 9. The D&M steamship "Milwaukee" beaches at Grand Haven in a storm and is a total wreck. The propeller "City of Fremont" has taken its place temporarily so the Milwaukee connection has been fully maintained. [DFP-1869-0311]
1869. SNAPSHOT: The D&M has 14 passenger engines; 15 freight engines; 5 shunting (yard) engines; for a total of 34 engines, 1 more than last year. A new shunting engine, the "Ovid" purchased from Baldwin Works in Philadelphia has been added. Nine engines received heavy and eight light repairs. 30 first class passenger cars, 23 post office and baggage cars; 333 box and cattle cars, 187 flat cars, four wood train boarding cars; one auxiliary car; a total of 578 cars, four more than last year. [DFP-1869-0311]
1870. January 6. Important railroad changes have taken place lately. The Great Western railroad (in Canada) has passed into the hands of the Michigan Central, under direct control of (James) Joy of Detroit, and hence indirectly under the influence of Vanderbilt. The rumored changes on the D&M road are unfounded. Still, as the D&M is closely interested in the Great Western it will be more or less influenced by the New York Railroad King (Vanderbilt). [HREG-1870-0106]
1870. A rash of thefts from the D&M were reported in newspapers. These included three railroad conductors who are accused of embezzling the funds of the company; and a gang who were stealing and selling brass, scrap iron and couplings from the Detroit repair shops. Some of the perpetrators received 30 days in the Detroit House of Correction. [DFP-1876-02]
1871. January 12. The Detroit & Milwaukee and Great Western railroads have guaranteed the bonds of the Port Huron and Lake Michigan railroad, which will ensure its completion. [LSJ-1871-0112].
1871. March 1. In it's annual report printed in the Detroit Free Press, the D&M noted that the decrease in revenue in the last two years is "entirely attributable to the new railroads which have been built across the company's line". Superintendent Bill notes the "reckless competition of some of the through all-rail lines". [DFP-1871-0301]
1871. SNAPSHOT: The D&M's stock of locomotives consists of 14 passenger, 16 freight and four shunting engines. All are now supplied with steel tires except the switch engines which have chilled cast iron tires. The stock of cars consists of 30 first-class coaches; 21 post office and baggage cars; nine emigrant cars; 330 box and cattle cars; 187 flat cars and one "auxiliary" car making a total of 578 cars, the same as in 1869. [DFP-1871-0301]
1871. June. Employees of the D&M railroad living in Detroit and vicinity, and their wives and families, were treated to an excursion to Clarkston. They filled 13 coaches, and left at 8:30 and returned in the evening, having enjoyed themselves hugely. [GRE-1871-0623]
1873. November. The D&M appears to be in financial trouble, with their bonds maturing over the next two years. The Great Western railroad provides a $100000 advance to the company. [GRE-1873-1111]
1873. November 20. The D&M begins service on the Detroit Transit railway on Goin Street near the river. [DFP-1873-1120]
1873. December. All passenger trains on the D&M are supplied with air brakes. [HOM-1873-1203]
1873. December 24. Further evidence of financial trouble, on the 1st of January the Detroit & Milwaukee railroad will reduce the wages of all its officers and employees, excepting those reduced last month, by 10%. This reduction will continue in force until July 1st. [PHTH-1873-1224]
1875. April. The D&M enters receivership. [GRE-1877-0510]
1875. July 1. The Wayne County circuit court has appointed Mr. Trowbridge as the provisional receiver. The Merchants' Bank of Canada and Sir Hugh Allan, claiming to represent a large number of English bondholders asked for a delay of the appointment of a permanent receiver. Others entering a claim were Ashley Pond for trustees under a second mortgage; S.D. Miller and Wm. P Wells for the trustees under a first mortgage; T. Romeyn for the Great Western railway, and George Jerome and G.V.N. Lothrop for the D&M railroad company. [DFP-1875-0701]
1877. January 27. D&M Reorganization. A meeting of the first and second mortgage bondholders of the D&M railway was held in Detroit Wednesday, the gentlemen present representing about $3,375,000 or a large portion of the bonded debt of the corporation, Sir Charles Young, of London, representing the English bondholders. H.N. Walker, George Jerome, and George Hendrie, of Detroit, and Wm. Martin, of Hamilton, Ontario, were appointed a committee to settle up the business of the present organization and to place it in operation upon a new basis under the name of the Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee railroad. To do this, the committee is vested with power to arrange differences with other railroads and corporations, and to issue $5,000,000 in bonds running 30 years, a portion of which are to be exchanged in settlement of present incumbrances and for the payment of the expenses of this reorganization. [GRE-1877-0127]
1877. May 10. The D&M financial problems are spelled out in the Grand Rapids Eagle newspaper. It has been well known that a process of foreclosure for the past two years, by the Great Western Railway Company, which holds stock and bonds, and appoints the majority of the D&M Board of Directors. Much of that debt is from large English bondholders. The road was largely in debt for current wages and supplies and the line was in dangerous condition that the State threatened to take possession.
Various parties have brought suit against the D&M in the courts. Secured leans are upward of $9 million. The Great Western lent the D&M $750,000 in January, 1858, taking a mortgage which gave them immediate possession through a majority of the board, who were then and always named by the Great Western. In April, 1875, they entered receivership with C.C. Trowbridge as Receiver. [GRE-1877-0510]
1877. July. The steel rails on the Detroit & Milwaukee extend from Detroit to Coopersville. The fast express train on this road makes the run from Grand Haven to Detroit, 189 miles in six hours. [DFP-1877-0717]
1878. July. Court proceedings over the financial receivership of the D&M continue in Wayne County Circuit Court and is described by the Detroit Free Press as "The D&M War". Great Western railroad is pitted against original bondholders and stockholders of the 1858 D&M, including Henry Ledyard of Rhode Island. [DFP-1878-0730]
1878. November 9. The reorganization of the D&M railroad was completed. The new corporation is known as the Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway Company. [PHTH-1878-1111]
1883. April 12. Charles C. Trowbridge died at his residence in Detroit of pneumonia. He was 83 years old. Trowbridge was President of the D&M from 1875 until the road passed into the hands of a Receiver. Trowbridge was appointed as that receiver. [Midland Daily News-1883-0412]
The following sources are utilized in this website. [SOURCE-YEAR-MMDD-PG]:
