B&O RR President John W. Garrett Signed 1869 Stock Certificate w/ Revenue Stamp

Description

BALTIMORE AND OHIO RAILROAD PRESIDENT JOHN W. GARRETT SIGNED 1869 STOCK CERTIFICATE
**CERTIFICATE IS PUNCH-HOLE CANCELLED, AFFECTING SIGNATURE**
**CERTIFICATE WILL SHIP FOLDED ALONG EXISTING FOLD LINES**
Jo
hn Work Garrett
(July 31, 1820 – September 26, 1884), was an American merchant turned
banker
who became president of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
in 1858 and led the railroad for nearly three decades. The B&O became one of the most important American railroads by the time Garrett died, and Garret would also become a noted philanthropist. He provided crucial support for the
Union
cause during the
Civil War
. Garrett had previously always considered the B&O to be a "Southern railroad,” and had originally pro-South sympathies. However, his business sense, with possibly political and economic acumen, made him side with the Union and the policies of President
Abraham Lincoln
. Under his direction, the B&O was instrumental in supporting the Federal government, as it was the main rail connection between Washington, D.C. and the northern and western states. Garrett became a confidante of
President Lincoln
, and often accompanied him on his visits to battlefields in Maryland. Garrett later expanded the railroad to reach
Chicago, Illinois
, and competed with the
Pennsylvania Railroad
for access to
New York City
.
Garrett was born in Baltimore, Maryland. After some college work he joined his father's mercantile firm. During the 1850s the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad extended its tracks westward and in 1852 reached Wheeling, Va., on the Ohio River. When this process created financial difficulties, a stockholders' committee was convened. Garrett's impressive analysis as a member of the committee resulted in his election as president of the railroad in 1858.
Garrett's railroad was a fundamental factor in the eventual Union triumph in the
Civil War
, because it straddled both Union and Confederacy territories and connected Washington, D.C., with the surrounding area. The railroad profited enormously from the wartime increase in its volume of freight and passengers.
Garrett succeeded in linking Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and
New York
by rail, thereby making the Baltimore and Ohio one of the four leading railroads serving the most vital, industrialized section of the country.
A severe and prolonged depression began in 1873, and there was intensified pressure to reduce costs. Labor costs were the most vulnerable to downward pressure, so Garrett tried cutting wages, simultaneously increasing the amount of work expected from his laborers. In response, the workers struck. The stoppage began on the Baltimore and Ohio in July 1877 and then spread, ultimately involving many railroads. The strike was marked by unprecedented violence; President Rutherford B. Hayes used Federal troops to end it by force. Since labor conditions were improved afterward, the strike was not a complete failure for the workers. Garrett, aged by the strike, died on Sept. 26, 1884, in
Deer Park
, Garrett County, Maryland.