"The journals of 1850, now in my possession, report that on the 21st of March, 1850, the delegates of various counties of Illinois and Scott county, Iowa, assembled in Rock Island; I, as chairman of the Pacific railroad committee, presented to the assembly the amounts of the several subscriptions of shares of stock taken in the Rock Island & Chicago railroad, as follows: Rock Island, 400; Camden, 172; Moline, sixty-three; F. R. Brunot, twenty; I. Sullivan, five; Bureau county, 300; Henry county, 103; Scott county, Iowa, 700; LaSalle county, (pledged) 250; Peru delegates (pledged) 250. These 2,263 shares of stock, at $100 each, may appear as a miserable exhibit, when millions were required, but we, the resolute and untiring, considered it a grand entrance. "In this work, as is well known to all pioneers, I had no aid save at two meetings; one at the republic of LeClaire (as then called), where with Judge Grant I called my second meeting; and one at Blue Grass, where Hon. Hiram Price went with me on condition that I paid for the team. Hon. Price made a good talk and we got thirteen shares of stock subscribed, and a pledge for every vote in the schoolhouse. "To show that railroad talkers sometimes encountered a rough sea, I must state that on our way home to Davenport, under the light of a half moon, I ran the larboard wheels of our buggy into a deep washout and also dumped Mr. Price into it, but fortune, as ever, was with our congressman; he was soon out and on his feet, and while brushing off the damp clay he, with energy, exclaimed: 'Such an awkward driver I never did see. I would not go with you another night for all Iowa. Here it is near midnight and I should be at home and blacking my boots and shaving for Sunday.' And whilst our congressman was in a clay mud ditch, the stay-at-home-do-nothings were snoozing in their beds. We drove some miles home to Davenport in a lop-sided buggy in silence, and I paid James Thompson, the coming banker, for the team and for a new set of springs for the buggy. "I neglected to say that at LeClaire we did not secure even one share of stock, and but one vote for the county subscription. That republic protested against building railroads in Illinois. They had their Monroe Doctrine, and objected to foreign invasion, even to talk railroad. "I frequently reported my lone night meetings as chairman to the press. I name one here that you may have a knowledge of railroad building in the middle of the past century - a three mile walk to the then hamlet of Moline and back, during a dark stormy night - a river to cross. As respects success, my report witnesses: (From the Gazette) Debbie Clough Gerischer Iowa Gen Web, Assistant CC, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ IAGENWEB: Special History Project: http://iagenweb.org/history/index.htm Gerischer Family Web Site: http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/