PREFACE. Vii 



In the year 1852 a Railroad was projected and commenced by 

 the late Honorable Heman B. Ely, to open the iron region on the 

 south shore of Lake Superior, and introduce its rich and inex- 

 haustible ores into the manufacturing industry of the country. In 

 this enterprise his brothers, Samuel P. Ely, George H. Ely, and 

 John F. Ely, and their uncle, the late Hervey Ely,^ then residents, 

 except one, of Rochester, New York, were associated. The mag- 

 nitude of the undertaking will be appreciated when it is stated 

 that this entire region was then an uninhabited wilderness, with 

 the exception of a few hamlets at Marquette, the present port of 

 the iron district on Lake Superior, and a few log cabins at the 

 iron mines, which had shortly before been discovered, but were 

 still undeveloped. At that time the St. Mary's Ship Canal, which 

 three years later connected the lower lakes with Lake Superior, 

 although projected, was not commenced ; consequently naviga- 

 tion between these lakes was obstructed by the rapids in the St. 

 Mary's River. Besides this obstacle, it was five hundred miles 

 from Marquette to Detroit, the nearest point from which supplies 

 could be obtained. Notwithstanding these formidable difficulties, 

 the Messrs. Ely persevered in the enterprise until 1856, when 

 they found it advisable, after a large expenditure, to accept the 

 co-operation of other parties in the further prosecution of the 

 work. Joseph S. Fay, Esq., of Boston, Edwin Parsons, Esq., of 

 New York, and some other capitalists, were then admitted into 

 the association. In 1S58 the Railroad was completed to the three 

 principal iron locations, and in 1865 to Lake Michigame, after an 

 expenditure of about a million and a half of dollars. 



Under the stimulus of commercial causes a Railroad was thus 

 constructed through a rugged wilderness for a distance of forty 



1 I cannot mention the name of my venerable and noble friend, now de- 

 ceased, without expressing my high appreciation of his great abilities, of 

 his genial and unselfish nature, and of his liberal and enlightened senti- 

 ments. He will be favorably remembered as one of the great men of his 

 day and generation. Born in West Springfield, Massachusetts, January 

 10th, 1791, he established himself in Rochester in 1813, where he engaged 

 extensively in manufacturing and commercial enterprises, in which he con- 

 tinued until 18G1, when he retired from business. He died in this city, 

 November 23d, 1862. It was my privilege to know him intimately for nearly 

 twenty years; and this passing tribute to his memory is founded upon 

 personal knowledge of his worth. 



