Disastrous Railroad Accident---City Taxes

This appears to have been a year of considerable business activity and general prosperity for Columbus. The receipts of cotton were large, and the price good, and a heavy trade with the country was done by the merchants. It was also a year of remarkable good health, as the Sexton's reports of interments show. There was a little alarm in November about some cases of fever on the portion of Crawford street known as Battle Row. It was of a malignant type, resembling yellow fever, and the report got out into the country that there was yellow fever in Columbus. Several persons died with it. Whatever may have been the proper name for this fever, it did not spread. Frosts occurred while the first cases were suffering from it, and its course was soon arrested.

The municipal officers for this year were:
Mayor, F. G. Wilkins
Aldermen:
1st Ward, P. H. Alston, Wm. C.L Gray
2d, Peter Preer, James Vernoy
3d, Joseph Kyle, J. R. Eastham
4th, M. Barschall, Joseph Smith
5th, D. B. Thompson, John T. Walker
6th, John Durkin, W. R. Brown
Marshal, J. M. Hughes
Deputy Marshal, H. P. Robinson
Clerk, Calvin Stratton
Treasurer, R. G. Mitchell
Sexton, Thos. Nix

These were elected by the people on the second Saturday in December, 1857, except Mr. Wm. C. Gray, Alderman for the 1st Ward, who was elected on the 19th of December, there having been a tie in that ward at the regular election between Wm. C. Gray and D. McArthur.

Council elected:
N. L. Hutchins, City Attorney
Dr. Ellison, City Physician
J. D. Hughes, Bridge-keeper
W. Tilley, Clerk of the Market
Isabella McGehee, Hospital-keeper
Thos. Ragland & Co., City Printers
Port Wardens--D. L. Booher, J. C. Brewer, L. B. Duck, W. L. Salisbury, John Ligon
Health Officers--Wm. C. Gray, F. J. Abbott, Edward Croft, F. S. Chapman, D. C. Jackson, W. J. Chaffin, J. W. King, A. Ingmire, Wm. Daniel, James M. Everett, John Seely, S. Ogletree.

An act was passed by the Legislature authorizing the Muscogee and the Opelika Branch Railroads to connect their roads by extending them through the City Commons and streets of Columbus, with the assent of the people of the city. Council in March passed an ordinance authorizing the Muscogee Railroad to connect with the Opelika Branch, by extending its road across the North Commons; also to connect with the Mobile and Girard Railroad by extending its road through Thomas street and building a bridge across the river at the foot of Thomas street; the Muscogee Railroad Company to pay into the city treasury for this privilege $2,000 the first year after the making of the connection and $3,000 for every year thereafter. This proposition was submitted to the people at an election held on the 27th of February, and ratified by a vote of 350 to 91. The Muscogee Railroad accepted the proposition, and a contract embodying its terms was approved by Council on the 8th of March.

The following were officers of the Fire Department this year: Chief Engineer, J. L. Morton; Assistant Engineer, J. B. Strupper; Columbus Fire Company No. 1--R. A. Ware, President, J. D. Johnson, Foreman; Vigilant No. 2--Jos. A. Roberts, President, James Vernoy, Foreman; Muscogee No. 3--I. G. Strupper, Foreman, Samuel Lawhon, Assistant.

C. C. Cody was in January elected an Alderman of the 4th Ward, vice Joseph C. Smith resigned.

The Financial Committee in a report made to Council on the 15th of March, estimated the expenditures necessary for the year at $51,970. Of this amount $21,000 was for interest on bonds to the Mobile and Girard Railroad, $3,500 for the Opelika Branch Road, and $10,000 for the Gas Company; the balance for ordinary expenses. The receipts were estimated at $19,820, including $2,500 from bonds of the Montgomery and West Point Railroad Company. This estimated income was exclusive of the taxes for 1858, to adjust which to the wants of the city treasury the committee recommended a scale of taxes, as follows: On real estate, 15 cents on the $100 value; on sales of all goods merchandise or other articles not specifically taxed, 15 cents on the $100--this for city purposes; additional tax for railroad purposes, real estate 70 cents on the $100; sales as above 30 cents on the $100. The report of the committee was adopted with an amendment taxing some other property. Council also resolved to redeem the tax for railroad purposes, when scrip for the same to the amount of $100 should be presented, in stock of the Mobile and Girard Railroad when transferred to the city. Many tax-payers resisted payment of the railroad tax and a case was carried to the courts by Col. S. Jones and others. Council employed Messrs. Wellborn, Johnson & Sloan as counsel for the city. The collection of the tax being thus suspended, Council borrowed $22,444 from the banks, wherewith to pay the bonds given to the Muscogee Railroad Company. The Supreme Court sustained Col. Jones and others in their resistance to the tax, and Council then asked of the Legislature the passage of an act authorizing a similar tax.

There were four military companies in the city this year, viz: Columbus Guards, Capt. Semmes; City Light Guards, Capt. Colquitt; United Rifles, Capt. Wilkins; and Georgia True Greys, Capt. Andrews.

The new or upper bridge over the river was completed in July, but Council and the company who built it could not agree upon the terms of its acceptance, the company at first asking Council to make a bond to keep it in repair. In November the company threw it open to public use, and Council, in turn, declared the lower bridge free of toll. A committee of Council had reported that the upper bridge was not built in a substantial and satisfactory manner.

John S. Allen was in October elected an Alderman of the 2d Ward, vice Alderman Preer, resigned.

H. P. Robinson having resigned the office of Deputy Marshal, on account of bad health, Henry Riley was elected on the 13th of November.

Incidents

The river was very high on the 13th and 14th of January, and for a time much apprehension was felt for the bridges, but they were not injured. The bank on the Girard side caved greatly, whole acres falling into the river, taking one or two houses with them. No lives were lost. The Palace Mills sustained considerable damage.

Michael Tracy was shot in the breast and killed by a man named Hinch, on the 7th of February. The affray between them occurred between Bridge and Crawford streets. Hinch was a comparative stranger, having been in the city but a short time. He was arrested and committed.

"Suspension" was this year the terminus of the Mobile and Girard Railroad, and a post office was established there in April.

At the Spring Term of Muscogee Superior Court, Samuel Hinch was found guilty of the murder of Michael Tracy, and sentenced to be hung on the 2d of July. James Thompson was re-sentenced to be hung on the same day. Thompson made a speech exonerating Guilford, who, after obtaining a new trial, had plead guilty of involuntary manslaughter and been re-sentenced to three years in the penitentiary. Thompson was hung on the 2d of July, according to sentence. Hinch by appeal, secured a postponement of his execution. He was re-sentenced and he and Dozier were hung on the 17th of December.

A great revival of religion was experienced in Columbus in May and June. On the last Sunday in May about sixty new converts joined the M. E. Church, and a number joined the other churches of the city. On the first Sunday in June about seventy joined the Presbyterian Church. The estimate up to that time was that 170 had joined the Methodist church, 70 the Presbyterian, 60 the Baptist, and 26 the Episcopalian. Many more accessions were afterwards made to each of these churches, making the whole number of converts during the revival over 500.

The M. E. Church in Girard, now in use, was dedicated on the 18th of July by Rev. W. G. Conner, of LaGrange. The same gentleman dedicated a new M. E. Church "in the lower part of the city" (Columbus) on the 1st of August.

The first bale of new cotton was received from the plantation of Mrs. A. E. Shepherd, in Stewart County, on the 30th of July, and sold for 14� cents.

A new Baptist Church, for the Negroes of that denomination, was dedicated on the 22d of August, by Rev. J. H. DeVotie. Its location was the northwest corner of St. Clair and Front streets.

The Enquirer commenced the publication of a daily paper on the 24th of September.

A white woman, Mrs. Minchin, was burnt to death by a fire in her house in the southern part of the city on the night of the 13th of November. The fire was extinguished before burning the house.

The Georgia Conference of the M. E. Church was held in Columbus in November, Bishop Pierce presiding.

George D. Prentice of Louisville, Kentucky, lectured in Columbus on the 20th of December, to a good audience.

A terrible railroad disaster, which greatly agitated the city, occurred on the morning of the 31st of December, at the crossing of Randall's creek, about sixteen miles east of Columbus. Heavy rains had fallen, and the creek was very full, washing out some of the foundations of the bridge. The train which left Columbus broke through and was precipitated into the swollen stream. The passenger car was overturned and borne down stream. There were about forty passengers on the train, and twelve or fourteen of them were killed either by the fall or by drowning. Among those lost were Mr. Bouche and Mr. W. H. Suell, train hands, of Columbus; Henry Miller, engineer, of Columbus; two Misses Guise, of Salem, Ala.; a Negro man belonging to R. E. Dixon, another belonging to Mr. Mustian, and another belonging to J. M. Russell. Some of the passengers were carried down stream half a mile. Some, after floating or swimming a distance, caught to trees, where they remained for some time before they could be rescued. The person who first brought the news to Columbus was a Negro, who thought that he was the only person saved, and his report greatly alarmed the citizens. On the train was Mr. Pryor's noted race horse, Moidore, who was lost.

Another accident occurred about the same hour, in the immediate neighborhood of the city, to the train coming from Macon, and was caused by the sinking down of the track over a culvert, when the engine ran on it. Mr. Jno. Walker, the fireman, was instantly killed; a Negro man was caught in the wreck and scalded to death; Mr. George Smith, the engineer, had his jaw broken. The accident blocked up the track and prevented the sending of succor to the sufferers at Randall's Creek as soon as communication with them would otherwise have been established.

Personal

The county officers this year were:
F. M. Brooks, Sheriff;
A. S. Rutherford, Clerk of the Superior Court;
A. P. Jones, Clerk of the Inferior Court;
J. B. Hicks, Tax Receiver;
Thos. Chaffin, Sr., Tax Collector;
Edward Birdsong, Treasurer;
J. B. Wright, Coroner;
John G. Bethune, Public Administrator;
J. E. Lamar, Surveyor.

R. C. Forsyth having resigned the post mastership of Columbus, Dr. H. M. Jeter was in November appointed his successor.

The M. E. appointments for Columbus, for this year, were as follows: For St. Luke, Rev. A. M. Wynn, assisted by Rev, J. M. Austin; Factory Mission, Rev. W. W. Tidwell and Rev. C. L. Hays; Girard Colored Charge, Rev. W. D. Shew.

Marriages

January 1, John Kingsley and Mary A. Robinson
Jan. 5, Joseph Galvan and Mary Ann Bold
Jan. 6, Moses H. Phillips and Harriet E. Mims
Jan. 6, John Davis and Mary Sperlin
Jan. 7, Thomas H. Burch and Charlotte C. Gray
Jan. 7, George R. Hays and Mary E. Wood
Jan. 7, Joseph Springer and Emily Gettinger
Jan. 7, Thomas Bankston and Elizabeth Roberts
Jan. 7, Aaron L. Harrison and Mary J. Owen
Jan. 10, William Clarida and Sarah W. Kelly
Jan. 13, George W. Dawson and Annie J. Sankey
Jan. 14, Wesley T. Harm and Mary E. Roland
Jan. 14, Wiley S. Green and Eleanor A. Tillman
Jan. 20, Willis Spivey and Rachel Shirrer
Jan. 20, Jacob G. Burrus and Anna R. Buckler
Jan. 21, William H. Hollman and Georgia R. Champion
Jan. 24, Edmund B. Ginn and Alley Jane Taff
Jan. 26, David I. Britt and Salina A. Wells
Jan. 27, Beverly A. Harris and Elizabeth Renfroe
Jan. 29, Charles Sinclair and Barbara A. Plymade

February 2, John G. Jones and Elizabeth A. Plumb
Feb. 3, George W. King and Caroline M. English
Feb. 4, William B. Welkins and Mary Jones
Feb. 4, Lewis S. Jenkins and Sarah R. Pope
Feb. 9, Peter T. Bugg, Jr., and Elizabeth Wagner
Feb. 10, William L. Clark and Anna P. Ridgway
Feb. 18, Bird B. Forsyth and Charlotte Creamer
Feb. 21, William P. Duncan and Adaline Hackney
Feb. 21, James Belcher and Elizabeth Magraff
Feb. 21, Jonathan Ward and Mary H. Gilbert
Feb. 25, William Dukes and Permelia Walker

March 5, Lawrence A. Sturgis and Mary D. Forsyth
March 7, Charles Cherry and Mary Thompson
March 10, Malcolm McNeil and Permelia Edwards
March 14, John Flemming and Susan Scroggins
March 15, Edward McLesky and Elizabeth Barnes
March 22, John K. Moon and _____ Murphy
March 22, John Kirkland and Susan Skates
March 30, Jonathan Harralson and Martha E. Thompson
March 31, William G. Brown and Frances C. Kent

April 1, Moses H. Hall and Mary A. Simmons
April 6, Barney Veasy and Narsissa Williams
April 8, Bartley Smith and Mary Holstead
April 8, George R. Clark and Martha A. Johnson
April 14, Fielding W. Acee and Martha J. Kirvin
April 15, James T. Robison and Susan J. Bugg
April 15, William Graham, Jr., and Mary Davis
April 15, Calvin F. Miller and Mary P. Systrythe
April 15, James M. Skinner and Martha L. Coleman
April 17, David Tunrey and Jane Cobb
April 18, Telfair W. Moore and Mary O. Conner
April 23, David Perry and Cordelia R. Odom
April 24, James Newsom and Martha Thompson
April 25, Seaborn Dowdy and Leonora Harris

May 9, Benjamin Lane and Margaret Holley
May 11, Joseph S. Garrett and Virginia E. Heard
May 12, Samuel Anthony and Mary A. F. Motley
May 13, Wiley G. Roper and Virginia A. Beland
May 13, Benjamin Yarborongh and Eliza Lacy
May 17, Francis I. Fagg and Martha E. Smith
May 24, George W. Nicholson and Celia A, Haddock
May 31, Samuel H. Hill and Rebecca C. Kookogee

June 3, William H. Smith and Mary A. R. Barnes
June 8, William H. Pace and Susan A. Foster
June 10, Joseph W. Baker and Arran Coleman
June 16, Martin W. Beck and Catharine M. Calhoun
June 17, James L. Ware and Susan I. Ware
June 18, George W. Jones and Adaline Whitten
June 19, Robert Statum and Elvira Abney

July 1, Horace H. Taft and Sarah A. Bardwell
July 4, Stephen B. Freeman and Mary A. Duffel
July 8, Hiram A. Gibson and Frances S. Rogers
July 15, William I. Davis and Eliza F. Miller
July 22, James T. Phillips and Frances Wilkinson
July 26, Giles Ivey and Elizabeth Currie

August 3, Nathaniel A. Nuckolls and Elizabeth P. Kyle
August 4, James F. Cooper and Ann Murphy
August 6, Hiram F. Williams and Martha A. Harrell
August 8, Jesse Lightfoot and Martha Littleton
August 9, Archibald M. Kimbrongh and Nancy M. Hamer
August 10, Jarred L. Heed and Eugenia McDonald
August 12, Richard L. Ellison and Lucinda E. Helmes
August 22, William Hammock and Sarah A. Davidson
August 22, John H. B. Shippey and Georgia A. Askew
August 27, William H. Harvey and Mary Gammell

September 9, Theodore Ewing and Elizabeth Matthison
Sept. 15, James M. Duffee and Hetty E. Stringer
Sept. 15, Cullen C. Hardison and Fredonia N. Harp
Sept. 16, Rice B. Pierce and Martha M. Cowan
Sept. 17, William Parish and Caroline Seaborn
Sept. 23, Appleton Haygood and Elizabeth C. Martin
Sept. 23, James P. Floyd and Martha A. Lloyd
Sept. 30, Alfred Hataling and Catharine Cone
Sept. 30, Josiah Boland and Susan Hammock
Sept. 30, John Hartis and Susan Smith
Sept. 30, James Collins and Elizabeth Scott

October 3, Simeon Smith and Alvania George
Oct. 7, Johnson E. T. Stoltz and Mary Davie
Oct. 9, John Ingram and Nancy A. Goulding
Oct. 12, Lewis Harrison and Rosalie Branch
Oct. 14, Samuel C. Rogers and Susan W. Pool
Oct. 14, Eothieb N. Aenchbacker and Martha I. Crouch
Oct. 17, John W. Skinner and Sarah A. E. Brooks
Oct. 20, James M. Crouch and Margaret Clardy
Oct. 26, Charles Dudley and Henrietta Jackson
Oct. 27, Alexander C. Kirvin and Susan E. Andrews
Oct. 28, John Gardner and L. Anna McGinty
Oct. 28, James W. Massey and Sarah Yates
Oct. 31, Millenton D. Henderson and Sarah D. Green

November 2, James H. Toole and Mary A. McRea
Nov. 11, John F. Ellison and Mary I. Robinson
Nov. 11, Floyd Alford and Mary I. Culbreth
Nov. 29, John Treadaway and Emily Justice

December 12, Hillery G. Guy and Elizabeth Turville
Dec. 15, John T. Wright and Sarah Hethcock
Dec. 16, Thomas R. Jones and Mary J. Hargraves
Dec. 17, Perry W. Dalton and Nancy M. M. Jordan
Dec. 21, George H. Smith and Mary V. Collins
Dec. 22, Samuel E. Smith and Elizabeth Hammonds
Dec. 26, William Smith and Mary Davidson
Dec. 28, Robert Garvin and Mary A. Wynne
Dec. 30, Leighton W. Hatcher and Caroline Davis
Dec. 30, Henry T. Morris and Sarah E. Camran
Dec. 30, Bryant Barnes and Leviney Marler
Dec. 30, Joseph M. I. Tally and Elizabeth A. Jones
Dec. 30, George B. Mansel and Jane Creamer
Dec. 31, James C. Brooks and Elizabeth Mote

Deaths

(From The Sexton's Reports)

January 3, Louisa Lawrence
Jan. 4, child of Mr. Warner
Jan. 6, James Ivey
Jan. 10, Jane Hall
Jan. 11, John Hunley
Jan. 15, Leverett Norris
Jan. 24, child of Mr. Little
Jan. 26, child of Mr. Langford

February 3, Child of Joseph Oswalt
Feb. 7, Mr. Tracy (killed)
Feb. 12, Mrs. Paul Long
Feb. 13, John Harnett
Feb. 14, Micajah Bennett
Feb. 17, child of Wm. A. Beach
Feb. 17, Mrs. Roswell Ellis
Feb. 28, Miss Rowell (killed by accident)

March--No deaths.

April 16, John Traywick
April 17, child of D. T. Lunney
April 22, McDonald Brooks,
April 22, child of Samuel Lewis
April 28, Elizabeth Worsham

May 17, Child of Mr. Wornum
May 17, Wm. E. Love
May 20, Abraham Brown
May 27, James Harris

June 2, Child of Amanda Rogers
June 7, George L. McGehee
June 9, child of Mr. Salay
June 16, child of Charles Crichton
June 24, child of J. P. Murray
June 29, Mrs. M. Nance

July 3, Samuel Brannon
July 3, A. K. Ayer
July 9, child of Samuel Lewis
July 13, James B. Jones
July 22, Mr. Henley
July 25, child of Mr. Gilbert

August 1, E. H. Calhoun
Aug. 3, child of John Jones
Aug. 5, Mr. Pitts
Aug. 6, William Douglass
Aug. 9, Ellen Grimsley
Aug. 23, Francis Wilhelm
Aug. 26, Miss Noble
Aug. 27, child of James Fryer.

September 2, Child of Felix McArdle
Sept. 4, child of James Welsh
Sept. 12, Thomas G. Moffett,
Sept. 12, child of Seaborn J. Smith
Sept. 25, Michael N. Clark
Sept. 27, child of Joseph Pranglin
Sept. 28, Daniel M. Barber

(From The Newspapers)

September 28, Hon. S. A. Wales, late Senator, and a Judge of the Inferior Court.

Oct. 7, Mrs. Elizabeth Bright Lindsay
Oct. 11, Patrick McCarthy
Oct. 16, Mrs. Olivia M. Harris
Oct. 17, Samuel D. Clarke
Oct. 25, (in Girard) Miss Flora Phillips

Dec. 25, William B. Moore
Dec. 29, (at Apalachicola) John E. Clark, of Columbus