OLD COLONY RAILROAD Bond 1876 MA O. Stearns C. Choate & U. Crocker SIGS. #9 K

Description

Old Colony Rail Road Company. Bond issued September 1, 1876. Incorporated March 16, 1844
in the State of Massachusetts. Embossed company seal lower right.
Certificate No. 9
. “This is to Certify that for value received the Old Colony Railroad Company will pay to Provident Institution for Savings in the town of Boston or assign the sum of
,000
on the first day of September 1896 … with interest at a rate of six percent per annum ...” Hand signed by company
president Onslow Stearns (see bio below)
and treasurer John W. Washburn, as well as
Directors Charles F. Choate (see bio below), Urial Crocker (see bio below)
, and Jacob Loud. Certificate is about 8” x 13.” Green print on vellum paper. Vignette with a train at a wharf.
The Old Colony Railroad was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island. It operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall River, New Bedford, Newport, Providence, Fitchburg, Lowell and Cape Cod. For many years the Old Colony Railroad Company also operated steamboat and ferry lines, including those of the Fall River Line. The Old Colony Railroad was named after the "Old Colony", the nickname for the Plymouth Colony.
From 1845 to 1893, the
Old Colony Railroad
network grew extensively largely through a series of mergers and acquisitions with other established railroads, until it was itself acquired by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad under lease agreement on March 1, 1893 for its entire 617-mile network. After this date, all trains, lines, and stations became known as the "Old Colony Division" of the huge "New Haven" system.
Onslow Stearns (1810 – 1878) was a railroad builder and executive, and a politician from Concord, New Hampshire. Stearns was a New Hampshire state Senator and Governor of New Hampshire 1869-72. He was president of the Old Colony Railroad Company and the Old Colony and Newport Railway Company.
Charles Francis Choate (1828 – 1911) was a prominent attorney and corporate executive who was involved with a number of companies, including the Fall River, Warren and Providence Railroad Company as a Director, the Old Colony Steamboat Company as a Director, and the Old Colony Railroad Company as a Director and its first president. Choate was also council for the Boston and Maine Railroad and a Director of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad.
Urial Crocker (1796 – 1887) was a prominent Boston publisher and printer (Crocker & Brewster), and executive and board member of many railroads, including the Old Colony, Northern Railroad of New Hampshire, Concord Railroad, Atlantic & Pacific Railroad, and St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad.
Condition:  Very Fine+
, light folds, minor creasing, no tears, minor signs of wear/handling/toning (see photos), pen and stamp cancelled.
Printer:
American Bank Note Company.
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