Albany and Susquehanna Railroad bond 1945 (New York)

Great vignette of a old steam train pulling its coal tender car. Unissued and not cancelled. Dated 1945 in the text. Vertical format. Measures approximately 9.5 x 15 inches. 

The Albany and Susquehanna Railroad (A&S) was a railroad from Albany to Binghamton, New York, operating 1851 to 1870. It was subsequently leased by the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company and later merged into the Delaware and Hudson Railroad.

Financier Jay Gould, who realized that the A&S might be used to bring coal to New England markets. He decided to add the A&S line to the Erie.

In the summer of 1869, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk began to buy up shares in A&S, aiming to accumulate a controlling interest and install their own people to the board and take over. A&S president Joseph H. Ramsey reacted by issuing to his supporters thousands of shares that had been sitting on the company's books. Ramsey then had the books spirited from his office and buried in the Albany Cemetery. Incensed, Gould and Fisk had him suspended as president of the A&S by a judge they controlled. Gould and Fisk fought the company officers in court.

John Pierpont Morgan, who had arranged a $500,000 mortgage for the road and been appointed a trustee, arrived in New York on September 1, 1869 and was recruited by Ramsey's supporters. In the name of Dabney, Morgan bought six hundred shares of A&S and made contact with all the shareholders loyal to Ramsey, ensuring that they or their proxies would be present at the annual meeting held in Albany on September 7, 1869. Supervising the voting, Morgan was elected a vice-president and director of the road. Gould and Fisk counteracted by voting in their own men in separate elections. The case reached the New York State Supreme Court which ruled in favor of the Ramsey group's elections.

On February 24, 1870, Morgan leased the A&S to the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company for 99 years, taking the company out of play.

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