A GALVESTON, HOUSTON & HENDERSON RAILROAD CO. BOND FOR ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS

OCTOBER 8, 1857, ink on paper, issue no. 1834, reads, "Issue of 26,250 Obligations, with the Security of the railroad and of the Free Grant of Lands from the State of Texas..." signed by John H. Hand, Treasurer, Richard B. Kimball, President, and others, printed by John F. Trow, New York, with attached coupons. 14 1/2" x 10" NOTE: The Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad Company was chartered on February 7, 1853, to build a rail system from Galveston through Houston to Henderson in East Texas. For a number of years, the company was Galveston's only rail connection with the Texas railroad system centered at Houston. Although supported in Galveston and Houston, much of the early financing was provided by investors in Holland and France. The original company was sold in 1860, and a new Galveston, Houston and Henderson was organized under the original charter. During the Civil War the railroad remained active, handling the traffic to and from the Confederate blockade runners reaching Galveston. In 1867 the bondholders of the original company forced the railroad into receivership and fighting between the stockholders and bondholders forced the railroad to be sold under foreclosure on December 15, 1871.