Inc. in 1852--Rail Road Privileges 1854. Cert. #116 issued to company president Samuel Tracy of New York for 337 shares in 1859. Signed by Samuel Tracy, president, and H. Ward Barnes, secretary. Not cancelled. Vignette at left of cross-section of a mining scene, with miners on the surface hoisting up buckets from below. "State of Tennessee" is printed above and below this vignette. Another vignette at the center shows a coal train beside a mountain lake. Black border on creme paper. Printer: E.B. Clayton's Sons, N.Y. Folds, a few tears and chips to edges. 7.75 x 9.5" In 1850, when railroads were still in their infancy, an engineer by the name of A.E. Barney promoted the idea that steam locomotive equipment of the 1850s would be capable of ascending the Cumberland Mountains. Samuel Tracy and some other investors gave Barney the go-ahead to build a railroad from the town of Cowan to Sewanee, Tennessee, a feat many thought impossible. At about the same time, Leslie Kennedy, a Pennsylvanian and former coal miner, found traces of coal while exploring the Cumberland Plateau near Sewanee. While he tried to find investors to develop these coal deposits few were interested, until he became acquainted with Samuel Tracy and A.E. Barney. After a visit to the mountain, the three decided to incorporate the Sewanee Mining Company, build a railroad to the plateau and mine the coal there. This was the steepest grade of any railroad in the country at that time. Within 2 years of the first coal delivery in 1856, the rail line was extended to Tracy City and the stage was set for one of the longest-running enterprises in the nation. It continued for 127 years until 1985; the name was changed to the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company after the Civil War, when the tracks had to be rebuilt due to the devastation of the War. State: Tennessee City: Grundy County Date: 1859