George S. Brown et al. vs. the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, 1889-1945

This series consists of records generated during the course of the case of George S. Brown et al. vs. the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company. This suit was filed by agents of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company seeking to foreclose on bonds held against the canal's profits and physical property. Although the suit was initially filed in 1889, the material in this collection concerns the period when the canal and its associated property were under the control of the board of receivers appointed in 1938. Much of the material post-dates the sale of the canal and its associated properties to the federal government and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which also took place in 1938.

There are several internal divisions within this series that reflect the resolution of problems associated with the sale of the canal and disbursement of the proceeds. The first of the internal divisions consists of audits of the canal company's assets. An audit of the accounts of the trustees was performed at the time the receivers were appointed in 1938, and a listing of all assets and liabilities of the canal company was prepared prior to the sale of property to the federal government. After the sale was complete, a series of sixteen auditor's reports was compiled to account for all funds that were not immediately disbursed to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. These audits were performed between September 1938 and August 1945. The files containing these reports also include correspondence commenting on various aspects of the audits, and some contain court petitions and other documents regarding changes or problems with the reports. In some cases, the audit reports are themselves incomplete.

The second portion of this series is composed of the records pertaining to claims filed against the canal company receivers following their appointment in May 1938. Some of these claims were initially made against the canal company following the initial filing of George S. Brown et al. vs. the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company in 1889 and were not settled until the receivers were appointed. During the course of the suit, several firms in the Hagerstown and Baltimore areas made a practice of buying small claims against the company at a reduced rate and then negotiating with the receivers for settlement. These claims are discussed in groups in correspondence between the receivers, the law firms with which William Preston Lane, Jr., was associated, and the law firms of the claims purchasers. In addition, many claims were individually pursued by their holders, and these also generated court petitions and correspondence. Also included in this division of the series are petitions filed in court for collection of solicitors' fees.

The next major division in this series consists of court records and petitions that pertain directly to the progress of the case of George S. Brown et al. vs. the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company. These records include a bound volume containing the original complaint filed in 1889, files relating to the destruction of the 1878 bond issue, petitions for issuance of orders reducing the performance bonds of the receivers, and, finally, records relating to the official closing of the case.

The final portion of the series consists of materials pertaining to the disposal of the canal property. The majority of these records relate to the sale of the canal lands to the federal government. Additional records relate to the sales made to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. Files documenting the sales consist of draft deeds, agreements, petitions, court orders, and correspondence discussing various aspects of the property transfer.

This series is arranged alphabetically under the following rubrics--audits, claims, court documents, and property disposal--and then chronologically within those divisions.