Houston and Great Northern Railroad Co. of Texas signed by Charles Glidden Young - 1871-1874 dated Texas Railway Stock Certificate
Inv# TX1028 Stock
Texas
Great Texas Stock with 25 cent revenue stamp. Some glue stain. Signed by Charles Glidden Young. Available not signed by president or unissued. Please specify variety.
Charles Glidden Young (1816–1871) was a prominent 19th-century businessman and railroad promoter who served as the first president of the Houston and Great Northern Railroad Company. Originally from New Hampshire, Young moved to the South in the late 1830s and initially led the Vicksburg and Shreveport Railroad in Louisiana. After the American Civil War disrupted his industrial ventures in Texas—including a foundry and sawmill—he turned his focus back to rail infrastructure. In 1866, he played a vital role as a director in chartering the Houston and Great Northern, and on June 1, 1867, he was elected its president to oversee the construction of a line planned to connect Houston with the Red River.
Young's leadership was cut short before the railroad's completion due to a tragic workplace accident. While inspecting the first finished section of track north of Houston on August 9, 1871, Young was killed in a derailment accident involving a construction train. Following his death, the company's presidency was assumed by Galusha A. Grow, a former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Despite the loss of its founding president, the Houston and Great Northern continued its expansion, eventually merging with the International Railroad in 1873 to form the International-Great Northern Railroad.
The Houston and Great Northern Railroad, chartered on October 22, 1866, aimed to connect Houston, Texas, to the Red River and eventually the Canadian border. Despite early founders like William Marsh Rice and Ebenezar B. Nichols, construction was delayed due to Reconstruction era economic difficulties. Work began in late 1870, and by 1872, the line reached Crockett. During its brief independent existence, the company acquired the Houston Tap and Brazoria Railway and the Huntsville Branch, expanding to 253 miles of track.
On September 30, 1873, the Houston and Great Northern merged with the International Railroad Company to form the International-Great Northern Railroad (I&GN). This consolidation linked key Texas hubs like Laredo, Austin, and San Antonio. Over the decades, the I&GN became a vital component of the Missouri Pacific lines. Later acquisitions and reorganizations absorbed the original Houston and Great Northern routes into the Union Pacific Railroad system in 1997.
A stock certificate is issued by businesses, usually companies. A stock is part of the permanent finance of a business. Normally, they are never repaid, and the investor can recover his/her money only by selling to another investor. Most stocks, or also called shares, earn dividends, at the business's discretion, depending on how well it has traded. A stockholder or shareholder is a part-owner of the business that issued the stock certificates.
Ebay ID: labarre_galleries