Morris and Essex Rail Road Co. Issued to and Letter Signed by Robert S. Howland and W.H. Howland - 1853 dated Autographed Stock Certificate

Stock issued to Robert S. Howland with handwritten letter glued to stock and signed by both R.S. Howland and  W.H. Howland. Rare! Further research needed on W.H. Howland. Small size stock measures 5 1/2" x 3 1/2". Robert S. Howland was born on November 9, 1820, in New York, New York County (Manhattan), United States. He was the son of Gardiner Greene Howland and Louisa Meredith Edgar. Robert Shaw Howland fathered five children. He died on February 4, 1887, in Morristown, Morris County, New Jersey, United States.

The Morris and Essex Railroad was a railway that traversed northern New Jersey and subsequently became part of the primary line of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. The state of New Jersey's system map illustrates the DL&W suburban service, which includes the M&E Lines. The M&E was established on January 29, 1835, with the objective of constructing a route from Newark in Essex County, extending westward to and beyond Morristown in Morris County. The initial segment, stretching from Newark to Orange, was inaugurated on November 19, 1836. An agreement signed on October 21 allowed the New Jersey Rail Road to offer connecting services from Newark to Jersey City via the Bergen Hill Cut. The original junction between the two railroads was located in downtown Newark, where the M&E veered south on Broad Street to connect with a branch of the NJRR at Market Street. Service to Paulus Hook, now part of Jersey City, began on October 14, 1836, enabling passengers to transfer to the Jersey City Ferry for a crossing to lower Manhattan at the adjacent ferry slips.