Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Company

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The Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company started life as a mining concern called the Sewanee Mining Company which in 1853 decided on the construction of its 19 mile railroad from a junction with the Nashville & Chattanooga RR at Cowan. In 1866 the Sewanee Mining Company was absorbed by the Tennessee Coal & Railroad Company, which by 1881 changed its name to the Tennessee Coal, Iron & RR Company.

In 1886 the company purchased the Pratt Coal & Coke Company (their bitter rivals), and their rail route - known as the Coal & Pig Iron Route.

The T C I & RR Company was acquired by United States Steel in a 1907 merger approved by Teddy Roosevelt when he was tricked during the stock market panic initiated by J.P. Morgan. When the Knickerbocker Trust Company failed, J.P. Morgan took charge and forbade the NY stock market to close and raised $25 million in 15 minutes to add liquidity. He summoned the most important bankers to devise a plan to abort the panic and no depression was induced. Morgan also called on clergymen to preach sermons of confidence. The crises led the government to create the Federal Reserve System. Morgan got bankers to agree to settle accounts among themselves with clearinghouse certificates rather than cash and thus increased the money supply. The story was later recounted by John Steele Gordon in his 1999 book "The Great Game."

The T C I & RR was also one of the twelve original 1896 Dow Jones companies.


We are currently offering the following pieces from the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Company: