The latter was not forgotten. Mr. John Scott and Mr.
David A. Stewart, and others joined me; Mr. Edgar Thomson and Mr.
Thomas A. Scott, president and vice-president of the Pennsylvania
Railroad, also became stockholders, anxious to encourage the
development of steel. The steel-rail company was organized January 1,
1873.
The question of location was the first to engage our serious
attention. I could not reconcile myself to any location that was
proposed, and finally went to Pittsburgh to consult with my partners
about it. The subject was constantly in my mind and in bed Sunday
morning the site suddenly appeared to me. I rose and called to my
brother:
"Tom, you and Mr. Coleman are right about the location; right at
Braddock's, between the Pennsylvania, the Baltimore and Ohio, and the
river, is the best situation in America; and let's call the works
after our dear friend Edgar Thomson. Let us go over to Mr. Coleman's
and drive out to Braddock's."
We did so that day, and the next morning Mr. Coleman was at work
trying to secure the property. Mr. McKinney, the owner, had a high
idea of the value of his farm. What we had expected to purchase for
five or six hundred dollars an acre cost us two thousand. But since
then we have been compelled to add to our original purchase at a cost
of five thousand dollars per acre.
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