Goodspeed Histories: The Railroad that Wasn’t and Old-Time Debates

The Delaware-Flemington Rail Road Co.
This article by E. T. Bush caught my attention because it concerns a proposed railroad to run from Prallsville to Flemington in 1873, a project that was supported by some and opposed by others. It seemed like an echo of the travails that Hunterdon homeowners along the proposed route of the PennEast pipeline are experiencing.

This article includes the entirety of Mr. Bush’s article (with a few comments from me). So many interesting things were suggested by Bush’s article, that I foresee two or more follow-up articles to come. And frankly, I was surprised, because I am not that much of a railroad buff, but once I got started on this story, I got sucked in.

Old-Time Debates by Egbert T. Bush
In this article, Mr. Bush discussed the local debating societies that were found throughout Hunterdon County during the second half of the 19th century. I was struck by how good-natured these debates seemed to be, even though the participants did not shy away from controversial subjects.

Mr. Bush does relate an instance when a black man who was in the audience asked a question and got rebuked for his strong language. The way Mr. Bush described the incident will surely make you uncomfortable. It certainly made me consider taking it out. But that is like putting one’s head in the sand. However, one can go too far in the other direction, as Walter Mosley experienced recently. In a recent letter to the NY Times editor he described an incident that should not have happened. I thought it was well worth reading, so I’m sharing the link here: Why I Quit the Writers’ Room.