| Rogersville Junction, Tenn. |
| September 2, 1863 |
| |
| Whereas: the president and
directors of the East Tennessee & Virginia railroad company having met
for the purpose of taking into consideration our duty under the present
condition of the country having come to the following conclusions: |
| That whereas the road-bed,
rolling stock, with all the fixtures appertaining thereto, belong to the
stockholders, a great portion of whom reside in East Tennessee, and on
the line of the road, and that we are nothing more than their trustees,
and, unless instructed by them or compelled to do so by military
authority, we do not feel authorized to remove the rolling stock or
fixtures off of said road; and whereas we are today informed and believe
our machine shops, tools, &c., in Knoxville, are in the hands of the
federals: Therefore, |
| Resolved, That we deem
it impossible, under the circumstances, to run the trains upon said
road, and now suspend the running of them for the present, and in the
event it is possible and prudent to run said road or a portion of it the
president and superintendent are authorized to resume it, ad suspend, as
the emergency under the circumstances requires. |
| John R. Branner |
| President |
| |
| {found
in
Affairs of the Southern Railroads, US Government, p. 28} |
|