The  Slip  and  Fall

In  some  way  the  railroad  company  induced  the  promoters  of  New-
port to  relinquish  the  Kilbourn- Vliet  bonds,  and  then  centered  all  the
enterprises  which  had  been  promised  to  Newport  at  Kilbourn  City.  To
make  a  long  story  of  hopeless  struggles  short,  the  supporters  of  Newport
lost  every  point  they  contended  for,  and  in  the  later  '50s  they  gave  tip
the  fight.  Some  of  the  buildings  of  the  place  were  moved  to  Kilbourn
City  bodily;  others  were  torn  down  and  the  material  taken  away  \'"v  erec-
tion elsewhere.  Merchants  who  had  been  doing  a  business  of  from  $20,000
to  $100,000  a  year  could  not  sell  enough  goods  to  pay  expenses,  and  one  by
one  they  boxed  up  their  effects  and  sent  them  to  other  parts,  until,  in


HISTORY  OF  COLUMBIA  COUNTY


:;n7


the  summer  of  1860,  but  one  firm  remained.  In  October  following
Freeman  Longley  quietly  followed  the  example  of  his  fellow  merchants,
and  the  Village  of  Newport  was  dead.
Founders  Move  to  Newport

Mr.  Bowman  was  one  of  the  last  to  leave,  and  did  not  change  his
residence  to  Kilhourn  until  1862.  Both  he  and  Mr.  Bailey  afterward
shared  in  the  respect  and  admiration  of  the  village  which  lived.  General
Bailey  had  already  won  recognition  in  the  Union  Army,  and  Mr.  Bow-
man had  commenced  his  long  service  for  his  people  in  the  State  Legisla-


Dr.  George  W.  Jenkins
One  of  the  founders  of  Newport


ture  and  as  a  republican  ot
man  accomplished  as  mucl
lived  within  its  limits.
