Amboy, Lansing and Traverse Bay Railroad given to railroads (which would then re-sell these lands for a profit) in exchange for constructing certain routes. At the heart of Michigan's network at the time were the Michigan Central Railroad and the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, both of which ran east-west across the southern Lower Peninsula. As proposed in the route would run from "Amboy by Hillsdale and Lansing, and from Grand Rapids to some point on or near Traverse Bay." This route would bisect the existing railroad network and provide a railroad connection to Lansing, the new state capital. Almost immediately local interests intervened: the
Abraham Lansing Abraham Lansing Abraham Lansing (February 27, 1835 – October 4, 1899) was an American lawyer and politician. Abraham Lansing was born in Albany, Albany County, New York. He was the son of Christopher Yates Lansing (1796–1872) and Caroline Mary (née Thomas) Lansing (1805–1845). Lansing was a grandson of state Treasurer Abraham G. Lansing, grand-nephew of Chancellor John Lansing, Jr., and nephew of Gerrit Y. Lansing. Lansing attended The Albany Academy, graduated from Williams College with an A.B. in 1855, and was a member of The Kappa Alpha Society. He read law with his father, graduated from Albany Law School in