During Mr. Plant’s administration of the Adams Express Company, the lines were extended over all the railroads south of the Potomac River, namely, Norfolk, Richmond, and Lynchburg, Virginia; Louisville, Kentucky; Cairo, Illinois, and over all the railroad lines constructed in the South, and over all the navigable rivers on which at that time there was steamboat connection. The expanding and establishing of this great express business at Nashville, Memphis, Vicksburg, Louisville, and New Orleans, and many other cities and towns, proved to be a herculean task requiring much arduous travel, often in stage-coaches by day and night, over rough roads, through swamp and forest, in summer’s heat and winter’s cold. It goes without saying that in securing efficient service, properly locating offices, appointing qualified agents, and earning the confidence and patronage of an exacting public, there was demanded a discriminating judgment, prompt decision, skill, and tact of the highest order. It was a tremendous strain on mind and body, and that too upon one not yet used to a Southern climate. It must be remembered also that the express business of the South forty years ago was in its infancy; the great Adams Express Company was still in its swaddling clothes, and required the greatest care and skill to nurse it into maturity, strength, and power, especially in the peculiar condition of the country at the time when a dreadful civil war raged throughout the land. Few men would have ventured on such a hazardous undertaking, and fewer still would have conducted it to such a successful completion. To the cool, clear head, the calm, quiet spirit, the persistent energy and dominant will of Henry B. Plant, is due the success of this great achievement. The Southern Express Company and the Texas Express together do a business now extending over twenty-four thousand four hundred and twelve miles of railway, have lines in fifteen States, employ six thousand eight hundred and eight men, use one thousand four hundred and sixty-three horses and eight hundred and eighty-six wagons. Of both these companies, Mr. Plant is the honored and efficient president, and were we to attempt to estimate the amount and value of the goods handled by these great organizations we feel sure the figures would be beyond the credulity of our readers. This comes down to the year 1861, the beginning of the civil war, when the Adams Express Company, believing that it would be hazardous for Northern citizens to hold property in the South, decided to dispose of their interests there. After unsuccessful negotiations with other parties resident in the South, the company sold and transferred their entire interest in the express line to Henry B. Plant. He formed a corporation under the laws of the State of Georgia, taking in all the shareholders of the Adams Express Company who were then residents of the States south of the Potomac and Ohio rivers.