Biographical Directory of Michigan Railway Officials, 1830-1917
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Biographical Directory of Michigan Railway Officials, 1830-1917 Volume 1: Introduction and Entries A-J Compiled and edited by Graydon M. Meints Michigan State University Libraries East Lansing, Michigan 2013 Michigan State University Libraries 366 West Circle Drive East Lansing, Michigan 48824 ©2013 by Graydon M. Meints. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America, on acid-free, SFI-certified paper (Sustainable Forestry Initiative, www.sfiprogram.org) ISBN-13: 978-1-62610-030-5 (paper, 2-volume set) ISBN-10: 1-62610-030-6 (paper, 2-volume set) Contents Volume 1 Introduction ................................................. vii Bibliography ............................................... xiii Entries A-J ........................................................ 1 Volume 2 Entries K-Z ....................................................... 1 Introduction The men who work on and for the railroad companies cause what happens to it. These men, singly and in a group, think, create, and decide what should happen. The result is a corporate action. The company benefits from these actions, but the company does not create or implement them; it is the managers and officers who act and the subordinate employees who put them in place and use them. This compilation gathers the names of the railroad men, and a handful of women, who built Michigan’s railroads who owned and led and managed them. These are the men who, for good or not, made and implemented the decisions they made for the benefit of their company. These are the founders, officers, directors, managers, and supervisors of Michigan's railroads. This study covers the years 1830 through 1917 – from the charter date to form Michigan's first railroad to the final Annual Report of the Michigan Railroad Commission. The year 1917 also marks the beginning of the U. S. Railway Administration that controlled and operated the railroads during World War I, an event that removed the bulk of the decision-making process from the company’s management and directors. This compilation includes more than 7,000 individuals. But it should be obvious that any compilation of this sort will be far from complete. The records of many roads are missing, particularly those that existed for only a few years without building any line. The names of men from many of the early street railways could not be found. Too many entries have no more than a name and a position. For many others only a little more information could be found. For only a very few is a reasonably complete biography available. Who is included and who is not To identify the ownership and management of Michigan railroads, this compilation includes owners, directors, executives, managers, and supervisors. It excludes, unfortunately, the rank and file employee – men whose entire work careers were as conductors, enginemen, station agents, telegraph operators, clerks, roadmasters, and track workers. As valuable as it would be, it would take a work far longer than this to viii Biographical Directory of Michigan Railway Officials, 1830-1917 (Volume 1) list the several hundred thousand men and women who did the hard work on the ground and in the trains. Michigan’s Commissioner of Railroads included some officers and directors in his first annual report for the year 1872, and improved this coverage in his later reports. The Biographical Directory of the Railway Officials of America was first published in 1885; it is a pioneer publication in naming management. Its editor wrote that his “list has been confined to general and division officers directly and prominently connected with the management and operation of railways.” He listed those to be covered: Presidents Vice-presidents General managers Assistant general managers General and division superintendents Assistant superintendents General and assistant general freight agents General agents General and assistant general passenger and ticket agents Chief engineers To this list, the present compilation also adds: Directors Assistant vice presidents Corporate secretaries and assistant secretaries Corporate treasurers and assistant treasurers Auditors General attorneys, general counsels, and solicitors For the early or initial organization of Michigan railroads, it also adds: Promoters Commissioners for the initial sale of stock First officers as named in the original articles forming the company This is a compilation of officials serving with Michigan railroads. It is impractical to list all officers of companies that had only a part of their systems within Michigan. The principal companies of this sort are Chicago & North Western; Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul; New York Central; Lake Shore & Michigan Southern; Pennsylvania; Wisconsin Central; and Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie. Officials of these roads, below the rank of corporate officer, whose entire work career was outside of Michigan, are not included. If such an official did have any position in Michigan during his career, he is included herein. Biographical Directory of Michigan Railway Officials, 1830-1917 (Volume 1) ix Notes on personal names The list of names of officials was developed first from the corporate records shown in the Annual Reports of Michigan’s Commissioner of Railroads and of the Michigan Railroad Commission. These have been supplemented by a review of written articles of incorporation on file with the Corporation and Securities office of Michigan’s Secretary of State. Inconsistent spellings of names have been found, and as far as could be found the correct spelling is used and the misspelling noted. If the definitive spelling could not be determined, both versions appear, with cross-references. The # symbol following a name indicates the person’s life (not work career) extended into the twentieth century. No # symbol indicates the person did not live into the twentieth century or earlier. The place name enclosed in brackets is the person’s place of residence or employment as given in all corporate appearances. All places named are in Michigan unless otherwise noted. A few major cities, such as Chicago, Cleveland, Toledo, Buffalo, Milwaukee, Duluth, and Minneapolis, are given without state names. Notes on personal information The reader should be aware that the material in this compilation has come from a wide variety of sources, and most of the material could not and has not been verified independently. The names of railroads, the positions held, and the dates held, are from the following original sources: the annual reports of the Michigan Commissioner of Railroads and the Michigan Railroad Commission, the various editions of Biographical Directory of the Railway Officials of America, and annual Standard and Poor’s reports. Principal sources of information are cited on first line to refer the reader to a more complete background. Short titles for sources are shown in the Bibliography beginning on page xiii. The personal information will give the reader some sense of the non-railroad career of the person, but is by no means a complete biography. Dates of birth often appear in many of the sources, but dates of death less often. The internet genealogy resources listed under Other Sources also have been used for these dates, when they could be found. These genealogy sources used are not cited. Unfortunately, conflicting dates do arise, and are noted. x Biographical Directory of Michigan Railway Officials, 1830-1917 (Volume 1) Family relationships to other railroadmen are included when they could be determined. Graduation from a college or university is given when it was found, as is military service and political positions held at the city, state, or federal level. Notes on railroad career information Below the name and personal information, the person’s railroad work career is given. This includes the railroads worked for, and the positions held, in sequence, with the dates of service in each position. To show the development of the officer, as many promotions in position are given as could be found. The names of Michigan railroads are shown in regular type and non-Michigan railroads in italics. The term “various roads” indicates that the person worked on several different non-Michigan railroads during the time given. For each railroad the positions the person held are listed in sequence. Full titles are given throughout except that “Asst.” is used in place of “Assistant,” “Div.” is used in place of “Division,” and “Gen.” is used in place of “General.” Where a given position ranks in the corporate hierarchy can vary from railroad to railroad, and involves an interesting but separate study. The reader will develop a feel for importance by reviewing several men holding identical positions. The term “various work” indicates that the person held more than one entry-level position before being advanced. For each position the dates of service in that position usually are given when they could be determined, and also the city if the person worked in several places. An ending date enclosed with parentheses indicates the last date found in sources although the position may have been held longer or other positions held later. Division officers whose entire railroad career was outside of Michigan generally are omitted. Notes on railroad names Railroads that operated in Michigan or were proposed to operate in Michigan are shown in Roman type. Railroads that operated entirely outside of Michigan are shown in italics. The New York Central Railroad was created in January 1915. Its predecessors included a number of controlled lines west of Buffalo, the most important of which Biographical Directory of Michigan Railway Officials, 1830-1917 (Volume 1) xi was the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern. East of Buffalo, the most important was the New York Central & Hudson River. The NYC&HR is considered a non-Michigan road herein. Beginning in 1915, NYC officials are divided between: • Corporate or system-wide • Lines East (of Buffalo) • Lines West System-wide is shown herein as New York Central, Lines East as New York Central- East and considered a non-Michigan road, and Lines West as New York Central-West.