Hale Holden (August 11, 1869 – September 23, 1940) was president of the

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwest, Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of ...

(CB&Q) from 1914 to 1918 and 1920 to 1929, and chairman of the board of directors for

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...

from 1932 to 1939. He was one of the lawyers working for James J. Hill's defense team in the Minnesota Rate Cases. In later years he served as a director for a number of large companies including

American Telephone & Telegraph AT&T Corporation, an abbreviation for its former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, was an American telecommunications company that provided voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to busi ...

New York Life Insurance Company New York Life Insurance Company (NYLIC) is the third-largest life insurance company and the largest mutual insurance, mutual life insurance company in the United States, and is ranked #69 on the 2025 Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S. corporat ...

and the Chemical Bank & Trust.

Early life

Hale Holden was born on August 11, 1869, in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, the son of Howard Malcomb and Mary Finley (Oburn) Holden. He received his education at

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

(graduated 1890) and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

(entered September 22, 1890; left 1892). Although he graduated from Williams College, he was forced to withdraw from Harvard due to family finances.

Career

Holden practiced law as a partner in Dean, McLeod & Holden in Kansas City; it was his work in this company as a local attorney for the Great Northern Railway during the Minnesota Rate Cases before the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

that influenced James J. Hill in his favor.

Railroad career

In 1907, Holden left private law practice to become the general attorney for CB&Q, where his first assignments were to manage the railroad's interstate commerce litigation. 1910 saw a number of changes to the CB&Q leadership team, first with vice president Daniel Willard leaving the CB&Q to become president of the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroads in North America, oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam engine, steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 ...

, which led to Darius Miller's post being extended to include Willard's former position; then when George Harris resigned a few weeks later, Miller assumed the presidency and Holden became Miller's assistant. Holden was promoted to vice president on November 8, 1910. Following the sudden death of Darius Miller in 1914 from appendicitis, Holden assumed the presidency of the CB&Q. As one of his last statements, Miller was reported to have asked Louis W. Hill to recommend Holden to James J. Hill as Miller's selection for his successor; Holden was elected president by the railroad's board of directors at a meeting on August 27, 1914, immediately after Miller's funeral. At the time, Holden was the youngest chief executive, at age 45, of any American railroad. When

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

began and American railroads were brought under the control of the

United States Railroad Administration The United States Railroad Administration (USRA) was the name of the nationalisation, nationalized railroad system of the United States between December 28, 1917, and March 1, 1920. It was the largest American experiment with nationalization, and ...

(USRA), Holden was asked to head the USRA but declined the top position, opting instead to assist incumbent director

William Gibbs McAdoo William Gibbs McAdoo Jr.McAdoo is variously differentiated from family members of the same name: * Dr. William Gibbs McAdoo (1820–1894) – sometimes called "I" or "Senior" * William Gibbs McAdoo (1863–1941) – sometimes called "II" or "J ...

. In 1918, Holden stepped down from the CB&Q presidency (to be succeeded by Charles Elliott Perkins, Jr., the son of

Charles Elliott Perkins Charles Elliott Perkins (November 24, 1840 – November 8, 1907) was an American businessman and president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad."Charles E. Perkins, Dead." ''New York Times.'' November 9, 1907. He was so well respected th ...

) to become USRA's central western region director, then returned to the presidency of the CB&Q in 1920, serving for another nine years. Also in 1918, Holden was appointed as vice president and director of the American Railway Association, where he served until 1924. He also served from 1922 to 1924 as chairman of the executive committee for

Association of Railroad Executives The Association of American Railroads (AAR) is an industry trade group representing primarily the major freight Rail transport, railroads of North America (Canada, Mexico and the United States). Amtrak and some regional Commuter rail in North Am ...

. In the 1920s, Holden advocated, including testifying before the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later Trucking industry in the United States, truc ...

in 1922 and 1923, for the consolidation of the railroads in the western United States into four large systems: the Hill railroads (which included Great Northern Railway,

Northern Pacific Railroad The Northern Pacific Railway was an important American transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the Western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest between 1864 and 1970. It was approved and chartered b ...

and

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

Santa Fe Railroad The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at variou ...

, and

. In 1929, leaving the CB&Q again (to be succeeded by Frederick E. Williamson), Holden became chairman of the executive committee for

(succeeding Henry deForest); he was promoted to chairman of the Southern Pacific in 1932, and finally retired in 1939. Since the Southern Pacific management team was based in New York, Holden also maintained an apartment there at 610

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a boulevard in New York City that carries north and southbound traffic in the borough (New York City), boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the wes ...

in addition to his home in Chicago.

Personal life

On September 18, 1895, he married Ellen Mitchell Weston, daughter of Byron Weston and Julia (née Mitchell) Weston, in

Dalton, Massachusetts Dalton is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. Dalton is a transition town between the urban and rural portions of Berkshire County. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The populatio ...

, with whom he had two sons and one daughter. His son Hale Holden, Jr., (born in 1900) became an executive with the

Pullman Company The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century d ...

. Holden was preceded in death by his wife Ellen on October 22, 1936, in Chicago; she was buried in

. After her death, he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, taking up residence on East 72nd Street in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. Hale Holden died on September 23, 1940, in New York. He was survived by his three children, a sister and a brother.

References

External links

*
Hale Holden, abbreviated genealogy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holden, Hale Harvard Law School alumni Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad people United States Railroad Administration 20th-century American railroad executives Southern Pacific Railroad people Businesspeople from Kansas City, Missouri Williams College alumni 1869 births 1940 deaths