Samuel Morse Felton Jr. (February 3, 1853 – March 11, 1930) was an American railroad executive.

Early life

Samuel Morse Felton Jr. was born on February 3, 1853, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. Felton was the son of Samuel Morse Felton Sr. (1809-1889), Civil War era influential president of the

Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) was an American railroad, headquartered in Philadelphia, that operated in Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland from 1836 to 1902. It was part of an 1838 merger of four state-chartered railr ...

(1851-1865) and earlier of the

Fitchburg Railroad The Fitchburg Railroad is a former railroad company, which built a railroad line across northern Massachusetts, United States, leading to and through the Hoosac Tunnel. The Fitchburg was leased to the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1900. The main l ...

, and the nephew of

Cornelius Conway Felton Cornelius Conway Felton (November 6, 1807 – February 26, 1862) was an American educator. He was regent of the Smithsonian Institution, as well as professor of Greek literature and president of Harvard University. Early life Felton was born in ...

and John B. Felton. He was an 1873 graduate of the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

, where he was a member of

Chi Phi Chi Phi () is considered by some as the oldest American men's college social fraternity that was established as the result of the merger of three separate organizations that were each known as Chi Phi. The earliest of these organizations was forme ...

fraternity.

Career

Railroad career

Felton entered the railroad industry as a rodman in Chester Creek, Pennsylvania, and worked his way up through

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

and superintendent positions. He developed a reputation for being able to rapidly facilitate the health of ailing railroads. He had quite a career as an engineer, superintendent and general manager of several railroads before rising into the presidency of both the

Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway The Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway (abbreviated: CNO&TP; ) is a railroad that owns the Cincinnati Southern Railway from Cincinnati, Ohio, south to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and leases it to the Norfolk Southern Railway system. T ...

and

Alabama Great Southern Railroad The Alabama Great Southern Railroad is a railroad in the U.S. states of Alabama, Georgia (U.S.), Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. It is an operating subsidiary of the Norfolk Southern Corporation (NS), running southwest from Chatt ...

in 1890. He also led the

Alton Railroad The Alton Railroad was the final name of a railroad linking Chicago to Alton, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri; and Kansas City, Missouri. Its predecessor, the Chicago and Alton Railroad , was purchased by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1931 an ...

(1899–1907), the

Mexican Central Railroad The Mexican Central Railway (''Ferrocarril Central Mexicano'') was one of the primary pre-nationalization railways of Mexico. Incorporated in Massachusetts in 1880, it opened the main line in March 1884, linking Mexico City to Ciudad Juárez, ac ...

(1907), the

Tennessee Central Railway The Tennessee Central Railway was founded in 1884 as the Nashville and Knoxville Railroad by Alexander S. Crawford. It was an attempt to open up a rail route from the coal and minerals of East Tennessee to the markets of the midstate, a service ...

and the

Chicago Great Western Railway The Chicago Great Western Railway was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Kansas City. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney in 1885 as a regional line between St. Paul and the Iowa state line called the Minnesot ...

(1909–1925), before his own ailing health forced his retirement.

Military service

During

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 ...

(1914/1917-1918), Felton was appointed Director General of Military Railways with a military rank of brigadier general and in that capacity had charge of the organization and dispatch to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

of all American railway forces and supplies for the Western Front. He continued in that position during the World War years. For his service, he was honored with the

Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation, state or country. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in act ...

by the United States and the Cross of the Legion of Honor by France.

Personal life

In 1880, Felton married Dora Hamilton, the daughter of a prominent

attorney, and they had three daughters and a son. Mrs. Felton died in 1923. On November 19, 1929, Felton suffered a heart attack and stroke for which he was hospitalized at Passavant Memorial Hospital. He remained in the hospital until his death on March 11, 1930.

References

External links

*
Samuel Morse Felton (Jr) Collection
at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School * 1853 births 1930 deaths Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni 20th-century American railroad executives Alton Railroad Chicago Great Western Railway presidents Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) American recipients of the Legion of Honour {{US-rail-bio-stub