Thomas Nickerson (September 19, 1810 – July 24, 1892) was an American railroad executive. He served as the eighth president of the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway 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 vario ...

(ATSF), between 1874 and 1880. He was also president of the

Atlantic and Pacific Railroad The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad was an American railroad that owned or operated two individual segments of track. One connected St. Louis, Missouri, with Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the other connected Albuquerque, New Mexico, with Needles in Southe ...

Biography

Nickerson was born in

Brewster, Massachusetts Brewster is a New England town, town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. The population of Brewster was 10,318 at the 2020 census. Initially settled in 1659, the Town of Brewster ...

, on September 19, 1810. His family was well known for the number of sailors it had produced, and Thomas himself also sailed for nearly 30 years before he turned to land transportation. Nickerson invested in the ATSF around 1870, becoming the railroad's vice president in May 1873. The next year, he was promoted to president of the ATSF, succeeding Henry Strong, where he served until 1880. Thomas Nickerson's brother Joseph also served as a railroad executive, and Joseph's son Albert W. Nickerson inherited several million dollars upon his father's death and was made a director of the ATSF and the

Mexican Central Railway The Mexican Central Railway (''Ferrocarril Central Mexicano'') was one of the primary pre-nationalization Rail transport in Mexico, railways of Mexico. Incorporated in Massachusetts in 1880, it opened the main line in March 1884, linking Mexico C ...

. Nickerson didn't limit himself to just the ATSF. He was also a prominent figure in the

Sonora Railway Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital (and largest) city of which is ...

California Southern Railroad The California Southern Railroad was a subsidiary railroad of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (Santa Fe) in Southern California. It was organized July 10, 1880, and chartered on October 23, 1880, to build a rail connection between wha ...

and Mexican Central Railway, all subsidiary companies of the ATSF. Nickerson died in Newton Center, Massachusetts, on July 24, 1892. His wife had died the year prior; he was survived by three children. The town of Nickerson, Kansas, founded in 1872, is named in his honor.Nickerson
transcribed by Ward, Carolyn, July 2002.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nickerson, Thomas 1810 births 1892 deaths People from Brewster, Massachusetts Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway presidents 19th-century American railroad executives