USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri, vol. 2 > Part 39
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It would be impossible for a man of Mr. Fordyce's ability not to visualize the opportunities of the southwest. He felt that this great section of the country must eventually become a thickly settled district whose resources would be utilized by thousands and thousands, and he knew that the first step in this
743
Samuel Wieslep Foropce
direction must be the building of railroads. The greater part of the St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company was built under the management of Mr. Fordyce, and though discouraging circumstances were continuously to be met, he persevered for sixteen years in the construction and development of this road. He was also vice president and treasurer of the Texas & St. Louis Rail- way for three years ending in April, 1885, and he then served as receiver for the road until May, 1886. With the reorganization under the name of the St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas Railway, he served as president from 1886 until 1889. Again he acted as receiver of the road for a year, and with the reorgan- ization under the name of the St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company, he served as president from 1890 until 1898. In 1899 his superior ability in con- nection with railway management and control led to his appointment as re- ceiver of the Kansas City, Pittsburgh & Gulf Railway and he became presi- dent of the road in 1900 under its reorganized title of the Kansas City South- ern Railway. The years 1900 and 1901 he largely devoted to the construc- tion of the Little Rock, Hot Springs & Western Railway and he subsequently aided in the building and financing of the St. Louis Valley line, now a part of the Missouri Pacific system. His other activities included cooperation in the building and financing of lines now operated by the St. Louis & San Francisco system, also the Missouri, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad, the Illinois, Indiana & Minnesota Railroad, the Appalachicola & Northern Railroad in Florida, the St. Louis & El Reno Railroad in Oklahoma, the St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico in Texas, besides being one of the underwriters of the Fort Worth & Denver, now a part of the Colorado Southern system. In all it is estimated that Mr. Fordyce built, financed or assisted in financing at least twenty-four thou- sand miles of railway. His ability as an executive was so generally recog- nized by his associates that while he was president of the St. Louis South- western, Mr. Fordyce was chosen by the unanimous vote of all the lines com- prised in the Southwestern Traffie Association as chairman of its executive board. This association represented practically the entire movement of traffic from the Atlantic seaboard to all points west of the Mississippi, to California and old Mexico, and so wisely did Mr. Fordyce discharge the duties of the im- portant office that on his retirement in 1898 he was presented with a set of resolutions, engrossed on parchment, approving the uniform fairness of his rulings. This confidence was not confined to his associates alone but was shared by his subordinates and employes, as is evidenced by the fact that, while strikes prevailed on nearly all other railroads, the men under Mr. Fordyee relied on him to protect their rights and never once found occasion for striking.
Extensive and important as were the interests of Mr. Fordyce in the matter of railroad building and management, he nevertheless found time for coopera- tion with many other business interests and in fact was the promoter of various projects which were of greatest benefit in the development and upbuilding of the Mississippi valley and the southwest. Ile was one of the organizers and directors of the St. Louis Union Trust Company and represented the directo- rate of the Laclede Light & Power Company of St. Louis and the Jefferson Hotel Company. He was vice president of the Arlington and New York Hotel Companies of Hot Springs, Arkansas, was president of the Hot Springs Water, Gas and Electric Light Companies and of the Hot Springs Electric
744
Samuel Wesley Foropce
Street Railway Company. He was a director of the Illinois, Indiana & Minne- sota Railroad, of the Appalachicola & Northern, the Kansas City Southern, the Little Rock & Hot Springs Western and was chairman of the executive com- mittee of the St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico; a director of the American Rio Grande Land & Irrigation Company of Texas, operating the largest irriga- tion canal system in the United States; and president of the Houston Oil Company.
Mr. Fordyce was also a most potent factor in shaping political history. Al- though a soldier of the Union army in the Civil war, he was a democrat in his political views and took active part in reconstruction work in the south follow- ing the close of hostilities between the two sections of the country. He was also a member of the state committee in 1874, when, for the first time after the war, the entire democratie ticket was elected in Alabama. His influence in polities in Arkansas was perhaps even greater. He acted as a delegate to the state convention of 1880, when a nominee for governor was chosen, and was a delegate to the state judicial convention of 1884. He was a member of the democratie national committee of Arkansas from 1884 until 1888 and a dele- gate to the national democratic convention of 1884. He was made a member of the committee that notified Cleveland and Hendricks of their nomination for the offices of president and vice president of the United States and in 1892 was delegate at large to the democratic national convention, in which he was made chairman of the committee on permanent organization. IIe declined to act as a delegate to the democratic national convention of 1896 and called a meeting of the sound-money democrats at Little Rock and headed a delegation to the Indianapolis gold standard convention, where he acted as a member of the platform committee. He was often solicited to become a candidate for gov- ernor and to accept the nomination for United States senatorship, but he con- sistently declined, as it was no part of his program to fill political offices, feeling that he could do a greater service to his country in the development of its natural resources and the upbuilding of its industrial, commercial and finan- cial greatness. He enjoyed the fullest confidence of political leaders of both parties and, by reason of his wide knowledge of conditions, President Hayes sought his advice concerning the nomination of a cabinet member who would be acceptable to the people of the south. Mr. Fordyce recommended John Hancock, then congressman from Texas, who, however, declined the honor, much to his subsequent regret. Later President Harrison sought his opinion concerning appointment to his cabinet and Mr. Fordyce named General John W. Noble, who was afterward made secretary of the interior. Mr. Fordyce enjoyed the personal friendship and confidence of President MeKinley, who would have made him ambassador to Russia, but he declined the proffered honor. He was a warm friend of General Grant, in which connection it was told of him that at Pittsburg Landing, General Grant was seated on a horse which became unruly and threw him. Mr. Fordyce, then serving as lieutenant, recaptured the horse and assisted the commander to remount. Several years later, when in Washington, he met the then chief executive on the street and saluted him. President Grant returned the salute, saying: "I remember you well. You helped me manage my horse at Pittsburg Landing." Mr. Fordyce was equally widely known among the distinguished captains of industry, lead-
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Samuel Wesley Foropce
ers of finance and others prominent in connection with the history of the country and he stood as a man among men, honored by all.
It was in Huntsville, Alabama, during his residence there immediately fol- lowing the close of the Civil war, that Mr. Fordyce formed the acquaintance of Susan E. Chadiek, a daughter of the Rev. William D. Chadiek of that place, who entered the Confederate army as a chaplain and when discharged was colonel of his regiment. The marriage of Mr. Fordyce and Miss Chadiek was celebrated on the 1st of May, 1866. They became the parents of two daugh- ters and three sons, and four of the family are yet living. Jane is the wife of Colonel D. S. Stanley, of the quartermaster general's department, U. S. A. John, a prominent engineer of Hot Springs, Arkansas, was superintendent and engineer of construction work at Camp Pike, Arkansas, during the war, while later he was promoted to the rank of major and brevetted lieutenant colonel, U. S. A. Ile was sent to St. Louis as chief engineer to the railroad adminis- tration for special service in connection with the Mississippi River and Warrior River Railroad Transportation. William C. is a banker and financier, and S. W. Fordyce, Jr., is a member of the St. Louis bar.
Mr. Fordyce was at one time commander of the Missouri Commandery of the Loyal Legion of America and he was a member of the St. Louis, Univer- sity, Bellerive and Noonday Clubs of St. Louis. Perhaps no better indication of his high standing and of the honor everywhere entertained for him can be given than in the statement that his honorary pallbearers embraced some of the most distinguished and prominent men of St. Louis and elsewhere, ineluding John J. O'Fallon, Wells Il. Blodgett, William HI. Lee, John F. Lee, B. F. Ed- wards, Frederick W. Lehmann, Captain W. R. Hodges, Lyman T. Hay, Festus J. Wade, Dr. D. S. HI. Smith, N. A. MeMillan, R. MeKittrick Jones, Edwards Whitaker, Murray Carleton, Walker Hill, Sam Lazarus, B. F. Bush, J. M. Her- bert, Jaekson Johnson, Paul Brown, William MeChesney, Clarence II. Iloward, Rolla Wells, James E. Allison, Lawrence Pierce, Julius S. Walsh, Albert T. Perkins, Harry B. Hawes, Paul W. Brown, Frank Carter, John G. Lonsdale and Edward Pryor. One of the St. Louis papers said editorially of Mr. For- dyee: "But it was as an empire builder, a farsighted financier and an indi- vidual with infectious enthusiasm that he gained his greatest prominence. He was famous as a steadfast friend and he found friends in all classes of society and treated them in his own inimitable way, whether they happened to be presidents, cabinet officers, renowned bankers or some companion of his youth who had become entangled in the meshes of the law. Some of his reminiscences recently appearing in America at Work, a St. Louis periodical, are self- revelatory beyond the run of recollections. Franklin himself was never franker than Colonel Fordyce in relating personal experiences. He had such a zest in life and such a confidence in his own integrity as to make his autobiography real. Long ago he reached the age at which men of his manifold investments usually retire, but he kept in the harness because he enjoyed his work and be- cause his associates were reluctant to lose his eounsel and the benefit of his stimulating personality. Although he had done mueh and his possessions were vast, Colonel Fordyee was most appreciated for what he was, an unspoiled man among men." He was indeed one who never lost the human touch and to the end of his days he judged men not by wealth but by their worth. Ile placed
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Samuel Wieslep Foropce
no false values on life, his broad vision enabling him to put a correct estimate on all those things which go to make up life activities. He attempted important things and accomplished them, and the progress of the world was promoted thereby. Many decades will have passed ere the influence of Samuel W. Fordyce and his work will cease to be felt as a potent force for good in the world's work.
Upon the death of Colonel Fordyce the following resolutions were passed by the Kansas City Sonthern Railway Company :
WHEREAS, Colonel Samuel W. Fordyce has long been a member of the Board of Directors of the Kansas City Southern Railway Company, at all times serving the interests committed to him with ability and foresight, prudence and fidelity, and
WHEREAS, affable in manner, equable in temper, effervescent in humor, gentle in sympathy, cirenmspect in judgment, and conciliatory in method, he won the regard of many, challenged the admiration of friends and forestalled the criticism of adversaries; and
WHEREAS, in time of national peril, he relinquished civil pursuits, be- came a soldier, and acquitted himself with honor; and
WHEREAS, clear in his vision, he penetrated the future; tireless in his energy, he attempted much; indomitable in his courage, he surmounted ob- stacles; by constructive genins and administrative skill, he achieved material prosperity and contributed in a conspicuous degree to the well being of a wide area ; and
WHEREAS, he departed life at Atlantic City, New Jersey, on the after- noon of August third, nineteen hundred and nineteen, in the eightieth year of his age;
RESOLVED, that the members of this Board, in sorrow for the death of Samuel W. Fordyce, and moved by sympathy towards the bereaved, record the high esteem in which he was held, and pay tribute of respect to his mem- ory; and
RESOLVED, that these resolutions be spread upon the minutes of the Board, and that a copy thereof be transmitted to the family of the deceased.
Index
Adams, E. B.
69
Faust, E. A. 297
Alves, C. S. .
345
Ferris, W. C. 257
Anderson, W. P.
651
Fordyce, S. W. 741
Andrews, L. B. 239
Franciscus, J. M. 509
Frank, D. A. 277
Baker, S. F. 531
Frank, Nathan 441
Beasley, T. C. 329
Beck, C. W. 519
Gage, J. C. 369
Bell, N. M.
615
Gehner, August 243
Berkley, E. F. 553
23
Goodwin, H. L. 735
Blair, Albert
223
Grant, J. M. 389
Block, L. T.
523
Granville, J. D. 377
Bolte, A. H. 433
Brockman, P. H. 565
Handy, J. W. 475
Brown, C. H.
453
Harkins, J. R. 485
Harrison, J. A. 471
Brown, G. W.
29
Hawes, H. B. 165
Brown, P. S., Jr.
195
Haynes, J. I. 407
Hellrung, J. F. 677
341
Bruner, R. E. 179
Herbert, J. M.
269
Bryson, J. M.
381
Higdon, J. C.
641
Burford, C. E.
:61
Hill, Walker
37
Holmes, J. A.
589
Hough, Warwick
125
Hough, W. M.
133
Houx, E. W.
667
Howell, C. M. 109
261
Carter, W. F. 211
Christy, C. M. 415
Collins, C. C. 681
399
Johann, F. A. 423
Johnson, J. M. 253
Jones, L. F. 559
Jones, S. B. 403
Dawson, J. P. 671
Dean. O. H. 83
Delany, J. O'F 723
Duestrow, Louis 635
Dulany, W. H. 479
Duncan, J. H. 607
Dyer, G. L. 543
Lampkin, W. L. 571
Layman, W. A. 185
Leahy, J. S. 309
Eddy, H. W. 385
693
Crews, T. B.
Curby, C. J. 305
Kauffman, R. K. 357
Kavanaugh, W. K. 313
Keith, C. S. 137
Keith, R. H. 219
747
Campbell, James 463
Campbell, R. A. 171
Carter, E. T. 215
Hyde, B. C.
Ibsen, Peter 715
Burton, W. V. 629
Byers, W. E. 429
191
Brown, P. S., Sr.
Brown, William 657
Heman, A. H.
Brown, D. S.
645
Bixby, W. K.
Gerhart, T. S. 593
Condie, H. D.
748
Inder
Lowenstein, H. P.
493
Sehaehner, W. L.
325
Lueas, J. H.
697
Schlueter, J. A.
489
Seibel, L. L. 121
McCallum, F. M.
457
Senter, C. P.
235
MeCord, J. H.
623
Shapleigh, J. B.
419
Marks, Theodore
703
Sheldon, F. E.
335
Matthews, R. S.
411
Smith, B. H.
145
Meservey, E. C.
93
Smith, E. F.
149
Michael, Elias
113
Smith, E. S.
155
Miller, J. G.
365
Standly, Z. T.
273
Moore, B. C.
293
Stayton, E. M.
159
Moore, J. A.
249
Stevens, W. B.
289
Moore, W. L.
285
Stickney, W. A.
437
Morton, George
719
Sweeney, E. J.
319
Mudd, H. G.
141
Muckermann, C. J
689
Tannrath, J. J. 661
Taylor, I. S.
575
Taylor, G. S.
711
Thomas, W. S.
199
Nelson, W. R.
11
Thomson, W. H.
393
Nietert, H. L.
707
Tontrup, G. H.
581
O'Maley, G. T.
539
Waddell, J. A. L. 227
O'Neil, P. A.
501
Wade, F. J.
57
Orr, I. H.
611
Wagner, H. K. 373
5
Peck, C. H.
75
Walsh, R. A. B.
527
Powers, J. H.
449
Warner, G. K.
349
Wehmiller, Fred
535
Queeny, J. F.
87
Wells, Rolla
49
Welsh, J. B.
265
Reed, E. E.
585
Whitaker, Edwards
105
Reid, J. W.
353
White, J. B.
41
Richards, J. F.
63
Winkelmeyer, A. E.
515
Roemer, J. L.
727
Woerner, J. G.
597
Ruf, Frank A.
99
Wright, H. P.
281
Wright, Thomas
685
Scarritt, Nathan
205
Scarritt, W. C.
53
Yawitz, J. J.
547
Muehlebaeh, G. E.
445
Mullins, A. W.
301
Walsh, J. S.
610
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