USA > Pennsylvania > A biographical album of prominent Pennsylvanians, v. 3 > Part 10
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The battle of Chickamauga, under Rosecrans, the retiring of the army to Chattanooga, the environment of that place by Bragg's army, the inadequacy of Rosecrans' line of supplies, and the desperate condition of the Union army there when General Grant was assigned to its command, are matters of his- tory. It became necessary that the line of railroad, miserably constructed and equipped, running through a country thickly infested with guerillas and subject to constant interruption from successive raids, should be rendered capable of transferring reinforcements and supplies sufficient to enable our army to make an offensive advance. Mr. Thomson was placed in charge of the lines south of Nashville to accomplish this difficult and onerous task, which he did with con- spicuous success, and thus contributed in an essential manner to the brilliant military movements which not only relieved the Federal army but enabled it to assume the aggressive with such magnificent results.
At the request of the chief officers of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company
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he resigned from the military service and was appointed Superintendent of the Eastern Division of the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad, with its office at Wil- liamsport, of which he assumed charge in June, 1864. In this position he re- mained until March, 1873, being detailed temporarily in 1866 to manage the Oil Creek Railroad during the great oil excitement of that period.
In the autumn of 1871 the authorities of the Pennsylvania Railroad were re- quested by the Russian Government to designate a skilful official to accompany the Grand Duke Alexis and be responsible for his safety on an extended rail- way journey which he proposed to make through this country. Mr. Thomson was honored by being selected for this duty, and the details of the tour were left to his judgment. Under his direction a special train, fitted with every con- venience and comfort then known, was taken through the United States and Canada, westward to Denver, thence south to New Orleans, and from there to Pensacola, it being run as a " special " over the various roads, a distance of six thousand miles, without a single mishap. In acknowledgment of their obliga- tions the Russian Admiral, who was in charge of the Grand Duke's suite, sent a most complimentary letter to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, expressing admiration for all the arrangements made by Mr. Thomson, and adding that he was " no less agreeable as a companion than invaluable as a manager."
While Superintendent of the Eastern Division Mr. Thomson originated some valuable improvements in railway construction, and organized a system of track inspection, competitive in its nature, which proved so beneficial in its results that it has since been adopted on the entire road.
In March, 1873, he was promoted to the office of Superintendent of Motive Power on the Pennsylvania Railroad, the company placing under his charge all the various shops on the entire system, as well as all the rolling stock of every description, including one thousand engines in active service.
In 1873 it was decided to consolidate the various properties owned and con- trolled by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company under the direction of one officer as general manager. It was not intended to destroy thereby the individuality of the general superintendents in charge of the respective properties, but it was simply proposed to establish such homogeneity in the service as would insure that one property should not be worked against the interests of another, and at the same time that each department should be so operated as to secure the very best attainable returns by its responsible officer, the general superintendent; in other words, that while all general questions affecting the interests of the property as a whole should be determined by the general manager, the detail of the man- agement of each division should be left to its responsible head as theretofore.
On July 1, 1874, Mr. Thomson was appointed to the position of General Man- ager of the lines extending from New York to Pittsburgh, with the various lines of the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad from Sunbury to Erie, of the Northern Central and the Baltimore and Potomac Railroads, extending from Washington and Baltimore to Canada, New York and the West, comprising a total of twenty-
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three hundred miles under his control. During the eight years of his adminis- tration the transportation department made gigantic strides forward. Indeed, it is not too much to say that every salient feature of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company's transportation management which characterizes it to-day is largely due to Mr. Thomson. He found the respective properties in charge of officers who had little or nothing in common, each with distinctive features, and perhaps none of them willing to yield very much of his own individuality for the good of the general service. He left it thoroughly homogeneous, and with a good healthful feeling pervading the entire system from Pittsburgh to New York, and from Erie and Canandaigua to Baltimore and Quantico. To accomplish this result, and reorganize this enormous disorganized mass, it was not only necessary to make careful selections of new men, but, what was much more difficult, to mould the older men into new shapes. The period during which he held the last two positions was one of depression in financial affairs, and Mr. Thom- son devoted himself to the practice of strict economy and to making prep- arations for the future growth of business. While General Manager he intro- duced many improvements, the most important of which was probably the adoption of the " block signal system," which more than quadruples the capacity of the tracks for traffic, by permitting trains to follow each other closely with per- fect safety .. It is to him, also, that is due the general air of attractiveness in the appearance of the stations, in the fittings of the cars, in the order and neatness of the trainmen, as well as the safe and cleanly condition of the road itself. His love of neatness and order seemed to be infectious, and bore its natural fruit in making the great road the best conducted and best kept in the world.
On October 1, 1882, Mr. Thomson was appointed Second Vice-President of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. The duties assigned to him were of a most exacting character. They comprised the general supervision, through the General Manager, of the transportation department and the management of the passenger and freight departments. While acting in this capacity he was charged with the duty of regulating those relations with competing companies and con- necting lines, which was usually assigned to the first vice-president, but which was placed in his hands owing to his experience in the practical working of these departments; and he had also special supervision over the receipts and disbursements of the line. This enumeration of his duties will suffice to show the very important character of the trust confided in him. Upon their faithful performance largely depended the success of the operation of the road. They demanded unremitting attention and the very best ability on the part of the incumbent of the office. It would not do to permit anything to escape his atten- tion. It was important that he should be able to perceive, almost at a glance, the bearing upon the interests of the corporation of questions of vital importance, and promptly take whatever action was necessary. He had to determine the causes which influenced the movement of traffic, and so direct them as to bring profit to his company. In other words, it was necessary that he should find
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constant and profitable use for his equipment, and to so conduct the affairs of the great net-work of railroads as to secure satisfactory returns. The diplomatic and delicate task of maintaining the relations with other trunk lines also fell to his charge. If there was a rate war, it was he who had to direct the hostilities on behalf of the Pennsylvania Railroad. If there was a truce, he had to determine the terms on which it was arranged. All the questions of passenger and freight traffic which were not disposed by the officers in direct general charge of those branches of the business were sent to him for adjudication and decision.
On June 27, 1888, Mr. Thomson was appointed First Vice-President, retaining, however, the duties of the position he had formerly held with a very considerable enlargement of his powers and authority. He is really at the head of the prac- tical operation of the road. Besides overseeing the transportation, passenger and freight business of the company, bringing all the lines that control the organization together in his hands ready for the inspection of President Roberts, he is the diplomat of the company, and is charged with the delicate work of straightening out kinks in the relations of the road with the companies, and receiv- ing the various local deputations with grievances and satisfying their complaints.
Mr. Thomson was married on June 5, 1866, to Mary E. Clarke, daughter of B. G. Clarke, now a resident of New York, President of the Thomas Iron and Steel Company of Jersey City, N. J. Four children were born to the union- three sons and a daughter. Mrs. Thomson died June 2, 1887, at Hollywood, N. J., after a lingering illness. She was a woman of the highest type of charac- ter, and her influence was felt both at home and abroad. She was a talented musician, and a great favorite in society, as well as a devoted mother and wife, and took an active part in works of charity and kindly ministration to the poor. There were few women more generally known, admired and loved in the most cultivated and refined society. She was most bountifully blessed in loveliness of person, and to a remarkable degree in loveliness of mind also.
Mr. Thomson's eldest son, Alexander, died suddenly in London, on July 19, 1889, in his nineteenth year. He had not been in good health, and had spent several months travelling in Egypt and Southern France, which had appeared to benefit him; but shortly after his arrival in London, where he went to visit his sister and aunt, he was taken ill and died suddenly.
Mr. Thomson is still comparatively young, though if his age were measured by his many and notable achievements as a railroad manager he must appear to be an old man. His success has not been alone personal. A shrewd, foreseeing, indefatigable, broad-minded man, possessing qualities which indicate genius as well as talents of the highest inventive and executive order, his triumphs have been of greater value to the community of business in its relations to railroads, and have reflected more honor upon and been more useful to the company of which he is an officer than upon or to himself. It may be said of him, that, as a railroad manager, he has not only done good himself, but that he has been the cause of well-doing in others. He has assisted to place the Pennsylvania Rail-
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road in the forefront of the transportation systems of the United States, and in doing that he and his associates have compelled the other great companies to emulate its liberal conduct toward the public. Having greatly assisted in making his own company's lines superior to all others, those that were left so far behind were forced into an endeavor to catch up with it.
The work done by men like Frank Thomson, which is seen day by day, and is so made familiar to the common mind, is seldom appreciated at half its real worth. During the war it was work often no less dangerous, and requiring no less courage than that of the soldier in the breach, but what the soldier did was her- alded by the newspaper press over the entire country, while that which was done by the shrewd mind that planned the means to quickly transport armies to dis- tant points, where their presence or absence meant triumph or defeat, or that built or repaired roads under the death-dealing fire of the enemy, was not told of at all except around the camp-fires.
Mr. Thomson is essentially, not more by training than by natural ability, a manager of railroads. As some men are born to achieve greatness in other pursuits, so was he born to achieve the highest degree of usefulness in that one. If he had done no more than to bring to its present state of development the " block system," which has its supreme value not alone in increasing the carry- ing capacity of railroads, but in the almost perfect assurance of safety it gives to travellers, he would have achieved triumphs as great as any man could reason- ably desire; yet that is but one of his many achievements by which the public and the Pennsylvania Railroad Company have greatly profited. In fact, what- ever suggests to the traveller's mind the things most safe, comfortable and luxurious in travel is likely to suggest the name of Frank Thomson.
Mr. Thomson resides at a beautiful country-seat at Merion, on the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. His estate is named "Corkerhill," after the ancestral home in Scotland, and the first home in this country of the progenitor of the family in America. His handsome residence was destroyed by fire on January 8, 1889, but has been rebuilt. A unique feature of his home is the "Cabin," an odd-shaped, two-story, shingled structure adjoining the residence, which is used as a gymnasium, school-room and recreation building. It is fur- nished as oddly as it is built. Mr. Thomson is an ardent sportsman, and on the walls, tables and floors are displayed trophies of his skill with rod and gun in the shape of magnificent deer and moose antlers, stuffed game birds of various kinds, the skins of bears, mountain lions, etc., and splendid mounted specimens of tarpons and salmon which he has killed, and the costly arms and tackle he uses on his trips. He is a member of the Philadelphia Club, and an honorary member of the Clover Club, and few social gatherings of note are held at which he is not a welcome guest. Very few of those who do not know the man would suspect that the genial, pleasant gentleman whom they meet had upon his shoulders the vast responsibilities that belong to the position he so ably fills.
C. R. D.
F. GUTEKUNST.
PHILA
WILLIAM H. WILE.
WILLIAM HENRY WILE.
N O citizen contributes more to the prosperity of the public than he who gives his time and talents to developing the resources of the country, and no other agent has been so prolific and efficacious in this direction as the railroad. Consequently those who have aided in the extension of transportation facilities have contributed toward the general good. Prominent among this class of citizens in Pennsylvania is WILLIAM H. WILE, of Philadelphia, Vice-President of the Washington and St. Mary's Railroad Company of the State of Maryland, and Secretary and Treasurer of the International Printing Telegraph Company.
Mr. Wile was born at the family homestead, near Christ Reformed Church, Franconia township, Montgomery county, Pa., September 27, 1844. He comes of the best old Pennsylvania German stock, and the homestead has been in the possession of the family since his great-grandfather, Frederick Weil (as the name was then spelled), the progenitor of the family name in this country, emigrated to America from the Principality of Franconia, in southern Germany, in the year 1754. He served as a soldier under Frederick the Great for a number of years, and was a man of strong character and individuality, admirable traits which he transmitted to his progeny. His son, William, and grandson, Samuel H. Weil, both of whom adhered to the old German spelling of the name, were born at the homestead referred to, and all of the family, including the progenitor, are buried in the graveyard of Christ Reformed Church, near by. William H. Wile's mother was Catharina, a daughter of Philip Hartzell, who was a prominent resi- dent of Bucks county, where his ancestors had settled about the year 1738.
Mr. Wile was brought up in the manner usual to a farmer's son, and received the ordinary education obtainable at the district schools of his neighborhood, and later at the school of Christ Reformed Church, which he attended until he had reached the age of seventeen years, when he entered a store at Harleysville, Montgomery county, as a clerk. He remained there until 1862, when he went to Philadelphia and engaged in the grocery business. Shortly afterwards he embarked in the insurance business, placing both fire and life policies, and devoted all his energies to the work, which was both congenial and lucrative. While thus engaged he became interested in the organization of the Washington and St. Mary's Railroad, one of the connecting lines of the great Pennsylvania Railroad system in Maryland. He then turned his attention to developing this enterprise, and enlisted the interest and co-operation of capitalists in Philadelphia and New York in the undertaking. When the organization was completed he was elected Secretary of the Company, and later on was elected Vice-President, which position he now holds.
When the experiments, which had been instituted by Jacob H. Linville, to perfect a printing telegraph machine had resulted in the production of what seemed a marvellous electrical invention, Mr. Wile took a deep interest in pro-
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moting its success, and became Secretary and Treasurer of the International Printing Telegraph Company. Subsequent experiments, however, failed to realize the promises of the early efforts, and Mr. Wile abandoned the attempt to complete it. He is still confident, though, that the principle is capable of being perfected and utilized, but he was unwilling to be connected officially with an enterprise that was involved in doubt and uncertainty. Other undertakings with a greater assurance of return demanded his attention, too, and he determined to abandon active operations in that direction, although he still retains a large pecuniary interest in the affair.
Mr. Wile is possessed of unusual tact and business capacity, and enjoys the confidence of many of the leading and most influential financial institutions in Philadelphia and New York. It is largely on this account that he has been so successful in promoting the enterprises with which he has been connected. His character for integrity has been in itself a substantial guarantee of the merits of any undertaking to which he gave his endorsement, and the result is, that he has always been able to interest the co-operation of capitalists in all his enterprises. The success which he met with in the organization of the Washington and St. Mary's Railroad is a notable proof of this. Twenty-three miles of the road are already completed and in successful operation. The grading of the balance is finished to within twenty miles of St. Mary's, and it is expected that by January I, 1890, trains will be running over the entire line.
The greatest undertaking in which Mr. Wile has ever engaged is one recently begun at St. Mary's, the proposed terminus of the road. He has purchased there three thousand acres of land, and proposes to found a great city which will have all the advantages of a commercial and manufacturing centre with the equally important consideration of a healthful place of residence, and will become a pleasure resort. Admirably located at a point where nature has been lavish in bestowing her rich and rare favors, Mr. Wile contemplates making such artificial improvements as will, supplemented by its natural advantages, make this the most attractive and desirable point along the coast. He has already had the site surveyed and platted, and the indications are that his most sanguine expectations in relation to it will be more than realized. In June, 1889, President Harrison and Secretaries Blaine and Windom paid a visit to the site, and attended service at St. Mary's Protestant Episcopal Church. Afterwards the President visited St. Mary's Female Seminary, and was warmly welcomed by the young ladies. The distinguished visitors were delighted with their brief visit, and manifested the most unbounded admiration of the country. St. Mary's is one of the oldest ports of entry in the country, and it is the intention of Mr. Wile to make such improvements as will develop it into an important one in the near future-an undertaking in which he is likely to meet with cordial co-operation at the hands of the President and the Secretary of the Treasury.
In December, 1879, Mr. Wile was married to Catharine May Butcher, the second daughter of Thomas Tyson Butcher, of an old Philadelphia family.
G. D. H.
F. GUTEKUNST.
PHILA.
JOHN S. WILSON.
JOHN SAWYER WILSON.
O NE of the men who have risen to eminence in the railroad management in this country, through the thorough mastery of the details of one of its most intricate branches, is JOHN S. WILSON, for some time General Traffic Man- ager of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and now President of the Pough- keepsie Bridge Company and associated roads, or, as it is now called, the Central New England and Western Railroad Company-a corporation of the greatest importance to the commercial and transportation interests of the New England and Middle States. That Mr. Wilson's fame is not merely a local one is shown by the fact that he has held an important position in connection with several matters which have come before the Inter-State Commerce Commission, by which body he has been summoned as an authority on questions of freight traffic and transportation.
Mr. Wilson is a native of Pennsylvania, having been born in the western part of the State in 1832; but while still a very young man he went to St. Louis, where his business education was begun in the office of a wholesale grocery house. His employers soon found in him the qualities of a careful business man ; his good manners, pleasant address and faithful application to his work winning for him in a few months the promotion from the position of shipping clerk to that of travelling salesman. During the three years that he was thus employed he travelled all over the West and South-west. He not only achieved success, but acquired a vast amount of experience and knowledge of men and methods that stood him good service in the difficult problems which he had to face later in life in his position as a prominent railroad official. Going to Philadelphia from St. Louis, after accepting the offer of a wholesale grocery firm in the first named city to become one of its members, he established himself there, and was able to build up a prosperous business, giving his personal attention especially to the large trade which he had secured in the South and West. The war, however, involved his firm in the ruin which overtook so many business enter- prises; but a new field was opened for his talents-that in which he was ulti- mately destined to achieve distinction. Accepting an offer from Mr. John W. Garrett, then President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, Mr. Wilson was for two years the freight representative of that company in Philadelphia. He display e such marked abilities in this new field of labor, for which he was peculiarly well fitted by reason of his intimate knowledge of the country, that upon the reorganization of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company, in 1869, he became its Through Freight Agent. The advance to General Freight Agent was made some years later, though Mr. Wilson's remark- able aptitude for the business and pre-eminent ability had been long before recognized, and his permanent identification with the railroad interests assured.
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Under his able direction the freight business of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad Company increased many fold, a radical change in trans- portation taking place during that period; the position of freight manager, there- tofore one of comparatively little importance, becoming one of vital consequence, and its influence reaching far beyond the immediate interests of the railroad lines embraced in its control. To the proper appreciation of this great change a knowledge of the conditions of transportation in vogue at that time is necessary. The railroads, especially those running along the coast, had to meet the formi- dable competition of the various water routes. At one time the steamers, during the season of navigation, controlled almost all the freight traffic between Phila- delphia and Baltimore, and the cars of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Balti- more Railroad Company and similarly situated lines stood idle upon the tracks, while the railroad companies were forced to make terms with the water transpor- tation lines, even in the carrying of passengers.
The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, with its enormous traffic, lying between such competing lines as the Pennsylvania and the Balti- more and Ohio, was not long destined, however, to remain independent, and the events which led to the final purchase of the road by the former corporation are familiar to all who have even the most superficial acquaintance with the railroad history of the United States. Mr. Wilson, therefore, with some other officials of the road, passed into the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and from March, 1881, to August of the following year he continued to serve as General Freight Agent of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Division, with head-quarters at the Fourth street office of the company in Philadelphia ; and upon the resignation of the late John McC. Creighton, Mr. Wilson was promoted to the position of General Freight Agent of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and as such continued until his retirement in 1888. By a reorganiza- tion of the freight department in 1885 he was given enlarged powers as General Traffic Manager, besides being relieved of some of the more onerous details by the appointment of three assistants.
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