Charles Esmond Kearney (March 8, 1820 - January 3, 1898) was the first president of the

Kansas City and Cameron Railroad The Kansas City and Cameron Railroad was the subsidiary of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad which built the first bridge across the Missouri River at the Hannibal Bridge. The bridge established Kansas City, Missouri rather than Leavenworth ...

which as a subsidiary of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad and built the

Hannibal Bridge The First Hannibal Bridge was the first permanent rail crossing of the Missouri River and helped establish Kansas City, Missouri as a major city and rail center. The increased train traffic resulting from its construction also contributed to the ...

establishing

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

as the dominant city in the region. He was born in Ireland before emigrating to Texas in 1837. He moved to Kansas City in 1852 where he outfitted travelers on the Oregon Trail and

Santa Fe Trail The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, th ...

from

Westport, Missouri Westport is a historic neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Originally an independent town, it was annexed by Kansas City in 1897. It is one of Kansas City's main entertainment districts. Westport has a lending library, a branch of the Kans ...

. During this time he saw the need for direct link from Chicago to Texas. He along with

Kersey Coates Kersey Coates (September 15, 1823 – April 24, 1887) was a businessman from Kansas City, in the U.S. state of Missouri, who developed Quality Hill, founded the Kansas City Board of Trade, and was among those who attracted the Hannibal & St. J ...

and

Robert T. Van Horn Robert Thompson Van Horn (May 19, 1824 – January 3, 1916) was an American lawyer, the owner and publisher of '' The Kansas City Enterprise'', the 6th mayor of Kansas City, Missouri during parts of the Civil War, a member of the Missouri Genera ...

persuaded the railroad to build a cutoff of their line from Cameron, Missouri to Kansas City for the first bridge across the Missouri River which opened in 1869. He was the first president of the subsidiary. The result was the Hannibal Bridge which was the first bridge across the Missouri River. It established Kansas City rather than

Leavenworth, Kansas Leavenworth () is the county seat and largest city of Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 37,351. It is located on the west bank of t ...

St. Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...

as the dominant city in the region. The town of Kearney, Missouri (which is on the route) is named for him.

External links

Kansas City Public Library history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kearney, Charles 1820 births 1898 deaths Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923) 19th-century American businesspeople