James McCrea (1848–1913) was the president of the
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
from 1907 to 1913.
Biography
James was born May 1, 1848 in Philadelphia, United States, in a long line of McCreas who came to Delaware and Pennsylvania near two hundred years earlier. His parents were James Alexander McCrea and Ann Bispham Foster. He attended the
Pennsylvania Polytechnic College, gaining an education in civil engineering.
He began railroad work with the Connellsville & Southern Pennsylvania Railroad in June 1865. In December 1867 he began work on the Wilmington & Reading Railroad, and in September 1868 with the Allegheny Valley Railroad.
[ In March 1871 he began work with the Pennsylvania Railroad as principal assistant engineer working on construction. He advanced rapidly from that point. In 1874 he became assistant engineer of maintenance of way of the Philadelphia Division, then division superintendent of the Middle Division in January 1875, and of the New York Division in October 1878. In May 1882 he was transferred to Columbus, Ohio to become manager of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad—the Pennsylvania Railroad's principal subsidiary between Pittsburgh and St. Louis. In October 1885 he became general manager. The Pennsylvania Railroad named him fourth vice president in October 1887, in March 1890 second vice president, and in April 1891 first vice president. The vice presidencies gave him responsibility for the lines west of Pittsburgh.
In June 1899 he was named a director of the Pennsylvania Railroad when Alexander J. Cassatt was made the road's president. When Cassatt died in January 1907, McCrea became the president and held the position until January 1913, when he resigned, in part because of his health. During his presidency the Pennsylvania built the Hudson River tunnels and Pennsylvania Station in New York City.
McCrea also served as president of a considerable number of subsidiary roads: Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington; Northern Central; West Jersey & Seashore; Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis; Grand Rapids & Indiana; and Indiana & Lake Michigan. He completed the construction of ]Pennsylvania Station (New York)
Pennsylvania Station, also known as New York Penn Station or simply Penn Station, is the main intercity railroad station in New York City and the busiest transportation facility in the Western Hemisphere, serving more than 600,000 passengers p ...
in 1910, bringing the PRR lines under the Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
and, for the first time, into New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and the Second Vice-President of the company, John Borland Thayer
John Borland Thayer II (April 21, 1862April 15, 1912) was an American businessman who had a thirty-year career as an executive with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He was a director and second vice-president of the company when he died less t ...
died in the sinking of RMS ''Titanic''.
A biographer wrote "his success has been achieved by his ability, his practical knowledge of details, his sound judgment, and his indefatigable application to the arduous duties of railroad work. He is a man of most affable manner, generous disposition, profound insight, and acute, though humane sense of justice."[
He married Ada Jane Montgomery on February 12, 1873, and the couple had three children.][ The oldest son, James Alexander McCrea, followed his father in a career with the Pennsylvania Railroad.
James McCrea died March 28, 1913 at Ballyheather, his home at ]Haverford, Pennsylvania
Haverford is an unincorporated community located in both Haverford Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, and Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County, approximately west of Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) open ...
. Ada died October 20, 1926. Both are interred at West Laurel Hill Cemetery
West Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1869, is 200 acres in size and contains the burials of many notable people. It is affiliated with Laurel Hill Cemetery in neighboring Ph ...
, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:McCrea, James
Pennsylvania Railroad people
19th-century American railroad executives
20th-century American railroad executives
Members of the Philadelphia Club
1848 births
1913 deaths
Burials at West Laurel Hill Cemetery