James William McQueen (April 15, 1866 - April 20, 1925) was an American businessperson. He served as the president of Sloss-Sheffield Steel & Iron Company from 1918 to 1925. McQueen was born on April 15, 1866, in

Society Hill, South Carolina Society Hill is a town in Darlington County, South Carolina, United States alongside the Pee Dee River. It is the oldest community in Darlington County and one of the first towns founded in South Carolina. The town was once the intellectual cente ...

, to John McQueen and Sarah Pickens. His father was a member of Congress from 1816 until secession, and he served in the

Confederate Congress The Confederate States Congress was both the Provisional government, provisional and permanent Legislature, legislative assembly of the Confederate States of America that existed from 1861 to 1865. Its actions were for the most part concerned w ...

from 1861 to 1865. His mother was the granddaughter of Andrew Pickens, a Revolutionary War hero and member of Congress. McQueen grew up in

Eutaw, Alabama Eutaw ( ) is a city in and the county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The e ...

, and received his early education in private schools under the well known educators Daniel Collier and Joseph A. Taylor. At age 16, he began work as a clerk in a bank in Eutaw. In 1884, he began work for the

Alabama Great Southern Railroad The Alabama Great Southern Railroad is a railroad in the U.S. states of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. It is an operating subsidiary of the Norfolk Southern Corporation (NS), running southwest from Chattanooga (where it ...

and served as agent at Eutaw,

Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of 1 ...

and other points along the line until 1890, when he moved to

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, as train dispatcher. It was in 1891 that he began his service with Sloss-Sheffield Steel & Iron Company—then Sloss Iron & Steel Company—one of the greatest industrial concerns in the Southern United States. He began in the transportation department, but in the following year was made auditor of the company. He rose quickly through the ranks: in 1897, he was made secretary and treasurer, and in 1902 he was made vice-president. Finally, in 1918 he was elected president of the company. As an executive at Sloss-Sheffield, McQueen devoted much of his attention to the development of the company's properties. Many facilities were built or rebuilt under McQueen, including by-product coke ovens in North Birmingham. He served as the president of Sloss-Sheffield until his death. In his private life, McQueen belonged to many civic and social clubs, and he was involved in the Birmingham Baseball Association. He sold his stake in the

Birmingham Barons The Birmingham Barons are a Minor League Baseball team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and plays at Regions Field in downtown Birmingham. The current ...

to Rick Woodward in 1909. He married Lydia Edwards on April 11, 1899, and they had two children (Giles E. and James W.). McQueen died at the

Waldorf Astoria The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schultz ...

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 ...

on April 20, 1925.

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