Samuel Morse Felton Jr. (February 3, 1853 – March 11, 1930) was an American railroad executive.

Early life

Samuel Morse Felton Jr. was born on February 3, 1853, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Felton was the son of Samuel Morse Felton Sr. (1809-1889), Civil War era influential president of the

Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) was an American railroad that operated independently from 1836 to 1881. It was formed in 1836 by the merger of four state-chartered railroads in three Middle Atlantic states to create a ...

(1851-1865) and earlier of the

Fitchburg Railroad The Fitchburg Railroad is a former railroad company, which built a railroad line across northern Massachusetts, United States, leading to and through the Hoosac Tunnel. The Fitchburg was leased to the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1900. The main l ...

, and the nephew of

Cornelius Conway Felton Cornelius Conway Felton (November 6, 1807 – February 26, 1862) was an American educator. He was regent of the Smithsonian Institution, as well as professor of Greek literature and president of Harvard University. Early life Felton was born in ...

and John B. Felton. He was an 1873 graduate of the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, where he was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity.

Career

Railroad career

Felton entered the railroad industry as a rodman in Chester Creek, Pennsylvania, and worked his way up through

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

and superintendent positions. He developed a reputation for being able to rapidly facilitate the health of ailing railroads. He had quite a career as an engineer, superintendent and general manager of several railroads before rising into the presidency of both the

Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway The Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway (abbreviated: CNO&TP; ) is a railroad that leases the Cincinnati Southern Railway from Cincinnati, Ohio, south to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and sub leases it to the Norfolk Southern Railway sys ...

and

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 i ...

in 1890. He also led the

Alton Railroad The Alton Railroad was the final name of a railroad linking Chicago to Alton, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri; and Kansas City, Missouri. Its predecessor, the Chicago and Alton Railroad , was purchased by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1931 a ...

(1899–1907), the

Mexican Central Railroad The Mexican Central Railway (''Ferrocarril Central Mexicano'') was one of the primary pre- nationalization railways of Mexico. Incorporated in Massachusetts in 1880, it opened the main line in March 1884, linking Mexico City to Ciudad Juárez, ...

(1907), the

Tennessee Central Railway The Tennessee Central Railway was founded in 1884 as the Nashville and Knoxville Railroad by Alexander S. Crawford. It was an attempt to open up a rail route from the coal and minerals of East Tennessee to the markets of the Middle Tennessee, mid ...

and the

Chicago Great Western Railway The Chicago Great Western Railway was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Kansas City. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney in 1885 as a regional line between St. Paul and the Iowa state line called the Minnesot ...

(1909–1925), before his own ailing health forced his retirement.

Military service

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

(1914/1917-1918), Felton was appointed Director General of Military Railways with a military rank of

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

and in that capacity had charge of the organization and dispatch to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

of all American railway forces and supplies for the Western Front. He continued in that position during the World War years. For his service, he was honored with the

Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in action * Distinguishe ...

by the United States and the

Cross of the Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

by France.

Personal life

In 1880, Felton married Dora Hamilton, the daughter of a prominent

attorney, and they had three daughters and a son. Mrs. Felton died in 1923. On November 19, 1929, Felton suffered a heart attack and stroke for which he was hospitalized at Passavant Memorial Hospital. He remained in the hospital until his death on March 11, 1930.

References

External links

*
Samuel Morse Felton (Jr) Collection
at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School * 1853 births 1930 deaths Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni 20th-century American railroad executives Alton Railroad Chicago Great Western Railway presidents Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Legion of Honour {{US-rail-bio-stub