Samuel Rea (September 21, 1855 – March 24, 1929) was an American engineer and the ninth 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 ...
, serving from 1913 to 1925. He joined the PRR in 1871, when the railroad had hardly outgrown its 1846 charter to build from
Harrisburg
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...
to Pittsburgh, and helped it grow to a 12,000-mile (19,000 km) system with access to
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, upstate New York, and New England.
Rea was awarded the
Franklin Medal
The Franklin Medal was a science award presented from 1915 until 1997 by the Franklin Institute located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. It was founded in 1914 by Samuel Insull
Samuel Insull (November 11, 1859 – July 16, 1938) was a Bri ...
in 1926, and was elected as an honorary member of the
Institution of Civil Engineers
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...
in 1928.
Early life and career
Samuel Rea was born on September 21, 1855, in
Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania
Hollidaysburg is a borough in and the county seat of Blair County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is located on the Juniata River, south of Altoona and is part of the Altoona, Pennsylvania, metropolitan statistical area. In 1900, 2,998 ...
.
His parents were James D. Rea and Ruth Blair Moore. His paternal grandfather, General
John Rea, was the
United States representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
from
Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
and
Franklin, Pennsylvania
Franklin is a city and the county seat of Venango County, Pennsylvania. The population was 6,097 in the 2020 census. Franklin is part of the Oil City, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Franklin is known for its three-day autumn festival in O ...
, during the terms of
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
and
James Madison
James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...
. Through the marriage of his father's siblings, he was related to the Asa Childs and the
Henry Clay Frick
Henry Clay Frick (December 19, 1849 – December 2, 1919) was an American industrialist, financier, and art patron. He founded the H. C. Frick & Company coke manufacturing company, was chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company, and played a major ...
families. His father died when Samuel was 13.
[
He began his vocational life as a clerk in a country store. In 1871, at age 16, he took a job as a rodman, or ]surveyor
Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...
's assistant, with the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), where he would spend most of his career. He left the PRR in 1875 to work for the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad
The Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad (P&LE) , also known as the "Little Giant", was formed on May 11, 1875. Company headquarters were located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The line connected Pittsburgh in the east with Youngstown, Ohio in the H ...
, but returned in 1879.
In the mid-1880s, Rea supported a proposal by consulting engineer Gustav Lindenthal
Gustav Lindenthal (May 21, 1850 – July 31, 1935) was a civil engineer who designed the Queensboro and Hell Gate bridges in New York City, among other bridges.
Lindenthal's work was greatly affected by his pursuit for perfection and his lov ...
to build a large bridge across 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 ...
from Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.[Monongahela River
The Monongahela River ( , )—often referred to locally as the Mon ()—is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in North Cen ...]
at Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
. He also became a member of the New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...
— the first to hold a seat in the city of Pittsburgh — and remained a member for 12 years. In 1888, he published a book called ''The Railways Terminating in London: With a Description of the Terminating Stations''.[
In 1889, Rea again left the PRR, frustrated by his lack of advancement within the company. He was recruited to work for the ]Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...
(B&O) by new company president Charles F. Mayer, and also became a vice president of the Maryland Central Railroad
The Maryland Central Railroad (MCRR) was a 19th-century narrow gauge railroad in Maryland, with a small track section in Pennsylvania. It operated freight and passenger trains between Baltimore and Delta, Pennsylvania.
History
The Maryland Cent ...
.[ He worked on the B&O's Belt Line project in central Baltimore, which included a new tunnel and the use of ]electric locomotive
An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or gas ...
s.
In 1892, Rea was rehired by the PRR. In his new position, he reported directly to President George Brooke Roberts
George Brooke Roberts (January 15, 1833 – January 30, 1897) was a civil engineer and the fifth president of the Pennsylvania Railroad (1880–96).
Early life and education
Roberts was born at his family's farm in the Pencoyd region of Bala ...
, and began to explore options for crossing the Hudson. Eventually, he renewed his support for Lindenthal's bridge proposal, but other railroads declined to share the project's costs, and the financial constraints of the Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It deeply affected every sector of the economy, and produced political upheaval that led to the political realignment of 1896 and the pres ...
made that prospect unlikely for the rest of the decade. By 1900, as the economy improved, Rea and Lindenthal continued to press for the bridge project, but to no avail. The PRR then took a more serious look at building tunnels under the river, and this option was supported by Alexander Cassatt
Alexander Johnston Cassatt (December 8, 1839 – December 28, 1906) was the seventh president of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), serving from June 9, 1899, to December 28, 1906.
Family and early life
Alexander Cassatt was born on December 8, ...
, who had become PRR president in 1899. Under Cassatt's and Rea's leadership, the New York Tunnel Extension
The New York Tunnel Extension (also New York Improvement and Tunnel Extension) is a combination of railroad tunnels and approaches from New Jersey and Long Island to Pennsylvania Station (New York City), Pennsylvania Station in Midtown Manhattan ...
project began in 1903 and was completed in 1910.
Rea later arranged with the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...
to build the Hell Gate Bridge
The Hell Gate Bridge, originally the New York Connecting Railroad Bridge or the East River Arch Bridge, is a steel through arch railroad bridge in New York City. Originally built for four tracks, the bridge currently carries two tracks of Amtr ...
over the East River
The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...
, which gave the PRR access to upstate New York and New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
.
Pennsylvania Station
As it dug its Hudson tunnel, the PRR also began construction of its massive Pennsylvania Station
Pennsylvania Station (often abbreviated Penn Station) is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) to several of its grand passenger terminals. Several are still in active use by Amtrak and other transportation services; others have been ...
in New York City. The project was completed under PRR president James McCrea
James McCrea (1848–1913) was the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad 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 y ...
, and the station opened in 1910. It was built to accommodate half a million daily passengers, and Rea, who became PRR president in 1913, found himself fending off charges that the station had been wastefully overbuilt. Time was to prove him right. By 1919, the station was accommodating almost 35 million travelers a year, eclipsing the nearby Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...
as the busiest New York station. Less than a decade later, more than 60 million used it annually, enough to make it the most heavily used railroad station in North America. By 1939, its yearly traffic had reached a then-record level of almost 66 million passengers.
President of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Rea became president of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1913. As head of the PRR system, which employed 250,000 men, he became one of the three or four dominating powers in American transportation. Rea was considered largely responsible for many features of the Esch-Cummins Act, whereby the railroads were returned to private control in 1920 after 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 ...
.
Samuel Rea retired as PRR president in 1925 at the age of 70. He then served as president of the Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
, a PRR subsidiary, from 1923 to 1928.
Professional recognition
Samuel Rea was awarded honorary degrees by the University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
and Lafayette College
Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...
. He received the Franklin Medal
The Franklin Medal was a science award presented from 1915 until 1997 by the Franklin Institute located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. It was founded in 1914 by Samuel Insull
Samuel Insull (November 11, 1859 – July 16, 1938) was a Bri ...
in 1926, and was elected as an Honorary Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...
in 1928.[
]
Personal life
Rea married Mary Black, the daughter of Jane Black, in 1879.[ In 1880, Samuel and Mary lived with her widowed mother and family in ]Allegheny, Pennsylvania
Allegheny City was a municipality that existed in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania from 1788 until it was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907. It was located north across the Allegheny River from downtown Pittsburgh, with its southwest border formed by ...
. Their children, born after 1880, include George Rea and Ruth Rea.
Rea was a member of the exclusive South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club
The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club was a Pennsylvania corporation which operated an exclusive and secretive retreat at a mountain lake near South Fork, Pennsylvania, for more than fifty extremely wealthy men and their families. The club was ...
, whose earthen dam failed in May 1889, causing the Johnstown Flood
The Johnstown Flood (locally, the Great Flood of 1889) occurred on Friday, May 31, 1889, after the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam, located on the south fork of the Little Conemaugh River, upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylv ...
. After the flood, Rea removed to Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Bryn Mawr, pronounced ,
from Welsh for big hill, is a census-designated place (CDP) located across three townships: Radnor Township and Haverford Township in Delaware County, and Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It i ...
, to an estate called "Waverly Heights," designed by architect Addison Hutton
Addison Hutton (1834–1916) was a Philadelphia architect who designed prominent residences in Philadelphia and its suburbs, plus courthouses, hospitals, and libraries, including the Ridgway Library (now Philadelphia High School for the Creative an ...
. Waverly Heights later became a lifecare community in Gladwyne
Gladwyne is a suburban community in Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States along the historic Philadelphia Main Line. In 2018, Gladwyne was ranked the sixth richest ZIP code (using 2015 IRS data) in the country in a ...
.
Rea was reared in the Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
faith and said he preferred reading Prof. Moffet's translation of the Bible.
Death
He died at his home in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania
Gladwyne is a suburban community in Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States along the historic Philadelphia Main Line. In 2018, Gladwyne was ranked the sixth richest ZIP code (using 2015 IRS data) in the country in a ...
on March 24, 1929.
See also
*List of railroad executives
This is a list of railroad executives, defined as those who are presidents and chief executive officers of railroad and railway systems worldwide.
A
* Abbot, Edwin H. (1834–1927), WC −1890
* Adams, Charles Francis, Jr. (1835–1915), ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rea, Samuel
1855 births
1929 deaths
Engineers from Pennsylvania
People from Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania
Long Island Rail Road people
Pennsylvania Railroad people
Members of the Philadelphia Club
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad people