Samuel Morse Felton Sr. (1809–1889) was a civil engineer and railroad executive.

Early life

Samuel Morse Felton was born on July 17, 1809, in

West Newbury, Massachusetts West Newbury is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Situated on the Merrimack River, its population was 4,500 at the 2020 census. History Originally inhabited by Agawam or Naumkeag peoples, West Newbury was settled by Eng ...

. At the age of 14, he went into the grocery business and prepared for college. He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1833.

Career

Felton was the Superintendent and engineer 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 ...

1843-1851 and 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 ...

(PW&B) from 1851–1865, during the pivotal

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

era. In 1865, he suffered a stroke that left him with paralysis and compelled him to resign his role as President of the PW&B. A few months after resigning from PW&B, he became the President of the

Pennsylvania Steel Company The Pennsylvania Steel Company was the name of two Pennsylvania steel companies. The original company was established in late 1865 by: J. Edgar Thomson, president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, Samuel Morse Felton Sr., recently retired president ...

. While at Pennsylvania Steel, Felton also served on the boards of directors of several railroads, including his former Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, the

Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company The Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company was a mining and transportation company headquartered in Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, now known as Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. The company operated from 1818 until its dissolution in 1964 and played an early and i ...

, the

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, whic ...

, and the

Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain Railroad The Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain Railroad was founded in 1849 as the Northern Railroad running from Ogdensburg to Rouses Point, New York. The railroad was leased by rival Central Vermont Railroad for several decades, ending in 1896. It was pur ...

. In 1869 he was appointed by 18th President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

(1822-1885, served 1869-1877), as a Commissioner to inspect the trans-continental and Pacific Railroads.Samuel Morse Felton Family Papers, 1841-1930
He was also appointed by Governor John Albion Andrew as a member of the Hoosac Tunnel Commission. He was elected as a member to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1854.

Personal life

Felton married Eleanor Stetson in 1839, and together they had three daughters. She died in 1847. In 1850, he married Maria Low Lippitt. Together, they had one daughter and three sons. One of his sons, Samuel Morse Felton Jr. (1853-1930), was also involved like his father with engineering and railroading with several different lines and supervised railroad operations in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on the Western Front in

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 the brother of

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

president

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 ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, and attorney John B. Felton. He died on January 24, 1889, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

References

External links

Samuel Morse Felton Family Papers, 1841-1930
Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Samuel Morse Felton (Sr) Collection
at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School 1809 births 1889 deaths 19th-century American railroad executives American steel industry businesspeople People from West Newbury, Massachusetts Harvard University alumni {{US-rail-bio-stub