Thomas Nickerson (September 19, 1810 – July 24, 1892) was an American railroad executive. He served as the eighth president of the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

(ATSF), between 1874 and 1880. He was also president of the

Atlantic and Pacific Railroad The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad was a U.S. railroad that owned or operated two disjointed segments, one connecting St. Louis, Missouri with Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the other connecting Albuquerque, New Mexico with Needles in Southern California ...

Biography

Nickerson was born in

Brewster, Massachusetts Brewster is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. The population of Brewster was 10,318 at the 2020 census. Brewster is twinned with the town of Budleigh Salterton in the Un ...

, on September 19, 1810. His family was well known for the number of sailors it had produced, and Thomas himself also sailed for nearly 30 years before he turned to land transportation. Nickerson invested in the ATSF around 1870, becoming the railroad's vice president in May 1873. The next year, he was promoted to president of the ATSF, succeeding Henry Strong, where he served until 1880. Thomas Nickerson's brother Joseph also served as a railroad executive, and Joseph's son Albert W. Nickerson inherited several million dollars upon his father's death and was made a director of the ATSF and the

Mexican Central Railway 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, ac ...

. Nickerson didn't limit himself to just the ATSF. He was also a prominent figure in the

Sonora Railway Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into 72 municipalities; the ...

California Southern Railroad The California Southern Railroad was a subsidiary railroad of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (Santa Fe) in Southern California. It was organized July 10, 1880, and chartered on October 23, 1880, to build a rail connection between wha ...

and Mexican Central Railway, all subsidiary companies of the ATSF. Nickerson died in Newton Center, Massachusetts, on July 24, 1892. His wife had died the year prior; he was survived by three children. The town of

Nickerson, Kansas Nickerson is a city in Reno County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,058. It was named in honor of Thomas Nickerson, former president of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. History Nickerson ...

, founded in 1872, is named in his honor.

Sources

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Nickerson
transcribed by Ward, Carolyn, July 2002. * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nickerson, Thomas 1810 births 1892 deaths People from Brewster, Massachusetts Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway presidents 19th-century American railroad executives