Carl Eric Wickman (born Erik Wretman; August 7, 1887 – February 5, 1954) was the founder of Greyhound Lines.

Background

Wickman was born Erik Wretman at Martisgården, a family farm located near the small village of Limbäck in the parish of

Våmhus Våmhus is a locality situated in Mora Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden with 857 inhabitants in 2010. It is situated by the Orsa Lake's northwest beach. Våmhus has a characteristic local dialect, ''Våmhusmål'', distinct from other Daleca ...

, 15 km north of Mora in the province

Dalarna Dalarna () is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are Dalecarlia () and the Dales. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Norwa ...

, Sweden. He was the son of the farmer Karl Viktor Wretman (1858-1947) and Anna Matsdotter (1862-1943) and the maternal grandson of the famous Swedish hair jewelry artist

Martis Karin Ersdotter Martis Karin Ersdotter ( Våmhus, 2 July 1829 – 5 January 1902, Våmhus) was a Swedish businesswoman from Våmhus in Dalarna. She is the best known of the ''Hårkulla'' ("Hair- kulla"), the famous category of travelling businesswomen from Dalar ...

. He was the eldest of five siblings and was commonly known as ''Martis Jerk'' ("Martis" is the farm name and "Jerk" is the dialectal form of the name Erik). He changed his name to Carl Eric Wickman in 1905, when he arrived in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

as a Swedish emigrant. His father Victor had earlier used the surname Wickman when he worked in the United States.

Career

Wickman worked in a mine as a drill operator in

Hibbing, Minnesota Hibbing is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 16,214 at the 2020 census. The city was built on mining the rich iron ore of the Mesabi Iron Range and still relies on that industrial activity today. At th ...

until he was laid off in 1914. In the same year, Wickman became a

Hupmobile Hupmobile was an automobile built from 1909 through 1939 by the Hupp Motor Car Company of Detroit. The prototype was developed in 1908. History Founding In 1909, Bobby Hupp co-founded Hupp Motor Car Company, with Charles Hastings, for ...

salesman as a partnership-owner. When he could not sell the first Hupmobile he received, he began operating a livery route from Hibbing and Alice, Minnesota. By using the seven multi-seat Hupmobile, he drove his former colleagues between the mines and homes. This was the start of what would later become the largest bus line in the United States, renamed "Greyhound Lines" in 1914. In 1925, he bought a small line operating out of Superior, Wis., that was owned by Orville Swan Caesar (1892-1965). Within a year the duo formed Northland Transportation Company. The company formally changed its name to The Greyhound Corporation in 1930. By 1934, he had expanded to 50 buses and had revenues of $340,000. Wickman retired as president of Greyhound Corporation in 1946. In 1952 he sold his interest in the business for $960,000.

Personal life

In 1916, Wickman married Olga Rodin (1897–1977). They had two children Robert (Bob) and Peggy (Margaret). In 1940 King

Gustav V of Sweden Gustaf V (Oscar Gustaf Adolf; 16 June 1858 – 29 October 1950) was King of Sweden from 8 December 1907 until his death in 1950. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sophia of Nassau, a half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxe ...

awarded Wickman with the

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III. It was u ...

, first class. He died aged 66 in 1954 and was buried at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.''C. Wickman Dies; Headed Bus Line'' (''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. February 6, 1954)

Companies founded

*Mesaba Transportation Company – 1915 *Motor Transit Corporation – 1922 *Northland Transportation Company – 1925 *Greyhound Pacific – around 1930 *

The Greyhound Corporation Viad Corp provides experiential leisure travel and face-to-face events in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United Arab Emirates via two divsions: GES and Pursuit. Pursuit (formed in 2017) includes travel attractio ...

– 1930

References

Additional sources