Frederick D. Underwood

Frederick Douglas Underwood (February 1, 1849 - February 18, 1942) was president of the Erie Railroad from 1901 to 1926 and a director of Wells Fargo & Company.

Underwood was born in 1849 in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, the son of Enoch Downs Underwood and Harriet Flint (Denny) Underwood. He attended the public schools of Wauwatosa and Wayland Academy, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. In 1867 he entered the employ of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, rising from clerk and brakeman to division superintendent. ["Dictionary of American Biography", Supplement 3, p. 783. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973.]

In 1875 he married Sara Virginia Smith, by whom he had two sons, Enoch William and Russell Sage Underwood. They were divorced in 1886, and in 1893 he married Alice Stafford Robbins. ["Dictionary of American Biography", Supplement 3, p. 784.] [Two Great Lakes ships would eventually receive the name "Alice Stafford": a Lake Michigan passenger steamer of 859 gross tons, built at Benton Harbor, Michigan, in 1882 as the "Lora" and renamed "Alice Stafford" in 1897, and a tug of 141 gross tons, built in 1914 at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, for the Erie Railroad for service in the Chicago River.]

In 1886 Underwood was named general superintendent of the Minneapolis & Pacific Railway. Before the end of the year he was superintendent of construction of its successor, the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway (the Soo Line). Soon after promoted to general manager, he supervised the building of nearly 1,300 miles of line. There was a great rivalry between the Soo Line and James J. Hill's St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway, but Hill came to respect Underwood's ability, and the two leaders worked out a compromise. ["Dictionary of American Biography", Supplement 3, p. 783.]

When Hill had become a major shareholder in the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, he secured the appointment of Underwood as vice president and general manager in 1899. However, with control of the B&O by the Pennsylvania Railroad in the offing, Underwood accepted J. Pierpont Morgan's offer of the presidency of the Erie Railroad in May 1901. [Ibid.]

Underwood served as president of the Erie for 25 years. During his tenure he made good use of limited financial resources to rebuild the long-troubled Erie as a first-class railroad, especially as a freight carrier. From 1920 to 1926 he was also chairman of the executive committee. A number of executives who served under him went onto fame in their own right, most notably Daniel Willard. ["Dictionary of American Biography", Supplement 3, pp. 783-784.]

Elected a director of Wells Fargo & Company on January 2, 1902, Underwood served on the board until the company ceased express operations in 1918. He was appointed managing director of Wells Fargo in May 1910, but relinquished the post in November of that year. [Noel M. Loomis, "Wells Fargo", pp. 284, 311. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., 1968.]

The 340-foot, 3,045-ton package freighter "Ramapo", built in 1896 at Buffalo, New York, was renamed "F.D. Underwood" by the Erie Railroad in 1910. Although sold to the Great Lakes Transit Corporation in 1916, the steamer continued to carry Underwood's name until she was sold for scrap in 1940. [J.B. Mansfield (ed.), "History of the Great Lakes", Vol. I, p. 876. Chicago: J.H. Beers & Co., 1899.] [John O. Greenwood, "Namesakes 1930-1955", p. 210. Cleveland: Freshwater Press, Inc., 1978.]

A licensed captain, Underwood owned three yachts in succession. He was also an early automobile owner. He owned two farms, one in Wauwatosa and another in Farmington, Minnesota; usually he spent his summers at the latter. ["Dictionary of American Biography", Supplement 3, p. 784.]

Underwood retired as president of the Erie Railroad on Dec. 31, 1926. He died of pneumonia at his home at 151 Central Park West, New York City, at the age of 93 on February 18, 1942. [Ibid.]

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