- John W. Garrett
Infobox Person
name = John W. Garrett
image_size = 149px
caption =
birth_date = birth date|1820|7|31|mf=y
birth_place =Baltimore, Maryland
death_date = death date|1884|9|26|mf=y
death_place =Deer Park, Maryland John Work Garrett (
July 31 ,1820 –September 26 ,1884 ) was an Americanbanker ,philanthropist , and president of theBaltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O).In 1855, he was named to the board of the B&O, and in 1858, became its president, a position he held until the year he died. His tenure was marked by his support for the Union cause during the Civil War, the expansion of the railroad to reach
Chicago, Illinois , and his struggles with thePennsylvania Railroad over access toNew York City . Many places are named in his honor, including:*
Garrett, Indiana
*Garrett County, Maryland
*Garrett Park, Maryland
*Garrett, Pennsylvania Early life
After attending but not graduating from
Lafayette College ,cite book|last=Hall|first=Clayton Colman|authorlink= |title=Baltimore: Its History and Its People|publisher=Lewis Historical Publishing Co.|date=1912|location= |volume=2|pages=458-461|url= |doi=|isbn= ] Garrett began working as a clerk in his father's banking and financial services firm, Robert Garrett and Company, at the age of nineteen. The company's fleet ofConestoga wagons carried food and supplies west over theCumberland Trail . In later years, the business expanded into railroads, shipping, and banking.Garrett began purchasing the stock of B&O during a difficulat period when the railroad was contending with the completion of the
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and internal conflicts created by its part private and public ownership. Of the thirty members of the B&O's board of directors, eighteen were selected by Maryland and the City of Baltimore.cite book|last=Fee|first=Elizabeth|editor=Fee, Elizabeth; Shopes, Linda; and Zeidman, Linda (eds.)|title=The Baltimore Book: New Views of Local History|publisher=Temple University Press|date=1991|location=Philadelphia|pages=11-27|chapter=Evergreen House and the Garrett Family: A Railroad Fortune|isbn=0-87722-823-X] On November 17, 1858, following a motion of board member and shareholderJohns Hopkins , Garrett became president of the B&O Railroad. The Garrett Company and the B&O interests had strong ties to the London-based George Peabody & Company, and through their business interests, Garrett andGeorge Peabody became close friends. Garrett became deeply involved with thePeabody Institute .Garrett married Rachel Ann Harrisson (1823-1883) and had four children. His daughter Mary E. Garrett, a philanthropist and suffragist, helped found the
Bryn Mawr School and secured the admission of women to theJohns Hopkins University School of Medicine . Among the Baltimore residences of the Garretts was Evergreen House, which was later donated by a descendant to theJohns Hopkins University .The Civil War
The B&O got an early taste of the Civil War during John Brown's raid on the Federal armory in
Harper's Ferry, West Virginia (in those days still part ofVirginia ). Garrett learned that raiders had stopped a train at Harper's Ferry, and sent a telegraph to the Secretary of War. Federal troops led byRobert E. Lee were sent to put down the rebellion on a B&O train. Unlike many Marylanders and their Southern sympathies, Garrett supported the Union, and under his direction, the B&O was instrumental in supporting the Federal government, as it was the main rail connection betweenWashington, DC and the northern states.Garrett is particularly remembered for his part in the
Battle of Monocacy . Agents of the railroad began reporting Confederate troop movements eleven days prior to the battle, and Garrett had their intelligence passed to authorities in the War Department and to Major GeneralLew Wallace , who commanded the department that would be responsible for defense of the area. As preparations for the battle progressed, Garrett provided transport for federal troops and munitions, and on two occasions was contacted directly by PresidentAbraham Lincoln for further information. Though Union forces lost this battle, the delay allowedUlysses S. Grant to successfully repel the confederate attack on Washington at theBattle of Fort Stevens two days later, and after the battle, Lincoln paid tribute to Garrett as "The right arm of the Federal Government in the aid he rendered the authorities in preventing the Confederates from seizing Washington and securing its retention as the Capital of the Loyal States." [ [http://www.nps.gov/mono/historyculture/john_w_garrett.htm John W. Garrett, President, B & O Railroad] from the US National Park Service Monocacy National Battlefield website (accessed 14 November 2006)]Garrett was a confidant of President Lincoln, and often often occompanied on his visits to battlefields in Maryland. In 1868 Garrett organized the
funeral train that took the body of the assassinated president from Washington toSpringfield, Illinois , a trip which included stops and processions in Baltimore, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, New York City, Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, and Chicago.Citation|last=Scharf|first=J. Thomas|title=History of Maryland From the Earliest Period to the Present Day|publisher=Tradition Press|date=1967 (reissue of 1879 ed.)|location = Hatboro, PA|volume=3|pages=656|isbn= ]Postbellum activities
After the war, Garrett acquired three gunboats that had been used in the blockade service and refitted them into packet ships, establishing the first regular line service from
Baltimore, Maryland , toLiverpool, Pennsylvania . He was also associated with several telegraph companies.Following the
Great Railroad Strike of 1877 , Garrett in 1880 was one of the organizers of the B&O Employees' Relief Association. The B&O provided its initial endowment and assumed all administrative costs. Worker coverage included sickness, indefinite time for recovery from accidents, and a death benefit. In 1884 Garrett was instrumental in negotiating the loans which allowed the B&O to extend its main line to Philadelphia and through the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad to reach New York City.Garrett, a trustee of the Peabody Institute, asked its founder, George Peabody, to persuade Johns Hopkins to make the bequest that would make possible the Johns Hopkins University and Medical Institutions. Garrett became one of the most active trustees of the university.
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