A.A. Talmadge

A. A. Talmadge (April 25, 1834 – June 29, 1887) was a 19th century vice-president and general manager of the Wabash Railroad. Archibald Alexander Talmadge was born in Warren County, New Jersey. Of Scotch descent, his father was a Presbyterian minister. He worked in a country store in Goshen, New York, for several years beginning when he was fifteen. At the age of eighteen Talmadge was appointed clerk in the freight department of the New York and Erie Railroad, where he remained for a year. He worked for a hardware wholesale firm on Dey Street in New York City afterward. During the winter of 1854 Talmadge moved to Chicago, Illinois where he found employment as a clerk in the freight department of the Michigan Southern Railroad.

Railroad career

He advanced to become supervisor of freight exchanged at the lake terminus of the railway at Monroe, Michigan. He was transferred to Toledo, Ohio where he stayed until August 1858. He served as trainmaster there and was in charge of all employees at the Toldeo terminus. Talmadgewas a passenger train conductor in St. Louis, Missouri for the Terre Haute and Alton Railroad during the next portion of his career. In April 1864 he was appointed assistant superintendent of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad prior to resigning to take a position on military roads.

In 1868 Talmadge was appointed manager of the Indianapolis and St. Louis Railroad. By 1871 he was general superintendent of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, where he remained for twelve years. On March 1, 1874 he became the fourth the vice-president and general transportation manager of the consolidated Wabash Railroad and Missouri Pacific Railroad. Soon afterward the Wabash was removed from theMissouri Pacific and its jurisdiction assumed by a United States court. Talmadge was named general manager of the Wabash on July 10, 1884. His record in this position was successful. The railroad grew and generated a profit. He became vice-president and general manager of the Wabash Western Railroad which had its headquarters in New York City.

Private life and death

Talmadge was married twice and had eight children. A son, C.H. Talmadge, was a resident engineer for the Wabash Railroad. Talmadge's demise was hastened by a railroad strike in the southwestern United States fifteen months before his death in 1887. He died on his way toa yachting cruise on Lake Erie. He was aboard his private car, Bergen Point, on the Wabash, when he experienced a fainting spell about thirtymiles from Peru, Indiana. His body was transported to St. Louis and then to Union Station in New York City. From there it was taken to his residence at 3651 Washington Avenue. ["A. A. Talmadge Dead", New York Times, June 30, 1887, pg. 5.]

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