Samuel T. Bledsoe

Infobox Person
name = Samuel T. Bledsoe


caption =
birth_date = May 12 1868
birth_place = Clinton County, Kentucky
death_date = March 8 1939
death_place = Chicago, Illinois
other_names =
known_for =
occupation =
nationality =

Samuel T. Bledsoe (May 12 1868 – March 8 1939) was the sixteenth president of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.cite book| title=History of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway| author=Bryant, Keith L., Jr.| year=1982| publisher=University of Nebraska Press| isbn=0803260660| pages=pp 260-261| ] cite book| title=Steel Trails to Santa Fe| author=Waters, Lawrence Leslie| publisher=University of Kansas Press| location=Lawrence, Kansas| year=1950| pages=p 421| ]

Early life and family

Bledsoe was born in Clinton County, Kentucky, on May 12 1868. His education took him through various public and private schools in the area; he later attended the Southern Normal School and the Business College of Bowling Green. He then took up teaching from 1885 to 1887.

Railroad career

In 1888, Bledsoe moved to Texas where he studied law at the University of Texas School of Law; he was admitted to the bar in 1890 and began his practice specializing in land and railroad issues in the Indian and Oklahoma territories. His first work for the Santa Fe Railroad began in 1895, which eventually led to his appointment as the railroad's general counsel in 1908.cite web| url=http://tribes.tribe.net/e388baea-51eb-417f-9390-06fe37f92e41/thread/482a36e6-8aac-44a1-9a68-61e04d03b4df| title=10,00 Famous Fremasons..prepared By Truman written by Denslow| accessdate=2008-05-19| date=1957-12-09| work=reprinted by Tribe.net| ] Bledsoe worked his way up through management to succeed William Benson Storey on May 2 1933, as president of the railroad, serving in that position until his death on March 8 1939. [cite book| pages=p 139| title=Homage to the Santa Fe; The many facets of big time railroading| author=Armitage, Merle| publisher=Omni Publications| location=Hawthorne, California| year=1973| edition=reprinted 1986| ] Bledsoe was the first Santa Fe president to be promoted from a career path that did not lead through the operations or technical aspects of the railroad. [cite web| url=http://www.theeds.net/Trains/ATSF/depression.htm| title=Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe; The Great Depression and World War II| date=2004-06-12| accessdate=2008-05-19| ] During Bledsoe's time as president, he worked to reduce the railroad's operating expenses and bring profitability during the Great Depression; it was also during his term that the railroad introduced diesel locomotives into its motive power fleet and launched new passenger trains such as the famed "Super Chief".

Bledsoe also served as a director of the Railway Express Agency and the Continental Illinois Bank and Trust Company.cite news| url=http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/KYCLINTO/2000-02/0950012433| title=Railroad President, Native of Clinton County, Dies| date=1939-03-23| work=Adair County News (reprinted by RootsWeb; Larry & Laura Wright, transcribers)| accessdate=2008-05-19| ]

Published works

*

Legacy

The town of Bledsoe, Texas, was named in his honor. [Handbook of Texas|id=BB/hlb35|name=Bledsoe, Texas Retrieved 2008-05-19.] [cite web| url=http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasPanhandleTowns/BledsoeTexas/BledsoeTexas.htm| title=Bledsoe, Texas| work=TexasEscapes.com| date=2006-08-31| accessdate=2008-05-19| ]

References

###@@@KEY@@@###