Edward Henry Harriman: Rebuilder of Bankrupt Railroads

Edward Henry Harriman was an American railroad company executive. Born in New York on February 20, 1848, Harriman’s great-grandfather was an English trader and businessman who emigrated to the US in 1795.

Harriman spent his summers as a boy at the Greenwood Iron Furnace. At 14, Harriman stopped schooling to work on Wall Street in New York as an errand boy. His success at Wall Street was meteoric. Harriman became a member of the New York Stock Exchange at 22 years old.

In 1879, Harriman married Mary Williamson Averell. Harriman became interested in upstate New York transportation because of the influence of his father-in-law, William Averell, who was the president of Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain Railroad Company. His first investment in railroad business was in 1881 when Harriman acquired the broken-down Lake Ontario Southern Railroad. Harriman reorganized the company and renamed it Sodus Bay & Southern. Harriman sold Sodus Bay & Southern to Pennsylvania Railroad and began his career as rebuilder of bankrupt railroads.

In 1897, Harriman was elected as director of Union Pacific Railroad. In May 1898, he assumed the post of executive committee chairman. It was said that his word was the law at Union Pacific. He served Union Pacific until his death in 1909.