Daniel Willard
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| Daniel Willard | |
| Born | January 28, 1861 Hartland, Vermont |
|---|---|
| Died | July 6, 1942 (aged 81) |
Daniel Willard was a railroad executive best known as the president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from 1910 to 1941. He served on or headed several government railroad commissions in World War I and appeared on the cover of Time magazine in 1932 due to his part in negotiating wage cuts in the Great Depression.
Popularly known as "Uncle Dan", he established the B&O's reputation as a public-minded and innovative railroad. He is also remembered in Baltimore as a trustee (and from 1926 to 1941, chairman of its board) of the Johns Hopkins University.
Willard, Ohio (originally Chicago Junction) was renamed in his honor in 1917.
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[edit] Early life
Daniel Willard was born on January 28, 1861 in Hartland, Vermont, a small farm village. His mother died when he was five, attending the local high school and teaching at the district school for two years starting at the age of sixteen. He boarded out with Sophie Taylor, one of his teachers, who instilled in him an appreciation of learning. Family finances were slight and he could not attend Dartmouth College as he desired; instead he attended the Massachusetts Agricultural College at Amherst, Massachusetts in 1878. Poor eyesight, however, forced his departure after six months. This was the end of his formal education.
His railroad career began at this time, as a track laborer on the Vermont Central Railroad. In four years he worked his way up the ladder to become a locomotive engineer on the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad. After being laid off from this job in 1884, he moved to the Soo Line, where he eventually became superintendent in 1899 (though he held acting positions for several years prior. During this period he married Bertha Elkins of Vermont.
[edit] Railroad management: Pre-B&O
In 1899 he followed his mentor, Frederick D. Underwood, to the Baltimore and Ohio for the first time, taking a position as Assistant General Manager. Two years later he followed Underwood to the Erie Railroad where he held several executive positions. In 1904 James J. Hill convinced him to take a position as Vice President in charge of operations on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. In 1909 he assumed an additional similar position on the Colorado and Southern Railroad, and in 1910 assumed the presidency of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, a position that he held for thirty-two years, one of the longest such tenancies in the United States.
[edit] "Uncle Dan" and the B&O
[edit] References
- capsule biography of Daniel Willard from JHU Special Collections & Archives website
- Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Timeline compiled by Scott W. Dunlap
- Hartland Historical Society on Daniel Willard
- Daniel Willard: From Woodburners to Diesels! Address to the Newcomen Society on April 7 1948, R. W. Brown
