William Barstow Strong

Life and career

He was born in Brownington, Vermont on May 16, 1837.[2][3] Strong graduated from Bell's Business College in Chicago, Illinois, in 1855, and soon launched his career in railroading. His first railroad job was as a station agent for the Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad,[4] a position that was introduced to him by his older brother James.

He married Abbie J. Moore, October 2, 1859, in Beloit, Wisconsin. They had three children, a girl and two boys.[5]

He worked his way through several railroad jobs successively for the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, McGregor Western Railway, Chicago and North Western Railway, Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q), and as superintendent of the Michigan Central Railroad in the 1870s. In this position, Strong was succeeded by Henry Brockholst Ledyard in 1876.[6] He returned to the CB&Q after working on the Michigan Central and then joined the management team of the Santa Fe as General Manager, and was promoted to Vice President within a month.[2]

On July 12, 1881, he succeeded T. Jefferson Coolidge as president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF).[2] Under his tenure, the ATSF expanded to about 7,000 miles (11,265 km) of right-of-way, which at the time made the ATSF the largest railroad in North America.[4] He held the presidency until his retirement in 1889.[2]

The city of Barstow, California, where the ATSF maintained extensive shop and equipment construction and repair facilities, and the town of Strong City, Kansas, are both named in his honor.[7][8]