Edson Joseph Chamberlin
{{Short description|President of the Grand Trunk Railway from 1912 to 1917}}
Edson Joseph Chamberlin (August 25, 1852 – August 27, 1924) was the president of the Grand Trunk Railway from 1912 to 1917.
Biography
He was born in Lancaster, New Hampshire, on August 25, 1852. He attended Montpelier Methodist Seminary, and in 1871 started work with the New England Railroad. In 1886, he became the general manager of the Canada Atlantic Railway, and in 1909 he was the general manager and then the vice president of the Grand Trunk Railway. In 1912 he became the president of the Grand Trunk Railway when Charles Melville Hays lost his life on the RMS Titanic.{{cite news |title=Becomes the Head of Grand Trunk RR. Vice President of Pacific Line Succeeds Late C.M. Hays. He Is New Englander, Born at Lancaster, N H. |quote=The announcement was made today that Edson Joseph Chamberlin, vice president of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, has been appointed to succeed Charles M. Hays, who lost his life in the Titanic...|date=May 25, 1912 |work=Boston Globe }} Chamberlin's presidency differed from Hays' in that he led the Grand Trunk to expand westward as part of the Canadian transcontinental railway rather than continuing investment in the Central Vermont Railway and connections with New England.{{cite journal| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4GI2AQAAMAAJ| title=Edson J. Chamberlin| journal=Railway Age Gazette| date=September 17, 1917| page=419| volume=63| issue=10| accessdate=July 6, 2014}}
He remained president until he retired in 1917. Chamberlin was succeeded as president of Grand Trunk Railway by Howard G. Kelley.{{cite journal| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LSc-AQAAMAAJ| title=Personals| journal=The Railway Review| date=August 26, 1922| page=295| location=Chicago, IL| volume=71| issue=9}}{{cite journal| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4GI2AQAAMAAJ| title=Howard G. Kelley| journal=Railway Age Gazette| date=September 17, 1917| page=417| volume=63| issue=10| accessdate=July 6, 2014}} Chamberlin died at Pasadena, California, on August 27, 1924.{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of Canada |year=1948}}
The town of Edson, Alberta, was named in his honour.{{cite web|url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0002532 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608195032/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0002532 |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 8, 2011 |author=The Canadian Encyclopedia|author-link=The Canadian Encyclopedia|title=Edson|accessdate=November 7, 2009}}
References
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External links
- [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=8070 Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online]
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{{succession box | before=Charles Melville Hays| title=President of the Grand Trunk Railway| years=1912-1917 | after=Howard G. Kelley}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chamberlin, Edson Joseph}}