Samuel T. Bledsoe

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 Bowling Green Business College. He then took up teaching from 1885 to 1887.

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 Freemasons, prepared By Truman written by Denslow| accessdate=2008-05-19| date=1957-12-09| work=reprinted by Tribe.net| url-status=dead| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080719080147/http://tribes.tribe.net/e388baea-51eb-417f-9390-06fe37f92e41/thread/482a36e6-8aac-44a1-9a68-61e04d03b4df| archivedate=2008-07-19}} 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|page=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| url-status=dead| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725051800/http://www.theeds.net/Trains/ATSF/depression.htm| archivedate=2008-07-25}} 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}}

• {{cite journal| author=Bledsoe, Samuel T.| title=Consolidation and Coördination Problems| journal=Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science| volume=17| issue=2|date=January 1937| pages=114–126| doi=10.2307/1172539| jstor=1172539| publisher=The Academy of Political Science}}

The town of Bledsoe, Texas, was named in his honor.{{Handbook of Texas|id=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 }}

{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}

{{s-bef| before=William Benson Storey}}

{{s-ttl| title=President of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway| years=1933 – 1939| }}

{{s-aft| after=Edward Engel}}

{{end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bledsoe, Samuel T.}}

Category:1868 births

Category:1939 deaths

Category:Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway presidents

Category:20th-century American railroad executives

Category:People from Clinton County, Kentucky

Category:University of Texas School of Law alumni

{{US-rail-bio-stub}}