Samuel Morse Felton Sr.
Born(1809-07-17)July 17, 1809
West Newbury, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedJanuary 24, 1889(1889-01-24) (aged 79)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma materHarvard University
Occupations
  • Engineer
  • Railroad executive
Spouses
Eleanor Steson
​
​
(m. 1839; died 1847)​
    Maria Low Lippitt
    ​
    (m. 1850)​
    Children7, including Samuel Morse Felton Jr.
    Relatives

    Samuel Morse Felton Sr. (July 17, 1809 – January 24, 1889) was a civil engineer and railroad executive.

    Early life

    Samuel Morse Felton was born on July 17, 1809, in West Newbury, Massachusetts.[1] At the age of 14, he went into the grocery business and prepared for college. He graduated from Harvard University in 1833.[1]

    Career

    Felton was the Superintendent and engineer of the Fitchburg Railroad 1843-1851 and president of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad (PW&B) from 1851–1865, during the pivotal American Civil War era. In 1865, he suffered a stroke that left him with paralysis and compelled him to resign his role as President of the PW&B.[1]

    A few months after resigning from PW&B, he became the President of the Pennsylvania Steel Company.[1] While at Pennsylvania Steel, Felton also served on the boards of directors of several railroads, including his former Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company, the Northern Pacific Railway, and the Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain Railroad. In 1869 he was appointed by 18th President Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885, served 1869-1877), as a Commissioner to inspect the trans-continental and Pacific Railroads.[2] He was also appointed by Governor John Albion Andrew as a member of the Hoosac Tunnel Commission.[1]

    He was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society in 1854.[3]

    Personal life

    Felton married Eleanor Stetson in 1839, and together they had three daughters.[1] She died in 1847. In 1850, he married Maria Low Lippitt.[1] Together, they had one daughter and three sons.[1] One of his sons, Samuel Morse Felton Jr. (1853-1930), was also involved like his father with engineering and railroading with several different lines and supervised railroad operations in France on the Western Front in World War I (1914/1917-1918).[2]

    Felton was the brother of Harvard College / Harvard University president Cornelius Conway Felton in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and attorney John B. Felton. [4]

    He died on January 24, 1889, in Philadelphia.[1]

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "President Samuel M. Felton, of the Pennsylvania Steel Company, Dead. Sketch of his Career". Harrisburg Telegraph. 1889-01-25. Retrieved 2021-04-05 – via Newspapers.com.
    2. 1 2 Samuel Morse Felton Family Papers, 1841-1930 Archived 2006-02-03 at the Wayback Machine
    3. ↑ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
    4. ↑ William Bentinck-Smith (1982). The Harvard Book: Selections From Three Centuries. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674373013.
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