Theodore Judah
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Theodore Dehone Judah (March 4, 1826–November 2, 1863) was an American engineer who dreamed of the First Transcontinental Railroad and launched the Central Pacific Railroad
Contents |
[edit] Early history
He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Judah studied engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute after his family moved to Troy, New York.
May 10, 1847 Theodore married Anne Pierce, 22 years to the day before the Golden Spike ceremony.
After working on a number of railroads in the Northeast, Judah was hired as the Chief Engineer for the Sacramento Valley Railroad in California, the first railroad west of the Mississippi River. Throughout the 1850s, Theodore Judah was known as "Crazy Judah" because of his single-minded passion for driving a railroad through the wall of mountains known as the Sierra Nevada, something that was considered impossible by many at the time.
[edit] Railroad accomplishments
As the chief engineer of the Central Pacific Railroad, he surveyed the route over the Sierra Nevadas along which the railroad was eventually built during the 1860s. Failing to raise funds in San Francisco, he was successful in signing up four Sacramento merchants--the "Big Four" who actually built the Central Pacific. They were Leland Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker. His tireless lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C., at the behest of the Central Pacific Railroad, were largely responsible for the passage of the 1862 Pacific Railroad Act, which authorized construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad. After passage of the 1862 Act, the Big Four increasingly marginalized Judah and they put Crocker in charge of construction. Construction was completed in 1869, and virtually the entire course of the railroad ended up following Judah's plans.
[edit] Early death
Theodore died of Yellow Fever (Panama Fever, as it was also known). He caught the disease while taking a boat trip with his wife back to New York City during his land crossing of the Isthmus of Panama. He was going to New York in an effort to find alternative financing to buy out The Big Four investors.
The CP generally ignored Judah, though it did name one of its steam locomotives (CP No. 4) after him. Ironically, the 19 ton locomotive, already bearing his name, crossed paths with Judah on his fateful trip to New York.
There are schools named after Judah, and a memorial plaque dedicated to him stands in Folsom, California.
Within days of his death, the Central Pacific's first locomotive Gov. Stanford, made its first trial run over the new railroad's first 500 feet of track.
[edit] Historical analysis
Historians have been sharply divided over his legacy. There is no disagreement that he was an incurable optimist who popularized the remarkable plan of building a transcontinental railroad, convinced the Big Four to finance it, and was instrumental in securing Congressional passage of the 1862 law.
Some historians speculate that if he had been in charge the political situation of the late 19th century would have been less corrupt, but they have no evidence one way or the other. These historians tend to agree with Judah's allegations that Judah stood for quality, whereas the Big Four were more interested in speedy development at maximum profit to themselves.
[edit] References
- Ambrose, Stephen E. (2000). Nothing Like It In The World; The men who built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-84609-8.
- David Haward Bain, Empire Express: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad (2000)
- John Debo Galloway; The First Transcontinental Railroad: Central Pacific, Union Pacific (1950)
- Theodore Henry Hittell, History of California (1898) vol 4
- White, John H., Jr. (Spring 1986). "America's most noteworthy railroaders". Railroad History 154: pp. 9-15. ISSN 0090-7847. OCLC 1785797.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- http://www.engineeringsuccess.com/Career/Biography/Biographies.asp
- Route N Judah – San Francisco MUNI Route
- San Francisco MUNI: N – Judah
- http://www.bushong.net/dawn/about/college/ids100/biographies.shtml
- In Memoriam: Theodore D. Judah, CPRR Chief Engineer. Died November 2, 1863.
- Theodore Judah at Find-A-Grave
