Sacramento County
Biographies
BENJAMIN WELCH
BENJAMIN WELCH. To railroad men
throughout the entire west few names are more familiar than that of Benjamin
Welch, who through long association with the railroad interests of this section
of the United States and through inventive genius gained for himself a position
among the foremost railroad men of the entire country. Coming to the west unknown and without the
prestige of influential friends or ample means, he had nothing to aid him
except his sturdy independence of character and high order of ability. With these gifts as his sole capital, he
worked his way out of obscurity into prominence and out of dependence into
leadership. It was his privilege to
impress his personality upon the leaders of transportation in the west and his
privilege likewise to enjoy a long and more than ordinarily successful career,
at the close of which he was retired from active service on a pension of $140
per month, and is now passing the twilight of a busy existence in his home city of Sacramento.
The
genealogy of the Welch family is traced to the north of Ireland,
whence some of its representatives migrated from Yorkshire,
England, about 1640, and from there
the progenitor of the family crossed the ocean to America
during the same year, settling in Portsmouth,
N. H., some of his descendants later serving in the
Revolutionary war. James Welch,
grandfather of Benjamin, became a seafaring man, his
home was in Cape Elizabeth. The family home on the maternal side was near
Portland, Me., on what is known as Peaks
Island in Casco bay,
and there Benjamin Welch was born August 2, 1827. On his father’s side, as has been mentioned,
he is of colonial descent, and the same is true of his maternal ancestors, his
mother, Lucinda (Brackett) Welch, being a descendant of Scotch progenitors who
settled in New England as early as 1632, and among whose kinsmen was George
Cleaves, the illustrious founder of Portland, Me., and one of the leading men
of his day.
At
the age of sixteen years Benjamin Welch began to work as a carpenter in the
Portland Locomotive & Car shops, working for the Atlantic & St.
Lawrence Railroad (afterward the Grand Trunk) under the supervision of Horace
Felton and John Sparrow. In the spring
of 1852 he started for California, taking passage on the
steamer Daniel Webster, for Greytown, on the Nicaragua
river, thence across to the Pacific ocean and from
there to San Francisco, where his
ship cast anchor on the 26th of March. For three years he remained in that city,
working as opportunity offered. March 4,
1855, he started for the Kern river mining district,
and during his trip of four months he visited various mines in the San
Joaquin and Bear valleys.
About this time he secured employment with the Sacramento Valley
Railroad Company as a car builder and superintendent of their pattern shops at
Folsom City, which position he filled for seven years. On resigning from that place he began to aid
in the construction of the San Jose road and made his
headquarters at the Seventeen-Mile house with Charles McLaughlin, who later was
killed in San Francisco.
After
having been engaged with other roads until 1863, Mr. Welch then was engaged by
C. P. Huntington in the interest of the Central Pacific Railroad. To his work as car-master was added that of
general superintendent of construction of the different shops and
buildings. The first shop erected was
only 20x150 feet in dimensions and employed only six men the first year. Additions were made of 130x30
feet, and in 1867 a shop, 60x200 feet, was erected. The following year a shop, 90X230 feet, was
built, with an L 90x40 feet, which was. soon followed
by another 100x200 feet, also the roundhouse.
In 1865, at a cost of $2400, he built an immense snow-plow, which was
successfully operated for many years.
About the same period he assisted in rebuilding the American river
bridge, which fire had destroyed. During
1869 he invented what was known as the framer and tenon
machine, the use of which saved much time and labor in the construction of
cars. In 1870 the emigrant sleeper (more
commonly known as the tourist car) was constructed after plans furnished by
him, and since then has been adopted by almost all of the railroads in the United
States.
January
4, 1860, occurred the marriage of Mr. Welch and Mrs.
Eleanor (Boobar) Marsh, a native of Maine. Born of their union are four sons now living,
namely: George Henry, Walter Hatch,
Frank Cummings and Benjamin Bradford. Active in Masonry, Mr. Welch is identified
with Union Lodge No. 58, F. & A. M., Sacramento Chapter No. 3, R. A. M.,
Sacramento Council No. 1, R. S. M., Sacramento Commandery
No. 2, K. T., Islam Temple A. A. O. N. M. S. of San
Francisco, and has taken all the degrees of the
Scottish Rite.
In connection with railroad matters he has been honored with positions
of trust. Since 1870 he has held
membership in the Car-Builders’ Association, and in 1886 was a member of the
committee on brakes, that held a session lasting thirty days, at Burlington,
Iowa, and the same committee again met the following year. Among railroad men he is highly honored, and
although now retired from active participation in transportation matters, he is
not forgotten by the thousands who labored by his side or under his supervision,
and to who “Uncle Ben” is still the synonym for all that is unassuming of
manner, fertile of resource and generous of nature. Since his retirement he has devoted his
attention to the management of his investments, which represent a considerable
sum and from which he derives a gratifying income. Included among other interests is that, with
a brother and two sisters, in a hotel and pleasure resort at Peaks Island, his
birthplace in Maine, and occasional visits to the east during his long and
eventful career brought him healthful recreation and enabled him to keep in
touch with his kindred at the old home place.
He has always taken an active part in Republican politics, though never
an aspirant for office.
Transcribed by Priscilla Delventhal.
Source: “History of
the State of California and Biographical Record of the Sacramento Valley,
California” by
J. M. Guinn. Pages 1029-1030. Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago 1906.
© 2007 Priscilla Delventhal.