Biographies
ERNEST OLIVER McCORMICK
McCORMICK, ERNEST OLIVER, Vice President of the Southern
Pacific Company, in charge of traffic, San Francisco, was born at Lafayette,
Indiana, April 3, 1858, the son of O. H. P. McCormick and Marie Louise (De
Vault) McCormick. In 1988 he came from
Cincinnati to San Francisco to take the position of passenger traffic manager
of the Southern Pacific Company. He was
married in 1897 at
He
obtained his school-room education in the public schools of
In
1879 Mr. McCormick began his eventful and progressive railroad career, as a
time-keeper in the construction department of the Lake Eric & Western
Railroad. After serving in this
capacity, as well as in other positions, he was promoted to the post of General
Agent of the Freight Department of the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago
Railway at Lafayette, Indiana. His next
move upward was to the position of General Agent of the Great Eastern freight
line at Louisville, Kentucky.
Subsequently he went over to the Passenger Department of railroading,
and became City Passenger Agent of the Monon Route, at Louisville and
Chicago. It was during his connection
with this road that he began to realize his colonization ideas where have since
proved so beneficial to the communities in which he
operated. Fully appreciating the
importance, both from the viewpoint of the railroad and from that of general
business of increasing the desirable population of sparsely settled districts,
he was chiefly instrumental in establishing the
In
1889 Mr. McCormick was made General Passenger and Ticket Agent of the
During
this active career Mr. McCormick has seized his opportunities to develop what
has become almost a hobby with him, viz., colonization. Few men, if any have been individually
responsible for the growth of more communities than has E. O. McCormick. He not only had much to do with the
organization of colonization rates from the East to California, in 1901, but he
has also helped materially to bring many important conventions to the
West. Among his many projects in this
and allied directions may be mentioned the postal card mailing day for
Together
with his associates he is now devoting much attention to the problem of
providing the best possible facilities for the thousands of visitors who, it is
expected, will be attracted to
Beyond
his railroad connections he is vice president of the American Association of
Refrigeration, ex-president of Association of General Passenger and Ticket
Agents, and a member of the Chicago Association of Commerce, Home Industry
League of California, Merchants’ Exchange of San Francisco, and the American
Freight Traffic Gulf Association. Among
his clubs are the Pacific-Union, Bohemian, Army and Navy, of
Transcribed by Donna L. Becker.
Source: Press Reference Library, Western
Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 52, International News Service, New
York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta, 1913.
© 2006 Donna L. Becker.