Call Number:

1151

Repository:

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Extent:

2.4 linear feet (; 5 boxes, 4 volumes)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Cite as: [Indicate cited item or series here], Felton family papers (Collection 1151), The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Date:

1839-circa 1922

Creator:

Felton, S. M. (Samuel Morse), 1809-1889. and Felton, Samuel Morse, 1853-1930.

Abstract:

The Felton family papers consist primarily of correspondence, telegrams, memoranda, and reports of Samuel Morse Felton (1809-1889) and his son Samuel Morse Felton II (1853-1930), both civil engineers who became prominent railroad executives. Samuel Morse Felton rescued the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Philadelphia Railroad from financial ruin in the 1850s and made it into an important transportation route for Union troops during the Civil War. Felton also played a role in thwarting an assassination attempt on President Lincoln in February 1861. He went on to work for several railroad companies. Samuel Morse Felton II also forged a highly successful career in railroads, particularly with the Chicago Great Western Railroad during the late 1800s. Felton II was eventually named director general of military railways during World War I.

Samuel Morse Felton was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts on 17 July 1809 to Cornelius C. Felton and Anna Morse. He spent much of his life in Massachusetts where he studied civil engineering and for a time served as the secretary of the Charlestown Lyceum. In 1843, he took an engineering job with the Fitchburg Railroad in Boston. In 1851, he left Massachusetts and took over the job of president of the financially troubled Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad (PWBRR). As president, Felton helped restore this floundering railroad and it became one of the most important transportation routes for Union soldiers during the Civil War. A few years later, Felton was named president of the Pennsylvania Steel Company, though he maintained his connections with PWBRR. He also served with several other railroads during this time, such as the local Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, the Northern Pacific Railroad, which traversed much of the northwestern United States; and the Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain Railroad, with served far upstate New York. From 1862 to 1865, Felton helped oversee the construction of the Hoosac Tunnel in Massachusetts. In 1869, he accepted President Ulysses Grant's appointment as commissioner to inspect Pacific railroads.

Felton died in Philadelphia on 24 January 1889. He married twice, first to Eleanor Stetson (1813-1847) of Charlestown, Massachusetts, second to Maria Low Lippitt (1826-1911) of Savannah, Georgia. He and Eleanor had three daughters. Together with Maria they had one daughter and three sons, one of whom, Samuel Morse Felton II, inherited his father's railroad sensibilities.

Samuel Morse Felton II was born in Philadelphia on 3 February 1853, and he also developed a very successful career in railroads. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and graduated with an engineering degree in 1873. His talents and abilities led to appointments as president of the Chicago and Alton Railroad in 1889 and president of the Chicago Great Western Railroad in 1909. He also worked for the Mexican Central Railroad, the Tennessee Central Railroad, and the Cincinatti, New Orleans, and Texas Pacific Railway. Further recognition came during World War I when he was named director general of military railways. In this position Felton controlled and organized American railway forces and supplies in France. For his service, Felton received the Distinguished Service Medal and the Cross of the Legion of Honor from France. Over the course of his life he held numerous other positions and memberships; he worked extensively with the Western Railroad Association and was a member of the American Society of Military Engineers and American Railway Engineering Association, among others.

Felton died in Illinois in 1930. At the time he was working with the Central Trust of Illinois. Felton married Dora Hamilton of Philadelphia and the couple had one son and three daughters.

Housed in five boxes and four volumes, the Felton family papers are a small but rich collection highlighting the lives of Pennsylvania railroad executives Samuel Morse Felton (Series 1) and Samuel Morse Felton II (Series 2). The vast majority of papers from both men are business oriented and pertain specifically to their railroad-related duites and activities.

Most of the collection originated from the elder Felton; his papers span his career from 1839 to his death in 1889. Besides railroad topics and building projects, some materials discuss Union troop movement to Washington, D. C. and the February 1861 assassination attempt on President Lincoln. Other items of interest include papers on the construction of Massachusetts' Hoosac Tunnel during the Civil War, telegrams discussing troop movement in 1861, and Felton's letter books from 1857-1859 and 1868-1874.

The remaining papers in the collection came from Felton's son, Samuel Morse Felton [II], a railroad executive and military advisor. Made up almost entirely of correspondence from 1916 to 1920, these materials pertain mostly to Felton's railroad work. Some letters discuss the use of railroads in Mexico during the revolution in 1916, in France during World War I, and in Russia during the revolution in 1918.