Edward Henry Harriman

Edward Henry Harriman 1848-1909, American railroad executive, b. Hempstead, N.Y.; father of William Averell Harriman . He became a stockbroker in New York City and soon entered the railroad field, where he attracted attention by able management of the Illinois Central RR, of which he became a director (1883) and vice president (1887). He became executive committee chairman of the Union Pacific in 1898 and repossessed for it the Oregon Short Line. By purchase of the holdings of Collis P. Huntington , he secured control not only of the Southern Pacific RR but also of the Central Pacific RR. His attempt to secure an entrance into Chicago by gaining control of the Burlington & Quincy RR was blocked by James J. Hill in a struggle famous in American financial history. In a later compromise, he joined with Hill and J. P. Morgan in organizing the Northern Securities Company, a holding company formed to prevent railroad competition. But in 1904 the trust was ordered dissolved by the U.S. Supreme Court. Harriman used the financial strength of his roads to buy widely and speculatively in railroad stocks elsewhere. He conducted the Harriman Alaskan expedition of 1899, a scientific undertaking; sponsored boys' clubs; and pledged $1 million and 10,000 acres (4,047 hectares) of forest land to New York state for park purposes. The reservation, now the 42,500-acre (17,200-hectare) Harriman State Park, is part of the Palisades Interstate Park.

Bibliography: See biographies by G. Kennan (2 vol., 1922; repr. 1969) and J. E. H. L. Mercer (1985).

Harriman, E.H. (1848–1909), railroad financier.Born in Hempstead, New York, Edward Henry Harriman began his business career as a Wall Street stockbroker, but soon became a railroad financier by acquiring the all‐important Illinois Central Railroad. His biggest coup was gaining control of the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific railroads. Joining with J.P. Morgan, James J. Hill, and others, he created the Northern Securities Company, a holding company that integrated the ownership of the Union Pacific, Northern Pacific, Great Northern, and Burlington railroads. In the Northern Securities Case of 1904, the Supreme Court found this company an illegal combination in restraint of interstate commerce and ordered it dissolved. Harriman also earned notoriety following accusations of stock manipulation. Having purchased the Chicago and Alton Railroad in 1899, he issued stock that increased his personal profit with no benefit to the line. A classic example of the practice of “watering” stock, this action was investigated by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) in 1906–1907. Some have seen the investigation as politically motivated, arising from personal animosity between Harriman and President Theodore Roosevelt, but the ICC did find Harriman's corporate empire and business practices “contrary to public policy.”

Harriman also engaged in philanthropy, funding the Tompkins Square Boys Club in New York City and a scientific expedition to Alaska (Harriman Fjord in Prince William Sound is named for him), and donating forest land to New York State that became Harriman State Park. It is, however, as the quintessential Gilded Age “robber baron” that he is remembered by history.
See also Antitrust Legislation; Economic Regulation; Interstate Commerce Act; Progressive Era; Railroads.

Bibliography

William Z. Ripley , Railroads, Finance and Organization, 1920.
Lloyd J. Mercer , E.H. Harriman: Master Railroader, 1985.

Colin J. Davis