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PA022
William Cornelius Van Horne. - 10 October 1856 - 27 February 1938.
Biographical sketch :
William Cornelius Van Horne was born 03 February
1843 at Chelsea, Illinois. After the sudden death
of his father in 1854, be became a messenger for
the Central Railway Company at Chicago. He
subsequently held several positions with various
railway companies while climbing the ranks. He
married Lucy Adeline Hard in 1867 and they had two
children. In 1872 be became General Manager of the
St. Louis, Kansas City and Northern Railway and
put the company back on its feet. He did the same
for the Southern Minnesota Railway. In May 1881 he
became General Manager of the Canadian Pacific
Railway and directed construction of the
transcontinental line which was completed in
November 1885. He became President of the company
from 1888 to 1899, a period during which he
created a veritable empire with the construction
of hotels and ships, as well as developing
immigration and the colonisation of the country.
From 1899 to 1905 he was Chairman of the Board of
Directors. In 1900 he became President of the Cuba
Railroad Company and directed the reconstruction
of the railway. He died following an operation on
10 September 1915.
In his spare time he was an
amateur geologist, a great painter and also an
important collector of works of art.
In 1894 he
was named Knight Commander of the Order of St.
Michael and St. George.
Custodial history :
Fonds transferred to the Association archives by Mrs Van Horne, wife of his grandson, 04 April 1970.
Scope and content :
The fonds deals with the career of William
Cornelius Van Horne, as President of the Canadian
Pacific Railway between 1888 and 1899, and as a
businessman until his death in 1915. The fonds
shows the evolution of the construction of the
transcontinental line completed in 1885, expansion
and diversification of the company in the areas of
ships, hotels and colonisation. The fonds also
show Van Horne's various occupations after his
retirement from the Canadian Pacific Railway,
including his role in the construction of the Cuba
railway and his involvement with the American
Locomotive Company.
The fonds includes
photographs, business correspondence, brochures,
annual reports, booklets, telegrams, railway
passes and postcards.
Physical description :
2 m of textual materials. - 150 photographs.
General note :
Title based on the contents of the fonds. Fonds
classified in chronological order. The documents
in the fonds are in English. There is an index for
the correspondence, microfilms and filecards for
the photographs. See the Canadian Pacific
Archives, RG-1, held at Windsor Station in
Montreal. The correspondence has been microfilmed.
There are negatives for all the photographs.
Last update
: 2006/10/23