Arthur Edward Stilwell
| Arthur Stilwell | |
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Arthur Edward Stilwell
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| Born |
October 21, 1859 Rochester, New York |
| Died | September 26, 1928 (aged 68) New York City |
Arthur Edward Stilwell (October 21, 1859 – September 26, 1928) was the founder of Kansas City Southern Railway. He served as the railroad's president from 1897 to 1900. He was also the founder of Port Arthur, Texas.
Stilwell was born in Rochester, New York, in 1859. While working as a traveling salesman he courted and married Jennie A. Wood, and the couple moved to Kansas City, Missouri and then Chicago, Illinois, where Arthur sold insurance for the Travelers Insurance Company, inventing a coupon annuity life-insurance policy which paid the policy holder an income after a certain age.
With the money made selling these policies, the Stilwells returned to Kansas City where Arthur sold real estate and began building the Kansas City Suburban Belt Railway. In his quest to connect Kansas City to the Gulf of Mexico by rail, he began building and acquiring rail lines for the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad Company (later to become the Kansas City Southern Railroad), plotting townsites along the way which included Mena, Arkansas, Stilwell, Oklahoma, Port Arthur, Texas, and many more.
Setbacks including lawsuits, a hurricane, and yellow fever caused financial problems for the otherwise successful venture, and on April 1, 1899 the KCPG was thrown into receivership by one of its financiers, John Warne Gates, over an unpaid printing bill. Stilwell was out, but the discovery of a giant oilfield in Texas in 1901 ensured the railroad's future success.
Unfazed by losing control of the KCPG, Stilwell announced plans to build a railroad connecting Kansas City with the Pacific Ocean and organized the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway. Although progress was made, financial problems and the Mexican Revolution caused this company to be forced into receivership in March 1912. Ironically, oil was discovered under its tracks and was to contribute to the fortune of its receiver William T. Kemper.
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