George Jay Gould I
| George Jay Gould I | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | February 6, 1864 |
| Died | May 16, 1923 (aged 59) French Riviera |
| Spouse(s) |
Edith Kingdon Guinevere Jeanne Sinclair |
| Children |
Helen Vivien Gould Kingdon Gould I Jay Gould II Marjorie Gould George Jay Gould II Gloria Gould Edith Catherine Gould George Sinclair Gould Jane Sinclair Gould Guinevere Gould |
| Parent(s) |
Jay Gould Helen Day Miller |
| Relatives |
Edwin Gould I, brother Helen Miller Gould, sister Anna Gould, sister Frank Jay Gould, brother Howard Gould, brother |
George Jay Gould I (February 6, 1864 – May 16, 1923) was a financier and the son of Jay Gould. He was himself a railroad executive, leading both the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (DRGW) and the Western Pacific Railroad (WP).
George was born on February 6, 1864, the eldest son of Jay Gould (1836–1892) and Helen Day Miller (1838–1889). His father was a leading American railroad developer and speculator who has been referred to as one of the ruthless robber barons of the Gilded Age, whose success at business made him one of the richest men of his era.
Upon his father's death George inherited the Gould fortune and his father's railroad holdings, including the DRGW and the Missouri Pacific Railroad. While in charge of the DRGW at the turn of the 20th century, he sent surveyors and engineers through California's Feather River canyon to stake out a route for the railroad to reach San Francisco, California. Through legal wranglings led by E. H. Harriman, who at the time led both the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroads, Gould was forced to set up third-party companies to manage the surveying and construction to disguise his role. The route that Gould's engineers built became the WP mainline.
In later years, the DRGW and WP would work together on trains that were passed off to each other in Salt Lake City, Utah, including the prestigious passenger train, the California Zephyr.
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