Hale Holden
| Hale Holden | |
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Holden circa 1915
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| Born | August 11, 1869 Kansas City, Missouri |
| Died | September 23, 1940 (aged 71) New York City |
| Occupation | railroad executive |
Hale Holden (August 11, 1869 – September 23, 1940) was president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) from 1914 to 1918 and 1920 to 1929, and chairman of the board of directors for Southern Pacific Railroad from 1932 to 1939. He was one of the lawyers working for James J. Hill's defense team in the Minnesota Rate Cases. In later years he served as a director for a number of large companies including American Telephone & Telegraph, New York Life Insurance Company and the Chemical Bank & Trust.
Hale Holden was born on August 11, 1869, in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Howard Malcomb and Mary Finley (Oburn) Holden. He received his education at Williams College (graduated 1890) and Harvard Law School (entered September 22, 1890; left 1892). Although he graduated from Williams College, he was forced to withdraw from Harvard due to family finances.
On September 18, 1895, he married Ellen Mitchell Weston, daughter of Byron and Julia (Mitchell) Weston, in Dalton, Massachusetts, with whom he had two sons and one daughter. His son Hale Holden, Jr., (born in 1900) became an executive with the Pullman Company.
Holden practiced law as a partner in Dean, McLeod & Holden in Kansas City; it was his work in this company as a local attorney for the Great Northern Railway during the Minnesota Rate Cases before the Supreme Court that influenced James J. Hill in his favor.
In 1907, Holden left private law practice to become the general attorney for CB&Q, where his first assignments were to manage the railroad's interstate commerce litigation. 1910 saw a number of changes to the CB&Q leadership team, first with vice president Daniel Willard leaving the CB&Q to become president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which led to Darius Miller's post being extended to include Willard's former position; then when George Harris resigned a few weeks later, Miller assumed the presidency and Holden became Miller's assistant. Holden was promoted to vice president on November 8, 1910. Following the sudden death of Darius Miller in 1914 from appendicitis, Holden assumed the presidency of the CB&Q. As one of his last statements, Miller was reported to have asked Louis W. Hill to recommend Holden to James J. Hill as Miller's selection for his successor; Holden was elected president by the railroad's board of directors at a meeting on August 27, 1914, immediately after Miller's funeral. At the time, Holden was the youngest chief executive, at age 45, of any American railroad.
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