Melville E. Ingalls

Melville Ezra Ingalls (1842–1914), commonly abbreviated M. E. Ingalls, was a Massachusetts state legislator who went on to become president of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (the Big Four Railroad).

Ingalls was born on September 6, 1842 in Harrison, Maine, where he worked on the family farm until he began teaching at the age of 16. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1863, Ingalls began practicing law in Gray, ME before moving to Boston, Massachusetts, where he became an expert in corporate law, specializing in transportation lines. In 1871, he was retained as counsel to the Cincinnati and Lafayette Railroad and would eventually become its president. After multiple consolidations under his watch, the company became known as the Big Four Railroad.

On July 11, 1914, Ingalls died at his summer home in Hot Springs, Virginia, from heart disease after undergoing treatment for an ulcerated tooth. He was buried in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Ingalls also organized the Joint Traffic Association, which was shut down by the United States Supreme Court and co-founded the Cincinnati Technical School. He is the grandfather of David Sinton Ingalls.

Melville financed the construction of the Ingalls Building in Cincinnati, which was the world's first reinforced concrete skyscraper in 1903. The town of Ingalls, Indiana is named in his honor.

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