William J. Oliver (industrialist)
| William J. Oliver | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
January 13, 1867 Mishawaka, Indiana, United States |
| Died | March 28, 1925 (aged 58) Knoxville, Tennessee, United States |
| Resting place | Greenwood Cemetery Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Blanche O'Brien |
William Jesse Oliver (January 13, 1867 – March 28, 1925) was an American industrialist who operated one of the nation's most successful contracting firms in the early 20th century. He built several hundred miles of railroad in the Southern Appalachian region during the 1890s and early 1900s, and opened the South's largest privately owned manufacturing plant in 1905. He submitted the initial winning bid for the construction of the Panama Canal in 1907, though the bid was eventually rejected.
Along with industrial endeavors, Oliver was engaged in civic and political affairs in his adopted hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. He made national headlines in 1908 when he seized control of the Tennessee Republican Party convention, and had himself and several supporters elected to various party positions. He served as president of Knoxville's Appalachian Exposition in 1910.
Oliver was born in Mishawaka, Indiana, to Henry and Clara Oliver. He was a nephew of James Oliver (1823–1908), an inventor and manufacturer known for the chilled plow, which William's firm would later market. William attended public schools in Mishawaka and nearby South Bend. When he was 16, his father suffered a serious financial setback, forcing William to leave home to find work. He was hired as a bookkeeper for a railroad contractor, and had risen to foreman within a few years.
At the age of 23, Oliver formed a 15-team outfit that won a railroad grading contract for the Cotton Belt Railroad, and managed to finish the project at a profit. His company, W.J. Oliver and Company, based in Langley, South Carolina, aggressively sought regional railroad construction contracts throughout the 1890s. He won a contract to build the Pickens Railway, connecting Easley, South Carolina with Pickens, South Carolina, in 1897, and completed a 25-mile (40 km) extension of the Seaboard Railroad from Richmond, Virginia, to Ridgeway, North Carolina, the following year. In 1899, his company won contracts for the Sumter and Wateree River Railroad in South Carolina and an extension of the Southern Railway in the vicinity of Augusta, Georgia. In 1902, Oliver's company landed a million-dollar contract to build the stretch of the Tennessee Central Railroad between Nashville, Tennessee, and Clarksville, Tennessee.
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