Charles Elliott Perkins
Encyclopedia
Charles Elliott Perkins (November 24, 1840 — November 8, 1907) was an American
businessman and president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
. He was so well respected that historian Richard Overton wrote, "From the time that Charles Elliott Perkins became vice president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy [1876] ... until he resigned as president in 1901, he was the Burlington."
, on November 24, 1840, to James Handasyd and Sarah Hart (Elliott) Perkins. His ancestor was Pierre de Morlaix, bailiff at Malvern Chase
(the large forest which was the favorite hunting ground of Edward I of England
). His ancestor Edmund Perkins emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, some time before 1677. His father, James Handasyd Perkins, was a noted Unitarian
minister in Cincinnati. Charles was the oldest of five boys. He drowned (it may have been suicide) when Perkins was a child.
Charles Perkins was educated in the Cincinnati public schools, graduating from high school at the age of 16. He also received a portion of his education from Milton Academy
in Milton, Massachusetts
.
When he was 16 years old, he moved to Burlington, Iowa
, where he won a job as a clerk in a fruit store. When he was 19 he took a job as a clerk for the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad
(B&MR). He was promoted to paymaster a year later, and then at age 20 was made Assistant Treasurer of the railroad in 1860. His rapid rise in the company's ranks was not surprising: His uncle was John Murray Forbes
, the railroad's president. He was named Acting Superintendent and then Superintendent of the line in 1865. At that time, the railroad extended a mere 75 miles (120.7 km), from Burlington to Ottumwa, Iowa
.
He helped incorporate the Burlington and Missouri River's Nebraska
division, and was named its director as well as director of the line's Iowa
division. Perkins was appointed vice president of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad in 1872. He was also named president of the B&MR's Nebraska division (a position he held until 1875). On January 1, 1873, the railroad merged with the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy (CB&Q), but he continued to hold the position of president of the Nebraska division. This proved a difficult economic time for the railroad. The Panic of 1873
set off the Long Depression
, a prolonged period of deflation and little economic growth which did not end until after the Panic of 1893
. During the first several years of the Long Depression, the CB&Q neither acquired nor built any new track, although the parent railroad did absorb its Iowa division.
. At this time, the CB&Q was part of the "Iowa Pool," a group of three railroads (the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
("the Rock"); Omaha and Northwestern Railroad (O&N); and the CB&Q) with major freight facilities in Omaha, Nebraska
. At any given time, a single railroad might not have enough freight cars in Omaha to accommodate shippers. So they pooled their resources, and agreed to split the income from freight charges. The Iowa Pool was locked in a struggle with the Union Pacific Railroad
. Profits depended on how much freight was handled, and which side could charge more. The Iowa Pool, which had more trains and track, could offer shippers a faster way across the Midwest
(and charged higher prices accordingly). The CB&Q was the dominant system in the Pool. CB&Q president James Frederick Joy
clashed with Perkins over the CB&Q's operations. Perkins wanted "his" railroad, the B&MR's Nebraska division, to carry traffic offered by the Union Pacific. But Joy would not allow it, wishing to force the Union Pacific to move freight via the Iowa Pool. Moreover, Joy owned a controlling interest in other small railroads which could also route traffic away from the Iowa Pool, and these lines were demanding that Joy stop inhibiting them. Forbes ousted Joy in 1875 and appointed Robert Harris
as the CB&Q's new president—a move which led to Perkins' elevation to the road's vice presidency.
Although the CB&Q eventually purchased another minor railroad to enhance its position vis-á-vis the other small Nebraska railroads, Perkins came to believe that Jay Gould
(majority stockholder in the Union Pacific) was using the lure of B&MR traffic to cause dissension within the Iowa Pool. In 1876, Perkins began lobbying Congress for legislation which would require railroads to charge shippers only for the actual miles traveled (a rule that would prevent the Union Pacific from charging higher rates, and thus drive it out of business). In 1876, Gould proposed that the Iowa Pool and Union Pacific jointly and perpetually lease the B&MR (depriving Perkins of his control over the road). Perkins and Forbes rejected the proposal, but Harris met with Gould and was so favorably impressed with the idea that he called for a meeting that would include Gould, Forbes, and Perkins. Meanwhile, Gould purchased enough stock on the Rock and O&N roads that he won a seat on their board of directors. Harris won over a majority of the CB&Q's board of directors, and Perkins did all he could to sabotage further negotiations. By June 1877, negotiations for the "Quintuple Contract" collapsed.
While Perkins was vice president of the B&MR, the Great Railroad Strike of 1877
occurred. Realizing public opinion was against the railroad and that support for the strike
was widespread among workers, he shut down the railroad's operations on July 24 and demanded that the system's property be protected by "constitutional authorities". Within two days, public opinion turned against the strikers, and the strike began to collapse when conductors
returned to work that day.
The fallout of the dispute with the Union Pacific led to a number of changes in the CB&Q. The CB&Q and B&MR became more closely allied, at the expense of the Iowa Pool. The Burlington was absorbed into the CB&Q in 1880. Perkins and Forbes then worked together to take over the Kansas City, St. Joseph and Council Bluffs Railroad and the Burlington and Southwestern Railway the same year. The Union Pacific was unable to reach an agreement with the Rock and O&N for more favorable freight charges. Instead, the Union Pacific reached an informal agreement with the CB&Q by which the Union Pacific would build a new rail line north of the Platte River
, allowing it to control freight in the northern part of the state. The B&MR would control freight in the southern half. Perkins demanded that the board choose between himself and Harris. In May 1878, Forbes ousted Harris and installed himself as president of the railroad.
Perkins was considered an "intelligent, forceful" railroad executive. He pushed for dual routes through market territories to keep his competitors out, created a highly regarded management team, and required that his railroad meet the highest engineering standards. During Perkins' tenure as president of the railroad, he bought up numerous other rail systems in order to expand his line's reach. These included the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad
, Omaha and Republican Valley Railway
, Grand Island and Wyoming Central Railroad, Big Horn Southern Railroad, and Chicago, Burlington and Northern Railroad. In 1886, he expanded the line's reach to St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1879, James Jerome Hill and others formed the Saint Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway (StPM&M). Perkins began seeking a way to add a line from Chicago
to Saint Paul, Minnesota
, in 1882. In 1883, Perkins took a secret trip over the StPM&M and reported to the CB&Q's board of directors that it appeared to be a well-engineered line which ran through excellent markets. Henry Davis Minot followed up with another investigation in 1884. In addition to seeking a lease of the StPM&M lines, Perkins also sought to build a line to St. Paul. The Minnesota legislature awarded the Chicago, Burlington and Northern Railroad (CB&N) a charter to build this line around the same time as Minot's study. But negotiations between the CB&Q's Boston investors and Hill dragged on. Hill was anxious for an agreement because the Milwaukee Road
had already extended as far west as Fargo, North Dakota
, and the Chicago and North Western Railroad was pushing west as well. The parties reached agreement on August 3, 1885, agreeing to buy large portions of stock in each other's company and placing Minot on the StPM&M's board of directors. Although publicly Hill denied existence of an alliance, Perkins authorized the CB&N to buy stock in StPM&m's depot subsidiary, leased StPM&M track between St. Paul and Minneapolis, and won the right to use the StPM&M's Minneapolis depot. The deal between the CB&N and StPM&M did not prove as profitable as expected, however, and Perkins was forced to absorb the former into the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy. In 1889, Perkins led the system in constructing tracks across Nebraska, South Dakota
, and Wyoming
so that it could link up with the Northern Pacific Railway
near Billings, Montana
.
As president of the system, he led the CB&Q through the Burlington Railroad Strike of 1888. Perkins was notably opposed to labor unions. In May 1886, he fired all known members of the Knights of Labor
working for roads under his control. Now, Perkins also sought to eliminate unionization of workers on the CB&Q. He believed that unionized workers "owe allegiance to somebody else, and not to the railroad company that employs them." When the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen
demanded that the railroad honor its work rules and implement a uniform pay scale that did not discriminate against newly hired workers, Perkins refused. The union struck on February 27, 1888, and 97 percent of the locomotive engineers and brakemen walked out (even though the union represented only 65 percent of the workers). Perkins hired strikebreaker
s to replace the workers who had walked off the job. On March 5, the union asked unionized workers on other railroads to boycott the CB&Q by refusing to load freight onto its trains. Perkins went to federal court on March 8, seeking an injunction
that would require the other railroads to load freight onto the CB&Q. The federal court issued the injunction on March 13, and almost every aspect of labor relations on every railroad engaged in interstate commerce came under court control. The injunction proved so effective that Perkins told his wife "the general impression this morning ... is that the total collapse[of the strike] is not far off." The strike was essentially over by the end of March 1888, but it lingered in some areas for another 10 months. The two unions ended their strike unilaterally in January 1889. For Eugene V. Debs
, a local leader in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, the strike proved life-changing. Debs radically altered his thinking about labor-management relations, rejecting the idea of a social compact between management and labor. He now saw labor and management locked in a power struggle rather than cooperating toward a common goal.
Perkins was not an advocate of vertical integration
. Under CB&Q President Harris, the company had refused to build or purchase railroad track manufacturing plants (as many other large roads did). Nor did Harris attempt to build on his relationships with rail manufacturers to get them to ship rails via his system. Instead, Harris focused on agricultural developments along the CB&Q's route. But by 1883, members of the board of directors were pushing Perkins to start fostering industrial development along its tracks as a means of boosting freight. Perkins initially resisted, but over time adopted a policy of encouraging heavy industry to build along his system's rail lines so that they could become captive shippers.
investors took control of the line. That year, James Jerome Hill, president of and the largest stockholder in the Great Northern Railway, won the financial support of J. P. Morgan
for an attempt to take over the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy. Hill's strategy was for his railroad and Morgan's Northern Pacific Railway
to jointly buy Perkins' railroad. However, Edward Henry Harriman, president of the Union Pacific Railroad and the Southern Pacific Railroad, also wanted to buy the CB&Q. Harriman demanded a one-third interest in the CB&Q, but Hill refused him. Harriman then began to buy up Northern Pacific's stock, forcing Hill and Morgan to try to retain their majority stockholder status in the road by purchasing more stock as well. Northern Pacific's stock price skyrocketed, and the artificially high stock threatened to cause a crash on the New York Stock Exchange
. Hill and Morgan were ultimately successful in obtaining more Northern Pacific stock than Harriman, and won control not only of the Northern Pacific but also the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy. (Alarmed by Harriman's actions, Hill created a holding company—the Northern Securities Company
—to control all three of his railroads. In 1904, in Northern Securities Co. v. United States
, 193 U.S. 197, the Supreme Court of the United States
held that Northern Securities violated the Sherman Antitrust Act
. Hill was forced to disband his holding company and manage each railroad independently. The Northern Pacific, Great Northern, and Chicago, Burlington and Quincy would not formally merge until 1969.)
Perkins suffered from Bright's disease
. He became confined to his home shortly before his death, and died at his home in Westwood, Massachusetts
, on November 8, 1907. The day his funeral was held, the entire 8000 miles (12,874.7 km) CB&Q railroad came to a halt as a memorial to him.
Perkins was married Edith Forbes of Milton, Massachusetts, on September 22, 1864. The couple had seven children: Sons Robert, Charles and Samuel, and daughters Alice, Edith, Margaret, and Mary.
Although he died in Massachusetts, he was buried in Aspen Grove Cemetery in Burlington
, the large marble obelisk style stone under which he is buried is the largest in the cemetery, and sits near a bluff overlooking a railroad spur line.
, whose headquarters were in Boston.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
businessman and president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington or as the Q, the Burlington Route served a large area, including extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri,...
. He was so well respected that historian Richard Overton wrote, "From the time that Charles Elliott Perkins became vice president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy [1876] ... until he resigned as president in 1901, he was the Burlington."
Early life and career
He was born in Cincinnati, OhioCincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, on November 24, 1840, to James Handasyd and Sarah Hart (Elliott) Perkins. His ancestor was Pierre de Morlaix, bailiff at Malvern Chase
Malvern Chase
Malvern Chase occupied the land between the Malvern Hills and the River Severn in Worcestershire and extended to Herefordshire from the River Teme to Cors Forest....
(the large forest which was the favorite hunting ground of Edward I of England
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
). His ancestor Edmund Perkins emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, some time before 1677. His father, James Handasyd Perkins, was a noted Unitarian
Unitarian Universalism
Unitarian Universalism is a religion characterized by support for a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning". Unitarian Universalists do not share a creed; rather, they are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth and by the understanding that an individual's theology is a...
minister in Cincinnati. Charles was the oldest of five boys. He drowned (it may have been suicide) when Perkins was a child.
Charles Perkins was educated in the Cincinnati public schools, graduating from high school at the age of 16. He also received a portion of his education from Milton Academy
Milton Academy
Milton Academy is a coeducational, independent preparatory, boarding and day school in Milton, Massachusetts consisting of a grade 9–12 Upper School and a grade K–8 Lower School. Boarding is offered starting in 9th grade...
in Milton, Massachusetts
Milton, Massachusetts
Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States and part of the Greater Boston area. The population was 27,003 at the 2010 census. Milton is the birthplace of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and architect Buckminster Fuller. Milton also has the highest percentage of...
.
When he was 16 years old, he moved to Burlington, Iowa
Burlington, Iowa
Burlington is a city in, and the county seat of Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 25,663 in the 2010 census, a decline from the 26,839 population in the 2000 census. Burlington is the center of a micropolitan area including West Burlington, Iowa and Middletown, Iowa and...
, where he won a job as a clerk in a fruit store. When he was 19 he took a job as a clerk for the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad
Burlington and Missouri River Railroad
The Burlington and Missouri River Railroad was an American railroad company incorporated in Iowa in 1852, with headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska. It was developed to build a railroad across the state of Iowa and began operations in 1856...
(B&MR). He was promoted to paymaster a year later, and then at age 20 was made Assistant Treasurer of the railroad in 1860. His rapid rise in the company's ranks was not surprising: His uncle was John Murray Forbes
John Murray Forbes
John Murray Forbes was an American railroad magnate, merchant, philanthropist and abolitionist. He was president of both the Michigan Central railroad and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad in the 1850s....
, the railroad's president. He was named Acting Superintendent and then Superintendent of the line in 1865. At that time, the railroad extended a mere 75 miles (120.7 km), from Burlington to Ottumwa, Iowa
Ottumwa, Iowa
Ottumwa is a city in and the county seat of Wapello County, Iowa, United States. The population was 24,998 at the 2000 census. It is located in the southeastern part of Iowa, and the city is split into northern and southern halves by the Des Moines River....
.
He helped incorporate the Burlington and Missouri River's Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
division, and was named its director as well as director of the line's Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
division. Perkins was appointed vice president of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad in 1872. He was also named president of the B&MR's Nebraska division (a position he held until 1875). On January 1, 1873, the railroad merged with the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy (CB&Q), but he continued to hold the position of president of the Nebraska division. This proved a difficult economic time for the railroad. The Panic of 1873
Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 triggered a severe international economic depression in both Europe and the United States that lasted until 1879, and even longer in some countries. The depression was known as the Great Depression until the 1930s, but is now known as the Long Depression...
set off the Long Depression
Long Depression
The Long Depression was a worldwide economic crisis, felt most heavily in Europe and the United States, which had been experiencing strong economic growth fueled by the Second Industrial Revolution in the decade following the American Civil War. At the time, the episode was labeled the Great...
, a prolonged period of deflation and little economic growth which did not end until after the Panic of 1893
Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures...
. During the first several years of the Long Depression, the CB&Q neither acquired nor built any new track, although the parent railroad did absorb its Iowa division.
Railroad vice presidency
Perkins was named to the Board of Directors of the CB&Q in 1875. In March 1876 he was named the company's vice president, but continued to hold the vice presidency and superintendency of the company's business operations west of the Missouri RiverMissouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
. At this time, the CB&Q was part of the "Iowa Pool," a group of three railroads (the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.-Incorporation:...
("the Rock"); Omaha and Northwestern Railroad (O&N); and the CB&Q) with major freight facilities in Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
. At any given time, a single railroad might not have enough freight cars in Omaha to accommodate shippers. So they pooled their resources, and agreed to split the income from freight charges. The Iowa Pool was locked in a struggle with the Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
. Profits depended on how much freight was handled, and which side could charge more. The Iowa Pool, which had more trains and track, could offer shippers a faster way across the Midwest
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
(and charged higher prices accordingly). The CB&Q was the dominant system in the Pool. CB&Q president James Frederick Joy
James Frederick Joy
James Frederick Joy was an American railroad magnate and politician in Detroit, Michigan.- Beginnings :...
clashed with Perkins over the CB&Q's operations. Perkins wanted "his" railroad, the B&MR's Nebraska division, to carry traffic offered by the Union Pacific. But Joy would not allow it, wishing to force the Union Pacific to move freight via the Iowa Pool. Moreover, Joy owned a controlling interest in other small railroads which could also route traffic away from the Iowa Pool, and these lines were demanding that Joy stop inhibiting them. Forbes ousted Joy in 1875 and appointed Robert Harris
Robert Harris (NP)
Robert Harris was a civil engineer and railroad executive who became president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and Northern Pacific Railway.-Life:Robert Harris was born on July 29, 1830, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire...
as the CB&Q's new president—a move which led to Perkins' elevation to the road's vice presidency.
Although the CB&Q eventually purchased another minor railroad to enhance its position vis-á-vis the other small Nebraska railroads, Perkins came to believe that Jay Gould
Jay Gould
Jason "Jay" Gould was a leading American railroad developer and speculator. He has long been vilified as an archetypal robber baron, whose successes made him the ninth richest American in history. Condé Nast Portfolio ranked Gould as the 8th worst American CEO of all time...
(majority stockholder in the Union Pacific) was using the lure of B&MR traffic to cause dissension within the Iowa Pool. In 1876, Perkins began lobbying Congress for legislation which would require railroads to charge shippers only for the actual miles traveled (a rule that would prevent the Union Pacific from charging higher rates, and thus drive it out of business). In 1876, Gould proposed that the Iowa Pool and Union Pacific jointly and perpetually lease the B&MR (depriving Perkins of his control over the road). Perkins and Forbes rejected the proposal, but Harris met with Gould and was so favorably impressed with the idea that he called for a meeting that would include Gould, Forbes, and Perkins. Meanwhile, Gould purchased enough stock on the Rock and O&N roads that he won a seat on their board of directors. Harris won over a majority of the CB&Q's board of directors, and Perkins did all he could to sabotage further negotiations. By June 1877, negotiations for the "Quintuple Contract" collapsed.
While Perkins was vice president of the B&MR, the Great Railroad Strike of 1877
Great railroad strike of 1877
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 began on July 14 in Martinsburg, West Virginia, United States and ended some 45 days later after it was put down by local and state militias, and federal troops.-Economic conditions in the 1870s:...
occurred. Realizing public opinion was against the railroad and that support for the strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
was widespread among workers, he shut down the railroad's operations on July 24 and demanded that the system's property be protected by "constitutional authorities". Within two days, public opinion turned against the strikers, and the strike began to collapse when conductors
Conductor (transportation)
A conductor is a member of a railway train's crew that is responsible for operational and safety duties that do not involve the actual operation of the train. The title of conductor is most associated with railway operations in North America, but the role of conductor is common to railways...
returned to work that day.
The fallout of the dispute with the Union Pacific led to a number of changes in the CB&Q. The CB&Q and B&MR became more closely allied, at the expense of the Iowa Pool. The Burlington was absorbed into the CB&Q in 1880. Perkins and Forbes then worked together to take over the Kansas City, St. Joseph and Council Bluffs Railroad and the Burlington and Southwestern Railway the same year. The Union Pacific was unable to reach an agreement with the Rock and O&N for more favorable freight charges. Instead, the Union Pacific reached an informal agreement with the CB&Q by which the Union Pacific would build a new rail line north of the Platte River
Platte River
The Platte River is a major river in the state of Nebraska and is about long. Measured to its farthest source via its tributary the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which in turn is a tributary of the Mississippi River which flows to...
, allowing it to control freight in the northern part of the state. The B&MR would control freight in the southern half. Perkins demanded that the board choose between himself and Harris. In May 1878, Forbes ousted Harris and installed himself as president of the railroad.
Railroad presidency
The Nebraska division merged with the CB&Q in 1881. That year, John Murray Forbes stepped down as president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, and Perkins succeeded him. Because the railroad's biggest financial backers were located in Boston, Massachusetts, he moved to that city.Perkins was considered an "intelligent, forceful" railroad executive. He pushed for dual routes through market territories to keep his competitors out, created a highly regarded management team, and required that his railroad meet the highest engineering standards. During Perkins' tenure as president of the railroad, he bought up numerous other rail systems in order to expand his line's reach. These included the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad
Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad
The Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was the first railroad to cross Missouri starting in Hannibal in the northeast and going to St. Joseph, Missouri, in the northwest...
, Omaha and Republican Valley Railway
Omaha and Republican Valley Railway
The Omaha and Republican Valley Railway was a branch line of the Union Pacific that crossed Nebraska. Traversing several counties, including Buffalo County, the Railway was the impetus for several settlements, and upon its demise, several ghost towns...
, Grand Island and Wyoming Central Railroad, Big Horn Southern Railroad, and Chicago, Burlington and Northern Railroad. In 1886, he expanded the line's reach to St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1879, James Jerome Hill and others formed the Saint Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway (StPM&M). Perkins began seeking a way to add a line from Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
to Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
, in 1882. In 1883, Perkins took a secret trip over the StPM&M and reported to the CB&Q's board of directors that it appeared to be a well-engineered line which ran through excellent markets. Henry Davis Minot followed up with another investigation in 1884. In addition to seeking a lease of the StPM&M lines, Perkins also sought to build a line to St. Paul. The Minnesota legislature awarded the Chicago, Burlington and Northern Railroad (CB&N) a charter to build this line around the same time as Minot's study. But negotiations between the CB&Q's Boston investors and Hill dragged on. Hill was anxious for an agreement because the Milwaukee Road
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad
The Milwaukee Road, officially the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until its merger into the Soo Line Railroad on January 1, 1986. The company went through several official names...
had already extended as far west as Fargo, North Dakota
Fargo, North Dakota
Fargo is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County. In 2010, its population was 105,549, and it had an estimated metropolitan population of 208,777...
, and the Chicago and North Western Railroad was pushing west as well. The parties reached agreement on August 3, 1885, agreeing to buy large portions of stock in each other's company and placing Minot on the StPM&M's board of directors. Although publicly Hill denied existence of an alliance, Perkins authorized the CB&N to buy stock in StPM&m's depot subsidiary, leased StPM&M track between St. Paul and Minneapolis, and won the right to use the StPM&M's Minneapolis depot. The deal between the CB&N and StPM&M did not prove as profitable as expected, however, and Perkins was forced to absorb the former into the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy. In 1889, Perkins led the system in constructing tracks across Nebraska, South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, and Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
so that it could link up with the Northern Pacific Railway
Northern Pacific Railway
The Northern Pacific Railway was a railway that operated in the west along the Canadian border of the United States. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in...
near Billings, Montana
Billings, Montana
Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, and is the principal city of the Billings Metropolitan Area, the largest metropolitan area in over...
.
As president of the system, he led the CB&Q through the Burlington Railroad Strike of 1888. Perkins was notably opposed to labor unions. In May 1886, he fired all known members of the Knights of Labor
Knights of Labor
The Knights of Labor was the largest and one of the most important American labor organizations of the 1880s. Its most important leader was Terence Powderly...
working for roads under his control. Now, Perkins also sought to eliminate unionization of workers on the CB&Q. He believed that unionized workers "owe allegiance to somebody else, and not to the railroad company that employs them." When the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen was one of the railroad unions of the 19th century.-History:The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen was founded on December 1, 1873 in Port Jervis, New York by Joshua A. Leach and 10 other Erie Railroad firemen...
demanded that the railroad honor its work rules and implement a uniform pay scale that did not discriminate against newly hired workers, Perkins refused. The union struck on February 27, 1888, and 97 percent of the locomotive engineers and brakemen walked out (even though the union represented only 65 percent of the workers). Perkins hired strikebreaker
Strikebreaker
A strikebreaker is a person who works despite an ongoing strike. Strikebreakers are usually individuals who are not employed by the company prior to the trade union dispute, but rather hired prior to or during the strike to keep the organisation running...
s to replace the workers who had walked off the job. On March 5, the union asked unionized workers on other railroads to boycott the CB&Q by refusing to load freight onto its trains. Perkins went to federal court on March 8, seeking an injunction
Injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
that would require the other railroads to load freight onto the CB&Q. The federal court issued the injunction on March 13, and almost every aspect of labor relations on every railroad engaged in interstate commerce came under court control. The injunction proved so effective that Perkins told his wife "the general impression this morning ... is that the total collapse
Eugene V. Debs
Eugene Victor Debs was an American union leader, one of the founding members of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Workers of the World , and several times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States...
, a local leader in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, the strike proved life-changing. Debs radically altered his thinking about labor-management relations, rejecting the idea of a social compact between management and labor. He now saw labor and management locked in a power struggle rather than cooperating toward a common goal.
Perkins was not an advocate of vertical integration
Vertical integration
In microeconomics and management, the term vertical integration describes a style of management control. Vertically integrated companies in a supply chain are united through a common owner. Usually each member of the supply chain produces a different product or service, and the products combine to...
. Under CB&Q President Harris, the company had refused to build or purchase railroad track manufacturing plants (as many other large roads did). Nor did Harris attempt to build on his relationships with rail manufacturers to get them to ship rails via his system. Instead, Harris focused on agricultural developments along the CB&Q's route. But by 1883, members of the board of directors were pushing Perkins to start fostering industrial development along its tracks as a means of boosting freight. Perkins initially resisted, but over time adopted a policy of encouraging heavy industry to build along his system's rail lines so that they could become captive shippers.
Retirement and death
Charles Perkins resigned as president of the system in 1901 after New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
investors took control of the line. That year, James Jerome Hill, president of and the largest stockholder in the Great Northern Railway, won the financial support of J. P. Morgan
J. P. Morgan
John Pierpont Morgan was an American financier, banker and art collector who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. In 1892 Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric...
for an attempt to take over the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy. Hill's strategy was for his railroad and Morgan's Northern Pacific Railway
Northern Pacific Railway
The Northern Pacific Railway was a railway that operated in the west along the Canadian border of the United States. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in...
to jointly buy Perkins' railroad. However, Edward Henry Harriman, president of the Union Pacific Railroad and the Southern Pacific Railroad, also wanted to buy the CB&Q. Harriman demanded a one-third interest in the CB&Q, but Hill refused him. Harriman then began to buy up Northern Pacific's stock, forcing Hill and Morgan to try to retain their majority stockholder status in the road by purchasing more stock as well. Northern Pacific's stock price skyrocketed, and the artificially high stock threatened to cause a crash on the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
. Hill and Morgan were ultimately successful in obtaining more Northern Pacific stock than Harriman, and won control not only of the Northern Pacific but also the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy. (Alarmed by Harriman's actions, Hill created a holding company—the Northern Securities Company
Northern Securities Company
The Northern Securities Company was an important United States railroad trust formed in 1902 by E. H. Harriman, James J. Hill, J.P. Morgan, J. D. Rockefeller, and their associates. The company controlled the Northern Pacific Railway, Great Northern Railway, Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad,...
—to control all three of his railroads. In 1904, in Northern Securities Co. v. United States
Northern Securities Co. v. United States
Northern Securities Co. v. United States, 193 U.S. 197 , was an important ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court ruled 5 to 4 against the stockholders of the Great Northern and Northern Pacific railroad companies, who had essentially formed a monopoly, and to dissolve the Northern Securities...
, 193 U.S. 197, the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
held that Northern Securities violated the Sherman Antitrust Act
Sherman Antitrust Act
The Sherman Antitrust Act requires the United States federal government to investigate and pursue trusts, companies, and organizations suspected of violating the Act. It was the first Federal statute to limit cartels and monopolies, and today still forms the basis for most antitrust litigation by...
. Hill was forced to disband his holding company and manage each railroad independently. The Northern Pacific, Great Northern, and Chicago, Burlington and Quincy would not formally merge until 1969.)
Perkins suffered from Bright's disease
Bright's disease
Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. The term is no longer used, as diseases are now classified according to their more fully understood causes....
. He became confined to his home shortly before his death, and died at his home in Westwood, Massachusetts
Westwood, Massachusetts
Westwood is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 14,618 at the 2010 census. In July 2005, CNN/Money and Money magazine ranked Westwood 13th on its list of the 100 Best Places to Live in the United States. Boston Magazine listed Gay Street in Westwood on its...
, on November 8, 1907. The day his funeral was held, the entire 8000 miles (12,874.7 km) CB&Q railroad came to a halt as a memorial to him.
Perkins was married Edith Forbes of Milton, Massachusetts, on September 22, 1864. The couple had seven children: Sons Robert, Charles and Samuel, and daughters Alice, Edith, Margaret, and Mary.
Although he died in Massachusetts, he was buried in Aspen Grove Cemetery in Burlington
Burlington, Iowa
Burlington is a city in, and the county seat of Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 25,663 in the 2010 census, a decline from the 26,839 population in the 2000 census. Burlington is the center of a micropolitan area including West Burlington, Iowa and Middletown, Iowa and...
, the large marble obelisk style stone under which he is buried is the largest in the cemetery, and sits near a bluff overlooking a railroad spur line.
Other business interests
Perkins was a director of other railroads as well, including the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad and the Kansas City, St. Joseph and Council Bluffs Railroad (both of which later merged with the Burlington line). He was also a member of the board of directors of the American Bell Telephone CompanyBell Telephone Company
The Bell Telephone Company, a common law joint stock company, was organized in Boston, Massachusetts on July 9, 1877 by Alexander Graham Bell's father-in-law Gardiner Greene Hubbard, who also helped organize a sister company — the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company...
, whose headquarters were in Boston.