Background
He was born on April 26, 1863 on a farm near Cleveland, Ohio, United States, the son of William and Charlotte (Holland) Smith.
He was born on April 26, 1863 on a farm near Cleveland, Ohio, United States, the son of William and Charlotte (Holland) Smith.
He attended the Rockwell Grammar School until he completed its course.
At the age of fourteen, because of his father's death, he obtained employment as a messenger out of school hours with the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway.
Entering upon regular employment in 1879, he continued with the railroad for forty-five years. After advancing to a chief clerkship he sought relief from the narrowing restraints of office work by joining a bridge gang. He became bridge foreman, then general foreman of construction work; in 1890, reports of his energy, resourcefulness, and gift for leadership having reached headquarters, he was made superintendent of the Kalamazoo division of the Lake Shore. After a series of similar positions, in April 1901 he was made assistant general superintendent with headquarters at Cleveland, and in a few months general superintendent.
Transferred in 1902 to the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad as general superintendent, less than two years later he became general manager; by 1912 he had become vice-president; and by 1913 senior vice-president of the railroad and its subsidiary lines in charge of operation, construction, and maintenance. In 1913, because of his generally recognized sense of fairness, he was made a member of the arbitration board that settled the controversy with conductors and trainmen in Eastern territory.
When the railroad and its subsidiaries were amalgamated as the New York Central Railroad, he became president, taking office on January 1, 1914. He was then in his fifty-first year, the chief executive of a system of 13, 000 miles, serving the richest traffic territory in the country. Under his guidance widely scattered and loosely joined lines were welded into an efficient and smoothly operating system.
In 1916 he was made chairman of a royal commission on railways and transportation in Canada. Following the recommendation of the majority of this body Canada entered upon its experiment in government ownership, but Smith's minority report suggested a plan of relief that would have left the railroads in private hands. His counsel was again sought in aid of the problem of consolidation of the Cuban railroads, and he was engaged upon the problem at the time of his death.
With the outbreak of the World War he was faced with the need of swift mobilization for war service. Under national control of individualized railroad systems he was made assistant director general of railroads in trunk-line territory east of Chicago and north of the Ohio, and in January 1918 he was appointed regional director of the eastern district. When he assumed charge the port of New York was blocked as a result of freezing weather and a series of blizzards that made water transport impossible, and there was great congestion on the railroads. Taking personal direction of the situation, he finally cleared up the confusion.
After the war he handled new problems. He dealt successfully with matters of equipment, rehabilitation, electrification, and grade-crossing elimination in New York City, re-location of lines, consolidation, and the problem of terminals in New York and Chicago, and at the time of his death he was completing for his company the most favorable annual report in its history.
He died as the result of a fall from a horse which he was riding in Central Park, New York City.
Alfred Holland Smith started his career as a messenger boy at the age of fourteen, and became the highest-paid railroad manager in the U. S. , President of New York Central Railroad. After the American entry into World War Im Smith assumed control over the largest pool of railroads in U. S. history, carrying one half of the nation's freight. He successfully alleviated traffic congestion and the buildup of Europe-bound cargoes in the docks.
He showed plainly his indomitable energy and persistence, and his leadership in the face of difficulties. His manifold accomplishments as a railroad executive were due to his abundant energy, his vision and imagination, his intimate knowledge of all phases of railroading, and a remarkable understanding of people.
Quotes from others about the person
According to the New York Times obituary, "horseback riding was Mr. Smiths's hobby and practically his only form of outdoor exercise . .. He liked golf, tennis and baseball but did not have enough time" for these sports.
He married Maude Emery of Adrian on September 9, 1885, and they had one son.
