Background
He was born on November 24, 1840 in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, son of James Handasyd Perkins and Sarah Hart (Elliott).
He was born on November 24, 1840 in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, son of James Handasyd Perkins and Sarah Hart (Elliott).
He was educated in the public schools of Cincinnati and at Milton, Massachussets.
After a short time as clerk in a store, he was advised by his cousin, John Murray Forbes of Boston, who was financially interested in railroad developments in the Mississippi Valley, to enter this field.
He therefore moved to Burlington, Iowa, and in 1859 became clerk at thirty dollars a month in the office of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad. This road had received a federal land grant in 1856 and after the panic of 1857 had been purchased by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, of which James F. Joy of Detroit was president. Together the two roads eventually gave a through route between Chicago and Omaha, but at the moment the Burlington & Missouri River of Iowa was built only seventy-five miles west from Burlington. Perkins was soon made cashier of the road and within a year was promoted to the position of assistant treasurer and secretary.
In 1865 he was appointed acting superintendent and later general superintendent of Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, thus serving a valuable apprenticeship for larger tasks in the future. Aided by a federal land grant, the company was able by 1873 to build to Fort Kearny, where a junction with the Union Pacific was formed. In the promotion and construction of this road Perkins was active, being an incorporator and director from the beginning.
He was elected vice-president of the Iowa line and when this was consolidated with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy in 1873 he continued in the employ of the combined lines as vice-president and general manager of the roads west of the Missouri River. He was also made director (1875) and vice-president (1876) of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. In 1880 the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad in Nebraska was consolidated with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, and the following year Perkins was chosen president of the whole system, succeeding his cousin John M. Forbes, with whom he had worked closely for five years.
By February 21, 1901 Perkins resigned the presidency. He remained, until his death, a director of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, his work being primarily in the financial department.
Three or four years after his retirement from the presidency of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, he established his home in Westwood, Massachussets, where he died.
Charles Elliott Perkins was well-known as the president of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. During his tenure, he bought up numerous other rail systems in order to expand his line's reach: 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 and others. In the result of his work the system contained 7, 661 miles and was financially one of the strongest of the major railroads. Perkins is one of the most quoted railroad executives by historians of American railroads.
In his business dealings he was guided by the highest principles of personal integrity and of careful administration of other people's property. He was a big man physically and was untiringly active, but was uniformly courteous and inspired affection in those with whom he worked.
Quotes from others about the person
Of him F. A. Delano, president of the Wabash, wrote: "As a railroad builder he was perhaps as great a strategist as any man this country has produced".
On September 22, 1864, he married his cousin Edith, daughter of Capt. Robert Bennet Forbes of Milton, Massachussets. He left three sons and four daughters.
