Background
Jeffery was born on April 6, 1843, in Liverpool, England, the son of William S. and Jane (McMillan) Jeffery.
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Edward Turner Jeffery
Edit ProfileEducation
Jeffery had a brief period of schooling in the United States.
Career
With his parents Jeffery emigrated to the United States in 1850 and began to work for the Illinois Central Railroad in 1856. The next twenty years he spent in the Chicago shops, where he rose to the rank of assistant superintendent of machinery. In 1877 he reached his first important position, that of general superintendent and chief engineer. He was made general manager of the company in 1885, and although his work was generally recognized as excellent, he resigned in 1889, probably as a result of a conflict with Harriman over certain proposed changes in rates. Having no alternate position available upon his resignation from the Illinois Central, Jeffery threw himself into work for the proposed world's fair at Chicago and made a trip to Europe to view the Paris exposition of 1889 in order that he might describe it for the benefit of the people interested in a similar fair at Chicago. The formal account of his trip appeared in his pamphlet: Paris Universal Exposition, 1889.
After his return to the United States he was one of the most active supporters of the Chicago plans. With DeW. C. Cregier and T. B. Bryan he appeared before Congress to ask recognition and support for Chicago as the site of the exposition, and in 1891 he was appointed chairman of the committee on buildings and grounds. Jeffery severed his connection with the Chicago exposition in 1891 to become president and general manager of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. He managed the road so well that it was able to weather the financial difficulties of the panic of 1893.
He made the most significant decision of his life in the winter of 1900-1901, when George Jay Gould bought control of the Denver & Rio Grande. With Gould in control, a new road, the Western Pacific Railway, was chartered to connect Ogden, the western terminus of the Denver & Rio Grande, with San Francisco. Jeffery became president of the Western Pacific in 1905 and carried it to completion in 1911. The new line was well built but unprofitable. The failure of the road to pay dividends reacted adversely on the Denver & Rio Grande, which had advanced much of the cost of construction and had guaranteed certain of the Western Pacific bonds. Both roads were foreclosed and sold in 1915, and the succeeding years found the Denver & Rio Grande in continual financial difficulties. Meantime Jeffery had resigned the presidency of the latter in 1912 to become chairman of the board of directors, and had taken similar action in respect to the Western Pacific in 1913.
In 1917 he retired from all active railroad management. Obviously the Denver & Rio Grande had been wrecked. An investigation by the Interstate Commerce Commission baldly denounced the officers of the roads but absolved them from the charge of acting for the benefit of themselves or of the bankers. The minority stockholders of the Denver & Rio Grande instituted court proceedings to gain damages from Gould, Jeffery, and others, but received an adverse decision of the court in 1926. Jeffery died the following year in New York City.
Achievements
Membership
Jeffery served as President of the Western Pacific (1905-1911) and President of the Denver & Rio Grande.
Connections
In 1877 Jeffery married Virginia Osborne Clarke.
