Frederick Douglas Underwood was born in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, the older of two sons and third of the five children of Enoch Downs Underwood, a farmer and Baptist clergyman, and Harriet Flint (Denny) Underwood. His father, an opponent of slavery, had moved west from his native Virginia by way of Illinois, settling on the Wisconsin frontier in 1836.
Young Underwood was educated at public schools and at the Wayland Academy, Beaver Dam, Wis.
At the age of eighteen Underwood went to work for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, in whose service he remained for the next eighteen years, advancing through the ranks from brakeman to division superintendent. In 1886 he accepted the position of general superintendent of the Minneapolis & Pacific Railway. Before the year was up he had become general superintendent of construction with its successor, the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway (the Soo Line). Promoted soon afterward to general manager, he supervised the construction of nearly 1, 300 miles of line.
This great extension of the Soo brought it into bitter rivalry with the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway, which was then being vigorously promoted by James J. Hill. The two railroad leaders finally worked out a compromise, and when Hill, who had come to respect Underwood's ability, became a major stockholder of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, he saw to it that Underwood in 1899 was made general manager and vice-president. During his two years with the road, Underwood gave characteristic attention to the physical rehabilitation of the property.
In 1901, mainly because control of the Baltimore & Ohio by the Pennsylvania Railroad was in the offing, Underwood accepted an offer from J. Pierpont Morgan to become president of the Erie Railroad. The Erie had a checkered history, marked by frequent financial distress and continuing physical inadequacies. A reorganization by Morgan in 1895 had brought the interest on the bonded debt within normal earning power, but the Erie had then undergone a period of economic retrenchment. When Underwood assumed his duties the property was physically decrepit, financially weak, and low in public esteem. His great accomplishment was the rebuilding of the Erie into a first-class railroad. Extensive double tracking, grade reduction, and the construction of three low-grade freight cutoffs on the eastern section gave the line favorable grades second only to those of the New York Central, despite the mountainous terrain traversed. Line improvements were complemented by the extension of major terminals, the consolidation and rebuilding of shops, and the acquisition of heavier locomotives. An able administrator, Underwood made good use of limited financial resources to build a sound base for the cultivation of traffic and earning power.
He was elected a director of Wells Fargo & Company on January 2, 1902. He served on the board until the company ceased express operations in 1918. He was appointed managing director of Wells Fargo in May 1910, but relinquished the post in November of that year.
Underwood had a lifelong facility for recognizing and advancing promising men, including several who later became leaders in the industry, notably Daniel Willard and Edward Eugene Loomis. Underwood retired from Erie Railroad in 1926. Although a hard taskmaster on the job, he was a warm and generous person who enjoyed a wide circle of friends. A licensed captain and early automobile fancier, he owned three yachts in succession and always maintained a stable of cars. He also had two farms, one in Wauwatosa and the other in Farmington, Minn. , where he raised blooded cattle and spent his summers. Underwood died of pneumonia at the age of ninety-three at his home in New York City.
Underwood made the Erie Railroad one of the superior freight-service routes between New York and Chicago, a worthy competitor of the larger Eastern trunk lines and one that surpassed most others in traffic growth. Although freight-train mileage increased only slightly, the amount of freight carried by the road more than doubled. Under his leadership the Erie also served as a prime training ground for railroad executives.
Quotes from others about the person
Railway Age commented that "it may properly be said that he represents the last of a preceding generation of railroad leaders. "
In 1875 Underwood had married Sara Virginia Smith, by whom he had two sons, Enoch William and Russell Sage. They were divorced in 1886, and in 1893 Underwood married Alice Stafford Robbins.
