John Joseph Bernet

Background

John Bernet was born on February 9, 1868, in Brant, New York, United States, one of the two sons of Bernard and Emma (Greene) Bernet. His father was a blacksmith who emigrated to the United States from Switzerland.

Education

John went to the public schools in Brant, New York, and in Buffalo after the family had moved there in 1879. Later he became a blacksmith apprentice in the Merchant Wagon Works, qualifying as blacksmith and horseshoer in three years.

Career

In 1883, at the age of fifteen, John got his first regular job as an office boy. When the family moved to Farnham, New York, he assisted his father in the village blacksmith shop, but he was too nearsighted to tell when the glowing iron of horseshoes and wagon tires was the proper color to enable him to "finish his metal. " Realizing that his success as a blacksmith was doubtful, he took up telegraphy, studying in his spare time. In two years he qualified as a railroad telegrapher, and in 1889 he entered railroad service as a telegraph operator on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad. Here his advance was rapid, and he was successively promoted to train dispatcher, trainmaster, assistant division superintendent, and division superintendent. In November 1905 he became assistant general superintendent of the same railroad at Cleveland, Ohio, and on October 1, 1906, was promoted to general superintendent, remaining in that position until January 1, 1911, when he became assistant to the vice-president and later assistant vice-president of the New York Central Lines, west of Buffalo, with headquarters at Chicago, Illinois.

In 1915 the New York Central & Hudson River and the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroads were consolidated into the New York Central, and Bernet became resident vice-president at Chicago for the consolidated company. His next move was on July 15, 1916, when he became president and general manager of the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad. Oris Paxton and Mantis James Van Sweringen had begun their railroad venture in 1916 by acquiring the New York, Chicago & St. Louis (popularly called "The Nickel Plate") from the New York Central. They offered Bernet the presidency, since he had expressed the belief that the Nickel Plate could be made to pay dividends.

Under Bernet's direction, the railroad became a profitable line. Its physical property was rehabilitated, much second track was constructed, freight and passenger stations were modernized and others erected, along with shops and engine-houses, and modern motive power and rolling stock were purchased and placed in service. By 1924 the financial position of the railroad had improved to the point where plans were made for consolidating it with the Erie, the Pere Marquette, the Chesapeake & Ohio, and the Hocking Valley, but approval of those plans was withheld by the Interstate Commerce Commission.

When the Van Sweringen brothers later acquired the Erie, they asked Bernet to become president, in which position he served from January 1, 1927, to May 24, 1929, rehabilitating that railroad to the extent that it resumed dividend payments on its first and second preferred stock in 1929, after a lapse of more than twenty years. In that same year the Van Sweringens announced their intention of building a major railroad transportation system around the Chesapeake & Ohio. Bernet became president of the Chesapeake & Ohio, Hocking Valley, and Pere Marquette railroads on May 24, 1929, in accordance with that policy.

On February 8, 1933, Bernet again became president of the New York, Chicago & St. Louis, in addition to the other positions, with headquarters at Cleveland, Ohio. His death occurred in Cleveland.

Achievements

• During his career, John Bernet was a very successful president of the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, Erie Railroad, Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, and Pere Marquette Railroad in the United States. He left his mark on the railroad industry of the United States because of his success in bringing these railroad companies back from bankruptcy and in building up them to the status of efficiency and high standing.

Membership

John Bernet was a member of American Railway Association.

Connections

Bernet was married to Helen L. Woods and had a family of three sons and two daughters: Anna May, William, Helen, Bernard, and Maurice.

Father:

Bernard Bernet

Mother:

Emma (Greene) Bernet

Spouse:

Helen L. (Woods) Bernet

Son:

Bernard Bernet

Daughter:

Helen Bernet

Daughter:

Anna May Bernet

Son:

William Bernet

Son:

Maurice Bernet