Chauncey Vibbard was an American railroad executive, congressman, and capitalist.
Background
Chauncey Vibbard was born on November 11, 1811, in Galway, New York.
His father, Timothy Vibbard, Jr. , was a descendant of a French family of the island of Jersey; his mother, Abigail (Nash), was of pioneer English stock.
Education
Chauncey attended the common schools of Galway and Mott's Academy for Boys in Albany, completing his course at fifteen.
Career
Vibbard became a clerk in a wholesale grocery store in Albany, and later clerk in a wholesale dry-goods house in New York City, then for some two years was a bookkeeper in Montgomery, Alabama. Late in 1836, he returned to his native state and was appointed a chief clerk of the Utica & Schenectady Railroad, opened to traffic in that year. Here, at last, was work to his taste. He quickly mastered a maze of details, and made himself so necessary to the company that by 1849, he was general superintendent of the road; he had also become a stockholder.
An able organizer with considerable vision, Vibbard drew up with his own hand the first railroad time-table followed in the state and pledged his word to the public that, barring extraordinary difficulties, the trains should run as scheduled an almost unheard-of thing at that time. He increased the comfort of passenger travel and sought every appliance that would make for speed, safety, and efficiency.
He saw that railroad conditions between Buffalo and Albany were essentially absurd: no less than ten little railroads functioned over portions of the distance; delays, inconvenience, and unnecessary costs were inevitable. He urged over a long period that these roads be consolidated, and at length, the idea was taken up by Erastus Corning, president of the Utica & Schenectady, with the result that in 1853 all the roads were welded into one line known as the New York Central, with a capital of $23, 085, 600.
From 1853 to 1865, Vibbard was general superintendent of the consolidated line; he reorganized the system and made it a smoothly working machine. Meanwhile, by wise investments, he built up a considerable private fortune. He was for several years the principal owner of a large liquor concern in New York (dealing mostly with the South), which went out of business because of the Civil War. In 1861, he was sent as a Democrat to Congress.
In 1862, he was appointed a director and superintendent of military railroads. He refused a renomination to Congress, although he could easily have been reelected. In 1864, he supported McClellan's candidacy for the Presidency. In 1865, he resigned his position with the New York Central to devote his time to private business interests, though he continued as a large holder of railroad stocks.
He was a partner in Vibbard & Foote, extensive dealers in railroad supplies, and was one of the owners of the Day Line of steamboats between New York and Albany. He served three years as president of the Family Fund Insurance Company, was one of the original stockholders in New York's first elevated railway, and was a director of the Central Branch Union Pacific Railroad.
In his later years, he was interested in developing railways in the southern United States and in Central and South America. Vibbard died in Macon, Georgia, in 1891.
Achievements
Connections
Vibbard was married Mary A. (Vedder) of Milton, New York. She died in 1884. The couple had a daughter and two sons.