Background
Dillon, Sidney was born on May 7, 1812 in Northampton, New York, United States. Son of Timothy Dillon.
Dillon, Sidney was born on May 7, 1812 in Northampton, New York, United States. Son of Timothy Dillon.
He began his career in the industry working as a water boy on the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, one of America"s earliest railroads, for its construction from Albany to Schenectady, New New York In 1840 he went into business for himself, forming his own construction company, and obtaining the construction contract for the Boston and Albany Railroad. Dillon married Hannah Smith of Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1841.
The couple would have two daughters, Cora A. and Julia East. ("Julie").
Cora married Doctor Peter B. Wyckoff in 1875. In her later years, Julia married Gilman Smith Moulton on March 1, 1894.
He was actively involved in the construction of numerous roads, his largest being the Union Pacific Railroad, with which he became actively involved in 1865 through an equity exchange with the Crédit Mobilier of America corporation. Crédit Mobilier of America was a company set up by the Union Pacific to defraud United States taxpayers in the construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad.
As one of the principal contractors for the Union Pacific, Dillon"s vast experience in the construction of railroads proved invaluable.
He took part in the laying of the last rail of the First Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, receiving one of the ceremonial silver spikes used to complete the project Following 1870, Dillon was primarily known as a financier, becoming involved with Jay Gould in numerous ventures as well as serving on the board of directors of the Western Union Telegraph Company. He finally served as President of the Union Pacific Railroad from 1874 to 1884, and again from 1890 until his death in 1892.
Dillon died at his home at 23 West Fifty-Seventh Street in New York City, after a twelve-week illness, at the age of 80.
He is interred under a distinctive Celtic cross at Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, New New York Dillon, Montana is named for him as it was an early terminus for the Railroad.
Sidney, Nebraska, is also named for him.
Married Hannah Smith, 1841, 2 daus.