Ben Holladay

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Ben Holladay

Born	October 14, 1819(1819-10-14) Kentucky
Died	July 8, 1887 (aged 67)
Occupation	Transportation

Benjamin "Ben" Holladay (October 14, 1819–July 8, 1887) was an American transportation businessman known as the "Stagecoach King" until his routes were taken over by Wells Fargo in 1866. A native of Kentucky, he also served in the 1838 Mormon War in Missouri before starting his transportation empire that later included steamships and railroads in Oregon.

1 Early life
2 Transportation
3 Legacy
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Early life

Holladay was born October 14, 1819, in Nicholas County, Kentucky. His father William (born in Spotsylvania County, Virginia) was a third generation American, descended from John "The Ranger" Holladay. William migrated to Bourbon County, Kentucky, where he was a guide for wagon trains through the Cumberland Gap. Benjamin's mother was Margaret "Peggy" Hughes. Benjamin Holladay learned the freight business at an early age and left home in his late teens for a road trip to Santa Fe in what was then Mexico.

Holladay's lions at the entrance to the Corcoran Gallery of Art

He then settled in Weston, Missouri, where he worked as a store clerk before serving as courier during the 1838 Mormon War for the state militia.^[1] After working at the store for a few years he opened a tavern and hotel in 1840, as well as starting what would become the McCormick Distilling Company, which claims to be the oldest distillery still operating in the same location. Business boomed with his supplies for General Stephen Watts Kearny during the Mexican-American War.

[edit] Transportation

He moved to California in 1852 where he was to operate 2,670 miles of stage lines.

Holladay acquired the Pony Express in 1862 after it failed to garner a postal contract for its owners, Russell, Majors and Waddell. He then operated seven routes with government subsidies totaling nearly $6 million dollars over a four year period.^[2] Holladay sold his stage routes to Wells Fargo Express in 1866 for $1.5 million and moved to Oregon, where he organized the construction of a railroad along the Willamette River. In 1868, construction started on lines along both the sides of the river. Holladay's "Eastsiders" completed 20 miles of track before the competition, which subsequently sold out to him. He won a federal subsidy and built the Oregon and California Railroad as far south as Roseburg before the Panic of 1873 financial crisis stopped the effort. Holladay lost most of his fortune in the stock market collapse on September 18, 1873.^[3] So, in 1876 Henry Villard took over the railroad. Villard described Holladay as "illiterate, coarse, boastful, false, and cunning." Ben Holladay died in Portland, Oregon, on July 8, 1887,^[3] and buried at Mount Calvary Cemetery in that city.^[1]

Ophir Hall now called Reid Hall at Manhattanville College

[edit] Legacy

Holladay had a reputation for lavish living. Ophir Hall (named for his Ophir Silver Mine in Virginia City, Nevada — part of the Comstock Lode) is now the defining landmark (now called Reid Hall) of Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York. Two reclining bronze lions attributed to Antonio Canova that once graced his K Street residence in Washington, DC now guard the main entrance of the Corcoran Gallery. Seaside, Oregon is named for his elaborate "cottage."