Philip Evan Thomas (November 11, 1776-September 1, 1861) was the first president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from 1827-1836. He has been referred to as "The Father of American Railways."[1] The Thomas Viaduct bridge in Relay, Maryland was named after him.[2]
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Philip was born in Mount Radnor, Colesville, Maryland, the third son of Evan and Rachel (Hopkins) Thomas. His mother Rachel, was the daughter of Gerard Hopkins whose family include Samuel Hopkins and his son Johns Hopkins, the founder of Johns Hopkins University.[3]
He married Elizabeth George of Kent County, Maryland and worked in the hardware business in Baltimore under Thomas Poultney, his brother-in-law. He commenced his own business in 1800 with Evan Thomas, Jr., his younger brother, and William George, his wife's brother.[4] He became active in both the Baltimore community and the banking business. He served as a cashier at Mechanics' Bank, became the first president of the Mechanical Fire Company, was the founder of the Baltimore Library Company and an organizer of the State Temperance Society. Thomas also donated $25,000 to the State for the Washington Monument.[5] A prominent figure in the Society of Friends (the Quakers)from 1821-1832, he also served as chairman of the Society's Indian Affairs Committee. His efforts to help Native Americans earned him the title of "Hai-wa-nob" (the Benevolent One) from the Swan tribe of the Senecas. Thomas was the representative to Washington for the Six Nations of Indians.[6]
He died in 1861 while living with his daughter in Yonkers, New York. He had seven children.
In 1825, Thomas became involved with the early canal enterprises in New England, acting as commissioner of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal system. He became disillusioned with the project after realizing that it would not benefit Baltimore and he resigned his commission in 1828.[7] Inspired by his brother Evan's description of an English mining railroad, Thomas and 25 other civic leaders of Baltimore determined to build a railroad between Baltimore and Ohio.[8] With Thomas as president, George Brown as treasurer and Alexander Brown as one of several other investors, Thomas founded a railroad to compete with the canals.[9]