Thomas Nickerson (ATSF)

For the castaway sailor, see Thomas Nickerson.

Thomas Nickerson (September 19, 1810 – July 24, 1892) was the eighth president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway between 1874 and 1880. He was also president of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad.

He was born in Brewster, Massachusetts, on September 19, 1810. His family was well known for the number of sailors it had produced, and Thomas himself also sailed for nearly 30 years before he turned to land transportation. He invested in the Santa Fe around 1870, becoming the railroad's vice president in May 1873. The next year he was promoted to president of the Santa Fe, succeeding Henry Strong, where he served until 1880.

Nickerson didn't limit himself to just the Santa Fe. He was also a prominent figure in the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, Sonora Railway, California Southern Railroad and Mexican Central Railway, all subsidiary companies of the Santa Fe Railroad.

Nickerson died in Newton Center, Massachusetts, on July 24, 1892.

Legacy

The town of Nickerson, Kansas, founded in 1872, is named in his honor.

References

• Blackmar, Frank W. (1912). Kansas: a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc.; volume II. Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois. p. 369.  Nickerson, transcribed by Ward, Carolyn, July 2002.
• Gleed, Charles S (February 1893). "The Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe". The Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 2005-07-29. 
• Serpico, Philip C. (1988). Santa Fé Route to the Pacific. Palmdale, California: Omni Publications. pp. 18–24. ISBN 0-88418-000-X. 
• Waters, Lawrence Leslie (1950). Steel Trails to Santa Fe. University of Kansas Press, Lawrence, Kansas.