Charles Melville Hays | |
|---|---|
 Charles Melville Hays | |
| Born | May 16, 1856 Rock Island, Illinois, United States |
| Died | April 15, 1912 (aged 55) |
Charles Melville Hays (May 16, 1856 – April 15, 1912) was the president of the Grand Trunk Railway. He began working in the railroad business as a clerk at the age of 17 and quickly rose through the ranks of management to become the General Manager of the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railway. He became Vice-President of that company in 1889 and remained as such until 1896 when he became General Manager of the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) of Canada.
Hays left GTR for a short time to serve as the President of the Southern Pacific Railway Company but returned to GTR after one year. As Vice-President and General Manager of GTR he is credited with keeping the company from bankruptcy. In 1909, he became the president of GTR and all its consolidated lines, subsidiary railroads, and steamship companies. He was known for his philanthropy and received the Order of the Rising Sun, third class, from the Emperor of Japan in 1907.
Hays is credited with the formation of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTP), a plan he had to create a second transcontinental railroad within the borders of Canada.[1] He is also blamed for the insolvency of both the GTR and the GTP. He died in the sinking of the RMS Titanic before his plan was complete.[1] Before the ship collided with an iceberg, Hays said that in the near future there would be "the greatest...of all disasters at sea."[2] His body was recovered, and he was buried in Montreal. He had a wife and four daughters.
- ^ a b "Charles Melville Hays: Daring to Dream". Canadian National History Railblazers. Canadian National Railway. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
- ^ Lord, Walter (1955). A Night To Remember. New York: Holt. p. 94. ISBN 0805077642.