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EDWARD HOWLAND ROBINSON GREEN, son of Mrs. Hetty Green, the capitalist, was born in the Langham Hotel, London, England, Aug. 22, 1868. The family came to New^ York in 1872. Edward was educated in the public schools of New York city,the High School in Bellow Falls, Vt., and Fordham College, graduating from the latter in 1888.. He then, studied law, paying especial attention to the statutes pertaining to real estate and railroads. Having been admitted to the bar and thus equipped for the battle of life, he identified himself with his mother's properties and soon revealed excellent business talent. A beginning was made as clerk in the office of The Connecticut River Railroad, where he gained an insight into the management of this class of corporations.
At the age of twenty-one. The Ohio & Mississippi Railroad elected him a director, giving him a larger opportunity for the study of traffic problems. In 1893, he visited Texas, and purchased, on excellent terms, a branch of The Houston & Texas Central Railroad, one of the most important transportation systems in that State, formerly controlled by his mother. The same year, he took The Texas Midland Railroad, in which he owns a controlling interest, out of the hands of the receiver, and by election as the head of the corporation without his knowledge and during his absence, became the youngest railroad president of the United States, natural ability also making him one of the most competent. With the ardor of youth and the determination of a man who is resolved to know all about the business in which he is engaged, Mr. Green pervades with his activity the whole region traversed by his railroad. Frequent visits are paid to the towns along the line, and the merchants are visited for consultation with reference to everything which will increase the traffic and build up both the country and the railroad. It is not unusual for him to don a suit of overalls, mingle with the employes in the shops, and hold the throttle of an engine in a trip down the line. He is not in the least afraid of work. Genial, enthusiastic, considerate and a gentleman, he makes friends everywhere, and is warmly respected by the officers and employes of the road. A large fortune will eventually come under his control, and he is rapidly qualifying himself in the most practical manner for its prudent management.
Mr. Green is already a stockholder in numerous railroad companies and owns several blocks of houses in Chicago. He has won popularity socially by attractive manners, and the commendation of the judicious for his energy, caution and ability.
His clubs are the Union of New York, the Union League and Chicago Athletic of Chicago, and the Dallas of Dallas, Texas Like his father, he is fond of athletic exercises, and has gained therein the iron muscles of a well developed specimen of hardy manhood.
It makes some difference, as these pages clearly show, how a man starts in life, but in free America, early poverty is no bar whatever to success. The essential thing is how a man makes his way, after he has made a start, and this applies to both rich and poor. There is every reason to believe that Mr. Green possesses the constructive and progressive temperament, which promises for him a brilliant future. |
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