Samuel W. Fordyce

Samuel Wesley "Colonel" Fordyce (February 7, 1840 – August 3, 1919) was a prominent railroad executive of the American South. He served on several boards of directors and as president of a few railroads. Fordyce was also the receiver for several railroads when they declared bankruptcy. Early life Fordyce was born in Guernsey County, Ohio, to John Fordyce and Mary Ann Houseman, both of whom were from Pennsylvania. Samuel was one of ten children. He attended Madison College in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, and later studied at North Illinois University in Henry County, Illinois. Military career At the age of twenty, after completing his studies, Fordyce returned home to work as a station agent on the Central Ohio Railroad. After a year, he enlisted as a private in the First Ohio Volunteer Cavalry to fight in the Civil War. He was soon promoted to second lieutenant and then to a first lieutenancy of Company B, First Ohio Volunteers. In 1863, he was promoted to captain of Company H and soon after was made assistant inspector general of cavalry in the Army of the Cumberland. Fordyce was wounded three times and captured three times, but he was recaptured two of those times and managed to escape the other. Professional career After the Civil War, Fordyce relocated to Huntsville, Alabama, and established a banking house, Fordyce & Rison. Fordyce assisted in financing the North & South Alabama Railway from Decatur to Montgomery.