Vernon K. Stevenson

Vernon K. Stevenson (January 22, 1812 - October 16, 1884) was an American businessman. He served as the president of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railway for 25 years, and as the president of the Southern Pacific Railroad. He was a real estate investor in Manhattan, New York City. Early life Stevenson was born on January 22, 1812, in Russellville, Kentucky. He had three brothers, Maxwell, Volney and Leander Douglas. His sisters were Eleanor(m. Godfrey M. Fogg) Julia Emily(m. Dr. John Arnold Crowdus, Lemuel Swearengin),and Harriet J.(m. Patrick Boisseau) He moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1831. Stevenson's mother Eleanor Sharp was the sister of Congressman and Kentucky Attorney General and State Legislator Solomon Porcius Sharp was assassinated in 1835 in what became known as The Kentucky Tragedy. Career Stevenson began his career as a clerk in a dry goods store in Nashville. He later became head manager, and he invested in a store with his brother Volney. Stevenson was the founder of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railway in 1848. To fundraise for its construction, Stevenson sold stocks to investors in Nashville and Charleston, South Carolina. Stevenson built the railroad with iron-rails from London thanks to George Peabody. It was completed in 1854, and Stevenson served as its president. He hired Edmund William Cole as superintendent in 1857, and Stevenson became "a kind of co-president, or president ex officio."