Aldace F. Walker
Aldace F. Walker (
May 11 1842 –
April 12 1901) was one of the original members of the
Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) when the organization was founded in
1887. Walker soon became the thirteenth president of the
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (Santa Fe).
Aldace Walker was born on
May 11 1842 in
West Rutland, Vermont, the son of Aldace Walker, D. D. and Mary A. Baker. He attended
Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, New Hampshire, and then
Middlebury College where he graduated in
1862.
His professional career started with military service as he enlisted with the
11th Vermont Infantry for service in the
American Civil War. Walker was promoted through the ranks to become a lieutenant-colonel before he was mustered out in June
1865. In 1869 he published a book of his experience in the war titled
The Vermont Brigade in the Shenandoah Valley.
After the war, Walker studied
law and began his practice in
New York City in
1867. In
1870 he became a partner in the firm where he worked on many cases involving rail transport, including the land appropriation for the
Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railway which would connect the
Hudson River Railroad and the
Harlem Railroad.
When the senior partner in Walker's firm died, the practice was broken up and Walker moved to
Rutland, Vermont, where he joined the practice of Prout, Simons & Walker. In this position too, Walker worked on cases that involved local railroads including the
Rutland Railroad,
Delaware and Hudson Canal Company,
Vermont and Canada Railroad,
Vermont Central Railroad and others until he left the firm to become a member of the
Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) in
Washington, DC.
In
1889 he resigned his position at the ICC to become the chairman of the
Interstate Commerce Railway Association, and later the same role for the
Western Traffic Association. Walker assumed the Santa Fe's presidency when
Joseph Reinhart resigned on
August 8 1894.
When the
Atlantic and Pacific Railroad (A&P) filed for bankruptcy, Walker and
John J. McCook, another executive with the Santa Fe, were appointed as the A&P's receivers in December
1895. At this time, Walker stepped down from the Santa Fe's presidency, but remained on the Board of Directors as Chairman.
* Retrieved
August 2 2005.
*
