William Benson Storey

Who was William Benson Storey?

William Benson Storey, Jr. was the fifteenth president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.

Storey was born November 17, 1857, in San Francisco, California, the son of William Bainbridge Storey, an express, stagecoach and newspaper agent, and Ellen Dean Storey. His family moved around following his father's career until 1866 when they settled in Colfax.

in 1876, Storey started his railroad career with the Southern Pacific Railroad as a stake driver on the line between Oakland and Berkeley. He used his earnings from that summer and the following year to finance his college education, and he graduated from the University of California in 1881 with a mechanical engineering degree. He hired out with the Central Pacific Railroad and soon found himself working throughout Idaho, Utah and South Dakota as well as the California coast.

Storey's association with the Santa Fe began when he was hired by the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railway as chief engineer. He transferred to the Santa Fe in 1903 as chief engineer and worked his way up to the vice presidency of the Santa Fe in 1909.