Frank Livingston Underwood
Frank Livingston Underwood | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date Walden, Vermont, U.S. |
| Died | March 17, 1918 (aged 73) |
| Occupation(s) | Financier, industrialist, railroad developer |
| Known for | Development of multiple railroads in the Western United States; president of Merchants' National Bank of Kansas City; founder and president of Arizona Copper Company; president of British Columbia Copper Company, Ltd. |
Frank Livingston Underwood (July 26, 1844 – March 17, 1918) was a prominent American financier and copper industrialist known for his role in developing multiple railroads across the Western United States, many of which were eventually absorbed into larger railroad networks.
Biography
Born in Walden, Vermont, Underwood received his education in Lowell, Massachusetts. In 1866, he wed Theodosia I. Hawley in Muscatine, Iowa, and together they had three daughters: Grace, Pearl, and Blanche.
Underwood relocated to Muscatine in 1861 and commenced his banking career as a teller at the State Bank of Iowa’s Muscatine branch in 1863. When the institution transitioned into the Muscatine National Bank under the National Bank Act, he advanced to the position of cashier. Subsequently, from 1879 until his departure from the Western region, he founded and led the Merchants' National Bank of Kansas City, Missouri as its president.
His involvement in rail transportation included the establishment of the Muscatine Western Railroad in 1872, which later became part of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railroad. In 1882, he founded the Arizona Copper Company and served as its inaugural president while also constructing the Arizona & New Mexico Railroad that same year. In 1886, he developed the Saline, Lincoln & Western Railroad in Kansas, which was eventually integrated into the Union Pacific System. Between 1893 and 1894, Underwood built Chicago’s Lake Street Elevated Railroad before selling it to Charles T. Yerkes. Additionally, he constructed the Arizona-Utah Railroad in 1898.
Underwood’s mining enterprises included organizing the Cuhaba Coal & Mining Company—later incorporated into Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Company—and acting as the first president of the Arkansas Valley Smelting Company. He co-established the Kansas City Smelting & Refining Company in 1880 and played a significant role in advancing the American Smelting & Refining Company in 1898. In 1902, he was appointed president of British Columbia Copper Company, Ltd.
While residing in Iowa, Underwood represented investors from New England, New York, England, and Scotland who were financing projects in the Western United States. A member of the Democratic Party, he participated actively in civic groups such as the Chamber of Commerce and held leadership positions including Chairman of the Committee on Civil Service Reform. His summer home was located in Litchfield, Connecticut, with his primary residence at 115 Broadway in New York City. He passed away in 1918 at Post-Graduate Hospital.
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