Van Horne, Sir William Cornelius

Related Category: Canadian History: Biographies

1843–1915, president (1888–99) and chairman of the board (1899–1915) of the Canadian Pacific Railway, b. Illinois. He worked on U.S. railways before becoming (1881), on the recommendation of James J. Hill, general manager of the Canadian Pacific Railway. He supervised its construction (1881–85) and was active in the development of Canadian transportation in general. A naturalized citizen, he was knighted in 1894.