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Franklin Benjamin Gowen (February 9, 1836 – December 13, 1889) served as president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad (commonly referred to as the Reading Railroad) in the 1870s/80s. He is identified with the undercover infiltration and subsequent court prosecutions of Molly Maguires, mine workers, saloonkeepers and low-level local political figures arraigned and tried for multiple acts of violence, including murders and attempted murders of coal mine operators, foremen and workers, and peace officers.〔''Report of the Committee of the Judiciary, General, of the Senate of Pennsylvania, in Relation to the Anthracite Coal Difficulties, with the Accompanying Testimony'', Harrisburg, 1871; pp 14–15, 19, 33〕 Other aspects of Gowen's presidency that merit consideration include: * Under Gowen's leadership, the Reading Railroad went from being legally prohibited by its corporate charter against owning or operating coal mines, to owning 142 square miles (368 km²) of coal lands〔Daggett, Stuart, Ph.D, ''Railroad Reorganization'', Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1908; reprinted New York: Augustus M. Kelley, 1967; p. 77.〕 — with that legal prohibition still in place, but deemed by the state of Pennsylvania to be unenforceable — and running numerous mining operations upon them. * He was a central figure in negotiating both the first written labor agreement between mine workers and operators in the U.S., and the first industry-wide price-fixing agreement in the U.S. * He played a signal role in the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, including the Reading Railroad Massacre.〔Humphrey, Douglas L., "Reading's Place in The Great Strike & After", ''The Historical Review of Berks County'', Fall 2000 (also available (online )).〕 * Under his leadership the Reading Railroad twice fell into bankruptcy.〔For a detailed case study, see Daggett, Chapter III〕 In the wake of the second one, Gowen was finally blocked from further direct involvement in the railroad's affairs when a syndicate led by J.P. Morgan obtained control of the corporation. ==Early years== Franklin Benjamin Gowen was born in Mt. Airy, Pennsylvania, now part of Philadelphia, the fifth child of an Irish Protestant immigrant, James Gowen, a successful grocer, and his wife, Mary (née Miller), who was of German American descent.〔Schlegel, Marvin Wilson, ''Ruler of the Reading: The Life of Franklin B. Gowen'', Harrisburg: Archives Publishing Company of Pennsylvania, 1947, pp 3–4; a comprehensive biography of Gowen, but its author notes that "the disappearance of Gowen's personal papers has left tantalizing gaps in his portrait", vii〕 Although his formal education was ended by his father at age 13, when he apprenticed the youth to a Lancaster, Pennsylvania merchant, as a young adult Gowen studied law with a local attorney in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Following admission to the bar and joining the local Democratic party, he was elected District Attorney for Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania in 1862. He left that position in 1864 to pursue a private law practice that led him first to represent the Reading Railroad and a few years later to take on its presidency. Throughout his time with the railroad and afterward, Gowen continued practicing law and trying cases — sometimes as a special prosecutor on behalf of the state of Pennsylvania. At the time of his death, he was pursuing a case before the Interstate Commerce Commission on behalf of a private client against the Standard Oil trust. In the course of these hearings, Gowen cross-examined John D. Rockefeller. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Franklin B. Gowen」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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