William R. McKeen, Jr.

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William Riley McKeen, Jr.

July 1902 -- July 1908

William R. McKeen, Jr. was Union Pacific's superintendent of motive power and machinery from July 1902 to July 1908, succeeding Samuel Higgins.

William R. McKeen started his railroad career in 1893 as a master car builder at the Terra Haute car shops of the Vandalia Railroad, of which his father was president, after succeeding his own father as president of the Vandalia. William McKeen received a degree as a Mechanical Engineer from Johns Hopkins in 1897, and started with Union Pacific in December 1898.

The following comes from the Biographical Directory of the Railway Officials of America, 1922 edition, page 197.

McKeen, William R., Consulting Engineer of Motor Cars, Union Pacific Railroad. Office: Omaha, Nebraska. Born October 2, 1869, at Terre Haute, Indiana. Graduated from Rose Polytechnic Institute, Terre Haute, June 1889; June 1890, completed two years post-graduate electrical course Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland; 1890 to 1891, took postgraduate course in electrical and mechanical engineering, Charlottenburg Polytechnikum, Berlin, Germany. Entered railway service 1891 as special apprentice Pittsburgh Cincinnati Chicago & St. Louis Railway at Columbus, Ohio, since which he has been consecutively master car builder, general foreman locomotive and car shops and general foreman of all shops Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad, Terre Haute, Indiana; December 1898 to May 1901, district foreman Union Pacific Railroad at North Platte, Nebraska; (April 1901, master mechanic at North Platte); May 1901 to June 1902, master mechanic at Cheyenne, Wyoming; June 1902 to July 1908, superintendent motive power and machinery same road; July 1908 to date, consulting engineer motor cars same road and president and general manager McKeen Motor Car Co.

During April 1901, McKeen was master mechanic at Union Pacific's North Platte shops. (Indianapolis Journal, April 13, 1901, research by Madison Kirkman)

(Being Master Mechanic would have been a promotion from being District Foreman. More research is needed to refine the dates of McKeen's job changes.)

There was a connection between William R. McKeen, Jr., and Horace G. Burt, the president of Union Pacific at the time McKeen was hired in December 1898. Horace G. Burt had been elected president of Union Pacific in January 1898, remaining in the job until January 1904. Horace Burt's sister, Ellen Burt, was married to McKeen's uncle Samuel McKeen. (research from various genealogy sites, including Ancestry.com)

McKeen Marriages

McKeen and his first wife were married in 1893 and divorced on January 22, 1909, with an alimony of $100 per month. (Grand Island Independent, January 22, 1909; North Platte Semi-Weekly Tribune, January 26, 1909)

McKeen remarried in August 1911, marrying a woman he and his ex wife had known. His new wife had obtained a divorce from her husband in October 1910, on the grounds that he and she were living separately for several years and that he was a "flirt." McKeen and his second wife divorced on December 21, 1921. (The Nebraska State Journal [Lincoln], December 22, 1921)

McKeen's father, William R. McKeen Sr., was a banker in Terra Haute, Indiana. At the time of his 80th birthday in 1909, the senior McKeen was noted as having been president of the Vandalia Railroad for 28 years. The younger McKeen's brother Benjamin was general manager of Lines West of Pennsylvania Railroad. His father died in 1913.

Union Pacific purchased full control and interest of the McKeen Motor Car Company on April 21, 1920. (Omaha Evening Bee, April 22, 1920, "yesterday")

After resigning as president of McKeen Motor Car Company, William McKeen moved to Santa Barbara, California, where he is shown in the 1923 city directory for Montecito, Santa Barbara County. He is not listed in the directories for 1920, 1921, or 1922.

In December 1928, McKeen was noted as growing avocado pears in Santa Barbara. (Terra Haute Saturday Spectator, December 8, 1928) (Having been born in 1869, he was not yet 60 years of age at this time.)

The 1930 U. S. Census shows William R. McKeen as a resident of Santa Barbara, California, age 60, occupation inventor in the railroad industry; living alone with a live-in housekeeper.

By 1931, McKeen's estate in Santa Barbara, California, was being used as a convalescent home under the name of "Mansas Olas", [Spanish: Gentle Waves], also known as the "Garden of the Gods". (The Malvern Leader [Malvern, Iowa], October 8, 1931)

William R. McKeen is shown living alone in the 1932 and 1933 city directories for Montecito, Santa Barbara County. The 1934 Montecito directory shows him and his new wife, Carmen. At the time, based on their birth years from other sources, he was 65 and she was 36. Later directories, as late as 1945, show William R. McKeen and his wife Carmen living on their Mansas Olas estate at 1809 Pacific Coast Highway.

According to the California Death Index, William Riley McKeen was born on October 2, 1869, and died on October 19, 1946, in Santa Barbara, California. He is buried in the Santa Barbara Cemetery. Carmen was McKeen's third wife, and she died in 1987, four days short of her 90th birthday. She is also buried in Santa Barbara.

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