Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

oads in the West. In his young manhood
he became a director of the Nauga-
tuck Railroad. Next he filled the office
of superintendent, and the directors,
stockholders and the public saw almost at
once that in William D. Bishop they had
a "born railroad man." In 1855, six years
after leaving college, he was elected pres-
ident of the Naugatuck road, and he de-
veloped the property into one of the best
paying railroads in the United States. He
served as president of the Naugatuck for
twelve years, and in 1867 he was elevated
to the position of chief executive of the
New York, New Haven & Hartford Rail-
road, retaining, however, his interest in
the Naugatuck Railroad, to whose pres-
idency he was recalled in 1885. The in-
terims on the Naugatuck had been filled
as president by Russell Tomlinson, 1867-
69, and E. F. Bishop, brother of William
D., 1869-83. While the Naugatuck was
under the management of William D.
Bishop, that railroad became one of the
most conspicuous of the transportation
properties in the country ; for it netted the
shareholders a ten per cent dividend return,
and it was on this basis that it was
leased to the New York, New Haven &
Hartford Railroad in 1887. Of the long
period of prosperity which the New
Haven system enjoyed under the guiding
hands of the Bishop family thirty-six years
constituted the tenure of office of William
D. Bishop as president, and in October,
1903, his health having become impaired,
he retired from office and was succeeded
by his son, William D. Bishop, Jr. The
senior Bishop's name remained at the
head of the list of directors of the New
Haven until his death. During his term
of office he was a member of the Connecticut
General Assembly, and during
his membership an act was passed consolidating
the New York and New Haven
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
and the Hartford and Springfield lines.
Later the Shore Line was leased, and the
Harlem & Port Chester and the Hartford
& Connecticut Valley roads were absorbed
into the New Haven. Mr. Bishop
was a director for many years of the Hou-
satonic Railroad, and was a director of the
Bridgeport Steamboat Company, which
now is controlled by the New York, New
Haven & Hartford Railroad Company.
He was founder and president until his
death of the Eastern Railroad Associa-
tion, which was formed to protect the
railroads of the East against patent suits.
Mr. Bishop was an outstanding leader
of the Democratic Party in Connecticut
of his time. He was elected to Congress
in 1857, and was the youngest member
of that body, being also noted for his
eloquence in debate, or in impromptu
speeches. Failing of reelection, he was
appointed commissioner of patents by
President Buchanan, and he systematized
his department, so that it functioned in
a highly efficient manner. He was ad-
mitted to the bar of the State of Connecti-
cut in 1870, and in 1871 he was elected
representative from the Bridgeport Dis-
trict to the Connecticut Assembly. In
1877-78 he was a member of the State
Senate. He drafted and promoted the
passage of the general railroad law, which
was declared to be a model of its kind.
Mr. Bishop married Julia Ann, daughter
of Russell and Martha H. Tomlinson.
They were the parents of five children
I. Mary Ferris, born October 4, 1851. 2.
- Alfred, born June 11, 1853, died April 18,
1854. 3. Dr. Russell Tomlinson, born
April I, 1856; married Minnie Lockwood,
and has one child, Julian Tomlinson. 4.
William Darius, Jr., born December 16,
1857, married February 21, 1882, Susan
Adele, daughter of Elihu Benjamin Washburn,
and has children : Natalie W. and>
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