Abram Gould (1843-1899)

He was born at the Gould Homestead in Roxbury, New York. He was the younger half-brother of Jay Gould, one of the richest - and most reviled - men in America. Having started life as a school teacher at Roxbury and then Nebraska, through his brother's influence he was given a job in 1860 as a timekeeper in the machine shops of the Rutland & Washington Railroad in Salem, New York. He was afterwards appointed Purchasing Agent for the Fall River Line of Steamers and in 1873 went to San Francisco as Purchasing Agent for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. In 1876, he went to Salt Lake City as manager of the coal department of the Union Pacific Railroad. In 1884, he was appointed Purchasing Agent for the Missouri Pacific Railroad - the principal railroad owned by his brother - in which he remained until his death. In 1874, he married Sophie Kegler, of Salem, New York, but she died while giving birth to their son, Fred.