Asa Whitney
Asa Whitney | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 14, 1797 Groton, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Died | September 7, 1872 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Resting place | Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Spouses | Herminie Antoinette Pillet
(m. 1832; died 1833)Sarah Jay Munro (died 1840)Catherine (Moore) Campbell
(m. 1840) |
| Relatives | Whitney family |
Asa Whitney (1797–1872) was a highly successful dry-goods merchant and one of the first promoters of an American transcontinental railroad. A trip to China in 1842–44 impressed upon Whitney the need for a railroad from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
When Whitney returned to the United States in 1844, he realized the benefits from such an undertaking, and spent a great deal of money trying to get the Congress to take up the project. In 1849, he published "A Project for a Railroad to the Pacific". For years he continued to write revised memorials and take expeditions through what was then known as Indian Territory to support his cause.
Whitney lived to see the opening of the Pacific Railroad in 1869.