Willard, Daniel, 1861-1942

Daniel Willard was born on January 28, 1861 in Hartland, Vermont, the son of Daniel Spaulding Willard and Mary Ann Daniels Willard, farmers. In 1878, he entered the Massachusetts Agricultural College in Amherst, but problems with his eyesight prevented him from finishing his studies there. After he left, he found a job as a track laborer on the Central Vermont Railroad, beginning a lifelong career in railroading that reached its height when he assumed the presidency of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B & O) in 1910.

Willard worked in almost every segment of railroading. His introduction to the B & O occurred in 1899, when he was brought to Baltimore by his boss, F.D. Underwood. Willard served as B & O president until April 30, 1941, the longest tenure of any B & O president.

It was through his work with the Council on National Defense that Willard became entangled with a mission to Russia in 1917 to aid work on the Trans-Siberian Railroad. During the Depression, Willard negotiated a ten per cent across the board pay cut for railroad workers in an effort to avoid layoffs. This wage cut applied to all U.S. railroads.