Judah, Theodore D. (Theodore Dehone), 1826-1863

Engineer and railroad builder.

Theodore Dehone Judah was born Mar. 4, 1862 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He attended the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, then began his career in railroads. Initially located in the East, in 1854 he moved to California as chief engineer of the Sacramento Valley Railroad, and in 1859 became involved in the construction of the California Eastern Extension Railroad in Placer County, California. Judah became convinced of the necessity of a transcontinental railroad. In 1860 he persuaded Huntington, Stanford, Crocker, and Hopkins to join him in the organization of the Central Pacific Railroad Co. Judah directed the road's construction in 1862.

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