Rankin Johnson was a civil engineer who built railroads in Mexico and Bolivia and later headed a transit company in Trenton, New Jersey.
He was born on October 16, 1873 at Rutland, Vermont, to James Gibson and Mary (Rankin) Johnson. His family claimed descent from John Alden and from Thomas Burgess (an officer under King Charles I of England), and they made distinguished contributions in many fields. Johnson went to school in Rutland and then to Sheffield Scientific School, Yale University, from which he received a B.S. degree in civil engineering in June, 1895. Johnson served as civil engineer of the Mexican International Railroad and, later, the Bolivia Railway Company. Later in his life, Johnson gained prominence in the field of transit for his innovative use of publicity (1917), total conversion from trolleys to buses (1934), and control of bus traffic by supervisors stationed at sidewalk telephones (1939). Johnson had four sons with his wife Katie (whom he married sometime before 1916): Rankin Jr., Tristam B., Edward, and Burges. He died of a heart attack at his home in Princeton, New Jersey, on November 2, 1957.
From the description of Papers of Rankin Johnson, 1895-1910. (University of Pittsburgh). WorldCat record id: 30835824
