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| Fillmore family lot (Photo by Michael Colbruno) |
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| Oakland Tribune, Dec. 18, 1905 |
THE LATE LUTHER FILLMORE.
OBITUARY FROM DECEMBER 18, 1905 OAKLAND TRIBUNE
Luther Fillmore, formerly superintendent, of the Southern Pacific Coast Railroad between Oakland and Santa Cruz, died this morning.
Mr. Fillmore was one of
the early pioneers and was prominently identified with the early settlement of Colorado and California, and helped to blaze the railroad trail into the
Far West.
HE CAME WEST.
Mr. Fillmore, was born
at Fayetteville, N. Y., and at an early age decided to fling his fortunes
into the lap of the West. When only twenty-one years of age Mr. Fillmore took a
contract to grade a section of the
Syracuse and Binghampton Railroad
in New York State, and in 1848 was the principal contractor in the rebuilding of the Erie Canal. He then went over
to the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, with which road he was
associated for fifteen years, attaining to the highest positions in its
service.
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| Southern Pacific Coast Railroad |
IN DENVER.
In 1869 Mr.
Fillmore went to Denver and was instrumental in pushing much of the
railroad
work which at that time sent Denver and the State of Colorado
ahead with such rapid strides.
From there Mr. Fillmore went to Wyoming and
became division superintendent at Laramie on
the Union Pacific
Railroad. He was later superintendent of the Union Pacific from Cheyenne
to
Ogden, when his name, was interwoven with the names of D.C. Dodge, Sidney
Newton and
the late Senators Fair and Leland Stanford in many big
enterprises. In March, 1884, Mr.
Fillmore accepted the management of the
Southern Pacific Coast Railroad, under the Fair regime,
and made that road one of
the best paying systems in the West, and was instrumental in
improving the
ferry service between San Francisco, Oakland and Alameda.
RETIRED IN 1896.
In 1896, after twelve years active service, he was compelled on account of ill health
and
advancing years to retire, much to the regret of the Southern Pacific
employes, with whom, he
was most popular, and who regarded him more as a friend than an
employer, and he had at the
same time the faculty of getting
more conscientious attention to duty from his subordinates than any
other man on
the road. During the last few years of his life Mr. Fillmore has been residing
at
Laramie, Wyoming, looking after his large cattle interests in that State.
About a year ago he
returned to California in search of a less rigorous
climate.
Mr. Fillmore
came of an old railroad family, and his nephew, the late J.M. Fillmore, was manager
of the Pacific Coast Railroad between Port Hartford and San Luis Obispo.
He mas born
near Syracuse, N Y, and was a relative of President Millard
Fillmore, his father being a cousin of
the President.
HE WAS
SEVENTY-NINE.
At the time of
his death Mr Fillmore was seventy-nine years of age. He is survived
by a widow
and four daughters. Mrs. Luther Fillmore, the widow is at present
with her daughter, Mrs. Clyde
Opelt and owing to sickness and old age will be unable
to be present at the funeral. Mr.
Fillmore’s daughters are Mrs. W.H. Adams of 123
Eighth Street Oakland, Mrs M.C. Brown
of Seattle, Mrs. C. Opelt of
Denver, and Mrs. G. Tinkham of Chicago. A son-in-law, W.H.
Adams the
capitalist, resides at 123 Eighth Street.
The funeral
services will be held at the home of his daughter on Wednesday next. Dr.
Homer J. Vosburgh of the First Baptist Church will officiate. The remains will
be Interred in
the Oakland cemetery.
