Ingalls

At her death Thongze was a busy town, with a
strong native church and a Christian school.
She was buried where she had done her work.

[Baptist Missionary Mag., Feb. and July 1903 ; Mis-
sionary Review of the World, Sept. 1903; Spectator,
London, Aug. 22, 1903; information from the Ameri-
can Baptist Foreign Mission Society.] H.E. S.

INGALLS, MELVILLE EZRA (Sept. 6,
iS42-July u, 1914), railroad executive, the third
son and third child of Ezra Thorns Ingalls and
Louisa M. (Mayberry) Ingalls, was 'born at
Harrison, Me. His ancestor, Edmund Ingalls,
came originally from England, and settled at
Lynn, Mass., in 1629. Ingalls spent his boyhood
on a farm, receiving his early education in the
local district school and at Bridgton Academy
where he prepared himself for Bowdoin College.
His lack of sufficient funds compelled him to
forego his college course, however, and he en-
tered the law office of A. A. Stront of Harrison
to study for the legal profession. In 1862 he ma-
triculated in the Harvard Law School. The fol-
lowing year he graduated from this institution,
receiving one of the prizes offered for a disser-
tation. He began the practice of law in Gray,
Me., but in 1864 removed to Boston where he
entered the law office of Judge Charles Levi
Woodbury, a distinguished member of the Mas-
sachusetts bar. He then began to specialize in
corporation law, particularly in its application
to transportation lines. In 1867 he was elected
to the Massachusetts legislature from the sixth
senatorial district. He served one term in the
state Senate and declined a renomination.

In 1870 he began his career as a railroad exec-
utive, becoming president of the Indianapolis,
Cincinnati & Lafayette Railroad, which was in
dire financial straits as the heavy traffic incident
to the Civil War declined and competition in-
creased from the construction of other roads.
The stock of this company was held principally
by Bostonians, and in 1871 they requested In-
galls to assume complete charge as receiver.
Under his management a reorganization was
possible in 1873 and he was elected president of
the new corporation. The organization was
premature, however, and in 1876 he was again
appointed receiver. It was in this trying posi-
tion that he clearly demonstrated his financial
ability. He secured voluntary subscriptions
from the stockholders and with these funds paid
off the indebtedness and freed the company from
litigation. By 1880 he had consolidated the Law-
renceburg line with the Indianapolis, Cincinnati
& Lafayette Railroad and organized a new com-
pany under the name of the Cincinnati, Indian-
apolis, St Louis & Chicago Railway, of which

Ingals

he became president. Meanwhile his skill as a
railroad reorganizer had attracted the attention
of the Vanderbilts, who controlled the Cleveland,
Columbus, Cincinnati, & Indianapolis Railway,
popularly known as the Bee Line. In 1889 the
Ingalls and Vanderbilt interests were consoli-
dated and the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago &
St. Louis Railway Company was organized Of
the new system, known as the Big Four, Ingalls
was elected president. He held this position until
the New York Central in 1905 assumed con-
trol of the various properties under his direc-
tion ; he then became chairman of the board of
directors, an office he retained until his resigna-
tion, Nov. 14, 1912. He was also president of the
Kentucky Central Railroad from 1881 to 1883
and president of the Chesapeake & Ohio Rail-
way Company from 1888 to 1900.

Ingalls took an active interest in the political,
cultural, and business life of his adopted home,
Cincinnati. He was one of the founders of the
Cincinnati Art Museum and president of its
board of directors from 1884 to his death. In
1880 he was chosen president of the Cincinnati
Exposition and at one time was president of the
Merchants' National Bank of Cincinnati. He
was one of the founders of the Cincinnati Tech-
nical School and a life member of the Ohio Me-
chanics Institute. A firm believer in "physical
culture as a mental stimulant/' he was one of
the pioneers in the modern playground move-
ment, advocating more baseball and athletic
fields for the city's children. In 1903 he was
Democratic candidate for mayor of Cincinnati
but was defeated. In 1905 he was chosen presi-
dent of the National Civic Federation. He erect-
ed in Cincinnati the first concrete skyscraper in
that city. On Jan. 19, 1867, he married Abbie
M. Stimson of Gray, Me. Of their six children,
five survived him.

In politics Ingalls was a "sound money Demo-
crat." He supported McKinley in 1896 and 1900
but voted for Bryan in 1908. His associates and
employees found him approachable and affable
but a rigorous disciplinarian. That he typified
the era of the pioneer railroad builders is evi-
denced by his vigorous denunciation of exces-
sive legislation regulating corporations. His
death occurred at Hot Springs, Va.

[Who's Who in America, 1914-15 ; C. T. Greve, Cen-
tennial Hist, of Cincinnati (1904), vol. II; Charles
Burleigh, The Geneal and Hist, of the Ingalls Family
in America (1903) ; N. Y. Times, July 12, 1914; Cin-
cinnati Enquirer, Feb. 26, 1903, and July 12, 1914.]

R.C.MCG.

INGALS, EPHRAIM FLETCHER (Sept.
29, i84&-Apr. 30,1918), physician, was descend-
ed from that Edmund Ingalls, who, coming from

464