Benjamin Franklin Yoakum
1859–1929 (age 70)
Railroad Executive
Biography
Benjamin Franklin Yoakum, born in 1859, was a pivotal railroad executive whose vision helped shape transportation across the American South and Southwest. He approached the expansion of rail lines with determination, recognizing their potential to connect communities and commerce.
Yoakum also championed programs that fostered economic development and education along the railroads he guided. When he passed in 1929, the nation remembered him as an executive who pursued progress with a sincere sense of public responsibility.