From the August 24, 1890 issue of The New York Times:
Middletown, NY, Aug. 23 -- There are seventeen members of the Port Jervis Lodge of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers who have been employed on the Erie Railroad for periods of from twenty-five to thirty-five consecutive years, the average term of service being within a fraction of thirty years. The oldest in continuous service are H.L. Carlough and S.A. Ronk, both of whom began running on the road Jan. 1, 1855. The oldest in actual length of service is Benjamin Hoffner, who entered the employ of the company as an engineer in 1848, but was off the road from 1854 to 1858. Mr. Hoffner is still doing duty
at seventy years of age, and in the thirty-eighth year of his work on the road, as engineer of the train between Port Jervis and Otisville.
The seventeen veterans referred to in the order of seniority of continuous service are: H.L. Carlough, S.A. Ronk, Charles Frayer, Albert Johnson, David Henderson, William Dooley, Benjamin Hoffner, Edward Kent, G.H. Cooper, Samuel S. Walker, David Wilson, J.H. Cookson, A.H. Goodale, E.H. Cox, A.P. Brady, G.H. Johnson, and John Ackerman.
From the December 29, 1889 edition of The New York Times:
Edward Kent and three other engineers on the joint Grievance Committee of several unions protested a company requirement regarding written rules examinations. The company revised its requirement to oral rules exams. However, officers of the road were still requiring that employees sign off on the rules, including provisions that the union was objecting to. Shortly after filing the initial protest, each was called in to the Division Superintendent's office and required to undergo an immediate rules examination, written or oral. Each engineer refused, and each was suspended from duty.
Within eight days, the Engineers' Brakemen's and Switchmen's organizations threatened to "tie-up" the road should the engineers not be reinstated. Meanwhile, Erie General Manager Thomas's private secretary said there was no trouble with the engineers or any other employees of the road, and all of them, including the four engineers, were on the best terms with the company, having been given the option of a written or oral examination. He added there was no danger whatever of a strike on the road.
The joint Grievance Committee planned to meet with the company the following day, with the engineers' fate the primary topic.
EDWARD KENT, Sparkill, New York.
Not only to the engineers of the Erie but to the engineers of North America is Mr. Kent's name a "household word." Known on the road as one of its most trustworthy engineers, he is everywhere known as foremost in promoting that spirit of fairness which should at all times exist between the two parties to a contract--the employer and the employed. He was born in Rockland County, New York, at the place where at present is Sparkill, and the date of his birth was October 24, 1830. His first occupation after leaving school was that of shoemaking, which he followed up to the age of 22, and then went into the service of the Erie Railroad, working at the building of the dock at Dunkirk at the time the road first reached there. In March, 1853, he began firing at Piermont, and so continued until the fourth of May, 1854, since which time he has been continuously in the service as an engineer, first being on freight for eight years, and then, in 1862, taking a passenger run, which he still retains. During these years Mr. Kent has had many of the best runs on the road, and at the present time has Nos. 1 and 2, the "fast line" between Jersey City and Port Jervis, his present engine being 374, a Baldwin compound. He has gone through all this experience without ever hurting a passenger or a trainman, and has himself come out unharmed, a record to be envied, and speaking for itself both as to good fortune and good judgment.
Mr. Kent was married in 1855, and a singularly happy married life was brought to a close by the death, in 1896, of Mrs. Kent. He has had the misfortune, too, of losing-one year later-his daughter, Mrs. A. D. Rockett, the wife of an Erie engineer, whose life history is elsewhere given. His son, W. H. Kent, to whom we give another chapter, is in Erie service at Waldwick, and another daughter is the wife of F. W. Smalley, also an Erie engineer at Jersey City, but residing at Sparkill. At the latter place Mr. Kent resides in one of the most beautiful homes of that homelike region, and following out the natural bent of a mind, always earnestly devoted to the best good of those about him, he devotes a vast deal of his time to church work, having been for many years a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for the last ten years secretary and treasurer of the board of Trustees, a member of the Board of Stewards, the leader of the Bible class and the president of the Epworth League of his church, the Methodist Episcopal of Palisades, New York.
But above all other things that which endears Mr. Kent to his fellow engineers is his work in their behalf in the Brotherhood. Taken all together, more than six years of his life--so busy in other directions--has been devoted entirely to the cause of maintaining and bettering the condition and standing of his fellow engineers, and it is only the veriest truism to say that he has devoted the best years of his life and the best fruits of his brain to this one object, still paramount with him. His history as a member of the Brotherhood is long, but it is only so because of the honors won and deserved. He was one of the original members of Division 54, at Port Jervis, New York, in 1863, this being the first year of the Brotherhood on the Erie system. He was Chief Engineer of this Division for two and a half years, and then became one of the charter members of Division 135 of Jersey City. This was in 1866, and in September, 1871, the division honored Mr. Kent and itself by electing him its Chief Engineer, and for twenty-eight years he has held that position-and filled it-and today stands with a record without parallel in Brotherhood annals, the trusted friend, the conscientious adviser, the "ever present help in time of trouble" to his fellows. Year after year his division has sent him as its delegate to the conventions. At Toronto in 1871 he was placed on the Executive Committee of the Brotherhood. Following that-in 1872-he was made chairman of that committee, and for twenty-six years he has remained as its chairman. A year or two ago Mr. Kent wished to retire-to lay down his burden-but Chief Engineer Arthur said "No. We want you and will have you as chairman. No complaint has ever come from any voice against you." With the exception of two years he has been thirty years on the local committee of his division, and is still on that committee, and for twenty years was On the Board of Adjustment, being for five years-while the board represented the old Erie system-its chairman. He was also President of the Erie Engineers' World's Fair Association. It is a fitting tribute to Edward Kent to say that he has devoted, not the "best" years, but all the years of his life to the welfare and best interests of his brothers, that he has spared neither time nor pains nor expense to that end, and that he has looked for no other reward than that which is already his-the love and honor and respect in which they hold him.
Excerpted from: "American Locomotive Engineers, Erie Railway Edition," H.R. Romans Editor; Crawford-Adsit Company Publishers, Chicago, IL 1899.
From the March 25, 1879 issue of the Port Jervis Evening Gazette:
Engine No. 326, Edward Kent engineer, attached to express train No. Five, when approaching Otisville at abut 8:40 o'clock Monday night (March 24, 1879), and when passing around the extended curve at that point, mounted a frog and left the track. The baggage car, express car, smoking car and the forward truck of a day coach followed the engine from the track. The air brakes stopped the train, and no doubt prevented a more serious wreck, as the tran was running at considerable speed, and a steep embankment occurs at the place where the accident took place. There was no one injured.
The wreckers from Port Jervis replaced the engine and cars and the train arrived here at 1:30 o'clock. Train Three crossed over below the accident and ran in advance of train Five.
There is scarcely any need of placing the name of "Eddie" Kent beneath the picture which the Magazine now prints of the Erie's veteran engineer, who is today the Nestor of all the men who stand at the throttles of the company's engines. Kent was an engineer for a half century of continuous Erie service, and made a remarkable record for himself. Nowadays he is living quietly at Sparkill, but his interest in the road and in the great locomotives of its latter-day equipment remains unabated. At the age of seventy-eight years he is still a familiar figure along the New York Division.
"Eddie" Kent went to work for the New York & Erie in 1852. In the following year he was promoted to fireman, and so well did he avail himself of his opportunities that in May, 1854, he was again promoted and placed in full charge of an engine. For forty-two years he ran Erie express trains, and volumes are spoken for his abilities as an engineer when it is known that in all his career "Eddie" Kent never had a passenger, trainman or fireman injured. Incidentally. it may be stated, that he never received a scratch himself.
In a memorandum furnished by himself of his own work, Kent says: "I was elected Chief Engineer of Division 54 (B of LE), located at Port Jervis, in 1863, and was Chief for three years. I then moved to the east end of the road. Division 135 was organized September, 1871. I was elected Chief Engineer and held that position until February, 1904. I served as Chairman of our local committee for thirty years, and was a member of the General Committee for twenty years; seven years I was Chairman. I was elected a delegate to attend our general conventions twenty-seven years. I was put on the Executive Committee October, 1871, and in 1872 was made Chairman, and held that position for twenty-six years."
A big national magazine sent one of its writers out over the New York Division with Kent three or four years ago, and the reporter was much impressed with his experience. Kent talked freely with the magazine writer.
"I began when there was nothing but wood-burners, big flaming smokestacks and all that, you know," he said. "On this same road, too. It didn't run to Chicago, and goodness knows where in those days. Just straight through to Buffalo by way of Middletown and Goshen. Railroading was different then. Every engineer had to know how to take his engine apart between stations if it was necessary, and how to patch anything from a boiler to a headlight. And when we went out on the road only the good Lord knew when we'd get back or where we would bring up.
"You can't run an engine and saw wood at the same time," said he a little later to the reporter. "You can't keep your head out the window and admire the scenery while your hand is on the throttle. And you can't dream or wink an eye, no indeed. In my run from Jersey City to Port Jervis there are more signals than you think, and I've got to see each of them in turn. And I've got to know where there's a grade or a curve or a bridge. And I've got to know all the time that my train is under control."
"Eddie" Kent has passed his entire long life in the service of the Erie through its successive stages. He has never worked for another railroad. Kent is proud to say now in the evening of his career that his only fear has been that of his Creator.
From the January, 1908 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Journal (p. 44):
To the Editor: Per your request I write of my experience in railroad service, which practically covers all my life since I was old enough to work. I was born at Sparkill, NY, Oct. 24, 1830, and like most boys during that period had little opportunity for school, and in fact little of anything else that boys of today think they must have. Of course I worked at whatever I could get, and most all boys and young men had to do anything they could get to do, but commenced working regularly for the Erie Railroad in March, 1852, when I was sent to Dunkirk to work on the docks they were then building there. The hours were very long, from sunrise until sunset, 12 to 14 hours, and I received $2 a day, good wages for that period.
When the docks were about completed, March, 1853, I returned to my home and was employed as a fireman, but received but $1 a day for the first year. That was the regular wages. After the first year firemen received a raise in wages of 6 1/4 cents each six months until they reached the highest pay, $1.25 per day.
I commenced firing with a man called "Old Dutch John," the oldest engineer on the road, on engine number 34, named the "Yates." All the engines had names at that time and long after. Firemen were then promoted by merit and not by age in service, and firemen had to keep their engines clean, and they had plenty of brass to clean, and attend faithfully to business or they did not get promoted; but I seemed to fill the bill fairly well, and was promoted on the 4th day of May, 1854, after firing about 14 months. Engineers' wages were then $1.90 a day for the first year, after that $2.30, which was the highest wages paid, and engineers had to do all the work of packing pistons, valve stems, pumps, truck and driving boxes, set out cylinder packing, and, if composed of brass rings, had to be very careful about it, for they were babbitted and if set out too tight would heat, melt the babbitt and cut the cylinders, and he would be held responsible; and suspensions and discharges for such cause were not uncommon. He must also wash out the boiler when it needed it.
The road was broad gauge at that time amd the engines mostly inside connected with crank shaft, and many times in handling heavy trains the crank shaft broke and the engine had to be jacked up, block and drivers swung with chains over the boiler to keep the drivers clear of the track when engine was towed in, and the engineer and fireman must stay with the engine until it arrived at the shop, regardless of the length of time, and if it was 24 hours all he would get was one day's pay. But there was very little complaint until one D.C. McCullum, then superintendent of the Susquehanna Division, got up a book of rules which was approved by the Board of Directors, which was obnoxious to all men in the train service and particularly so to the engineers. Charles Minot was then general superintendent, but would not enforce the new rules and resigned, and McCullum was appointed in his stead and began to put the new rules into effect. Among them was one which held the engineer responsible for running switches, no matter who gave the signal or whether the work could be done without it or not, and McCullum inaugurated a system of discipline among the employees so strict that it soon gave rise to such discontent that a committee was appointed to wait on him and request modifications and, as McCullum would not grant their requests, the engineers and firemen quit on the 20th of June, 1854, one month after McCullum's appointment as general superintendent. Traffic was suspended for 10 days. The engineers got the concessions asked for and returned to work. Things ran along then fairly smooth until the fall of 1856, when McCullum again began applying unreasonable severe rules and discharging without good cause, and a committee waited upon him. Getting no satisfaction they appealed to the Board of Directors, resulting in the committee being discharged, and October 4 all the engineers quit the service, most of them going west and securing positions elsewhere, and a long disastrous strike followed. Of course, McCullum picked up such men as he could get, but engines were burned and service was so mean that the road was generally boycotted. Even the New York Central put out a hand bill which said, "This road has never been obliged to use firemen with no experience as engineers, endangering life and never making time, as is the case on the great broad gauge route (Erie)," and invited people to ride on a safe road.
The Directors of the Erie did not get their eyes open until they got the finance report. The first nine months of 1856 showed net earnings of $1,246,712. The next six months, which covered the strike period, showed that expenses exceeded the earnings by $72,000, the strike itself costing the company more than $500,000, and McCullum was forced to resign in March, 1857, and Charles Minot was reappointed general superintendent, and he hired the old men back as fast as he could get them. About two-thirds returned; the rest were evidently satisfied with their new jobs. I had a good home and stayed it out until the old men went back and I with them. Everything began to work smoothly for the company, but the work was hard for the engineers, and they got no extra time. As an example, I remember leaving Piermont in a snow storm, got as far as West Junction, now Greycourt, and was snowed in 26 hours; got out of water and had to pump water in the tank with a hand pump. The snow plow with three engines came finally and cleared the track and I followed to Port Jervis, where I was ordered to return with a train as soon as possible, and when I arrived in Piermont I had been on duty 72 hours, and I received three days' pay for it, which amounted to $6.93. For the same work now I would receive over $25.00.
In 1861 I moved to Port Jervis, as my run had its lay-over there. Division 54, Brotherhood of the Footboard, was organized in Port Jervis in 1863 by W.D. Robinson, then Grand Chief Engineer, and the name of the order changed to the B of LE. In 1865 I was again elected delegate and attended the Rochester convention.
The spring of 1866, Rogers built a fine engine, painted beautifully, and named it after the superintendent, and I was requested to take the engine and have my layover at the east end of the division; and I moved back to Sparkill on April 1, 1866, and resigned as Chief Engineer of Div. 54, which had grown to quite large proportions, and we concluded it would be best to organize a new Division in Jersey City; and the 30 members made application for a charter and Div. 135 was organized in September, 1871, and I was again elected Chief Engineer and held that position continually until January, 1904, a year after I was retired from the service.
I have had a good deal of experience in committee work. I served on our local committee 30 years, and for 20 years I was a member of our General Committee of Adjustment; several years I was chairman. I was one of the originators of the general grievance committee on the Erie, and I have served the Brotherhood the best part of my life. I have attended 28 conventions as delegate and was a member of the executive committee 27 years. Twenty-six years I was chairman of that committee, and I have seen and been a part of most of the triumphs and troubles of the Order.
The first serious trouble in which I had a part was in 1878, when the engineers struck on the Panhandle Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The men had grievances, but the strike was illegal, and Charles Wilson, then Grand Chief, would not sustain them; in fact, gave out a statement to the press that it was illegal and that it would be no disgrace for any engineer to take their places. That caused a good deal of excitement and was the means of calling a special session of the Brotherhood, which was held in Cleveland, in February, 1874, which was a very stormy meeting. Brother Wilson had a great many enemies. In one of the special meetings held in a hotel, I, being a friend to Brother Wilson, was asked if I would serve on a committee to see him and prevail on him to resign. I accepted and was appointed a committee with Brother Green, of Division 77, and Brother Abbott, of Div. 54. We met Brother Wilson at his home and had a long interview with him. When we left him he said he would think it over and let us know in the morning. He then came to me and said if the delegates would pass a civil resolution requesting him to resign he would do so. Such a resolution was put before the convention and was carried by a large majority, so Brother Wilson resigned and left the convention and Brother Arthur was elected by a large majority Grand Chief Engineer. This restored peace and harmony at the convention and Brother Arthur was requested to meet with every Division in the country. He did so and we soon gained more than we had lost.
Then came the strike on the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad and the Boston & Maine Railroad. I being chairman of the executive committee, had to call the committee together according to law and make an assessment. All told it amounted to $22.
When I started for Boston I was told by quite a number of our members it was useless to go and spend good money for bad. I said I should go there, as I had not lost all confidence in the Brotherhood. When the convention was assembled and called to order by Brother Arthur and we heard his report and the reports from different delegates everything appeared dark and gloomy; but we knew we had work to do. The delegates all worked together and by doing so peace and harmony were restored and we had a very peaceable convention.
After making a good many changes in the laws and doing away with the striking committee, and adopting for our motto "Sobriety, Truth, Justice and Morality," the delegates pledged themselves to do everything they could to bring peace and harmony to their divisions and to try to build up the Brotherhood, and though a great many had pictured the downfall of the organization, confidence was again restored and the Brotherhood became very prosperous all over the country.
We have had strikes on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, Grand Trunk, Brooklyn Elevated, CB&Q, Ann Arbor, Lehigh Valley, and others of less magnitude, but we lived through them all and came out stronger than ever.
I was told a few years ago by some influential men that our Brotherhood would go the same as some of the other labor organizations had gone that were out of existence. I said, "You will never live to see such a thing." There have been too many prayers and petitions from our poor widows and orphans for its prosperity and it has done and is doing too much good to perish.
I want to give you an illustration which happened with one of our members. He was a good engineer but he took to drinking and was disgracing himself and family. I talked to him different times but it didn't do much good. At last there were charges preferred against him and he was ordered to appear before the Division. I brought his case up for action. He begged us to not expel him. He put his hand on the Bible and made a faithful promise if we would let up on him he would never touch another drop of intoxicating drink. The charges were withdrawn. About two years after, he came to me and said, "What a godsend that was what you men did for me. I have paid up all my debts and have full and plenty of everything, and have saved quite a sum of money, and it was the means of making a Christian of me and I have joined the church, and my family and I are living a happy life."
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers has won a high place in the history of the century. It has not only bettered the condition of the engineer and his family but it has placed sober, reliable men on the engines of our great railroads, brought harmony where discord prevailed, and thus commerce and the world in general are benefited by its existence.
Now I wish to say a few words in behalf of the Ladies' Auxiliary to the Brotherhood and the good they have done by helping our members in doing what is right. It is but natural that the wives and daughters of the engineers should be interested in the work of the husbands and fathers, and this interest was made more manifest by the organization of the Ladies' Auxiliary. The main object is social, but the charity and relief work has grown with the society, and their visiting committees take sunshine into many a sorrowing home. We appreciate the good that the Ladies' Auxiliary has done for our organization in lending us a helping hand and encouraging us to do what is right, and helping to build up the Brotherhood on a higher moral plane. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers is today one of the most successful, and from every standpoint, one of the best labor organizations in existence.
I was retired September, 1903, on account of my age, being 73 years old. Mr. Willard being general manager, he sent for me to call at his office. I went and had a very pleasant interview, in which he told me I had a fine record on the road and not to give myself any uneasiness, and a week later he told Brother Shay when in New York that they had arranged to send me a check every month and that I would retain my pass - conditions I gladly accepted.
In conclusion I want to say the last two years I worked for our company was the easiest work I ever did in all the 50 years I worked for the Erie Road. I had a good train and a very good engine to do the work. I have now taken a back seat on account of being old and nearly worn out. My race has been run nearly to its end and soon I will be a candidate for that house not made with hands but eternally in the heavens, where the Supreme Architect of the Universe presides, who controls the destinies of all mankind.
Edw. Kent, Member Div. 135.
From the March, 1908 issue of Erie Railroad Magazine:
"Eddie" Kent is Dead
Engineer Eddie Kent, whose picture was published in the first number (issue) of Erie Employees' Magazine (March, 1905, Pgs 3-4), died at his home in Sparkhill, NY on the afternoon of February 17 (1908), aged 78 years. He was one of the most widely known engineers on the eastern end of the road and had many friends all along the line, especially in Jersey City and Port Jervis, where he was best known. He was a native of the town where he died, and at the age of 22 entered the service of the Erie, working at the construction of the dock at Dunkirk, the original western terminus of the road. In March, 1853 he began firing at Piermont and in May of the following year was promoted to engineer. In 1862 he was assigned to a passenger run, and remained in that capacity until six years ago, when he was placed on the retired list. He had some of the best runs on the New York Division, and for years ran the fast trains No. 1 and 2 between Jersey City and Port Jervis.
Mr. Kent was a member of the B of LE, in which he took a prominent part. He was one of the original members of Division 54, at Port Jervis, New York, in 1863. He was Chief Engineer for two and a half years, and in 1866 became one of the charter members of Division 135 of Jersey City. In 1871, he was elected its Chief Engineer, and held the office for 28 years. He was a delegate to many of the conventions, and at Toronto in 1871 he was placed on the Executive Committee. The following year he was made Chairman of that Committee, a position which he held for 26 years and was held in high estimation by Grand Chief Engineer Arthur, now deceased. For nearly 30 years Mr. Kent was on the local committee of his division, was a member of the Erie Board of Adjustment for 20 years, and for 5 years its chairman. He was President of the Erie Railroad World's Fair Association.
Mr. Kent was a very competent and conscientious employee, enjoyed the confidence of his employers and the respect and love of his fellow engineers. He worked for many years to promote better relations between capital and labor and his counsel was always regarded as the proper procedure for the matter at issue. He also took an active interest in the Methodist Church of his home town, being on the official board and identified with the Sunday school and the Epworth League. The Young Men's Christian Association also profited much from Mr. Kent's services. When the new Association was established at Susquehanna he presented it with an interesting collection of old books and minerals, and had recently made provision for keeping of them permanently. A picture of the old engineer standing beside his engine of his favorite train 1, adorns the walls of the YMCA rooms at Port Jervis.
Mr. Kent's son, W.H. Kent, is now an engineer at Waldwick, NY. A sketch of the life of this Erie veteran was published in the January number of the Locomotive Engineer's Monthly Journal.