Leland Stanford (1824 - 1893)

Leland Stanford

Amasa Leland Stanford was an American politician, industrialist and entrepreneur, and founder of Stanford University.

Born into a wealthy family, Stanford earned a law degree and practiced law in Wisconsin, and soon built a lucrative business selling mining equipment in northern California. And of course he became involved in politics, first as a justice of the peace and in 1861 was elected governor of California, but he didn't move away from business either.

As a member of the "Big Four" of the Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR), he was involved in planning the eastern section of the transcontinental railroad and helped secure major public investments and land grants for the railroad project. In 1863, Stanford became president of the Central Pacific Railroad and held that position for the rest of his life. He was also president of the Southern Pacific Railroad (which was acquired by the CPRR) and owned many of the construction companies that built the railroad. At the same time, he served in the U.S. Senate from 1885.

In 1891, he and his wife Jane Stanford founded Leland Stanford Junior University in memory of their only child, Leland Stanford, Jr. who died in his teens of typhoid fever during a trip to Italy.