City: Nashville
STAHLMAN, Edward Bushrod, newspaper publisher; born Mecklenburg, Germany, September 2, 1844; son of Frederick and Christiane (Lange) STAHLMAN; German descent; his father was an educator; his aunt was a close friend of the Empress Augusta; his uncle was a German Government Official, and was decorated three times by three successive rulers of the German Empire; received elementary education at Leuso, Germany, at an institution of which his father was Principal; moved with parents to Virginia in 1855; soon thereafter his father died, leaving a widow and seven children dependent mainly upon him; he became a cart driver in the construction of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad; was rapidly promoted to responsible positions in Southern railroad systems; in 1863 moved to Tennessee to accept position on L. & N. R. R.; in 1865 settled in Nashville, Tenn., and became Cashier Southern Express Company; in 1875 was elected President of the City Council of Nashville, resigned in 1878; in 1871 returned to service of L. & N. R. R. as Freight Contracting Agent at Nashville; he was appointed General Agent at Nashville in 1875; General Freight Agent in 1878, and Traffic Manager in 1880; during his service as Freight Agent and Traffic Manager the L. & N. acquired large additional railroad properties, in the reorganization and consolidation of which he took an active part; in 1881 he resigned as Traffic Manager of the L. & N. R. R.; shortly thereafter made Vice-President of the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago, which during his management extended its line by building the road between Chicago and Indianapolis and establishing through lines for passengers and freight; he resigned and was soon thereafter elected one of the Vice-Presidents of the L. & N., which place he resigned in 1890; visited Europe in 1891 with his family; accepted position of Commissioner Southern Railway and Steamship Association with headquarters at Atlanta, Ga.; reorganized that association, taking into its membership all of the railroads south of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi to Washington City, with a mileage of 30,000 miles; also coastwise lines operating about thirty first-class steamships; refused re-election to this position October, 1895; in 1882 Tenn. Railroad Commission was created to regulate railroad transportation; in 1884 the abolition of the Commission was made an issue, and as leader on behalf of the railroads he made a fight and won a victory; he constructed the Stahlman Building, Nashville, Tenn., and his time is now principally devoted to that interest, and to the Nashville Banner, of which he is the principal owner and proprietor; with his son he owns the controlling interest in the Morton-Scott-Robertson Company, a large carpet and furniture house in Nashville, Tenn.
Source: Who’s Who in Tennessee: A Biographical Reference Book of Notable Tennesseans of To-Day. Memphis: Paul & Douglas Co, 1911.
