Edward Bushrod Stahlman

Edward Bushrod Stahlman (September 2, 1843 – August 12, 1930) was a German-born American railroad executive, newspaper publisher and real estate investor. He was the vice president of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago Railroad. He built The Stahlman, a skyscraper in Nashville, Tennessee, and he was the publisher of the Nashville Banner for 44 years.

Edward Bushrod Stahlman
Portrait of Stahlman by Charles Hoover
Born
Friedrick Heinrich Eduard Stahlmann

September 2, 1843
Güstrow, Mecklenburg, Germany
DiedAugust 12, 1930 (aged 87)
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Resting placeMount Olivet Cemetery
OccupationRailroad executive, newspaper publisher, real estate investor
Spouse(s)Mollie T. Claiborne
Sarah Shelton
Children4
RelativesMarcus B. Toney (brother-in-law)
James Geddes Stahlman (grandson)
Mildred T. Stahlman (great-granddaughter)

Early life

Edward Bushroad Stahlman was born as Friedrick Heinrich Eduard Stahlmann on September 2, 1843 in Güstrow, Germany.[1][2] In, Stahlman and his family emigrated to the United States,[1] settling in West Union, West Virginia.[2] He had seven siblings.[3] One of his sisters married Marcus B. Toney, a Klansman and Masonic leader.[4]

Career

During the American Civil War, Stahlman worked as a railroad builder near Gallatin, Tennessee, only to become a clerk shortly after.[2] He was subsequently hired as an auditor by the Southern Express Company in the twin city of Bristol, Tennessee-Bristol, Virginia, and he settled in Nashville, Tennessee in 1866.[2] Stahlman joined the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in 1871 as a "contracting freight agent".[2] By 1878, he became a "general freight agent", and he was later promoted to "general traffic manager."[2] From 1885 to 1890, he served as its vice president.[1][5] He also served as the vice president of the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago Railroad, and he was a commissioner of the Southern Steamship and Railway Association.[2]

The Stahlman.

Stahlman purchased the Nashville Banner in 1885.[5][3] He was its publisher for the next 44 years of his life.[6] In 1907, Luke Lea launched The Tennessean, a competing newspaper in Nashville.[7] According to the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, "Lea and his political associates conspired unsuccessfully to have the German-born Major Stahlman declared an "alien enemy" after World War I began."[7] Stahlman's obituary in The Tennessean highlighted, "From a small and modest paper, with little influence and small circulation in the late '80s, it became under the direction of Major Stahlman one of the leading and outstanding newspapers of the South."[5]

Politically, Stahlman was responsible for lowering the cost of "postal rates" for newspapers through his involvement with the Southern Newspaper Publishers' Association.[5] He was also a supporter of Cordell Hull.[2]

Stahlman invested in real estate in Nashville. He purchased the Nashville Union Stockywards in 1881.[2] He built The Stahlman, a skyscraper in Nashville, in 1906.[5]

Death

Stahlman married Mollie T. Claiborne in 1866 and they had three children.[3] After she predeceased him in 1915, he married Sarah Shelton, and they had a child.[3] Stahlman was a 32nd degree Mason,[3] and a charter member of the Masonic Widows' and Orphans' Home.[8] He was also a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.[3]

Stahlman died of "overwork" on August 12, 1930 in Nashville, Tennessee, aged 87.[2][5][3] His funeral was held at the McKendree Methodist Church, later known as the West End United Methodist Church, and he was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery.[2] His portrait hangs in the Nashville Public Library.[1]

References
  1. "Metro Davidson County Collection - Nashville Public Library: Stahlman, Edward Bushrod (1843-1930)". Tennessee Portrait Project. National Society of Colonial Dames of America in Tennessee. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  2. "E. B. STAHLMAN, PUBLISHERS' DEAN, DIES. NASHVILLE BANNER OWNER FAMED NEWSPAPER FIGURE. Was Conspicuous many Years in Railroad Circles. Burial to take Place Wednesday. Had Remarkable Career Throughout Life". The Leaf-Chronicle. Clarksville, Tennessee. August 12, 1930. pp. 1–2 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "AGED PUBLISHER NASHVILLE BANNER DIED TUESDAY AFTER LONG ILLNESS FROM OVERWORK". Corsicana Daily Sun. Corsicana, Texas. August 12, 1930. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Famous Confederate Soldier, Held in Elmira Prison, Dies; Spoke in City 16 Years Ago". Star-Gazette. November 4, 1929. p. 2. Retrieved May 25, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. The veteran often boasted of having been one of the few survivors of the original Ku Klux Klan. [...] He and his brother-in-law, Major E. B. Stahlman, publisher of The Nashville Banner, both started their careers as employees of an express company.
  5. "Major E. B. Stahlman". The Tennessean. August 13, 1930. p. 4. Retrieved December 19, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "DIXIE PUBLISHER IS DEAD". Lincoln Journal Star. August 12, 1930. p. 1. Retrieved December 19, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Sumner, David E. "Nashville Banner". The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Tennessee Historical Society and the University of Tennessee Press. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  8. Toney, Marcus B. (1905). The Privations of a Private. Nashville, Tennessee. p. 140 – via Internet Archive.
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