William B. Ogden
William B. Ogden was born on June 15, 1805. See ranking, bio blurb, and everyone else born that day.
About William B. Ogden
William Butler Ogden (June 15, 1805 – August 3, 1877) was an American politician and railroad executive who served as the first Mayor of Chicago. He was referred to as "the Astor of Chicago." He was, at one time, the city's richest citizen. He brought the Galena & Chicago Union RR out of insolvency and was its first president in 1847. He created the Chicago & North Western Railway from the failed remains of the Chicago, St.Paul, Fond du Lac and was its first president in 1859. He spearheaded the 1st transcontinental railroad as the Union Pacific and was its first president in 1862, although he relinquished that position due to poor health. Ogden serves as the namesake for Chicago's Ogden Avenue, The Bronx's Odgen Avenue, the Ogden Slip in Chicago (which was constructed by his Chicago Dock and Canal Company), and Ogden, Iowa. A 1994 survey of experts on Chicago politics assessed Ogden as one of the ten best mayors in the city's history (up to that time).