Mr. Newell was born on this day, April 26, 1868 in Albany, New York and graduated from Yale where he played on the Football Team in 1888, seen above.
He was involved with railroad administration and started work at the White Pass & Yukon Route in 1901 as the Vice-President. It seems as though his position was based in Seattle as there was some controversy of White Pass closing their Victoria and Seattle offices in 1902 and moving them to Vancouver. His socialite wife apparently stayed in Chicago and occasionally visited the far Northwest before returning to civilization. He visited Dawson with President Graves in 1903 but received an icy welcome from Yukoners because of some White Pass administrative polices.
Anyway, by 1912, Ashbel had moved on to be President of the Tennessee Central Railroad.
Good information. I am writing a biography of Charles sheldo, one of Newell’s Yale classmates and close friends. If anyone has any more information about Newell, I would appreciate hearing it: vvw@slwplc.com
Hi Van Wolf, hope that your biography of Newell is going well, glad to post any updates that you have including a link to your book. Cheers, Marlene