Benjamin Franklin Yoakum

Benjamin Franklin Yoakum was a visionary railroad executive of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who attempted to join the Frisco and Rock Island Railroads into a great system stretching from Chicago to Mexico. In 1909, when Yoakum controlled 17,500 miles of railroad, Railway World magazine called him an empire builder who had done as much for the Southwest as legendary James J. Hill had done for the Northwest.

Yoakum was born near Tehuacana, Texas, on August 20, 1859 to Narcissa Teague and Franklin L. Yoakum.

Source: Wikipedia