Holliday, Cyrus K., capitalist and railroad builder, was born at Carlisle, Pa., April 3, 1826. He was educated for the legal profession at Alleghany College, Meadville, Pa., but being of a commercial turn of mind turned his attention in another direction. His first venture was the building of a short line of railroad in his native state, in which he accumulated some $20,000, which was the foundation of his success in later life. Deeming the West a better field for the exercise of his peculiar talents, he left Pennsylvania and in Oct., 1854, located at Lawrence, Kan. He took an active interest in the free-state cause; was one of the founders of Topeka and the first president of the town company that laid out that city; and was for many years the largest landowner and heaviest taxpayer there. Mr. Holliday's greatest achievement was in projecting and building the first portion of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad. He was the first man to dream of a line of railway along the old Santa Fe trail to the Pacific coast. In 1864 he prepared a map showing the line of the proposed road and tried to interest capitalists in the scheme. Everywhere he was met by rebuffs and sneers, but nothing daunted him, and he lived to see the realization of his dreams. He secured a charter from the Kansas legislature, and through the purchase and sale of Pottawatomie Indian lands raised money enough to build the first 20 miles of the road—from Topeka to Carbondale—an event that was celebrated with appropriate ceremonies. Mr. Holliday always took an active interest in public affairs. He was one of the founders of the Republican party in Kansas; was elected state senator in 1861; served as adjutant-general during the Civil war; was elected to the lower house of the legislature in 1866; was nominated for Congress in 1874, but was defeated; was president of the Excelsior Coke and Gas company and the Merchants' National bank of Topeka; served as president of the State Historical Society, and was a director of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad company from the time it was organized until his death on March 29, 1900.