A history of Texas and Texans, Volume 3 (1914)
By Francis White Johnson, Ernest William Winkler, page 1566

A HISTORY OF TEXAS and TEXANS,

BY FRANK W. JOHNSON, A LEADER IN THE TEXAS REVOLUTION;

Edited and Brought to Date by EUGENE C. BARKER, Ph. D.

PROFESSOR OF AMERICAN HISTORY, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS

With the Assistance of

ERNEST WILLIAM WINKLER, M.A., TEXAS STATE LIBRARIAN

To which are added Historical, Statistical and Descriptive Matter pertaining to the important Local Divisions of the State, and biographical accounts of the Leaders and Representative Men of the State in Commerce, Industry and Modern Activities.

VOLUME III

THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, CHICAGO AND NEW YORK

1914

The successive steps by which Alexander M. Acheson has risen to his present position as chief engineer of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad, at Dallas, Texas, are illustrative of the opportunities lying open to the men of progress and action in the great Southwest. Opportunity, however, waits on fitness and capacity, and it is interesting to note the wondrous selection in the sifting out of the fittest from the mass of common material that crowds all avenues of railroad work. Mr. Acheson has risen from a humble position in the field of civil engineering by his own unaided exertions, through capacity and merit, to a high place calling for the exercise of foresight and judgment, and to the management of an important branch of an important transportation line. Mr. Acheson was born at Washington, Washington county, Pennsylvania, July 20, 1858, and is a son of James C. and Mary E. (Mahon) Acheson.

Mr. Acheson was reared and received his early education in the historic town of Washington, situated on what was before the days of railroads the old National Highway, which ran from Cumberland, Maryland, to Wheeling, West Virginia. He attended the Washington and Jefferson College, where he took up the study of civil engineering, and during his leisure hours received his early business training in his father's mercantile establishment at Washington. Mr. Acheson was graduated from college in 1879, with the degree of Civil Engineer, and at once embarked upon the practice of his profession in the employ of the New York, Lake Erie & Western Railroad. Subsequently, he entered the services of the New York, West Shore & Buffalo Railroad, where he was employed in the construction department, and at a later date was engaged with the Pennsylvania Railroad and the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railroad. In 1889 Mr. Acheson came to Denison, Texas, as assistant engineer of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad, with which he has been connected to the present time. He came to Dallas in 1895, as resident engineer of the road, and in 1906 was considered the logical man for the position of division superintendent, an office which he held until 1909. In that year he became chief engineer of the M. K. & T. for "Texas Lines" and in November, 1912, was promoted to the responsible position of chief engineer of maintenance for the entire road. As a railroad man Mr. Acheson has become known throughout the entire Southwest. The duties and responsibilities of the positions he has held have demanded his entire attention, and he has had neither the time nor the inclination to seek political preferment. He has, however, taken the interest that every good citizen should feel in matters pertaining to the welfare of his adopted place, and his influence has been felt in movements making for progress along all lines. His fraternal connection has been with the Masons, where he has reached the Chapter degree, and he also holds membership in the Phi Kappa Psi, with which he became connected during his college days.

On December 6, 1894, Mr. Acheson was united in marriage with Miss Alice Brown Hanna, daughter of Samuel Hanna, of Denison, an early pioneer of that place and a member of the grocery house of Hanna Platter & Company. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Acheson: Alexander M. Jr., and Sam Hanna. The pleasant family home is situated in Hishland Park.