Dates

• Existence: 1825-1911

Biography

Peter Dey was born January 27, 1825 in Seneca County, New York. His grandfather was a Colonel in the Revolutionary War. Dey graduated from Geneva College in Geneva, New York in 1844, after which he studied law until 1846. In 1846 he was employed by the New York and Erie Railroad as a civil engineer. He worked on the Cayuga and Seneca Canal building locks. He also worked on the Erie Canal and for several railroads. In 1853 he came west to Iowa as a surveyor for the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad. Dey was mayor of Iowa City in 1860. He left the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad in 1863 and began work for the Union Pacific as a surveyor, working as far west as Salt Lake. Grenville Dodge worked for Dey as a rodman, and Dodge called him one of the most eminent engineers of the country. During his time with the Union Pacific, he worked with Charles Doc Durant and he met Lincoln. There is in this collection a newspaper clipping describing this meeting. Why he left the Union Pacific is uncertain. Some sources say he quit when asked to pad his estimates for work, from $30,000 per mile to $50,000. One newspaper clipping credits Dey's resignation with instigating the investigation that brought to light the transgressions of the Credit Mobilier, and eventually spread scandal right up to Congress, where Oliver and Oakes Ames were implicated. Dodge, however, states that Dey resigned because his recommendation for how the railroad should progress west of Omaha was ignored and the road was built in defiance of government conditions. Whatever the case, it seems that Dey would not be allied with the questionable dealings of the Credit Mobilier and the Union Pacific Railroad. After leaving the Union Pacific, Dey returned to Iowa City, where he engaged in surveying a north-south road. In 1869 he was elected President of First National Bank, where he served until 1878. In 1872 he was appointed by the legislature to a commission to build the state capitol. He served on this commission until 1884, when the capitol was finished. In 1878 he was appointed to the Railroad Commission and in 1888 he was elected Commissioner of Railroads in Iowa, where he served until 1895. Many other states are said to have modeled their railroad commissions on that of Iowa's under Dey. In 1895, he was again elected President of First National Bank. He died on July 10, 1911, two weeks after he relinquished his duties as president of the bank and the Farmers Loan and Trust Company. In 1856 he had married Catherine Thompson, and they had six children, one of whom worked at the bank with his father. On September 11, 1857 they moved into the house at 507 North Clinton Street, which today serves as the home of the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop.

Citation:

Author: Jacque Roethler, February 2006

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