Obituaries:  William Edenborn, 1926, Winn Parish, LA.
Submitted by Greggory E. Davies, 120 Ted Price Lane, Winnfield, LA 71483
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From:  May 20, 1926 Winn Parish Enterprise

William Edenborn, Owner of L. R. & N. Ry. Dead

William Edenborn, 78 years old, railroad builder and inventor, the
president of Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company, who was stricken
with apoplexy at his plantation home in Winn Parish near Emden, La., died
Friday morning at 1:30 o'clock at Schumpert sanitarium.

Mr. Edenborn is survived by his wife, who was at his bedside throughout his
illness, and the following nephews and nieces:  E. O. Mann, of Shreveport;
August E. Mann, Dnonra, Pa.; Mrs. Emma Logan, Shreveport; Mrs. Mary Mann,
Shreveport; Mrs. Lena Wigton, Sheaton, Ill.  He is also survived by a
cousin, Paul E. Sippel, of Shreveport.

Mr. Edenborn was born in Westphalia, Aprussia, March 20, 1848, and came to
the United States in 1867 with a knowledge of nail manufacturing learned in
Prussian shops.  In 1870 he moved to St. Louis after periods of residence
in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.  He invented a machine for making barbed wire
and wire nails, establishing the foundation of his fortune.  

With F. M. Ludlow he organized the first wire mill in St. Louis following
with other mills until in 1899 he incorporated the American Steel and Wire
Company of New Jersey.  This was sold in 1901 to the United States Steel
Corporation for a consideration said to have been $ 100,000,000.  He built
the Louisiana Railway and Navigation Company, the main line extending from
new Orleans to Shreveport.  Later he purchased the McKinney division of the
M. K. & T. which became known as the L. R. & N. of Texas.

At the time of his death, Mr. Edenborn was vice-president of the Germanic
Society of New York.  His estate is said to be worth between $ 50,000,000
and $ 100,000,000.  He was buried at Forest Park Cemetery, Shreveport,
Sunday.