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Walton H. Holmes, one of the best known men in Kansas
City, was the second child of Nehemiah and Mary Holmes and was born in
1861 in Independence, Missouri. His father was the founder, of
the street railway system of Kansas City, and during his vacations
from the local high school and the Christian Brothers' College in St.
Louis, the young Walton leaned the business, beginning at the bottom.
At the age of sixteen he engaged in the
business of contractor and builder on a large scale and when seventeen
years old was elected vice-president of the Kansas City and Westport
Horse Railway Company, and upon attaining his majority was elected
president. In 1886 he introduced the cable system, and was the
first president in the United States to introduce the overhead trolley
electric system. It was chiefly through his instrumentality that
the street car line of the city were consolidated, after which he was
made vice-president and general manager, and in 1898 was elected
president. In 1902 Mr. Holmes severed his connection with the
Metropolitan, and is now engaged in looking after his own personal
interests.
In 1884, he was married to Miss Fleecie
Phillips, daughter of Dr. Phillips, an eminent surgeon of Austin,
Tex., and a niece of U. S. District Judge John F. Phillips. They
have one son, Walton H., Jr.
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