Edward Turner Jeffery (April 6, 1843 – September 24, 1927) was an American railroad executive.

[2] His 1922 entry in the Biographical Directory of the Railway Officials of America reads thus: Entered railway service: October, 1856, since which time he has been consecutively October, 1856, to December, 1856, office boy for superintendent machinery, Illinois Central Railroad; December, 1856, to February, 1857, apprentice in shops, same road, at Chicago, Illinois; July, 1858, to July, 1859, office boy in superintendent of machinery, same road; 1859 to 1863, apprentice in office of mechanical draftsman, same road; 1863 to 1871, mechanical draftsman and secretary to superintendent machinery, same road; February 1, 1871, to May 4, 1877, assistant superintendent machinery, same road; May 4, 1877, to December 15, 1885, general superintendent and chief engineer; December 15, 1885, to September 2, 1889, general manager, same road; October 1, 1891, to January, 1912, president, Denver and Rio Grande; January, 1912, to January, 1917, chairman, board of directors, same road; October, 1891, to June, 1900, also general manager, same road; August 2, 1893, to November 30, 1895, also receiver, Rio Grande Southern Railroad; July 1, 1901, to January, 1912, president, Rio Grande Western Railway; June 23, 1905, to July, 1913, also president, Western Pacific Railroad; July, 1913, to January, 1917, chairman, board of directors, same road, retired on latter date.

Apparently, Jeffery continued this habit throughout his railroad career and impressed his superiors accordingly.

[3] Jeffery began his career at the age of 13, as an office boy for the superintendent of machinery on the Illinois Central Railroad.

According to the Champaign (Illinois) Gazette “Acting President Harriman wanted to conduct the operations of the road from his office in New York, and Mr. Jeffery didn’t want it that way.”[7] In 1891, he became president of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad.

After many years of paying zero dividends and even missing interest payments on bonds, the disappointed board members/investors hired Jeffery to put the railroad back into shape financially.

Expensive construction projects became a thing of the past, and other cost-cutting measures were implemented.

- Athearn, Robert G. Rebel of the Rockies: A History of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1962.

“A Brief Biography of Victor Arthur Miller,” Ridgway Railroad Museum Newsletter, pp.

Silver San Juan: The Rio Grande Southern Railroad, Pruett Publishing Company, Boulder, Colorado, 1973.

- The National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Volume VIII, “Edward T. Jeffery” section, James T. White & Co., New York, 1900.