My Genealogy Hound

EDWARD C. RENDELL, chief clerk for the Superintendent of the St. Louis Division of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, is a pleasant and affable gentleman, and is thoroughly conversant with every detail of the railroad business. He was born in Petersburg, Va., October 4, 1863, and is a son of I. J. Rendell, whose birth occurred in the vicinity of Bangor, Me. The father, who was a locomotive engineer by trade, was in the employ of various roads at different times, and during the Civil War ran an engine for the Union army in Virginia. At the close of the Rebellion he went to Mississippi, where he ran an engine on the old Mississippi Central Railroad. After residing for a time in Jackson, Tenn., he came to Cairo, Ill., in 1878, and was general foreman for the old Chicago, St. Louis & New Orleans, now the Illinois Central Railroad. His death occurred in 1888.

Our subject’s mother, whose maiden name was Ella Newsome, was born in Petersburg, Va., where her father, F. P, Newsome, was a tailor. She now makes her home with our subject. Of the family, two brothers and three sisters are deceased, while one son and one daughter are living. Edward C. was reared in Mississippi and at Jackson, Tenn., where he was a student in the common schools. In 1878 he removed to Cairo, where he prosecuted his studies in the high school. He was also a student in the Clinton Baptist College, at Clinton, Ky., for two years.

In the meantime, as early as 1880, Mr. Rendell entered the employ of the Illinois Central Railway Company and ran a stationary engine at East Cairo, Ky., where he continued until 1888. He then took his father’s place as general foreman, and after two months was relieved by A. B. Minton. Later he accepted a clerkship with W. H. Clark, at Jackson, Tenn., where he was Division Superintendent of the Illinois Central Railroad, remaining in that position until June of 1890, since which time he has been at Murphysboro as Mr. Clark’s chief clerk. Socially, he is identified with the Uniformed Rank, K. of P., at Cairo, and in his political belief he is a Democrat. He is a member of the Christian Church, and is an earnest and active worker in that denomination.