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BENJAMIN P. CHENEY

1885, New York. Stock certificate for 100 shares. Green/Black. Engraved vignette of a steam locomotive at top center, nice portrait vignette of Frederick Billings at bottom. Issued to and signed on verso by BENJAMIN P. CHENEY (1815 – 1895). Cheney received the degree of M. A. from Dartmouth College. He entered the employ of the stage company,(The Adams Express) plying an express between Peterboro and East Harrisville, New Hampshire, as a poor boy, but so faithful did he prove that his advancement was constant, and when later an interest in the company was for sale, Mr. Whitcomb French, a staunch friend helped him to the required funds. This kindness Mr. Cheney never forgot, and in Mr. French's last years, he was remembered with a substantial check each month. It was reported he owned also a large farm on the Northern Pacific railroad in after years. (This must refer to Mr. Cheney) General J. W. Sprague, Construction Superintendent for the Northern Pacific Railroad ordered the name of the townsite formerly called "Billings" to be changed to Cheney (WASHINGTON). The town was named for Benjamin P. Cheney, of Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Cheney was a Director of the Northern Pacific Railroad, which had located its route through the town site. Stamp and punch cancellations not affecting signature.