Charles Esmond Kearney (March 8, 1820 - January 3, 1898) was the first president of the
Kansas City and Cameron Railroad which as a subsidiary of the
Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad and built the
Hannibal Bridge establishing
Kansas City, Missouri as the dominant city in the region.
He was born in
Ireland before emigrating to
Texas in 1837. He moved to Kansas City in 1852 where he outfitted travelers on the
Oregon Trail and
Santa Fe Trail from
Westport, Missouri.
During this time he saw the need for direct link from Chicago to Texas. He along with
Kersey Coates and
Robert T. Van Horn persuaded the railroad to build a cutoff of their line from
Cameron, Missouri to Kansas City for the first bridge across the
Missouri River which opened in 1869. He was the first president of the subsidiary. The result was the Hannibal Bridge which was the first bridge across the Missouri River. It established Kansas City rather than
Leavenworth, Kansas or
St. Joseph, Missouri as the dominant city in the region.
The town of
Kearney, Missouri (which is on the route) is named for him.
