{{Short description|American business executive}} {{For|the former NFL quarterback and Missouri politician|Bill Kenney}} {{Use American English|date=February 2022}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder | name =William Patrick Kenney | image =File:William Patrick Kenney in 1918.jpg | caption =Kenney in 1918 | birth_date ={{Birth date|1870|1|10}} | birth_place =Watertown, Wisconsin | death_date = {{Death date and age|1939|1|24|1870|1|10}} | death_place =St. Paul, Minnesota | other_names = | order = | office = President of the Great Northern Railway| term_start =January 1, 1932 | term_end =January 24, 1939 | appointer = | predecessor =Ralph Budd | successor = }}
'''William Patrick Kenney''' (January 10, 1870 – January 24, 1939) was a president of the Great Northern Railway.<ref name=obit/><ref name=GNG/>
==Biography== He was born on January 10, 1870, in Watertown, Wisconsin.<ref name=obit/>
As a boy in Minneapolis, Kenney delivered newspapers. He used a goat to pull his wagonload of papers until the neighbors objected to the smell and the goat was sold to a rancher in Montana. Later, Kenney joined the Great Northern Railway, which needed a trademark. He suggested the image of the goat to James J. Hill, the "Empire Builder" who ran the railroad, and it was adopted.<ref name=SDC/>
In 1931, he was vice president and director of traffic at the Great Northern Railway. He replaced Ralph Budd as president on January 1, 1932.<ref>{{cite news |title=New Railway Chief 44 Years In Work. Will Head Railway |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9804E7DC1430E03ABC4F51DFB467838A629EDE&legacy=true |newspaper=New York Times |date=December 27, 1931 |access-date=September 18, 2017 |archive-date=December 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201144120/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9804E7DC1430E03ABC4F51DFB467838A629EDE&legacy=true |url-status=live }}</ref>
He died at St. Joseph's Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, on January 24, 1939.<ref name=EAB/><ref name=obit>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=W.P. Kenney Dies. Head Of Railway. President of Great Northern. Began Career as Newsboy in Minneapolis |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9902E7DF113FE23ABC4D51DFB7668382629EDE&legacy=true |newspaper=New York Times |date=January 25, 1939 |access-date=September 18, 2017 |archive-date=October 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013120811/https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9902E7DF113FE23ABC4D51DFB7668382629EDE&legacy=true |url-status=live }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=GNG>{{citation |title=The Great Northern Goat |page=11 |year=1939 |volume=10-15}}</ref> <ref name=EAB>{{citation |title=Encyclopedia of American Biography |first=Winfield Scott |last=Downs |publisher=American Historical Company |year=1940}}</ref> <ref name=SDC>{{citation |title="Kenney's Goat" Story Recalled |newspaper=Spokane Daily Chronicle|date=12 November 1931 |page=1}}</ref> }}
==External links== *{{Find a Grave|35700715}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenney, William P.}} Category:1870 births Category:1939 deaths Category:People from Watertown, Wisconsin Category:20th-century American business executives in rail transportation Category:Great Northern Railway (U.S.)