Businessman. Trained as a civil engineer, he worked on the construction of the first Union Pacific lines as a young man. In 1880, he became general manager of the Richmond and Allegheny Railroad, and, upon acquiring the James River and Kanawha Company, began constructing a rail line on the towpath of the old James River and Kanawha Canal, which opened in 1881. In 1890, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company purchased the Richmond and Allegheny, and Decatur Axtell would eventually head the company’s civil engineering, treasury, and accounting divisions. Under him, the Chesapeake and Ohio purchased two declining mountain resorts, the Homestead in Virginia and Greenbrier in West Virginia, built large new hotels with golf and tennis facitilites, and turned them into thriving rail destinations.  Family links:  Parents:  Almon Axtell (1811 – 1873)  Sophronia Boynton Axtell (1813 – 1889)  Spouse:  Ellen May Cantrell Axtell (1855 – 1925)  Siblings:  John Boynton Axtell (1836 – 1836)*  John Almon Axtell (1837 – 1838)*  Joshua Delano Axtell (1839 – 1839)*  Thressa Ann Axtell (1840 – 1854)*  Ruth Jane Axtell (1842 – 1896)*  Ellen Cecelia Axtell (1843 – 1917)*  Almon Orsemus Axtell (1845 – 1847)*  Decatur Axtell (1848 – 1922)  Daniel Benton Axtell (1850 – 1882)* *Calculated relationship