Benjamin Roden
Benjamin Franklin Roden (born January 5, 1844 in DeKalb County - died February 23, 1908) founded numerous businesses in the early days of Birmingham.
Roden was the son of W. B. and Viola Roden, grandson of John B. Roden and great-grandson of Revolutionary War orderly sergeant Jerry Roden. He volunteered with the 31st Alabama Infantry in the Civil War and was wounded at the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862 and was assigned to the quartermaster corps before becoming a surgeon's assistant.
After the war, Roden continued his schooling at McKenzie College in Clarksville, Texas and spent some time as a teacher among the Choctaw people. After repaying money he had borrowed from the founder of his college he entered the grocery and timber business in Gadsden.
At the invitation of James Powell, Roden moved to Birmingham in 1871 and became one of its busiest entrepreneurs. He expanded his B. F. Roden Grocery Company into a wholesale distributor, founded the Avondale Land Company, helped found the Birmingham Street Railway Company and the Bimingham Chain Works, and served as a director for the Birmingham Gas and Electric Light Company, the Birmingham National Bank, and the Alabama National Bank. He served as president of the Central Coal Company and the Birmingham Insurance Company and also financed the construction of the Roden Block and the never completed Roden Hotel.
Roden also served in the first Birmingham Board of Aldermen and was responsible for the construction of the city's first streetcar system.
References
- Cruikshank, George H. (1920) History of Birmingham and Its Environs: A Narrative Account of Their Historical Progress, Their People, and Their Principal Interests 2 volumes. Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Company. - via Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections