Eric Wickman


Carl Eric Wickman was the founder of the Greyhound Lines

Background

Wickman was born Martis Jerk at Martisgården, a family farm located near the small village of Limbäck in the parish of Våmhus, 15 km north of Mora in the province Dalarna, Sweden. He was the eldest of five siblings. The distinctly Dalecarlian name Martis Jerk literally means "Martin's Eric" or "Eric of Martis farm". His father Victor Wretman had earlier used the surname Wickman when he had worked in the United States. In 1905, when Eric arrived in the United States as a Swedish emigrant, he changed his name to Carl Eric Wickman.

Career

Wickman worked in a mine as a drill operator in Hibbing, Minnesota until he was laid off in 1914. In the same year, Wickman became a Hupmobile salesman as a partnership-owner. When he could not sell the first Hupmobile he received, he began operating a livery route from Hibbing and Alice, Minnesota. By using the seven multi-seat Hupmobile, he drove his former colleagues between the mines and homes. This was the start of what would later become the largest bus line in the United States, renamed "Greyhound Lines" in 1914.
By 1934, he had expanded to 50 buses and had revenues of $340,000. In 1952 he sold the business for $960,000. Wickman began buying small businesses, establishing Northland Transportation Co. In 1954, Great Northern Railway bought 80% of Northland for $240,000. Leaving that concern largely in Great Northern's hands, Wickman formed The Greyhound Corporation, a holding company for other bus lines which he and associates proceeded to buy.

Personal life

In 1916, Wickman married Olga Rodin, a Swedish-American. They had two children Robert and Peggy.
In 1940 King Gustav V of Sweden awarded Wickman with the Order of Vasa, first class.

Companies founded