High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Alfred Holland Smith (April 26, 1863 – March 8, 1924) was the President of New York Central Railroad from January 1914 to May 1918 and from June 1919 until his death. The entirety of Smith`s forty-five-year career was dedicated to the railroads. He started his career as a messenger boy at the age of fourteen, earning 4 dollars a week, and became the highest-paid railroad manager in the U.S., receiving an annual salary of more than $100,000 according to one survey.