Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway Co. signed twice by B.P. Cheney Jr.

Stock signed on stub and at the back by B.P. Cheney Jr. son of B.P. Cheney. 4,272 shares!

Benjamin Pierce Cheney (August 12, 1815 – July 23, 1895) was an American businessman, and a founder of the firm that became American Express. Cheney was born in Hillsborough, New Hampshire to Jesse and Alice (Steele) Cheney. The family were descended from John Cheney, who was recorded in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1635, moving the following year to Newbury, Massachusetts. John Cheney's brother, William, recorded in Roxbury by 1640, was an ancestor of former Vice President Dick Cheney. He was also evidently kin to the Benjamin Cheney or Cheany of Hartford, Connecticut, from whom John Fitch, the inventor of the steamboat, learned the trade of clocksmith in 1760.

Cheney's father was a blacksmith, and he began working in his father's shop at age 10. At age 12 he began working at a tavern and later a general store in Francestown, New Hampshire. In 1831 he started work as a stagecoach driver between Nashua and Exeter, soon moving to the route between Nashua and Keene. The stage did a brisk business due to the dearth of rail lines at the time. Cheney built relationships with some of his passengers at this time, including Daniel Webster, whose friendship lasted the rest of his life. With a reputation for honesty and reliability, he was frequently entrusted with large sums of money destined for banks on his route. In 1836 he became a stage agent in Boston.

The Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railway (SFP&P) was a common carrier railroad that subsequently became an operating subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway in Arizona. At Ash Fork, Arizona, the SFP&P established a connection with the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad, a subsidiary of Santa Fe, which operated a mainline extending from California to Chicago. The SFP&P's line, measuring 195 miles (314 km), facilitated the Santa Fe Railway's expansion southward into Phoenix. Additionally, the SFP&P extended another 100 miles (160 km) eastward from Phoenix to Florence and Winkelman via the Phoenix & Eastern Railroad, which would later become a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1907. The SFP&P also provided service to several mines in the Prescott region through its various subsidiary railroads. On December 28, 1911, the line was merged into the non-operating subsidiary (paper railroad) of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, known as the California, Arizona & Santa Fe Railway.

Currently, the segment from Ash Fork to Phoenix is managed by the BNSF Railway. Due to its numerous winding curves and bridges, the route earned the nickname "Peavine." In the 1960s, the AT&SF constructed a new line to circumvent the most challenging grades and curves, which bypassed the city of Prescott and was referred to as the New Peavine Bypass. The SFP&P was chartered on May 27, 1891, with construction commencing on August 17, 1892, from the Atlantic & Pacific connection at Ash Fork. By April 1893, trains were operational between Ash Fork and Prescott, and on March 13, 1895, the line was fully extended to Phoenix.

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