James O. (James Octavius) Fagan

Born in Scotland in 1859, James Octavius Fagan later built his life and career in the United States. Reference works describe him as a railroad signalman as well as an author, and that combination shaped much of his writing.

He is best known for books including Confessions of a Railroad Signalman and The Autobiography of an Individualist. Library records show The Autobiography of an Individualist was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1912, and his work returned often to railroads, labor, and the values of self-reliance.

Fagan also entered wider public debate. Materials preserved by the Theodore Roosevelt Center show that President Theodore Roosevelt took an interest in Fagan's recent articles in The Atlantic Monthly and invited him to visit, suggesting that his writing had reached an influential audience beyond the railroad world.