of Railway Conductors (1868), the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen (1873) and the Brotherhood of Railroad Brakemen (1883). In the era after the founding of the Big Four, some sixteen other "brotherhoods" of railroad trades organized. Membership qualifications across trades shifted, and the alliances among the brotherhoods (and their chapters) are not always clear. Expansion (1864–1903) Following a disastrous strike in July 1864 by employees of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, in which half of the strikers lost their jobs, the Brotherhood of the Footboard held a convention in Indianapolis on 17 August 1864 in which they changed their name to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and replaced Grand Chief Engineer Robinson with Charles Wilson. The first, radical, phase of the union was over. In 1873 the Pennsylvania Railroad ordered a reduction of pay, and the engineers went on strike. Charles Wilson publicly criticized their action. The brotherhood called a special meeting in Cleveland on 25 February 1874 at which Wilson was forced to resign and was replaced by P.M. Arthur. When Arthur took over, the country was entering a financial depression after the Civil War boom. Wages were unstable, working conditions were poor, and strikes were frequent. Arthur was able to prevent wages from falling further through effective negotiation, and the union became more powerful, and was held in good esteem by the union members and the railroad managers. After 1877, the BLE was considered less militant than some other brotherhoods, as well as the Knights of Labor and the American Railway Union. Arthur died unexpectedly on 17 July 1903, and the Grand Assistant Chief A.B. Youngson became head of the union. Youngson was on his deathbed, and died on 31 July 1903. Stone and Prenter (1903–1925) Before dying, Youngson recommended Warren Stanford Stone as his successor, a man who would have great influence in labor politics. Stone headed the union until 1924. Stone believed that if a worker "wants to join a union, all right, but it is contrary to the principles of free government and the Constitution of the United States ... to make him join." Stone and other members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers became owners of the Coal River Collieries, and Stone became chairman of the board of directors of the mine. A dispute arose with John L. Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers of America. Lewis claimed that Stone was closing mines and