Following the death of Henry Flagler in 1913, control of the Florida East Coast Railway passed to his brother-in-law, William Rand Kenan. Flagler had married Mr. Kenan's sister, Mary Lily Kenan in 1901.

A chemist and businessman, Kenan was already successful on his own, having been instrumental in the development of the Union Carbide Company. A native of North Carolina, for much of his life he made his home in Lockport, New York (near Niagara Falls).

Kenan oversaw the FEC's expansion in the 1920s, and its hard times during the Great Depression. He lost control of the railway to Ed Ball and the DuPont Estate trust in a hostile takeover during the 1950s.

Kenan died in 1965, at the age of 93.