Henry Melville Whitney
Encyclopedia
Henry Melville Whitney was an American industrialist, the founder of the West End Street Railway Company of Boston, Massachusetts, and later the Dominion Coal Company Ltd. and the Dominion Iron and Steel Company Ltd. of Sydney, Nova Scotia
. He was also president of the Metropolitan Steamship Company
, long an important transportation link between Boston and New York City
.
, of Puritan
stock. The family were descended from John Whitney of London, who settled in 1635 at Watertown, Massachusetts
. Henry Whitney's father was Brigadier General James Scollay Whitney
; his mother, Laurinda Collins, was a descendant of William Bradford. Henry had a well known younger brother, the financier William Collins Whitney, who served as Secretary of the Navy in the first administration (1885–89) of President Grover Cleveland
. His sister Lucy Collins "Lily" Whitney married Charles T. Barney
, who became the president of the Knickerbocker Trust Company
. Another sister, Susan Collins Whitney, married Henry F. Dimock
.
Educated at Williston Seminary, East Hampton, Massachusetts, Whitney was a personally pleasant and genial man who had hearing difficulties from childhood. He began his business career as a clerk in a bank in Conway in 1856. In 1859 he went to Boston, where he was a clerk in the Bank of Mutual Redemption. He then worked as a clerk in the office of the navy agent at the Boston Custom House
in 1860-61. Upon the outbreak of the American Civil War
in 1861, Whitney went to New York City
and engaged in the shipping business.
In 1866 Whitney returned to Boston and was appointed agent of the Metropolitan Steamship Company
, of which his father was president. This concern operated steamships on the "outside line" between Boston and New York around Cape Cod
.
On October 3, 1878, Whitney married Margaret F. Green of Brookline, Massachusetts
. Residing in Brookline, the couple were the parents of one son and four daughters.
Whitney established the West End Street Railway Company with himself as president in 1886 as a combination of the five street railways of the Boston area. He introduced the use of electricity as the road's motive power in 1888, replacing its 10,000 horses, and by 1900 it comprised a rapid transit
system second to none.
In 1889 Whitney and Frederick Stark Pearson, chief engineer of the West End Street Railway Company, formed the Whitney coal syndicate with Benjamin Franklin Pearson of the People's Heat and Light Company of Halifax, Nova Scotia
. The group purchased one coal mine and obtained options on others south of Sydney
in eastern Cape Breton Island
. Premier William Stevens Fielding
and the Liberal provincial administration favored Whitney's entry into the coal business because his steamships and street-railway electric generators consumed large quantities of coal. The Whitney syndicate was offered an unprecedented 99-year lease at a fixed royalty; the group exercised its options, acquiring most of the existing bituminous coal
mines of eastern Cape Breton Island and co-opting such local figures as John Stewart McLennan
and David MacKeen
. This process took some months, and Whitney was not ready to consolidate operations at Sydney until early 1893.
Meanwhile, in June 1890 the Metropolitan Steamship Company placed the new iron steamer H.M. Whitney in service between Boston and New York. The 2,706-ton, 288-foot vessel was built by William Cramp and Sons
at Philadelphia. The H.M. Whitney was flagship of the Metropolitan fleet until she was run down and sunk by the steamer Ottoman in Boston harbor on September 28, 1892. No lives were lost, and the H.M. Whitney was later refloated and, after reconditioning, returned to service.
On February 1, 1893, the Dominion Coal Company Ltd. (DOMCO) was incorporated with Whitney as president, B.F. Pearson as secretary and F.S. Pearson as chief engineer. Early investors in this enterprise included Whitney's younger brother, William C. Whitney
; his brothers-in-law, Henry F. Dimock
and Charles T. Barney
; and Almeric H. Paget, who later married William's daughter Pauline
.
The new company quickly effected numerous efficiencies and improvements, and production was quadrupled within a decade. There were, however, costly mistakes, prominent among them the tendency to become locked into low-price contracts (such as to Whitney's companies), thus missing a large market at higher prices. By 1901 some 90 per cent of its output was committed to such low-price contracts. The company made a large public offering of stock, which tumbled in price when Whitney failed to get the American import duty on coal removed or at least reduced.
Similar problems were encountered by People's Heat and Light after it was incorporated in 1893 with Whitney as president and B.F. Pearson as secretary. Although People's Heat and Light had the advantage of low-cost coal, it was plagued by substandard materials, limited technical experience, and stock-market speculations, with the result that the company, in the words of Kyle Jolliffe, "collapsed under the heavy weight of its own debts" in 1902.
Back in Boston, Whitney established the New England Gas and Coke Company for the purpose of manufacturing and distributing illuminating gas and railroad-grade coke. In January 1896 Whitney announced the organization of the Massachusetts Pipe Line Gas Company. The new concern would purchase gas from New England Gas and Coke, which in turn purchased its raw material from DOMCO. A new contract between DOMCO and New England Gas and Coke was signed on September 30, 1897, and by mid-1899 a new gas plant was in operation in Everett, Massachusetts
. The arrangement led to the unfortunate public perception that the contract had been intended to enhance the value of the companies' stock.
Whitney expanded operations at Sydney with the organization in March 1899 of the Dominion Iron and Steel Company Ltd. (DISCO), which had financial backing in both Canada and the United States. Whitney was joined in the new enterprise by his long-time business friends - F.S. Pearson, B.F. Pearson, W.C. Whitney, C.T. Barney, H.F. Dimock, A.H. Paget and J.S. McLennan. The promise of federal bounties, together with concessions from the Liberal provincial administration of Premier George Henry Murray
, enabled DISCO to begin work in June 1899 on the largest integrated steel mill
in the British Empire
. Located on the south side of Sydney Harbour, which Whitney said offered more advantages than anywhere else in the world, the mill was completed in 1901. Iron ore was mined by DISCO on Bell Island
in Newfoundland and shipped to Sydney.
Competitors in Britain, France, Germany and the United States were initially concerned. However, continuing problems of management and cost control led to Whatney's early withdrawal from the project. Later in 1901, Whitney and his associates sold majority control of DOMCO to James Ross of Montreal
and their minority share of DISCO to Ross and several other Canadian interests. Whitney resigned as president of DISCO in 1902 and as a member of the DOMCO board in December 1903. Although he remained on the DISCO board until 1909, his focus was redirected to New England. James H. Plummer of Toronto
gained control of DISCO in 1903 and DOMCO in 1910, placing them under the Dominion Steel Corporation in 1910.
Charles W. Morse
acquired control of the Metropolitan Steamship Company in 1906, placing it under the control of the Consolidated Steamship Company in January 1907. Morse crashed in the Panic of 1907
, however. In 1911 the Metropolitan Steamship Company and the Maine Steamship Company (a New York City-Portland, Maine
, operator) merged with the Eastern Steamship Company to form the Eastern Steamship Corporation. The line went into receivership
in 1914 but emerged in 1917 as Eastern Steamship Lines. Service on Eastern's Metropolitan Line was maintained until 1941.
In the general election of November 5, 1907, Whitney was the Democratic candidate for governor of Massachusetts, but failed in his bid to unseat the Republican incumbent, Curtis Guild, Jr.
Eleven days later, he represented the family at the funeral in New York City of his brother-in-law, Charles T. Barney
, who had shot himself following the failure of the Knickerbocker Trust Company in the Panic of 1907
.
Retiring from the boards of DISCO and the Metropolitan Steamship Company in 1909, Whitney lived in retirement at Brookline, where he died on January 25, 1923, at the age of 84. Largely because of the easy success of his younger brother, Whitney was generally supposed to be wealthy, but he had suffered losses from poor investments over a period of years. When the estate of "the supposed multi-millionaire", as The New York Times put it, was probated, it was found to be worth only $1,221.
See autobiography of dau. Josephine b.1891: Life on Two Levels, Josephine Whitney Duveneck c1978 ISBN 0-913232-56-4; published by William Kaufman, Inc. One First St. Los Altos, CA 94022
Sydney, Nova Scotia
Sydney is a Canadian urban community in the province of Nova Scotia. It is situated on the east coast of Cape Breton Island and is administratively part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality....
. He was also president of the Metropolitan Steamship Company
Metropolitan Steamship Company
The Metropolitan Steamship Company was for 75 years one of the chief transportation links between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts. It was closely associated with the Whitney family until its acquisition by Charles W. Morse in 1906...
, long an important transportation link between Boston and New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Early life
Henry Whitney was born at Conway, MassachusettsConway, Massachusetts
Conway is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,809 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
, of Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
stock. The family were descended from John Whitney of London, who settled in 1635 at Watertown, Massachusetts
Watertown, Massachusetts
The Town of Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 31,915 at the 2010 census.- History :Archeological evidence suggests that Watertown was inhabited for thousands of years before the arrival of settlers from England...
. Henry Whitney's father was Brigadier General James Scollay Whitney
James Scollay Whitney
James Scollay Whitney was an American business executive and politician. He was the father of Henry Melville Whitney and William Collins Whitney, founders of the Whitney family business interests....
; his mother, Laurinda Collins, was a descendant of William Bradford. Henry had a well known younger brother, the financier William Collins Whitney, who served as Secretary of the Navy in the first administration (1885–89) of President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
. His sister Lucy Collins "Lily" Whitney married Charles T. Barney
Charles T. Barney
Charles Tracy Barney was the president of the Knickerbocker Trust Company, the collapse of which shortly before Barney's death sparked the Panic of 1907.-Early life and marriage:...
, who became the president of the Knickerbocker Trust Company
Knickerbocker Trust Company
The Knickerbocker Trust, chartered in 1884 by Frederick G. Eldridge, a friend and classmate of financier J.P. Morgan, figured at one time among the largest banks in the United States and a central player in the Panic of 1907. As a trust company, its main business was serving as trustee for...
. Another sister, Susan Collins Whitney, married Henry F. Dimock
Henry F. Dimock
Henry F. Dimock was a lawyer in New York City who was closely associated with the Whitney family business interests.Dimock was born in South Coventry, Connecticut, the son of Timothy and Laura F. Dimock...
.
Educated at Williston Seminary, East Hampton, Massachusetts, Whitney was a personally pleasant and genial man who had hearing difficulties from childhood. He began his business career as a clerk in a bank in Conway in 1856. In 1859 he went to Boston, where he was a clerk in the Bank of Mutual Redemption. He then worked as a clerk in the office of the navy agent at the Boston Custom House
Custom House
A custom house or customs house was a building housing the offices for the government officials who processed the paperwork for the import and export of goods into and out of a country. Customs officials also collected customs duty on imported goods....
in 1860-61. Upon the outbreak of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
in 1861, Whitney went to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and engaged in the shipping business.
In 1866 Whitney returned to Boston and was appointed agent of the Metropolitan Steamship Company
Metropolitan Steamship Company
The Metropolitan Steamship Company was for 75 years one of the chief transportation links between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts. It was closely associated with the Whitney family until its acquisition by Charles W. Morse in 1906...
, of which his father was president. This concern operated steamships on the "outside line" between Boston and New York around Cape Cod
Cape Cod
Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...
.
On October 3, 1878, Whitney married Margaret F. Green of Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town was 58,732.-Etymology:...
. Residing in Brookline, the couple were the parents of one son and four daughters.
Shipping and industral interests
Upon his father's death on October 24, 1878, Whitney was elected his successor as president of the Metropolitan Steamship Company, retaining the position of agent at Boston.Whitney established the West End Street Railway Company with himself as president in 1886 as a combination of the five street railways of the Boston area. He introduced the use of electricity as the road's motive power in 1888, replacing its 10,000 horses, and by 1900 it comprised a rapid transit
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
system second to none.
In 1889 Whitney and Frederick Stark Pearson, chief engineer of the West End Street Railway Company, formed the Whitney coal syndicate with Benjamin Franklin Pearson of the People's Heat and Light Company of Halifax, Nova Scotia
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
. The group purchased one coal mine and obtained options on others south of Sydney
Sydney, Nova Scotia
Sydney is a Canadian urban community in the province of Nova Scotia. It is situated on the east coast of Cape Breton Island and is administratively part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality....
in eastern Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....
. Premier William Stevens Fielding
William Stevens Fielding
William Stevens Fielding, PC was a Canadian Liberal politician, the seventh Premier of Nova Scotia , and the federal finance minister 1896–1911 and 1921–25.-Early life:...
and the Liberal provincial administration favored Whitney's entry into the coal business because his steamships and street-railway electric generators consumed large quantities of coal. The Whitney syndicate was offered an unprecedented 99-year lease at a fixed royalty; the group exercised its options, acquiring most of the existing bituminous coal
Bituminous coal
Bituminous coal or black coal is a relatively soft coal containing a tarlike substance called bitumen. It is of higher quality than lignite coal but of poorer quality than Anthracite...
mines of eastern Cape Breton Island and co-opting such local figures as John Stewart McLennan
John Stewart McLennan
John Stewart McLennan was a Conservative member of the Senate of Canada. He was born in Montreal, Quebec and became an industrialist and publisher....
and David MacKeen
David MacKeen
David MacKeen was a Canadian surveyor, mine manager, politician, and the tenth Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia....
. This process took some months, and Whitney was not ready to consolidate operations at Sydney until early 1893.
Meanwhile, in June 1890 the Metropolitan Steamship Company placed the new iron steamer H.M. Whitney in service between Boston and New York. The 2,706-ton, 288-foot vessel was built by William Cramp and Sons
William Cramp and Sons
thumb | upright | 1899 advertisement for William Cramp & Sons William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company of Philadelphia was founded in 1825 by William Cramp, and was the preeminent U.S. iron shipbuilder in the 19th century. The American Ship & Commerce Corporation bought the yard in 1919 but closed...
at Philadelphia. The H.M. Whitney was flagship of the Metropolitan fleet until she was run down and sunk by the steamer Ottoman in Boston harbor on September 28, 1892. No lives were lost, and the H.M. Whitney was later refloated and, after reconditioning, returned to service.
On February 1, 1893, the Dominion Coal Company Ltd. (DOMCO) was incorporated with Whitney as president, B.F. Pearson as secretary and F.S. Pearson as chief engineer. Early investors in this enterprise included Whitney's younger brother, William C. Whitney
William C. Whitney
William Collins Whitney was an American political leader and financier and founder of the prominent Whitney family. He served as Secretary of the Navy in the first Cleveland administration from 1885 through 1889. A conservative reformer, he was considered a Bourbon Democrat.-Early life:William...
; his brothers-in-law, Henry F. Dimock
Henry F. Dimock
Henry F. Dimock was a lawyer in New York City who was closely associated with the Whitney family business interests.Dimock was born in South Coventry, Connecticut, the son of Timothy and Laura F. Dimock...
and Charles T. Barney
Charles T. Barney
Charles Tracy Barney was the president of the Knickerbocker Trust Company, the collapse of which shortly before Barney's death sparked the Panic of 1907.-Early life and marriage:...
; and Almeric H. Paget, who later married William's daughter Pauline
Pauline Payne Whitney
Pauline Payne Whitney , was an American heiress and a member of the prominent Whitney family.She was born in New York City, New York, the daughter of William C. Whitney and Flora Whitney...
.
The new company quickly effected numerous efficiencies and improvements, and production was quadrupled within a decade. There were, however, costly mistakes, prominent among them the tendency to become locked into low-price contracts (such as to Whitney's companies), thus missing a large market at higher prices. By 1901 some 90 per cent of its output was committed to such low-price contracts. The company made a large public offering of stock, which tumbled in price when Whitney failed to get the American import duty on coal removed or at least reduced.
Similar problems were encountered by People's Heat and Light after it was incorporated in 1893 with Whitney as president and B.F. Pearson as secretary. Although People's Heat and Light had the advantage of low-cost coal, it was plagued by substandard materials, limited technical experience, and stock-market speculations, with the result that the company, in the words of Kyle Jolliffe, "collapsed under the heavy weight of its own debts" in 1902.
Back in Boston, Whitney established the New England Gas and Coke Company for the purpose of manufacturing and distributing illuminating gas and railroad-grade coke. In January 1896 Whitney announced the organization of the Massachusetts Pipe Line Gas Company. The new concern would purchase gas from New England Gas and Coke, which in turn purchased its raw material from DOMCO. A new contract between DOMCO and New England Gas and Coke was signed on September 30, 1897, and by mid-1899 a new gas plant was in operation in Everett, Massachusetts
Everett, Massachusetts
Everett is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, near Boston. The population was 41,667 at the 2010 census.Everett is the last city in the United States with a bicameral legislature, which is composed of a seven-member Board of Aldermen and an 18-member Common Council...
. The arrangement led to the unfortunate public perception that the contract had been intended to enhance the value of the companies' stock.
Whitney expanded operations at Sydney with the organization in March 1899 of the Dominion Iron and Steel Company Ltd. (DISCO), which had financial backing in both Canada and the United States. Whitney was joined in the new enterprise by his long-time business friends - F.S. Pearson, B.F. Pearson, W.C. Whitney, C.T. Barney, H.F. Dimock, A.H. Paget and J.S. McLennan. The promise of federal bounties, together with concessions from the Liberal provincial administration of Premier George Henry Murray
George Henry Murray
George Henry Murray was a Nova Scotia politician who served as the province's ninth Premier for twenty-seven years, the longest unbroken tenure for a head of government in Canadian history. He was born in Grand Narrows, Nova ScotiaDespite his later political longevity, Murray's early political...
, enabled DISCO to begin work in June 1899 on the largest integrated steel mill
Steel mill
A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel.Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. It is produced in a two-stage process. First, iron ore is reduced or smelted with coke and limestone in a blast furnace, producing molten iron which is either cast into pig iron or...
in the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. Located on the south side of Sydney Harbour, which Whitney said offered more advantages than anywhere else in the world, the mill was completed in 1901. Iron ore was mined by DISCO on Bell Island
Bell Island
Bell Island is a Canadian island located off Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula in Conception Bay.Measuring 9 km in length and 3 km in width, Bell Island has an area of 34 km²...
in Newfoundland and shipped to Sydney.
Competitors in Britain, France, Germany and the United States were initially concerned. However, continuing problems of management and cost control led to Whatney's early withdrawal from the project. Later in 1901, Whitney and his associates sold majority control of DOMCO to James Ross of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and their minority share of DISCO to Ross and several other Canadian interests. Whitney resigned as president of DISCO in 1902 and as a member of the DOMCO board in December 1903. Although he remained on the DISCO board until 1909, his focus was redirected to New England. James H. Plummer of Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
gained control of DISCO in 1903 and DOMCO in 1910, placing them under the Dominion Steel Corporation in 1910.
Later life
In 1904 Whitney was elected president of the Boston Chamber of Commerce. He also became interested in politics, promoting tariff reform and reciprocal trade agreements between Canada and the United States.Charles W. Morse
Charles W. Morse
Charles Wyman Morse was a notorious businessman and speculator on Wall Street in the early 20th century.-Early life:...
acquired control of the Metropolitan Steamship Company in 1906, placing it under the control of the Consolidated Steamship Company in January 1907. Morse crashed in the Panic of 1907
Panic of 1907
The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic, was a financial crisis that occurred in the United States when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% from its peak the previous year. Panic occurred, as this was during a time of economic recession, and there were numerous runs on...
, however. In 1911 the Metropolitan Steamship Company and the Maine Steamship Company (a New York City-Portland, Maine
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
, operator) merged with the Eastern Steamship Company to form the Eastern Steamship Corporation. The line went into receivership
Receivership
In law, receivership is the situation in which an institution or enterprise is being held by a receiver, a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights." The receivership remedy is an equitable remedy that emerged in...
in 1914 but emerged in 1917 as Eastern Steamship Lines. Service on Eastern's Metropolitan Line was maintained until 1941.
In the general election of November 5, 1907, Whitney was the Democratic candidate for governor of Massachusetts, but failed in his bid to unseat the Republican incumbent, Curtis Guild, Jr.
Curtis Guild, Jr.
Curtis Guild, Jr. was the 43rd Governor of Massachusetts in the United States. He served from 1906 to 1909.-Early life and education:...
Eleven days later, he represented the family at the funeral in New York City of his brother-in-law, Charles T. Barney
Charles T. Barney
Charles Tracy Barney was the president of the Knickerbocker Trust Company, the collapse of which shortly before Barney's death sparked the Panic of 1907.-Early life and marriage:...
, who had shot himself following the failure of the Knickerbocker Trust Company in the Panic of 1907
Panic of 1907
The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic, was a financial crisis that occurred in the United States when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% from its peak the previous year. Panic occurred, as this was during a time of economic recession, and there were numerous runs on...
.
Retiring from the boards of DISCO and the Metropolitan Steamship Company in 1909, Whitney lived in retirement at Brookline, where he died on January 25, 1923, at the age of 84. Largely because of the easy success of his younger brother, Whitney was generally supposed to be wealthy, but he had suffered losses from poor investments over a period of years. When the estate of "the supposed multi-millionaire", as The New York Times put it, was probated, it was found to be worth only $1,221.
External links
See autobiography of dau. Josephine b.1891: Life on Two Levels, Josephine Whitney Duveneck c1978 ISBN 0-913232-56-4; published by William Kaufman, Inc. One First St. Los Altos, CA 94022