John Munroe Longyear
John Munroe Longyear (born April 15, 1850 in Lansing , Michigan , † May 28, 1922 in Brookline , Massachusetts ) was an American timber contractor and the central figure behind the Arctic Coal Company , which investigated and mined the coal deposits on Svalbard between 1905 and 1916 . This company established a settlement for the miners on Svalbard that could accommodate up to 500 people. The settlement was known as Longyear City (now Longyearbyen ) and is the largest town on Svalbard.
Longyear was born in Lansing, Michigan. In 1906 he founded the Arctic Coal Company together with his long-time partner Frederick Ayer and various small shareholders. Longyear itself was the main shareholder of the company, which was headquartered in Boston . In 1901 he traveled to Svalbard and there acquired the Tronhjem Spitsbergen Kulkompani in 1904.
In 1916, Longyears mining company was taken over by Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani , a consortium of Norwegian investors, and the land was bought. The company built additional pits in Adventdalen , the gulf where Longyear City is located.
John Munroe Longyear died in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1922 .
literature
- N. Dole: America in Spitsbergen. The Romance of an Arctic Coal Mine. Marshall-Jones Company, Boston 1922.
Individual evidence
- ^ The Political Graveyard: Longyear family of New York. politicalgraveyard.com, accessed September 17, 2012 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Longyear, John Munroe |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American timber contractor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 15, 1850 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lansing , Michigan |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 28, 1922 |
| Place of death | Brookline , Massachusetts |