William Collins Whitney

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William C. Whitney in his office

William Collins Whitney (born July 5, 1841 in Conway , Franklin County , Massachusetts , †  February 2, 1904 in New York City ) was a political leader in the United States and financier and founder of the prominent Whitney family.

Life

Whitney was born in the US state of Massachusetts in a puritanical environment. He successfully graduated from Yale University in 1863 , where he was accepted into the company of Skull & Bones . He then continued his law studies at Harvard University and became a respected attorney in New York City . He earned his fortune of an estimated 40 million US dollars in 1904 as a large speculator. He was an offensive opponent of the Tweed Ring and was actively associated with the anti-Tammany organizations , the Irving Hall Democracy (1875-1890) and the County Democracy (1880-1890).

From 1875 to 1882, Whitney served on the advisory staff of the City of New York. In this position he fought the corrupt machinations of the so-called Tweed Ring, at the head of which was the influential Democratic politician William Tweed . This was also the leader of the St. Tammany Society ( Tammany Hall ).

During the first term of US President Grover Cleveland from 1885 to 1889, Whitney was United States Secretary of the Navy and campaigned for the development of the United States Navy , particularly in promoting domestic manufacturers of plate armor .

In 1892 he got involved in Cleveland's election campaign and made his influential role in the presidential election for his second term in office. Because he disapproved of the so-called Free Silver movement , he refused to support the candidate William Jennings Bryan . Whitney's increased interest was in the development of public transport in New York and he was a partner in the Metropolitan Street Railway Company.

Together with Colonel Albert Pope , he tried to build a monopoly for electric taxis in all major US cities from 1899, which failed. The instrument for this was the joint company Columbia Automobile Company , which was to build up to 2,000 such vehicles annually.

His holding company Electric Vehicle Company (EVC) , acquired in the same year, bought the rights to his patent on the automobile from lawyer George Baldwin Selden . This was vehemently opposed by some manufacturers, above all Henry Ford . Selden then led the process for EVC and won in the first instance. On appeal, the court ruled against the patent. After this would only have been valid for one year anyway, the judgment was accepted.

As a passionate lover of horse racing , he established a thoroughbred racing stable company in competition with the successful stable of the entrepreneur James R. Keene. As the breeder of 26 American competition-winning horses, he also won England's Epsom Derby in 1901.

Whitney was married to Flora Payne, the sister of his wealthy college friend Oliver Hazard Payne (1839–1917) a Rockefeller business partner , with whom he had five children:

  1. Harry Payne Whitney (1872–1930), who married the sculptor Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, one of the richest heiresses in the United States, who founded the world-famous Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Her son, Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney (1899-1992) was a financier who was one of the co-founders of PanAm and co-producer of the movie "Gone With the Wind" was.
  2. Pauline Payne Whitney (1874–1916) married A. Paget, co-founder of the Dominion Iron and Steel Company of Canada.
  3. William Payne Whitney (1876-1927). His daughter Joan Whitney (1903-1975) was one of the queens of the New York Society. In addition to the Metropolitan Opera, she also owned the New York Mets baseball team, and in 1968 had a fortune of $ 200-300 million.
  4. Oliver Whitney (1878-1883)
  5. Dorothy Payne Whitney (1887–1968) married to Willard D. Straight (1880–1918).

He died in 1904 and was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx of New York.

swell

  • Beverly Rae Kimes (Editor), Henry Austin Clark Jr.: The Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805–1942. 2nd Edition. Krause Publications, Iola WI 1985, ISBN 0-87341-111-0 . (English)
  • Beverly Rae Kimes: Pioneers, Engineers, and Scoundrels: The Dawn of the Automobile in America. Published by SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Permissions, Warrendale PA 2005, ISBN 0-7680-1431-X (hardcover). (English)

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personal data
SURNAME Whitney, William Collins
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH July 5, 1841
PLACE OF BIRTH Conway , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH February 2, 1904
Place of death New York City