William Boyce Thompson
Encyclopedia
William Boyce Thompson, (May 13, 1869 – June 27, 1930), was an American mining engineer, financier
, promoter of Western support for the revolutionary Alexander Kerensky
and Bolshevik
governments of Russia
, philanthropist
, and founder of Newmont Mining
.
, Thompson was a rare combination of hardheaded realist and dreamer. Born and schooled in the rough mining towns of southwest Montana - but also at Phillips Exeter Academy
and the Columbia School of Mines - he built a large fortune purchasing undervalued copper and gold claims through his company Newmont Mining. By the time of his death, Newmont Mining was one of the three largest mining companies in the world after Cecil Rhodes's De Beers
and Sir Ernest Oppenheimer
's Anglo American plc. He was not only a shrewd man of business but also had great intellectual curiosity, particularly about science. He wished to be a force for good in the world and supported various philanthropies.
Thompson's holdings were scattered from Cobalt Lake, Canada to Peru. They included Inspiration Mine in Arizona and Indian Motorcycle Co. He financed lead, zinc and coal mines, street railways, handled the sensational Midvale Steel financing during the War when the stock rose from 290 to 500. He refinanced American Woolen Co. and Tobacco Products Co., launched Cuban Cane Sugar Co., got control of Pierce Arrow Motor Car Co., organized Submarine Boat Corp. and the Wright-Martin Aeroplane Co. Fat, good-natured, bald, a tireless worker, a devoted family man, Thompson chewed tobacco, underpaid his employees and, as one of the greatest gamblers of his time, discharged them for gambling. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,771819-1,00.html
He was a director of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
as well as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
from 1914 to 1919 and was twice (1916 and 1920) a delegate to the Republican National Convention
. In 1912, he built the W. B. Thompson Mansion
at Yonkers, New York
. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1982.
and the effects of crop failure and starvation were rampant. Thompson was a member of an American Red Cross
relief mission that also hoped to encourage formation of a democratic government in Russia. He was awarded the honorary title of Colonel by the American Red Cross.
The mission saw firsthand the suffering of the people and the inability of the social democratic government headed by Alexander Kerensky
to feed the hungry. Although Thompson added $1 million of his own to the relief funds provided by the U.S. government, he was unable to convince President Woodrow Wilson
to do more. However, he was able to rally other financiers including the trust of J.P. Morgan to aid the effort. Soon after the Americans had returned home, the Kerensky government fell and the Bolsheviks came to power. Thompson’s hopes for a prosperous democracy in Russia were ended. The Russian experience convinced him that agriculture, food supply, and social justice are linked. World political stability in the future, he prophesied, would depend on the availability of adequate food. This conviction, along with his faith in science, helped to shape his next philanthropic project, the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research.
Thompson died from pneumonia
in 1930 and was buried at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
. A 1935 biography of Boyce-Thompson, The Magnate, by Herman Hagedorn, the presidential biographer of Theodore Roosevelt
, profiles his life.
His portrait was painted by the Swiss-born American artist Adolfo Müller-Ury
(1862-1947) about 1920-5, and was donated to the New York Chamber of Commerce around 1948/9 by the artist's friend, the soprano Jessica Dragonette
(died 1980) who had acquired it from the artist's estate; she claimed in her autobiography 'Faith is a Song' (1951) that she offered it to Thompson's daughter who set a fee for the privilege of destroying the portrait. The portrait is now in the New York State Museum at Albany.
, and endowed it with $10 million, a veritable fortune in the 1920s. He hoped that this "seed" money would enable the institute to acquire the very best scientists, equipment, and supplies and then to develop relationships with industry and the government to help finance research.
http://www.amnh.org/science/divisions/physsci/.
His daughter, Margaret Thompson, and wife, Gertrude Hickman, inherited the balance of his wealth. In 1941 The Alder Boyce-Thompson's 265 ft. motor-yacht was given the U.S. Navy to aid the war effort.
To the Phillips Exeter Academy, Thompson donated $2 million during his lifetime. His donations created the Boyce-Thomspon science building, a new gymnasium in 1923, squash courts, a baseball field, sports cage, and other facilities.
Financier
Financier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...
, promoter of Western support for the revolutionary Alexander Kerensky
Alexander Kerensky
Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky was a major political leader before and during the Russian Revolutions of 1917.Kerensky served as the second Prime Minister of the Russian Provisional Government until Vladimir Lenin was elected by the All-Russian Congress of Soviets following the October Revolution...
and Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
governments of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
, and founder of Newmont Mining
Newmont Mining
Newmont Mining Corporation , based in Denver, Colorado, USA, is one of the world's largest producers of gold, with active mines in Nevada, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Ghana and Peru. Holdings include Santa Fe Gold, Battle Mountain Gold, Normandy Mining, Franco-Nevada Corp and Fronteer Gold...
.
History
Born in Virginia City, MontanaVirginia City, Montana
Virginia City is a town in and the county seat of Madison County, Montana, United States. In 1961, the town and the surrounding area was designated a National Historic Landmark District, the Virginia City Historic District...
, Thompson was a rare combination of hardheaded realist and dreamer. Born and schooled in the rough mining towns of southwest Montana - but also at Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
and the Columbia School of Mines - he built a large fortune purchasing undervalued copper and gold claims through his company Newmont Mining. By the time of his death, Newmont Mining was one of the three largest mining companies in the world after Cecil Rhodes's De Beers
De Beers
De Beers is a family of companies that dominate the diamond, diamond mining, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. De Beers is active in every category of industrial diamond mining: open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial, coastal and deep sea...
and Sir Ernest Oppenheimer
Ernest Oppenheimer
Sir Ernest Oppenheimer was a diamond and gold mining entrepreneur, financier and philanthropist, who controlled De Beers and founded the Anglo American Corporation of South Africa.-Career:...
's Anglo American plc. He was not only a shrewd man of business but also had great intellectual curiosity, particularly about science. He wished to be a force for good in the world and supported various philanthropies.
Thompson's holdings were scattered from Cobalt Lake, Canada to Peru. They included Inspiration Mine in Arizona and Indian Motorcycle Co. He financed lead, zinc and coal mines, street railways, handled the sensational Midvale Steel financing during the War when the stock rose from 290 to 500. He refinanced American Woolen Co. and Tobacco Products Co., launched Cuban Cane Sugar Co., got control of Pierce Arrow Motor Car Co., organized Submarine Boat Corp. and the Wright-Martin Aeroplane Co. Fat, good-natured, bald, a tireless worker, a devoted family man, Thompson chewed tobacco, underpaid his employees and, as one of the greatest gamblers of his time, discharged them for gambling. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,771819-1,00.html
He was a director of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
MetLife, Inc. is the holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, or MetLife, for short, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs, with 90 million customers in over 60 countries...
as well as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is located at 33 Liberty Street, New York, NY. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses New York state, the 12 northern counties of New Jersey,...
from 1914 to 1919 and was twice (1916 and 1920) a delegate to the Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
. In 1912, he built the W. B. Thompson Mansion
W. B. Thompson Mansion
W. B. Thompson Mansion, also known as Alder Manor, is a historic home located at Yonkers, Westchester County, New York. It was designed by the noted architectural firm of Carrère and Hastings and built in 1912 in the Renaissance Revival style. It is a -story building built of limestone. It...
at Yonkers, New York
Yonkers, New York
Yonkers is the fourth most populous city in the state of New York , and the most populous city in Westchester County, with a population of 195,976...
. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1982.
Russia
He visited Russia before the revolution and again in 1918 just after the Russian Revolution of 1917Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
and the effects of crop failure and starvation were rampant. Thompson was a member of an American Red Cross
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross , also known as the American National Red Cross, is a volunteer-led, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States. It is the designated U.S...
relief mission that also hoped to encourage formation of a democratic government in Russia. He was awarded the honorary title of Colonel by the American Red Cross.
The mission saw firsthand the suffering of the people and the inability of the social democratic government headed by Alexander Kerensky
Alexander Kerensky
Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky was a major political leader before and during the Russian Revolutions of 1917.Kerensky served as the second Prime Minister of the Russian Provisional Government until Vladimir Lenin was elected by the All-Russian Congress of Soviets following the October Revolution...
to feed the hungry. Although Thompson added $1 million of his own to the relief funds provided by the U.S. government, he was unable to convince President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
to do more. However, he was able to rally other financiers including the trust of J.P. Morgan to aid the effort. Soon after the Americans had returned home, the Kerensky government fell and the Bolsheviks came to power. Thompson’s hopes for a prosperous democracy in Russia were ended. The Russian experience convinced him that agriculture, food supply, and social justice are linked. World political stability in the future, he prophesied, would depend on the availability of adequate food. This conviction, along with his faith in science, helped to shape his next philanthropic project, the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research.
Thompson died from pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
in 1930 and was buried at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York is the resting place of numerous famous figures, including Washington Irving, whose story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is set in the adjacent Old Dutch Burying Ground. Incorporated in 1849 as Tarrytown Cemetery, it posthumously honored Irving's...
. A 1935 biography of Boyce-Thompson, The Magnate, by Herman Hagedorn, the presidential biographer of Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
, profiles his life.
His portrait was painted by the Swiss-born American artist Adolfo Müller-Ury
Adolfo Müller-Ury
Adolfo Muller-Ury was a Swiss-born American portrait painter and impressionistic painter of roses and still life.-Heritage and early life in Switzerland:...
(1862-1947) about 1920-5, and was donated to the New York Chamber of Commerce around 1948/9 by the artist's friend, the soprano Jessica Dragonette
Jessica Dragonette
Jessica Dragonette was a singer who became popular on American radio and was active in the World War II effort.-Early life and career:...
(died 1980) who had acquired it from the artist's estate; she claimed in her autobiography 'Faith is a Song' (1951) that she offered it to Thompson's daughter who set a fee for the privilege of destroying the portrait. The portrait is now in the New York State Museum at Albany.
Plant research
In 1920, he decided to establish the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant ResearchBoyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research
The Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research is a research and education organization devoted to plant science currently located on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York...
, and endowed it with $10 million, a veritable fortune in the 1920s. He hoped that this "seed" money would enable the institute to acquire the very best scientists, equipment, and supplies and then to develop relationships with industry and the government to help finance research.
Other causes
Boyce-Thompson also willed $1 million to Phillips Exeter Academy upon his death and a significant gem and mineral collection to New York's American Museum of Natural HistoryAmerican Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
http://www.amnh.org/science/divisions/physsci/.
His daughter, Margaret Thompson, and wife, Gertrude Hickman, inherited the balance of his wealth. In 1941 The Alder Boyce-Thompson's 265 ft. motor-yacht was given the U.S. Navy to aid the war effort.
To the Phillips Exeter Academy, Thompson donated $2 million during his lifetime. His donations created the Boyce-Thomspon science building, a new gymnasium in 1923, squash courts, a baseball field, sports cage, and other facilities.
Boyce-Thompson family
The Boyce-Thompson family listed by ancestry/generation:- William Boyce Thompson (1869–1930) (m. Gertrude Hickman)
- Margaret Thompson Biddle (1902–1956) (m. 1916 Theodore SchulzeTheodore SchulzeTheodore Schulze II, , was a Wall Street financier and executive.The Schulze family of which Theodore Schulze II was a worthy scion was established in this country during the middle of the 19th century by his paternal grandfather, William Lindeke, who came from Germany at twelve years of age and...
II div. unk.) (2nd m. 1931 Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Jr.Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Jr.Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Jr. , also known as A. J. Drexel Biddle, Jr. or Tony Biddle, was a wealthy socialite who became a diplomat of the United States, and served in the United States Army during World War I and after World War II, reaching the rank of major general.-Biography:Biddle was the...
div. 1936)- Theodore Schulze III (1920–1962) (m. Joyce Ward)
- Joyce Schulze
- Charles Schulze
- Peter Schulze
- Margaret Boyce Schulze (1922—1964) (m. Prince Alexander zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen) (2nd m. Morton DowneyMorton DowneyMorton Downey was a singer popular in the United States, enjoying his greatest success in the 1930s and 1940s. Downey was nicknamed "The Irish Nightingale".-Early years:...
)- Catherine Hohenlohe
- Christian Hohenlohe (Prince)
- Theodore Schulze III (1920–1962) (m. Joyce Ward)
- Margaret Thompson Biddle (1902–1956) (m. 1916 Theodore Schulze
Legacy
- Boyce Thompson Arboretum State ParkBoyce Thompson Arboretum State ParkBoyce Thompson Arboretum State Park is an arboretum and state park of Arizona, USA, located in Superior.-Description:Boyce Thompson Arboretum Park consists of a botanical collection that includes a wide range of habitats and a main loop walking trail. Founded in 1925, the arboretum is the...
- Sonoran DesertSonoran DesertThe Sonoran Desert is a North American desert which straddles part of the United States-Mexico border and covers large parts of the U.S. states of Arizona and California and the northwest Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur. It is one of the largest and hottest...
ArboretumArboretumAn arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study... - Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant ResearchBoyce Thompson Institute for Plant ResearchThe Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research is a research and education organization devoted to plant science currently located on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York...
External links
- Time Magazine review of H. Hagedorn's Biography (1935)
- Boyce Thompson Arboretum
- Boyce Thompson Arboretum Biography of its founder
- William Boyce Thompson, An Enduring Legacy in Yonkers
- Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research
- W.B. Thompson burial site at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
- Wright-Martin Formation