Hamilton McKown Twombly (1849-1910)
Industrialist, of 684 Fifth Avenue, New York City etc.
He was born at Boston, Massachusetts, and was educated at the Boston Latin School before graduating from Harvard (1871). He began his career in Boston as a paper manufacturer with H.M. Clark & Co. before establishing his own firm, Twombly & Co., in 1873. In 1877, he married Florence Vanderbilt, daughter of William Henry Vanderbilt, President of the New York Central Railroad, and he swapped paper manufacturing for leasing and managing the grain elevators on his father-in-law's railroads. Described as "a very correct Bostonian," a stickler for detail and, "the poster boy for pecuniary prudence," it was those characteristics that saw him become his father-in-law's personal financial advisor, as well as an advisor to J.P. Morgan.
He was an investor and the director of numerous companies including: Western Union; the Chicago & North Western Railway; the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad; the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad; the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad; the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railroads; the New Jersey Shore Line Railroad; the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation; the National Union Bank; and, the New York Mutual Gas Light Company. He incorporated the Edison Electric Light Company and was a Trustee of the Guarantee Trust Company and the Mutual Life Insurance Company. In 1890, with brothers-in-law Abram Hewitt and Edward Cooper he established the American Sulphur Company that became the Union Sulphur Company. He and his wife were worth a combined $70-million. They lived between 684 Fifth Avenue, New York City; Florham in New Jersey; Vinland in Newport, Rhode Island; and, "Pine Tree Point" on Upper St. Regis Lake in the Adirondacks. They had four children (listed).
He was an investor and the director of numerous companies including: Western Union; the Chicago & North Western Railway; the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad; the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad; the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad; the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railroads; the New Jersey Shore Line Railroad; the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation; the National Union Bank; and, the New York Mutual Gas Light Company. He incorporated the Edison Electric Light Company and was a Trustee of the Guarantee Trust Company and the Mutual Life Insurance Company. In 1890, with brothers-in-law Abram Hewitt and Edward Cooper he established the American Sulphur Company that became the Union Sulphur Company. He and his wife were worth a combined $70-million. They lived between 684 Fifth Avenue, New York City; Florham in New Jersey; Vinland in Newport, Rhode Island; and, "Pine Tree Point" on Upper St. Regis Lake in the Adirondacks. They had four children (listed).
