Eugene Zimmerman (industrialist)

Eugene Zimmerman (December 17, 1845 – December 20, 1914)[1] was an American industrialist who became incredibly wealthy as a stockholder in John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil. He used the income from his Standard Oil holdings to invest in railroads.

Eugene Zimmerman
President of the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad and Ann Arbor Railroad
In office
November 1905 – 1909
Preceded byF. A. Durban
Succeeded byJoseph Ramsey Jr.
President of the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway
In office
1904 – October 1905
Personal details
Born(1845-12-17)December 17, 1845
Vicksburg, Mississippi
DiedDecember 20, 1914(1914-12-20) (aged 69)
Cincinnati, Ohio
Spouse(s)
Marietta A. Evans
​
​
(m. 1878; died 1882)​
RelationsAlexander Montagu, 10th Duke of Manchester (grandson)
ChildrenHelena, Countess of Kintore
ParentsSolomon Zimmerman
Hannah J. Biggs
EducationFarmer's College
Military service
AllegianceUnion
Branch/serviceUnion Navy
RankCommander
Battles/warsU.S. Civil War:
 • Battle of Saint Charles
 • Arkansas Post
 • Vicksburg campaign

Early life

Zimmerman was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi on December 17, 1845. He was a son of Ohio native Solomon Zimmerman (1807–1859) and Hannah J. (née Biggs) Zimmerman (1824–1861), who married in 1845.[2] His younger brother was Martin Zimmerman and his younger sister was Ellen (née Zimmerman) Laird. After his father's death, his mother remarried to Andrew Jackson LaBoiteaux in November 1859 in Hamilton County, Ohio before her death in 1861. His grandfather was an officer in the Dutch Army.[3]

His father had moved to Mississippi from Ohio to inherit a foundry and several slaves. Eugene grew up at the family's business and was sent to Cincinnati in 1859 to attend Farmer's College. In the spring of 1861, he began attending the preparatory school Gambier Academy with the intention of attending Kenyon College.[2]

Career

Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, Zimmerman left the Academy and tried to join the Union Navy, but was refused because he was too young. After some modifications, he was accepted, becoming a Master's mate and was assigned to the Mississippi River Squadron.[3] While in the Navy, his ship was struck by torpedo which killed several seamen and threw him into the Yazoo River. He participated in the Battle of Saint Charles and Duvall's Bluffs and served with distinction during the capture of Arkansas Post in 1863, after which he was promoted to Ensign. During the Vicksburg campaign in his hometown, Zimmerman was placed in charge of a mortar boat and sent up the Yazoo River, making a successful run against the Confederate blockade at Vicksburg in April 1863. During the campaign, he was involved in several missions and was promoted to acting Master and Officer of the side wheel steamer USS Ouachita after the surrender of Vicksburg which he held until the end of the War.[2] During the siege, his former home and his father's business were destroyed.[3]

During the remainder of the war, he was eventually made a Lieutenant and a ship commander at the age of nineteen (the youngest officer at his rank in the entire U.S. Navy). After the War, he resigned his commission, was honorably discharged, and returned to Ohio.[3]

Business career

After the war, he went into the oil business, acquiring extensive holdings which he sold to John D. Rockefeller in exchange for shares in Standard Oil where he became a substantial stockholder and gained seat on the company's board.[4]

In 1875, Zimmerman purchased more than 13,000 acres of timberland in what is now Yosemite in Casey County, Kentucky. He ran a lumber mill there and built a wooden train track from Kings Mountain to Staffordsville in 1884, later organizing the Green River Railway Co.[5] He used his income to invest in railroads and was president of the Cincinnati and Green River Railroad,[2] and the Kentucky and South Atlantic Railroad, which later became a part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway after he sold it to Collis P. Huntington which led to a long partnership with Huntington, including looking after his interests in the Midwest.[1] In 1882, he became president of the Chesapeake and Nashville Railway (and constructed the Chesapeake and Ohio Bridge at Cincinnati for Huntington),[2][6] and in 1888 he was elected president of Dayton, Forth Wayne and Chicago Railway.[7]

In 1904, he was made president of the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway,[8] and succeeded in getting the Queen and Crescent as its tributary and gaining control of the Père Marquette system, and the Chicago, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad. George M. Cumming, a lawyer with the United States Mortgage and Trust Company of New York, was elected vice president to represent the interest of New York capital.[9] In 1906, along with his son-in-law, he toured the route of the proposed Newry, Keady Tynan Railway in Ireland to see whether to build a railway there.[10] In June 1905, Cumming was elected president of the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad and served for one month; he was succeeded by F. A. Durban who was elected president in July 1905 but resigned in November, and was replaced by Zimmerman. The Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railway had taken control of the Ann Arbor Railroad from Rudolph Kleybolte & Co. in June 1905.[11] The acquisition connected Toledo with Frankfort, Michigan, and essentially doubled the DT&I system. The DT&I went bankrupt in 1908,[12] forcing them to divest Ann Arbor Railroad to Zimmerman, who sold the line in 1909 to Joseph Ramsey, Jr. and Newman Erb,[13] and retired from active business while still retaining control of his "immense coal and iron lands" in the Midwest.[14] He continued to be a director of Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Western Railway, the Birmingham and Atlantic Railway and the North Alabama Coal and Iron Company.[1] Henry Ford later bought DT&I in 1920.[15]

At the time of his death, he was preparing to testify before Commissioner Henry Clay Hall of the Interstate Commerce Commission regarding the sale of the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad and the Père Marquette to J.P. Morgan & Co.,[1] for which Zimmerman made a profit of more than $1,000,000. Testimony given before the Commission told how J. Pierpont Morgan suffered a $12,00,000 loss when he acquired the Zimmerman's Great Central system, then failed to sell it to the Erie Railroad, and "was forced to throw the system into the hands of a receiver."[16] Frederick W. Stevens testified that Zimmerman and his associates loaded $24,000,000 worth of obligations on the railroad and took a 999-year lease on the Père Marquette system and guaranteed the road's bonds.[1]

In his later years, he traveled through Europe and Africa. In 1901, he sailed aboard the Cunard Umbria with Miss B. Evans, his late wife's sister, for a month in Ireland with his daughter at Tandragee Castle in Northern Ireland.[17]

Personal life
His daughter Helena, when she was the Duchess of Manchester, 1912.

In 1878, Zimmerman was married to Marietta A. Evans (1848–1882), a daughter of Abraham Evans of West Liberty, Ohio.[18] Before her death in December 1882 from peritonitis,[19] they were the parents of one child together:

Zimmerman lived at 2448 Auburn Avenue, the southeast corner of Auburn and McMillan in Mount Auburn, an affluent neighborhood in Cincinnati, and was a member of the Loyal Legion, the Lotos Club, the American Yacht Club, and the Queen City Club of Cincinnati. He died at the Queen City Club on December 20, 1914. A few minutes before his death, he had been laughing over a $100,000 breach of promise suit filed against him in New York by Icy Wareham the previous June. Reportedly, Wareham, a dog fancier from Elmhurst on Long Island, alleged Zimmerman promised to marry her on December 30, 1913 and she was ready to marry him still.[1] After his daughter returned to Ohio from Europe, he was buried at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati.[24]

He left an estate valued at $10,000,000 in trust.[1] From the beginning of his daughter's marriage, the Duke had financial difficulties and was known as a profligate gambler who spent lavishly on other women. In 1908, Zimmerman paid off the Duke's debts but made them in the form of payments for the purchase of various Manchester estates (including Kimbolton Castle, Kylemore Castle and Tandragee Castle), which were held for his grandson, Viscount Mandeville.[25] By 1918, sixty-six petitions of bankruptcy had been filed against his son-in-law in the English courts.[26] After becoming estranged in 1914,[27] the Duke and Duchess eventually divorced in 1931.[26] His only child, the Dowager Countess of Kintore, died at Keith Hall in Inverurie on 15 December 1971 and was buried alongside her second husband at the Keith Hall Burial Ground in Inverurie.[28]

Descendants

Through his daughter Helena, he was the grandfather of four, including Lady Mary Alice Montagu (1901–1962);[20] Alexander Montagu, 10th Duke of Manchester (1902–1977);[29] Lord Edward Eugene Fernando Montagu (1906–1954);[20] and Lady Ellen Millicent Louise Montagu (1908–1948).[30][20]

References
  1. Times, Special to The New York (21 December 1914). "EUGENE ZIMMERMAN DROPS DEAD AT CLUB; Financier Had Just Been Laughing Over Woman's Suit for Breach of Promise. FORTUNE FROM RAILROADS Father of Duchess of Manchester Ventured Outdoors Against Advice of His Physician". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  2. The International Who's who: Who's who in the World 1912 : a Biographical Dictionary of the World's Notable Living Men and Women. International Who's Who. 1911. pp. 1131–1132. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  3. History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio: Their Past and Present, Including Early Settlement and Development ; Antiquarian Researches ; Their Aboriginal History ; Pioneer History ; Political Organization ; Agricultural, Mining and Manufacturing Interests ; a History of the City, Villages and Townships ; Religious, Educational, Social, Military and Political History ; Statistics ; Biographies and Portraits of Pioneers and Representative Citizens, Etc. S. B. Nelson. 1894. pp. 790–793. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  4. Brownlee, Amy Knueven (3 January 2016). "Cincinnati's Helena Zimmerman: The "Real" Downton Abbey Heiress?". Cincinnati Magazine. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  5. Edwards, Brenda S. (26 September 2020). "Looking back: Businessman gets railroad through Boyle County". The Advocate-Messenger. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  6. "NASHVILLE'S PROPOSED ROAD". The New York Times. 8 December 1883. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  7. The Biographical Directory of the Railway Officials of America. Railway Age Publishing Company. 1913. p. 612. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  8. "HE SURVEY HAS BEEN COMPLETED AND RIGHT-OF-WAY IS BEING SECURED TO CONNECT IRONTON LINE WITH C.C.& D. IMPROVEMENTS. And Covers a Territory That Is Sadly Lacking in Transportation Facilities--New Road Will Go Through West Alex. and Eaton". Dayton Daily News. 8 August 1904. p. 3. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  9. "HAMILTON AND DAYTON BUYS PERE MARQUETTE; Eugene Zimmerman President of the New System. 5,000 MILES OF RAILROAD Lines Reaching from Chicago to Buffalo and Cincinnati Brought Together in the Deal. (Published 1904)". The New York Times. 8 July 1904. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  10. "MAY BUILD IRISH RAILWAY.; Eugene Zimmerman and the Duke of Manchester Inspect Route. (Published 1906)". The New York Times. 11 July 1906. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  11. New York Daily Tribune (PDF). June 9, 1905 http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1905-06-09/ed-1/seq-8.pdf. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. "INTO HANDS OF RECEIVER Eugene Zimmerman's Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Road is In Default on Coupons on $10,000,000 of Its Bonds". Pensacola News Journal. 2 February 1908. p. 2. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  13. Brown, Grant (2008). Ninety Years Crossing Lake Michigan: The History of the Ann Arbor Car Ferries. University of Michigan Press. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-472-05049-9. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  14. "HIGH FINANCE | In Manipulation of the D.T. & I. | Attorney General is Making Serious Probe Regarding Securities. | THE ROAD UNDER FIRE. | Testimony of Officials Retracted in Face of the Records | Paid Four Millions While Road is Capitalized at $25,000,000". The Lima Times-Democrat. 24 April 1907. p. 7. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  15. Scott D. Trostel. The Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad: Henry Ford's Railroad. Fletcher, Ohio: Cam-Tech Publishing, 1988. p. 66.
  16. Times, Special to The New York (18 September 1906). "J.P. MORGAN OUTGENERALED?; Ohio Story Says He May Be Forced to Buy a Zimmerman Railroad. (Published 1906)". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  17. "EUGENE ZIMMERMAN SAILS.; The Father of the Duchess of Manchester en Route to Tandaragee Castle. (Published 1901)". The New York Times. 17 March 1901. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  18. Times, Special to The New York (15 September 1906). "DUCHESS'S RELATIVE LOST.; Grandfather of the Duchess of Manchester Wandered for Two Days. (Published 1906)". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  19. "DIED". The Churchman. Churchman Company: 66. 1883. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  20. "Manchester, Duke of (GB, 1719)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  21. "MANCHESTER EX-WIFE MARRIED TO KINTORE; Duchess, Cincinnati Heiress, Secretly Wed to Scottish Earl in Edinburgh". The New York Times. 25 November 1937. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  22. "Kintore, Earl of (S, 1677)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Archived from the original on 12 August 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  23. "EARL OF KINTORE DIES". Dayton Daily News. 28 May 1966. p. 5. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  24. "MANCHESTER DUCHESS HERE; Arrives to Attend Funeral of Her Father, Eugene Zimmerman. (Published 1915)". The New York Times. 5 January 1915. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  25. TIMES, Special Cable to THE NEW YORK (26 July 1908). "NO SEPARATION FOR MANCHESTERS; Duke Has Consented to Father-in-Law Eugene Zimmerman's Financial Arrangements. ESTATES IN HEIR'S NAME Money Grants Made on That Condition -- Duke's Nerves Stood Shock -- With Duchess in Ireland. (Published 1908)". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  26. TIMES, Wireless to THE NEW YORK (20 November 1931). "DUKE TO BRING SUIT FOR DIVORCE IN CUBA; Duke of Manchester Hopes for Decree Before That Granted to Wife Becomes Final. DUCHESS AMERICAN-BORN Daughter of Eugene Zimmerman, Cincinnati Multi-Millionaire, in Runaway Marriage In 1901". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  27. "DEMANDS TRIAL IN FRANCE.; Duke of Manchester Insists on Divorce Suit Hearing There". The New York Times. 15 August 1925. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  28. "Helena, Countess of Kintore, 95; Former Duchess of Manchester". The New York Times. 16 December 1971. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  29. "Mrs. Crocker Is Wed To Duke of Manchester". The New York Times. 11 February 1969. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  30. "ELLEN MONTAGU FAIRFIELD BRIDE; Younger Daughter of Duke of Manchester Wed to Martin Hofer in Connecticut, HER MOTHER AN AMERICAN Duchess Is the Former Helena Zimmerman -- Ceremony Is Performed by Judge,". The New York Times. 18 June 1936. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
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