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Eber Brock Ward

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Eber Brock Ward
ca. 1875
BornDecember 25, 1811[1]
Applegaths Mills, Ontario, Canada
DiedJanuary 2, 1875[1]
Detroit, Michigan, US
Resting placeElmwood Cemetery (Detroit, Michigan)
NationalityAmerican
Occupationbusinessman
Known forindustrialist
TitleCaptain of Industry of the Midwest [2]
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Mary McQueen (first wife)
Catharine Lyon (second wife)
Children28 including those of two wives and adopted children
Signature

Eber Brock Ward (December 25, 1811 – January 2, 1875) was an American industrialist, iron and steel manufacturer, and shipbuilder.[3] He was known as the "steamship king of the Great Lakes" and the "first of the iron kings."[4] Ward became Detroit's first millionaire.[5] His steel factories made him the wealthiest man in the Midwest, in his time.[2]

Ward invested in several industries in Michigan and the Midwest. He started as an owner of steamship interests, and later accumulated timberlands, as well as lands that contained iron ore, copper and silver. His investments would ultimately include newspapers, railroads, glass manufacturing, banking, and insurance companies.[6] He was one of the promoters of the Soo Locks, and one of the first to use them (previously, his schooners had been hauled overland around the Soo Rapids to sail Lake Superior).[7]

Biography

Early life

Roman Catholic Cathedral reconstructed of stone in Detroit 1821 after fire destroyed the old church in 1805

Ward was born in Applegaths Mills, Waterloo County, Ontario, Canada, on December 25, 1811. He was one of four children in the family. The eldest was Emily, who remained a spinster; Sallie the second; Eber Brock the third; and Abbie the fourth. Ward was an American citizen. His parents had grown up in Vermont; soon after they married, they had moved to Onondaga County, New York, but shortly before Ward's birth moved again to Waterloo County, Ontario, not far from York (modern Toronto) in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid the pending War of 1812 in the United States.[3][8][9]

Ward's parents moved back to their old homestead in Vermont, and stayed there for the next five years, until he was about six years old.[10] The town they lived in was Wells, Vermont, near the city of Rutland.[9] In 1817, the family started a move to Kentucky.[11] While in Waterford, Pennsylvania, his mother fell ill and died.[9] His father then changed the plan and went to Ohio instead.[11] After only a short time in Ohio, his father decided to move to Detroit, which they reached by 1821 (when Ward was nine to ten years old).[3][9][12] Detroit had been destroyed 16 years earlier in a fire; despite being the capital of the Michigan territory, Ward arrived in a town of only 1,400 inhabitants.[9]

Shipping

Ward obtained a job as a cabin boy and deck hand when he was twelve or thirteen years old at Marine City, Michigan. This was on vessels that traveled to Mackinac Island and back. There were no vessels owned by any shippers in Detroit in the early 1820s. Samuel Ward, his uncle, was the leading shipbuilder of Marine City at the time. He gave Ward a job in 1830, as a clerk in one of the warehouses of his shipbuilding firm. Ward came in contact with marine transactions this way, and learned the industry.[3][9]

Ward invested in a vessel called the General Harrison, as a 25 percent owner,[9] and became the master of this vessel in 1835. He was successful as its operator, but eventually became a partner with his uncle at Marine City.[9] He was successful at this enterprise, and continued this until 1850, when he moved to Detroit.[9] There he was involved in the shipbuilding business, and his operations participated in the construction of steamers and sailing ships; among them were the Arctic, Atlantic, B.F. Wade, Detroit, General Harrison, Huron, Montgomery, Ocean, Pacific, Planet, Samuel Ward, Caspian, Champion, and Pearl.[13][14][15] Ward and his Uncle had a fleet of 30 steamships constructed, which transported supplies to various towns and cities around all five of the Great Lakes.[4] In the mid-19th century, "E. B. & S. Ward Steamers" were the largest shipowners in the upper mid-east region of North America.[16]

Railroading

Starting around 1852, Ward acquired timberlands along the Pere Marquette River in Lake County, near the Ludington area. He held onto this land, waiting for the timber to mature. He was elected president of the Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad Company in 1860,[12] and was the first to use rail made of Bessemer steel.[17]

Steel manufacturing

Main article: Eureka Iron & Steel Works
Eureka Iron & Steel Works 1860

Ward organized the Eureka Iron & Steel Works in 1853, with a group of investors, and they purchased the "Wyandotte" farm from John Biddle for $44,000 to serve as a location. The site of this company, located in Wyandotte, Michigan, was 2,200-acre (8.9 km2).[7] This was an ideal location for the steel industry, as iron ore from the Upper Peninsula and limestone from other parts of Michigan could be economically transported to Wyandotte from Lakes Michigan or Superior, through Lake Huron and up the Detroit River. Extensive beech forests nearby supplied the charcoal needed to make steel with the processes of the time. In 1864, the Eureka furnace made the first commercial steel produced in the United States by the Bessemer process.[18] The first Bessemer steel rail were rolled in 1865, either at the Wyandotte mill[19] or another mill Ward had constructed in Chicago (the Illinois Steel Company).[7][20]

Ward took great interest in the first experiments of the Bessemer converter. The patent for the Bessemer process was granted in England in 1856, to Henry Bessemer, and in the United States in 1857, to William Kelly. Kelly had previously successfully experimented with the pneumatic process at Eddyville, Kentucky, where he owned the Eddyville Iron Works; however, he went into bankruptcy caused by the panic of 1857. To pay off his debts, he sold the rights to the process; in 1861, Ward and Zoheth S. Durfee, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, would obtain control of the patent.[4]

To make the steel legally, it was decided to acquire the European Bessemer patent rights. In 1861, Zoheth S. Durfee was sent to Europe, to study the Bessemer process and to obtain the Bessemer patent rights. He was unsuccessful at this, but did observe several European steelmakers' processes, and managed to obtain rights to Englishman Robert Mushet's patent for the use of spiegeleisen (manganese-rich pig iron) for improving the properties of steel.

During Zoheth's absence, Ward invited William F. Durfee, a cousin of Zoheth also from New Bedford, to erect an experimental blast furnace apparatus in Wyandotte, for the manufacture of pneumatic steel using the Bessemer process. This experimentation took place in the latter half of 1862. In May 1863, the Kelly Pneumatic Process Company was organized by Ward with other investors, with Kelly being one of the beneficiaries of profits made using the Bessemer process of making steel (since he was the original patent holder). Kelly received 30 percent of the stock of the Kelly Pneumatic Process Company; Ward and his investors received the remainder.[21]

Meanwhile, William F. Durfee (engineer and architect), Robert Mushet, Thomas Clare and John Brown were brought in by Ward to make the procedure necessary to produce Bessemer steel, especially using spiegeleisen.[22] He succeeded in making Bessemer steel, at the experimental works of the Kelly Pneumatic Process Company.[23] The first Bessemer steel made in the United States was at this factory, either in 1864 or 1865.[18][19] In Henry Bessemer's autobiography, he writes that the Bessemer process was "first experimentally practiced in the United States with a 3-ton converter, at the ironworks of Mr. E.B. Ward, at Wyandotte, near Detroit".[24]

Ward's Kelly Pneumatic Process Company merged with interests of a Bessemer factory in Troy, New York, since an engineer there had initially acquired the Bessemer process rights for the United States. In 1866, the newly formed company was called the Pneumatic Steel Association. This company licensed franchises to prospective Bessemer steelmakers, who paid royalties to use the patent holders on every ton of steel they made.[25] Detroit soon became a major center of steel production, especially for use in home heating stoves. Eureka Iron Works prospered through the late 19th century, but suffered a shortage of raw materials, and closed in 1892.[citation needed]

Logging

Ward carried on logging operations in Lake County through his agents. In 1869 he purchased a tract consisting of 70,000 acres (28,000 ha) in the fourth ward of Ludington, on Lake Pere Marquette, accessible by the Pere Marquette River.[12] He then made plans to extend his railroad to Ludington, to operate mills there; however, James Ludington stalled negotiations to purchase mills in the Ludington area, because he feared Ward would become too big and dominate the area's lumber industry. Ludington favored the extending of the rail line to the village of Pere Marquette (later the town of Ludington, Michigan) but, since he owned most of the sawmills in the area, he refused to sell any of them to Ward for any price. He hoped that, since Ward would not have a sawmill in the area, he would then be forced to sell some of his timber lands at a very depressed price. Ward never did.[26]

Ward had heard in Detroit, where his businesses were, that Ludington had cut down timber in his acreage up north. He did nothing about it at the time; eventually, when Ludington came to Detroit to do business, Ward had him arrested and held in Wayne County jail. Ward got a judgement against Ludington for $650,000 (equivalent to $14,879,000 in 2023), for theft and trespassing. Ludington then suffered a stroke. In August 1869, the company once owned by Ludington, the Pere Marquette Lumber Company, settled with Ward in an amicable agreement.[27]

Ward built a sawmill out on Lake Pere Marquette in 1870, known as the "North" mill. It was built on 55 stone piers, and was 50 ft (15 m) by 130 ft (40 m) in size. It was equipped with two circular mills, and "cutting-edge technology". The cost of the mill was $60,000 (equivalent to $1,446,000 in 2023), and it had a capacity of 100,000 board feet (240 m3) per day. Ward purchased all the land between his mill and that of Messrs. Danaher and Melendy, which bordered on the Lake in the spring of 1871. During the summer months, he built a 50 ft (15 m) by 120 ft (37 m) warehouse near the original mill. This was used for storing supplies, and selling supplies to his employees. The next year Ward, built another mill nearby, which was called the "South" mill. This was considered the best sawmill in the United States.[12]

Mining

Ward's last venture was silver mining. In 1870, he bought into a 14-acre (5.7 ha) island with other investors, off the north shore of Lake Superior, in Thunder Bay. This would be the beginning of the Silver Islet Mining Company. The island turned out to contain a 70 foot (21 m) vein of high quality silver; the deposit was so rich that the first three weeks of operation won $100,000 (equivalent to $2,409,000 in 2023) worth of silver—more money than the Nevada Comstock Lode mine made in a day.[2]

Family

Clara Ward, daughter

Ward was married twice. His first marriage, on July 24, 1837, was to Mary Margaret McQueen of Newport, Michigan, who had seven children that grew to adulthood. His second marriage, in 1869 , was to Catherine Lyon of Conneaut, Ohio.[28] Ward's children, by both of his wives, had many personal problems. Charles, Ward's fourth child and third son by his first wife Mary, was considered "deranged and eccentric", and went bankrupt. Frederick, Ward's fourth son, committed suicide. Elizabeth was considered mentally incompetent. His youngest child by his first wife, Mary E. Ward, was also considered "eccentric."[2]

Ward's two children by his second wife also had problems. Clara married Marie Joseph Anatole Pierre Alphonse de Riquet, Prince de Caraman-Chimay in 1890 and became Princesse de Caraman-Chimay, officially a genuine European princess, but later eloped with a violinist. Eber Jr.’s wife, Victorine, divorced him in 1900, saying he was too captivated with his stepdaughter (her daughter from a previous marriage, Blanche Herault).[2]

Death

Ward's Detroit home on W. Fort St

Ward died of a stroke on January 2, 1875.[2] At the time of his death, he was a multi-millionaire. He owned about two million dollars' worth of real estate, and about $500,000 in a shipping fleet.[29] Additionally, he owned about a million dollars worth' of stock in the Chicago Rolling Mill company, and about half a million dollars' worth of stock of the Milwaukee Rolling Mill company.[12] He also had about a half a million in the Wyandotte Rolling Mill.[9]

At the time of his death, Ward's immense wealth and business interests were so large that it is said that hardly any town of any importance in the Midwest was not affected by his death. His capital was so large and vast that it took several different accountings to figure it out. His businesses extended through several states, reaching from Michigan to the Gulf of Mexico. His businesses were chiefly invested in iron, silver and copper mines, pine lands, sawmills, rolling mills, silver smelting works, railroads, farming lands, and glass works. Ward was described as the wealthiest man in the whole Midwest at the time of his death. His capital was estimated at anywhere from about $7 million to about $22 million. Realistically, about $10 million was all that was obtained from his estate, and it was not enough to cover all the liabilities Ward entailed.[30]

He left five adult children by his first wife, and two children (a boy, five years old, and a girl, two years old) by his second wife.[9] He wrote up a last will and testament six months prior to his death.[9] He last lived at West Fort Street and 19th Ave in Detroit. Ward is buried in Elmwood Cemetery.[31]

References

  1. ^ a b Carlisle, p. 242
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Eber Brock Ward, Midwest captain of industry
  3. ^ a b c d White, p. 125
  4. ^ a b c Hillstrom, p. 76
  5. ^ A Detroit Time Line
  6. ^ Woodford, p. 80
  7. ^ a b c Catlin, p. 497
  8. ^ Leake, p. 1234
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Detroit News - E.B. Ward obituary January 2, 1875, published by The New York Times January 5, 1875.
  10. ^ Tuttle, p. 157
  11. ^ a b Tuttle, p. 158
  12. ^ a b c d e Page, pp. 50, 51
  13. ^ Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society, p. 367
  14. ^ Woodford, p. 79
  15. ^ "A History of the Great Lakes". Buffalo Morning Express. Buffalo, New York. November 19, 1911 – via newspapers.com Open access icon.
  16. ^ Lamar, p. 464
  17. ^ Encyclopedia of Chicago - Iron and Steel
  18. ^ a b Woodford, p. 80 It was in the Eureka furnace in 1864 that the first commercial steel was produced in the United States by the Bessemer process.
  19. ^ a b "America's First Bessemer Steel Mill". Michigan Historical Markers. 2019. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  20. ^ Catlin, p. 498
  21. ^ William Kelly Biography
  22. ^ Fricke, p. 221
  23. ^ Sauveur, pp. 134–38
  24. ^ Bessemer, chapter 21, "The Bessemer process was first experimentally practised in this country with a 3-ton converter, at the ironworks of Mr. E.B. Ward, at Wyandotte, near Detroit, under the superintendence of Mr. L.M. Hart, who had learned the Bessemer process at the works of Messrs. Jackson, in France..."
  25. ^ Hillstrom, p. 77
  26. ^ Cabot, p. 16
  27. ^ Cabot, p. 17
  28. ^ Andreas, p. 676
  29. ^ Tuttle, p. 159
  30. ^ Western Historical Company, p. 310
  31. ^ Elmwood Cemetery - E.B. Ward biography

Sources

  • Andreas, Alfred Theodore, From 1857 until the fire of 1871, A. T. Andreas, 1885
  • Bessemer, Henry, Sir Henry Bessemer, F.R.S., an autobiography with a concluding chapter, ca. 1850
  • Cabot, James L. Ludington 1830–1930, Arcadia Publishing 2005, ISBN 0-7385-3951-1
  • Carlisle, Frederick, Chronography of notable events in the history of the Northwest territory and Wayne County, O.S. Gulley, Borman & Co., Printers, 1890
  • Catlin, George B., Librarian of The Detroit News, The story of Detroit, The Detroit News, 1923
  • Fricke, Ernest B., Encyclopedia of American Business History and Biography, Iron and Steel in the Nineteenth Century, The Kelly Pneumatic Process Company and the Steel Patents Company,Bruccoli Clark Layman, Inc., 1989, ISBN 0-8160-1890-1
  • Hillstrom, The industrial revolution in America, Volume 8, ABC-CLIO, 2007, ISBN 1-85109-620-5
  • Lamar, Howard R., The Reader's Encyclopedia of the American West, Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1977, ISBN 0-690-00008-1
  • Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society, Historical Collections, Volume 21, 1894
  • Leake, Paul, History of DETROIT, Lewis Publishing Company 1912
  • White, James T., The National Cyclopedia of American biography, J.F. Tapley Co. 1906
  • Page, H.R., History of Mason, Oceania, and Manistee Counties, Michigan, 1882
  • Tuttle, Charles Richard, General History of the state of Michigan with biographical sketches, R.D.S. Tyler & Co., Detroit Free Press Company, 1873
  • Western Historical Company, History of St. Clair County, Michigan: containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources, its war record, biographical sketches, the whole preceded by a history of Michigan, A.T. Andreas & Company, 1883
  • Woodford, Arthur M., This is Detroit, 1701–2001, Wayne State University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8143-2914-4
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