James Ben Ali Haggin (December 9, 1822 – September 12, 1914) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

attorney Attorney may refer to: * Lawyer ** Attorney at law, in some jurisdictions * Attorney, one who has power of attorney * ''The Attorney'', a 2013 South Korean film See also * Attorney general, the principal legal officer of (or advisor to) a gove ...

ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

er,

investor An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future Return on capital, return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some specie ...

art collector A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...

, and a major owner and breeder in the sport of

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

. Haggin made a fortune in the aftermath of the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

and was a multi-millionaire by 1880. Those who recounted James Ben Ali Haggin's appearance often noted his short stature and "slightly Oriental appearance handed down from his Turkish ancestors".

Life

Haggin was born in

Harrodsburg Harrodsburg is a home rule-class city in Mercer County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 9,064 at the 2020 census. Although Harrodsburg was formally established by the House of Burgesses after Boonesbor ...

, Mercer County,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, a descendant of one of the state's pioneer families who had settled there in 1775 and a descendant of

Ibrahim Ben Ali Ibrahim ben Ali ( tr, Ali oğlu İbrahim) or after baptism Ibraham Adam Ben Ali (1756–1800), was an Ottoman-Turkish soldier and physician who first drew notice as a convert-friend of the Dublin Methodist theologian Adam Clarke, and after spend ...

, who was an early American settler of

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

origin. He graduated from

Centre College Centre College is a private liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky. It is an undergraduate college with an enrollment of approximately 1,400 students. Centre was officially chartered by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1819. The college is ...

Danville, Kentucky Danville is a home rule-class city in Boyle County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 17,236 at the 2020 Census. Danville is the principal city of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes ...

, then entered the practice of law. On December 28, 1846, James Ben Ali Haggin married Eliza Jane Sanders of

Natchez, Mississippi Natchez ( ) is the county seat of and only city in Adams County, Mississippi, United States. Natchez has a total population of 14,520 (as of the 2020 census). Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, N ...

with whom he had five children. She died in 1893 and on December 30, 1897 the seventy-five-year-old Haggin married twenty-eight-year-old Margaret Pearl Voorhies at her stepfather's residence in

Versailles, Kentucky Versailles () is a home rule-class city in Woodford County, Kentucky, United States. It lies by road west of Lexington and is part of the Lexington-Fayette Metropolitan Statistical Area. Versailles has a population of 9,316 according to 2017 cen ...

. Miss Voorhies was a niece of his first wife. In October 1850 he joined a Kentucky acquaintance,

Lloyd Tevis Lloyd Tevis (March 20, 1824 – July 24, 1899) was a banker and capitalist who served as president of Wells Fargo & Company from 1872 to 1892. Early life Lloyd Tevis was born in Shelbyville, Kentucky, the son of Samuel and Sarah (née Greathouse) ...

, in opening a law office in Sacramento. They moved to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in 1853. He built a large and impressive Nob Hill mansion on the east side of Taylor Street between Clay and Washington streets, which stood until the earthquake and fire of 1906. It was to decorate the walls of the 61 rooms of this mansion that Haggin began the core of the family art collection that would eventually be housed in the

Haggin Museum The Haggin Museum is an art museum and local history museum in Stockton, San Joaquin County, California, located in the city's Victory Park. The museum opened in 1931. Its art collection includes works by European painters Jean Béraud, Rosa Bonh ...

(named for his son Louis Terah Haggin) in Stockton, California. Haggin and Tevis married sisters, daughters of Colonel Lewis Sanders, a Kentuckian who had emigrated to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Haggin and Tevis acquired the

Rancho Del Paso Rancho Del Paso was a Ranchos of California, Mexican land grant in present-day Sacramento County, California, In 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena, Captain John Sutter’s old friend, gave 44,000 acres to Elijah Grimes. Grimes called it the Ran ...

land grant near Sacramento. The two invested in the mining business with

George Hearst George Hearst (September 3, 1820 – February 28, 1891) was an American businessman, miner, and politician. After growing up on a small farm in Missouri, he founded many mining operations, and is known for developing and expanding the Hom ...

as one of their partners.

Hearst, Haggin, Tevis and Co. Hearst, Haggin, Tevis and Co., a company started in California in the 1850s and headed by San Francisco lawyer James Ben Ali Haggin with Lloyd Tevis and George Hearst, grew to be the largest private firm of mine-owners in the United States. Hears ...

became one of the largest mining companies in the United States; its operations included the

Ontario silver mine The Ontario silver mine is a mine that was active starting in 1872, and is located near Park City, Utah, United States. History The lode was discovered by accident on 19 January 1872 by Herman Budden, Rector Steen (Pike), John Kain, and Gus M ...

Park City, Utah Park City is a city in Utah, United States. The vast majority is in Summit County, and it extends into Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake City' ...

, the

Homestake Mine Homestake Mine is the name for several mines in the United States: * Homestake Mine (Nevada), listed in the National Register of Historic Places * Homestake Mine (South Dakota) The Homestake Mine was a deep underground gold mine (8,000 feet or 2, ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

, and with

Marcus Daly Marcus Daly (December 5, 1841 – November 12, 1900) was an Irish-born American businessman known as one of the three "Copper Kings" of Butte, Montana, United States. Early life Daly emigrated from County Cavan, Ireland, to the United States as ...

, the

Anaconda Copper Company The Anaconda Copper Mining Company, known as the Amalgamated Copper Company between 1899 to 1915, was an American mining company headquartered in Butte, Montana. It was one of the largest trusts of the early 20th century and one of the largest mi ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

. Th
James Ben Ali Haggin Papers, 1887-1914
are kept at the

Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...

at the University of California at Berkeley.

Thoroughbred racing

Haggin purchased the

horse farm near

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

in 1859. He made it one of the country's most important

horse breeding Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in ...

and

Thoroughbred racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing i ...

operations whose horses competed from coast-to-coast. In 1905, Haggin stopped using Rancho De Paso as a horse breeding farm and concentrated his breeding efforts at his

Elmendorf Farm Elmendorf Farm is a Kentucky Thoroughbred horse farm in Fayette County, Kentucky, involved with horse racing since the 19th century. Once the North Elkhorn Farm, many owners and tenants have occupied the area, even during the American Civil War. M ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

. Haggin had acquired Elmendorf in 1897 and until his death in 1914 worked to develop it into the largest horse breeding operation in the United States of its era.

Major racing successes

Haggin owned the

colt Colt(s) or COLT may refer to: *Colt (horse), an intact (uncastrated) male horse under four years of age People * Colt (given name) *Colt (surname) Places *Colt, Arkansas, United States *Colt, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United States ...

Tyrant A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to rep ...

which in 1885 he sent to compete as a three-year-old on the

U.S. East Coast The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard ...

where he won the prestigious

Withers The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, it is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, cattle ar ...

and

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...

, the latter becoming the third leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series. The following year his colt Ben Ali won the

1886 Kentucky Derby The 1886 Kentucky Derby was the 12th running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on May 14, 1886. The winning time of 2:36.50 set a new Derby record. Full results * Winning Breeder: Daniel Swigert; (KY) Payout *The winner received a ...

. At Rancho Del Paso Haggin bred

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...

and

Africander The Afrikaner, also known as the Africander, is a breed of taurine-indicine ("Sanga") cattle indigenous to South Africa. Huge herds of Sanga type cattle were herded by the Khoikhoi (Hottentots) when the Dutch established the Cape Colony in 1652 ...

, colts which won the 1893 and 1903 Belmont Stakes respectively.

Honors

He is the namesake of the

Ben Ali Stakes The Ben Ali Stakes is an American race for thoroughbred horses run in the Spring of each year at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. For 4-year-olds and up, it is a Grade III event set at a distance of one mile and one eighth mile on t ...

Keeneland Race Course Keeneland Association, Inc. is an equine business based in Lexington, Kentucky. It includes two distinct divisions: the Keeneland Race Course, a Thoroughbred racing facility, and Keeneland Sales, a horse auction complex. It is also known for its ...

in Lexington. Mount Haggin (10,607 ft / 3,233 m), in the

Anaconda Range The Anaconda Range, informally known as the "Pintlers", is a group of high mountains located in southwestern Montana, in the northwestern United States. The mountain range takes its name from the nearby town of Anaconda, founded by Marcus Daly ...

ten miles from the town of

Anaconda Anacondas or water boas are a group of large snakes of the genus ''Eunectes''. They are found in tropical South America. Four species are currently recognized. Description Although the name applies to a group of snakes, it is often used to re ...

in southwestern

, also is named for James Ben Ali Haggin.

Personal life

Haggin was the eldest of eight children of Terah Temple and Adeline (Ben Ali) Haggin, the daughter of

, a Turkish army officer. In 1846 Haggin married Eliza Jane Sanders; they had two sons and three daughters, including Louis Terah, James Ben Ali, Jr., Margaret Sanders, Adeline Ben Ali, and Edith Hunter In 1897 Haggin married Margaret ("Pearl") Voorhies of Versailles, Kentucky. Haggin died September 12, 1914, at his

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

, residence and was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in New York. His grandson, James Ben Ali Haggin III, was a portrait painter and stage designer. His grandson,

Richard Lounsbery Richard Lounsbery (born in New York City in 1882, died 1967) was an American businessman. The Richard Lounsbery Foundation was set up with his family's wealth. Early life Lounsbery was born in New York City in 1882 into an affluent family. His ...

, was a businessman and amateur painter who established the

Richard Lounsbery Foundation The Richard Lounsbery Foundation is a philanthropic organization in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1959, to enhance national strengths in science and technology (in the United States) and to foster strong Franco-American cooperation. To this ...

. His descendants in Thoroughbred racing include Louis Lee Haggin II and

William Haggin Perry William Haggin Perry (December 5, 1910 - November 12, 1993) was an American owner and breeder of thoroughbred racehorses. Early life Perry was the son of Henry Pierrepont Perry, a Wall Street stockbroker, and Edith Lounsbery, who was the daughter ...

References

External links

James Ben Ali Haggin biography sourced from the ''History of Kentucky'' (1928), J. S. Clarke Publishing Company, Louisville Kentucky

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090211101321/http://delpasocountryclub.com/delpasohistory/index.cfm?fuseaction=cor_av&artID=2208 History of Rancho Del Paso at the Del Paso Country Club {{DEFAULTSORT:Haggin, James Ben Ali 1822 births 1914 deaths Centre College alumni California lawyers American mining businesspeople American racehorse owners and breeders Owners of Kentucky Derby winners People from Harrodsburg, Kentucky American people of Turkish descent Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) Agriculture in Kentucky Businesspeople from Kentucky 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American lawyers