Edward Julius Berwind (June 17, 1848 – August 18, 1936) was the founder of the

Berwind-White Coal Mining Company Berwind Corporation (previously also known as Berwind-White Coal Mining Company) is a large privately held American corporation historically involved in the coal industry. Today it is a diversified company involved in property leasing and owner ...

. He was head of the company from 1886 until 1930.

Early life

Berwind was born on June 17, 1848 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. He was one of five sons born to

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

immigrants Augusta ( née Guldenferring) Berwind (1821–1904) and John Berwind (1813–1893). Among his siblings was brother

Charles Frederick Berwind Charles Frederick Berwind (April 1, 1846 – December 4, 1890) was a founder of the Berwind-White Coal Mining Company, serving as its first president. Early life Berwind was born on April 1, 1846 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the eldest ...

, the first president of Berwind-White, and sister Julia A. Berwind, a

social welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

activist who in later life lived with Edward. Berwind was appointed to the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

at Annapolis, Maryland in July 1865 by President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

, and graduated in June 1869 as a midshipman. He was promoted to ensign in July 1870 and to master (equivalent to the modern rank of lieutenant, junior grade) in March 1872. He was placed on the Retired List in May 1875. While in the Navy, he served during the Franco-Prussian War and as an ensign, met the Prince of Wales, later

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

, who became a lifelong friend of Berwind. During the

Grant administration The presidency of Ulysses S. Grant began on March 4, 1869, when Ulysses S. Grant was inaugurated as the 18th president of the United States, and ended on March 4, 1877. The Reconstruction era took place during Grant's two terms of office. The Ku ...

, he served as a naval aide at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

Career

Upon leaving the Navy, Berwind went into business with his older brother, Charles, and Judge

Allison White Allison White (December 21, 1816 – April 5, 1886) was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Early life and education White was born in Pine Township, near Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania. He attended the ...

; co-founding Berwind, White & Company, which was incorporated as Berwind-White in 1886. Berwind worked closely with

J. P. Morgan John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became known ...

in the consolidation, reorganization, integration, and expansion of his coal mining operations. In his day he was also considered to be the world's largest individual owner of coal mining properties. Berwind also refused to bargain with his employees, making his mines among the last

open shop An open shop is a place of employment at which one is not required to join or financially support a union ( closed shop) as a condition of hiring or continued employment. Open shop vs closed shop The major difference between an open and closed ...

s in the coal fields. Berwind and Peter A. B. Widener established the

New York subway system The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...

. Berwind, along with Widener, was a director of

International Mercantile Marine Company The International Mercantile Marine Company, originally the International Navigation Company, was a trust formed in the early twentieth century as an attempt by J.P. Morgan to monopolize the shipping trade. IMM was founded by shipping magnate ...

which owned the

White Star Line The White Star Line was a British shipping company. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping lines in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between t ...

and, subsequently, the RMS ''Titanic''.A legacy company continues to operate today as th
Berwind Company
/ref> Berwind controlled the steamship business in New York and Philadelphia and supplied much of the coal used by the ships of the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. After his brother's death in 1890, Edward became sole manager of the company.

Personal life

In 1886, Berwind was married to Sarah Vesta Herminie Torrey (1856–1922), at

Leghorn, Italy Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

, where her father was U.S. consular agent. Sarah was a daughter of Franklin Torrey, a prominent sculptor, and Sarah Lincoln (née Spinney) Torrey. Her brother was Charles Franklin Torrey, who inherited the residue of her estate. After the death of his wife in 1922, his sister served as hostess for Edward in New York and Newport. Berwind tomb West Laurel Hill

He died on August 18, 1936, at his home, 2 East 64th Street in New York City. After a funeral held at St. Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue in New York, he was buried in

West Laurel Hill Cemetery West Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1869, is 200 acres in size and contains the burials of many notable people. It is affiliated with Laurel Hill Cemetery in neighboring P ...

Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania Bala Cynwyd ( ) is a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania. It is located on the Philadelphia Main Line in Southeastern Pennsylvania, bordering the western edge of Philadelphia at U.S. Route 1 (City Avenue). It was originally two sep ...

, along with his wife, in a mausoleum (modeled after the

Tower of the Winds The Tower of the Winds or the Horologion of Andronikos Kyrrhestes is an octagonal Pentelic marble clocktower in the Roman Agora in Athens that functioned as a ''horologion'' or "timepiece". It is considered the world's first meteorological stat ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

) that was designed by

Horace Trumbauer Horace Trumbauer (December 28, 1868 – September 18, 1938) was a prominent American architect of the Gilded Age, known for designing residential manors for the wealthy. Later in his career he also designed hotels, office buildings, and much of ...

, the architect of The Elms, his summer home in

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, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

. His sister Julia and nephew, Charles E. Dunlap, were his principal beneficiaries. File:Berwind house 2 E64th St front 828 5th Av jeh.jpg, Edward J. Berwind House, 64th Street & 5th Avenue, New York City (1886). File:The Elms, Newport, Rhode Island - View from Great Lawn edit1.jpg, The Elms, Newport, Rhode Island (1899),

, architect.

References

External links

Edward Julius Berwind
at Harvard
Edward Julius Berwind
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berwind, Edward Julius 1848 births 1936 deaths American energy industry businesspeople American businesspeople in the coal industry American people of German descent Businesspeople from Philadelphia Businesspeople from Newport, Rhode Island Members of the Philadelphia Club United States Naval Academy alumni United States Navy officers 19th-century American businesspeople Burials at West Laurel Hill Cemetery

Early life

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links