Benjamin Brewster (June 30, 1828 – August 23, 1897) was an American industrialist, financier, and one of the original trustees of

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...

Early life

Brewster was born in 1828 in

Norwich, Connecticut Norwich ( ) (also called "The Rose of New England") is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River flows south to Long ...

, to Patrick Brewster (fourth great-grandson of

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...

Pilgrim A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on Pilgrimage, a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the a ...

William Brewster) and Catharine Fanny Roath. He attended public schools in Norwich and went to work as a clerk in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Business career

In 1849 he headed West to join 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 ...

, establishing a general mercantile store in

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 ...

soon after his arrival. His partner in this enterprise was

Oliver Burr Jennings Oliver Burr Jennings (June 3, 1825 – February 12, 1893) was an American businessman and one of the original stockholders in Standard Oil. Early life Jennings was born in 1825 in Fairfield, Connecticut, to Abraham Gould Jennings and Anna (née ...

, and together they amassed a considerable fortune. Brewster returned East in 1874 and settled permanently in New York City. Following his former partner Oliver Burr Jennings, who had married the sister of

William Rockefeller William Avery Rockefeller Jr. (May 31, 1841 – June 24, 1922) was an American businessman and financier. Rockefeller was a co-founder of Standard Oil along with his elder brother John Davison Rockefeller. He was also part owner of the Anaconda ...

's wife, he became involved with

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...

in organizing the

Company. When the Standard Oil Trust was formed in 1882 he served as a trustee. Brewster was prominently associated with the building of the

Manhattan Elevated Railway The Manhattan Railway Company was an elevated railway company in Manhattan and the Bronx, New York City, United States. It operated four lines: the Second Avenue Line, Third Avenue Line, Sixth Avenue Line, and Ninth Avenue Line. History 19 ...

and was also a financial leader in many large railroad transactions, particularly the reorganization of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway. He served as vice president of the

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At the end ...

and was a director of the

Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad The Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago to southern Illinois, St. Louis, and Evansville. Founded in 1877, it grew aggressively and stayed relatively strong throughout the Great Depression and two Worl ...

and the

Delaware and Hudson Canal Company The Delaware and Hudson Railway (D&H) is a railroad that operates in the Northeastern United States. In 1991, after more than 150 years as an independent railroad, the D&H was purchased by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). CP operates D&H ...

. He was also a director of the

International Navigation Company The International Navigation Company (INC) was a Philadelphia-based holding company owning 26 ships totaling 181,000 tons and carried more passengers than either Cunard or White Star, when the company was reorganized as International Mercantile ...

, owner of the

American Line The American Line was a shipping company founded in 1871 and based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It began as part of the Pennsylvania Railroad, although the railroad got out of the shipping business soon after founding the company. In 1902, it ...

of steamers.

Family and death

On June 9, 1863, Brewster married Elmina Hersey Dows, daughter of James Dows and Elmina Hersey, in San Francisco. They had seven children: * James Dows Brewster (March 24, 1864 — August 29, 1864) * Catherine Elmina Brewster (August 16, 1865 — June 6, 1866) * William Brewster (January 25, 1867 — October 27, 1867) * George Stephenson Brewster (b. September 15, 1868). His Granddaughter Sheila Brewster Rauch (b. 1949) married

Joseph P. Kennedy II Joseph Patrick Kennedy II (born September 24, 1952) is an American businessman, Democratic politician, and a member of the Kennedy family. He is a son of former United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy, and he is also a nephew ...

(b. 1952) whose son,

Joseph P. Kennedy III Joseph Patrick Kennedy III (born October 4, 1980) is an American lawyer, politician and diplomat who currently serves as United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland since 2022. Prior to this, Kennedy served as the U.S. representative for fr ...

(b. 4 Oct 1980) served as the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 4th congressional district from 2013 to 2021. * Mary Dows Brewster (b. January 2, 1871, married

Oliver Gould Jennings Oliver Gould Jennings (April 27, 1865 – October 13, 1936) was a financier and an heir to a fortune from Standard Oil who served in the Connecticut House of Representatives. Early life Jennings was born on April 27, 1865 in New York City. He ...

, son of

and Esther Judson Goodsell; mother of Benjamin Brewster Jennings) * Frederick Foster Brewster (b. August 13, 1872) * Robert Stanton Brewster (b. September 27, 1875) In 1890 Brewster built a summer home in

Cazenovia, New York Cazenovia is an incorporated Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Madison County, New York. The population was 6,740 at the time of the 2020 census. The town is named after Theophilus Cazenove , Theophile Cazenove, the ''Agent Gener ...

, which he named "Scrooby" after the English

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

where his ancestor William Brewster lived before setting sail on the

. The building now houses The Brewster Inn. Benjamin Brewster died at his home in Cazenovia in 1897 at the age of 69. The pallbearers were: John D. Rockefeller, Ransom Reed Cable,

Charles S. Fairchild Charles Stebbins Fairchild (April 30, 1842 – November 24, 1924) was an American businessman and politician who served as United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1887 to 1889 and Attorney General of New York from 1876 to 1877. He was a not ...

Roswell P. Flower Roswell Pettibone Flower (August 7, 1835May 12, 1899) was an American politician who served as the 30th Governor of New York from 1892 to 1894. He also served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1889 to 1891. Biography He was bo ...

Clement Griscom Clement Acton Griscom (March 15, 1841 – November 10, 1912) was an American shipping magnate and financier. Griscom was "without question, the key figure in American transatlantic shipping" by 1900. Biography Griscom was born in 1841 to a long ...

, Walter Jennings, Charles A. Peabody,

Henry H. Rogers Henry Huttleston Rogers (January 29, 1840 – May 19, 1909) was an American industrialist and financier. He made his fortune in the oil refining business, becoming a leader at Standard Oil. He also played a major role in numerous corporations a ...

, Henry W. Curtis, William M. Burr, and Henry H. Porter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brewster, Benjamin 1828 births 1897 deaths People from Norwich, Connecticut Founders of the petroleum industry American businesspeople in the oil industry Standard Oil 19th-century American railroad executives American people of English descent People from Cazenovia, New York