Abbot, Edwin Hale, 1834-1927

Variant names

Hide Profile

Edwin Hale Abbot was born in Beverly, Massachusetts in 1834. He received the A.B. (1855), the A.M. (1858) and the LL.B. (1862) from Harvard. In 1859 Abbot married Mary Carter, who died the following year. His marriage to Martha T. Steele in 1866 produced two sons, Philip Stanley and Edwin Hale, Jr., and an adopted daughter, Constance. Abbot practiced law in Boston from 1862-1876. After 1876 railroad and corporate litigation and affairs in the midwestern United States dominated his legal practice. From 1873, when he became general solicitor for the Wisconsin Railroad, until 1909 when he retired as president of the Wisconsin Central Company, Abbot was instrumental in the development of railroad lines, terminals, and mines in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota. He died in 1927.

From the description of Edwin Hale Abbot family papers, 1787-1933 (inclusive). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702165834

Edwin Hale Abbot was born in Beverly, Massachusetts, in 1834. He received the A.B. (1855), the A.M. (1858) and the LL.B. (1862) from Harvard. In 1859 Abbot married Mary Carter, who died the following year. His marriage to Martha T. Steele in 1866 produced two sons, Philip Stanley and Edwin Hale, Jr., and an adopted daughter, Constance. Abbot practiced law in Boston from 1862-1876. After 1876 railroad and corporate litigation and affairs in the midwestern United States dominated his legal practice. From 1873, when he became general solicitor for the Wisconsin Railroad, until 1909 when he retired as president of the Wisconsin Central Company, Abbot was instrumental in the development of railroad lines, terminals, and mines in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota. He died in 1927.

Edwin Hale Abbot was born in Beverly, Massachusetts, in 1834, the son of Joseph Hale and Frances Ellingwood Larcom Abbot, and brother of Henry Larcom, Francis Ellingwood and Edward Stanley Abbot. He was educated at the Boston Latin School (1846-1851) and Harvard, where he was secretary of his class and where he received the A.B. (1855), the A.M. (1858), and the LL.B. (1862). In 1859 Abbot married Mary Carter, who died the following year. His marriage to Martha T. Steele in 1866 produced two sons, Philip Stanley and Edwin Hale, Jr., and an adopted daughter, Constance.

Abbot practiced law in Boston from 1862 to 1876. After 1876 railroad and corporate litigation and affairs in the midwestern United States dominated his legal practice. From 1873, when he became general solicitor for the Wisconsin Central Railroad, until 1909 when he retired as President of the Wisconsin Central Company, Abbot was instrumental in the development of railroad lines, terminals, and mines in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota. Much of this development centered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the Wisconsin Central Company was based. He was responsible for construction of the Grand Central Station and terminal in Chicago, the establishment of the first car-ferry for entire trains across Lake Michigan, and the uniting of all Wisconsin Central railroads into one company. His Wisconsin Central Plan (1879), by which control of the corporation was vested in bondholders through reservation to them of voting power on stock, had a major impact on subsequent corporate organization theory and practice.

In addition, Abbot was president of the Central Car Company, the Milwaukee Property Company, and the Foreign McKenna Process Company, a division of the American McKenna Process Company.

Abbot's business associates included John Lathrop, Leonard A. Jones, Charles L. Colby, Gardner Colby, William Wallace Crapo, Henry F. Spencer, Frederick Abbot, Frederick Weil, and his sons Philip Stanley and Edwin Hale Abbot, Jr.

Law editor of the Boston Daily Advertiser from 1862 until 1870, Abbot was also a contributor to the North American Review, the New Jerusalem Magazine, and the American Law Review . He wrote two works, A Review of the Report Upon the Physics and Hydraulics of the Mississippi (1862) and Phillips Brooks House (1900). He lectured at Harvard College, the University of Chicago, the University of Wisconsin, and other educational institutions.

With the exception of a number of years as a resident of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (c. 1876), Abbot lived his adult life in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He died in 1927.

From the guide to the Edwin Hale Abbot family papers, 1787-1933, (Manuscripts and Archives)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn William James correspondence, 1856-1910. Houghton Library
referencedIn Palfrey family papers, 1713-1915 Houghton Library
referencedIn Dante Society of America correspondence and records, 1883-1904. Houghton Library
creatorOf Abbot, Edwin Hale, 1834-1927. Edwin Hale Abbot family papers, 1787-1933 (inclusive). Yale University Library
creatorOf White, Richard Grant, 1821-1885,. Autograph letter signed from Richard Grant White, Orange, N.J., to Edwin Hale Abbott [manuscript], 1858 July 21. Folger Shakespeare Library
referencedIn James Bradley Thayer papers Harvard Law School Library Langdell Hall Cambridge, MA 02138
referencedIn Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874. Correspondence, 1829-1874 Houghton Library
referencedIn Phillips Brooks and Brooks family papers, 1750-1917. Houghton Library
referencedIn Abbot, Edwin Hale, 1834-1927. Edwin Hale Abbot family papers, 1787-1933 (inclusive). Yale University Library
referencedIn Papers of John Coolidge and Agnes Mongan, 1909-2006 Harvard Art Museums. Archives
referencedIn Charles Eliot Norton papers Houghton Library
referencedIn Houghton Library printed book provenance file, A-D Houghton Library
referencedIn Harvard University Archives Photograph Collection: Portraits, ca. 1852-ca. 2004 Harvard University Archives.
creatorOf Abbot, Edwin Hale, 1834-1927. The class notes of Edwin Hale Abbot Sr., 1859-1862. Harvard Law School Library Langdell Hall Cambridge, MA 02138
referencedIn James, William, 1842-1910. Papers, 1803-1941 (bulk: 1862-1910) Houghton Library
creatorOf Edwin Hale Abbot family papers, 1787-1933 Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
referencedIn Oswald Garrison Villard papers Houghton Library
referencedIn Houghton Library printed book provenance file, A-D Houghton Library
creatorOf Sullivan Granite Company (Sullivan, Me.). Records, 1834-1908 (bulk 1834-1874). Raymond H. Fogler Library
referencedIn Henry Lee Higginson papers relating to the gift of Soldiers Field, Harvard University, 1890. Houghton Library
creatorOf Rugg, Arthur Prentice, 1862-1938. Letters to Edwin Hale Abbott, 1920, 1923. Harvard Law School Library Langdell Hall Cambridge, MA 02138
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Abbot, Edward Stanley, 1841-1863. person
associatedWith Abbot, Edwin Hale. person
associatedWith Abbot, Francis Ellingwood, 1836-1903. person
associatedWith Abbot, Henry Larcom, 1831-1927. person
associatedWith Abbot, Joseph Hale, 1802-1873. person
associatedWith Abbot, Martha T. Steele. person
associatedWith Abbot, Martha T. Steele. person
associatedWith Abbot, Mary Carter. person
associatedWith Abbot, Mary Carter. person
associatedWith Abbot, Philip Stanley. person
associatedWith American McKenna Process Co. corporateBody
associatedWith Blackstone, William, Sir, 1723-1780. person
associatedWith Brooks, Phillips, 1835-1893. person
associatedWith Colby, Charles L. person
associatedWith Colby, Gardner, 1810-1879. person
correspondedWith Coolidge, John, 1913-1995 person
associatedWith Crapo, William Wallace, 1830-1926. person
associatedWith Dante Society of America. corporateBody
associatedWith English McKenna Process Co. corporateBody
associatedWith Harvard Law School. corporateBody
associatedWith Harvard University corporateBody
associatedWith Harvard University. Students. corporateBody
associatedWith Higginson, Henry Lee, 1834-1919 person
associatedWith Houghton Library. corporateBody
correspondedWith James, William, 1842-1910 person
associatedWith Jones, Leonard A. (Leonard Augustus), 1832-1909. person
associatedWith Lathrop, John, 1835- person
associatedWith Lathrop, John, 1835- person
associatedWith Norton, Charles Eliot, 1827-1908 person
correspondedWith Palfrey family. family
associatedWith Parker, Joel, 1795-1875. person
associatedWith Parsons, Theophilus, 1797-1882. person
associatedWith Rugg, Arthur Prentice, 1862-1938. person
associatedWith Spencer, Henry F. person
associatedWith Spencer, Henry F. person
associatedWith Sullivan Granite Company (Sullivan, Me.) corporateBody
correspondedWith Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874 person
associatedWith Thayer, James Bradley, 1831-1902 person
correspondedWith Villard, Oswald Garrison, 1872-1949 person
associatedWith Washburn, Emory, 1800-1877. person
associatedWith Weil, Frederick. person
correspondedWith White, Richard Grant, 1821-1885, person
associatedWith Wisconsin Central Railroad Company (1871-1899) corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Minnesota
New England
Illinois
Middle West
United States
Massachusetts--Cambridge
United States
Middle West.
Wisconsin
Subject
Constitutional law
Corporation law
Corporation law
Criminal law
Domestic relations
Equity pleading and procedure
Families
Family
Industry
Law
Property
Railroads
Railroads
Railroads
Railroads
Shipping
Occupation
Capitalists and financiers
Lawyers
Activity

Person

Birth 1834

Death 1927

Information

Permalink: http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6r79gh0

Ark ID: w6r79gh0

SNAC ID: 71714673