Background
Clarence Hungerford Mackay was born on April 17, 1874, in San Francisco. He was the younger of the two sons of John William Mackay, Nevada mining millionaire, and Marie Louise (Hungerford) Bryant Mackay.
( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
https://www.amazon.com/International-Cable-Communication-Commercial-Cable-Postal/dp/1376609371?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=1376609371
capitalist philanthropist politician
Clarence Hungerford Mackay was born on April 17, 1874, in San Francisco. He was the younger of the two sons of John William Mackay, Nevada mining millionaire, and Marie Louise (Hungerford) Bryant Mackay.
Educated under Jesuit auspices at the Collège Vaugirard, Paris, and at Beaumont College, Windsor, England, from which he graduated in 1892, Mackay entered his father's New York office in 1894.
The Postal Telegraph-Commercial Cable empire Mackay had inherited from his father was shattered in the depression of 1929. The Postal Telegraph & Cable Corporation went into receivership in 1935 (Mackay remained at its head until his death), so did the Associated Companies in 1938, and in 1943 the Mackay land lines merged with Western Union, though the International Telephone & Telegraph Corporation, with which the Mackay interests had merged in 1928, continued to manage the Mackay overseas interests.
Mackay died at his New York City home and was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn. Harbor Hill became the site of a medium-priced housing development. As for Mackay's townhouse in New York City, it was quickly divided into twenty-three apartments, as if to prove that the lavish living he incarnated was made impossible by the taxation of the New Deal.
Clarence Hungerford Mackay supervised the completion of the first transpacific cable between the United States and the Far East in 1904. Clarence Mackay was a noted collector of medieval suits of armor, some of which he sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the early 1930s. An aviation trophy, administered by the United States National Aeronautic Association and awarded yearly by the United States Air Force for the "most meritorious flight of the year" by an Air Force person, persons, or organization, is named in Mackay's honor.
( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
A loyal Catholic, he was not neglected by the Pope, who made him a Knight of Malta.
Mackay's older brother, John William, who was originally intended to take over the family cable and telegraph interests, was killed riding horseback in the Bois de Boulogne in 1895, and with his father's death in 1902 full responsibility fell on Mackay. Though Mackay carried to completion his father's dream of an international cable and telegraph system, he will be remembered less as a businessman than as a philanthropist, sportsman, and host.
He could not forget what the family owed to the mines of the West, and he donated over $1, 000, 000 to the Mackay School of Mines and other projects of the University of Nevada.
He never lost his touch at squash racquets and at the age of fifty won the championship of the Racquet and Tennis Club. Every August he faithfully sailed for the grouse season in Scotland, every March he went bagging quail at his lodge in North Carolina, and every Christmas season found him bringing down the partridges at Gardiner's Island, New York, which he leased.
Surrounded by 500 acres landscaped by Guy Lowell, he stored in the great hall his magnificent collection of medieval armor and made the most of the opportunity to serve as the unofficial host of New York City. Here he received Charles A. Lindbergh in 1929, and here, in 1924, he staged a legendary dinner and dance for the Prince of Wales. Eight hundred were invited, but twelve hundred were made welcome to the music of Paul Whiteman. Mackay had by this time supervised not only the laying of the first trans-Pacific cable but also cables from New York to Cuba, the Azores, and Ireland.
On May 17, 1898, Mackay married Katherine Alexander Duer, a direct descendant of William Duer. In 1914 they were divorced, and she became the wife of Dr. Joseph A. Blake.
On July 18, 1931, Mackay married Anna Case, once a star of the Metropolitan Opera. His second wife survived him, as did his three children by his first marriage, John William, Katherine, who married Kenneth O'Brien, son of Justice Morgan J. O'Brien, and Ellin, who married the composer Irving Berlin.
November 28, 1831 - July 20, 1902
December 21, 1843 - 1928
1870 - October 1895
May 9, 1879 - April 19, 1930
October 29, 1888 - January 7, 1984
March 22, 1903 - July 29, 1988
February 25, 1900 - October 24, 1971
28 January 1907 - 3 November 1988
