Eben Erskine Olcott was an American mining engineer and president of the Hudson River Day Line.
Background
Eben Erskine Olcott was born on March 11, 1854, in New York City, the second son among four sons and four daughters of John Nathaniel and Euphemia Helen (Knox) Olcott. His father was descended from Thomas Olcott, who settled in Connecticut in the seventeenth century.
Education
After attending the College of the City of New York, Eben entered the School of Mines of Columbia University and graduated there in 1874.
Career
Olcott's first position was that of chemist for a Hunt & Douglas process plant in North Carolina of which he later became superintendent; next he was assistant superintendent of the Pennsylvania Lead Company works, at Mansfield Valley, Pennsylvania. From 1876 to 1879 he was superintendent of a gold mine in Venezuela; later he held a similar position in Colorado. After superintending the St. Helena Mines, Sonora, Mexico, 1881-85, he opened an office as consulting engineer in New York. Partly on the basis of his professional studies of the copper deposits at Cerro de Pasco, Peru, mining was initiated in that region, which has since developed into one of the most important copper districts of the world. Two exploring expeditions in Guiana and Colombia were less productive of permanent enterprise. In 1890-91 Olcott similarly explored the gold and copper district of eastern Peru, an undertaking of great hardship because of the high elevation, remoteness of the region, and difficulties of transportation.
By his marriage in 1884 to Kate Van Santvoord, Olcott became the son-in-law of "Commodore" Alfred Van Santvoord, founder of the Hudson River Day Line of steamers running between New York and Albany. On the death of Van Santvoord's only son, he accepted in 1895 the management of this important line, to which he gave the greater part of his time for the rest of his life. He built the company's fleet up from two large steamships to seven and gave every detail of their operation his close supervision. His agreeable personal qualities gained him the loyalty of his employees and the friendship of his business associates. Shortly after assuming the management of the Day Line, he became senior member of the firm of Olcott, Fearn & Peele, consulting engineers. In connection with this firm and its successors, Olcott, Corning & Peele and Olcott & Corning, he continued to practise in an advisory capacity for a number of years.
Olcott was also a trustee, officer, or director, of several banking corporations, and a director of the Catskill Evening Line. He belonged to numerous professional societies, and in 1901-02 was president of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. He was on the council of the American Geographical Society, the Board of Foreign Missions of the Reformed Church in America, and the Board of Managers of the American Bible Society; was a trustee of the American Seaman's Friend Society, and treasurer and trustee of the American Indian Institute. He took an important part in the organization of the Hudson-Fulton celebration of 1909. Eben Olcott died in New York City at the age of 75.
Achievements
Membership
Eben Olcott was president of the American Institute of Mining Engineers; a member of the American Geographical Society; the Board of Foreign Missions of the Reformed Church in America, and the Board of Managers of the American Bible Society.
Connections
In 1884, Eben Olcott was married to Kate Van Santvoord. They had five children.