Harry Howard Raymond was a Canadian - born American ship official.
Background
Harry Howard Raymond was born on December 16, 1864 in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, the eldest of the four sons of Samuel Flint and Margaret Hannah (Clements) Raymond. He was a descendant of one of the members of the Raymond family of Essex County, England, who was in Essex County, Massachussets, before 1650. In 1772 Harry's great-grandfather, Daniel Raymond, emigrated from Beverly, Massachussets, to Yarmouth, where his descendants, as shipmasters, builders, and owners, had an important part in developing the shipping interests of the town.
Education
He attended the Yarmouth Seminary.
Career
Harry began his shipping career as a clerk in the Clements Steamship Company, engaged in the Yarmouth-Boston trade.
In 1884 he went to the United States and in the following year was employed as a purser on the State of Texas, of the Mallory Company, plying between New York and Southern ports. In 1888 he became a traveling agent for the company. After a period in the office in New York, he was again sent into the field, this time as general Southern agent. In 1899 he returned to New York as superintendent of operations and was later advanced to general manager.
In the Spanish-American War he served as a lieutenant of the Naval Reserves, having become an American citizen in 1892. In 1908 the Atlantic, Gulf & West Indies Steamship Lines was incorporated, a merger of several old companies. Under the new arrangement Raymond became director, vice-president, and general manager of the Mallory and the Clyde companies, and director of the New York & Cuba Mail and the New York & Porto Rico companies. Later he was elected director of several other companies that entered the combination.
He was advanced to the presidency of the Mallory and Clyde companies in 1914, and four years thereafter to a directorship of the parent company. Soon after Edward N. Hurley became president of the Emergency Fleet Corporation in July 1917, he chose Raymond with several other operators of ships to advise on the adaptation of old ships to naval uses and the proper types and designs for new ships. Raymond was also chosen a member of the National Adjustment Commission, which arbitrated disputes with longshoremen and other laborers.
In 1918 he served as vice-chairman of the Shipping Control Committee appointed to supervise and coordinate the operation of the merchant fleets. He was also controller of shipping for the Port of New York, and a member of the Council of National Defense. He was especially helpful in facilitating the transportation of troops and supplies to France and in other movements of ships to and from the port of New York. He visited England, Italy, and France. The last-named country, in recognition of his war service, made him a chevalier of the Legion of Honor.
Raymond retained his connection with the steamship companies during and after the war.
In 1927 he became chairman of the board of directors of the Atlantic, Gulf & West Indies Steamship Lines and also of the boards of the Mallory and Clyde companies. He was president of the Columbian Steamship Company, engaged in the South American trade.
He lived at the Bretton Hall Hotel, New York City, and maintained a winter home in Miami, Florida, and a summer home at Yarmouth, where he was virtually in retirement on account of ill health for several years before his death.
Achievements
As president of the American Ship Owners' Association, he was instrumental in pacifying the labor leaders in the strikes and other labor difficulties that occurred during the years 1919-21.
Interests
His chief recreation was yachting, and he was often his own navigator. He owned several racing sloops and cruising motor yachts; one of the best known of his boats was the two-masted schooner Micmac.
Connections
On June 18, 1890, he was married to Annie Cornell, of Chicago, Illinois. His second wife was, the widow of his brother, Joseph S. Raymond.
