James Ben Ali Haggin was an American lawyer and businessman. He made a fortune investing in gold, copper, and silver-mining enterprises throughout the whole America.
Background
James Ben Ali Haggin was born on December 9, 1827, in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, United States. There his grandfather, Captain John Haggin, a native of Virginia, had settled about 1774. His father, Ferah Temple Haggin, was a successful lawyer in Louisville. His mother, Adal ine Ben Ali, was the daughter of a Christian Turk who, forced to leave his native country, fled to England, studied medicine, and married an English lady. Later he emigrated to Philadelphia and practised his profession there.
Education
James Ben Ali Haggin studied law with his father and was admitted to the Kentucky bar in 1845.
Career
Early in 1850, James Ben Ali Haggin moved to San Francisco, where he opened a law office and resided during the greater part of the next forty years. After one or two law partnerships of brief duration, James Ben Ali Haggin formed a long-lived partnership with Lloyd Tevis, his brother-in-law. The firm’s success brought wealth to the partners and opportunities for successful business ventures.
Haggin shrewdly invested in gold, copper, and silver-mining enterprises in California, South Dakota, and Utah. In some instances, he was associated with Senator Hearst of California and with Marcus W. Daly, whose holdings in the Anaconda Copper Company Haggin afterward acquired. It is stated that at one time he owned or controlled over a hundred mines, scattered from Alaska to Peru and Chile.
During the seventies, Haggin acquired hundreds of thousands of acres of so-called “desert land” in the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Kern River valleys, on which he proceeded to develop intensive irrigation projects. These ultimately became highly profitable but roused the hostility of cattle owners, who claimed that grazing lands were impoverished by the diversion of water for irrigation purposes. Irrigation was then in its infancy, and Haggin’s legal right to divert the flow of the Kern River was for many years bitterly contested in the courts. Ultimately the legal status of irrigation projects and riparian rights was cleared up in a manner favorable to the irrigation interests.
In the early eighties, stock-breeding began to enlist Haggin’s interest. Beginning on a small scale near Sacramento, his activities in this line grew rapidly and soon extended to Kentucky, where he developed, near Lexington, an immense horse-breeding estate. As an avocation, he engaged extensively in horse-racing, and between 1881 and 1891 his horses captured most of the great racing trophies East and West.
All that Haggin did was done on a large scale, but only after a studious investigation and careful weighing of each contemplated undertaking. As a result, he never sustained a severe loss nor encountered financial embarrassment. At his death he left an estate of about $15, 000, 000 which included luxurious residences in San Francisco, New York City, Woodford County, Kentucky, and Newport, Rhode Island. He made two extended trips to Europe, where he spent much time studying economic, political, and social conditions. He died at his summer home in Newport, Rhode Island, after a month’s illness, and was buried in Woodlawn, New York City.
Achievements
James Haggin was famous as a multi-millionaire, who made a fortune as a co-founder of Hearst, Haggin, Tevis and Co, which became one of the largest mining companies in the United States. Its operations included the Anaconda Copper Mine in Montana, the Ontario silver mine in Park City, Utah, and the Homestake Mine in South Dakota. He was also a major owner in the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing.
Religion
Haggin was a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
Politics
Haggin was a member of the Democratic party, although he was never active in politics.
Connections
James Ben Ali Haggin was twice married. His first wife was Elizabeth Sanders, daughter of Colonel Lewis Sanders of Natchez, who died May 23, 1894. On December 23, 1897, he married Pearl Voorhies of Versailles, Kentucky.
